Synthesizer Show & Tell | Korg Poly800 | Part 1

[@jeffgreiss142]

I bought the Poly 800 back in 1983, I sold it a few years ago, watching this video makes me regret selling it. Nice information and dedication in this video!

[@wholeheartedsongs]

this was a much appreciated walk through of it's capability and architecture

[@MPHORROCKS]

Refreshingly informative, fun and really well presented! Love your videos LP! :)

[@geoffk777]

I had a Poly-800 Mk1 in 1985 because it was the only poly synth that I could afford (barely). But it's a very limited system. First, it sounds very thin unless it's in "double" mode, so it's really only a 4-voice synth. Next, it's paraphonic, with only one filter for all voices, so you can't get realistic articulation. The lack of knobs makes it limited for performance, and the joystick is fragile (mine broke). It's great that Korg was able to sell it cheaply, but they cut a lot of corners, and it shows. I wouldn't buy one today. However, if you want to play with one, there's a free VST called "Fury-800" that's worth downloading and is fun. It brought back some memories.

[@mateiradumusic]

the best korg poly 800 demo on youtube. thanks for all the extra info and amazing playing and sound design

[@JobimSynthMusic]

Great professional job! I got one Poly 800 mk1 for myself after realizing the unique sound it has, like you explained so clearly: oscillator and filter. There's none other like that. I find mk1 more interesting because of the analogue chorus, less common nowadays, instead of the digital delay from the mk2 you demoed, an effect you can get more easily everywhere.

[@StephenLearson]

JobimMusic agreed. Chorus would be preferential to delay. Maybe some day I’ll change it up and get the mk1

[@CathodeZodiac]

@@StephenLearson the delay has mod and goes fast enough that you can use it as a chorus! afterall, a chorus is just a tiny bit of delay with a sine wave changing the time.

[@synthartist69]

Love your videos Steve,,, When I was in the 9th grade I used to play the Poly 800 at a local music store while dreaming each night of owning it,,,I wish Korg would would bring it back with 61 keys,, 8 voices and real time control,

[@Magluss]

Thanks !! I am a user of the Poly 800 II. Nice to see you know him very well. It has always been part of my compositions. Thank you very much

[@StephenLearson]

Magluss my pleasure! Thanks for watching

[@drakula420_]

Fantastic video. Keytar section is incredible!

[@Rubbo9627]

so nice vid! clear, simple, tiny graphics and good sounds examples! ty

[@tonycarpenter-Makzimia]

Bought one new in 1984. Took it on tour in 1985, it was a solid performer, easy? to program. I certainly made a few of my own patches for various performances. It wasn't cheap in Australia I think I paid $950.00 AUD at the time.

[@KirklandWilliamsWorkout3000]

🔥

[@daveyrayschroeder9167]

Very Cool Info. Glad I held onto mine... Since 1988. 3rd keyboard ever owned. It's definitely an underrated and quaint synth .

[@shahryartaherkhani5299]

Awesome teaching, ... your brilliant show, is excellent, man. Very well done presentation, very informative, very to the point, short and sweet.... Thanks so much.🙏🌺

[@thedutchgoonie2989]

normally i don't like talking i just want to hear the synth but this was actually usefull information 👍 great video and amazing sounds 🎉

[@SpacePatrollerLaser]

The Moog Opus3 uses square wave synthesis. Also, you can use the ORGAN section as a square-wave synthesizer for example, starting with the 16" at the highest level and ramping down with each next one and maxing out the "Tone" lowpass filter, you get a sawtooth. You can mix that into the strings set to 8+4 filter lowpass CF max EMPH way down to get 3 ranks. Mix it into Brass and you have two ranks simultaneiouly and you can sample these to your SFZ player's sample folder

[@Agordon-vw9lx]

While most of the Poly-800 videos show its limitations, yours shows its strenghts. The patches you used as an example utilize the filter envelope on a very musical way, showing the best it can do. A great presentation to a very underrated machine. I also have one and love mine.

[@paulackermann6957]

agree, limitations breeds creativity

[@fatimaerdogan8193]

The squarewave-addition is in fact the same as the Korg Delta except the sliders have been replaced with two levels. The curving of the square seen on oscilloscope is due to a capacitor in the signalchain making a first order highpass - all synth do that.

[@peterkadarmusic9728]

Great stuff and very musical examples too. Thanks man!

[@rachelm3171]

great video!! i'm craving this synth now

[@tyleragnew]

Dude, what a video

[@BeatmastersBr]

Very nice video, this is a great little synth, mine has the moog slayer mod for cutoff and resonance!

[@griffithmorgan4966]

I'd love to know the patch values at 7:20. Cool sound.

[@geevee7823]

Had one for a short time, but it didn't click with me. After hearing your sounds I realise I didn't give it a chance. The parameter menu didn't inspire to make sounds. Love your videos man!!!

[@StephenLearson]

Gee Vee Thanks! I’ll admit it is not a joy to program. But once I understood how the filter worked something clicked. It was like a whole new synth.

[@chiefjudgedredd]

I still love my Poly 800 II, marvellous but I need to fix one of the key contacts !

[@f115Recs]

hey thanks for covering this so thoroughly! I just restored an MK1 rev2 board and didn't have a chance to explore it a great deal yet. this has far more unique features than I expected! great explanations. cheers

[@TobiasAsjogren]

Maybe a bit of mix up of envelope and filter? It is the envelope generator that does the curve. But I definitely agree that it is a huge feature of the synth and something I miss in a lot of modern synths!

[@leonshomevideos1123]

YOU ARE A GOD

[@〆564]

Amazing！👍This synth looks great because your performance is amazing!

[@synth4ever]

Love these Show & Tell series... great work on the videos, keep it up! Poly800 sounds nice.

[@ProckGnosis]

I did want one of these back in the day! Ended up with a Casio CZ-1000 instead, which was better in some ways, but the CZ was definitely not as warm sounding. This is SO classically analog. Great presentation, especially with the explanations for folks newer to synths.

[@Lhenndyn]

It is not analog... the Tone generator is a chip. But it's early chip electronic for sure :)

[@ProckGnosis]

@@Lhenndyn Tu as raison. I should have said it "is so classically analog SOUNDING". Though it has DCOs, the analog filter gives it an excellent warmth.

[@duncanjackson4170]

Awesome. Great explanations!

[@svszo1691]

Great video, thank you

[@mstrpig123]

Really enjoyable demo, Ive had an EX-800 for ages, used 2 poly 800's back in '88 and still use it alot. Its incapable of making an organic sound,which I love about it. there's a charm to it I cant put my finger on. I wonder if daft punk have used it, I keep hearing parts on their work that sound like it. Really nice to hear synths by someone who can play, by the way. Thanks for the demo. Subscribed.

[@de____pe]

What a great informative video! Mine is on it’s way.

[@da1onlynickvicious]

I absolutely love synth.. I only have the full bucket emulation but it's soooo fun! I made the best beat in my life with it

[@bobbarcus8310]

Thanks for sharing poly 800 I bought mine in1984 still have it any info You get is much appreciated thank you very much again

[@spazkong]

Best POLY800II demo in the world so far. Mine is acting up, seems no power to the osc section. Must be a capacitor or resistor. Will get fixed soon.

[@urh8523]

I have one one those myself. It sounds fantastic. But sooner or later I may have to change the memory batteri. Is iit easy to do that or does it requires some special skills for that?

[@metokyo4960]

Excellent introduction to this great synth. Fantastic channel! New friend.

[@StephenLearson]

MeTokyo thanks for watching!

[@archaicmelody8119]

I swear I've heard this synth on Home's tracks.

[@lundsweden]

A very limited synth that shouldn't sound good, but it does!

[@TheFantasyClinic]

that was fucking beautiful especially at 9:25!!

[@MrMadmarmot]

Liked and subscribed. Great content. Thank you.

[@cabarecords8242]

Hello, how are you, I would like to ask you since I have a problem with my poly 800 with the tune at 440, the tuning is one and a half notes down, and I don't know how to take it to the global tuning 440, has this happened to you? you help me thank you.

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

I used to imagine I had a Poly 800 and took off across the stage like in your demonstration. Being both a synthesizer and a MIDI controller had to be a selling point in 1984. Mr. Learson, have you ever had the EX module version? I’ve read it has no LFO. How come they took it out? Additionally, is the chord memory the same as from the Mono/Poly?

[@StephenLearson]

ShreadTheWeapon not sure why anyone would remove an LFO... dumb da dumb dumb dumb. Not sure about the MonoPoly since I don’t have one ... yet!

[@StephenLearson]

ShreadTheWeapon I did use the Poly800 as a keytar once and someone in the front row yelled mockingly, “that’s not a keytar!”

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

And Stephen responds: “GOOD!”

[@MrByteYT]

The LFO should be the same on Poly 800 and EX module. Called MG, params 81-84. Chord memory function has been omitted indeed.

[@jakobk5558]

wow .. amazing demonstration! the keyboard is not velocity sensitive, is it?

[@StephenLearson]

Jakob K I guess you could say it’s velocity intolerant.

[@princepakistan2810]

Touch sensitive keys ?

[@lugo4905]

Wait...the Volca is sending clock out to the Poly 800 via midi? Is there an analog timecode input on the Poly 800?

[@StephenLearson]

Justin Lugo Miller no analog time code. You can send clock via midi

[@amonster8mymother]

Does it do unison?

[@andresgualtero9132]

I love this synth and i recently bought one. but i have a question everytime i play it thieres this high pitches hiss in the background. is this normal with this synth?

[@StephenLearson]

Andres gualtero nope not normal. Unless the noise is turned up

[@andresgualtero9132]

Its not super loud is just in the back ground does urs do that?

[@StephenLearson]

Andres gualtero definitely not normal. But the Poly800 is also almost 40 years old.

[@StephenLearson]

Andres gualtero nope. Bummer yours is doing that

[@jaywillingham4085]

This is the Poly 800 2, not the original poly 800.

[@amonster8mymother]

So it's a dual dco 8 voice?

[@jnorten]

Poly 800 II you're using is so much better than the Poly 800. The Delay makes a huge difference. Cool sounds too, did you program most of those?

[@StephenLearson]

John Norten I programmed them all! That’s what I love about synths. You can make your own sounds

[@plusbeats]

Thank you for the video! My girlfriend found one of these for me at a flea market this weekend so it's nice with some inspiration! I'm also unfamiliar with the volca sample - is it playing stock samples or where are they from? So punchy and crunchy. :)

[@StephenLearson]

Didrik Viklund you have an awesome girlfriend! Here’s a video I did that might shed some light on the Volca Sample. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoG6kI1podKDapY

[@delta55551707]

what is the difference between Korg Poly 800 and Korg Poly 800 II ?

[@StephenLearson]

Yuval Miller The 2 has a delay effect, and the 1 has a chorus effect. There are some other minor differences but I don’t really know them all. I’m sure google knows

[@tomshaa391]

Cool video, cool synth. ok for subscribe

[@mattpike1465]

your chord changes are fuckin tight my guy

[@RobertWrightOneManCovers]

Not "filter". It's "envelope". Great video aside from that. 😊

[@superlean5991]

Yes but the Filter Envelope is more or less part of the Filter. Semantics.

[@RobertWrightOneManCovers]

The power supply is "more or less" a part of the oscillator. Makes exactly as much sense. Don't confuse semantics with misinformation.

[@cdwhiley]

The envelopes can be applied to the amp or filter. It’s part of the filter.

[@RobertWrightOneManCovers]

@@cdwhiley Then call the on/off switch the envelope while you're at it. 🙄

[@cdwhiley]

naw.

[@TheWriter86]

Dude. Locely

[@Intramental]

Very boards of canada

[@Gerald_Daniel]

My initial thought was, who's playing these chords? Finally something far away from the usual mishmash.