KORG PA 300 Proffesional Arranger Keyboard Review

Korg is a Japanese company that creates innovative and high-quality instruments for professionals, and music creators in general.

This would go for anyone to approach the instrument because of its functionality overall, and it helps in creating a good music experience for you.

Here, I will be focusing on one of their digital pianos which is the Korg PA 300, a very versatile and affordable keyboard ideal for live, studio, and performance. 

 The Korg PA 1000 is known for its,

  Korg PA 300 Features

The PA 300 keyboards has loads of great ways to make your music, with styles and hundreds of sounds, a sequencer, and also the ability to playback not just MIDI files but also mp3s. 

Apart from this, it offers TFT display, arranger keyboard, and Enhanced guitar mode that provides every part of the guitar. 

However, we will touch upon each of its features in detail to understand them well.

Touch screen and Color screen

The arranger keyboard here is based on the concept of ‘Style’.

A style could be referred to as a collection of musical instruments and, settings that convey a specific type of music.

For example, if I wanted to select a Latin style, I would just touch the screen, touch the Latin tab and touch let's say 'cumbia'.

Then you start to play a chord and press the start/stop, button and the style will react to the chord changes.

So, as I modulate, the instruments along will do the same accordingly.

Design and Structure

Each style has four different variations, three intros, and three endings, and they're all ultra-realistic piano sounds, with smooth dynamics.

 Apart from this, another feature called the 'ensemble feature' that automatically harmonizes the right hand playing with the chords in the left hand.

​The styles that are built into the PA,300 cover a whole world of sound from, big band to jazz to Latin to Middle, Eastern styles all kinds of music are, represented in the PA 300.

Although, you can get more available in the global sound and style shop by downloading new sounds, and styles that you can add to your PA series keyboards flexibility.

Sound Quality with Multiple Effects

The overflooded sound varieties is what arranger keyboards are known for, and the KORG PA 300 does the wonderful job of exceeding the expectation in this segment.

It comes preloaded with whooping 950+ sounds, General MIDI sound set, drum kit set too.

PA 300 also includes multilayer piano sounds which are extracted in high quality from the iconic Grand Pianos of the brand.

Apart from that, to enhance the overall playing experience, the damper pedal resonance and string resonance are near perfectly replicated in the digital form.

It also gives the freedom to customize the tones and nuances which can also be saved locally.

The Pa300 has 4 Stereo Master Effects processors, with 125 of these effects.

Some effects include Reverb, Delay and Chorus and some universally acclaimed guitar-based effects for authentic guitar tones.

Meanwhile, each track features an EQ or a frequency with Low, Mid, and High controls.

You can also customize any song according to your preference, which I will get to a little later in the sequencer mode.

​There is also a Real Experience Technology engine that drives every aspect of the PA 300- from the synthesis to the display and how it all works together.

On the other hand, a lot of realistic guitar strumming and that is pretty cool. 

For example, if you select the guitar sound, and then select 'folk' guitar you can hear a body slap on the guitar also by, playing the upper octaves.

However, the noises are associated with playing an acoustic guitar and those are used, throughout the styles. You can hear this kind of behavior with other instruments as well. 

For example, a trumpet sound and based on how hard I press the key, I'll get different inflections. 

Sequencer Mode

For songwriting, the PA series keyboards are indispensable tools.

So, if I have composed a that I want to record, at the same time I've been playing a style that I really enjoy called funk R&B, but now I want to write a song with it. How would I do these all together?

For this, I will select the sequencer mode, press the record button, select ‘backing sequence’, and touch okay.

Apart from this, there is another great method in which you can press record, and go to step back in sequence and touch okay. There you can see the song as a list of events.

You can go back and check the chord that you messed up and play the right one, and it's done.

The next thing you will notice is that, it picks up intensity, and you can hear the chords that have been fixed and the intensity changes automatically.

Now, supposing you're a singer-songwriter, and you want to come up with a demo, but you don't have the chops to play all the different instruments yourself, but you can play a few chords.

The perfect arranger keyboard like the PA,300 can help you with this by developing your idea into a finished product.

However, the PA Series keyboards are also ideal for solo players.

​If you're the only musician in the room, and you need to sound like you've got the whole band, the style collection can help you out.

On the other hand, there's also a great feature called the songbook. Once you select the songbook button you can instantly get access to a huge list of song titles.

So, for example, if I need to take requests live, I can go right to the songbook and call up the settings for the most appropriate song.

I can even select by different criteria by specifying a name, or a genre of music, an artist even a tempo or meter range to suit whatever mood is necessary.

Connections Available 

Some of the more technical aspects to the instrument include a search function that will help retrieve or get back a source or file that you forgot to save.

The Korg PA 300 has an Operating System update that will help you load new features and enhancements and a huge amount of space for internal memory.

Here, you get connectivity like, USB of a High-Speed port that helps for connecting external devices like hard disks, CD- ROM drives, USB memory sticks, etc.

Apart from this, the USB port also helps you connect a personal computer. This port can be used for file transfer, and for MIDI connection that is between sound modules, controllers, and sequencers.

Accessories

The Korg PA 300 offers you a soft and dedicated case to keep the piano safe from dust and scratch.

With the help of the soft case, you can carry the keyboards easily from one place to another. 

However, I will recommend you to purchase two additional accessories.

• Headphone 
• Bench
• Keyboard stand
• Sustain Pedal 

My Experience with the Korg PA 300

The Korg PA 300 has a really good sound quality to me and that enhances my playing experience. It has one of the best sound engines found on any keyboard in my opinion.

There isn't a keyboard with such realistic and amazing sound quality as far I have heard till date.

One of the defining features of a Korg keyboard is the sound quality and the Korg PA 300 gets that for you.

It is the perfect instrument for music composers and even newbies for that matter as far in my knowledge.

It delivers a smooth, rich, and natural sound and has a huge number of genres and features that help make your experience easier and more fun.

So, if you need accessories to create great music, there’s a bundle in variety that you can choose from that will suit your needs.

That's all from my side.

Till then,

Keep playing and Spread Love.