A Conversation With Tats of Korg Berlin - Acoustic Synthesizer Superbooth 2023

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[@Lesser_Than]

He started with designing the Monotron. He literally reinvigorated the love of analog synthesis for the masses. Korg wasn’t really that interested in going back to analog at the time. Under rated guy for sure.

[@dimllc]

Something interesting that wasn’t from Gamechanger Audio. Great idea from Tats and everyone at Korg Berlin!

[@bonbondolly]

Tats is by far the coolest living creature on this planet if you ask me.

[@tiouip]

Tatsuya Takahashi is brilliant, sharp, witty. A beautiful mind! Having him interviewed by Cuckoo (an equally sharp dude) was a treat! Viva Korg-Berlin!

[@tedraven9214]

Sounds like his job is quite interesting and richly diverse. I so want that too.

[@Lutzifer31337]

the overtone-sounds remind me of meditation bowls. So, being able to play those in time and in tune is an amazing thing

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yes! It reminded me of a room full of bowl bells too. It’s funny he called it creepy because to me it sounded serene and spiritual.

[@Lutzifer31337]

@@kaitlyn__L yeah, quite the opposite of creepy, when the sound makes you think of meditation and peacefulness :D

[@shanithezimhoni]

Its like an analog corpus effect. Neat

[@7177YT]

Mr Korg seems to be a really cool dude. Now I regret not having a chat at their tent. (:

[@kenschestok9515]

this thing is beautiful! interesting(to me at least) how the focus on resonators in the last few years seems to be more dominant. I was relatively ignorant to resonators and overtones until the a few years ago but I am totally on board!

[@RandomRotation]

WOW. This looks more than interesting.

[@aardvarkmindshank]

Actually it doesn’t seem to allow any expression whatsoever, unlike a guitar. Shame. It needs work on the human interface regarding expressive playing dynamics.

[@bisamkiez]

it sounds like a kalimba played with an e-bow

[@Tom-nm6qf]

It basically is.

[@nebula0697]

It sounds so good! I hope they make an electric piano-inspired instrument with weighted keys out of it. It would be crazy to have something sounding so organic and potentially feel like a Rhodes to play but yet control the envelope manually to literally turn into an organ when you need to. Both the attack and sustain part of that sound is so good

[@kaitlyn__L]

That’s such a good point! The energiser pulses could totally be velocity sensitive for that Rhodes expressivity.

[@stefevr]

I love imagining that after the sucess of the volcas they just let him run wild with ideas

[@caifothiazz]

korg volcas and pocket operator are reson why i make music. But only volcas are still in my setup. Exactly keys have wonderful sound.

[@joshuamortimer8839]

Korg Berlin should team up with Soma Labs! ❤

[@IppeiTambata]

It expands the imagination of creation. I can't wait to try out the reaction to actual sounds and operations!

[@sonicase]

idea: they could keep the metal parts in the coil and pickup but have the rest of the tine made of wood and use different tonewoods. may sound like a xylophone vs glockenspiel or rhodes ... yeah definitely a harmonic reverb could be made for it, kinda like the palm sympathetic string speaker for an ondes martenot.

[@PrimitiveInTheExtreme]

Really curious about the final product.

[@asynchronicity]

Honestly I have been dreaming of something like this! Something with many manipulable bands and that is all about playing with the full spectrum of sonic vibration in a direct way.

[@contesselina]

Very nice! Imagine you could "modify" the shape of the forks separately with these "keyboard knobs"also , so they all could sound with a different character... So many possibilities... and looking forward too! Greetings!

[@Systemv1]

Best demo yet! But the addition of samples, as it sounded like was suggested, would definitely be to the detriment of the product, as would take away from a fully analog signal path.

[@D1570R73D]

Why not have both?

[@Systemv1]

@@D1570R73D because the analogue signal path 'should' be superior in terms of purity of sound.

[@kaitlyn__L]

If it was only the option of a DAC into the energiser coil, the analogue signal path from pickups into feedback etc is still fully analogue. Plus, who knows if they’re generating those energiser pulses with analogue circuitry - they could be using a sample of a quick pulse. He did say a lot of the control circuitry was digital for prototyping purposes.

[@err_rawr]

I had been waiting for this one 🎉

[@selfscience]

The brulat speakers, wow.

[@robertzantay5923]

If you try to control it with a keyboard then you won’t get the kind of expression that woodwind instruments have. Hooking this up to a Yamaha WX-7 would allow for much more expressive control over volume, vibrato, harmonics and more.

[@danieljung2810]

Wow, this is very unique?

[@pongtrometer]

“Exciting” 😅 , nice one Cuckoo 👾

[@mdnghtppl0000]

great interview!

[@JohnAlchemy]

Nice one

[@mcblahflooper94]

As soon as I saw this, and saw you at the booth, Ive just been patiently waiting to hear your side of it. Thanks !

[@JH-lo9ut]

Watching this guy always puts a smile on my face. You can tell he's just uniquely smart and creative, but still so humble and full of positive energy.

[@am5790]

a very interesting and exciting concept.....looking forward to hear the finished product.

[@SynthAddict]

thanks @True Cuckoo for a cool interview with the legendary @Tatsuya Takahashi from Korg - I'm excited to see how this evolves, as a sort of portable "Rhodes meets Marxophone" device for lots of ambient and percussive output I've been a fan of his work with Korg for a long time - keeping things fun, portable, and sounding good 🙂

[@GizzyDillespee]

If the feedback control mechanism can be somehow reactive to our playing, I think that would be good... not necessarily in a linear relationship... but some sort of connection that's more intuitive than choosing harmonics by thinking about it and selecting which ones. It should be "by feel", like a guitar.

[@GizzyDillespee]

When I write "should", I'm really just beginning to think about this, so "should" isn't really the right word. What I really mean is "I THINK I'd like it to be this way". But I haven't tried it, so IDK for sure.

[@OdoSendaidokai]

Thanks, this was one of the best explanations and presentations 🌻

[@JLeonSarmiento]

Imagine a company with Tats, Ess and Cuckoo in the board....

[@am5790]

@@chrl_nrys co-founder of FORS (Opal) and former Elektron DT and DN

[@fortheloveofnoise]

and Simon The Magpie

[@jedgould5531]

Like geometric acoustic system, even that it exists. Does it play more than one note at a time? Evidently not. If it’s not polyphonic, you might as well sample each note for poly playback. Or do I not get it?

[@alancalvitti]

-1 cooko asks fluff q's - can u ask if korg refresh the wavedrum every millennium or so & no more plastic or external psu.. . what korg "berlin" what a bunch of aholes

[@mousethefoo1230]

Once they showed him touching the resonators I was sold. I hope they develop towards creating the sound through physical interaction with the resonators.

[@JohnPaulsonJohnisaStegosaurus]

another idea i thought of is you could have multiple resonators per tine, with mix for each voice, and the secondary resonators would play harmonics of the fundamental... just a thought.

[@triandgle]

▲ the two loveliest people in music tech!

[@PatternRecognitionMusic]

Tats is a truly remarkable guy, and a huge driving force behind the current state of synthesis!

[@JohnPaulsonJohnisaStegosaurus]

two pedal inputs for piano style damping and muting would be awesome for this.

[@teckz0r]

Just looking at those speakers in the back at least they got the sub and the tweets the rightside up haha

[@adamscott1142]

This ideas of acoustic synthesis is deeply deeply cool.

[@TR-707]

omg those speakers...where are they in Berlin now?

[@the_glove]

Sounds like fm . Guess I don’t get the hype

[@hellf.o]

Thanks Korg!

[@anthonyman8008]

I want

[@Nadrisk]

sounds like balinese gamelan

[@notrealy180217]

What is that pink/salmon shirt you are always wearing?

[@truecuckoo]

It’s my favourite T-shirt I bought at an end of summer sale from Maharishi a few years ago.

[@VintageGearFreak]

Fender Rhodes Volca. Folca?

[@7digger3]

BRILLIANT!!! I’m stoked about the possibilities, as a guitar player recently getting into synths this is sooooo exciting!!!

[@CatFish107]

Polyglot engineer: write your own ticket!

[@patcupo]

Hey that’s Iarla! I used to work with him. Smart dude.

[@bonsaibloom]

this is so amazing. im so exited to see what other products come out of this!!

[@selfscience]

Another thing to want. A genius idea materialized.

[@jahtari]

what a legend!

[@saftigesfruchtchen456]

Very intresting, also nice that they go out with such an "early" model

[@ablex7]

I really want that korg hat

[@MD_is_me]

I do wonder why they aren't using the term "electro-acounstic" since that's exactly what kind of instrument this is. Trying to coin a new term for a class of intrument that's been around for decades seems a bit disingenuous.

[@am5790]

marketing

[@fortheloveofnoise]

He said electro-acoustic in the video.

[@kaitlyn__L]

For me, that implies I’d be plucking or hitting something by hand and just picking it up electrically. Also I’d expect a piezo pickup rather than a capacitive one, tbh. The purely-magnetic exciter combined with the feedback circuit take it a step beyond that imo, though certainly it’s using electro-acoustic techniques.

[@Chucosan]

I hope this is not limited run and super espensive! this is a dream come true!

[@GizzyDillespee]

There isn't a product yet... this is more like a successful demonstration of this "acoustic synthesis" idea, of what they've been working on. He said they have ideas of how to develop it, but no definite products in the pipeline yet.

[@cunktclappr3368]

theyre really working in some volca meme vibes