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The Korg Prologue Thread


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Just got my 8-voice a couple days ago, apparently I'm one of the first to own one, so I thought it would be good to break from the Prologue thread that existed before anyone had actually played one.

 

Yes, the 16-voice does look to be better and probably a better bang for buck, but I'm thinking of how this will fit into a live rig. Mainly I will be using it for leads and comping, and I might want it positioned on it's own stand to the right of my main stack, so the 49 makes sense for me I think and the portability will handy as I'm often trying to travel light.

 

Haven't had much playing time yet. So far I've only run through presents and tweaked them a little, hardly even scratched the surface. Really impressed with the basic tone and how alive, warm, and organic it sounds. The keybed is top notch. The controls feel great. It's a lovely piece of equipment to lay your hands on. Some will say the Prologue is overpriced but it is evident that there's a lot of quality in the hardware.

 

My immediate impression is that this is a performance-oriented synth, which is exactly why I got it. Whether it's a programmer's synth is for others to say, as my programming skills are very basic. I'm sure some will find the modulations possibilities lacking, but for me it will be more than adequate.

 

That's all I've got for now until I can find more time to play it.

 

 

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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So far I've only run through presents and tweaked them a little, hardly even scratched the surface. Really impressed with the basic tone and how alive, warm, and organic it sounds. The keybed is top notch. The controls feel great. It's a lovely piece of equipment to lay your hands on.

 

Congrats! I quoted you because that was exactly my impression - just ran across one of these at a local music store - first time frankly I have been truly impressed with almost all of the presets in one of these fancy new analog synths - I was actually quite blown away, very organic, pleasant sounding for lack of a better word. Definitely lives up to the analogue hype.

 

 

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Congrats Adan in being one of the first KCers to pick up the new Prologue. :thu:

 

Surely, my local music store will have a Prologue on the floor very soon it isn't there already. I look forward to laying hands on it.

 

It will be interesting to see whether or not the Prologue cuts into the sales of the current crop of analog synths.

 

I doubt that a Prologue will replace my Prophet 6. But, it's a great time we live in as KB players. :D:cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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The keybed is top notch. The controls feel great. It's a lovely piece of equipment to lay your hands on.

 

I appreciate your thoughts on this, which means a lot coming from a long-standing member of this forum. I (for one) was not impressed with the keybed and hardware of the KingKorg, so this is good news indeed.

 

And as a recent DM12 purchaser, I understand your reasoning behind the 4 octave version - a practical choice for gigs today. As much as I wish it weren't true, it ain't 1980 anymore :laugh:

 

Congrats on your purchase Adan!

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The Prologue is miles apart from the KingKorg in terms of hardware.

 

I'm more a synth player than a synth programmer. I'm more likely to tweak a preset than start from scratch with deep editing. The prologue is good for someone like me because the interface is so basic and intuitive. Much like the minilogue. Does this mean that more adept programmers will be stymied by it? I don't know, that's for them to say.

 

I'm usually nonplussed by synth presets. Usually seems like 30% are useable starting points and the rest are meant to show off how far out and crazy the synth can sound. The prologue seems better in this regard than most. I thought the majority of presets were good starting points for something I might use.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I doubt that a Prologue will replace my Prophet 6.

Time will tell, but based on your recent history... :laugh:

Brotha Dave, that was dirty. :roll:

 

I hope the Prologue inspires your GAS to trade in the P'08 at the music store instead of selling it yourself. j/k. :laugh:

 

Surely, everyone here at KC knows trading in gear is usually a losers bet. :D:cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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My brain went on GAS fire when the prologue was announced. That's a tough call between the 8 and 16. You don't need the 16 for leads, bass lines, and comping chords in a band with 3 or more other instruments. It's a respectable decision. IMHO

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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That's a tough call between the 8 and 16.

IMO, 8 is great for monotimbral but split/layer capability definitely makes a strong case for 16. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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That's a tough call between the 8 and 16.

IMO, 8 is great for monotimbral but split/layer capability definitely makes a strong case for 16. :cool:

 

Ya, but I know no gig I'm playing would be doable on a 61k synth - even one as potent as the Prologue. Like the OP, it would be ancillary. Heck, I'd even be interested in keyless desktop or rack version.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Holy crap. Listening to Daniel Fischer demo it on my monitors. Sounds beautiful. Where is all this money gonna come from? :cry:

 

Damn, that was nice, but the wife wants new garage doors. :(

9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it

 

 

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Holy crap. Listening to Daniel Fischer demo it on my monitors. Sounds beautiful. Where is all this money gonna come from? :cry:

 

Damn, that was nice, but the wife wants new garage doors. :(

 

Haha, this made me laugh.

 

I did garage doors last year. She made me do a pool heater this year. And now she needs hearing aids. My needs are WAAAAY down on the bottom somehere below the dog.

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Holy crap. Listening to Daniel Fischer demo it on my monitors. Sounds beautiful. Where is all this money gonna come from? :cry:

 

Damn, that was nice, but the wife wants new garage doors. :(

 

Ah, just paint the old ones. :laugh:

 

 

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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My brain went on GAS fire when the prologue was announced. That's a tough call between the 8 and 16. You don't need the 16 for leads, bass lines, and comping chords in a band with 3 or more other instruments. It's a respectable decision. IMHO

 

 

The 16 has the analog low-end booster/compressor. It also has one or two more panels, one of which is for that extra feature, with a VU meter. Nice selling point for some.

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just ran across one of these at a local music store -

stopped by GC in Rockville MD today after a dentist app't nearby and before my expected time for work. Asked about the Prologue and the reply was that no stores except for NYC had them. Dude asked me if I wanted him to get one in stock for me to try out. I asked him why wouldn't they just get one in anyway for everyone? He then asked me if I wanted to try out the 49 or 61 key version. I told him that most likely they would sound the same. ;)

I know the polyphony, and splits and layers would be different but dude had no clue. Told him I'll check back in 3 months. SMH

:nopity:
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just ran across one of these at a local music store -

stopped by GC in Rockville MD today after a dentist app't nearby and before my expected time for work. Asked about the Prologue and the reply was that no stores except for NYC had them. Dude asked me if I wanted him to get one in stock for me to try out. I asked him why wouldn't they just get one in anyway for everyone? He then asked me if I wanted to try out the 49 or 61 key version. I told him that most likely they would sound the same. ;)

I know the polyphony, and splits and layers would be different but dude had no clue. Told him I'll check back in 3 months. SMH

 

I guess they must have had some staff turnover since the last time I was at that GC, at which time the guys in the keyboard dept. seemed to have some reasonable knowledge.

 

I have a synth geek friend who works at the GC in Seven Corners. But they seem to make him mostly guitar work (sales, guitar setup/maintenance/repair work), go figure. Equally conversant with analog synthesis and FM.

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Yo Guys -

Similar problem here in Portland, OR. Lot of very nice guys that work there, but the GC I frequent rarely stocks the cool keyboards (for example, the store in North Portland has never had a Roland VR09 or VR730 as far as I am aware, which is weird, as those are not even high-end items).

 

Anyone in the Portland area, one store that DOES have the Prologue on display rhymes with Mold Towne music. It used to be located in Old Town, but moved across the river on about 11th and Ankeney.

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My dyno DSP (I call it for the moment) has produced (Linux) software synth sounds that make me wonder if I'll need analog anymore. With all these slightly different analogs out, nobody seems to care what they'll do in productions (or even "live") and the mp3's/web videos not sounding better to me, it's maybe time to move on. Analog is fun, though...

 

T

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  • 2 weeks later...

On display here. Best way I can describe the sound is "room filling". Warm, thick, lush, pretty gritty if you play about with it. Keys feel okay.

 

Agree with the above: presets are good, and give plenty of oppurtunity for you to tweak away and see what it can do. Very fun instrument.

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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  • 10 months later...

Has anyone checked out the Limited Edition? As far as I can tell, it's a Guitar Center exclusive. Premium priced. I like the silver, I find light colors more stage-friendly. But if the specs listed there are right, this version has aftertouch...?

 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Korg/Prologue-Limited-Edition-16-Voice-Polyphonic-Analog-Synthesizer.gc

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I'm glad they fixed the tuning stability issues. I was looking at this last October but the tuning issues kept me from it. It looks like came out with a fix last December?

Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12

Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell

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  • 6 months later...

Bumping an old thread:

 

I am intrigued with the Prologue and may be opting for the Prologue 8 as opposed to the 16.

 

For my needs, the 16 doesn't seem to add anymore headroom.

 

Questions for Prologue owners:

after months of playing, have your opinions changed?

have there been any hardware or software issues that unexpectedly emerged?

what aspects of the board have left you wanting?

 

thanks in advance.

 

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Having a blast with the Prologue 8:

 

three new patches made from factory presets

[video:youtube]

 

Excerpts from Kashmir - how the Prologue might fit in

Using my buzzsaw patch

pardon the slop

[video:youtube]

 

I am the walrus using factory pre-set 70's Lead

[video:youtube]

 

The barking dog with slap=back delay shaped through a phaser was realized on the Triton Extreme.

That was my way of improvising on the "smokepot, smokepot, everybody smokepot" chant from the original recording.

Never got a chance to play it live... shame.

 

Always one of those things when you get the bank of sound effects and you say "when and how the heck am I ever going to use these?"

Well, there's a tip from your old pal tarkus!

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