MannyBoo wrote:
KORG made big news by re-making its old 1978 MS-20 into new 2013 MS-20 Mini.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA-owDEGpac[/youtube]
This year Korg is making more big news with another re-make, but its NOT a Korg synth.
It is re-making the famous ARP ODYSSEY synthesizer of 1972.
It is collaborating with former-ARP engineers on the project.
The KORG-ARP Odyssey will be on sale in September.
Here is the Original ARP Odyssey from 1972.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4SbDBGc2BY[/youtube]
I have a MS-20 Mini story.
So I was in this music store, and this salesman in the keys/synth department clearly had no idea what he was talking about and was trying to explain the MS-20 Mini. He basically said, "Der, ok, so you just plug these thingies in here, trial and error, and make some sound…"
So, me being me, I explained, um, nah, you have to think about where you are in the signal path and you can get specific kinds of FX depending on how you route it, by letting THIS modulate THIS, etc. But you don't need all the fancy cables, just start with the basic signal path, blah blah blah. Well, the thing doesn't power up because the music store hasn't plugged in the power. So we get that done, plug it into the amp and….wait for it…NOTHING.
The customer eventually loses patience, and I end up looking like a big fat loser. The guy really just wanted a simple keyboard he could MIDI up to his guitar, which the MS-20 Mini would NOT be good for anyway, so I explained the awesomeness of a less expensive entry-level Yamaha synth, which was all the guy wanted in the first place.
Not to be outdone by a silly semi-modular synth, and because, well, obvious reasons, I set to work on that MS-20 mini. It TURNS OUT there was an issue of the 1/8th in. => RCA adapter that was causing the audio out to short. Switched to headphones and it worked like magic. But ARGH I was pissed.
I REALLY like the ms-20 mini, and it's awesome for the price tag. If you've got room for a mono synth and you're really into deep sound design, you need one of these.
NOT crazy about the 1/8 in. plugs, but other than that it's a lot of fun.
Hadn't heard about the Korg-ARP. That's exciting news!
05 Mar 2014, 9:02 am
