Korg micro-preset
(M-500)
Analog preset synthesizer
|
This is a little, fun synthesizer! I find
it very expressive, and - after a bit of practicing using the Traveler and
Modulation Depth sliders, you can get amazingly "felt" usic passages. Of
course, being this small, it has many limitations: the attack and sustain
knobs won't work with all families of sounds, and so the traveler (filter)
effect. The momentary Portamento-on switch is very useful - so you can add portamento only when you need it (i.e., on a trombone patch, only when you want it to "slide"). The Random Repeat feature is a "random vibrato" effect, but it subtle and chaotic-sounding. This synth can sound very similar to a Theremin, and it can definitely nail down the sound from "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys. Reportedly this synthesizer was used for the synth line in the '80s hit "Enola Gay" by OMD!! (source: The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers, Part One: A-M, by Peter Forrest) In all, a small, inexpensive (on the used market) and unassuming synth. However, the expressiveness of this mini-synth makes forgive a lot of its issues. Check it out if you have the chance. |
The micro-preset is structured on a matrix composed of six main families of sounds, and five variations for each (often just playing an octave up or down).
| 2' | 2' | Trumpet I | Violin I | Recorder | Whistle |
| 4' | White Noise | Trumpet II | Violin II | Flute | Soprano |
| 8' | 8' | Trumpet III | Viola | Oboe | Alto |
| 16' | Pink Noise | Trombone | Cello | Clarinet | Tenor |
| 32' | 32' | Tuba | D.Bass | Bassoon | Bass |
| SYNTHE 1 | SYNTHE 2 | BRASS | STRING | WOOD | VOICE |
| Preset name with audio demo | My comments |
| Synthe 1 2' | Standard synthesizer sound. Better with portamento. |
| Synthe 1 4' | More of a nasal quality. |
| Synthe 1 8' | Again, this synth has a wooden, nasal quality. |
| Synthe 1 16' | Same as above, an octave down. |
| Synthe 1 32' | This will work well as synth bass. Modulation to "travel" effect (filter cutoff) |
| Synthe 2 2' | Similar to Synthe 1, but more "piercing". |
| White Noise | Standard white noise effect, useful for wind, crashing waves, rain, helicopter and Martian sounds. |
| Synthe 2 8' | Great hip-hop lead sound. Thereminesque. |
| Pink Noise | A more filtered version of white noise. |
| Synthe 2 32' | Useful for techno sounds. |
| Trumpet I | Honest (for the time) reproduction of a trumpet sound. |
| Trumpet II | A trumpet with a slightly different attack than Trumpet I. |
| Trumpet III | Brassier quality. |
| Trombone | Again, honest trombone reproduction. |
| Tuba | Realistic synthesized tuba. |
| Violin I | Violin played in the super-high registry. |
| Violin II | A more gentle, suave violin. |
| Viola | Cool emulation of a viola. |
| Cello | Standard cello sound. |
| D. Bass | Double bass (contrabass) sound. |
| Recorder | Pretty realistic, considering! |
| Flute | Nice wooden flute sound. |
| Oboe | Impressive reproduction! |
| Clarinet | Okay |
| Bassoon | OK bassoon. |
| Whistle | Playing with portamento and vibrato effects, can be convincing. |
| Soprano | Beautiful soprano voice sound. |
| Alto | Listen to the diva at the opera. |
| Tenor | Thank you for the performance, Luciano! |
| Bass | Deep... from the throat! |
You'll need the Real player, available at www.realaudio.com
the synth front panel back panel
- small and portable;
- cool "retro" fake-wood chassis;
- it came with paper templates to put on the front panel, with settings to create more sounds;
- very expressive!
- warm analog sound;
- sound "matrix" with 30 presets.
| Year of release: | 1977 |
| Polyphony: | monophonic |
| Presets: | 30 |
| Responds to velocity: | no |
| Sound generation method: | analog |
| MIDI: | no |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | No |
| Misc: | portamento |
| Effects: | no |
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |
| www.korg.com | Home page | Home page for Korg, one of the three most important Japanese synth manufacturers. |