Korg Forums

[curvebender]

[XVampireX]

if anyone doesn't mind me asking: Are we going to see a clip of the new synth engine in action or is it gonna be a lengthy description of it? Cause I don't know what we are waiting for actually
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Buy me a Korg Oasys 88, please

[Drew FM]

OOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!


KORG USA www now being updated!!!!
Can say no more...GASP!!!
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Create to enjoy, not to destroy

[EJ2]

[jerrythek]

Yup - we have some up now, with more to come tomorrow.

www.korg.com/oasys

I wrote some descriptions of the demos, which are the same on both of our sites.

Jack Hotop and some others are finishing new music as well. Stay tuned.

Regards,

Jerry

[Daz]

Finally I can talk about this

As one of the test monkeys I have been playing with MOD-7 for a little while and what you can expect is the full range of FM capabilities you'd expect from a 6 op synth, plus a whole bunch of other stuff that goes well beyond your daddy's FM synth In fact you can create some amazing sounds using this EXi without ever using any FM.

This EXi continues the philosophy of the previous releases; namely taking a synthesis technique from the Korg canon and then very significantly expanding on that idea and going bananas with the modulation capabilities. Just like the STR-1 went well beyond the Plucked String model of the MOSS board, the MOD-7 totally smokes the MOSS VPM implementation. For all those people that wanted the Radias features that weren't already covered by the AL-1 (VPM, Waveshaper, PCM manipulation) then you will find all of those things in spades in the MOD-7.

We all know about FM so it's worth just talking about some of the other fun things you can do with MOD-7 :

Check out the virtual GUI and you'll notice that you can choose to use either hard wired oscillator topologies/algorithms like the DX7 or you can use an MS20EX style patch panel to hook things up. This is a wonderful thing because you can build up your own connections of modulators/carriers as you're designing your sound which feels very natural. You'd need to be a real FM wunderkind to know exactly which algorithm was the right place to start from when designing a sound that you only had an inkling of in your minds ear. The patch panel lets you change your mind very easily as you're designing your sound and encourages a little more experimentation. It also lets you do more interesting feedback things than ye olde models did. Speaking of feedback that is a very effective technique used on the MOSS board and here you can introduce far more interesting feedback arrangements than the mixer on the MOSS board allowed.

All of those 6 FM ops are actually more like little processing units, you don't have to use them as oscillators per se. You can do the DX7 thing and set the pitch ratio to FIXED and use it as a sine waveshaper, or you can use it for Ringmod (or AM) acting on a pair of inputs or you can just use Waveshaper section of the OSC alone to process inputs from other parts of the EXi. So you can take a guitar multisample and drive it through a waveshaper to get a very different guitar timbre and then drive that into another waveshaper which is acting as a tube emulator. If you've used Kurzweil's VAST and enjoyed that, you'll love this. The waveshapers are far better endowed and flexible in MOD-7

Speaking of waveshaping ... FM & waveshaping ... its a funny old combination when you first look at it, but the pairing works really well. In traditional FM you'd normally modulate a carrier using a sine wave or better still a slightly more complex waveform you created using feedback or a chain of other ops. With MOD-7 you can have a sine carrier and then modulate it with a very rich waveform created by passing a sine through a waveshaper. The waveshapers offer a whole bunch of shapes that take a sine and add extra harmonics, add a little drive, or recreate other waveforms such as those extra waves that were present in the TX-81Z for example. So you can create more complex sounds using less ops. The waveshapers are not static either. You modulate a bunch of parameters there to add some very interesting variation or motion to the sound. You can go really bananas and unleash waveshaping, feedback and ringmodulation all in one single oscillator, to create an FM modulator that goes well beyond anything you can even comprehend

The key thing to understand with MOD-7 is that is not just an FM synth. It's really like a whole toolkit of different synthesis techniques :

FM
AM
Additive
PCM sampling
Subtractive/Analog (the oscillators will generate saws/squares/triangles, there are filters, ring mod)
Waveshaping
Feedback

... that you can mix together to create fascinating new sounds. Or if you prefer, simply to add a little zest to a favourite ROM multisample like an acoustic bass or sax.

Finally, the real beauty of it is, all of that is just one half of an EXi Program. In the other half you can do it all over again with another MOD-7 instance or any of the other EXi engines. It's particularly nice to mix it with a MS20EX or AL-1, very complimentary sound characters.

A little bit of freeform mind dump there about a few random things. It's difficult when this information has had to be withheld and then released all in one go, like water building up behind a dam. I didn't know where to start, there's just so much to talk about it with this EXi.

Any questions just ask ...

Daz.

[peter m. mahr]

very interesting... and somehow I am afraid of October... some sleepless nights are coming. Tons of coffee, red eyes.. hopefully FFC is making a Dracula II movie, because then I can apply as a vampire.

Now I know why not everything is released at the same time.

"test monkey" har har harr...

Then I have a title already ... "the monkey and the ostrich"

peter

[Daz]

LOL

Peter, you'll absolutely love this EXi, it's a very special treat for anyone who likes digging into their synths. Actually it's a real treat for those who don't too, because there are 128 official presets, plus 256 less "polished" but very strong Korg presets in the "service banks" and thousands of DX7 patches to import as well

I had thought that FM7/FM8 were the last word in easily accessible full fat FM, but Korg have actually gone beyond what those very fine plug-ins offer with MOD-7. MOD-7 is like a blend of DX7, FM8, K2600, Absynth and Korg O1/W, with a sprinkle of MS20 patch panel.

Oh and I toying with the idea of "dazumahr" ... cunning word play

Daz.

[Daz]

In terms of the actual question that was asked ... I think you'll be very happy with the presets. They really are very blend cool of different sound types, that are not all just traditional FM fare such bells and EP's. You can get plenty of those good old traditional FM sounds via the DX7 import feature, so it's great that Korg explored some more interesting sonic territory in the design of the presets.

Daz.

[peter m. mahr]

[vEddY]

[RC-IA]

[EJ2]

Hi RC,
As Daz has so very aptly described, MOD-7 is beyond FM, (DX, SY, FS, etc.). Read the info posted on Korg's OASYS pages http://www.korg.com/gear/prod_info.asp?A_PROD_NO=OASYS Look over at the "Info" menu on the right, then click on "MOD-7 Wave Shaping VPM Synthesizer". And while you are there, click on the "mp3" tab at the top of the same menu, then scroll down to "MOD-7 Demos" for a few sonic treats.

All I can say is that this is a truly amazing synth that takes OASYS users "back to the future". To paraphrase what Daz has said, MOD-7 will make MOSS blush. Even for those who were not really into FM, you guys are going to love this EXi! Using MOD-7 programs in a fully KARMA-fied combi is simply awesome!

Cheers,
Eric
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Cheers,
Jim (aka EJ2) Karma-Lab Associate Combi Developer

CATALYST v 2 Blast of Inspiration for KRONOS & OASYS: http://www.karma-lab.com/sounds/catalyst2.html
CATALYST v 1 Combi Explosion for KRONOS, OASYS, M3, & K-M50: http://www.karma-lab.com/sounds/catalyst1.html
CHEMISTRY 3, a Groove Injection for Your Karma: http://www.karma-lab.com/sounds/chem3.html
SoundCloud MP3 Demoshttps://soundcloud.com/ej2-sc

[ski]

Nice overview Daz!

So that it doesn't seem too overwhelming, here's a simple example of what you can do with MOD-7 within a single program...

Start by creating a pad using 2 FM pairs (4 VPM oscillators), detuned slightly from one another). Run them into one of the filters with their own EG to sweep it.

Next, select a sustaining type of PCM sound (strings, etc.) and run it directly into the second filter (with its own EG). You now have a layered FM + PCM combination that should result in a pretty thick sound. And you still have 2 VPM's left!

Here's something you can do with one of those VPM's: take that same PCM oscillator and route it to a VPM set to Waveshaper mode (that's right, you can "mult" the output of an oscillator to multiple destinations). Depending on the nature of the samples and the waveshape table that you choose, you can create everything from subtle distortion to filter sweep effects with that VPM.

Adjust the EG on the output of that VPM so that this sound swells only after you've held down the keys for a while. Or program it so that you can swell that part of the sound in using the JS or other controller.

You can route that VPM into one or both filters, or, route it directly to the output. Your choice!

And you still have one VPM left! What to do.. what to do...

OK, use it as a normal sine wave oscillator but set it to sine+waveshape (internal waveshaping within the VPM). Adjust it to be an octave or two higher than the rest of the sound. Select one of the waveshape tables that generates bell-like overtones from that sine wave and set the EG for that VPM to create a bell-like "ping" attack and decay/release.

And you can route that VPM to either one (or both) of the filters, or, directly to the output.

Don't want bells in the LH part of the sound? Use an AMS Mixer ("mod mixer") acting in Gate Mode to ensure that the bell sound only occurs above, oh, say, C5.

So within one program you have:

• 4 layered sounds: FM (x2) running through one filter, PCM running through the other filter, Waveshaping PCM and VPM Bell
• a split keyboard (bells in RH)

Now, throw a touch of chorusing on that, maybe a bit of delay or reverb and you'll have a sound that'll make a COMBI envious!

[Charlie]

I am ............................ speechless.

Hard to believe Korg took my wish "I hope for a more evolved concept using FM-Synthesis" that serious!

BTW are any prices quoted yet for the new stuff?

@Curve: Let the Austrian Oasys Club know once you make it to the Ostrichs!

EDIT: ok - I've found the prices in SKs edited post - thanks!