Korg
| Korg
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| legal form | Kabushiki-gaisha (joint stock company) |
| founding | August 28, 1963 |
| Seat | Inagi ( Tokyo Prefecture ) |
| Number of employees | 290 (December 2014) |
| Branch | Electronic musical instruments |
| Website | www.korg.com |
Korg ( spelling KORG ) is a company that manufactures electronic musical instruments and musical accessories.
history
Korg was founded in Japan in 1962 by Tsutomu Kato and Tadashi Osanai, first as Keio Electronic Laboratories . Kato ran a nightclub before the company was founded . Osanai was a graduate of Tokyo University and an accordion player. He appeared regularly in Kato's club and used to accompany a Wurlitzer - rhythm machine . Dissatisfied with this device, he convinced Kato to finance the development of a better device.
The company was officially founded in 1963 and entered in the commercial register on January 10, 1964.
The company's first product, an electromechanical rhythm generator called the Disc Rotary Electric Auto Rhythm Machine Donca matic DA-20 , was launched in 1963. Due to the success of the DA-20, another version appeared in 1966, the Donca matic DE-20.
In 1967 Kato was approached by the engineer Fumio Mieda , who wanted to build keyboards. Kato asked Fumio if he could build a prototype first. Eighteen months later, Fumio returned with a programmable organ marketed under the name KORG for Keio Organ . Various Keio organs sold very well in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Driven by the strong competition on the organ market, Kato looked for alternatives. 1973 came with the mini-Korg Keios first synthesizer on the market. In the following years the name KORG established itself as a brand on the synthesizer market. The MS-20 , Polysix and Mono / Poly models in particular are now among the classics of synthesizer history. The Hammond organ simulation " Korg CX-3 " was also a great success and has now been reissued in a modernized form.
In 1988 the company's greatest success appeared with the Korg M1 and established a new type of synthesizer, the Music Workstation . The M1 combined a multi- timbral digital synthesizer with a multi-track sequencer and thus enabled the realization of complete multi-track productions in a single device.
After the great success of the M1, it was initially difficult for Korg to build on it. In this situation, close cooperation with the competitor Yamaha Corporation was the obvious choice to jointly develop new technologies. A key word for this is “virtual analog synthesis” (Yamaha VL1 / VL7 etc. and at Korg Prophecy and Z1 etc.). As the basis of this cooperation, Yamaha bought shares in Korg, but without obtaining a majority. After a few years, the cooperation turned out to be an obstacle from Korg's point of view. So Kato began to buy back the shares. Around 1997 he was able to plan and act independently again. Today Yamaha has a minimal stake in Korg.
Korg also manufactures effects and multi-effects devices for electric guitars and basses, currently the AX 3000 . Effect devices are now also sold under the Vox brand , after Korg acquired the naming rights to Vox Amplification Ltd in 1992 by taking over Vox sales.
Main products timeline
- 1963: Donca matic DA-20
- 1966: Donca matic DE-20
- 1973: Mini-Korg
- 1975: WT-10 (world's first handheld tuner)
- 1975: Maxi-Korg
- 1977: PS-3300 (fully polyphonic, semi-modular synthesizer)
- 1978: MS-10 , MS-20 , MS-50 , VC-10 (vocoder) , X-911 (guitar-controlled synthesizer)
- 1979: Micro-Preset Synthesizer
- 1979: SIGMA , DELTA Synthesizer
- 1979: CX-3 (Stageorgan)
- 1980: Mono / Poly
- 1980: Trident (A large digitally controlled analog synthesizer consisting of three sections: Synthesizer, Brass, Strings. Countless functions and one of the most expensive devices Korg has ever produced.)
- 1981: Polysix
- 1982: Poly 61 (version of the Polysix with push buttons with digital oscillators - Korg's first "controller-less" synthesizer)
- 1982: Trident MK II (the second version of the Trident with a few more functions and 32 user-writable memory locations)
- 1983: Poly 800 (first fully programmable synthesizer that sold for less than $ 1000 and had digitally controlled analog oscillators that all ran through a filter)
- 1984: DW-6000 (Korg's first digitally controlled synthesizer with digital waveforms and analog post-processing)
- 1985: DVP-1 (Digital Voice Processor - polyphonic synthesizer with 8 waveforms and vocoder in one device)
- 1986: DW-8000 (8 polyphonic voices, two of 16 digital waveforms could be selected by the user, as well as an analog filter per voice)
- 1986: DSS-1 (sound generation on a sample basis with additive synthesis, free waveform creation and effects, similar to the DW-8000)
- 1987: DS-8 (digital FM synthesizer)
- 1987: DT-1 (digital tuner; automatic tuner in compact cassette format)
- 1987: DSM-1 (expander / rack version of Korg's first and only sampler DSS-1)
- 1988: AT-1 (Auto Chromatic Tuner, the seventh Korg tuner)
- 1988: M1 Music Workstation (first Music Workstation)
- 1989: T1 / T2 / T3 Music Workstation
- 1990: Wavestation
- 1991: 01 / W Music Workstation
- 1993: i3 Interactive Music Workstation ( Korg's first arranger )
- 1993: X3 / X3R / X2 Music Workstation (successor to the M1)
- 1994: X5 synthesizer
- 1995: X5D / X5DR synthesizer
- 1995: Trinity Music Workstation, Prophecy Synthesizer
- 1996: Z1 multi-oscillator synthesizer
- 1996: N364 / N264 Music Workstation, N5 / NS5R / NX5R , N1 / 1R synthesizers / sound modules
- 1997: ix300 Interactive Music Workstation
- 1998: i30 / i30HD Interactive Music Workstation
- 1999: Triton Workstation / Sampler
- 1999: Kaoss Pad effects device
- 1999: Electribe Groovebox, sampler, synthesizer
- 2000: MS-2000 (virtual analog synthesizer; physical modeling)
- 2000: Pa80 / Pa80HD Professional Arranger Workstation
- 2000: CX-3 new edition (Stageorgan)
- 2001: karma
- 2002: Triton Studio Workstation / Sampler
- 2002: microKORG compact synthesizer and vocoder
- 2003: Pa1x pro / Pa1x pro élite Professional Arranger Workstation with 76 keys, without loudspeakers (Pa1x with 61 keys and 2-way bass reflex loudspeaker system)
- 2004: Legacy Collection (models of older synthesizers are available as software synthesizers, also known as plug-ins .)
- 2004: Triton Extreme Workstation / Sampler
- 2004: Pa50
- 2005: Legacy Collection Digital Edition (Korgs M1 / T1 / T2 / T3 was implemented as a software synthesizer plug-in)
- 2005: Electribe series
- 2005: OASYS ("Open Architecture Synthesis Studio"), workstation with open architecture
- 2005: AX3000 effects device, guitars (AX3000G) - or bass version (AX3000B)
- 2006: Korg TR Music Workstation (successor to the Korg Triton Le)
- 2006: RADIAS / RADIAS rack synthesizer / vocoder
- 2006: X50 Music Synthesizer (some sounds were carried over from the Triton.)
- 2006: microX synthesizer / controller
- 2007: Pa800 Professional Arranger Workstation
- 2007: M3 Music Workstation / Sampler
- 2007: Pa2x Pro Professional Arranger Workstation
- 2008: Pa500 Professional Arranger Workstation
- 2008: Pa500 Turkey and Oriental Edition with oriental drums, rhythms and sounds
- 2008: Nano series consisting of Nano-Key, Nano-Pad and Nano-Kontrol, portable controllers
- 2008: M50 entry-level workstation based on the M3
- 2008: Kaossilator dynamic phrase synthesizer and loop recorder
- 2009: Microkorg XL compact synthesizer and vocoder, new edition of the Microkorg, appearance of the SV1 Stage Vintage 1
- 2010: Kaossilator Pro revision of the Kaossilator, sim. of KP3
- 2010: Monotron Analog Ribbon Synthesizer pocket synthesizer
- 2011: Kaoss Quad Pad effect device, 4-fold effect control at the same time, looper
- 2011: microPiano Small piano keyboard with grand piano and battery operation
- 2011: Nano2 series successor and revision of the Nano series, PC controller
- 2011: Oriental Wavedrum Wavedrum with oriental sounds and percussions
- 2011: Pa3x Pro Professional Arranger Workstation
- 2011: Pa3x Pro Musikant Edition with German drums, rhythms and sounds
- 2011: KRONOS Workstation
- 2012: KRONOS X Workstation
- 2012: KROME Workstation
- 2013: King Korg (Analog Modeling Synthesizer), Korg MS-20 Mini
- 2013: Volca Keys (Analogue Loop Synth)
- 2013: Volca Bass (Analogue Bass Machine)
- 2013: Volca Beats (Analogue / Digital Rhythm Machine)
- 2014: Volca Sample (Digital Sample Player)
- 2015: KRONOS 2 workstation
- 2015: Korg Electribe Sampler (Music Production Station)
- 2015: Korg Electribe (Music Production Station)
- 2016: Volca FM (digital FM synthesizer)
- 2016: Volca Kick (analog bass drum synthesizer)
- 2019: Volca Drum
- 2019: Volca Modular
Web links
- Official website
- Modification of a Korg Monotron on YouTube
- Vintage Synth Explorer - describes many of Korg's products
Individual evidence
- ↑ korg.com: Corporate Profile
- ↑ Guitar & Lute. Volume 9, Issue 3, 1988, p. 50 (press release).
- ↑ i3 - MUSIC WORKSTATION. KORG, accessed August 8, 2020 .
-
↑ https://www.synrise.de/ or on the available database CD from Synrise
"According to KORG, the X3 is the definitive M1 successor" ... - ↑ iX300 - INTERACTIVE MUSIC WORKSTATION. KORG, accessed August 8, 2020 .