Korg

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Korg is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments. It's is one of the widely used and respected name in the electronic music area.

Company history

Founded in 1962 in Japan by Tsutomu Kato and Tadashi Osanai, Korg was originally known as Keio Electronic Laboratories (京王技術研究所) because its fledgling offices were located near the Keio train line in Tokyo and Keio can be formed by combining the first letters of Kato and Osanai. Before founding the company, Kato ran a nightclub. Osanai, a Tokyo University graduate and noted accordionist, regularly performed at Kato's club accompanied by a Wurlitzer Sideman rhythm machine. Unsatisfied with the rhythm machine, Osanai convinced Kato to finance his efforts to build a better one.

The company's first product, released in 1963, was an electro-mechanical rhythm device called the Disc Rotary Electric Auto Rhythm machine Donca matic DA-20. Buoyed by the success of the DA-20, Keio released a solid-state version of the Rhythm machine, the Donca matic DE-20, in 1966.

In 1967, Kato was approached by Fumio Mieda, an engineer who wanted to build keyboards. Impressed with Mieda's enthusiasm, Kato asked him to build a prototype and 18 months later Mieda returned with a programmable organ. Keio sold the organ under the name Korg, made from combining keio with organ.

Keio's organ products were successful throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s but, concerned about the competition from other big organ manufacturers, Kato decided to use the organ technology to build a keyboard for the then-niche synthesizer market. Keio's first synthesizer, the MiniKorg, was thus released in 1973.

Following on the success of the Mini-Korg, Keio released a number of budget-minded synthesizers throughout the 1970s and 1980s under the name Korg.

Korg subsequently branched out into the music recording and electric guitar effects market, with some success.

Yamaha Corporation has always been a major partner of Korg, supplying them with circuirty and mechanical parts. In 1987, shortly before the release of the M1 Music Workstation, Yamaha acquired a controlling interest in Korg's stock. The takeover of the company was amicable, with Kato drawing up the terms, and the two companies continued to independently develop their product lines and compete in the marketplace. After the following 5 very successful years, Kato had enough cash to rebuy most of the Yamaha share back in 1993, something that has gone unnoticed to many except maybe the shareholders.

Timeline of major products

1963 - Donca-Matic DA-20
1966 - Donca-Matic DE-20
1973 - Korg Mini-Korg 700
1975 - Korg WT-10: World's first hand-held electronic tuner
1975 - Korg Maxi-Korg 800DV
1977 - Korg PS-3100,3200,3300

1978 - Korg MS-10/MS-20
1978 - Korg VC-10 Vocoder
1979 - Korg m500 Micro Preset
1980 - Korg Mono/Poly
1981 - Korg Polysix
1983 - Korg Poly-61: The successor of the Polysix with digitally-controlled analog oscillators; Korg's first "knobless" synthesizer
1983 - Korg Poly-800: First fully programmable synthesizer that sold for less than $1000, notable for using digitally-controlled analog oscillators and sharing a single filter for all 8 voices
1983 - Korg SAS-20: The SAS-20 was Korg’s first arranger keyboard. A built-in computer analyzed the melody played on the keyboard, and generated a complex accompaniment. This was the world’s first auto-accompaniment function of this kind added to a keyboard. Also, a more traditional chord recognition system was included.
1985 - Korg DW-8000: 8-voice polyphonic, user selected two digital waveforms out of 16 total. Used an analog filter.
1985 - SuperDrums and SuperPercussion: Low-cost digital drum machines
1986 - Korg DSS-1: Sampling keyboard with additive synthesis, waveform drawing and effects, with some similarities to the DW8000
1988 - Korg M1: PCM rompler with built-in effects and sequencer
1989 - Korg T series (T1/T2/T3): Some improvements over the M1 with added features.
1990 - Korg O1w: PCM rompler with more waveforms and effects than the M1
1990 - Korg Wavestation
1993 - Korg X3 / Korg X2 / Korg X3R: Music Workstation
1993 - Korg i3 Interactive Music Workstation: Korg introduced its first professional arranger in 1993 with the i3 model, which proved to be the first in a huge series of Korg 'interactive' products. Until that time the auto-accompaniment keyboards were designed primarily for home use, but i3 changed that. Its tone generator was an AI2 engine coming from the renowned Korg synths, which made it a perfectly useable 'pro' keyboard. Once again, a Korg keyboard succeeded because of the quality of its factory voicing. It also retained a multitrack MIDI sequencer, Styles and Arrangements that allowed players to use it as a band-in-a-box or compositional tool, improved chord recognition with a big graphical display, a joystick and analog volume controls for each accompaniment section. A new Backing Sequence feature provided also for easy creation of new songs based on styles.
1994 - Korg X5
1994 - Korg i2: Korg introduced the i2, an i3 "on-steroids" with a 76-note keyboard and a new Piano sound.
1995 - Korg i1: In 1995 a further improved version of i3 was introduced: the Korg i1, that included an 88-note weighted keyboard, a huge piano sample, and built-in speakers. Other features were similar to the i3, even if new styles were added.
1995 - Korg i4S: The i4S (where "S" stays for "Speakers"). This keyboard was something like an i3 with speakers, but with a smaller feature set.
1995 - Korg i5S: The i5S was a scaled-down version of the i4S, with a plastic chassis and a reduced set of features. Some new sounds and styles were added.
1995 - Korg i5M: A module called i5M was also introduced, with specifications similar to the i5S, but with no amplification and, obviously, no keyboard and joystick. This product was really appreciated by accordionists, happy to discover at its heart some added traditional styles and sounds (shared with the i5S).
1995 - Korg ih: In 1995, singers also welcomed the "ih Interactive Vocal Harmony", that allowed for creation of vocal harmonizations, starting from chords played live in Style mode, or recorded in a Song's track. This unit is still a best-seller on the second-hand market, thanks to its excellent price/quality ratio.
1996 - Korg Prophecy: One of the first successful virtual analog synthesizers
1996 - Korg Trinity: The most important workstation release since the M1 almost 10 years earlier.
1996 - Korg N264-N364
1996 - Korg X5D
1997 - Korg Z1: Providing a new technology: MOSS (Multi-Oscillator Synthesis System)
1997 - Korg iX300: The iX300 Interactive Music Workstation was introduced, back to a unit without speakers but offering new sounds and more than 100 styles.
1998 - Korg iS40: iS40 included new sounds (among them, a gorgeous stereo piano sample), new styles (128), and several new features. One of the most appreciated new features, Keyboard Sets, allowed for immediate recalling of keyboard track settings.
1998 - Korg iS50: iS50 was the low cost version of iS40, lacking just a minor number of features from its bigger sibling.
1998 - Korg i30: The i30 Interactive Music Workstation was introduced, claiming to be the first arranger featuring a Touch Screen Display. This model was speakerless, 64 notes of polyphony, and included some more sounds compared to the iS40.
1999 - Korg Triton
1999 - Korg Kaoss Pad, Electribe dance synthesizers
1999 - Korg i40M: Korg introduced a successor to the i5M: the i40M module. Specifications were similar to the iS40 (obviously, with no keyboard or joystick), but included a Vocal Harmonizer as standard. Furthermore, the module included 3 different pre-programmed MIDI setups, to make connection with various accordions even easier.
1999 - Korg iS35: iS35 was a new version of the iS40, featuring the same specifications, and adding a Vocal Harmonizer as standard.
1999 - Korg iS50B: iS50B boasted the same specs as the iS50, but in a Dark Blue chassis.
2000 - Korg MS-2000
2000 - Korg Pa80: A new range of arranger from Korg was introduced in year 2000: the Pa Series. Pa80 was the first model introduced in December 2000 with a stunning sound inherited from our award-winning Triton, a wide selection of highly-musical Styles made by some of the best musicians in the world, a Multitasking Operating System and a revolutionary Dual Sequencer design. This new keyboard will bring the benefits of Korg's stunning songwriting and music production/performance to a whole new generation of musicians.
2000 - Korg Pa60: The new Pa60 Professional Arranger was introduced. Apart from fewer features like sampling and Harmony Board compatibility, it is same instrument as the "top-of-the-range" Pa80.
2001 - Korg KARMA
2001 - Korg Triton Studio
2002 - Korg MicroKorg: A portable version of the MS-2000 synthesizer
2002 - Korg Triton LE
2003 - Korg Pa1X Pro: During this year, a new line of professional arrangers debuted, starting from the flagship - the Pa1X Pro Professional Arranger. Including some ot the most advanced technologies available in the musical instrument world, it marked the return of Korg to the speakerless, studio-oriented interactive composer type of arrangers. It also marked the beginning of a factive cooperation with the renowed studio gear manufacturer TC-Electronic.
2003 - Korg MS-2000B: new version of the MS-2000 synthesizer with updated sound set, black metallic color scheme and dedicated vocoder mic; Korg MS-2000BR: rack-mount version
2003 - Korg microKONTROL: portable MIDI keyboard controller
2004 - Korg Legacy Collection: Includes software emulations of three famous Korg synthesizers: the MS-20, Polysix, and the Wavestation
2004 - Korg Pa1X: Short after the launch of the Pa1X Pro, the Pa1X Professional Arrangers was introduced. This is the speaker-fitted, shorter-scale version of the Pa1X.
2004 - Korg Pa50: After the top-of-the line, ultra-luxury Pa1X Pro, Korg release its most inexpensive arranger ever - the Pa50 Professional Arrangers. Despite the low purchasing price, it boasted most of the same features of the revered Pa60, making it a true bargain.
2004 - Korg Triton Extreme: An updated version of the Triton is released to a highly-anticipating public. It boasts many new features. Most notable is the Valve Force circuity, or, the integration of a 12AU7 tube into the workstation. Nicknamed "Russian Bullet," these tubes are rumored to last a minimum of 10 years. Another notable feature is the drastically increased ROM size: 160 MB, featuring 32 megs of all new acoustic samples.

2005 - Korg Oasys
2006 - Korg TR: enhanced Triton Le music workstation
2006 - Korg Radias

External links

[Korg home page]
[Korg Arrangers Home Page]
http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/korg_ms10.html Pictures and films of one of the most famous korg synths, the MS-10
[Retrosound - info, sounds and pics from the Wavestation, DSS-1, EX-8000]
[40 years of Korg gear (Sound on Sound Magazine)]
[Korg Kornucopia - Korg analogue synthesizer information, manuals and resources]

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