The Korg M1 - Putting it all Together

[@jackhotop6446]

Great job! Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing Korg history. The popular percussive Organ 2 M1 program features the full length organ sample, and the Organ 1 program incorporates the truncated version. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to develop and create sounds for the Poly 800 1/2, DW6000/8000, DS8 and DSS1/DSM1. They were an important part of the evolution that led to the development of the M1.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thank you Jack for all your groundbreaking work with Korg and the sounds of these wonderful instruments. It's been a pleasure for me to play them through the years and the M1 would never have been as successful without such great patches. Thanks for the clarification on the Organ sample - great information. The Poly-800 was my first synthesizer - I played it non-stop every day!

[@JayKaufman]

I love that through KZbin, synth sound designers and engineers can comment on these types of things all these years later. Do you know what the sources for the M1 piano and organ sounds were?

[@junosix2453]

Excellent video! And thanks to Jack for the amazing work on the M1. I'd also love to know the sources for the sound samples. Am I right in understanding that Digidesign's Turbosynth was used for some of the patches? Were the DWGS waves taken directly from the ROMs of those synths or regenerated for the higher bit-depth of the M1? I've read that Lore was a recording of a jack-in-the-box being wound up, is that the case? The burning question is - which make/model of piano is in that legendary patch?

[@jackhotop6446]

@@junosix2453 Magic Organ was made with Turbosynth, the DWGS waveforms were generated on the DSS-1, Lore is a processed ambient recording, and the piano was an edited version from the SG-1D.

[@junosix2453]

Thanks! Which in turn was sampled from either a Steinway Model D or Yamaha CFX from what I'm able to find.

[@27461Andy]

I cheaply bought this keyboard from my country (approx 150 EUR), I repaired the keys that didn't work, and some buttons, disassembled it myself from head to toe, came with a pristine outer case, no scratches, brand new, I reloaded all the internal sound bank from the internet, and now I have the best selling synth of all time in my possession. Now it works like a charm, I made four instrumentals only with the onboard instruments and drums and I couldn't be happier. Thanks for the presentation video!

[@Clocktoys]

I recently found my old M1 in the attic. Made loads of songs with this in the late 80s by building a backing track in the multitrack sequencer and then transferring to my portastudio to overdub extra synth parts and add vocals. A dream workstation in its day.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Nicely done Johnny.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Alex!

[@FlickaLovaReturns]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams I was wondering if this synthesizer you have has an option for changing the octaves? Some keyboards have that option, others don't.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@FlickaLovaReturns It doesn't have a button easily accessible, but you can set the range on the waveform setup to which octave you want.

[@FlickaLovaReturns]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Wow. The waveform setup. I was wondering if you are at all interested in doing another demo of the Korg M1, explaining some trivia facts I gave you like how the TubaFlugel sound pack from this synthesizer was used by British composer Andrew McCrorie Shand on Ragdoll shows from the early 1990s to the early 2000s, including Rosie and Jim, Tots TV, and it's most popular use was in Teletubbies.

[@ILLUDIUM_Q_36]

A very good friend and co-worker gave me her Korg M1 back in 1999. I still have it today.

[@arthurcrime]

After watching this I dragged my m1ex out of the shed. You're right it still sounds cool.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

That is awesome - glad you did that!

[@oldschoollee]

One of my favorite workstations of all time

[@perrybarton]

Great job on the vid. Subscribed! I bought my M1 in ‘89. Used it for production work and live gigs for many years. Finally sold it in 2015, having saved all my sounds to SysEx files, which I was then able to load into Korg’s M1 VI for use in my DAW (as well as in their iPad app, which I’ve used live before). Even now, I *still* pull up the occasional M1 sound to use in client productions and in my own material. I bought a Korg Krome a few years ago, and I noticed many vestiges of the design of the M1’s OS under the hood. 🤓

[@tedmuss]

These videos are a beautiful insight to the legacy of these wonderful instruments...keep em coming Johnny, great work!!!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks tedmus - much appreciated.

[@ytpremium7649]

I was at Sam Ash music in Richmond Hills Queens New York the day the KORG M1 was released. It was an absolute powerhouse and 2 years later I bought the T3 for $2400 cash out the door (you could haggle prices back then) but within a few months I was bored of it and bought a DW800, a DX7II and D50 and started programming them. I sold everything off and kept the DX7. More than 30 years later and I'm still programming the DX7 and still can't get tired of it. It's the most satisfying and rewarding synth I've ever owned

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks for sharing that story! Programming the DX7 is no easy task - I understand it, but it's still so hard to do. Very cool that you still use it and make your own sounds to this day with it.

[@RussNixon]

Thanks for the great video! It took me back to a simpler time. I loved my M1, and all of my AI-era Korg workstations… I still remember experiencing the magic of the M1 for the first time at a music store. It was so inspiring.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Russ - I had the same experience with the M1 when I first saw and heard it!

[@mladenbasic1]

I remember when this came into the wedding band scene that I was a part of. Absolute game changer. Just think of how many weddings that you attended had one on stage. Great video!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I know when the M1 came out it was they synth to have! i felt so out of date with my D-50.

[@HenritheHorse]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams I'd still prefer the D-50. And I even prefer my M1's father DSS-1.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@HenritheHorse I still love my D-50 - it just didn;t have the realistic Piano sound the M1 had at the time. I want to get a dss-1 - it's on my list for sure.

[@HenritheHorse]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Yeah, both have great sounds really!

[@TheCheeksMiller]

it took over a lot of the gospel band scene as well. It was pretty much everywhere hahaha

[@frankcisde2338]

I still have mine at home. Great synth with a powerfull sequencer. The demos were incredible.

[@chaosme1ster]

Same here. Don't use it for its sounds anymore, but simply can't let it go since it was my 1st real synth. I'll never forget hearing the demo in the shop indeed…

[@daz4627]

Another great video on some fantastic music history... I've had mine for decades and it's still going strong.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

They are so well engineered - even the buttons have held up really well.

[@thedomlip]

First off, I am always impressed how you find clips of the performers using the synth you are talking about.. Second, now I have to go fire mine up.. Thanks!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Domenic - it's big but still has some great sounds.

[@mwmusic29]

The M1 is one of my favorite synths. I don't use the sequencing function but there are so many great sounds that are still relevant today, and if you're a designer there are tons of great samples to get you started. It's a classic. Thanks for this great video!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Couldn't agree more!

[@TryptychUK]

It was the "Mrs Miro" demo sequence that sold it for me. Totally gobsmacked.

[@mwmusic29]

@@TryptychUK I'll have to take a listen - I can't remember what that one sounds like...

[@TryptychUK]

@@mwmusic29 They are classic Rompler, but the VFX has an analogue edge others never managed to pull off.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@TryptychUK oh yeah Ms. Muro song 4 is insane

[@tellyourstorymusicbyikson]

Really enjoyed this!

[@TheSnowLeopard]

I was of the generation who grew up hating these sounds (and that of the DX7), but I've grown to appreciate it over time.

[@TryptychUK]

We all go through those. I'm even starting to like EMS synths these days...

[@JCox964]

Same here

[@TryptychUK]

@@JCox964 It's all about "horses for courses", never count anything out. Sometimes I will just listen to a track and say "this needs XYZ in here". Often it might be some cheesy retro thing, but it fits perfectly.

Oh ! My first synth… before the O1… nostalgia !! 👍👍👍 I had so good time with it 😊

[@playeveryday01]

The M1 iOS app is probably my favorite synth app ever. The most unique sounds and so customizable.

[@Terrorvision13]

Great job, Johnny. So glad I found your channel. Subscribed and looking forward to viewing more of your stuff.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks - much appreciated!

[@K.Psomiadis]

Still have the M1 !! I use many sounds on my Music Productions !!!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

That is awesome - people probably think you are using plugins!

[@K.Psomiadis]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreamsYes i use Vst's too who don't !! The Matter count not the Source !! Hardware synths (digital) are Software based !!The M1 use 4 Mb of Samples !! But because in the 80's the Samplers was very expensive this synths was a good alternative !! I have buy the first Sampler at 1991 a Roland S-750 new i paid this very expensive !! still have it too !! 16-bit linear D/A and 20-bit linear A/D conversion, 24-bit internal processing !! There today are synth out there that they don't have this specs !! And for least i say it again the Synths are to make Music not to have them for Exhibition :) I see on Facebook many people post there studios and if you ask them to show a link of there Music they post nothing !!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@K.Psomiadis I hear the S-750 is really good as well - I've been looking for a 770. Absolutely make music!

[@albertogozzini]

Amazing video. I had an M1 in 90’s and I wish I still had it…. It was designed in mid 80’s… It was at least 30 years ahead.

[@geminidefect]

great doc! thank you. I'm being gifted one and this was wonderful

[@SaccoBelmonte]

I had Korg M1s in front of me twice in my life, while I was just 19 and 20 y/o. It was an incredibly futuristic experience. They still look really good. Later on I got an i3 which was a great tool for composers, nice sequencer in a big screen, I learned everything MIDI from it.

[@lucabeckr]

I’ve got the T3, a workstation which is not really talked about very often. But it’s my favorite digital synth. It’s also described as the “M1 on steroids” since it’s got double the memory and ROM plus a floppy disk drive and therefore not only features the well known M1 sounds but also a row of more realistic acoustic instruments in the same housing but with a bigger and higher resolution screen and some additional buttons. It was released only a year after the M1 but was quite high priced and marketed not really well.

[@petesaysell]

The T1 was a monster 🙂

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I have to check out the T3 - I remember seeing it and thinking it was a beast.

[@lovemadeinjapan]

I love the T2ex. It is a longer T3 with 1MB of sample RAM you can fill with 808 or 909 drums for example. Extra nice is they are usually cheaper than M1's, as nobody looks for them. So I bought 3 for 650€ in total.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@lovemadeinjapan I know these old Romplers go for almost peanuts these days!

[@lovemadeinjapan]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams The original M1 does 500€ with ease though, back then selling for 3500DM. A T2ex was 6000 DMark back in the day, you could buy a serious Mercedes for that amount of money back then, yet these do 200-250 today.

[@zmix]

Another great video Johnny..! The M1 was everywhere...

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

It really was. I saw a lot of bands around that time and everyone had the M1. I spent all my money on a D-50 the year before, so I wasn't able to join the party.

[@garysmith8455]

So nice to see the legacy of the M1 brought to the fore here ! Thank you! I am a proud Korg owner since 1976 (Maxi Korg), and still have these in the studio today, bought brand new back in the day. MS-20, SQ-10, Poly-Six, DW-8000, DSS-1, M3-R, Triton Extreme 76, MS-2000-B, King Korg, Kronos X- 73, and Kronos 2- 73. Every one of these were in use live though my long career on stage live until the pandemic in '20. Many thanks again for your presentation .🙂

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Gary, and great to see your list of classic instruments used live.

[@garysmith8455]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Thank you sir! Guess I am a bit of a hoarder. D-50 and a CS-60 (like new) still in the stable with Korg and a hand signed (by Robert Moog) 50th anniversary Voyager, only 100 of these were produced. Sometimes it is well worth keeping these jewels around as long as you can. One day, someone else will enjoy them 😉

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@garysmith8455 Amazing. I know - I often think about that - we are actually just temporary custodians of these fine instruments.

[@garysmith8455]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Very true....

[@RunFaster011]

Really great video. Thank you for telling the story of an overlooked piece of gear! I learned a lot. This thing sounds great.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks RunFaster011 - glad you enjoyed it!

[@toomanyclamps130]

Picked one up in 2022 for $300. So glad I did.

[@_P_M_]

Definitely a very classy looking synth. The buttons and rounded corners were very stylish. The closest I ever got to owning one were some samples on my EPS. Another great tribute video! Thanks!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

It's look was so futuristic when it first came out. I marvelled at the lighted buttons.

[@xa1a]

Those buttons were so loved,they were even used up until the Prophecy!

[@LondraCalibro9]

It is a cool piece, but I think the EPS is much more desirable!

[@jackspring7709]

I remember the sudden switchover to digital, all the old analog synths were being dumped - I walked into a music shop in Dublin and there was all these analog synths being sold for the equivalent of $100, including Moogs. I bought a KORG Mono/Poly there and still have it today. Bought the M1 a few years later and I still have that. The VST version is great, too, and it comes with all the 'expansion cards' included.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Great story Jack. Yes I bought a Mono/Poly and Moog Taurus pedal for $250 around that time!

[@jackspring7709]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Nice one. I remember looking at them all at the time and I couldn't believe they were being sold so cheaply - I remember wondering what they'd be worth in a few year.

[@simonhodgetts6530]

I loved my M1 - I used the sequencer to programme the basic tracks for an album I made in the late 90s - it was simple to programme, and worked well. The drums and multi-bass worked well, along with the brass and sax patches. A very powerful synth.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

You truly used it as a workstation which is great. The drums were really decent for the time - have a great 80's sound to them

[@jessihawkins9116]

you made an album? 😃

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@jessihawkins9116 Yes a few - industrial stuff is under Unit:187 and my electronic projects are under Powerplant Music.

[@EdgyNumber1]

Great video Johnny! I love Korg.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Edgy - I will for sure be doing more Korg videos. A DW-8000 video is coming up as I just bought and fixed one. I love Korg as well. They are my dark tone friends!

[@davewilk7165]

Excellent...excellent....please do one on the Alesis Fusion HD...that was a great workstation that didn't get its fair due (power supply and HD issues??)

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Interesting - I'll try and find one!

[@BasedFrequency]

​@johnnymorgansynthdreams yea the fusion is a insane synth, has four sound engines. 6 op fm, subtractive, sampler and physical modeling based on wind instruments.

[@TryptychUK]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams If you get chance, check out the Ensoniq VFX /VFX-SD Made much in the mould of the M1. Highly underrated and very powerful, but sadly dreadfully unreliable.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@TryptychUK I've wanted to pickup a VFX - would you recommend the SD version or basic VFX? They can be found pretty cheap as well.

[@TryptychUK]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Absolutely, but get the later SD version if you can, more voices, lots of upgrades and the essential floppy drive. I worked for Ensoniq for a brief period and at that point had a 97% failure rate due to the keyboard scanning routine that levels the keys for aftertouch. Make sure you have the last OS and it all fires up on start and you should be OK. Fantastic beasts, but apt to be very sketchy at times. I took one out with Simple Minds and carried not one but two spares because of this.

[@hdsubstance1]

I bought one on release date and it was like having the whole world in from of me ...I miss it a lot.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Amazing.. I already dropped $1500 on a D-50 a few years earlier so I couldn't afford it. Thanks for sharing.

[@kerzwhile]

Very well done!! ❤

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Kerzwhile!

[@trumjohannsmancave]

I love your documentaries!!😍🎶🎹

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thank you! I'll keep them coming - very much appreciated.

[@SpikesStudio3]

Superb. Thanks bro. Great work. Great choice. It was something special. The digital days were so very different. 👍

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Michael - the digital evolution was so incredible

[@devingademan]

Hey Johnny, fantastic video regarding the M1! I have sent you a tweet with a link regarding the different design of the rear/back panel of the M1. It's a nerdy, but still interesting detail that I couldn't find any information about on the internet. Greetings from Germany!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Devin - I'm very interested to check this out. I can imagine after 7 years of production they probably changed the design a few times.

[@intarsienschrankzwetschgen4224]

I was a heavy user of the built-in sequencer back in the day.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Awesome - a true workstation for you.

[@madness8556]

If only Korg included a 3.5 floppy drive in the M1 as existed in the Roland D20, Ensoniq SQ80 and Yamaha V50. The T series added that, amongst other features, but they were out of reach price wise to most keyboard players and the more affordable 1991 O1W series with so twice the polyphony and sequencer tracks amongst other improvements were the real M1 successors up until the release of the 1995 Trinity.

[@oystercatcher943]

Whilst at college in the UKin the early 90s a friend of mind shared a tape of music he'd played on the M1. It sounded incredible, while I was playing a cheap Yamaha keyboard. I was in awe of this proper synth but somehow never got to see it

[@AS-wm7jm]

Love (i love) or Hate the M1 but this is the sound of a magnificent era. sounds still used today maybe through vst but still used today.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Yeah agreed - it was such an incredible time

[@Somedei]

M1 is one of my fav ever

[@stevehofer3482]

Nice job. I wish you would have mentioned that a software version of the M1 has been available now for well over a decade. I use the iM1 on my iPad more than any other iPad synth. The sounds still hold up.

[@jackspring7709]

Absolutely. I have the M1 and I also bought the software version which is excellent as it has all the expansion cards included. I think KORG did a great job on it.

[@angelh1743]

I am a huge fan of the KORG M1. I remember when it came out, I went to guitar center and all they had was the display model. They told me the M1 was on back order & it make take 6 to 9 months before they could get anymore. It was the late 80's so restocking took a long time back in those days.

[@Andronicus2007]

The M1 was a great product, revolutionary at the time and people loved it! The weakness with ROMpler type synths though is they are pretty much stuck in time, sonically. Sure, some of the patches are still useable today, but ROMplers simply have'nt adapted as well to different styles and genres as traditional Subtractive synths have. A Minimoog can sound as home in 70s prog rock, 80s pop and dance, 90s dance and hiphop right up to the latest styles to this day. Softsynths too are mostly based on the classic VCO-VCF-VCA architecture to this day.

[@lovemadeinjapan]

Nice mini-docu! The M1 was in my brain since 1989 high school music class. I had all the folders back then, yet the 4000 guilders it costed was keeping it a dream. Fast forward to 2018, I found one for 250€. Really love the clean design. It must have been made nearly 350000 times, as all the serial numbers seem to continue from 000001 upwards, and I happen to have #330 thousand sonthing. You could even add the T3/T2 to the sales count, as the whole Microkorg (the synth that was claimed to have detroned the M1 in sales) family differs as much as a T2 vs M1. That brings it to nearly 500000 synths with the same signature synth engine. The thing that made the M1 a game changer IMO was not the presets nor the sequencer, but the excellent drums and effects. Those really made up for the lack of analog filters, and the 2x10s reverb still sounds very Strymon Bigskyesque today.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

The drums are really good - I was actually playing with them the other day and they have such a good signature 80's sound.

[@goran_bastinac]

Great content Johnny ❤ thank you for making this wonderfull videos, keep it up ❤

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Goran

[@c128stuff]

Having owned an M1R for about a decade, I still lament having sold it. To todays standards its number of voices is somewhat low, but it sounds really great, and has some very recognizable sounds. The only real limitation I found is lack of a resonance filter

[@kiskadar69]

I agree. Another limitation is the lack of a portamento.

[@BrianDRidgway]

I loved mine. Before that, I loved my Poly 800... the. T3, then 01W, then my Triton and now my 2 Kronos's.

[@Ashfaq1999]

Great video of this legendary synth.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Ashfaq

[@Ashfaq1999]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Most Welcome 🤝

[@EmilioNorrmann]

and it was built like a tank

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

It really is - it is solid. Mine still feels almost new.

[@pappyprimetime7510]

One time, I broke down a door with one

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@pappyprimetime7510 That does not surprise me at all - they are built like a battering ram

[@27461Andy]

Yeah and when I disassembled it to repair it which I did eventually I found out the lower removable covering is made of iron (that itself was what made this instrument so heavy), but it also helps close the circuit and make the synth turn on (without it there the M1 won't function).

[@EdgyNumber1]

​@@johnnymorgansynthdreamsOf course, the OASYS weighs as much as a cruise ship! Lol. I do love Korg though. Quality is amazing, and those sounds. I have them on my Nautilus.... It too is built like a tank.

[@bladebrown4191]

Awesome as always. Hoping you continue with the M1’s little bro, the 01/W, which carried Korg’s legacy well into the ‘00’s, with a lot of help and ingenuity from two nerdy kids from VA Beach, Virginia 🖖🏾

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Yes the 01/W - I'm on the hunt for one. Neptunes!

[@TryptychUK]

That was more the brainchild of Dave Smith and his vector synthesis chops from the Prophet VS.

[@markusfuller]

I see the Pet shop boys used a wireless version of the M1 & Emulator at 10:04 - I guess they must have been on the bbc at the time.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Ha - totally!

[@HJPhilippi]

I can still remember well when the brand new M1 stood at my music dealer and I got moist eyes: what a dream of an instrument! Unfortunately too expensive for my budget as a student and so I bought a cheap Yamaha entry-level synth shortly after. I regret that to this day, should have just saved longer. :'-/

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Yes - same - it was out of my reach, but technology moved fast and prices came down eventually!

[@madness8556]

I thought that I'd died and gone to synth heaven when I first played an M1 as a 16 year old in my local music shop in 1988! It was a revelation to play through sounds that actually sounded uncannily like the acoustic instruments they were mimicking! I actually was confused as to what the M1 actually was upon seeing the words Music Workstation. It sounded like a sampler but it wasn't one! It had a built in sequencer but no floppy disk drive like the Roland D20 and Ensoniq SQ80 that were released a couple of months earlier that year. I had my heart set on an M1 and Korg DF1 extremel data filer disk drive but I actually saved the extra mula and got a Korg T3EX instead which I ended up using for over 25 years! I've had a very special affinity for Korg products ever since and I hope that the company releases a next generation product to the Kronos that won't take 3 minutes to boot up!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks for the comments Mad Ness. I had a very similar experience when I first saw and played the M1. Such great times they were as technology was really opening up so many new sonic possibilities. Thanks for the Korg story!

[@bluediamond5280]

Haha. Me too! 😅 I used to hang out for hours at the music store messing around with the sounds that were out of this world. I finally bought one and it was all worth it. Now, I use the software, and it's still out of this world. My go-to soft synth for tracking practically anything and everything. Good job KORG.

[@madness8556]

Korg always seemed to pull out the big stops every couple of years with instruments that truly revolutionised music production and performance. After the M, T and O series, they rested on their laurels a bit up until 1995 when they released the fabulous next big step up, the silver beast called the Trinity with its touch screen interface. Then in 1999 with the Triton, 2005 with the hideously expensive but phenomenally powerful Oasys, 2007 with the M3 and 2011 with the Kronos. I certainly hope that Korg don't give up on the producing hardware music production workstation keyboards and delight us yet again with a worthy Kronos successor that doesn't have a 3 minute boot up time! 😅 As for me, I've owned a stack of Korg instruments since 1991 including the T3EX, Trinity Plus, 01WFD, DW8000, DDM110, Z1EX, Wavestation AD, Wavestation SR, fully maxed out Triton Classic with MOSS board, 64mb sample ram and EXB01 and EXB02 expansions, IX300 and PA2X.

[@gsprings43]

i remember reading the linear notes on quincy jones 1989 back on the block album that the m1 was used on some songs

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I'm sure it was

[@OMG_so_Nerdy]

I had one, sold it and then after years bought the VST version, because you just can't get those sounds anywhere else.

[@SteveJones172pilot]

Interesting history... I'm a DX7 guy.. but my dad has an M1 and it's always been my second favorite.. I am surprised the M1 sales exceeded the DX.. I have an M3r because I was jealous of some of the sounds on the M1 but couldn't afford it! :-)

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I think it was just the right synth a the right time - it had a lot of features and I think that really appealed to the masses

[@corri303]

You're doing an amazing job with this series!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks com303 - much appreciated.

[@jimbotron70]

It's like watching a documentary on Synth Channel... really good 😀

[@IvoBlaauw]

@07:20 who said the D50 could not load pcm cards? It has a card slot for the (embarrasingly) small amount of pcm cards. Thanks for the nice piece of synth history btw.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

You're welcome - Ivo. The D-50 took patch settings data cards but didn't have the ability to load in PCM sound data. This is why the M1 actually has 2 card slots - one for PCM and one for Patch settings data.

[@SamLee300SL]

Got this in my high school, and after 30+ years I still enjoy designing interesting sounds out of its PCM and digitalized analog waveforms. Granted it's no true Analog or FM synth, but lots of time you can get close if you are good. Compared to D50, M1's acoustic instrument are more realistic, has more transient sounds(or you can isolate out the attack of PCM yourself), which can then be combined with DWGS or PCM loop to create 'synth acoustic' sounds that can only be synthesized by 8-operator FM. It takes a creative mind(not preset players) to fully explore M1's potential !

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Amazing - keep programming that M1 - it really is super deep.

[@lundsweden]

Korg was on the ropes by the late 80s, so Korg probably would'nt be around today if not for the runaway success of the M1.

[@madness8556]

I think that the M1 was to Korg what the ipod was to Apple. Both of these products more or less saved the respective companies from a sad demise. Korg was even able to buy back the 40%share of the company that Yamaha had purchased in the 80s.

[@BojanBojovic]

This was my childhood dream, actually T3 but it is basically the same. It has one of the best keybeds and certainly the best design ever. I have T3 in my studio as a controller only, now I am thinking about cutting the metal case and put the Medeli AKX10 arranger brain inside together with the touch screen, it would be a perfect arranger really.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Wow that would be super cool - if you do that let me know and post some pics of the process.

[@NigelMarston]

This is good. Amazing that despite the numbers made, finding a decent one on the 2nd hand market is still quite hard. I'm after a good M1R - they're out there but holding their prices well.

[@johnsuggs7828]

This was really well done

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks John!

[@budgetkeyboardist]

Great job! I wanted one of these sooooo bad. And couldn't afford one.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Same!

[@Jesoteric]

The sounds are so good

[@NostalKeys]

What a nice video! Thanks!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Glad you liked it!

[@iblamesummers]

great segment. 🎉

[@graysynther2169]

The sequencer was a nightmare, but it sounded good With some fiddling & menu diving, really fitting in with a track😊

[@miguelruiz1122]

The lil clip and audio at 5:32 is actually a demo song from the infamous Korg 01W lol (my fave classic Korg digi workstation)

[@iixorb]

Another excellent overview 👍

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Glad you enjoyed it iixorb - I will get to that ESQ-1 demo soon!

[@MatthewHarrold]

The only gear from my gig days I've kept is a Korg 03-RW, which is a poorman rack mounted M1 with a few limitations. It still powers up and takes PCMCIA cards for extra wavetables. I also run the Legacy Collection in software now-days. The M1 was amazing, but the Roland D-70 had a better keyboard and the 03-RW was (obviously) MIDI rack gear. Great video Johnny Morgan. $0.02

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Good call on keeping the 03-RW!Totally agree as well on the D-70 keybed - they felt so good - the M1 keybed still is pretty clickity / cheep feeling.

[@daeone1514]

I definitely love korg.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Who doesn't! My first synth was a Poly-800 and I remember wanting to own a PolySix so much in early 80's!

[@its.stacygabriel]

still love the M1

[@amplifier2]

Well done!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks!

[@perge_music]

'Shadow of the Beast' on the Commodore Amiga, when I realised that most of the music from that game was made using an M1 that was the synth for me. The Universe patch is all you really need.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

That is so cool - I did't know that

[@Blackentrance]

excellent video......thanks

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

You are welcome!

[@busywl69]

Nice. Loved the prophecy too.

[@rebeccaschade3987]

I only own the VST version (along with the Wavestation VST), but that also sounds excellent, and many of those classic sounds still sound fresh today.

[@robertmariano]

This makes me want to buy a Korg M1

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

You can find them for so cheap, but they take up a lot of space!

[@TheCheeksMiller]

the M1 was a and is a beast! if i could find a hardware one at a decent price I would snatch it right up. till then I will get by with my M1 vst haha

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Yeah they are a tank. I think it's sort of similar to the DSS-1 in the sense that it was engineered super tough.

[@jupitermarx]

I’m impressed with your video! Took a lot of Work, I would imagine?

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thanks Mark - I just work on it in the eventings and over my lunch time so they take a while

[@mrdali67]

The M1 was the first brand new Synth I ever got. Comming from learning to play Organ and Piano up thru the 70's and early 80's. My first synth was a 2'nd hand DW-8000 which I absolutely loved. A world of new sounds comming from the Organs preset based analog sounds. I couldn't quite get the same warm synth sounds from the DW even the M1 had the waveforms , but I managed to exchange the DW with an EX-8000 which was used together with a Yamaha TX-802 for many years and to be frank even there are nice sounds in the DX-7 somehow I always found the DW/EX 8000 a far better and more interesting synth than the FM synths. Today I deeply regret that I later parted with the EX-8000. I skipped all the newer Korg sample based models but finally decided the T-3 was getting long in the tooth and settled on the Kronos (But still miss those warm synth sounds from the DW). Always been a Yamaha and Korg fanboi. Yamah mainly cause that was what I was braught up with during my youth with various Electones all the way from a B5 to a C55N and ultimate an FS-70. I am still hoping Korg will see the light and after the discontinuation of the Kronos, release another hybrid synths with Kronos like digital stuff but with at least some kind of analog filtering cause that was what made the DW and DSS-1 so cool instruments. Many of the sounds in the M1 origins from the DSS-1. I did try the DSS-1 once it was in stuck in my local store, but as many others I mainly wanting a large aray of good sampled factory sounds than actual trying to sample yourself which back in the 80's was practically impossible to create good multisampled sounds without having a ton of patience. The old T-3 is still stored at home and not selling it. It is need of a new display, and actually thinking of revieving it with one of those new programable wave cards available, but right now I can practically hardly see whats going on in the display with a lamp pointing on the screen. Both the M1 and T-series were groundbreaking in the start of the 90's

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Awesome story mrdali67. Thanks sharing your history with Korg and Yamaha synths. I agree on the DW / EX-8000 - there is something special about them. I've never owned a Kronos, but everyone who does absolutely loves them so I'm also intrigued somewhat there, but I'm on the look for a DW-8000 for sure. I had a poly-800 as my first synth and the guy who sold it to me had the DW-8000 which at the time was out of my price range.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I reckon this was used heavily in the Metroid Prime soundtrack as well. Or at least they re-sampled that choir patch from the jam at the end! I do love the sound of a retuned sample. Ironically modern samplers have so many, dozens and dozens, and round-robin mode, so you don't get that classic repetitive quality I appreciate in hardware like this and software like SoundTracker. I know the whole point is to try and not call attention to the fact that they're samples, but for me that's part of the charm. I don't know if those 90s hits would be the same otherwise - those stylistic choices to clip the decay and/or attack work so well precisely because they draw attention to the fact that they're playing with and mangling digital tape. Although all that said, strangely enough, I don't really have any desire to own samplers or romplers in hardware. I think it's partly because I found tracker music first, but it's something I always prefer to do with a computer. I adore hardware for FM synthesis and classic subtractive synthesis, but for playing with samples I always just prefer trackers or Ableton. That's not to belittle the hardware, I have mad respect for the M1, and absolutely shamelessly use some of these sounds since I love house and acid!

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Hey Kaitlyn - can't agree more - the M1 is pretty massive and software pretty much covers it and more as far as sound goes. Worklfow is easier as well. Good point about trying to forget it's a sample based - I think I always considered it a synth, but you're right, it was basically a PCM based sampler.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams I only just saw this while revisiting the video 😅 I don't subscribe to the "romplers aren't synthesisers" school of thought - after all, you can still combine the waveforms, filter them, modulate them with each other, etc! (As I think the Universe patch does?) But certainly the most iconic sounds, like the piano, are mainly really good samples.

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

@@kaitlyn__L I remember when the M1 came out and as a D-50 owner I was so jealous of the Piano sound. So funny how good samples were really all we wanted for a while... then I saw a Ritchie Hawtin show and that pretty much changed everything for me. But totally always thought of the M1 as a synth but didn't actually know a single person who every tried to program one at all.

[@ryanbmd7988]

Lovely! Hoping for one on 01/W

[@jameshughes3014]

This synth feels like an exclamation point in history, when samples finally killed raw synthesized sound. Kind of sad in a way, but it was an amazing keyboard in its day. It's one of those rare instances when something could do everything, and do it well enough to be useful.

[@jessihawkins9116]

no reason you can’t have both. get a m1, d50 and a d7

[@DoctorNemmo]

...Finally killed? My dude, I have news for you.

[@RizaLazar]

I love this thing 😊

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

You can find them pretty easily on the used market.

[@avva3802]

Thank you for the video. many blessings in Jesus Christ name.

[@ZeroGrav1984]

I wonder, Johnny: have you ever tried the M1 remake on the Korg Legacy Collection? If so, what are your thoughts? I actually have the iM1 for my iPad. I’m not sure how clean of an emulation it is (I imagine it’s damned close), but I absolutely love it.

[@iixorb]

I have - I’ve owned an M1 for decades, and also have the legacy collection version in my Ableton setup and on my iPad. It is really close and really good, rest assured 👍

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I haven't tried it yet although I've heard it's great. I imagine it'd be pretty much the same sound-wwise. Do you get all the legacy collection libraries as well?

[@iixorb]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Ohhh yes - you get tones of cards with the Legacy Collection :-)

[@TryptychUK]

Having used both, I'd say the sound of the VST was pretty spot on, although the GUI is a bit crap.

[@ZeroGrav1984]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams I'm probably not the best source for this being that my entire existence has been in the age of VSTs/AUs, and I really never played the classics that much, I"m sad to report (but for all the difference, the software emulations are still really worth it relative to their authentic counterparts. The magic of App-Store addons: it does come with the entire library and the expansion disks...if you want to pay for them. If you don't upgrade, you still get pleny of sounds, but c'mon. You know. Six extra bucks and you get it right away? Slick. I don't remember how much or what comes with each expansion since I budgeted for them as soon as I purchased iM1 and didn't pay attention. And it's good. Almost too good. Back in the Native Instruments and very early Arturia days, it wasn't uncommon for Kontakt or FM8 to cost you $150-200, so you had to be choosy. Now you're completely spoiled for choice with the iPad synth options. The only problem is that the iPad synths are all relatively simple. They lack much of the versatility of, say, Output or Native Instruments now. That said, I'd love some time playing a classic synth. I want to know what the action was like on them.

[@kiskadar69]

Good video! "Putting it all Together": it's a shame that the portamento was not implemented and the filters are not resonant, but there must have been a reason for that.

[@TeeThinkable]

I love the Kong M1 because of Gypsy Woman 😍😍😍

[@paulwilliams2080]

That riff on the organ2 (patch 17) is my favourite to play🎹

[@ivanshafiq2915]

Very informative

[@AfterNothingsEnd]

Great video

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

Thansk!

[@arcadeapocalypsemusic]

Cool video, but I knew the iconic "Show Me Love" using the M1 Organ preset couldn't have been as early as 1990 like you mentioned. After doing a search I was shocked to see that the one most people know wasn't the original, there was a more obscure earlier version released in 1990 WITHOUT the Organ! SOOOO weird hearing that, especially considering the association with the M1, but interesting at the same time. I probably would have never known about it if not for this video haha

[@johnnymorgansynthdreams]

I know - I just found that out as well. So Crazy - The original is so different - the Organ didn't get used until the Stonebridge remix in 1993 which is when the song took off.

[@arcadeapocalypsemusic]

@@johnnymorgansynthdreams Just can’t get over how the song that put that iconic preset on the map was a remix! Lol I kinda wish I woulda stayed ignorant

[@benedictdsilva3954]

Well done. bit nostalgic

[@connor_flanigan]

ah the 80s - when we had new synths, new technology and new sounds every year. as opposed to the last 20 years where we've had 10,000 different analog synths with a sawtooth waveform and filter, trying to relive the 1970s.