SUPERBOOTH 2024: Korg Berlin - Acoustic Synthesis Phase 8 Electro-Acoustic Synth

At Superbooth 2024 we met up with Lukas from Korg Berlin who gave us a lovely outdoor look at a prototype synth, *Acoustic Synthesis Phase 8*, their latest attempt to create an instrument that sits between the worlds of acoustic and electronic instruments.
At the heart of ASP-8 are several individual resonators that form the basis of the sound of the instrument, and these work with the capacitive pickup which works like a condenser microphone. Not only can you interact with the resonators physically, you can interact electronically through the synthesizer itself. There's an onboard 8-step sequencer that can trigger and change the settings of the resonators as you go.
There are two basic playing modes, hammer mode for short, plucky sounds, and each resonator gets independent tone and time controls, where time acts like a basic decay envelope. In wave mode, the time controls switch to affecting the attack time, which leads to more pad-like, slow soundscapes. Lukas explained this will probably be the last prototype before this instrument is released in its final form, which Korg Berlin hope will happen at Superbooth 2025.
korg.berlin/
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[@Thesoundswithinofficial]

the kalimba after hitting the gym and turning it's life around

[@infn8loopmusic]

Right! Like a kalimba drum machine. It's electromechanical 😲 I wonder... 🤔 What If... I buy a kalimba and a power screwdriver and get some tape and flyswatters ☝️😃💡 yeah that'll do it.

[@mrdavies7894]

I was going to say… “Behold the Kalimba for the 21st Century!” 😂 Jokes aside, I think it’s super interesting how Korg have become so very audience aware and interactive over the past few years. It’s nice to see this trend continuing, as well as interesting watching the development and evolution of this product!

[@ancientmartianunderground]

Yes and tomorrow the AI cow bell

[@Thesoundswithinofficial]

@@ancientmartianunderground it knows exactly how much too much cowbell is required for your productions so you can focus on the snare lol

[@Thesoundswithinofficial]

@@mrdavies7894 oh yes! totally appreciate this idea and direction - physical modelling synthesis is one of my fav and this is really taking that to another level.

[@tomtebby7408]

It’s so good to see such innovative ideas - great work Korg - and to Sonicstate of course for bringing us such excellent content.

[@philbrown8181]

Utterly bonkers! Brilliant!!

[@gjb7966]

brilliant instrument. first time i get excited by a hardware synth! can't wait for this to be released 😭

[@alban6101]

I have only one french word : "MAGNIFIQUE !!!!!" ❤💛🧡💚💙💚💛💙❤💛🧡

[@Dogboy73]

Really interesting device from Korg. Looks more like something SOMA would make. Very nice.

[@tarshenry]

This is a really exciting instrument, can't wait to see more about it

[@artisan002]

Perfectly weird, and I love it.

[@PSILOCYBINISTHEWAY]

i have been waiting for something like this for a long time.

[@rorz999]

I think we'll see an increase in products like this and Gamechanger Audio's Motor Synth - physical synth technology that just can't be emulated digitally. I'm all for it!

[@slowbro1337]

I'm happy to see it again. It's been a while since it has made an appearance anywhere.

[@barrnycharlton8951]

Left hardware a while ago but this really has me interested

[@toddtrillo7445]

Can't wait

[@MYGAS21]

i'M totally into this.

[@Richielistick]

Another year waiting for it...

[@jmarvosa6x3]

Hardware looks / footprint are greatly improved, tho

[@2point7182818284590]

It's just fine, a new concept needs development time and should not be rushed to the market half-baked.

[@Wavyhill]

So did Korg change their minds since last year? The version they showed last year could play all 12 notes of the chromatic scale. This one seems to only play 8 notes..?

[@cesarsjogren]

It's in active development so I'm expecting things to change until it's done

[@HarmonicSonics.]

love the phase 8 concepts - does korg have any plans to expand upon how the synth engine will vibrate the resonators [leading to different tambres]?

[@matthewtunnicliffe201]

I honestly don't know what I think of this. It's certainly interesting amd I want to see more of it though.

[@KTheBoi]

I've only seen Tats' silver version, but wow this white/yellow colourway is insane; I understand the limitations of manufacturing that we likely won't have custom individual colours, but I do hope resources for custom aftermarket parts are made available and easily accesible. Also, I do wonder if this device could be transposed, or if it's gonna be a hard limitation with the concept of it all

[@SlyHikari03]

Reminds me of Image Line's Sakura.

[@caleykelly]

They should seek collaboration with Rhodes.

[@磁鬼頻率]

Nice. Very tribal

[@Bitterman-777]

Do them in Tolex

[@saul-small]

I’d love to see some fx built into this. That would really be the cherry on the cake

[@sandaxlovaliii6061]

I'm confused. Isn't this just an electric piano?

[@M_orcan]

Fundamentally yes but instead of it being excited by being hit physically it's excited by audio magnetically. This means it can do normal electric piano stuff but can also sustain infinitely or change timbre by altering the signals sent to it etc.

[@ChrisPBacon3000]

Great idea, but have some decent sounds prepared.

[@kevindewinter8235]

Cool to see you stay innovative! just like the Drumlogue, but really please don't abondon the DL it only takes a last small firmware update. PLEASE

[@yeahrightbear8883]

Don't judge until we can see a proper demo.

[@deepseadiver8191]

Seems a bit silly, like from the The Flintstones. I still want it badly 😂.

[@NocturnusMortem]

HURRY UP!!!

[@nrosko]

Nice i like the idea & ability to alter & customize. The default sound isn't that great imo.

[@alexguest6289]

Seems like you could reproduce those sounds with a sampler and a quick trip to the kitchen.

[@71beowulf]

Scale it down and drop it into a guitar body 🎸🤔

[@leyetnin1]

I'll wait for the app.

[@ChristopherOrth]

Honestly, I would expect a lot more out of something that has had a year of development. I feel like you can get these sounds out of shit you already have in your kitchen or garage or a home depot. I love the idea of something like this, but it seems like a half baked aspirational side project at the moment. Or maybe they need to stop talking about it and actually make some cool sounds with it.

[@RaquelFoster]

It's a cool idea, but they've done a lot of demos and I've never heard it make any good noises. It's like the Motor Synth. It's clever, but that's the only interesting thing about it. If the sales pitch is "you can interact with it" ... by placing a random object on it and seeing how much worse it sounds... That's not good. They basically had the same non-musical demo last year.

[@danadams8649]

agreed

[@soupforare]

epiano harps are not novel, this implementation is kind of interesting but you know... put it in a keyboard, not whatever this is. KORG PLEASE, PLEASE MAKE AN ELECTROACOUSTIC EPIANO if this is its core, fine, but somebody make something.

[@GrootsieTheDog]

Meanwhile no ELECTRIBE MK3.

[@aeko]

Seems cool in theory, but the results are just meh.

[@l00kns33]

I kind of died, like listening to this. There must have been 2000 "kind of" in there and about a 1000 "like"...

[@MrFunktone]

Well it's kinda like 💩 you know what I kind of know like...

[@Moogwalzer-fk1kt]

@l00kns33 Would you relax? People at trade expos are talking all day for days. Pretty lame of you to have just logged in to write something judgmental, no?

[@l00kns33]

@@Moogwalzer-fk1kt I find your comment more judgemental than mine.

[@shapeshifta3431]

@@l00kns33 go outside and get some sun

[@Claidheambmor]

I suggest considering visiting your doctor if words have such a strong negative effect on your mental wellbeing. Stay strong bro.

[@djjuno106]

looks cool but sounds absolutley shit..only person who would use this is bjork.

[@BlisterHiker]

- and she would do the magic with it! 🙂