KORG phase8 – Acoustic Synthesizer
korg.com
korg.com
at 6:20 he's showing how placing different objects on the resonators changes their tone.
I want this so bad.
"Have you ever thought re-patching your modular synth was too easy? Here, now your drum machine can be even harder to recreate the sound you liked last week!"
A joke, but was immediately what jumped out as scary. Not gonna lie, looks like a fun machine, but for that money, I tend to buy stuff I can use and recall old patches with. Although except for the modular obviously :/
Then next week I'm gonna have zero ideas about how to recreate it again :P Already suffering with this with the modular synth, and those are just cables in specific holes.
Your take is obviously a valid one though. I just find it infinitely interesting how there can be so many valid viewpoints about something like this.
As a counter curse I recommend strudel.cc back at you :)
Like you, many people along the years been telling me that I'll love modular synths, and I should try it out VCVRack to get a taste. So I did, maybe once or twice a year. It never felt fun for me, even one bit. Never sure why.
Then at some point I borrow my friend's modular setup as he was going to play in places where he couldn't bring it, and I finally understood what's so fun about it. The hardware is what makes it fun and relaxing for me, not the concepts themselves, and seemingly for me, they don't translate into the digital realm.
I guess the point is: I'm kind of similar to you and I couldn't get into VCVRack but actual real modular synths are fun as hell. Maybe it's the same for you, so don't lose hope if VCVRack ends up not feeling fun :)
Strudel is very cool. Possibilities are endless with music tools
Professionals are usually good at doing both.
I'm sure I'd have a good time playing with it for an afternoon and come up with some sounds I like. And, in principle, I'm all for more ways to create music existing - especially ones which are interactive and tactile. But the reality is, if I bought this device it would end up spending most of its time in the basement graveyard with all the other cool tools that are too narrow, too big, too hard to interface, store/recall patches, etc.
I decided several years ago to refocus on a stack that's purely microphone (or other a/d converted input) + MIDI controllers to a DAW driving infinite layers of internal real-time digital synthesis, analog modeling and effects plug-ins. There are fabulously expressive MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) controllers now which can capture every nuance of input my hands, feet and breath could ever provide. As you highlighted, the feeling that creating in a digital audio workstation is "too easy" or maybe somehow 'soulless' - is all in my head. That lurking suspicion analog circuitry or electro-mechanical waveforms are more authentic or pure is just magical thinking.
Always believing that the next new box's cool-looking tactile input, novel interaction model or unique set of opinionated constraints will unleash my creativity - is just getting in the way of actually sitting down and making myself create with all the insanely powerful, wildly creative, infinitely flexible, hyper-productive digital tools I already have. Being able to save and recall entire racks worth of patching at the press of a button isn't soulless or limiting - unless I let it be. Feeling like I need just-one-more new device to inspire me with its defaults or constrain me with its limits - is the limiting constraint I finally realized was holding me back.
That's true in so many fields.
But as you say, no right or wrong, we all do things under different circumstances and contexts, and what works for someone is wrong for another, and all that :)
Of course, that's what really matters most. I do appreciate that the infinite possibilities, permutations and even extreme convenience all-in-one digital integration provides can become a downside. It really depends on personal style, preferences and goals.
Confronted by all that boundless possibility, I have sometimes found myself freezing up with 'possibility agoraphobia' or just rat-holing into the tweak-cycling you describe. Ultimately, I figured out I have to enforce some discipline on myself - which felt a bit odd since I'm strictly doing this for fun. My realization was that the needed discipline can either be embedded in the tools or style I choose or I can choose to enforce it on myself - which is its own burden. Every approach has its benefits and costs. No free lunch :-).
In a broad sense, I suspect any of the different approaches (all acoustic, analog, digital or some hybrid) represent sweet-spots that balance latitude and constraints in different ways. All that truly matters is finding one that meets us where we are in the moment and feeds our soul.
While the feature is useful, in some senses it's not terribly important to have a sound be exact, because you're giving a performance to the circumstance. Acoustic instruments react to temperature and humidity and all of that - it worked fine for thousands of years of music.
I thought you were going to say the Korg Legacy Collection was the "other end". https://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_collection/le...
It's basically every synth Korg ever made up to around 2005 (about 20 in all) as software plug-ins capable of playing the original presets and patches. It even includes all the presets and optional patch library cards and expansions Korg ever offered for each (often worth more than the synth itself).
Some of the greatest albums of all time (and several of my personal favorites) were primarily made with these. And they take zero space, need no maintenance and patch instantly into all my other gear with no ground loops, sampling hiss or MIDI timing issues.
I had an OASYS PCI and synthkit 20 years ago that had incredible physical modeling.
Maybe because I can picture what this would sound like with those OASYS models that it is not impressive at all.
I do always appreciate how daring korg can be though.
Be interested to see how long it takes before Florian gets his hands on one to review for Bad Gear though.
Maybe Venus Theory can run it through its paces as well.
Motor Synth: https://gamechangeraudio.com/motor-synth/
Agreed the Phase8 is a neat synth. Basically like a Rhodes and a EBow had a baby.
Has that not always been the appeal.
without the heavy crushing effects
Another "physical modeling synthesizer" which I've been looking at for the last few weeks (https://www.ericasynths.lv/steampipe-3153/) goes for €990, which is more or less the same as the phase8, when you consider the currency difference.
Edit: Actually, seems phase8 will be slightly cheaper, my local (Spain) shops seems to sell it for around €950.
https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/1j7hgoo/makin...
Erica synths makes really solid hardware too.
The Volca Drum being used is excellent at making all kinds or resonant, spriny noises with its wave guide effects if that's what you're looking for. It's a very distinct, unique sounding little box.
Volcas in general are an affordable way to get started with electronic music making. Cheap enough and easy enough to sell if you change your mind.
(I still really want a Phase 8 though :P )
I might buy this, not really my interest these days but it really looks like great fun.
[1] https://barthopkin.com/experimental-musical-instruments-back...
EDIT: Saw that it’s pretty much a fixed-key device, which makes it much less appealing. Still pretty damn cool, though.
I have at least one guitar that I rarely play but I keep because I consider it a work of art and a collectible. But, I have others which are workhorses and I play daily.
It gets awkward when collecting is presented as a way to be a better musician, which is clearly false.
I don't have a problem with collecting, but I'd love for the distinction to be more upfront.
It's kind of easy to detect though. I usually read three/four paragraphs before I realize that the person reviewing doesn't actually make music and doesn't consider the music making parts of the hardware, and instead focuses on very generic stuff that basically the manufacturer handed to them and said "make sure this is included".
Almost all of them own instruments and gear they'll touch once and never do anything meaningful with ever again. Then it becomes a fixture on their walls or den.
It all seems wasteful.
But still, by rich people standards, it seems cheaper than other things like buying a huge boat.
I have a friend who seemingly collects mechanical keyboards. He keeps saying he needs them for various purposes, but always seems to be using the latest one, then the old ones go up on a shelf and sit there.
Another friend is obsessed with football, so he has a bunch of shoes, also "depending on the grass/ground" yet keeps using 1 or 2 the most, the others seems to in some cases be "collectors items" and never gets used.
Another friend is a avid golfer, literally has a wall in the garage with clubs, but seems to mostly stick with the clubs they have in their go-to bag.
I'm sure I could come up with more examples, it just seems pervasive among all people who can spend money on their hobbies.
I think it comes down to the fact that it is fun collecting gear and a lot easier than actually making music. Making music is really hard.
I also don't think it even cost me $2k when it was all said and done with all the gear I bought. So much of the gear held its value and one piece of gear I had I sold for 3x what I bought it for so that paid for so much depreciation on gear that didn't hold its value.
Some gear heads I know have money to burn but others just have their savings in gear instead of a savings account at the bank.
It reminds me of systems in the "Sustainiac" family for generating unlimited sustain in an electric guitar, at any volume. There is a powered circuit which drives feedback into the string through a coil ("reverse pickup"). Typically the reverse pickup is in the neck position. So effectively the vibrating string becomes part of an oscillator circuit.
We can imagine a harp like instrument (or koto) with multiple steel strings, oscillating under a Sustainiac-like pickup feeedback system, and used as the basis for synthesis.
It looks as if the reeds in the Korg instrument might work similarly.
This video is nice because it talks about the feel of the Sustainiac: how it "kicks in" and you feel the vibration swell just when you fret a note with your left hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbdvkIua8o
This one does a good job of demoing the three way harmonic switch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZwPPGsxY6g
You can sustain the fundamental, or have it go to the octave harmonic, or even a higher harmonic above that.
https://gamechangeraudio.com/light-pedal
there is also their 'motor pedal' which uses a spinning motor similar to one that would be found in a drone, and then a laser again or something optical to pick up the movement and turn it into a digital signal.
they actually have a synth that uses 8 of these motors to generate the sounds/voices
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonewheel
Speaking of spring reverbs: you can use a cheap piezo transducer mounted on the tremolo springs of an electric guitar as a passive reverb. Waylon MacPherson demonstrates this in his YT channel: it actually sounds good!
That's sick,and I want it. I also want a zither-style stringed version and one with bells
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Nts1Mk2--korg-nutekt...
For us to build and play with, and we have a ball with it. This phase8 would be a ton of fun as well.
But how are the resonators getting 'plucked'? Is it the same electromagnet as the pickup or a separate one? I can't imagine those two modes would work well. (i.e. dumping current across the coil would make the magnet want to escape)
Perhaps there's a field coil instead of a permanent magnet?
EDIT - forgot about the ebow
I think it looks cool and fun. Wish my workflow and time could accommodate it right now but they can’t. I’m really curious to hear what people who spend time with it are able to do.
In principle, Korg Berlin looks like a great model for satellite incubator within an established organization. Would absolutely love to work there.
I also imagine that it's the olive branch that brought Takahashi back to the company after he left. He brought Korg back from the dead and they were probably and rightfully desperate to find a way to retain their top performer.
I expect this will turn into a small range of variations with strings, tubes, and so on.
But it's also part of a cultural trend moving back from do-it-all software products to tactile collectibles with a simple, legible purpose. Vinyl started that, and I think this is a kind of musical take on the idea that something mechanical has more presence and authority than software.
Sonically I don't think that's true at all, but it's a comprehensible marketing pitch.
This + an Ekdahl Moisturizer would be an interesting pairing.
The similarity in timbre isn't coincidental though -- FM is noted for its ability to emulate complex timbres like bells/metallic tones (such as electric pianos) that are challenging for more traditional subtractive synthesis architectures.
I know because I totally failed to get tickets to see them at the Royal Albert Hall in June[1].
https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2026/kraftwer...
Other people have made electronic music too since 1975.
> Beyond adjusting parameters, phase8 invites physical interaction. Sculpt sound by touching, plucking, strumming, or tapping the resonators – or experiment by adding found objects for new textures.
Like prepared piano.
Sounds pretty meh listening to the synth itself in any demos I've seen so far.
Still an awesome product and piece of tech art.
Myself, I can't imagine buying this synth for anything other than putting on a shelf to look at and talk about.