TR-Rack
Expanded Access Module
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Here we have the Korg TR-Rack, the expanded rack-mount version of the groundbreaking Trinity. This synth features 24Mb of 24-bit samples in its ROM. There are 415 multisamples and 458 drum samples, that make for a very eclectic, high-quality machine. There are 512 Program patches, and 512 Performance patches. Additionally, the effects section includes 100 types of insertion effects, and 14 types of master effects. |
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The sonic character of the TR-Rack is exquisitely pristine - the 24-bit samples really shine and sparkle, and there are so many categories of sounds that make this a very valuable module for many types of music. The sound include some stupendous wave-sequence emulations, gorgeous pads, cutting organs, and some of the best drum kits I've ever encountered on a ROMpler. Still a valid addition to any keyboardist's studio. |
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Korg TR-Rack factory demo song
Crazy DJ !!! A very well-done song that encompasses several genres - you can hear how well the TR-Rack can tackle them.
Korg TR-Rack audio demos
Combi A
Stream all Combi A demos below
| Combi name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| A00 Trinity Overture | Realistic orchestral setup - |
| A01 Old School Split | A lovely electric bass on the left, an expressive electric piano on the right |
| A02 Vox Morphing | Beautiful moving pad, with evolving motion-synth programming |
| A03 AirPianoEnsemble | Classy piano+choir |
| A04 NewSetOfStrings | Very pretty acoustic guitar with backwash of strings |
| A06 Killer Miller! | A classic Glenn Miller style, swing/big-band brass section |
| A07 Shakoto | Tremendous Japanese style split, with a pensive koto+pad on the left, and a superb shakuhachi on the right |
| A08 Chamber Strings | Very nice, classical, small string ensemble |
| A09 Bass & Piano-SW1 | The useful staple for many keyboardists, especially piano bar players. |
| A11 Big Perc Organ | Outstanding Keith Emerson style Hammond C-3/B-3 organ, slightly distorted and very close to the classic sound of 1970s Progressive |
| A13 JamYourButtOff ! | Fun drum kit with effects |
| A15 Adventure Bells | Marvelous bells, perfect for cinematic music |
| A16 Sad Movie Scene | Warm, expressive strings split |
| A18 Dragon's World | Very breathy fx pad |
| A20 Dyna Slap Bass | Realistic bass |
| A25 Standup&Polytone | Old school jazz contrabass and hollow-body electric guitar split |
| A26 Secret Garden | Very cool pad |
| A27 Jazzy Organ 1 | Extremely good jazz organ, with plenty of Leslie effect, controlled by modulation |
| A29 Virtual Joystick | Crazy syn fx |
| A32 Scoring Horns | Realistic orchestral set |
| A34 Meet Thy Doom... | Perfect for scoring soundtracks! |
| A36 Yeah! DistGuitar | Quite good guitar impersonation |
| A37 Water World | More cinematic goodness |
| A43 Tutti Pipe 1 | Full, majestic church organ |
| A49 Euro Trance Time | Resonant simple synth |
| A53 In The Pyramid | Another excellent setup for scoring soundtracks/documentaries |
| A54 Real Harp Gliss | Phenomenal harp, programmed to emulate the double-stroke of both hands doing a glissando |
| A55 Taste Of Ireland | Typical Irish instruments |
| A57 NuJazz Split | Reminds of the very talented John Surman |
| A61 Jungle Predator | Excellent jungle effects |
| A62 Dark Analog Pad | Solid pad |
| A63 Meet The Bushmen | Percussive |
| A71 Winds of India | Nice sitar and atmospherics |
| A76 Spectagon & Pad | Ravishing setup with pad and bell-synth split |
| A77 Inverse Nebula | Cool fx |
| A81 Jazz Hits | Nice bass on the left, Hammond and velocity-activated brass on the right |
| A84 GuitarraEspanola | Realistic flamenco guitar |
| A87 Master Fisa | Nice accordion |
| A89 Tetra Split | Nice Progressive style split |
| A90 Holding Angels | Delicate and beautiful bell-pad |
| A91 Medium BX3 | Outstanding Hammond organ, with just the right touch of overdrive |
| A91 Medium BX3 (take 2) | Outstanding Hammond organ, with just the right touch of overdrive |
| A94 String Sunrise | Beautiful string/choir pad |
| A96 Scoring Barocco1 | Amazingly accurate emulation of a Baroque orchestra |
| A98 Watch Me Grow... | Beautiful, meditative pad |
| A106 X-Choir Fader | Solid choir |
| A110 BIG BONED (fat) | Huge analog style synth brass, very '80s |
| A112 Florence 1300's | Nice Medieval sounding split |
| A117 Delayed Reaction | Soft string pad |
Combi B
Stream all Combi B demos below
| Combi name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| B01 Hip 90's Split | Beautiful split, very classy |
| B02 The Rush... | Great fx pad |
| B06 Saxophonia | Classic '90s saxes |
| B13 Time4daBreakdown | Nice echoed percussion/synth |
| B17 Moonlight Split | Good big band setup |
| B18 Mystery Islands | Breathy pad, a la Roland D-50 |
| B25 Policemen | Classic sounds used by the band Police |
| B26 Sparkling Voices | Bell synths |
| B27 Jazzy Organ 2 | Superb 1950s/60s lounge organ |
| B34 Dream Theatre | Beautiful, evolving pad |
| B37 Luna Breath | Another quality breathy pad |
| B48 Harp & Strings | Fantastic, beautiful patch |
| B52 MondoSplatBass! | Groovy, funk synth bass from the late '70s |
| B53 Dream Sequence | Nice split |
| B58 Heavenly Voices | Realistic choir |
| B59 Standard BX3 | Classic 1960s style organ. The BX3 was Korg's Hammond clone |
| B66 Virtual Vortex | Beautiful evolving synth pad |
| B74 Rising Tides | Another great evolving synthscape |
| B77 Cyber Sequence | Cool complex synth |
| B79 Magical Organ | An emulation of the classic Korg M1 patch "MagicOrgan" |
| B80 Final Movement | Fine orchestral patch. |
| B84 Mr. Martin | Standard "rock ballad" acoustic guitar |
| B92 Dream Of Lambada | Charming patch: lovely strings on the left, accordion/bandoneon on the right - perfect for Lambada |
| B95 Spectrum Bells | Classic '90s-ROMpler percussive patch |
| B101 Sombreros | Fun Latin American patch |
| B104 DynamicPizzicato | Realistic strings played pizzicato |
| B108 Rainy Night Lead | Supremely '80s patch! An analog pad on the left, and a digital-sounding distorted electric guitar on the right... very "Miami Vice" |
| B114 Jazz Split Organ | Soft and intimate 1950s/60s organ split |
| B115 ReallyHonkyTonky | Call the piano tuner asap |
| B117 new silverware | Gorgeous mega-pad - love the programming on this patch. |
| B123 Full BX3 | Realistic organ with killer Leslie emulation - |
| B125 TheFinalFrontier | Very nice sci-fi effect |
Combi C
Stream all Combi C demos below
| Combi name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| C00 TrinitySoundRack | Full-out synth orchestra |
| C01 Power{HIT}Split | Very '90s |
| C02 UndeWater Parade | Wobbly synth pad |
| C03 EAuditorium+MIDI | Gorgeous piano + pad - these types of sounds were very in vogue in the mid-'80s, when MIDI was a novelty, and it was common to MIDI up together a piano and several other layers from other synths - like pads, DX7 electric pianos etc. |
| C05 Soft Galaxy | Fantastic filters in action... this synth reminds me of the JD-990... quality sounds, gorgeous effects, pristine audio... |
| C08 Liquid String | Beautiful, melancholic string pad... beauty and perfection |
| C09 Flanged DDL Bass | Nice early Techno style synth lead, vaguely reminds of certain sounds used by British electronic bands of the early '90s such as 808 State |
| C13 L-R WACKO Kit | Drums are one of the strong points of this machine! |
| C17 Deeep Bass & Pad | Classic Drum 'n' Bass setup |
| C21 Asteroid Orbits | Nice rising synth fx |
| C26 Antarctic Night | Yep |
| C30 Tape Strings | Inspired by the classic Mellotron |
| C37 Tsunami Strikes! | Extremely full-bodied |
| C46 Obesity Bass | Nice distorted bass |
| C47 Bellish Stuff | More pretty bells. |
| C50 Buenas Dias | Super-evolving motion synth! |
| C71 Ac.Bass & Sax | Realistic split. |
| C80 Evan's Horn | Fantastic orchestral brass!!! |
| C90 Solar Bell Pad | Cute bell pad |
| C92 Any Dynamic | '80s sounding |
| C99 Piano+Strings | Stupendous, classic layer - perfect for ballads |
| C122 Holy, Holy, Holy | Nice church choir |
| C125 Nemo | Rising pad |
Combi D
Stream all Combi D demos below
| Combi name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| D01 Waffle Mallot | "Jumpy" percussive synth |
| D03 Empty Auditorium | Decent grand piano patch |
| D05 Marvel Starship | Sci-fi fx |
| D13 Hip Hop Hits | Classic '90s sampler fodder |
| D17 Phat Bass & PAD | Beautiful split - the bass is so round and full, and the string pad is to die for. |
| D32 Lapponian Sleigh | Different, cool |
| D46 Techno Bass-Syn | A bit digital, but works |
| D48 Looney Tunes | Very, very cool recreation of the classic Looney Tunes theme |
| D50 Wavestation Pad | Inspired by Korg's earlier masterpiece machine |
| D62 Mosquito Boy | Buzzy and cool |
| D69 Almost Asleep | Dreamy pad |
| D77 Splits4SciFi | Sci fx, very good |
| D114 Forever Waiting | Nice evolving string pad |
| D119 French Tines | Cool FM piano + accordion patch |
| D125 One Finger 4 SFX | Very good alien soundscapes |
Prog A
| Prog name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| A00 Tsunami Warning | Warm and full reso-pad |
| A01 Acoustic Piano | Standard grand piano patch |
| A02 Alto Sax | Expressive contralto saxophone |
| A03 Take Voices | Perhaps inspired by the famous a cappella group "Take 6" |
| A04 Finger Pickin' | Typical acoustic guitar |
| A05 VS Bell Boy | Inspired by the classic Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, the classic and first Vector Synthesis based synth |
| A06 Fretless Bass | Good fretless |
| A07 Stereo Strings | Very wide |
| A08 Standard Kit | Solid drums, clean and realistic |
| A09 Ultra Res. Sweep | Nice resonant filter sweeps |
| A10 Velocity Organ | Yep |
| A15 Indian Duet | Classic sitar combo |
| A18 SweetSilverFlute | Expressive traverse flute |
| A22 Vinyl Rap Bass | At some point during the '90s, it was very popular to add sampled vinyl record noise to songs, particularly in rap/hip-hop styles |
| A23 Solo String(SW1) | Nice viola/violin |
| A24 Lethal Drum Hit | Excellent, huge drum |
| A25 That Heaven Vibe | Superb vibraphone + string pad in fifths |
| A26 Rotary Organ | Another cool-sounding organ + rotor effect |
| A32 Frozen Crystals | Classic '90s sparkly pad |
| A33 90's Piano | Variant of the classic M1 piano - The '90s version a bit brighter, hi-fi |
| A34 Clarinet | Honest clarinet patch |
| A40 Mega-Mix! Kit | All the usual suspects are here - 808, 909... |
| A42 Pipe Tutti | Another fine church organ |
| A48 Moon Walking | Nice Wavestation-like patch |
| A50 Oboe | Realistic |
| A56 Asian Gong | Very cool and not that easy to find in a synth's ROM |
| A58 Jazz-Organ 2 | Classic jazz Hammond with the middle-drawbars not pulled out |
| A62 SnoopDoggy Bass | Inspired by the classic Snoop Doggy Dog's bass sound during a period of the '90s |
| A64 Dragon's Lair | A breathy dragon |
| A65 Clav Control | Standard Hohner Clavinet |
| A67 Analog Strings | Marvelous, analog-sounding string pad |
| A70 Mono Slap Bass | Tight, in monophonic mode for added expressivity |
| A74 Garage Organ | Nice, classic transistor organ of the '60s |
| A81 20,000 Fathoms | Spacey sound fx |
| A86 30303 Mega Bass | Inspired by the classic Roland TB-303 |
| A88 Jazz-Brush Kits | Phenomenal, well-recorded bebop kit, very realistic |
| A89 Analog Power | Okay |
| A94 Mr. Nightmare | Yep |
| A98 Pan Flute | The instrument of the Andes |
| A104 BassDrums&Snares | Whoo-ho, percussion galore! |
| A108 Tuba | Decent tuba sound |
| A118 Monster Bass | Quick decay resonant bass |
| A120 01-W Total Kit | Taken from the classic Korg 01/W workstation - the drums on the 01 series (and also on the T3) were a notable improvement over the M1 series |
| A123 Shakuhachi | Very cool rendition of the famous Japanese instrument |
| A126 The UFO Appears | Yes |
Prog B
| Prog name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| B00 Sky Diver... | Another nice motion synth / Wavestation patch |
| B04 Steel String Gtr | Cool fret slide noises added to the patch to make it more realistic |
| B06 Jacobass | Good electric fretless bass, similar sound character to Jaco Pastorius |
| B14 Monster Lead | Digi lead |
| B16 Hands of Time | Reminds me of several sounds on the Kurzweil K2000 series |
| B18 Piccolo | Lovely piccolo flute. |
| B32 Aurora Borealis | More bells |
| B36 Dad's JazzGuitar | Realistic hollow-body |
| B46 Espresso Lead | Modulated lead |
| B49 Super Whirly | Classic Wurlitzer EP200 electric piano sound |
| B51 Super Pad | Nice |
| B53 Solar Motion | Nicely cinematic |
| B54 Euro 8va Bass | Reminds of '80s band Erasure |
| B57 Analog Pad | Quality. |
| B63 Bouzouki | The famous Greek instrument |
| B64 Vocal Motion | Cool vocal samples and atmospheric pad |
| B83 Air Thing | Okay |
| B93 Wooden Slit Drum | Basic but cool sounding |
| B95 Banjo Andro | Expressive banjo patch |
| B96 Scanners | More sci-fi |
| B106 Full Organ | Organ with all drawbars pulled out, and two-velocity Leslie speaker |
| B113 Birds & Bugs | Nice ambient patch |
| B117 Pot Covers | Sparkly and nice! |
| B118 Pull Me Please | Very good slapped bass |
Prog C
| Prog name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| C00 Soft-StereoPiano | Nice example of grand piano |
| C01 Clear Mallet | Hypnotic mallet |
| C03 ...sleep... | Another cool soundtrack patch |
| C10 HipHop-Rap Kit | Very good, punchy drums |
| C11 Tape Synth | More Mellotron-inspired goodness |
| C14 ST Sus.Band Hit | Yep |
| C20 KBed E.P. | Classic '80s FM piano |
| C21 Noctiluca | Beautiful evolving synth |
| C27 Old & Analog | Inspired by the early modular synths |
| C30 ST Disonant Hit | Yep |
| C33 Dance Lead | Typical, huge '90s Euro lead |
| C36 FM Tubular | Inspired by the great DX7's patch "TUB BELLS" |
| C40 ClassicM1Organ2 | Quintessential M1 style organ - In this example I'm playing Crystal Waters' classic dance hit "Gypsy Woman" |
| C47 Upright Bass | Realistic and well-sampled |
| C48 Super CP Layer | Superb example inspired from the classic Yamaha CP-series of electro-acoustic pianos - widely used in the '80s |
| C49 brak | Trancey |
| C63 Mg Lead (Ribbon) | Typical Moog solo synth |
| C64 M1 Piano | Another classic M1 sound - widely used in the '80s and '90s for House. |
| C66 Saw Pad | Perfect, warm pad. |
| C71 WAVE STATION | Yes |
| C74 Jungle Kit | Nails the typical Jungle / Drum 'n' Bass drum set / ReCycled Amen loop |
| C95 Razor Bass | Groovy |
| C98 Cyborg Pad' | Very Blade Runner |
| C113 Analog Scuttlin | Spiky synth |
| C125 Touch Wah '70s | Excellent rendition of an electric guitar through wah |
| C126 ST 5th Choir hit | Nice Techno House sound! |
Prog D
| Prog name with audio demo in mp3 | My comments |
| D00 NeuroSurgery | Resonant filter goodness |
| D01 SinisterDrug@3AM | Spacey sound fx |
| D02 Digital Polysix | Very nice impression of Korg's early single-oscillator analog polyphonic, with the EG Intensity set at negative levels. |
| D07 Tek Quire | Superb digital choir hit! |
| D09 Reggae Organ | Classic organ sound suitable for reggae skanking |
| D10 Pop-R&B Kit | Quality drums |
| D10 Pop-R&B Kit (2nd take) | More examples of quality drums |
| D15 Saw303Devotee JS | Another 303 |
| D18 Dynamic Rave | The Rave is on |
| D20 Dark Moog | Clean and powerful Moog synth bass |
| D29 Pop Strings 1 | Beautiful analog strings |
| D30 Meditate | Charming, evolving, mysterious pad |
| D39 Rez Motion Sweep | Nice |
| D46 Rubber Banned | Cool patch - reminds me of the '80s |
| D48 Rising The Sun | Very well-crafted |
| D60 WarmPickedBass | Typical "James Bond style" electric bass played with pick |
| D77 Ice Whistle | Cold! |
| D83 Chasing Comets | More Wavestation-like greatness |
| D89 Staccato Pad | Inspired by my favorite patch ever, the D-50's "Staccato Heaven" - one of Eric Persing's incredible sound design works. |
| D95 SQ 303Devotee JS | Nice TB-303, this time using the square waveform |
| D96 Hallucinating | Beautiful pad, perfect for documentaries or film work |
| D99 Teknostatic | Cool electronic lead |
| D118 Sticky Rez Clav | Analog Clavinet |
| D120 SineUsoid | Cool sine wave lead |
| D124 Downsizinng | Nice variation of the classic Roland α-Juno/MKS-50 "Hoover" sound |
| D125 Euro Stab | Yep |
| D127 Rain Forest | Perfect soundscape |
| Korg TR-Rack | |
| Year of release: | 1997 |
| Polyphony: | 32 voice |
| Sound generation method: | PCM |
| Preset memories | 512 Combi, 512 Prog |
| MIDI: | in, out, thru |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | no |
| Sequencer | no |
| Arpeggiator | no |
| Effects | Yes |
| Velocity | yes |
| Aftertouch | yes |
Resources:
- Review in "Keyboard magazine" ____ _____
Korg TR-Rack pictures
(click on thumbnails to enlarge)
Korg TR-Rack manual
available at www.korg.com
Links
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |
| www.korg.com | Manufacturer site | home page |
Korg TR-Rack review with audio demo - June 8, 2008