Korg to reissue ARP Oddysey

Started by GovernorSilver, February 18, 2014, 08:37:27 PM

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GovernorSilver

http://www.korg.com/us/news/2014/0217/

Yes, folks on other forums are going crazy over this announcement.  A lot of people thing this opens the door of possibilities - in the sense that people are screaming for Korg to make everything now, from ARP 2600 to Oberheim OB-1 to EMS VCS3 to Minimoog Model D to ARP Avatar - ok, the last one was a joke I just inserted.

Clearly earthshaking enough news to cause folks to take leave of their senses.  8)

Ingesecition

Well done Korg, giving all producers a chance to own an affordable, and fun piece of analog. I'll be getting one.

thebrushwithin

The ARP Odyessy and the Avatar were pretty much the same, except the Avatar also added hex fuzz.

montyrivers

I love that Korg is a thriving hardware manufacturer in a world of software plugins.  I am skeptical as to the build quality and feel of this coming model, though.  I love the Korg sound but their keys always felt flimsy to me.  Even the kronos 61 feels kind of cheap.  I understand that new EPA standards make some things more expensive but I am hoping they choose to build this puppy like a brick s**t house.

GovernorSilver

I'd love to see a Korg Ondes Martenot, complete with matching resonator cabinet.

GovernorSilver

Quote from: montyrivers on March 02, 2014, 11:46:10 PM
I love that Korg is a thriving hardware manufacturer in a world of software plugins.  I am skeptical as to the build quality and feel of this coming model, though.  I love the Korg sound but their keys always felt flimsy to me.  Even the kronos 61 feels kind of cheap.  I understand that new EPA standards make some things more expensive but I am hoping they choose to build this puppy like a brick s**t house.

I think my Korg M3 61 is built like a tank - with the exception of the sliders.  I go back and forth about selling it - on the one hand, I don't use its workstation features (sequencer in particular, and the sampler) as much as I thought I would.  I do a lot more music creation/production on my iPad these days, but that's because the iPad is so portable and easy to bring with me on my daily train ride.  OTOH, the key action feels nice to me, also the aftertouch.  Anderton loved the release velocity too, but I haven't played with that too much.  At any rate, it seems to be better constructed than the Kronos units I've seen in stores.

The MS-20 Mini's story sounds familiar - initial batches had reported quality issues, but nobody seems to be complaining about recently purchased units.  There are even some claims that the build quality is better than on vintage MS-20s (which for its time was a budget synth).  I'm looking forward to hearing what customers have to say about the full-size MS-20 kit.  One of the supposed selling points of the kit is that it comes with higher-quality components than the ones used on the Mini units.

montyrivers

I hear great things about the M3.  The Kronos 61 is supposed to have the same key action.  I don't want to sound hypercritical, they are high end and powerful machines.  I just know that nothing will ever be built as solid as a DX7.  The Yamaha FS key action was so solid it was used on every korg and yamaha keyboard up until the ban on lead weights on the key balances.  The new motif pianos have the new lead free FSX action now but it looks like Yamaha is keeping that proprietary as korg seems to be embracing their new m3 action for the kronos 61 and their plasticky, crapola light action on the krome and tactile controllers.

GovernorSilver

#7
Getting the Octatrack is what stopped my Korg M3 exploration.  I'd started digging into the KARMA functions by following Karma Labs' House 101 DVD course.   I'd no intention of doing house music, but I figured I could learn enough from the course to create patterns to my liking.  Then I'd get into triggering cool generated accompaniment patterns from via the MIDI connection from my Roland VG-99 to M3.  I knew it was going to take a lot of work to create KARMA phrases that didn't sound like lounge music or the usual dance stuff.  Nowadays though I'm enjoying the more minimalist approach of having the Octatrack live-remix my string instrument playing, and learning how to get the most out of the Octatrack is taking just as much time as it would have taken me to get more pleasing musical results out of the M3.

This is one currently in-production keyboard that is said to have truly boutique-quality keyboard construction - and polyphonic aftertouch to boot:



If I sell my M3, it will pay for about 1/3 of this keyboard.  :)  Selling the Voyager would get me closer of course.  I really like all the sounds I've heard from the M4000 on Youtube - not as pristine as the Korg M3's sounds due, I suppose, to the sounds being sampled off of Mellotron and Chamberlin tapes, but more immediately pleasing to my ears.

montyrivers

Mellotron is no joke.  Also polyphonic aftertouch is very expensive!  I know Ensoniq came up with a design that made it cheap but their patents have yet to expire.  :O

GovernorSilver

The KMI QuNexus is the cheapest poly aftertouch controller I know of that isn't a drum controller, but some people complain about the lights generating unwanted noise and other issues.

I think I can sell enough gear to afford the M4000D.  The only Korg gear I might have left that isn't software might be the MS-20 Mini, which actually interests me more than the Oddy.  I do have a fondness for making weird soundsand the external signal processing section looks like it would be a lot of weirdo fun:


montyrivers

Doesn't the voyager allow you to mangle external inputs?

germanicus

Quote from: GovernorSilver on March 03, 2014, 02:25:02 PM
Getting the Octatrack is what stopped my Korg M3 exploration.  I'd started digging into the KARMA functions by following Karma Labs' House 101 DVD course.   I'd no intention of doing house music, but I figured I could learn enough from the course to create patterns to my liking.  Then I'd get into triggering cool generated accompaniment patterns from via the MIDI connection from my Roland VG-99 to M3.  I knew it was going to take a lot of work to create KARMA phrases that didn't sound like lounge music or the usual dance stuff.  Nowadays though I'm enjoying the more minimalist approach of having the Octatrack live-remix my string instrument playing, and learning how to get the most out of the Octatrack is taking just as much time as it would have taken me to get more pleasing musical results out of the M3.

This is one currently in-production keyboard that is said to have truly boutique-quality keyboard construction - and polyphonic aftertouch to boot:



If I sell my M3, it will pay for about 1/3 of this keyboard.  :)  Selling the Voyager would get me closer of course.  I really like all the sounds I've heard from the M4000 on Youtube - not as pristine as the Korg M3's sounds due, I suppose, to the sounds being sampled off of Mellotron and Chamberlin tapes, but more immediately pleasing to my ears.

Have you tried M-Tron Pro and its expansion libraries? its quite amazing.
My albums done with modeling/guitar synth at http://music.steamtheory.com

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GovernorSilver

Quote from: montyrivers on April 21, 2014, 03:34:37 PM
Doesn't the voyager allow you to mangle external inputs?

Yes, but not with the same immediacy as an MS-20.  You have to jump through a few hoops on the Voyager - send a MIDI Note or put a weight on one of the keys to trigger a gate, etc.

GovernorSilver

#13
Quote from: germanicus on April 22, 2014, 08:42:17 AM
Have you tried M-Tron Pro and its expansion libraries? its quite amazing.

No, I don't use softsynths aside from IOS.  I've seen positive comments though from users.

What I'm going to do instead is get a CME XKeys 37 (poly aftertouch) and plug that into my Korg M3.  It'll be interesting to see how the "Krimson Strings" patch sounds with poly aftertouch.

Rhcole

I used to own an Odyssey back in the day. I found an Arp logo T-shirt last year, and then proudly wore it until my wife pointed out that at my age it looked like I was promoting "AARP". Heh.
Nobody, I mean nobody recognized the shirt anywhere until I ran into musician Steve Roach at a concert last year. He said "Man, I love your shirt! That's where we all came from!".