While I’m all for newer and smaller synthesizer technology I am not for the MicroKorg. Like everyone else on the planet I eventually bought one of these back in 2007. Here is an introduction to the accused:
This review is a bit biased. I prefer the sound of analog synthesizers. The MicroKorg is a modeler of analog synth sounds (as well as more current day digital synths). “Modeling” is the key word. The filter on the MicroKorg makes everything sound awfully shiny. The word I’d use to completely and accurately describe this thing is that it sounds like a Korg. If this device had a better sounding filter it would be dynamite. If this device did not have a very specific and Korg-sounding digital delay it would be dynamite*. It has an onboard arpeggiator with a visible step sequencer. Why it even has a vocoder.
If memory serves me correctly I recall the “detuned synth” patch sounding the best. It’s the closest this baby gets to sounding analog at all. Even though I don’t like the MickroKorg at all, for a while it was the only synth I could afford. I can only imagine the amount of shit talk it endured from our house mate’s Moog Voyager while it sat on our plexiglass practice table at night. It was only ever used on one Polygons track that was released on our self-titled album. I sold this synth a little less than a year after I bought it. I then used the money to buy a Roland SH-101. Same size and better sound.
-M.
*Editors Note: The only other delay in recent memory that is more recognizeable and specific than a Korg digital delay is the Line 6 stompbox DL-4 delay modeler. Every single preset on it. Try it for yourself.
We’ve been asked to play the Transmodern Age 2010 Fundraiser. The show is this Saturday December 5th at the Floristree in Baltimore. Below is the full event information:
TRANSMODERN 2010 FUNDRAISER Saturday, December 5th FLORISTREE H&H Building Corner of W. Franklin and Eutaw St. 8:30pm $12.00
Please join us for a night of eclectic performance culminating in a mass dance party lead by DJ Jason Willett and the Baltimore Westsiders Marching Band.
We can barely contain our excitement about this event and luckily we have the two coolest MCs in town to guide us on our road to the ecstatic dance explosion: Citizen Rahne Alexander & Wham City Best Man Connor Kizer.
We will also be releasing our new soft-cover commemorative photo book from the 2009 festival. The book will be on sale for $25.00 at the event.
Performers and Schedule:
Dina Kelberman & Lesser Gonzalez Fantastic dada/absurdist short films and “Double-Blind Comics”
Angie Head Singer Songwriter Extraordinaire joining us from the vibrant Wash. DC Af-Am queer scene.
Andy Hayleck & Paul Neidhardt Two of Baltimore’s finest sound experimenters present a sonic duo on amplified gong and Neil Feather’s Nondo.
Polygons & Effervescent Dancers Josh Atkins & Miguel Sabogal bring synth/electronic/groove improvised with excellent craft & imagination. The Effervescent Dancers are a corps of intellectual movement specialists using dance as medium to question consensus reality.
DJ Jason Willett & The Westsiders Marching Band The Westsiders will perform LIVE several special works for the evening and will then provide drum corp and dance routine accompaniment to songs specially chosen by Jason for the night.
Josh and I collect a lot of gear. Guitar effects pedals account for a large portion of this collection. In the next few weeks we will be posting our thoughts and curiousities on since-discarded equipment. This is a good tutorial to clue our listeners in to what specific sounds they are hearing on recordings past and present. Today is phase shifter day. This is a family portrait of Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phase shifters.
I have used the Small Stone usa version 4 (yellow box), Small Stone sovtek version 3 (green box), and the Small Stone usa nano (red box) boxes. I’ve owned each one and month later sold each one. When talking about Electro-Harmonix the first thing that comes to mind is consistency. A majority of their pedals that are sold in the market sound slightly different from their neighbor. This is the genius and the curse of the matter. The components are always different across versions and the circuit boards have consistently undergone changes.
The “sound” of a phase shifter is generated by a pretty simple idea. The audio signal is split into 2 signals. A dry signal and a “wet” signal that is processed by what’s inside the box. Inside the box of a phase shifter you will find several small components which comprise a unit called an all-pass filter. An all-pass filter lets all frequencies of the audio signal through without changing their amplitudes. However the phase of the signal is slightly off from the dry signal. A low-frequency oscillator is added to the phase shifting design in order to alter the positions of the peaks and troughs in the wave of the wet audio signal. These positions vary over time which create a sound that is constantly changing in amplitude or loudness.
Each all-pass filter unit is called a stage. The Small Stone utilizes 4 stages. The Color knob on the phaser represents a 5th stage that when activated allows feedback to trickle back to the beginning of the all-pass filter chain. The number of stages used in a phaser can vary. For example, Moog makes a phaser with 12 stages of phasing. The more stages of phasing the more organic the sound of the processed signal will sound. For most purposes 4 stages of phasing is perfectly fine. Lastly (and very importantly) the key to that Small Stone phaser sound is the use of Operational Transconductance Amplifiers (OTA’s) instead of operational amplifiers with variable resistors. This is the Small Stone in action with all-analog gear.
The Small Stone when put after a distortion effect like a RAT or Boss DS-1 distortion has a very interesting sound quality. Depending on the amount of dry signal in each pedal you can get obtain very lo-fi 70s pscydelia or a very poorly defined signal. I personally would reverse the signal chain and place the phaser before a distortion box. Turn on the color knob of the phase shifter and you’re increasing the volume of the feedback signal. The end result is a textured drone that is very interesting to listen to in the absence of other sounds. Out of all my Small Stones I’ve noticed that the Sovtek Small Stone (green rectangle) is by far the most poorly constructed. However, the feedback from flipping the Color switch is much more intese and effective than its USA counterparts. I used to use this configuration exclusively with a solid-body guitar, distortion box, and tube amp. I’d let the guitar feedback on itself and play different textures. A drum machine with individual line outs, such as my Tr-707 is extremely amenable to phase shifting plus distortion. By combining a recurring drum pattern and an effect that varies the amplitude and phase of your signal over time I’ve gotten a much more mathematically-based pscyhdelia than with my string-based instruments. The sound equivalent of the drifting of one part of the drum kit in relationship to the rest of the kit is something I continually try to improve upon with newer and more advanced gear.
Polygons is opening for Tim Hecker and Aidan Baker tomorrow. You can buy an advance $8 ticket over at www.hexagonspace.com. Otherwise a ticket will cost $10 at the door. We go on at 10pm. Tim Hecker goes on some time after 11:30pm. Don’t miss this show. It’s 1 of only 3 shows that the Hecker/Baker tour is doing in North America.
Today’s video. Nice analog drum sounds in the backing track.
Sat Sept 12 @ The Annex w/ Rapdragons, In Every Room, Hate Hugs Wed Sept 16 @ The Hexagon - Live soundtrack to Metropolis by Fritz Lang Fri Nov 10 @ The Hexagon - w/ Tim Hecker, Aidan Baker, Ecstatic Sunshine
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Album cover I made for Summer Inside the Atom. To be released on August 14th. Pre-release copies may be available at Artscape and Whartscape if Miguel and I get our act together. Inspired by the old Dover Press science books.
This track is called Miami to Key West. It is from our new album called Summer Inside the Atom. Feel free to open the gull-wing doors on your DeLorean and rock this in the supermarket parking lot.
