Nick Shankar alias CHRONOS ist ein Künstler aus Russland, der sich musikalisch auf Ambient- und Ethno-Texturen konzentriert. Uns lässt er in Form von kostenlosen Sounds daran teilhaben.

Briefly describe yourself and your music.

Nick Shankar: CHRONOS is a musical creation by musician & producer Nick Klimenko (aka dj Shankar) from Moscow, Russia. Since 2001, the project has produced many audio-visual performances based on sacral and esoteric ideas. The aim is to bring together music and people under the vision and slogan of "Music for awakening consciousness". Chronos blends ambient/ethnic influences with chillout/trip trance vibrations.

In 2007, the debut album "Steps To The Great Knowledge" was released by Sunline Records,Canada. The second Chronos album release - "Quid Est Veritas?" is due at the beginning of 2009. The music of Chronos was on television ("Screen 5" channel in Moscow) and got airplay on different shows such as "Signs" by Volodia dj Fonar (Moscow), Bulgarian Radio Powernet (official presentation of the debut album), and by many DJs around the world. By now, Chronos became one of the most respected live acts in Moscow, Russia. Nick is a label DJ and artist for Ajana rec & Sunline Records, too.

What features on your Korg instrument inspired you to create your sounds?

Nick Shankar: All Korg instruments are very intuitive for use. MicroX has 4 knobs on the panel that add up to 12 real-time controllers via the External Control function. It's very useful as a real time controller in live sessions, studio recordings, and for various virtual instruments.

The second thing that is very fundamental to me is the editor which can function as a virtual host program (VSTi). This helps me to navigate, change and safe parameters very fast. The microX is easily connected with the computer via USB. I can even record any automation of every synth parameter in my sequencer application.

And the third aspect to me is the killer arpegiator which gives me total freedom to create phrases and sequences while changing tempo, pattern and other functions in real time!

How, when und where do you use your KORG instrument and your sounds?

Nick Shankar: I'm using my microX for big live events, since it's very compact and can fit in a small bag.

It is like a little brother but it sounds very massive and impressive. The microX lets me add more feeling to my live performance. The rich set of timbres helps me finding interesting solutions for every new track and the synth makes it easy to change each desired parameter live. Also, it's great in any studio environment, connected via USB with my host sequencer, using the special KORG VSTi software editor for creating my own sounds and controlling them in real time just as you like. 

What thrills you most about your KORG instrument?

Nick Shankar: There is this easy-to-navigate and intuitive interface, which is true for all KORG synthesizers then there are various sets of patches, which catch most popular styles of music, there is this softness of the sound and last but not least the wide set of parameters to be controlled in real time!

www.myspace.com/chronosproject