Most Popular Alessandro Cortini Online Exclusive Videos Budget Mics, Big Sound MySpace for Musicians Special Report: SSL Duende Recording Electric Guitar Vocal Magic New Video: Moog Guitar advertisement The EM Poll This is not a scientific poll but a tabulation of readers responses and is purely just for fun! See Past Poll Results Select an Issue February 1, 2008 January 1, 2008 December 1, 2007 November 1, 2007 October 1, 2007 September 1, 2007 August 1, 2007 July 1, 2007 June 1, 2007 May 1, 2007 April 1, 2007 March 1, 2007 February 1, 2007 January 1, 2007 December 1, 2006 November 1, 2006 October 1, 2006 September 1, 2006 August 1, 2006 July 1, 2006 June 1, 2006 May 1, 2006 April 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 February 1, 2006 January 1, 2006 December 1, 2005 November 1, 2005 October 1, 2005 September 1, 2005 August 1, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 1, 2005 May 1, 2005 April 1, 2005 March 1, 2005 February 1, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 1, 2004 November 1, 2004 October 1, 2004 September 1, 2004 August 1, 2004 July 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 May 1, 2004 April 1, 2004 March 1, 2004 February 1, 2004 January 1, 2004 DHKG 2004 December 1, 2003 November 1, 2003 October 1, 2003 September 1, 2003 August 1, 2003 July 1, 2003 June 1, 2003 May 1, 2003 April 1, 2003 March 1, 2003 February 1, 2003 January 1, 2003 December 1, 2002 November 1, 2002 October 1, 2002 September 1, 2002 August 1, 2002 July 1, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 1, 2002 April 1, 2002 March 1, 2002 February 1, 2002 January 1, 2002 December 1, 2001 November 1, 2001 October 1, 2001 September 1, 2001 August 1, 2001 July 1, 2001 June 1, 2001 May 1, 2001 April 1, 2001 March 1, 2001 February 1, 2001 January 1, 2001 December 1, 2000 November 1, 2000 October 1, 2000 September 1, 2000 August 1, 2000 July 1, 2000 June 1, 2000 May 1, 2000 April 1, 2000 March 1, 2000 February 1, 2000 January 1, 2000 December 1, 1999 November 1, 1999 October 1, 1999 September 1, 1999 Newsletters Subscribe to newsletters here...

You are here: Electronic Musician » Elec Music Instruments » Korg M1 Korg M1 Jun 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Julian Colbeck             advertisement Understanding Microphones Recording Acoustic Drums Classic Snare Drum Sounds All About Reference Monitors Using Plug-ins Creatively The Electronic Century Part 1 The Electronic Century Part 2 The Electronic Century Part 3 The Electronic Century Part 4 CURRENT NEWSSTAND ISSUE Read the full Table of Contents for the issue on sale now! Click here Subscribe for only $1.84 an issue! Please tell us about yourself so we can better serve you. Click here to take our user survey. Personal Studio Series Mastering Steinberg's Cubase™ This special issue is not only a must-read for users of Cubase™ software, but it also delivers essential information for anyone recording/producing music in a personal-studio. Click for more Listen to these latest podcasts and more: Engineer Chuck Ainlay on his mixing techniques. Go What's New: Sony Creative sound library, Expanse Refill for Reason, more. Go eDeals Newsletter for Discounts on Gear Get First Dibs on Hot Gear Discounts, Manufacturer Close-Outs and Job Opportunities when you sign up to receive eDeals E-newsletter, sent twice a month. Check out an issue get advertising info or subscribe Mix Magazine Remix Magazine Music Education Technology Advertisers eNewsletters Related Sites Reprints Produced: 1988-94 Made in: Japan Korg design team led by Jun-ichi Ikeuchi Number produced: 250,000 Synthesis system: AI synthesis Price new: $2,166

When the Korg M1 was previewed at the 1988 winter NAMM show, no one predicted that it would become the world's best-selling synthesizer workstation. Subdued and unassuming with a rounded casing, small display (by today's standards), and paucity of front-panel hardware, the M1 offers less than heart-stopping visuals. Fortunately, its layout is simple, and most operations are easy to understand and execute. The onboard sounds are catchy, direct, and versatile. (If you're a product designer, reread the two previous sentences. In fact, cut them out and tape them to your CAD system. They reveal the blueprint for a best-selling synth, then and now.)

At the heart of the synth, pulse-code modulation (PCM) — sampled and synthesized waveforms can be shaped using conventional analog-style editing techniques. As many as eight Programs on the same or different MIDI channels can be linked into a Combination. Throw in a sequencer and a decent pair of digital signal processing (DSP) chips for good onboard effects, and there you have it: the Korg M1.

In 1988 the M1's factory programs — acoustic guitars that actually sound like acoustic guitars; haunting oboes; melting strings; sonorous basses; and fierce, chunky pianos — took the world by storm. Even today M1 sounds are pleasantly direct yet full of character. You can always count on an M1 to get you out of trouble.

Programs use one or two oscillators generating sounds plucked from the M1's 4 MB pool of waveforms. Single-oscillator Programs are 16-note polyphonic, and double-oscillator Programs are 8-note. Sounds range from full multisampled pianos to bells and pan flutes; snippets of recorded audio such as Koto Trem, Pole, and Lore (a sample of a jack-in-the-box being wound up, courtesy of Steve Winwood's keyboard technician); and synth waveforms from the Korg DSS-1 and DSM-1.

Three independent four-stage envelope generators (EGs), each controllable with Velocity and Aftertouch, modulate the filter, amplifier, and pitch. The pitch envelope is great for adding interest to the beginning of each note. You can apply the amplifier envelope to cut off all but the beginning of a ROM waveform and then use the truncated waveform as the front end of a double-oscillator Program; the koto multisample's initial tip is a good example of that technique.

The Velocity-sensitive lowpass filter offers keyboard tracking but no resonance. Korg labored over the M1's filter; in the original design, the filter's EG had no Intensity parameter. By the time it was redesigned, it featured positive and negative Intensity.

The M1 was one of the first synths to offer a serious collection of premapped drum kits. For its vintage, the drum samples are first-class. They can even be remapped, which is handy because the M1's kits don't adhere to what has become standard General MIDI (GM) mapping. You can also apply Pitch Bend to drum sounds.

Perhaps the M1's most confusing aspect is its flexible effects routing, because the effects and the overall output routing are inextricably bound. You have a huge variety of choices, including routing the effects in series or parallel and sending each Program to a separate output.

A pair of digital multi-effects processors provide reverb, delay, overdrive, EQ, chorus, rotary speaker, and other effects. Effects can be applied to specific Programs within a Combination. The M1's effects are remarkable for their high quality and real-time controllability; they're clean, powerful, and completely editable. You can assign a footswitch to change an organ Program's rotary-speaker effect from slow to fast in real time.

You can adjust many of the M1's basic parameters — such as filter cutoff, envelope release, and effects level — by choosing the parameter onscreen and moving the Edit slider or a footpedal, also in real time. Eight primary parameters are on the main Program page; you gain access to them by pressing one of the round function buttons beneath the display.

It seems that only die-hards still use the M1's sequencer. It offers eight tracks, full quantizing and editing, and the option to store phrase patterns that can be inserted into a sequence. But when compared with a modern workstation-based sequencer, the M1's number-based user interface is hardly inviting.

The range and quality of its building blocks give the M1 character, which, in its time, resulted in substantial success for Korg. That success might be surprising when you consider that the filter has neither resonance nor modes other than lowpass, the low-frequency oscillator is basic, and no sync or cross-modulation exists between the oscillators. Fortunately, you can find PCM expansion cards with more complex types of synth sounds.

When the M1 was au courant, Korg and an army of third-party developers gave it royal support. Instructional materials supplemented new collections of PCM samples and Programs, such as Korg's MSC-1S-16S cards, which contained raw PCM data and Program/Combi data. Frontal Lobe produced the PCM Channel SysEx kit, which let users load their samples into an M1. InVision introduced the M1 Plus One expansion board, which had 4 MB of sparkling new samples such as organs, guitars, and flutes; those samples are preinstalled on the M1 Plus One. Some bloke named Julian Colbeck even made a fine video called Getting the Most out of the Korg M1.

The M1R is an otherwise identical rack-mount version. It was upgraded to the M1REX (commonly called Mirex), and its ROM waveform capacity doubled, with 275 multisampled sounds instead of the M1 keyboard's 144. Korg implemented an overflow mode, providing twice the polyphony by linking two instruments. The M1 can be upgraded to Mirex status, giving it the same waveform ROM as Korg's T-series.

In 2001 Korg's support for the M1 is limited to repairs and replacement of the original patch data. Unfortunately, the M1's annoying battery-changing routine wipes your Programs and Combis from its memory. If you externally back up your internal data through SysEx, though, you shouldn't have a problem. Luckily, the M1 is a reliable beast, with only the occasional sticky button to beware of.

If you're ever stuck, the M1's Internet presence is massive, with endless newsgroups and Web sites devoted to it. Many of the sites are tiresomely fan based, but a few offer reprints of manuals, helpful tips, and downloadable Programs. I particularly like Terry Little's Web site (www.geocities.com/tlittle72), which is succinct, relevant, and helpful.

Although other Korg instruments have superseded the M1, it still holds its own on a dance track. The reggae fraternity would, no doubt even today, be lost without the M1's skanking-friendly pianos and bubbling organ sounds. An M1 revival seems unlikely, though, because the instrument never went away.

Julian Colbeck has toured everywhere from Tokyo to São Paulo with artists as varied as Yes, Steve Hackett, John Miles, and Charlie. Thanks to Jerry Kovarsky, Leslie Buttonow, and Jack Hotop of Korg USA.