GovernorSilver Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I'd speculated that Takahashi, the young engineer with the English accent, had a lot to do with Korg's return to making analog products. Looks like I'm right. http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?2009 As Takahashi told it, in 2006 he more or less showed up asking for work and was told to at least come back with a CV. He returned with one, as well as something he made during his year off: an eight-step sequencer with an individual oscillator for each step, where waveforms could combine and clip to generate wild harmonics. "I didn't know what to say in an interview, I wasn't really prepared or anything, so I thought bringing in something I made was the best way to get my message across." The plan worked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyFF Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Thanks for sharing, very interesting article! Numa Piano X73 /// Kawai ES920 /// Casio CT-X5000 /// Yamaha EW425 Yamaha Melodica and Alto Recorder QSC K8.2 // JBL Eon One Compact // Soundcore Motion Boom Plus Win10 laptop i7 8GB // iPad Pro 9.7" 32GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 worth reading for sure if you are into analog synths Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Thanks for posting this. I love this article, and the whole thing crackles with enthusiasm and love for analog sound and circuits. Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyFF Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 It's fascinating too to think that engineers can pioneer the electronic music market in part because of their personal interest in analog and their musical taste; as well as a good working relationship between the product manager coming up with good ideas and the guy who's got the technical chops to bring them to life. You notice though that they're designing in the sub $500 and even sub $100 range, which gives them a lot more latitude to get inventive. I never understood the appeal to manufacturers to fight it out in the low low end of the market until I realized that getting any product of theirs out there is a form of marketing, gaining them name familiarity by end users, so these guys probably get a fair amount of latitude as long as it's cheap and fun. It was also interesting to read how trade secretive they are at Korg- I suppose that's industry wide, but apparently they take it very seriously and broad spectrum. I'd be VERY curious how much feedback these key engineers get, esp. as you move into the higher priced levels. For example, is there someone paying attention to forums, dealers, etc., compiling wish lists and passing it on to a design team? I know that in the case of the Kronos that the design team worked together from the 90's on, and the reasonably affordable marvel that we have today was the result of a lot of work by a dedicated? team over the years. But in the case of the Krome and Kross- was this a case of a couple of hot shot engineers with their own ideas, or was it more of a corporate desire to fill price niches, with a team assembled, and if so, what the process of deciding what features made it or not? In many ways, as the consumer, it feels like a parental or religious relationship- more often than not, we DON'T know how or why the decisions were made, and we accept or reject what is given to us. Numa Piano X73 /// Kawai ES920 /// Casio CT-X5000 /// Yamaha EW425 Yamaha Melodica and Alto Recorder QSC K8.2 // JBL Eon One Compact // Soundcore Motion Boom Plus Win10 laptop i7 8GB // iPad Pro 9.7" 32GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Thanks for posting, Gov. Resident Advisor is a top-notch resource for what's going on in electronic music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 I figured you guys would enjoy the article as much as I have. Korg maintains its secrets just like any competitive company, but they're the most open of the major Japanese synth manufacturers. We've seen guys like Dan Phillips, Rich F., etc. posting on forums on Korg's behalf - no forum interaction from the competition (Yamaha, Roland). The revelation that Takahashi is himself an electronic musician makes a lot of sense - while users have their various nitpicks about the Monotrons, Volcas, etc., these devices do look like something designed by a musician instead of a stereotypical lab-coated nerd who needs a Tom Smykowski type to translate the requirements. Looking forward to seeing what new stuff Takahashi is coming up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Korg maintains its secrets just like any competitive company, but they're the most open of the major Japanese synth manufacturers. We've seen guys like Dan Phillips, Rich F., etc. posting on forums on Korg's behalf - no forum interaction from the competition (Yamaha, Roland). An excellent company to be sure. I've received top-notch tech support from them (via telephone) over the years, and their interaction here on our forum (and other forums as well) is much appreciated. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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