Korg Forums

THANK YOU!!!
It's been a good ten years at Korg!

A few years after starting at the office, Tada and I, over a cigarette break, started shooting ideas around for a battery powered pocket analog synth. The monotron was the humble beginnings of what became a mission to make synthesizers fun, exciting and accessible again. To give synthesizers back to the people. To make synthesizers less snobby. To open up creative opportunities. To get people interested in electronic sound and see some kind of light in creating their own sound using technology amidst a world that is inundated with it.

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit - we put out a lot of gear.

After a blur of 21 products we released over seven years, I look at the world of synthesizers and it's a pretty cool place. I see kids getting their first taste of synths with the volcas. I meet people who have their dormant synth passion rekindled by the minilogue. And it's not just Korg. The whole industry has set out to achieve this common goal.

The name volca comes from the German word Volk: "the people" or "crowd". Like Volkswagen "the people's car", the volcas are "the people's synth". I have fond memories of meeting Mike Banks and being told how the volcas reached poverty-stricken youths in Detroit. That manufacturers have to take responsibility for the social implications of putting out gear.

On the 17th of February I will be leaving my full time position at Korg and will sidestep to advisor. I will also be moving out of Tokyo to Cologne to explore new areas where sound and technology can have positive social implications. I won't be going to any of the competition, but rather will be shifting direction of my main line of work while at the same time guiding the now super team at Korg venture into the future.

I am hugely indebted to everyone in engineering (my super duper team will keep designing the best of the best), production (love you all in Vietnam we did this together!), sales (job well done), marketing (fun times making those movies), distribution / dealers (essential work the world over), media (you guys got the word out) and most of all the musicians out there who are creating music with our synths - without you our work is meaningless.

THANK YOU

it's been a ton of fun. more to come.

Tats

The list or released products before Tats (in the digital age):

M1, T3, WavestationO1W, Trinity, Triton, KAOSS, MOSS (Z1 / Prophecy ...), Karma, OASYS, Radias...

The list of instruments under Tats:

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit and endless minikeys


Agreed - great for kids - but - an abomination for musicians.

10 wasted years for Korg innovation.

Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

Kevin Nolan wrote:The list or released products before Tats (in the digital age):

M1, T3, WavestationO1W, Trinity, Triton, KAOSS, MOSS (Z1 / Prophecy ...), Karma, OASYS, Radias...

The list of instruments under Tats:

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit and endless minikeys


Agreed - great for kids - but - an abomination for musicians.

10 wasted years for Korg innovation.

Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

Korg, PLEASE help us old timers.

Yeah, you have given your brain trust to GenX, Millenials, GenZ

Us baby boomers miss Korg. We forgive you for being enchanted with youth.

Remember your roots, Korg. we will say nice things about you on the Internets. We promise.

Kevin Nolan wrote:The list or released products before Tats (in the digital age):

M1, T3, WavestationO1W, Trinity, Triton, KAOSS, MOSS (Z1 / Prophecy ...), Karma, OASYS, Radias...

The list of instruments under Tats:

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit and endless minikeys


Agreed - great for kids - but - an abomination for musicians.

10 wasted years for Korg innovation.

Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

Synth makers build toys and computer maker build phones one thing maters ''profit''

All the best Tats with your next venture.

Hope all goes well for you and Korg...

Billy

padking wrote:

Kevin Nolan wrote:The list or released products before Tats (in the digital age):

M1, T3, WavestationO1W, Trinity, Triton, KAOSS, MOSS (Z1 / Prophecy ...), Karma, OASYS, Radias...

The list of instruments under Tats:

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit and endless minikeys


Agreed - great for kids - but - an abomination for musicians.

10 wasted years for Korg innovation.

Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

Synth makers build toys and computer maker build phones one thing maters ''profit''

Honestly, I am barely aware of any of the synths this guy brought forth. The only one that sticks in my head is the Korg Minilogue, because every time I see it, my brain transposes the letter into Kylie Minogue.

In terms of synths, (IMO) they seem to be little more than bleep boxes that turn music into "apps" for the brain dead.

..Joe

Kevin Nolan wrote:there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned.

Yeah, a much smaller world compared to the world which bought dozens of thousands of those small boxes. Did Kronos sell dozens of thousands? I don't think it did. Economies of scale are pretty obvious here. What Tats did is perhaps not interesting to you and others, but it's pretty huge from sociological standpoint, as those small boxes really did open the doors to synthesis to everyone, since they're pretty damn affordable.


As somebody sometime said: you can't always get what you want.

Joe Gerardi wrote:

padking wrote:

Kevin Nolan wrote:The list or released products before Tats (in the digital age):

M1, T3, WavestationO1W, Trinity, Triton, KAOSS, MOSS (Z1 / Prophecy ...), Karma, OASYS, Radias...

The list of instruments under Tats:

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit and endless minikeys


Agreed - great for kids - but - an abomination for musicians.

10 wasted years for Korg innovation.

Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

Synth makers build toys and computer maker build phones one thing maters ''profit''

Honestly, I am barely aware of any of the synths this guy brought forth. The only one that sticks in my head is the Korg Minilogue, because every time I see it, my brain transposes the letter into Kylie Minogue.

In terms of synths, (IMO) they seem to be little more than bleep boxes that turn music into "apps" for the brain dead.

..Joe

I accept its no longer the 70's/80's/90's. Us old timers are not in the marketing demographic for new products.

I am not complaining either. A $3000 Kronos is still tremendous and getting annual OS upgrades.

My interest in new products is served by the high quality VI's available. They
do not need to have " Korg " on the box

Joe Gerardi wrote:

padking wrote:

Kevin Nolan wrote:The list or released products before Tats (in the digital age):

M1, T3, WavestationO1W, Trinity, Triton, KAOSS, MOSS (Z1 / Prophecy ...), Karma, OASYS, Radias...

The list of instruments under Tats:

monotrons, monotribe, volcas, minilogue, monologue, some reissues, SQ-1, littleBits synth kit and endless minikeys


Agreed - great for kids - but - an abomination for musicians.

10 wasted years for Korg innovation.

Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

Synth makers build toys and computer maker build phones one thing maters ''profit''

Honestly, I am barely aware of any of the synths this guy brought forth. The only one that sticks in my head is the Korg Minilogue, because every time I see it, my brain transposes the letter into Kylie Minogue.

In terms of synths, (IMO) they seem to be little more than bleep boxes that turn music into "apps" for the brain dead.

..Joe

I'm sorry but I'm calling BS in regards to the comments Minilogue....it's a full fledged analog poly synth and it sounds great and it's a GREAT deal....it's FUN to make sounds on it! I see it as similar to what they did with the PolySix making a great polysynth at a price that competitors aren't doing, genuinely making awesome analog available at a price that's affordable........The sound and construction were not sacrificed, it's a real achievement what they did with the Minilogue.

They genuinely innovated here I can see eye to eye with you pretty much with the other little pocket synths but the Minilogue is an awesome polysynth.

Also, I know this is very much a rompler based forum(and I love my1988 til now Korgs too, at least I don't throw them away every new generation like some do), but there's a genuine Analog revival going on outside of this forum and Korg is one of the companies being a big part of that IMO with the release of the Minilogue, MS-20 reissue and ARP.

I don't see what Tats did nor Korg's work with the MS-20 reissue and ARP as taking away from Korg making the next super-rompler any more than the software development they've been doing. Face it, the market wants real Analog and Software.

I'm sad to see Tats move on....there's further OS updates needed for the Minilogue and I hope they don't abandon it...He did say he has a role with Korg still and his team is still there.

Korg has been doing micro synths besides Tats efforts too ya know....the damn minikorg has been around since 2002 that actually has minikeys(not slim keys like the ARP, Minilogue). Tats is a brilliant designer and I hope development continues! If anything, I think boosted sales and profits from affordable products makes Korg have more ability to put resources into the next flagship workstations....not the other way around.

Here's a video for you minikey "enthusiasts" lol:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jSJAaLb6JOM" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Really sad to see Tats go:(
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RnemYKi8Tb4" frameborder="0"></iframe>

A big thank you to Tats.
Wishing him a lot of fun and joy with the new challenges ahead!
Curious to see what technologies he will be working on...

Kevin Nolan wrote:Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

How awful for Korg having 7 out of 10 products on reverb.com overall top 10 synth sellers last year.

slug wrote:

Kevin Nolan wrote:Korg - are you listening - Korg R&D USA back in the driving seat please - there's a world of musicians out here you've abandoned. Now's you're opportunity.

How awful for Korg having 7 out of 10 products on reverb.com overall top 10 synth sellers last year.

I know right! Korg has been kickin' arse!

Thank You God...for no more Toys and Volcas.

John01W wrote:I'm sorry but I'm calling BS in regards to the comments Minilogue....it's a full fledged analog poly synth and it sounds great and it's a GREAT deal....it's FUN to make sounds on it!

Except it has a shitty little keyboard that is pure crap for feel, a bender in a horrible location, and no memory- all things that should have been corrected before the time of release.

Think a stereotypical gorgeous, yet dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks blonde: fun for about 20 minutes, then: just irritating.

But I would never use a PolySix, either: one oscillator is one oscillator too few. I want 3, but will settle for 2. For this same reason, I would never consider any of the original Roland Junos.

I will always wait for something that meets my specs until I can afford it. Settling for less means my music is diminished and I'd rather do without than diminish.

..Joe

I know. That keyboard. So terrible. Unforgivable.

That being said, the MIDI port works great!