[sdiy] bits and bats (and Monotron)

Sat Jul 17 16:49:55 CEST 2010

I went off Korg in the early 80s, as I used to like Yes and ELP at that
time, but when they both took Korg on board as "sponsors" the sound at that
time became decidedly "weedy/limp" to say the least , and even when I had my
moment of glory playing keys with Rick Wakeman in London in 1983, I luckily
was on a Roland string synth jobbie, not the Korg he was using .. it did not
impress ... then the DX7 came out , which I adore just because so many
people don't get it ... I don't own one now , just an SY99, which covers
those FM bases just fine for me with added bells and whistles ... I have
programmed many banks of odd sounds for the 99 so if anyone wants I can
upload , just let me know. Not sure how many SY99s are about these days ...

However Korg seem to be making some really interesting kit lately way in
front of Roland and Yamaha at the moment, I love my MicroKorg XL to bits
albeit frustrated about the ergonomics, but that is a small concern and it
knows it is going to get chopped about anyway ...

Even Gwyo Zepix approves and has designed some awesome sounds for it ...

http://howardscarr.wordpress.com/

 I take it to pubs just for a laff with a couple of tame (good) guitarists
and a Novation Launchpad/Ableton on the worlds smallest laptop ( a Sony Vaio
UMPC)
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=on4mrxy2mg4

When people hear it their jaws drop... I really want a second so I can set
one running and play the second and swap between ... I might get a
Microsampler , as they look fun too...that would work ... Theremin at the
side...modular kit bouncing around in the background...

The Haken Continuum is not going to get gigged though...I can't afford to
break it ...

It beats doing covers of Beatles/Stones/Free/Bad Company ... now YMO covers
I can do ... 

Lol

Paul Burns

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Carter [mailto:synth at willacy.co.uk] 
Sent: 17 July 2010 13:02
To: Paul Burns
Subject: Re: [sdiy] bits and bats (and Monotron)

Thanks Paul - that's a kind offer and I'm sure some of us will take you up
on it !

Having had a Monotron for just over a week now, my initial overwhelming
desire to bolt-on a load of bits and turn it into the next frankenmodular
has subsided.  By the time you've added the bits you want, the Monotron
almost seems incidental. It's great for what it is - a nice 'toy' with a
serious filter that can be used with an external input. The amazing part of
it is simply the fact that Korg have gone to all the trouble of taking the
analogue route on this product - it would have been so much easier for them
to make it with a custom chip and do it digitally.  Although small, there's
a lot of stuff inside, made possible by SMD of course.

I get the feeling that the Monotron is a market tester.  If Korg sell a
truck load of them, it may persuade them to produce a bigger analogue synth,
maybe even a new MS-20. They make reference to the MS-20 in their marketing
of the Monotron filter, so they know how popular it is even after all these
years.  They also know that secondhand MS20s have shot up in price recently,
recession or no recession. The analogue resurgence is far from over yet so
who knows what might happen and will the likes of Roland and Yamaha follow
suit?  It's probably more Korg's thing though - they always managed to
produce a decent enough design and execute it in the lowest possible build
quality to keep manufacturing costs down. The almost military build quality
of the Minimoog makes the MS-20 look like a Henry Ford version of a Rolls
Royce. 1970s Japanese electronics - you've got to love it!

Either way, it all has to be good news for us guys keeping the analogue
dream alive.

Steve

On 17 Jul 2010, at 11:55, Paul Burns wrote:

> I said before if anyone is interested I can easily translate any of the
> pages on say the Monotron mods or anything whatsoever on any  Japanese
sites
> , if you can't read them and want to know what they are about ...let me
> know...I m pretty busy trying to earn a crust at the moment ,but don't
mind
> doing so if it catches my interest...
> 
> I am just about to buy a Monotron  here in the UK,  (certain things have
> delayed this,  like 2000+ GBP vet bills last month on a stray cat, there
> goes my Tom Bugs modular ...), spring the back, have a poke around so I
have
> a little more insight into what they are actually talking about ... 
> 
> I am looking to mod my MicroKorg XL, which exasperatingly does not have a
> sustain pedal input, absolutely essential for certain arpeggiated sounds (
> the arp on latch function does not do it for me as a player, besides being
> left handed I find the layout of the XL a little bizarre , why put the
knobs
> on the right , surely as a player you would play with your right hand and
> tweak the knobs with your left, far more logical then to have them on the
> left than crossing hands)... I built a little external MIDI box from an
> arduino board which does a multitude of tasks, including sustain , but I
> fancy drilling and hacking my XL, possibly changing the whole case layout
to
> suit me(moving the two dials to the right and the knobs to the left) ...
> 
> As an aside, this guy is nice to deal with and very helpful, highly
> recommended.
> 
> http://tomscarff.110mb.com/products_prices.htm
> 
> And if anyone wants to learn about analogue synths by doing it the hard
way
> check this out ...
> 
> http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4798020605/understandcir-22/
> 
> 
> regards
> 
> 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 9.0.839 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3010 - Release Date: 07/16/10
20:19:00