All the talk about analog synths with my investigation of the V-Synth’s capabilities to produce the “analog” tone brought to mind another little (read: VERY little) synth I have the pleasure of owning: the Korg Monotron.
The Monotron heralds back to the days of true analog synths, and in fact pays homage to one of Korg’s most popular mono-synths. Equipped with only one oscillator, one filter, one LFO, and what essentially translates to a gated envelope generator for the amp, the Monotron is not the most full-featured synth around. This, however, is the Monotron’s real charm.
The Hand-held Mono-synth:
This is probably the smallest “synthesizer” I’ve ever held and used. There isn’t even an external control input method (e.g. no midi input and no CV input), so all control over the internal synth section is done with a ribbon controller that has a print on it designed to look like a keyboard. Surprisingly, it is pretty accurately scaled, so you are hitting the correct notes corresponding with what you press on the controller. The LFO only generates one waveform: saw tooth. It is also key-synced, so if you get creative you can use it as a sort of fixed-slope, cycling envelope generator for the oscillator pitch as well as the filter cutoff setting, and this just so happens to be a very handy way to get classic synth bass tones out of the synth.
This very limited, very unique setup makes the synth very interesting and yet very limiting at the same time. Nevertheless, there’s something about it that makes you want to keep playing it. I can’t say that it’s the easiest piece of equipment to use, but I can say that the next section makes it all worth it in the end.
Filter: The Key Ingredient:
The filter circuit was sourced from the Korg MS-10/MS-20 synthesizers, which even within the realm of analog synth filters had a character all its own. Without resonance, it could provide a huge low-end sound that was fantastic for monophonic bass sounds; this thing would easily compete with Moog’s filter in the “rafter-shaker” category. As you added resonance to the filter, it began to subtly distort, adding grunge internally to the filtered audio sound. When you really pushed it though, it began to self-oscillate, and would really scream at you if you weren’t careful. This character has been carried over into the Monotron extremely well, as it will rumble, overdrive, and outright scream at you just as well as any of the original Korg MS-10/MS-20 synths would. Just the like the originals, the filter can have external audio fed to it so it can be used as an external filter effect for other synths or any other audio signal you feel like adding an extra touch of fullness and richness to. Ultimately, the filter here is the true pièce de résistance; without it, I’m afraid the Monotron would really be little more than a toy (albeit and interesting one), which some already indeed view it as anyways unfortunately.
Audio Clip:
Being such a feature-limited instrument, there isn’t really a terrible lot I can show off here. Some of the more notable features I’ll demo here are the LFO being used to modulate the pitch of the oscillator and the frequency setting of the filter, and of course the incredible filter that it packs in its small exterior. I will show how it sounds being pushed by the internal oscillator as well as with an external synth signal and a regular external audio signal in the form of a drum beat. NOTE OF CAUTION: please don’t immediately crank up the volume of your speakers before listening. When the resonance is pushed high, it whistles and screams, and can damage your speakers (and hearing. PLEASE be careful.
Korg Monotron Demo by Mr Blu Gruv
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