TR-Rack
Expanded Access Module


Here we have the Korg TR-Rack, the expanded rack-mount version of the groundbreaking Trinity.

This synth features 32Mb of 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.


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.

 

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

Stream all Prog A demos below

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

Stream all Prog B demos below

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

Stream all Prog C demos below

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

Stream all Prog D demos below

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:

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