Korg M3: Useful facts about banks, system default data, and memory
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Complete list of system default data

The following list assumes that you have System Version 2.0.0 or later):

  • Programs
    • General EDS programs are in Program Banks I-A through I-E and U-A through U-C
    • U-D contains 32 Drum Kits and 32 Vocoder Programs; the rest of the Bank is currently empty
    • U-E contains 128 EDS programs based on the EX-USB-PCM 01/02 samples (requires that EX-USB-PCM 01 and/or 02 has been loaded to sample RAM)
    • I-F contains Programs for the EXB-RADIAS (only if you have an EXB-RADIAS)
    • I-G contains GM programs, which are effectively Program Bank G, g(1)~g(9) and g(d) (all accessed by repeatedly pushing the Bank I-G button - these cannot be edited or replaced)
    • U-F is where the 128 RADIAS Programs from the rdsv2_daz.pcg file go by default (it is provided by KORG and must be loaded manually); otherwise this Bank is empty
    • U-G was empty by default; The 27 Programs for the M3 V1 Piano samples from EX-USB-PCM 04 go here by default
  • Combis
    • General combis based on the EDS programs are in Combi Banks I-A through I-C
    • Korg-produced combis for the EXB-RADIAS go to Combi Bank I-F by default (must be loaded manually from the RADCOMV2.PCG file provided by KORG)
    • U-E contains 32 Combis based on the EX-USB-PCM 01/02 Programs; the rest of the Bank is currently free
    • U-F is where 56 RADIAS V2 Combis from the rdsv2_daz.pcg go by default (the file is provided by KORG and must be loaded manually)
    • Combi Banks I-D, I-E, I-G, U-A to U-D and U-G are currently empty by default.
  • Several default Programs and Combis using those Programs now require that one ore more of the EX-USB-PCM 01, 02, 03 sample packs have been loaded into sample RAM in order to sound properly or be not quiet at all. Since the internal RAM can hold only one of the sample extensions, an EXB-M256 is required for a few sounds that use two sample sets (01 and 02). All of those Programs and Combis have an appropriate mark in their name (EX1, EX2, EX3).
  • KARMA Generated Effects (GEs)
    • 2093 total GEs in a single Preset Bank (cannot be edited or replaced)
    • 1024 User GEs in GE Banks A through H
  • The 32 internal Drum Kits are in Drum Kit Bank INT
  • Global settings are stored in a special location
  • RADIAS formant motions used by the programs in bank I-F are stored in a special location
  • Internal drum patterns and user drum patterns are stored in a special location

The following list assumes that you have System Version 1.2.0:

  • Programs
    • General programs are in Program Banks I-A through I-D and U-A through U-D
    • Vocoder programs are in the first 32 slots of Program Bank I-E
    • Programs for the EXB-RADIAS are in Program Bank I-F (only if you have an EXB-RADIAS)
    • GM programs are in Program Bank G, g(1)~g(9) and g(d) (all accessed by repeatedly pushing the Bank G button - these cannot be edited or replaced)
  • Combis
    • General combis are in Combi Banks I-A through I-C
    • Korg-produced combis for the EXB-RADIAS are in Combi Bank I-F by default
  • KARMA Generated Effects (GEs)
    • 2093 total GEs in a single Preset Bank (cannot be edited or replaced)
  • The 32 internal Drum Kits are in Drum Kit Bank INT
  • Global settings are stored in a special location
  • RADIAS formant motions used by the programs in bank I-F are stored in a special location
  • Internal drum patterns and user drum patterns are stored in a special location

Limitations of the GLOBAL Load Preload/Demo Data command

  • Only Combi Banks I-A, I-B, and I-C can be restored with the system default combis. All other combi banks will be untouched. If you have installed the 128 Free Korg-produced combis for the EXB-RADIAS, these must be restored some other way, such as from the RADCOMB.PCG file in which they are distributed.
  • Only Program Banks I-A through I-F (and the 2 internal GM banks) and U-A through U-D can be restored with the system default programs. All other program banks will be untouched.
  • Drum Kits behave differently than combis and programs. When you restore to INT, the 32 internal system default drum kits are restored to the INT bank. However, when you restore to any other bank, such as U-A, what happens is that the first 16 kits from INT are copied into the bank.

Useful conclusions regarding the previous two sections

  • Only Program Banks U-F and U-G are free for your own use, or for loading programs from 3rd-party sound sets.
  • Combi Banks U-A through U-D and U-F and U-G are free for your own use or for loading combis from 3rd-party sound sets. Some internal banks are free too, but do so at your own risk because by definition these are reserved for future system use.
  • The User Drum Kit banks have only 16 slots each, as opposed to the single internal bank which has 32 slots.
  • If you want to clear out any of the following banks (completely wipe all data in them), you cannot do so from the Load Preload/Demo Data command. Instead, you must have a clean, empty copy of that bank type in a PCG file somewhere and manually load that empty bank into the bank that you want to clear out:
    • Program Banks U-F, and U-G
    • Combi Banks I-D, I-E, I-G, and U-A through U-D, U-F, and U-G
    • Drum Kit Banks U-A through U-G
    • The exception to this is that you can initialize a bank of programs by changing the bank type from EDS to Radias using the Global Menu Command Set Prog User-Bank Type.
  • There is only one location for RADIAS formant motion data, so if a 3rd-party sound set loads up its own RADIAS formant motions, the system default RADIAS programs in program bank I-F will not work as intended until you restore the system default RADIAS formant motions somehow (either via a PCG file that includes the default formant motions, or by using the GLOBAL Load Preload/Demo Data command).
  • There is only one location for user drum patterns, so if a 3rd-party sound set loads up its own user drum patterns, your personally-developed programs (or programs from another 3rd-party sound set that uses custom drum patterns) might not work as intended until you restore the original user drum patterns from a PCG file where you saved them.

Which data is permanent

Things stored in system ROM persist even when the M3 is turned off. Note that edits you make to these data types are also permanently saved. The data types stored in system ROM are:

  • Programs, combis, and drum kits. (However, programs and drum kits that are mapped to user-created multisamples and samples in RAM will need to have those samples reloaded every time you turn on the M3.)
  • Global settings
  • RADIAS motion formants
  • Internal drum patterns
  • User drum patterns
  • User GEs

Which data is temporary

Things stored in system RAM disappear when the M3 is turned off and must be reloaded every time you turn on the M3 and want to work with the objects that depend on these data types. You must take care to save newly-created or edited data of these sorts to external media before you turn off the M3. The data types stored in system RAM are:

  • Samples and multisamples that were loaded from external media.
  • Samples and multisamples that you have created in SAMPLING mode.
  • Samples and multisamples that were loaded from KEP files (the EX-USB-PCM sampling data)
  • Song files and cue list data that you have loaded from external media or created in SEQ mode.
  • The M3 demo songs that you have loaded with the GLOBAL Load Preload/Demo Data command.

Ensuring that sampling data is automatically remapped when loading multiple sound sets

  • When you load a KSC file using the Clear allocation option, it completely clears all available RAM Samples space, then loads the samples and multisamples from the KSC file into the exact sample and multisample slots that are recorded in the KSC file.

    Note: The amount of available space for RAM Samples depends on how much EX-USB-PCM data is already loaded into memory. In MEDIA mode, on the EX-USB-PCM tab, a colored graph shows you how much space is currently used up by EX-USB-PCM data. Any samples and multisamples loaded in from a KSC file (or that you've manually created during this session in SAMPLING mode) are depicted as RAM Samples. The current remaining Free space is also indicated in the graph. EX-USB-PCM data uses up available memory but it does not use any of the sample or multisample slots, and it is not automatically cleared by the Clear allocation option. The only way to unload EX-USB-PCM data to free up more space for sampling data is to select on of the loaded EX-USB-PCMs and press Unload.
  • When you load a KSC file using the Append allocation option, it loads the samples and multisamples from the KSC file into sample and multisample slots that follow the last currently-occupied slot in each area of RAM. Unless you follow the procedure described below, the Append option can mess up the programs and drum kits that use this sampling data, because the programs expect to find their multisamples in a specific multisample slot number and the drum kits expect to find their samples in a specific sample slot number.

To ensure that your loaded programs can always find the correct multisamples and that your drum kits can always find the correct samples, you have two options:

  • Load the KSC file using the Clear allocation option. However, this makes it difficult to put more than one 3rd-party sound set in the M3 at a time, because each sound set will probably have their own custom (multi)samples that need to be loaded in RAM.
  • Load the KSC file in the same load operation as its corresponding PCG file and choose the Append allocation option for the KSC file before pressing OK to start the load operation. By loading both the PCG file and the KSC file together in a single operation like this, the M3 will dynamically re-map the programs and drum kits to point to the new RAM slots into which it loads the sampling data, thereby keeping every thing linked up properly. This enables you to load multiple 3rd-party sound sets into the M3 as long as only one of the loaded sound sets requires the user drum patterns area and/or the RADIAS formant motions area.

    There are two ways to load both a PCG file and its corresponding KSC file in the same load operation:
    • By loading the KSC file and in the resulting load dialog selecting the Load [filename].PCG too option (and the Append option for Select .KSC Allocation).
    • By loading the PCG file and in the resulting load dialog selecting the Load [filename].KSC too option (and the Append option for Select .KSC Allocation).
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