Lecture #1 Synth Paring and Notch Filter Exploration with the Korg MS-20

Here is a remake of my first lecture in the use of Kong's sonic workhorse, the MS-20. We will together explore Korg's legendary High Pass and Low Pass filters nominally routed as a Bandpass filter pair. We will use the Alesis QS6 to generate a sine, saw and square wave and route them individually through the MS-20 HP/LP filters using the MS-20's highly regarded ESP [External Signal Processor]. We will hear (and see) how these filters respond (or not!). We will then hear how a harmonically rich patch from the Alesis [BuzzClip] is enhanced by the use of subtractive bandpass filter synthesis. Lastly, we will see how one can pair ANY synth with the Korg MS-20 and take advantage of subtractive synthesis by constructing a notch filter . . . and getting way more sonic output with less! We will experience the "power of the notch" to pair two synths together in a mix yielding a sonically rich and balanced result. As always, if you have questions or comments please feel free to reach out!
BTW - a big THANK YOU to "Entropy Disorder" for pointing out a couple of "issues" that needed fixing in my original post. It's viewers like you that help make this channel great! :-)

[@haroldpalmer3245]

Good to see another great video, thank you.

[@hadlbah]

Absolutely my pleasure!☺️

[@gregwright77]

Really helpful! Thank you.

[@hadlbah]

Completely my pleasure!😊

[@byPerriBeats]

Hi I was looking to buy an ms20 mini but found out a lot of people have been pointing out the noise problem. Do you think it's a real problem or it's just a synth property?

[@hadlbah]

Hi Perri! That’s a really good question and there are likely a few considerations about noise. Obviously, the fact that I start my response with “a few considerations” is probably telling. Let’s assume there isn’t some recent manufacturing problem at Korg wherein they are shipping defectively noisy MS-20s. That being said, yes she is a touch noisy but not such that it’s an issue…unless you use it in a very special way. If you turn both oscillators down to zero and hit a key on the keyboard, you’ll hear some noise when the gate opens on the amplifier. It’s not line noise (unless there is a power supply problem), it’s internal, well. . . White noise. As soon as you turn up either oscillator, the noise is completely overwhelmed by the oscillator. It seems to be a property of the synth. Besides, is there any other synth that can punch into a mix like an MS-20? It’s a fantastic sonic workhorse and that little bit of noise is truly a non-issue…unless. So, when pairing another synth, like we do in Lecture #1 we can encounter that MS-20 noise if the audio signal in is being routed thru the “legendary” high-pass and low-pass filters. Let’s say you are routing a delicate pad thru the MS-20 filter set, then yes you might encounter some of that “gate noise” until your pad swells enough to drown out the noise. But that use is “edge case” and can be dealt with using a de-esser or EQ8 with a judiciously applied Q. Fumio Mieda, the chief engineer at Korg made the decision to pass a touch of noise thru in order to offer us one of the most sonically complex synths ever conceived. I think he made the right call.

[@byPerriBeats]

@@hadlbah I was thinking the same! Thank you so much!

[@dbrucie]

I think I missed something The difference, to me, between 19:40 and 24:00 is just that the notch filter made the staccato tone thinner sounding.

[@hadlbah]

Yes! Exactly! We thin the highs and lows whilst preserving some of the lower and higher harmonics. We don’t get to keep all of the highs because we lose some of them with the LPF. And then we leave behind some of the lows with the other side of notch. We do pull through the harmonics though and that’s what makes it special. The notch width is key. Earlier in the video I sweep the band pass filter and it sounds quite different. It’s subtle yet distinct. It’s the use of these different filtering techniques that seeks to separate a good mix from a great mix. Pop on your “Princess Leia Hairdo” and give it a try and I think you’ll likely experience the same nuance. Great mixes are all about exploring and exploiting nuance (imo).😊 Thanks for the great comment!

[@anonymous_friend]

I'm new to patching, and I just got an ms-20 mini and a matriarch. My concern since I don't quite understand it all, is can I send too much voltage from one synth to the other and do damage to them? Thanks for the lesson!

[@hadlbah]

Hello @anonymous_friend! Great question and totally thrilled that you joined the “MS-20/Matriarch Club”. As far as these two synths and synth to synth over-voltage risk: short answer is there is absolutely no risk of damage when patching between these two synths. Hiroaki Nishijima (Chief engineer at Korg) and Mark Crowley (Designer of Matriarch at Moog) are well aware of each other’s products and fully anticipated interconnectivity. In fact, the internal circuitry for both these synths is designed to protect itself from outputs being directly plugged into other outputs. Now there is a caveat and that is other non-synth voltage sources being used. For example, from time to time I use my oscilloscope as a signal generator and if not careful I could easily dump a 50V signal into something…I’m of the opinion this would fry something. So I’m suuuuuper careful when messing about with my “scope.” Otherwise you’ll be fine. Be bold, go crazy and have fun!!!😎

[@anonymous_friend]

@@hadlbah Thanks for the reply! I would love to see a video from you showing different patches between the two!

[@hadlbah]

@@anonymous_friend that is an excellent idea! I’m finishing up a sample and hold vid lecture presently (Lecture #7). I do touch on MS20/Matriarch integration challenges in Lecture #6. There are CV to Oscillator differences between Moog and Korg that I dive into at 5:07. I also show the stepped triangle from the Matriarch modulation via mult driving the legendary MS-20 high and low pass filter modulation at 10:32. Perhaps this helps touch on a couple of aspects so do cruise on over to my channel and check that out. However a full on integration - like a total “Borg” level integration would be a fun experiment and is a great idea! I’ll definitely give a shout-out on the vid when I post it!😎

[@anonymous_friend]

@@hadlbah Awesome! Thanks again

[@amphitheatre]

17:50 how did you get the differing note lengths on one sequence from the sq1? i just bought an ms20fs and am enjoying your video instruction.

[@hadlbah]

Hi @amphitheater! Greetings and glad to hear you are enjoying the lecture! I believe I cover this in future lectures (I think, but now that I think about it, maybe I don’t). Either way, on the selector knob there is a setting for CV/Duty with parallel arrows. This means Bank A outputs CV for frequency control and Bank B outputs the duty cycle or on duration for each step. The step buttons select which step will be triggered and the mini knobs will modulate step control. It’s been a while since I messed with it, but I think that’s right. Can you let me know if I buggered that up or nailed it? 🤓

[@amphitheatre]

@@hadlbah that option works for 8 steps but I ask because you're using the 16 step mode (16:42) whereas the duty mode you mentioned only works for 8

[@hadlbah]

@amphitheatre Oh, yeah, you’re right! If only my engineering students were so observant it would make things WAY simpler for me LOL! Okay, what I have is the Duty knob (above ‘function’ button) cranked all the way up so the unit will run the full note length. I set up 1/8 notes and the 1/8 notes are drawn together with 100% duty. I then turned off some of the intermediate steps meaning it counts but does not play. So counting off the merged 1/8 notes (now quarter notes) it becomes: DAA-di-di-di / DAA-DAA-DAA (in 4/4 time). This is how I did it. Let me know if this helped ya.🤓

[@amphitheatre]

@@hadlbah thanks! i realized too that you're only using GATE out, without using cv for pitch, allowing you to play via the keyboard, something i hadn't thought of 😎

[@hadlbah]

@@amphitheatre Totally Awesome!!