NAMM 2006 Winter Show: Korg has expanded its KONTROL series of MIDI Studio Controllers with the introduction of the new padKONTROL. It offers 16 trigger pads and a wide range of control possibilities for expressive MIDI performance onstage or in the studio.

The padKONTROL’s 16 velocity-sensitive trigger pads are responsive to the user’s touch and can be used for a variety of control purposes, from performing natural-sounding and real-feeling drum parts, triggering audio loops or video clips, serving as function or transport controls, to sending MIDI control change messages. For additional onstage impact, the trigger pads illuminate in unique patterns as they are played, adding an entirely new visual aspect to performances.

An X-Y touch pad (based on Korg’s KAOSS Pad technology) can be used to dynamically control natural-sounding flams and rolls when creating drum parts. Any two independent MIDI control messages can be assigned to the X-Y pad for expressive real-time performances. Two knobs can be assigned to a variety of control change messages — such as pan or decay time — for additional control. An assignable pedal jack allows an optional pedal or footswitch to serve as a trigger (for kick drum or other sounds) or as a control source.

Controller assignments can be stored as one of 16 user scenes, for instant recall. The trigger pads may be used to switch among the user scenes, allowing quick setup changes onstage. Thirty preloaded scenes offer full compatibility with popular music and drum software titles. The padKONTROL comes ready to play thanks to the special dfh SUPERIOR drumkit plug-in instrument created to work exclusively with it from Toontrack. This 250 MB drumkit features multiple velocity levels, and a variety of microphone positions — 2,600 samples in all! Also included in the box is Korg’s “Creative Kontrol Pack Volume 2” including acclaimed software applications from Ableton, I.K. Multimedia, UVI, Propellerhead and Korg.

The padKONTROL connects to a Mac or Windows computer using a convenient USB connection, and can be used as a USB-to-MIDI interface for other external MIDI sound modules. The included Editor/Librarian software allows the user to easily edit and manage scene data directly on a computer. For maximum convenience, the Korg padKONTROL can be powered using USB bus power or an optional 9-Volt adapter.

The Korg padKONTROL is available February 2006 with a U.S. MSRP of $299.

More information is available at the Korg site.