Korg Electribe A (EA-1) and Electribe R (ER-1) "The cure for the common groove" brochure, 1999

Korg Electribe A (EA-1) and Electribe R (ER-1) "The cure for the common groove" two page colour brochure from 1999.

Hey - an early morning post from me! Gotta get it out of the way before the Pet Shop Boys pre-sale begins!  :)

So, a short while back Korg tweeted out a Bob's Burgers gif that featured a synth. No, it wasn't the ol' one with Gene Belcher flying through the clouds in a diaper with synths floating all around him:. Although that is a classic...

No. This is one I hadn't seen before. It's Gene (of course) playing with what is unmistakably a Korg Electribe ER-1! Hubba!! It's so new, I can't even find it anywhere online yet. Kudos to Korg for being so quick on the ball.

Credit where credit is due... here's the tweet from Korg.

That gif made me happy enough to get off my ass and go looking through my packed up files to find this Electribe EA-1/ER-1 brochure from 1999.

Korg released the EA-1 and ER-1 together at 1999 Winter NAMM, and since the brochure is dated 1999, I'm guessing its one of the earlier batches of Electribe marketing material. A great start to what will become classic machines.

The cover of the brochure is exactly what you would, and should, expect from a 1999 Electribe brochure. Its definitely got that 90's techno/rave flyer vibe happening. The italicized fonts for titles, the glitchy video backgrounds behind the descriptive text, the crazy background patterns. Its all there.

The brochure does a super job explaining the two machines as well, with the two subtitles "the classic analog tweak box" and "the ultimate analog beat box" and just enough descriptive text without feeling overwhelmed. Flip it over and get all the specs.

The ER-1 is my favourite of the two - and may be my favourite out of all the first-gen and MKII Electribes. Sure, the EA-1 is a great virtual analog synth that also makes a nice addition to any acid studio - it can really growl!  But for me, the ER-1 is *definitely* the cure for the common groove and my secret weapon when I want to add an extra something-something to a techno track. And its not just the analog feel I dig - I'm even a fan of the PCM samples used for the 909-ish open and closed hi-hats.

So what exactly makes the ER-1 sound so unique and sit so well in a track? It's got everything to do to the motion sequencer. That feature allow it's sounds in a pattern to jump around and fill out unoccupied space with crazy harmonic changes in just the right way.  Add to that n awesome delay and extremely simple interface with just the right amount of programming options and you end up with an electro-making juggernaut in a box.

But don't take my word for it - read Chris Carter's review of both machines from the July 1999 issue of Sound on Sound magazine.

Spoiler alert - here's his summary for the ER-1:

"What a refreshing change, a beat box that doesn't want to sound like every other beat box. Plenty of innovative features and tons of parameters yet so easy to use. It really makes you want to experiment and try out new sounds and rhythms. Cheap too, so I'm buying one."

His summary for the EA-1 isn't too shabby either:

"A bold attempt to break the dance workstation mould with something a little different. The EA-1 is a very capable and great sounding synth/sequencer combination whether you are on a budget or have just won the Lottery. Go on, get analogue modelling you'll feel better for it."

I will never, ever give up my ER-1.

Korg DS-8 "Eight Advantages" brochure, 1987

Korg DS-8 synthesizer "Eight Advantages" four page colour brochure from 1987.

Well, after posting that relatively interesting Korg 707 brochure back in March, how could I not follow up at some point with Korg's other FM-based synth that came out around the same time - the DS-8.

In that post, I touched upon Korg's easy-to-use interface in order to bring Yamaha's FM synthesis to us simpletons. If you look behind the curtain though, you'll find what's really pulling those FM strings - the Wizard of Opp! Otherwise known as Yamaha's FM Operator Type P (OPP) chip, also otherwise known as the YM2164.

Here - I snarfed this photo from the Wikipedia page for the chip:

The chip could be found in the DS-8 as well as the Korg 707, along with a few Yamaha synths from the time period.

Now, putting aside the amazingly interesting fact that Korg used Yamaha's chips in the first place, I did some research into the chip itself, and quickly learned its actually an "enhanced" YM2151 chip (aka OPM or FM Operator Type-M chip). The 2151 was Yamaha's first single-chip FM sound generator that could be found in the DX-21, DX-27 and DX-100, and interestingly also found its way into many non-Yamaha products such as arcade games and pinball machines, and even a few of Sharp's home computers.

But, the Korg 707 and DS-8's multi-midi support required slightly more enhanced abilities, and that's where the enhanced YM2164 chip shines.

A bit more digging, and I quickly realized that quite a few other Yamaha chips exist. A small sampling include the:

YM2154 - made for the Yamaha RX-15 drum machine, apparently for the PCM sounds of the rhythm samples.

YM2409 and YM2412 -  used in the Yamaha TX16W, Yamaha's first sampler

YM2414 -  found in the purely magical Yamaha TX81Z, which is what gave it the ability to choose from 8 different wave forms rather than just using 4-OP sine waves.

How cool is that! I love learning new things. And makes me want to collect Yamaha synths based solely on chip sets!  Check out this comprehensive list of Yamaha chips/feature sets that someone has begun to put together.  Lots more chips and gear in that list!

I find it interesting that Korg chose to make the DS-8 and 707 look so different from each other. I get that some features had to be different - the DS-8 joystick looks very Korg, but the 707's performance wheels make much more sense when the keyboard is hanging from your neck.

But in a era when so many manufacturers were making a generation worth of instruments look very similar to each other such as Yamaha's DX/TX synth and rack series or Roland's MKS rack series, Korg intentionally made these two synths look *very* different from one another.

Just an observation.  :)

Korg 707 "Performing Synthesizer" brochure, 1987

Korg 707 synthesizer "Performing Synthesizer" four page colour brochure from 1987.

One word - smarties!

I gotta say I love the aesthetics of the Korg 707. For one, it has the same form factor as the Poly-800 with those lovely guitar strap pegs on the sides. But, where that 800 modulation joystick isn't in the best position to bend notes and add LFO while slung around your neck, the 707 has two modulation wheels conveniently located on the top-right edge - the perfect position for your left hand.

But more importantly, the 707 have those delicious smarties buttons. They make my mouth water.

Those in the U.S. may not know what I'm talking about, because as far as the U.S. is concerned, the word smarties conjures up this chalky mess:

But in Canada, smarties are these delicious candy covered chocolate treats:

Mmmmm... yummy.

And so in Canada, and I'm guessing elsewhere, those rounded buttons found on Korg synths like the M1 and 707 have been nicknamed "smarties" buttons. 

And I love 'em. Almost as much as I love the programmers behind the sound of the 707.

The 707's engine is a 4-operator FM synth. But, until like most other FM synthesizers that require physics degrees and unmanageable menus of carriers, modulators and ratios, the creators of the 707 have done away with the complicated programming found on the DX-100 or TX81Z, and replaced them with three sliders for tibre, EG1 and EG2. As it says in the brochure, "these sliders alter many parameters simultaneously". 

I'm hearing your argument already - even just messing slightly with one simple parameter on a classic FM synthesizer can quickly turn your lovely string sound into something really crazy and unmusical.  And now with the 707, attaching one slider to many different parameters all at once is going to lead to total chaos really fast. 

Nope. 

The smarty-pants (see what I did there) at Korg apparently created fixed frequency ratios and algorithms so that the 707 is much more likely to pump out musically useful tones when those sliders are moved.  Sure, if you're Autechre, you may not like this much... but your average musician will dig this simplification lots. 

Beauty.

And speaking of beauty, the brochure is a thing of beauty too. Large cover image, even larger photo on the inside pages.

But two things in particular stood out for me.

The first is that lovely little Korg 25th anniversary "Because We Love Music" logo in the bottom right corner of the front page.  Sure enough, I used my fingers and counted back 25 years from 1987 and yup -1962. Correct! And I like that the logo isn't a big honkin' thing in the middle of the page either. It's nicely sized and positioned. A simple nod to the past. 

The other thing in particular that stood out for me... are you ready for this (it blew my mind)...

The 707 came in FOUR DIFFERENT COLOURS.  

WHAT?!?! Was I the only one that didn't know this?  Black. White. Blue. AND PINK. 

HOT PINK.

I snarfed this photo from a 2-year old Reverb posting.

That thing looks gorgeous. I want one. 

Now. 

Korg DDD-1 Dynamic Digital Drums brochure, 1986

      

 

 Korg DDD-1 Dynamic Digital Drums four-page colour brochure from 1986.

I've been slowly learning that Moog Song Producer software, but that manual is so crazy that I need to take a break and work on something else every now and then.

And I gotta say I've also been on a bit of a Korg kick lately that has begun to flow into the blog. First with that lovely 1982 Korg catalog I last posted, and now with this equally lovely D.D.D.1 (aka DDD1 aka DDD-1) brochure.

Where do I begin? How about with that lovely 80s-style front cover design created very much in the style and colouring of the Korg drum machine itself. Stacks of rectangles in the shape of the drum pads representing all sound possibilities the DDD-1 has to offer.

Flip open the cover and you've got tons of interesting brochure copy to read inside. Yet the text doesn't feel too crowded thanks to the large main image and plenty of white space between each column as well as each paragraph of text. Makes for a nice, easy read.

And flip over to the back, and we see all the specs as well as a few interesting options, including an intriguing sampling board! But I'll get back to that later.

In order to understand the significance of the Korg DDD-1 and where Korg was trying to fit this piece of kit into a crowded market place where technology was developing fast and feature/price ratios was falling even faster, we have to look at what had come previously, both from Korg and others. Here's a few examples:

1984
 - Roland TR-909: 10 sounds, $1,195
 - Sequential Circuits DrumTraks : 13 sounds, $1,295
 - LINN 9000: 18 sounds, $5000+!

1985
 - Roland TR-707/727: 15 sounds, $595
 - Sequential Circuits TOM: 8 sounds, $799
 - E-mu SP-12: 24 sounds, $2,745 - 1.2 seconds of sampling
 - Korg DDM-110/220: 9 sounds, can't find a price anywhere!).

1986
 -  Casio's RZ-1: 12 sounds, $599 - .8 seconds of sampling
 -  Roland TR-505: 16 sounds, $395.00

And, now, we slot the DDD-1 into this mix of drum machines with its 18 sounds. All for $995.00.

What's that you say? The Roland TR-505 has 16 sounds for only $395.00?

Yes, but its not just about the number of sounds the drum machine has. It's also about the features!

With the Korg DDD-1, we getting dynamics and tuning. And we can also add more sounds by plugging in up to four ROM cards (from the more than 20 to choose from). Plus, if you shell out a bit more cash, you can get the sampling board, which gives you 3.2 seconds worth of sample time - a lot more time than the RZ-1 had.

My point is, the DDD-1 found a nice niche to settle into and a pretty fair price point with lots of future possibilities for expansion. Unfortunately, I could never track down an original price of that sampling board, which would have allowed a better comparison with some of the other sampling drum machines from the time period. I'll keep looking.

Now to get back to that Moog Song Producer software I've been slowly learning for a near-future blog post.

Korg SDD-3000 "Programmable Digital Delay" ad, Keyboard 1982

Korg SDD-3000 "Programmable Digital Delay" full page colour advertisement from page 55 in the December 1982 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Aaaah - the sun is out and I'm bathing in its warmth. But for how long? I got a lot to say... better get busy. 

First and foremost, from a marketing point of view, what's really interesting about Korg's recent announcement of its new SDD-3000 Delay Pedal is that this ISN'T analog. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE analog and was first in line to get Korg's reintroduced MS-20. But if the online response to this piece of retro DIGITAL technology is any indication, analog isn't necessarily king. RETRO is. Analog. Digital. It doesn't matter. A success here will open the door for Korg and many other companies to seriously think about reintroducing a wider range of retro gear. And that's good for everybody.

Korg has really been on a string of hits lately. First with the MS20 filter in those cute little Monotrons back in 2010 and 2011, and then in the MS20mini and the kit. Those units pretty much sold themselves.

But with two of Korg's most interesting recent announcements (for me anyways), it shouldn't go unnoticed that they have been brought in some heavy hitters to partner with.

First was the totally unexpected and surprising ARP Odyssey announcement back in February where they brought in none other than ARP original Dave Friend. That is just so amazing on so many levels. And now with the SDD-3000 pedal, who's name is appearing next to it? U2 guitar tech Dallas Schoo. That's who.

Korg knows that if they are going to come out with an SDD remake, who better than to partner with than the band that single-handedly put that effects unit back on the map. I have no doubt they could have pulled it off with him, but it just wouldn't have been the same. AND, think about the negativity that could have resulted if they hadn't brought U2 guitar tech Dallas Schoo in and then he comments on how he *didn't* like it. Ouch.

 Smart move. Which brings me to my next point - another smart move by Korg.

Although the official introductory news release for Korg's NEW SDD-3000 Delay Pedal is dated July 10, 2014, Korg USA tweeted the introduction of this awesomeness just after 8 p.m. (my time :) on July 9, linking to their product page. Social media wins again. Most stogy corporations won't let anything leak until a news release goes out. And that sucks bum. In this day and age, there is no problem with giving it to the people before you give it to the media when the story is this hot.

Anyways, no matter how the news got out first, the result was a lot more happy guitarists in the world. Even the Emo ones I'm sure. AaaaaND even those of us who aren't guitarists (or barely keyboardists) who have also looked back on the SDD-3000 with such great fondness. Korg continued the SDD- tradition by later releasing the SDD-1000, SDD-1200 dual delay, SDD-2000 sampling digital delay and my personal favorite, the SDD-3300 triple digital delay. 

But as happens in the musical world, the first born is usually the favorite. And so it is with the SDD-3000 and the masses. The U2-angle obviously helped, but I think its also a favorite because it was a first for Korg and people have a soft spot for firsts.

It wasn't their first effects unit, but it was their first cool looking digital effects unit. As far as I know, before this effects unit was released,  their effects looked... well... like older effects boxes. The era of the 1-unit cool-and-sleek looking digital effects rack was still just in its infancy, and this was Korg throwing their hat into the Keyboard-Magazine-ring relatively early in the game.  

This doesn't mean it was the first 1-unit digital delay off the block, but it was probably one of the first that me and many others heard about because the only place we read about anything music-wise was in Keyboard. I'm guessing there is a good chance that other digital rack gear such as those by Lexicon were getting promoted in other magazines, but as a kid who pretty much exclusively read Keyboard, I didn't see it. As far as I was concerned, it only existed if it was in Keyboard.  :)

Let's put it in perspective a bit.

Before this Korg ad, effects advertisements and spec sheet write ups in Keyboard for the most part came in one of two forms. You had pedals being manufactured and advertised by the likes of MXR, Electro-Harmonix, Pearl and Boss, and you had big bulky effects boxes created by companies like Bode and Roland. These were what I was most interested in and the real standouts for me at the time were Roland's RE-501 delay, Yamaha's E1010 and E1005 analog delay rack units and Sequential Circuits PRO-FX system (drooooooool).

But in amongst all those ads and spec sheets, readers of Keyboard were about to get a hint of what was to come in the sleek-and-clean digital rack world.

First, in late 1981 the spec sheet section of Keyboard magazine included the new Fostex model 3050 digital delay that featured 270 milliseconds delay time for a tidy $450.00. Ohhhh.

Then in April 1982, DeltaLab published an ad in Keyboard for their Time Line DL-4 digital delay 1-unit rack and followed that up in August and October 1982 with an ad for their $499 Effectron digital delay 1-unit rack. Both slim, sleek and almost digital looking. Almost.

And then, with DeltaLabs holding the door open, Korg walked through with this SDD-3000 advertisement at the end of 1982. And although the ad didn't appear more than two or three times, it did make a statement. First, the ad was designed to be horizontal. You had to flip the magazine 90 degrees to read it. Second, the unit itself was really different looking from previous Korg effects units with its digital read-out and puuurdy yellow buttons. 

Although ADA and Ibanez would end up advertising here and there throughout 1983, it was DeltaLabs that really tried to make Keyboard's digital delay territory their own.  That company began a manufacturing and advertising blitz, first in the March 1983 issue with an ad for the whole family including the ADM-256 ($499.00), ADM-64 ($399.00) and ADM-1028 ($699.00). By August 1983 they had no less than three ads running in each issue. To compare, Korg and Yamaha both had a maximum of three ads running in a single issue at the height of their advertising blitzes. DeltaLabs was in good company.

Interestingly, it wasn't until nine months after the Kord SDD-3000 ad appeared that it was finally featured in the Spec Sheet section of the September 1983 issue of Keyboard.

"The SDD-3000 is a programmable digital delay. It was designed to produce a number of effects including chorusing, flanging, doubling, reverb, doppler effects, infinite repeats, and so on. All control settings can be stored in nine different program locations and easily recalled via push buttons or footswitches. Specs and features include: up to 1032 milliseconds of delay, 30Hz to 17kHz frequency response; stereo capability; footswitch connections for program up and down, delay bypass, and hold modes; a feedback loop with 4-position high and lowpass filters; phase inversion of feedback loop and final loop; input and output facilities on the front and rear panel; triangle, square, and random waveforms from the LFO; external and envelope control of the VCO; and 3-position input and output attenuators. Price is $1,495.00. Korg, 79 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590."

$1,495.00. Wowza. The new pedal is $399.99.  Another reason to like retro digital re-boots!

Well, I think I've rattled on long enough. Time to go out and enjoy the...

damn... raining again.

Korg family "The KORG MIDI system" 2-page ad, Keyboard 1984

 Korg "The KORG MIDI system" two-page colour advertisement including the Poly 800 and Poly-61M synthesizers, EX 800 expander module, RK 100 Remote MIDI keyboard, KMS 30 MIDI synchronizer, the 4 Track sequencer and Music Scoring software from the inside front cover and page 2 of the October 1984 issue of  Keyboard Magazine.

I didn't post this ad because it appeared on the inside front cover of Keyboard magazine from October 1984 through January 1985 before Korg replaced it with their DW-6000 ad in the February 1985 issue.

Nope.

I didn't post this ad because of the awesomeness that is this Korg MIDI system that includes the Poly 800 (I own the version with the reversed coloured keys!) - or the EX 800 that is so awesome that it takes up waaaaay to much space in a rack!

Nope.

I didn't post this because of the awesomeness that is the KMS 30 synchronizer (I own two! One for the studio and one that I just bought to sync machines for live gigs!)

Nope.

I didn't post this because of the reference to the DDM-110 and DDM-220 drum machines that only sync to DIN-sync in that lovely little "system diagram".

Nope.

I posted this for one reason, and one reason only. I'm still fixating on KORG's announcement of the ARP Odyssey!!!!!

If you live under a rock or haven't read my last post or two, maybe you didn't you hear... Korg is resurrecting the ARP Odyssey.

Didn't see that coming - and anyone not intimately involved with the project who said they did see it coming - well - they just didn't. Punch them in the neck for lying. Say it's from me.

As far as I'm concerned, that news blew everybody and their favorite synthesizer news outlet out of the water. And, interestingly, it was one of the first times ever that synth news hit me through *Facebook* before any of my other usual news sources.

Sure, possible take-away: I'm on Facebook too much.  :)

But seriously, when the original press release appeared on Korg's Web site on the morning of February 17, the news spread faster than a zombie apocalypse. Some of my favorite sites that eventually covered the news included:

MATRIXSYNTH
SOS Magazine
Attack Magazine
CreateDigitalMusic.com
Synthtopia
Fact Magazine
MusicRadar
KVR audio
Even Engadget!

And the list goes on and on.

As a marketing and communications "professional" (or "hack" as some [many] of my colleagues might call me), I'm intrigued when news spreads that quickly. I get a serious kick out of watching marketing and social media teams jump into action to get their message out there.  Especially when its such interesting, out-of-the-box, unexpected news such as this.

I can image Korg's marketing peeps huddling together for weeks on end prep'ing their strategic communications plan. Hovering over the corporate and communications objectives. Tweaking their key messages and tactics for hours with a fine-toothed comb.

You got to be ready when the media and general synthesizer public comes calling...

Or... um... maybe not... 

Now I thought I recalled getting the news in my Facebook news feed directly from Korg, but when I went back to check, I couldn't find a single post about the topic on either Korg US or Korg Canada's Facebook pages.  Looking at the Twitter feeds for Korg USA, Korg UK, and Korg Canada, they all seem eerily silent about this big news as well. Not even a simple link back to the news release.

Huh? Is it just me?  I question my findings basically due to my combination of lazy and not-that-good-at-searching-social-media. So, check it out for yourself.

It kinda makes sense though. The new Odyssey isn't coming out until September 2014 at the earliest (unless, of course, Korg surprises us *again*, and drops it in the middle of the summer. And, *that* wouldn't surprise me).

Point is - there isn't a lot more information to push out there yet.

In other words, the product isn't imminent.  

But leaks could happen.

Heck, after the whole Roland TB-3/TR-8 thang, I'm betting that synthesizer hardware leaks are almost as lucrative as Apple iPhone leaks.

So, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to Korg's reissue of the the ARP Odyssey, it wasn't a matter of "if" the news would leak, but "when". Maybe they just wanted to beat the rumor mill?

And the best way to do that is to get the news release out there and then let the synth community do the heavy lifting. If you've noticed, most, if not all of those articles, link directly back to the original Korg news release. Not to prototype videos. Not to teaser articles from Korg. That dang Korg news release. There isn't much else available officially from Korg.

But Korg has plenty of time to get the package ready - the machine isn't due out for another six month.

And I'll be waiting with my wallet open.

And drooling.

And watching their communications strategy. :)

Korg MS-20, MS-10 and SQ-10 "The Second Generation of Korg Synthesizers" brochure, 1978

Korg MS-20 and MS-10 synthesizers and SQ-10 sequencer "The Second Generation of Korg Synthesizers" brochure from approximately 1978.

 Gorgeous, eh? I know.

I've been going strong on my Strider System posts but then last week Korg came out swinging at NAMM and I just had to interrupt my thought process to post this baby. We'll get back to Strider on Thursday, but today here's my way of toasting Korg's balls for not only doing what they did, but apparently doing it RIGHT.

If you are not aware, Korg has introduced (eeerr... reintroduced?) the Korg MS20 Mini. From the Korg Web site:

"Korg’s MS-20 monophonic synthesizer, first introduced in 1978, is still a coveted instrument to this day, thanks to its thick, robust sound, its powerful, iconic analog filter, and its versatile patching options. Over 300,000 people have enjoyed the distinct MS-20 sounds from the original, from Korg’s MS-20 plug-in synth, or the iMS-20 iPad app.

Today, the sounds of the MS-20 have been reborn in hardware, as the MS-20 Mini. The same engineers who developed the original MS-20 have perfectly reproduced its circuitry and fit into a body that’s been shrunk to 86% of the original size, yet retains the distinctive look of the original"

Perfectly replicated, PLUS MIDI in and a USB connector. Hello!

Even before it was officially announced, the rumors spread fast. Vintage Synth Explorer's forum, MATRIXSYNTH and pretty much everywhere else. I'm surprised it was kept quiet for as long as it was.

Now, I love my original MS-20, but I will be first in line at my local store to pick one of these up. Heck, I may even sell my MS-20.

Well, actually... probably not. But you get my drift.

This brochure is awesome in so many ways. The font choice - spectacular. And also the front cover family photo and all the individual portrait photos of the MS-10, MS-20 and SQ-10. And also all those delicious features and specifications that accompanies each piece of gear sitting on each of their opposite pages.

Those are some nice spreads - each one would have made made it onto my bedroom wall beside my Annie Lennox poster.

And speaking of the spreads, there was a good reason that I ended up loading the inside pages separately instead of as individual spreads. Blogger has a size-limit for images, and will shrink down larger images if you upload above the limit. When I did full spreads, they horizontal width triggered resizing and shrunk 'em down to a point that the specifications weren't even legible.

Even if you shift-clicked on the images and zoomed in, the detail just wasn't good enough. I've included them below. For comparison, the above individual images were uploaded with a width of 1600 pixels. The below spreads had a width of 3200 (double). You can definitely see the difference in resolution with you shift-click on the images. Boo.

But even at this smaller size they are still mighty impressive.

The back page of the brochure is probably my favorite - both the colours and the photo are excellent. With the Stage Echo sitting there beside the synths.

One disappointing thing about this brochure is that there is no date to be found. I gave it a date of 1978 considering this is when the gear ads originally started showing up in CK - but that was back in November, so this brochure could very well have been printed in 1979 or even later. But I'm an optimist. :)

Looking back at my other posts for the MS-20 and MS-10, I realized I never posted the Spec Sheet promo that appeared in the January 1979 issue of Contemporary Keyboard, shortly after the ads for these instruments started running.

"Korg Synthesizers. The Korg MS-20 synthesizer features two 10-octave VCOs, two VCFs, a 3-octave keyboard, two envelope generators, and a programmable control wheel (modulation routing can be set up however you like). Also included are a second VCA and a white and pink noise generator. A patch panel allows interfacing with another instrument, or the MS-20 can be patched internally into routings other than those provided in the hard wiring. The Korg MS-10 is a single VCO version of the MS-20 with a 2 1/2 octave keyboard. Prices are: MS-20, $750.00; MS-10, $450.00. Unicord, 75 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590."

With the release and no doubt crazy popularity of the new MS-20 Mini imminent, I'm hoping we can expect Korg to release mini versions of the MS-10 and SQ-10 as well. And maybe it will also be the kick in the pants Roland needs to FINALLY try and bring out new versions of their XOX- line.

Drool.

Korg Poly-61 "The breakthrough in polyphonic synthesizers" ad (1-page version), Keyboard 1983

Korg Poly-61 synthesizer "The breakthrough in polyphonic synthesizers" full-page colour advertisement from the front inside cover of the August 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Well, it will be New Year's Eve and a reminder of another year gone by. As I get older I'm not sure exactly how I feel about being reminded that I'm getting on in years. And blogging about ever-increasingly older advertisements probably doesn't help the situation.

But then an ad like this one comes along and all that nostalgia fills my little aging belly with joy. In this case, it's not so much the ad itself but when it first appeared that got me thinking of the good 'ol days.

When I pull this issue of Keyboard off the shelf the first thing I see is one of my favorite all time old-skool covers featuring Thomas Dolby. That cover photo pretty much summarizes what was going on in my mind when I bought my first synthesizer... and second... and third... and forth... And there was a drum machine purchase somewhere early on too. As I flip through the mag, I re-read the article on Dolby, as well as the one on Lee Curreri (you might remember him as Bruno from Fame). And I also see familiar ads for the Prophet 600, Memorymoog, LinnDrum, and of course, the Poly-61. Aaaah... memories.

Does today's advertisement look familiar? It should.  This is the one-page version of the two-page introductory advertisement for the Poly-61 that I posted last Thursday.

I've probably mentioned it a half-dozen times, but I'm gonna say it again - resizing advertisements is an art form. Pure and simple. This looks like it was Korg's first attempt at it in Keyboard Magazine. And they did a pretty good job of it, even if they had to cut off the top of the "G" in "Korg" to do it.

When resizing ads, many green designers I've worked with first try to shrink everything down except the product itself. But Korg did the right thing to focus this ad redesign around the reduction in the size of the photo of the synth.

Even at the reduced size, many of the front panel labels, including the name of the synth, are still readable. The smaller photo allowed the designer to keep that awesome "Korg Poly-61" design treatment and ad-title at near the same size as in the two-page version (with all that glowing and lens flare effects, it's hard to believe that the first version of Photoshop wasn't released for another five years). And best of all, the ad-copy was kept at  *exactly* the same in font size and column placement. Korg was on fire!  :)

If fact, Korg was on fire with the whole promotional machine surrounding the Poly-61 advertising campaign. Everything was syncing up very well.

For example, Korg included their 1983 General Catalog attached between the two ad pages the first time the two-page version of the ad appeared in the February 1983 issue of Keyboard. Readers picking up the magazine would feel this little extra bulk and flip directly to the ad and the catalog. Perfect.

Then, while the two-page ad-run was still in full swing, Keyboard ran the Spec Sheet promo for the Poly-61 in April 1983, focusing on the digital aspects of the machine and the arpeggiator. This could almost be called the "perfect" Spec Sheet:

"The Korg Poly-61 is a six-voice programmable synthesizer. It has two digitally-controlled oscillators per voice. Each pair of oscillators can be detuned for chorusing effects or tuned to intervals. The 64-program memory has full edit and program move capabilities, with a digital access control system for full control over all program parameters.  A six-digit display indicates each active program. Polyphonic, chord memory/unison, and hold key assign modes allow for monophonic bass and solo sounds as well as full six-note polyphonic playing. The arpeggiator, which automatically memorizes and plays back note and chord sequences in three different patterns and ranges, has a latch mode and can be synched to external sequencers, footswitches, and other synthesizers. Other features include a four-way joystick with separate LFO for pitch-bend, vibrato, and filter tromolo effects, and jacks for foot-switch-controlled sustain and program change. The unit weighs 24 lbs. Price is $1,495.00. Unicord, 89 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590."

The promotion machine continued the following month when the Poly-61 was featured twice. First, in Part 1 of the NAMM Winter Trade show article, it received the top honors as the first keyboard described under the "Synthesizers" section, before the MIDI'd Prophet-600 and even Roland's long list of products including the Juno-60, as well as prototypes for the Jupiter-6, JX-3P and MC-202.

But that NAMM article didn't spend much time talking about the features of the synth because it simply pointed readers to the Keyboard Report for the Poly-61 written by the always fair Jim Aikin that appeared in the same May 1983 issue.

The introduction naturally focused on the rather low $1,495 retail price tag and a few of its more predominant features such as the clean front panel, arpeggiator and joystick pitchbend. A good portion of the body of the article is spent on the push-button programming and the parameters themselves, and some of the issues that arise:

"The parameter controls are digitized - that is, they can be set only to whole number values. And for many of them, only a few values are available. Ranges such as 0-3 (for vibrato delay), 0-7 (for filter resonance), and 0-15 (ADSR settings) are the norm. This does frankly limit the amount of control you have over the sound. There were times when we wished we could get an envelope decay setting halfway between two of the available setting, for example. But it's usually possible to find an compromise value that sounds quite good, even if it wasn't precisely what you first had in mind."

The conclusion reinforced the nice low price tag for all the features the Poly-61 has, but pointed out the lack of a second envelope generator, and that the "tone seemed a bit thin" -  recommending it for new wave over symphonic rock!

Put all those promotional activities together with a good year-long gorgeous advertising campaign, and Korg did pretty much all they could do to get the Poly-61 into the hands of musicians.

Korg probably enjoyed that New Year's Eve. And time to enjoy mine.

Have a great new year, everyone.

Korg Poly-61 "The breakthrough in polyphonic synthesizers" 2-page ad, Keyboard 1983

Korg Poly-61 "The breakthrough in polyphonic synthesizers" two-page full colour advertisement from the February 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

After posting the lovely Mono/Poly & Polysix brochure last Monday, I started reintroducing myself to Korg's synthesizer family.

Looking back at my gaps in the Korg advertising timeline for Korg, I realized that up until this advertisement, Korg had frequently acquired the back-inside cover spot in Keyboard Magazine (among other placements), but only once had taken up residence on the front-inside cover back in June 1982 with a three-page foldout that included this Mono/Poly ad and a two-page "We put it all together" family ad.

The Korg Poly-61 ad campaign would change all that, and put Korg in that front inside-cover position for the foreseeable future, later placing there many of their notable introductory ads including the Poly-800 and Wavestation.

This two-page introductory advertisement for the Poly-61 appeared consistently from February to July 1983 until a one-page version took over in August for the rest of the year, running all the way to January 1984 when it was replaced by that Poly-800 ad I mentioned above. That's a year-long run - not too shabby.

The two-page version, gorgeous as it is, doesn't stand the test of time too well. The first half of the ad stays bright because of the paper used for the cover of the magazine, but the second half of the ad appears on normal magazine paper, which tends to fade a lot faster over time. The result is an ad that looks distinctly different between the two halves.

A two-pager that is not a centerfold can also be a lot more of a pain in the @ss to scan because it never lies flat enough for the scan. Unless you take the magazine apart to scan the two pages totally separately (um... no...) the middle crease is going to get a little blurry. Boo!

According to sources like Wikipedia, the Poly-61 was the "digitally controlled successor" to the Poly-6 (see ad to the right  -->  ) although some may argue that "successor" may be a bit of a stretch. You see, the Poly-61 has the distinction of being the first Korg synthesizer to use a push-button interface, and that kinda changes the game when it comes to parameter adjustments.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love cool new technology as much as the next geek, but I will always miss the multitude of analogue knobs and switches that allowed a synthesist to quickly and easily change all the different synth parameters such as Envelope Generator Attack or VCF Resonance.

Need an example? Say you are on stage trying to impress the cool chick in the short skirt by quickly making your Poly-61 scream with resonance. But now you can't just instinctively reach for the resonance knob and twist. No. Now you have to look down at the front panel, hit the "parameter" button, then punch in the two-digit program number for VCF resonance, then hit the up value button two or three times to turn the resonance up. Sure, not having a dial or switch for each parameter cleans up that front panel nicely, but to many, this was NOT an innovative move forward. And it was definitely not helping the synth guy get laid. In fact, I will put forward the theory that this may have actually helped the drummer.

To make matters worse,  many of the parameters of the Poly-61 were programmed with limited resolution. VCF resonance only had eight steps (0-7), EG attack,decay, sustain and release parameters only had 16 steps (0-15). Now compare this to the apparent 256 steps of the Polysix.  Again, not exactly seen as a step forward by many.

And to put icing on the cake, apparently the engineers removed the analog effects board that was available on the Polysix. That just blows.

But all is not lost - the Poly-61 does contain a few upgrades. For example, the beast has two oscillators compared to the Polysix's one. And twice the patch memory at 64. And personally, I really liked that Korg decided to replace the pitch and modulation wheels with their lovely joystick controller. I love that thing - the only problem being that it was only a matter of time before one of your friends broke it off while transporting it to the next recording session or stage gig.

And last but not least, when MIDI reared its ugly head, Korg man-up'd pretty quickly to slap it in to the Poly-61M.

I had a broken Poly-61 dropped off at my place when a friend dumped a bunch of synths before moving out of province last year or so. Maybe I'll dig it up and get it repaired one day. Maybe. Need to do more research first.

I'm not convince yet.

Korg Mono/Poly and Polysix "Sounds to shape the future" brochure, 1981

Korg Mono/Poly and Polysix synthesizers "Sounds to shape the future" brochure from December 1981.

"Sounds to shape the future"... how f*%king awesomely futuristic is this?!?!?  

Tell me what is better than synthesizers in transparent pill capsules! No. Really. Tell me. I'm waiting.

Okay, maybe adorable kittens on synthesizers. Maybe. But besides that.

You can't. I knew it.

And that is exactly why I'm posting this brochure on Christmas Eve. 'Cause that front cover is one of my favorites. And, I'll admit, to help deflect any suggestion that I may not be blogging that much this week or next. I'm enjoying my rum and eggnogs just a little too much to be typing too much right now.  :)

Almost as cool as that front cover photo -  this brochure was printed in December 1981 - exactly 31 years ago. And that front cover photo would probably fit into many of today's synthesizer marketing campaigns (and various electronic music cultures) just as well it fits into the early 80's fascination with the future. Spectacular!

And... it... just... gets... better... Truly.

Just flip open the brochure and not only are you greeted by the front panels of both the Korg Mono/Poly and Polysix, but also with really well done "panel function by section" images with reference numbers. And it doesn't end there, for the Korg Polysix, the designer included a little "Sound Sampler" reference chart on the bottom right side, that gives readers a good preview of the programming and sound capabilities. It provides a nice little window back to 1981 and what was probably the most popular sounds of the day - electronic piano, organ, string and sound effects.

The back page also provides a nice close-up of the back of each machine, along with two really

That front photo is so great I immediately saw a "Keep calm..." image of some sort in my mind. Too good to pass up:

Now time to pour myself another 'nog. 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!

Korg Wavstation EX and Wavestation A/D brochure, 1992

 

 

 

Korg Wavstation EX and Wavestation A/D 8-page brochure from 1992.

I gotta tell ya. I'm all Wavestation-ed out. It's been a good run of blog posts, but I think my curiosity has reached its limit.

Actually - I thought I was already done with everything "Wavestation" on the blog. I even ended that last blog post with what I thought was a relatively witty Madonna/Britney Spears analogy that I was quite proud of. All wrapped up nice!  :D

But then I came across this brochure. Gah. Maybe it just looked too similar to the 1991 Wavestation/Wavestation A/D brochure I posted back in December, camouflaged, hiding from the world. Well, too bad. Like a crazy-assed Toddlers and Tiaras mother, I'm gonna shove this baby on stage whether it wants it or not.

Again - I'm surprised this brochure didn't get produced until 1992. I always thought the Wavestation EX came out *before* the A/D, as a response to customer feedback that the original Wavestation didn't include drums and other more basic sounds. The last sighting of the Jan Hammer Wavestation ad that appeared in July 1991 included additional EX ad-copy: "Now with expanded memory and more sounds". Also, the ad that followed in August 1991 featured BOTH the EX and A/D, suggesting they may have come out at approximately the same time. The Wikipedia page for the Wavestation includes 1991 production dates for both, and always seems to list the EX before the A/D in tables and such.

But then why did the Wavestation-Wavestation A/D brochure come out in 1991, but this brochure with the EX didn't appear until 1992? Also, why did the Spec Sheet for the A/D appear in March 1991 but the Spec Sheet for the EX didn't appear until November 1991.

Was it just that the additional awesomeness of the A/D, including an extra RAM bank and analog inputs, give it a leg up in getting promoted over the EX? Huh.

Hey - I seriously just noticed something on that Wikipedia page. Near the bottom of the page, it says that Korg's OASYS and Kronos also include wave sequencing and vector synthesis! I quickly jumped over to Ebay to check prices... oh. nevermind. The OASYS, released in 2006 still commands about a $5,000 price tag, and the Kronos is running at about $2,500.

I think I'll stick with my Wavestation A/D.

Okay, *now* my Wavestation curiosity has come to an end. And just in time - been getting a few requests lately - mostly for Oberheim stuff. Time to jump back into the 80s.

I'll end with a summary of my Wavestation posts. A good run.   :)

July 1990: Wavestation 2-page "Make Waves" intro ad
September 1990: Wavestation 1-page "Make Waves" ad
April 1991: Wavestation "Portraits" Jan Hammer ad (July 1991 version includes EX info)
August 1991: Wavestation A/D and EX "Top Ten Reasons" ad
November 1992: Wavestation SR "15 Sounds" ad
November 1993: Wavestation A/D and SR "5 And A Half Amazing Racks" ad

And, don't forget about the brochures!

1990: Original Wavestation brochure
1991: Wavestation and Wavestation A/D brochure
1992: This Wavestation EX and Wavestation A/D brochure

Korg Wavestation A/D and SR "Five and a half amazing rack systems" ad, Keyboard and Electronic Musician 1993

Korg Wavestation A/D and SR synthesizer "Five and a half amazing rack systems" 1-page advertisement from the inside front cover of Keyboard Magazine and page 79 in Electronic Musician November 1993.

Man - is it nice out.

*And* it's a long weekend.

*AND* I have a geek date to play Legend of Drizzt.  

*AND* I'm currently building a new table-top to fit onto my studio desk. I've had one of those Quik-Lok WS500 workstation desks for quite a few years. Not the most stable workstations (people can't dance in my studio because it makes my Tannoy's and computer monitor bounce), but very useful and serves my needs.  I used a Korg Z1 as a large master controller that sat on the upper arms, and then had a small wooden board on the table portion of the desk that held a keyboard, mouse, Mackie Control, and a various midi/audio in-out devices. Needless to say, it was getting very crowded.

And now that I've recently upgraded to a laptop, I need to make room for that. So, I took out the Z1 and put the 17" laptop on the open arms. Nice fit. And my master keyboard has now become a much smaller Korg MicroKey and sits on the desk now - closer to me than the laptop keyboard. Figure I input notes a lot more than I use the laptop keyboard. We'll see.

But, that small board was now really crowded with the addition of the keyboard. So, off to the store to buy a much larger 44"x30" piece of wood. Now everything fits nicely. The less cluttered look really makes me want to be in the room and create music again.

 I'll post a pic or two on my Retro Synth Labs blog in the near future.

Anyways, point is this will be a short blog post for all the reasons above. And ptobably my next blog post too. :)

Okay... time to be honest. I'm getting waaaaay past my comfort zone as I venture more into the early-90's. And I'm not just talkin' synthesizer ads - that includes many synthesizers as well.

I found that by this time, more than a few of the big synthesizer companies were just pumping out too many of what I considered to be just derivative versions of previous synths (if I'm using the word derivative correctly?!?!). Sure they would add a few new features, more ram/voices/etc... but nothing really "new". E-mu was in full swing pumping out their Proteus series, Roland with their JVs, Yamaha with their SYs (actually, not too shabby), and of course Korg with their 0x/Ws.

Don't get me wrong - they were nice sounding machines. They were workhorses. They were powerful. But I just didn't find them fun.

Sure, there were a few interesting things popping onto the market - the Wavestation stuff, Roland JD800, E-mu Morpheus, Kurzweil K2000 and the Waldorf Wave - but they were the exceptions that proved the rule.

Luckily there was more fun to come. I just had to wait for big and small companies a-like to get their butt in gear and release things like the Korg Prophecy, Doepfer A100 gear, QuasiMidi Raveolution, and Access Virus... it would just take time.

Until then - we got this. Korg's 1993 holiday push for it's five and a half racks.

It got good play in the November and December 1993 issues of Keyboard Magazine appearing on the inside front cover, but then got kicked into the back-half of the magazine in the January and February 1994 issues when Korg decided that their new Korg X3 workstation needed inside-front-cover attention. In Electronic Musician, the "Five and a half amazing racks" ad ran for a similar length of time, but never hit cover status as far as I can tell. Boo.

At least Korg had the courage and respect (hee hee) to list the Korg A/D and SR first. Even before the newer X3R and 5R/W. Makes me happy.

Korg was using the shotgun approach this holiday season - spraying pellets of rack-goodness at all types of musicians from the professional musician with a six-figure advance to the amateur home recordists in need of an under-$1000-all-in-one-box solution. And when I say all-in-one-box, I mean it. That little 05R/W had a built-in MIDI interface for MAC and PC. Okay, maybe the synth-gear world wasn't as stagnant as I made it out to be earlier.

I'm not too sure how long the SR and A/D  remained in production after this ad was released, but the Wavestation's Wikipedia page gives the Wavestation series an end date of 1994.

Almost hurts to see the Wavestation brand end with this ad - sharing advertising with an X3R. Bah!

It's kinda like Madonna sharing a stage with Britney Spears.   :)

Korg Wavestation SR "15 sounds" ad, Keyboard and Electronic Musician, 1992

Korg Wavestation SR "15 sounds" 1-page advertisement from inside front cover of Keyboard Magazine and page 48 in Electronic Musician, November 1992.

Talk about good timing.

This ran exactly a year after the last Wavestation A/D and EX ad ran in Keyboard, and just in time for the Holiday buying spree! And Korg probably figured out that since the Wavestation SR was a lower-cost rack-mount, it probably had a better chance of getting permission from the spouse for purchase and entry into the house. Plus I'm sure the spouse got something of equal value too...  :)

The ad had a good run. It spent the whole holiday season - November 1992- February 1993 in Electronic Musician (albeit not near the coveted front of the magazine), but Korg opted for a more spread-out approach in Keyboard. After appearing in the November issue, there was a month break before re-appearing in February and March. And then, didn't make another appearance until June. But, if you look a little closer, there often seemed to be a possible reason for its absence. And on purpose or not, it allowed the SR to lengthen its eye-ball run considerably in Keyboard.

In the December 1992 issue, The SR turned up in the Spec Sheet section of Keyboard - a good replacement for an ad in my books - and free! I'm doubt Korg gets a courtesy call before a Spec Sheet blurb their gear appears, but it would have given them good reason to switch out the SR ad and use the Spec Sheet appearance as a substitute:

"Korg rack-mount synth. Korg has introduced the Wavestation SR, a single-space rack-mount synthesizer with 550 sounds (600 performances with optional program card). With three RAM banks and eight ROM banks, the SR contains a collection of performances from the Wavestation library. The unit is also compatible with Wavestation program cards and Korg's 0/1W PCM cards. The SR's multi-sets can play a complex split layered performance on each of 16 MID channels. $1,399.00 Korg, 89 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590. (516) 333-9100. Fax (516) 333-9108."

That December 1992 as well as the January 1993 issues of Keyboard also had two other ads that may also played a role in giving the SR ad the boot. The first was that Korg included a two-page, horizontal ad for the O/1W that appeared on the inside-front cover and page 1 of the mag. You had to turn the magazine sideways to read the ad properly. A great way to grab attention.

The second was an ad for the Korg M1-PlusONE - a board that put "four megabytes of killer new PCM sounds like screaming electric guitar, celestial ebony flute, classic rock organ, and world percussion*" into your M1. The asterisk at the end of that sentence continues the voice list at the bottom of the page: *Also contains new PCM samples of acoustic guitar, electric piano, solo violin, rap percussion, harp, analog synth, marimba, string bass, assorted ethnic percussion, glockenspiel, and more.

Killer glockenspiel? Really? But I respect their attempt at keeping "synth hot-rodding" alive.  :D

Anyways, point being, that ad was "a sound partnership" ad by Korg and InVision Interactive (pun intended I'm sure). And maybe both this ad, and the O1/W two-pager in the mag, resulted in the SR ad getting punted.

The SR ad then got great ad-space in the February and March 1993 issues of Keyboard appearing on the front inside cover and page 3 respectively. .

The ad's April 1993 absence was no doubt due to Keyboard's cover feature that month - the "M1 Monster Sound Round-Up". Korg did the right thing by choosing to run a "lowest price ever" ad for the Korg M1 where the SR ad appeared the month before (page 3). Good work.

The May 1993 absence of the SR ad was easily made up for by its appearance in the "Short Takes" review section of Keyboard. Jim Aikin's review actually clocks in at just under one page if you include the full length photo of the front panel running across the top of the page, and does more than any ad could have making people think "happy thoughts" about the SR:

"The best thing about the Wavestation has always been its distinctive sound. Or sounds, actually. While it's known for rich, swirling pads, ferocious one-finger grooves, and hair-raising special effects, the kind of thing that other synthesizers can only do weak imitations of, it will produce detailed electric pianos, punch basses, crisp clavs, vibrant solo winds, and a wide range of other standard timbres just as easily. It's hard to program a Wavestation sound that doesn't have character."

Can't beat that kind of introduction.

The ad then made one final showing in June 1993, a full four months after it stopped running in Electronic Musician. Eight months long - not a bad run with only January and April missing out on anything SR-related.

The Wavestation brand had now been running close to three years. Hard to believe Korg wasn't done with it yet...

Korg Wavestation EX and A/D "Top 10 reasons" ad, Keyboard and Electronic Musician 1991

Korg Wavestation EX and A/D "Top 10 reasons" 1-page advertisement from page 1 in Keyboard Magazine and page 23 in Electronic Musician August 1991.

My brain doesn't always work properly. Names are a good example. Once I start using the wrong name for something, I can't shake it. Humans. Gear. Magazines. And even when I correct myself, its like I'm reinforcing the wrong name, not the right one. This may be why you will often read "Computer Musician", when in fact I'm referring to the magazine "Electronic Musician". I equate "Electronic Musician" more with computers, and as I write quickly, I'll often flip back and forth between the two names. Gah. I think I've cleaned up everything now.   :)

Anyways, you will remember that the last time the Jan Hammer "Portraits" ad ran, it included a small band of text that referenced the fact that the original Wavestation now had expanded memory and more sounds. I suggested that they were referring to the new EX version of the keyboard, and sure enough, a month later Korg came out with a new ad that promoted both the Wavestation EX AND the Wavestation A/D.

But Korg seemed to be running out of steam with the Wavestation brand in terms of advertising. Or maybe it was just the fact that the Wavestation was so different from other synths that it was selling itself at this point. Either way, Korg didn't push the EX and A/D as much as the original Wavestation. The ad ran off and on between August 1991 and November 1991 in Keyboard Magazine, and only seems to have appeared once in Electronic Musician in August.

A shame too, because I really like this ad. There is *a lot* to read - but it still seems short and snappy. And there also still feels like it has room to breathe. Good layout and design.

Plus it includes a few surprises. For example, Reason #5 includes a 1-800 number you can call and LISTEN to a special phone demo. Brilliant. I don't recall see this when I originally saw the ad back in the day, and am kicking myself that I never had a chance to call that number. Another great surprise is Korg's promotion of 3rd party sound designers in Reason #10. Always good to give 3rd party developers some props. But the best is Korg's offer of a free video demo of the Wavestation. Again, never took advantage of that opportunity. Still kicking myself.

Like the original Wavestation before it, regular readers of Keyboard would have found out about the A/D waaaay before the ad appeared. This was most likely due to its appearance at the January 1991 NAMM show. Although this time, the Wavestation A/D had to compete with a lot more new exciting gear for attention. The darling of Keyboard's NAMM article, titled "Retro Mania", was the new JD-800 and it's 59 sliders. And that opened the door to get Roland's other gear to the front of the line in the article too, including the JX-1, S-750, S-770 and Studio-M. Still, Korg's Wavestation A/D managed to get third-billing after Roland's Rhodes division. Not too shabby.

The Spec Sheet for the A/D appeared a month before the NAMM report in the March 1991 issue, coincidentally right at the beginning of the Jan Hammer Wavestation ad-run. It is interesting to see that even as the latest A/D is being hyped at trade shows, the original Wavestation was still being hyped in ads.

The Spec Sheet really gives a good introduction to the instrument:

"Korg rack-mount Wavestation synthesizer. Korg's Wavestation A/D is a two-space rack-mount version of the Wavestation keyboard. It features 32 digital oscillators, 32 digital filters, and 64 envelope generators and LFOs. Wave sequencing allows each oscillator to play up to 255 different sounds, or waveforms, in sequence. A programmable and constantly varying mix of up to four different sounds, each of which may also be a wave sequence, is available within each patch. Up to eight of these patches can be layered across the keyboard with velocity switching. A stereo pair of analog inputs allows external sound sources to be processed through the Wavestation A/D's built-in effects. External sounds can also be used as waves for processing through filters, amplitude envelopes, and pan control. Each input can be independently controlled using MIDI volume data. new effects that have been developed for the analog inputs include two vocoders and a combined compressor/limiter-EQ-noise gate. About $2,400.00. Korg USA, 89 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590. (516) 333-9100. Fax (516) 333-9180."

Now, here is where things get a little out-of-step. Even though the A/D made it into the Spec Sheet in the March 1991, issue, it would be a full eight months before the EX upgrade would be announced in the Spec Sheet section. A full three months after this ad started to run.

This promo also included some good reference info including prices for both the EX model and the upgrade for the original Wavestation:

"Korg Wavestation upgrade. Among the 119 new sampled waveforms within the Wavestation EX are piano, drums and percussion, guitars, basses, flutes, and alto sax, bringing the total number of waveforms to 484. The EX comes with a program card containing 50 new performances, 35 new patches, and 32 new wave sequences. Also new are eight effects algorithms, including vocoder, pitch-shift, and stereo compressor/limiter with gate. $2,333.00; upgrade for current owners $110.00. Korg. 89 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590 (516) 333-9100. Fax (516) 333-9108."

I think I've mentioned it before, but if I haven't screamed it from the highest mountain top, I'm a big fan of the Korg Wavestation A/D. I've had one for quite a while, and while other rack gear has been moved from my main rack to the secondary "grave yard" rack, the rack screws on the A/D have never been unscrewed. I still spend hours online looking for new information on this synth, but one of my favorite stories appears on the Wikipedia page for the Wavestation, and explains how the A/D prototype was first developed using a hacksaw and a Prophet 2000 sampler.

"The Wavestation A/D was the brainchild of Joe Bryan, then-Senior Design Engineer at Korg R&D. A guitar player, he wanted "something that worked with a simple midi guitar that would merge the guitar, synth and effects, and could be controlled from one or two buttons on the guitar." The idea was of little interest to his colleagues at first. Nevertheless, he found a prototype of a Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000 sampler and literally hacksawed the analog-to-digital converter circuitry from it, soldered that and a digital interface to the Wavestation's ROM bus to create the first prototype of the Wavestation A/D. The prototype convinced Bryan's colleagues of his idea."

After this ad appeared, the Wavestation brand would go silent for exactly a year. Just enough time for mommy and daddy Wavestation to do what comes naturally (in the presence of engineers)...

...give birth to baby.