Is the Korg Mono/Poly still a legendary synth in 2024?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ม.ค. 2025
- The Mono/Poly analog synthesizer appeared in 1981 at the same time as the acclaimed Polysix. Not only was it a fat-sounding four-VCO monophonic synthesizer, it featured a revolutionary design that allowed it to also be used as a four-voice polyphonic synthesizer, which helped cement its legendary status.
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This really brings back memories from when I first got introduced to synthesizers. It was 1982 and this was one of them.
Thank you!
17:48
Such a great sound 😸
Sounds good even without needing FX added
The Korg Mono/Poly is considered legendary for several reasons that set it apart from other synthesizers of its era and have kept it relevant over the years.
Four Stacked Oscillators:
The Mono/Poly offered an unusually rich sound thanks to its four stacked oscillators, allowing for great sonic versatility.
Complex Modulation:
It included an effects section that allowed for complex cross-modulation of the VCO oscillators as well as variable synchronized modulation, resulting in unique and powerful sounds.
Flexibility in Use:
Although it was criticized for not having independent VCF filters for each oscillator, its ability to combine effects and modulations made it very versatile and effective for creating personal and different sounds, with 4 simultaneous notes with chord memory and crazy arpeggiator with different modes of executing notes on the keyboard when playing, with various tricks.
The Mono/Poly's sound was successfully used by artists such as Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder, and most recently by 808-State. This speaks to its ability to produce distinctive sounds that have been appreciated throughout various eras.
In other words, in New Age, Ambient, Italo-Disco, Techno, Chicago house, NY House, Street Music, Electro Breaks, Jungle music, it was really fundamental in the 80s and 90´s.
Although in pop it was used a lot in studio work, for Reggae, Pop, Rock, Heavy Metal, Disco-Rap, Hip-Hop, Trip-Hop, French House music of the 80s and 90´s.
Legacy and Relevance.
Hard to Find:
Despite having been produced between 1981 and 1986, the Mono/Poly remains a desirable object for collectors and musicians, which has raised its value in the second-hand market.
Inspiration for New Models:
The influence of the Mono/Poly is evident in new products such as the Korg multi/poly, which takes direct inspiration from its sonic characteristics and expands them with modern technology.
In short, the Korg Mono/Poly is legendary not only for its distinctive sound and advanced technical capabilities for its time, but also for its lasting impact on electronic music and its continued inspiration for new generations of synthesizers. The Behringer Mono/Poly gives us access to an exact replica so we can do the same things with its control panel and melodic capabilities.
Love this one, imo it beats out the polysix
Fo Sho!!!
Polysix was my first synth in 1993, I always hated it, but the Mono/Poly was great, got one in 1997, should have not sold it.
I agree! The MonoPoly is the better of the two!
Nice Playing
Thank you!!! The MP really brings IT out of you.
The filter sort of reminds me of the rawness of the Prophet filter.
The Pro 2 is a bit like a much weirder version of the MonoPoly. With the Prophet filter (and the Oberheim SEM state variable design as well). Strange digital waveforms on 4 separate oscillators, and a deep step sequencer.
@@sub-jec-tiv Great contribution. Yes I agree.. Pro2 is quite the amazing synth!
Just give us a MonoPoly reissue please !
GUESS WHAT! Korg just released one (virtual analog tho) But looks nice!
It's useful, and it absolutely still sounds good. It's probably not legendary, though. Not every vintage synth gets to be that.
Absolutely one of the best synths you can get. Just avoid that playschool / happymeal remake.
uli x prison 2025
HA! That's so true.. I tried that clone-thing. It was terrible. Nothing like the real deal!
@@RolandPerez-p7i Yeah, I'm ashamed to say I've fallen for the low prices and bs youtube reviews way too many times. I've had at least 6 of them and they're always so much worse than I even expected. They almost conned me into the SH5 clone.... until I heard it. Yikes. If they were sold in a toy store and marketed to kids they would be kind of cool. I almost got one for my nephew and quickly decided to get him a Microkorg instead.
@@VincentPresleythe wasp is wicked
@@TwinCitiesOxygen Mine had issues and the fact it has such a limited range of midi notes is pretty ridiculous. I can play all my small vintage synths like the Rogue over midi over a much bigger range. Seems like a major design flaw
best mono i ever owned, it was almost modular in the way you could route things, never got it to work right till it was time to sell it, it saddens me but at the time i had no choice but to get low balled by a local Austin TX synth reseller 🖕:(
Please get your facts right. For example, the Polysix was released before any Juno.
Not correct.. Juno 6 was around with the Poly SIx and MP. But what I was referring in the video is specifically that when you walked into a pro shop back then.. from 81 through even 86, you'd see a poly six.. right next to any other poly synth of that era.. like a Juno 6, and eventually 106 and an OBXa etc etc etc...yes I am that old. I was there and that was a common selection in a pro synth shop. Least on the popular list was the MP.
@@RolandPerez-p7iYou said "meant to emulate or rival the Juno 106". But P6 was released 3 years before. The Juno 60 was meant to rival the P6, not the other way around.
My point here is that when you make educational videos, please make sure facts are not distorted.
One of the worst synths I have ever played.
When we started a synth band around 1981 we had a Prophet one, korg ms20, korg polysix, korg monopoly, Roland Juno 6, moog micromoog, Yamaha CS50, Roland tb-303, Roland tr-808, Roland cr-78, Roland csq-100 and a Logan string machine in our studio and the monopoly was the one we used the least. It sounded thin and without punch, the opposite to the best sounding synth, the pro one.
HI! It's really not for everyone and as stated it takes a different way of playing to get the most of it, like any paraphonic synth. But yes I agree the Pro One is EXCELLENT!!!
what a wonderful collection of synths!
@@russ254 Thanks Russ! All due to Zach. He has great taste in synths!
@@russ254 You should have seen what I had ten years later later, 🙂.
GREAT example of why it wasn't popular. The Mono/Poly really stands out vs. those other synths because it's a 4-oscillator monosynth with awesome mod options and paraphonic chord memory. But suburban kids with access to all that just thought it was a worse version of the Polysix. I would've spent all my waking hours clocking the Mono/Poly arp with the 808 trigger and running random other things through the MS20 signal processor. If only you had an EchoPlex or Space Echo you could've made all the Tycho sounds. But y'all probably spent all your time trying to do a Blue Monday cover with the Pro-One and complaining that you needed something better to do a Tom Sawyer patch. 😂
The Korg Mono/Poly was never legendary then and it isn't now. Stop saying it.
It was OK, pretty cheap, not many around sounded thin and was only really notable using the arppegiator bouncing between the voices.
That's how I used it. Nothing cemented it's legendary status. In fact the only way most people had even heard of it was when Behringer cloned it.