korg monotron and other mini-synths

[dasilvasings]

The objective of this post is to change ideas and opinions about mini-synths and similar keyboards.

I started a new one because the "portable keyboards" topic is a bit long now. stylophones, theremins and toy organs are welcome. microkorg sized synths are not...

If you don't know this yet, I suggest this link on toy organs, which I find amazing.

http://www.miniorgan.com/home.php

[Oldrottenhead]

really interesting link, i got two on the list or should i say had. still got my stylophone but lost my casio vl1 ages ago. does my casio sk-5 fall into this category?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_SK-5

[dasilvasings]

I got a korg monotron http://www.korg.com/monotron for my birthday and I am still messing with it.
So far:

1. the ribbon keyboard is a pitn to play melodies. Unlike teh stylophone, It is a "continuous" controller, hence you have to play by ear. although there is a little keyboard drawn, you don't really note what you are playing until you hear the sound. I play with a pick, because my fingers are fat.

2. You can connect other instruments before the filter. Cuthbert - I obviously tried to do that, because I thought the sawtooth wave was limited, I connected my casio vl-tone as main oscilator. It was not espectacular - the casio sound has it own ADSR, and adding another controller to the envelope made it difficult to control, especially with more "transient" sounds (with fast decay).  I may give it another try later, but so far I came to the conclusion there is nothing wrong with a sawtooth wave. It is very rich in terms of harmonics.

3. You can connect the lfo oscilator to the pitch. I can't see the point, I never use it.

4. The positive thing of the ribbon controller, is that it is ideal for long portamentos. Connecting the lfo to the filter, you can make a sound that reminds the theremin. It isn't actually working on the volume, but since the filter is cutting the higher frequecies (which you hear more), there is a sense of fading. And because you can select the lfo frequency, you can somewhat contrl the speed of the fading.

Let me hear from you!

PS: ORH - Casio SK-5 - Absolutely. I just want to avoid real synth talk, with plenty of oscilators, and filters, and physics. They deserve a topic on their own.

[Oldrottenhead]

not had the sk-5 out for a while if i remember rightly everything bar the vocals was done on the sk=5 for this song http://soundclick.com/share?songid=1981104

[dasilvasings]

wow! what a cool song. Love the sound of the bass and the background chords. well, and generally everything! Why this is not in Songcrafters?!?

[ODH]

Interesting insight into the Monotron, I have one on order at the moment.  Looking forward to getting it.

What I do have already and love is the Korg DS-10, the analogue synth emulator for the Nintendo DS.  The sounds are excellent, plus you get an extensive sequencer / song pattern builder.  And Koas effects.

[ODH]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn4D79Jgn_4

I've got mine now (this isn't me in the clip, mind).  Hoping to make use of it soon

[Oldrottenhead]

Why this is not in Songcrafters?!?

is pre songcrafters ,

it is an unwritten rule but i imagine common knowledge among our older members that so as not to overload songcrafters storage space, members should post mainly new music to upload here rather than uploading their back catalogue.if music is available elsewhere then a link  can be provided, it can be a pressure on our storage when people come in and just flood the boards with their old material.

[dasilvasings]

oops, can't say I flooded, but I did post a few stuff in S that I did before. Damage done...

[cuthbert]

1. the ribbon keyboard is a pitn to play melodies. Unlike teh stylophone, It is a "continuous" controller, hence you have to play by ear. although there is a little keyboard drawn, you don't really note what you are playing until you hear the sound. I play with a pick, because my fingers are fat.

I got a stylus for the Nintendo DS that works pretty well for controlling the 'keyboard' - and it works pretty well if you stick to the top half of the keyboard. I also found that if I tune the oscillator to C with the stylus on the C note, that the rest of the keyboard notes are more predictable.

2. You can connect other instruments before the filter. Cuthbert - I obviously tried to do that, because I thought the sawtooth wave was limited, I connected my casio vl-tone as main oscilator. It was not espectacular - the casio sound has it own ADSR, and adding another controller to the envelope made it difficult to control, especially with more "transient" sounds (with fast decay).  I may give it another try later, but so far I came to the conclusion there is nothing wrong with a sawtooth wave. It is very rich in terms of harmonics.

I haven't done a lot of this yet, but you can connect nearly anything to the input - another keyboard, a guitar, mixer output, etc. and run it through the filter. I don't think there's anything wrong with the built-in (digital?) oscillator - but I like the fact that I can filter (and modulate) anything going through the input.

3. You can connect the lfo oscilator to the pitch. I can't see the point, I never use it.

It can sound good sometimes, but it's limited in that there are no other controls that can further modulate it once it's set. I do like that you can tweak it dynamically as sounds are played.

Let me hear from you!

This is a topic near and dear to my heart!

I've got a Casio VL-Tone and a couple of Stylophones (an old one from the Seventies, and a new one). I love that that VL-Tone is programmable, but I hate that it's so difficult to program predictably. Some of the built-in tones sound great, and most of the rhythms do, too. I've got some other Casios as well: an MT-30 (fixed sounds) and an MT-65 (which has some envelope control), and a couple more whose model numbers I forget now.

I've got an Electro-Faustus dual oscillator unit that I used on Sandy's 'Space Madness' which is in today's 'On This Day' jukebox which is really fun to use (although not very flexible), and a Gakken SX-150, which is a lot like the Monotron, but not as easy to control and not as flexible.

My latest interest is vintage rhythm machines (the kind they used to sell for use with home organs) - I've got a few models now, but have only used the Wurlitzer on 'Think For Yourself' for Beatlesfest.

We should post some pictures and audio snippets!!