Tsutomu Katoh has died

Post by **mikemolloyuk** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:51 am

Just heard this and I though i'd share it with you. Mr Katoh the founder of Korg died today after a long illness.

Had the pleasure of meeting him during my time at Korg although my Japaneese is not that good..!

I also worked closely with one of his son's.

imusic · Post by **imusic** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:58 am

my condolences go out to his family and his Korg family !

I have met the man several times during fairs and all I can say is
"he was a character"

respect and rest in peace, Katoh San

best, andy g

Post by **Sharp** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:21 pm

Just got the email from KORG, so sad.

From my heart.... Rest in peace, you have touched the hearts of so many around the world and inspired generations to live their lives with a passion for music, love and creativity. It was an honour to meet you.

Kind Regards
James Tubbritt

Post by **Sharp** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:22 pm

I’m bumping the status of this thread to Announcement Level.

ozy · Post by **ozy** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:13 pm

Well, I've vilified the man so much, in the past few years, for this or that shortcoming of his products [customers can be real a-holes]

that I feel the need to mention what a pioneer, what a giant he has been.

Korg made history... and dit it more than once.

PS3300, MS-20, VC-10, M1, wavestation, the first hammond clone, the poly-xxx series, the dw8000.

And above all: being a pioneer is easy, producing ONE good thing happens a lot,

but far less easy is surviving as a going concern for 50+ years, while others didn't survive their first bad product or bad year.

So, not just an innovator but a wise administrator, a solid man.

a bit of history

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct02/a ... rg40th.asp

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:20 pm

Mr. Katoh certainly left his mark on this planet and influenced many musicians with the instruments his company produced, even to this day.
May he rest in peace, and my condolences to his family.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:24 pm

ご冥福を祈ります, Katoh-san.

StephenKay · Post by **StephenKay** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:28 pm

Chairman Katoh was an unbelievably great guy and I have some great fond memories of him. I'll be forever indebted to him for deciding to take the chance on KARMA (which may or may not have been influenced by the fact that my Japanese wife came from the same home town as he did, Nagoya).

The most amazing thing about him, in my opinion, was the fact that he could laugh and joke with you, and you'd forget the fact that he ran the whole company - he was completely unpretentious, and this photo I think sums it up well.

I shot this at NAMM 2003, in front of the Korg demo stage. I call this photo "one of the guys" - he was happy just to plop down on the floor with Jerry and Jack and listen to the next demo.

He will be greatly missed.

jerrythek · Post by **jerrythek** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:56 pm

Thanks for sharing that, Stephen. It does sum up the man, and I will always treasure that moment, and all the others along the way.

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:02 pm

To me he was a great and inspiring leader, a risk-taker who loved innovation, a grandfather with a mischievous grin...many memories. May he rest in peace.

realkuhl · Post by **realkuhl** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:05 pm

Katoh-san was a truly extraordinary individual. I had the opportunity to know him mostly thru the times he would come down to the voicing studios in Tokyo while we (the Korg MPB's) were working together on the finalized voicing for many many synthesizers (O1W, Trinity, Triton, Z1). He was like a mother hen, checking in to make sure everything was going the right way.

Given the very "one way to do business" edict that is so strong in most Japanese companies, I was blown away to see that he didn't prescribe to that way of thinking and neither did his employees. One of the main product managers and DSP gurus at Korg has over 40 Rolling Stone T-shirts and often wore them to work (this is 15 years ago - more and more companies are like this now, but were not back then).

I raise my glass to Chairman Katoh. You did the world proud.

jerrythek wrote:Thanks for sharing that, Stephen. It does sum up the man, and I will always treasure that moment, and all the others along the way.

Trinity2112 · Post by **Trinity2112** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:07 pm

Over the last 20 years a large part of my life has revolved around creating music, which has given me a tremendous amount of joy...even in the very worst of times. And my musical tools of choice have always been Korg products. Thank you Tsutomu for giving so many the wonderful opportunity to express themselves through music. Your gift to this world was priceless. Rest in peace.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:35 pm

Chairman Katoh was remarkable pioneer and innovator who led the way for the Japanese music gear industry. His legacy will continue to benefit all of us who use the gear he created and inspired.

RichF · Post by **RichF** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:05 pm

Chairman Katoh was responsible for creating something truly great, and giving it to the entire world. It's a sad day, but his is a life that should be celebrated.

By taking risks when others wouldn't, he fostered a strong spirit of innovation in his employees. This led to products that shaped an industry, and made people re-think how they made music... And in the process, he created new musicians who would never have picked up an instrument before they found Korg.

Katoh-san's mission with Korg was to do just that: Enable musicians. I wake up with the same drive every morning, and there are countless others in the global Korg family that feel the same way. I want you all to know that while his passing is a great loss, his spirit and inspiration is very much alive throughout the company. We will honor his pioneering spirit by working harder than ever, leading while learning, and striving every day to help you bring your music to life. In other words, business as usual.

Rest in peace, Papa Katoh.

Korg lives.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:52 pm

Rich, allow me to respond to your „enabling musicians“ view from a bottom perspective. I have been playing in bands since school and university times, most times besides my main tasks and later besides my profession. As advanced amateur it was always hard to get your thing going with gear you liked. And since I couldn’t have it all, I had to work hard and make my choices.

After a Rhodes MkI and a Minimoog the Korg Polysix was the third thing, which really changed my life. When it was announced, I hardly could believe that I would get a chance to own a polyphone synth (you all know how expensive Prophets and Oberheims etc. were at that time: simply completely out of reach for many).

I played in three bands during my study in Heidelberg, and one of them was a pure fun project: a trio playing Police songs and the like at university parties, with a singing bass player and a hard hitting drummer. I played keyboards with literally nothing but a Korg Polysix and a Roland digital delay (to get Andy Summer like modulated delay sounds with the Polysix). I had checked the Juno 6 as well, but while that had the well known fat pad sound, the Polysix was the much smarter choice for my purposes and sound preferences. In a way it was like a kind of keyboard Strat, my “axe”, for me, if anyone understands what I mean: it were exactly its limitations and “cleaner” oscillator sound in connection with some smart design (Chorus, Arp etc.), which I fell in love with immediately, and which opened complete new musical worlds to me and were reason for ongoing fun. And I remember until today how I drove to rehearsals without a car, with just the Polysix in my arms using bus and tram: that new feeling alone was worth it!

Now today I become aware once more, that it were the visions, the wit and the tenacity of one man in Japan and his team, making it possible for a young “nowhere man” on the other side of the planet, to live his love for music with a very welcome and very fitting tool, causing lots of fun and joy for many days, months and years. I will remember him for that and some more.

May he rest in peace!