Korg Monotron Review
By Paul Dakeyne
| Posted in Music Technology
Back at the tail end of March this year, I wrote an introduction blog for the just launched Korg Monotron synth. Rounding up its feature set I’d already decided I wanted one, ‘for the craic’ if nothing else. During the months following that Easter period, anticipation for this delightfully tiny product hit an actual fever pitch and now, as it steadily infiltrates the production armory of many an electronic music maker, we at DV247 can get a closer look at what is achievable from the diminutive but sonically larger than life pocket synthesizer. Firstly though, lets refamiliarise ourselves with the Monotron’s feature set.
Measuring just 5″ wide by 3″ deep and powered solely by two AAA batteries, it certainly has a toy-like look to it but that’s really down to its dimensions and being totally made from plastic. Don’t stop reading here though because I mentioned the word ‘toy’, no Siree. It has a small built-in speaker so you can annoy small animals and children with some ear shredding filtering but you’ll glean most enjoyment/irritation (delete where applicable ) by plugging the Monotron’s headphone output into your studio monitors or PA system – and that’s where you can hear the sub frequencies this seemingly innocuous beastie can bear forth.
The Monotron synth is essentially a true analogue monophonic synthesiser (comprising simply of one VCF, one VCA and one LFO) with a filter section using the same circuitry as Korg’s evocative MS-10 and MS-20 semi modular synths of the late 1970s. This filter was more recently reborn via the wonders of component modeling technology in the manufacturer’s software ‘Legacy’ collections. Paying respect to the ethos of yet another Korg product, the Monotron adopts a ribbon surface (musical keyboard) this time from the touch screen manipulation capabilities of the popular KAOSS range. With this almost ‘stylophone’ type keyboard (in conjunction with some added knob-twiddling), a user can obtain sounds ranging from simple staccato pulses right through to vibrato and glide responses. Tweakability and fun seem the key reason d’etre of the Korg Monotron and even those with but a basic or even non-existent knowledge of synthesis will soon latch on to how the controls inter-relate from experimentation with the intuitively laid out, streamlined top panel.
Monotron’s ridiculously powerful filter can be modulated by the LFO dial with varying levels of intensity, addressing either its cutoff or pitch, This has a powerful and extensive speed sweep from low to high oscillation. The actual LFO speed is visually represented by a glowing red LED flashing in sync to the outputted signal modulation. The pitch of the selected note can also be manually adjusted in the VCO section. Uber-fun is to be had over in the Monotron’s VCF section though where cut-off frequency can be swept subtly or as aggressively as the user wants with the ‘peak’ control adding the necessary spike or ‘emphasis’ to the signal (in an almost ‘feedback’ style at extremes).
As a synth, it is probably best used for creating FX, space age wooshes or sweeps plus maybe some electronic percussive flavoured hits – even awesome sub basses. Alternatively, if you’re feeling super-talented or just downright adventurous, Monotron can be played live in one of those Rolf Harris meets Kraftwerk moments. Back in the secure environment of your studio, I’d recommend just messing around until you get something usable. Perhaps sample it or run a live audio track into your DAW and extrapolate the ‘best of’ noises and other random output from there – destination: Your sampler.
Using the Monotron’s aux input (where the inner circuitry puts the signal before the VCF stage), some ridiculously foot-tapping, ear-bending, eye squinting frequencies can be constructed when using it as a live filter on vocals, guitar, other synthesizers and most notably for DJ use to pulverise percussion loops or even a full track via a DVS set-up (see video below). Locking the LFO rate to a track’s tempo for any length of time though is extremely trick, nay borderline impossible, so be warned not to get over ambitious there! And in relation to that kind of sync locked control and then some, the only real disappointment or glaring ommission (depending on your point of view) from the tiny Monotron is any form of MIDI capability – but perhaps we’ll see that in the Monotron ‘Plus’, ‘Deluxe’, ‘Special Edition’ or whatever, should it ever surface.
So, what can we say in conclusion about the true analogue Korg Monotron synth? It’s fun, inexpensive, fits in your pocket, your Gran could use it and you can probably disperse an errant group of teenagers from hanging around the front door of your local Sainsbury’s in around ten seconds flat – it’s a winner for me!
Tags: Korg Monotron, monotron review, MS-20 Filter, new korg monotron
you could do an entire “remix” of any given track with just this little toy…!
whitecat
the best way to play is with both thumbs bent inwards
and touch with the fingernail so one can be near the top end
and one near the bottom for quicker movement between notes.
As for midi I have not tried it yet BUT it worked with
a blitronic 500. You can generate midi by using a Sonnus
G2m midi converter. Mind you given the ptich dial is microtonality guaranteed here, would you want to?
Also, on the cables issue the best thing to do is patch
them into a patchbay with a mini jack to stereo jack pair.
Samuel Cameron