Korg Acoustic Synthesis-phase 8 // Update from Superbooth 2024

[@PatternRecognitionMusic]

Always a pleasure to see Tats showing off his projects. He seems so down to earth and approachable, and so very passionate about his work.

[@makeperceive]

I'm so delighted to see Korg continuing with this project, and that it's quite experimental and unique in nature. It's more kalimba than electromechanical piano currently. I'd be interested to see if/how then can introduce more notes, with midi control. Maybe using nanotechnology, tiny physical resonators, a full 8 octave range of pitches. But that's a different project, much more complex, and the simplicity and limitations around this one are part of its charm. I'd definitely want to be able to tune each note in this version, and it should be microtonal capable. An electromechanical Lyra kalimba with sequencer, packaged in a piezo noisebox

[@RealityShiftUK]

Tempting but I wonder how much. It will cost?

[@ByteSizedSociety]

I posted another comment a little further down with a link to a video that has a Qun synth resonating similar to what I heard on this video of the Korg. Mics as input to effector. This korg is neat because it does real world resonance and it sounds like it could get really mean and growling if they actually played it. So I’m excited.

[@MichaelUhler]

My thoughts exactly. This could potentially become a Fender Rhodes on STEROIDS!

[@MantasticHams]

theres no way you are going to get a pleasant acoustic sound in low frequencies from something smaller than the wave you are trying to excite out of it...

[@G8tr1522]

definitely needs microtonal support

[@mooretto]

I absolutely love it! Tatsuya is a bloody genius, and with his team, he's exploring new ways of making musical instruments. Acoustic Synthesis is a great link between classic vintage instruments of the past and digital ones, bringing the uniqueness of the physical human interaction with the instrument to shapes the sound.

[@smokesystem90]

I love this guy's work. Phenomenal engineer.

[@jmarvosa6x3]

sheesh those drone holds could probably move rocks! Bravo KORG. Wow setting up as a "prepared" kalimba is superb

[@PorchBass]

This is the doorbell we waited for.

[@comp0smentis]

OMG YES

[@Crypto2638]

Finally a brand that doesn’t copy other products but rather tries to experiment

[@NEALBEARD2]

Keep going Korg! This is a really interesting instrument…

[@adrianchevalley9805]

Having an lfo modulate the magnetic hammer at audio rate would take this to an unpredictably incredible level. Electro-acoustic FM *chef kiss*

[@marknhopgood]

Or an audio or cv input.

[@Tommass79]

The lateral thinking used to create this is impressive love it already

[@7mint]

I for one really like the concept behind it, it really speaks to me. It's limited and flawed but that's exactly the reason I like it. There are more flexible and "powerful" options out there for more pragmatic uses but this has a very unique character to it that I would love to have in my setup

[@AbyssalReverberations]

I love this, and I hope they keep the aesthetic as it is. I can't wait for this to come out.

[@johnDinca-v6b]

Agreed Im excited for this instrument.

[@Vospi]

I think it's a great effort. I'm almost never excited about hardware things. This looks great.

[@christdolphin69]

one of the most interesting instruments ive seen in recent memory. this has incredible implications. id love to see even further "superimposed" components for processing, in addition to the vcas, such as analog filters and maybe some sort of modulation to the electromagnetic "exciter"

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Oh Korgy Korg Korg Korginators...run with this! So much fun :) love it

[@RobertFisher1969]

Kind of like a Rhodes with a Sustainiac. Nice!

[@asp4637]

At last, something new and inspiring! Credit to Korg and its design team.

[@heymynameisharry]

at last, Mbira

[@surrealchemist]

This thing would be so fun running through effects pedals. Its really cool Korg is letting them explore this kind of thing and actually innovate some unique ideas.

[@djkanyon]

Finally Tats is back... looking more Johny Depp-like than usual

[@timmylok]

[@mauchkimberly]

Beautiful. So glad to see this idea keep being developed. I'm a huge fan of the combination of accoustic and digital elements.

[@intheblink]

Thank you! I’ve been eagerly awaiting some news on this one. Was excited when Korg Berlin posted they’d be showing the new version this year. Thanks for helping us hear how it sounds!

[@i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

OMG, i can remember the first prototype presentations. This is very cool. Love the interferences when holding multiple notes.

[@adognamedshinji]

Always glad to see Tats in another video! His MonoTribe, OG Minilogue, and Monologue are some of my favourite Korg gear of the 21st century. Really enjoy the Volca Kick and Beats as well.

[@raul0ca]

The wood panel on the back of the Minilogue always baffled me but then I'm not a genius. If only they skipped that and gave it 2 more voices

[@earanwe]

volca series were really a plottwist on synthesis scene

[@13opacus]

Been waiting for an update on this since last year's show. I already want one even though it doesn't exist yet and then we find out that it will feedback as well!!! :) 👍

[@coco805]

Such a COOL device. I love how innovative Korg is being with this thing!

[@therealone1288]

it's cool, dont know i'd buy it. but korg does interesting things from time to time. this guys a treasure

[@songs481]

I have been wanting this since I found out about it

[@holgerrumke6244]

Thank you Starsky Carr and KORG :)

[@SpaceDisease]

I want this so bad. So nice to see such a fresh idea from a big company

[@UberOcelot]

I love that they are chronicling their journey at various stages of prototyping. I hope something production comes of this, for now we wait... gosh it's sort of like an electronic kalimba that can take midi input. Really amazing. I've loved seeing electric kalimbas used as source oscillators to feed into filter and effects boxes.

[@rok_koritnik]

I'm really looking forward to further development!

[@ehdyn]

Makes me think of Scanned Synthesis and Column Thirteen by Autechre.. very interesting and hope they keep pushing in this direction

[@TheMarkSiebert]

Wow what a brilliant instrument!! ❤

[@DoctorRevers]

Something different is something good. Sounds awesome

[@StephenMiller-c8q]

This is the most exciting instrument I have seen in my 17 years of playing. I hope this comes out to production. Also about the choice of floating or not, you could incorporate a physical damper lever giving the user to isolate that sound or let it reverberate on the enclosure. Just a thought, this is so cool.

[@CarfDarko]

What a cute and interesting little synth, it feels like an ultraluxe Volca made love with a Kalimba. Totally something out of my range in a heavy pianoroll midi studio but feels like something that can do wonders for jams or to add during or after the mix itself. One to keep an eye on for sure!

[@thelemetric]

tats the man. honestly we need more volca shaped boxes asap.

[@realmchat6665]

I'll always love korg for bringing out the volca series and bringing hardware synths down to earth.

[@raul0ca]

Minilogue, Prologue and my favorite Nautilus but that's a VST on hardware haha

[@RevIsnot]

super cool concept!

[@manganoiser]

i havnet been this psyhed about an instrument in a long time!

[@xxandiee]

Love the mirror finish

[@samuelmckahey7226]

Looking forward to this. Well done.

[@ogasi1798]

cool idea, beautiful in chrome - almost feels like something that should have come from Soma - thanks Matt

[@earanwe]

the one in green of Tom is so 💚💚💚💚💚

[@AlzheinerTV]

Looks really promising. I definitely think it could be a great addition to my setup. ❤

[@TheIndustrialRetrospective]

This is a cool percussive/synthesizer type device, looking forward to more developments.

[@ACCOUNTANTB]

this would be amazing !! no doubt !! this guy is tallented with all those volcas !!

[@toddtrillo7445]

Now that's cool , I want one , looks beautiful

[@vwvwvwvvw6143]

this one is so amazing and inspiring

[@darwiniandude]

Fascinating!

[@JorbLovesGear]

Bro I just got on the train I can't believe this video is already up 😭😭😭

[@markjamesduff]

That’s amazing

[@bertstang3006]

It’s amazing! You should add modulation inputs for sustain for example…

[@bubuAudio]

this man is sooo smart !! great mind !! Also, love korg giving him the resources for all this

[@dustinhodell]

This is beautiful!

[@HarmonicSonics.]

super interesting module, I have been watching all the phase5 videos from last years sb, and seeing it further develop, im hopeful to hear future demonstrations of the phase8, with alternate resonating vibrations i guess it would be, to get different tambres [apart from the adsr aspects seen, which is still cool]. Thanks for showing it

[@timandtheocean]

love this guy for doing the volca modular. amazing instrument. this thing looks very Koriginal. sort of handpan but compact.

[@timandtheocean]

Btw would be great if the unit got midi input and that each note in the octave get like a last note prio. like this you can stack the accoustic reso with poly synth patches and your not limited to play in 1 octave only. if the sound is going to be great then 2 octaves would have my preference. I imagine to use it for accoustic feedback with an guitar and amp. The sound is... mwha... a more solid pitch fork sounds better.

[@boriscat1999]

I used to have a door bell with 4 different tone bars in it and a selection of melodies it could play. After seeing this, now I wish it I had a chromatic door bell ...

[@yorec1.618]

Very nice instrument!

[@hadror13]

lovely. I'd also go for a large scale unit

[@MantasticHams]

i think something like this will really come to life with some proprietary physical interface technology and a minimal but effective gui. Needs something that will let you send more different types of impulses through the resonators without touching them, like a momentary button for example that switches from 2 types of articulation, my instant thought would be 1 is a piano strike, and 2 is a high frequency pulse sequence with some light randomization and a slow attack for a violin type effect. You could even use something like an XY pad to add a huge amount of possible articulations.

[@BF-up5xw]

I love the ideas behind it and it looks to be developing really nicely.

[@eddraper]

Very cool... It's come a long way since version 5. It sounds great!

[@scottwillingham8349]

I wish Korg would make this actually in the form factor of a Kalimba (with knobs and switches in a separate box). Basically the equivalent of the Moog guitar, but for Kalimba.

[@corticallarvae]

Lfo, audiorate to a crawl. Envelope follower in or or audio in to use them as physical resonators,and variable state filter or filters then it would be helpful in sound design and cinematic audio. I love the prepared piano element. It needs at least some serious atonal textural capability if we are remaining in scythe same scale wonderful idea❤❤❤❤

[@3dsman]

This is SO cool!!!

[@sullenpuffin]

Wow, I love this

[@Vim-Wolf]

I love this, it's cute as heck.

[@leonsubbotsky6087]

Genius product, korg❤❤❤

[@geerhoar]

Definitely needs more variety of sounds and an offset adjustment for voltage when using fingers. Perhaps add a second set of resonators with a different material and buttons (not knobs) for sustain.

[@lopodyr]

I would love to have one. It is immensely cool.

[@soulsonic]

Reminds me of the electric kalimba! Like Konono did or the band from around my way, Nomo, they'd use distorted kalimba to great effect! Looking forward to seeing the development.

[@jondis]

tone is kind of like a love child of a kalimba and celesta very cool. velocity seems like it would bring a lot from the instrument. imagine a mechanical keybed with this tone generator , plus knobs. it would be like a rhodes with synth knobs COOL ! ! ! !

[@larslyd1627]

if this has a audio input too would be crazy.. putting a drum machine or a synth through those resonators... that would be very cool

[@i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

There will be wild modifications coming to this unit from users. Love this thing.

[@vincewizz8534]

Still super interested in those instruments. I love the ability to have physical interaction through vibrations and acoustics. As with a spring reverb tank, only melodic and with many timbres 🙂🙏👍

[@ByteSizedSociety]

… Check out the video in the comment I posted below, because a person is using another synth and a wooden table top as input to that pocket synth, and the resonance is similar-ish to what we hear in this prototype video. I am excited about the Korg and I want to hear more real playing on it.

[@lootdigga7403]

Love it. 2 please.

[@nym053]

Very awesome!

[@DG-ss1gc]

Reminds me of the sculpture plug in AU in Logic , except it has the magnificent interface .

[@zap7759]

Excellent sound

[@kosisok]

I just missed the opportunity to get the Color Palettes by Lottie Canto about a week ago. But well, maybe it was good since now I see what to get instead. I’m looking forward to see this one on the market soon.

[@TheMagickMan]

i CAN't WAIT I WANT ONE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing my mind already reeling with ideas. I'm a professional Percussionist and would love to test this wonderful instrument. TAKE MY MONEY NOW LOL. Seriously though I WANT ONE NOW!!!!!!

[@ramores36]

I love it.

[@JohnLRice]

Really cool device! I hope I can afford it when it comes out. 😻😻

[@nickcarlislemusic]

I think this is cool - I'm interested!

[@georgenelson9038]

Sounds cool & seems inspiring. Sounds like something from Trent/Atticus Gone Girl soundtrack.

[@rodrigolaporte274]

This is soooo cool!

[@XanderEwald]

Very interesting. With some distortion this could be a mean techno machine.

[@arkadymarto9440]

Magic synth.respect

[@rlbf1967]

Reminds me of the Rhodes piano ☺️

[@marcelofp75]

amazing!

[@amordemae230]

yeah four tet will be buying this one

[@undercoverneunzehn]

A synth kalimba? :D

[@Demovermusic]

This is so cool! ^^

[@lucaslemire1517]

Sounds like a kalimba at points. The synth world is so vast something like this could narrow the playing field. The problem with synths that i've never liked is the SYNTHETIC tonality just like modeling amps, but synths offer as much as you can get in terms of creative expansion. Let's see where this fancy kalimba goes! I like the tone!

[@paulhooze]

Genious 😮😮😮

[@AlexNilson]

Ohh yeahhh ❤

[@sodothehivesonhisleg]

So like an electric, midi enabled kalimba? Neat!

[@infinit12]

brilliant.

[@eyeprod3101]

Cool instrument

[@sodiumlights]

Nice shirt Tats!