Korg multi/poly Analog Modeling Synth: First Look, Overview & Review!

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Күн бұрын

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@kcrosley Ай бұрын

A follow-up to this video, exploring some multi/poly-inspired wavetables in multi/poly, can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJ-Wh2aDhdCFfMk Also, my third video in this series, exploring the m/p's waveshaping oscillator, can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIbKdXqApbGobc0

@jaypaulauskas7108 29 күн бұрын

77 years old and I’m buying this in 2025. First synth and I play piano. Excited about the Korg.

@kcrosley 29 күн бұрын

@@jaypaulauskas7108 it’s a very fine synth with modern features plus vintage mojo. Thanks for watching! Watch the other videos in my KRC Mathwaves playlist for lots of transferable synth programming tips! Happy new synth year!

@toddjbradshaw 2 ай бұрын

Always good to see a video from our old pal Keith. It makes for a better day. Thanks for the review! I'm looking forward to picking one up.

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

I'm glad I could improve someone's day! Thanks for watching!

@robinsss 2 ай бұрын

@@kcrosleyYOU'RE A SCATTER BRAIN !!!

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@@robinsssthere she goes again. She’s tidied up and I CAN’T FIND ANYTHING! All my tubes and wires and careful notes… and antiquated notions… HEH! She’s poetry in motion…. And when she turned her eyes to me… as deep as any ocean… as sweet as any harMONy… sorry, what was I saying?

@0e0 Ай бұрын

really enjoy your communication style here. definitely going to get this synth

@kcrosley Ай бұрын

@@0e0 thanks for watching! Be sure to like and subscribe for more talky synthesizer content! Peep the description for links to my follow up video about using m/p’s wavetable oscillator. Another multi poly video coming soon with a deep dive on the waveshaper oscillator, as well!

@SouthShoreSonics 2 ай бұрын

Wow! Impressive. Thanks Many great ideas! This let's me know I made a wise choice on preordering my mPoly! Bravo

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@@SouthShoreSonics thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Sorry I forgot to do something with Morlet wavelets, though! D’oh! I’ll do it in future. I think you’re gonna love the shaper oscillator. It’s quite fascinating.

@SouthShoreSonics 2 ай бұрын

@@kcrosley And having four layers with two filters each that can be set to bandpass and tunable to formant frequencies I bet you can do some Moog Spectravox effects. That is one thing I want to play with!

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@SouthShoreSonics that’s a cool idea!

@VitaEx 2 ай бұрын

Happy to see someone mention it. I love synthwave the spectrum bands like fantom87 or vhs dreams all the way to rockin stuff like magic swords. Other than the Miami overdrive setting shown briefly in other videos I hadn’t sent tubers specifically focus on the synthwave possibilities of this, but I clearly keep hearing them in parts of latches and playing. I just got mine today so I haven’t busted it out yet but I’m most excited about even just doing layer switching you could make a performance that’s basically different parts of a song a one turn them on off bass drums melody or intro verse chorus etc for live play. Magic sword for example if I wanted to play tunes like that I would need to buy mutiple expensive synths. I feel like this little unit and a looper even will be able to really do a lot without haveing to spend 45 minutes pulling out all my other gear super stoked to starting experimenting with it. Absolutely wish it game in a nice outrun sun vector landscape purple pink qnd blue paint scheme lol but it still looks pretty sweet

@bilonggrisimmeri 2 ай бұрын

I am finally seeing those differences between Multi/Poly and Modwave. Thanks. Oversampling and Audio Rate Filter FM are ones I've missed, just comparing the 2 Owners' Manuals. You explained round robining very well too. Will wait 6 months or whatever for the module version of Multi/Poly.

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@bilonggrisimmeri glad you found that helpful and thanks for watching! With respect to the "digital"/wavetable oscillator, in multi/poly, it has all of the same capabilities as the modwave wavetable oscillator, except for a couple of morph modes (I think it lacks "sync" and "windowed sync" morphs), and it doesn't have the Wavetable A/B mode (where you can blend between two different wavetables in a phase-synced way). But you gain the waveshaper oscillator, which actually has like 3 different parameters for changing the waveform created by the shaper and this is a very similar type of effect to A/B blend. All oscillators, of all types, are free-running in multi/poly, so that's different as well. As a result, that means there is no specific phase control/modulation destination (as we have in modwave). Also, the new "Drift" parameter and related amounts in multi/poly replace the "pitch random" parameter (a handy, but less sophisticated way to simulate drift in modwave or wavestate). If you're interested in stuff like this, you might like this previous video where I talked about techniques for making "analog" sounding patches in modwave at kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4nEqq2OoqlsoM0si=6qyiKgrypfyDEIKt&t=348.

@mass-1128 23 күн бұрын

Hi Keith, thanks for an awesome review. What would you list as the cons for the Multipoly?

@kcrosley 23 күн бұрын

Hey there, @mass-1128, thanks for watching! So, I would say most cons on this instrument would come down to the form factor, which is divisive. I personally like the small, "laptop-able" format of the multi/poly keyboard (and also the very similar 3-octave wavestate and modwave keyboards). It's a shame that the keyboard doesn't have aftertouch. Also, for a professional instrument, connectivity is pretty sparse -- a single stereo out, headphone out, full size MIDI in/out, damper pedal, and USB (for USB midi and connectivity to the editor librarian). (Compare to something like a Sequential Pro 2 or Pro 3, which has a lot more connectivity,... but is like 3 times the price of m/p.) This is what leads some people to say, "well this is just a VST in a box," right? But that ignores all of the hands-on control you get from the front panel. (And this is overall a silly argument. Of course, it's all just software at this point with today's embedded computing power. We don't need custom ASICs, specialized DSP, etc. anymore to do awesome sounding synthesizer stuff in the digital domain. This is a good thing.) At present (Jan 2025), this is the only form factor for multi/poly. The other Korg R&D synths (wavestate and modwave, which have obviously been out for longer) are also available in a module form factor, as VSTs (which, BTW, can be bought at a discount if you own the hardware), and in the case of wavestate, available in a larger "SE" keyboard form factor. Will multi/poly also be offered in those form factors? It seems likely, but we don't know when. As I point out in the review, the keybed on m/p is superior to the original wavestate and modwave keyboards (both of which I own). Also the keys themselves are waterfalled (they have rounded edges), which I didn't point out, but makes things like organ falls fun to play. It's hard to find any fault in the sound of this instrument, and complaining about the architecture is just being greedy. However, with the oscillators being so complex and modulatable, I do sometimes find myself wanting perhaps just one more auxiliary envelope and/or LFO. (Unlike something like Phase Plant, you can't just modularly make yourself an arbitrary number of new modulation thingies. But there are plenty for all but the most insane purposes, really.) And one more not really a con, but worth noting: The modulation sequencer (which I didn't highlight in this video at all) is extremely powerful and can be used in a lot of creative ways, but it is complex and not necessarily "fun" to program. It definitely benefits from the editor/librarian software! But of course, there's an insane amount of complex synthesis stuff that you can do without even touching that. One thing that's a little odd is that the arpeggiator operates at the Performance level, not at the Program/Layer level, unlike in wavestate and modwave. Also, vis-a-vis the other two Korg R&D synths, this one doesn't have sample playback (which one might have thought was sort of a default feature of this architecture). Fans of these synths (like me) kind of want a Korg R&D super-synth that lets you mix wavesequencing, wavetables, VA oscillators, waveshaping, and sample playback, but now again we are just being greedy! 😉 Make sure to check out my follow on videos where I focus on the wavetable and waveshaper oscillators in more detail! (I made a new playlist with all of my m/p stuff in it here: kzbin.info/aero/PLrpwUaHrI9tOTuERRO9M5gABOcQLcSqev&si=9p_R0gIVVfka6WvE)

@kcrosley 15 күн бұрын

Just kind of a follow-up to my previous comments on cons of the multi/poly-most of which related to form factor: Korg announced yesterday that there's a Korg multi/poly module on the way, and also announced the Korg multi/poly native plugin coming soon! So, just like with the other Korg R&D synths, there's everything except a large keyboard version. So, that's now off-the-table as a limitation. (BTW, if one does have a hardware version, the VST/native version is available at a discount and I love having both the hardware and software versions of these synths.)

@VitaEx 2 ай бұрын

Will you be coming out with a performance bank for this ? I love that waveshaper sound very blade runner 48:00

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@@VitaEx thanks for the kind words! Yeah, I’m thinking about that, or simply adding them to Mathwaves. Yeah, the modulation in that patch is a bit of a “Vangelis” move. Though, in my head, I was thinking “Arrakis… Dune… Desert Planet” but failed to make the joke while I was recording. The waveshaper oscillator is exceedingly interesting and responds in very interesting ways to modulation. It’s a bit like Wavetable A/B mode on modwave in that you can move the waveform in multiple dimensions that aren’t immediately obvious.

@VitaEx 2 ай бұрын

@ I dig it vibes (spice) must flow

@VitaEx 26 күн бұрын

@@kcrosleyis this in mathwwaves now?

@HarmonicSonics. 2 ай бұрын

Oh nice you got one. Curious what the sounds are like. Especially the wave shapers , x mod and audio rate filter lfos

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

Hey, @HarmonicSonics, thanks for watching! I'll definitely be doing more with multi/poly in the future, but I got a bit into the waveshaper oscillator and audio-rate filter modulation together at 0:48:21. And I very briefly touched on cross-mod at 1:08:11 .

@darrenmackay2536 2 ай бұрын

This is an awesome synth. Will be my next purchase. Just wish there was an SE / SE Platinum version already released. Will probably pair it with a wider keyb with PolyAT (e.g. Keystage 61)

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, an instrument with this much oscillator morphing capability is screaming to be controlled with polyphonic aftertouch! Thanks for watching!

@VitaEx 2 ай бұрын

I feel like you could use that strum trick to very closely emulate the tones in beink of time and maloria cathedral among other iconic tracks from misudas excellent chrono trigger ost

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@@VitaEx I hear what you mean there. Yeah, there’s a lot of “retriggery” stuff in video game/chiptune music. Old guy aside: I have a fondness for complex/multistage envelopes and the tricks one can do with them as my first synth was the Casio CZ-101, which has 8-stage envelopes. Aside 2: you can do strum/flam effects in Wavestate because you can have a silent step(s) in the wavesequence. But there’s no non-convoluted/inefficient way to do that in modwave (aside from either some tricky mod processor stuff or running a layer through a fully wet delay effect, which just isn’t the same thing). Thanks for being such a careful listener!

@caleb5780 5 күн бұрын

Rest in peace David Lynch

@kcrosley 5 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching! When, in my next video, I say, “I probably think about David Lynch several times per month,” well, here’s an example.

@audioartisan 2 ай бұрын

I'm confused. Did I hear you say that each layer can hold 4 oscillators, per layer!? I see 4 layers in the editor. Would that mean we can thicken this beast with 16 oscillators with a single keystroke!? Or am I dreaming. I can throw 6 at a time on the Opsix! But 16 * faints * I'm currently browsing the manual to see if I'm just dreaming. Thank you, Keith! Really appreciate your work! ...Edit: Not confused ...I said that early on in the vid. Can't wait to play with this, it's gonna be fun!!

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

Hey there, @audioartisan. Yes, you understand that correctly. A multi/poly performance is 4 layers (each layer a "Program"). Each Program layer voice architecture consists of 4 oscillators. So, yes, you could have 16 oscillators sounding at once. Further, the unison mode is per Program (layer), so you could have voice duplication as well (meaning, even more oscillators sounding) on a single key. I haven't stress tested to see how ridiculous you can get and still have any reasonable polyphony, but many of the fat patches I'm playing here are sounding 20 voices without voice stealing. Thanks also for the kind comments and thanks for watching! 🎹

@AntonMochalin 2 ай бұрын

It woulld be cool if it allowed to load wavetables as waveshaper models because shaper model is just a function of a single argument and then you could modulate the position in wavetable as shaper model basically changing the shaper model over time.

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@@AntonMochalin yeah… I’ll be taking a look at the latest Kilohearts stuff too, soon…

@0richbike 2 ай бұрын

Hi, how easy is it to import your tables into a Bofeld? Cheers Rich

@jackcimino8822 2 ай бұрын

Blofeld only uses sysex midi for wavetables.

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

Hey, thanks for watching @0richbike. I don't know that it's actually possible or easy to import third-party wavetables like mine to Blofeld. Based on this article everyone seems to point to -- markmoshermusic.com/2015/07/29/intro-to-loading-custom-waldorf-blofeld-wavetables/ -- it seems super cumbersome. I don't personally own a Blofeld, but perhaps another wavetable fan will chime in here.

@neuronist 2 ай бұрын

maybe rebrand as "multi/wave"?

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@neuronist, thanks for watching! While I didn't actually comment on this in the video, I think it's really funny that they didn't include "wave" in the name of this synth. Missed marketing opportunity to give this thing a hot pink livery and a trendy name. 😉

@digitaldiezel5870 2 ай бұрын

Bruh 😎… !!!

@CRayBeats Ай бұрын

sounds like any other synth VST

@kcrosley Ай бұрын

Thanks for watching. But, no, it really doesn't. It doesn't even sound like its closest sibling's VST (modwave native). I'm curious about what VST's you think multi/poly sounds closest to?

@CRayBeats Ай бұрын

@@kcrosley How about microKORG NATIVE. A vst in a box. DIGITAL.

@digitaldiezel5870 2 ай бұрын

…don’t say 80’s 😅! This post is selling like 300% more of these as he’s going through it (super demo)…and he decides to utter “80’s”😅😅😅

@kcrosley 2 ай бұрын

@digitaldiezel5870, thanks for watching and for the kind comment (I agree, it's a super demo 😉)! But what's wrong with mentioning the 1980s? It's the golden era of synth-pop, and multi/poly is chock full of emulations of classic 70s and 80s synth patches. (I didn't demo them, but there's a lovely homage to the bass from "Don't You Want Me", in addition to the "Sweet Dreams" type patches... also there's a couple of gems from I Speak Machine's Tara Busch for "Cars" and... of all things... the noise hit from "Betty Davis Eyes"). It just gives off those vibes! Also, I'm very GenX and cut my teeth on synthesis in the 80s, so don't make me get all Espen Kraft on you. 🤣 Don't forget to like and subscribe for moar talky synthesizer content!

@audioartisan 2 ай бұрын

I miss the 80's. I miss the 70's even more...