Korg Step Master: Rhythm Training Machine | Hacker News Reader

Korg Step Master: Rhythm Training Machine

korg.com

93 pointsdpflan26 comments

I am actually really impressed with Korg these days. They were among the first to push their classics into the VST/Audio Unit/AAX world. They also have pushed their electribes into iOS. Gadget, while kind of pricey is truly a unique take on computer composition and I find myself creating music that sounds entirely different than what I would create in Logic, Reason or Fl Studio.(which to some degree also affect my writing, but I think Gadget is probably the most unique workflow Ive seen).

On the Analog synthesizer front, they are IMO the leader in democratizing analog synths and creating recreations of previously unavailable synthesizers. Arp Odyssey, MS-20 reissue, ms-20 KITS! They are also creating many new and well received analogs or digital analog hybrids with the Minilog, monolog and King Korg. The volca series is also great entry level gear. Im a huge fan of what Korg is doing and I have the Odyssey desktop module. In many ways its better than searching out a nice example of an original Arp. For the most part, they've compared pretty favorably to the originals and have the benefit of USB and midi. I have been able to create a spot on recreation of Herbie Hancock's "chameleon" bassline with it.

Contrast this with Roland. They have also recently been trying to recreate their past(again) but digitally(only). From an outsiders perspective it looks like they have lost their analog expertise to attrition or retirement, as they have only released two analog synthesizers in recent times in the SE-01 boutique module and the JDxi hybrid synth. The rest of their repro gear is digitally modelled. I dont think there is anything wrong with that, and I do own some of it (TR-8 and JP-08) but my take is that they are riding on past success more than pushing the technology forward.

As for this app, it certainly isnt anything I would use or want, but I think its great they are pushing rhythm and music to a large audience. No reason to hate on them for that...

Gotta call out the DS and 3DS synthesizors they've published: http://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/korg_m01d/ In terms of just adding to the "weirdly cutting edge" vibe.

And, you know, on the one hand, they're synths running literally on toys, and on the other hand... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Dogq8g35c or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixQvm7t_F0 .

And you didn't even mention the wonderful Minilogue. Bang for the buck, one of the best analog synths out there.

I actually did but misspelled as minilog. Oops. I should have known better and it's definitely on my shopping list.

I want one, too. But I treated myself to a Microbrute lately, so the Minilogue has to wait :(

absolutely. As for Roland: It's a miracle that they still exist. They've always been incapable of understanding the market. The (now legendary) TB-303 was a complete failure at what it was actually intended to be and when its second hand prices skyrocketed because Techno happened it took Roland more than 30 years to come up with a remake.

I was planning to add in my original comment that the Roland SE-02 wasn't even built by Roland, its a studio electronics adaptation into their boutique form factor. That said, its a pretty cool little piece of gear that can definitely give you the Minimoog-ish sound its shooting for and a bit more. I wouldn't say its a perfect minimoog clone though, but its a great little piece of gear.

Funny think about the TB-303. I found one in a pawn shop while I was in college in College Station. They had a TR-606/TB-303 for 60 dollars. I was just beginning to get into my gear head phase and remember reading on one of the early internet music sites what an important piece of gear it was. Thinking its too good to be true, I took an extra 386 PC I had laying around and offered it in trade(I was broke and didnt have 60 bucks). They accepted, and I took home these 2 boxes. This was around 1997 I believe. Wish I'd have kept them, but I ended up profiting pretty nicely from them.

That's a nice story re the 303 ;)

The SE-02 is all right but let's see what happens when Behringer introduces its Moog clone for $300! http://www.factmag.com/2017/06/28/behringer-d-synth-pre-orde...

Another industry where software (and to a lesser extent 'piracy') allowed people to utilize a great product being neglected by the original creator who is stuck in the past.

The 303 sound was first emulated in 1996 and later by plenty of soft synths. By the time Roland re released it was mostly a novelty to have an original machine.

It reminds me of Nintendo's failure to capitalize on ROMs and the persistent popularity of both NES and SNES for two decades ...and when they finally did they still managed to mess it up.

Are you talking about Gadget for iOS or desktop?

I am using the desktop version. It could just be me but I generally find I cant do much more than sound design or a few pattern "blurb" of a song on any iOS devices or tablets. I like a proper keyboard to bang notes into.

Seconded - they've been killing it.

However, a big part of it was due to their lead engineer Tetsuya Takahashi - a true creative genius - who just left. It remains to be seen how good their product line can remain without him because he really was a unique hybrid engineer/product designer.

According to this[1], he is staying on as an advisory of the now "excellent" team. I do not doubt that korg has more than just him to hold responsible for their gear, but sometimes the charisma of someone can inspire... Hopefully he can still inspire from Cologne now...

1-http://www.factmag.com/2017/02/17/tatsuya-takahashi-leaving-...

> The volca series is also great entry level gear

Entry level but also unique! I recently got a Volca FM and I absolutely love it. The alternatives were either vintage or insanely expensive. This was cheap enough for an impulse buy.

I actually downloaded this once out of curiosity but couldn't figure out how to use it. By that I mean it was neither intuitive, nor fun.

From my experience the big benefit of doing dance classes is that the instructor can physically move with you in the right way and grab your arms or body and hold them into position if needed.

The second best way of learning is from a video which includes a lot of explanations. Almost all videos explain the moves, but it's very important to know how to tense your body where to put your weight, how to shift your weight, etc. e.g: if you're dancing with a partner and you're not keeping your arms rigid then you can't lead properly, because she won't be able to figure out what you want to do. This is almost completely invisible when looking at dancers, so it needs to be explained.

Regarding partnerwork, rigidity depends on the dance. The frame in cross-body salsa is ideally very relaxed (except for moments of muscle engagement to allow certain moves)

What the? I think Korg needs to get Tatsuya [1] back on board...

[1] http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2017/02/16/synth-guru-tats...

Korg is nowadays a top iOS music app producer, with hits like Gadget, iMS-20, iElectribe, etc. They also have Gadget running on the Mac and it costs more than Logic.

> it costs more than Logic.

Are you talking about Logic DAW software? If so, that's pretty impressive, ballsy even.

Yes, that's about $200 nowadays, Gadget costs $299 (I think they reduced it).

It definitely has fewer features compared to Logic, but it's also significantly easier to make a song with it. Since it got started on the iPad, the UI is simpler and cleaner compared to a traditional DAW.

It's also packing quite a few synths, such as Korg M1, Wavestation and ARP Odyssey, all of them useable as plugins.

He was the lead engineer of the analog synthesizers department; I doubt he would have had much say in this even if he was there.

Now if only it had a Pavlok[1] integration, it could punish you for failing to keep the beat.

1: https://pavlok.com/

For the task at hand, I do wonder how it compares (and whether it does) with the likes of llsif, deresute or mirishita.

From the title, I was hoping it was some sort of cool step sequencer that would somehow help with rhythm training.

How wrong I was.

I honestly thought this was a joke. The dancing model in the videos helps perpetuate this fallacy.

Great! one more thing to avoid leaving the house

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