Synthesizer & Vocoder
Reviews : Keyboard
The hugely popular Microkorg — the world’s
best-selling synth for the past few years, according to its makers — has
gained what Korg describe as a ‘big brother’. Will it repeat the
success of its sibling?
The latest keyboard
from Korg is a fine example of a mysterious Eastern art-form known as
“extracting maximum return from R&D”. With keen Japanese ingenuity, a
generous portion of the R3, Korg’s vocoder-equipped, portable synth
derived from the powerful Radias ‘module plus keyboard’ package, has
been shoe-horned into petite, Microkorg dimensions. The resulting
Microkorg XL, with its minimal, retro style resembles a scaled-down
model of a classic electric piano — but its sound engine is firmly
rooted in the tradition of the Radias. (See www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep07/articles/korgr3.htm and www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr06/articles/korgradias.htm for more on the Radias and the R3).
Externals
Weighing
in at a mere 2kg, this is a keyboard to secure firmly when playing
outdoors. If the goal was to make the smallest self-contained synth
around, Korg have planted one firmly in the net. An external PSU is
provided, but the XL can run quite happily from six AA batteries,
further boosting its ‘take me out’ credentials. However, be careful when
tossing it into your rucksack. I’m not confident the knobs — especially
those big, wobbly ones for Genre and Category selection — would long
endure rough treatment. Generally, I felt the moulded black-plastic
body looked more classy on the screen or page than it does up close.
With
any instrument of this size, producing a playable keyboard is going to
be a challenge, and I was intrigued to see how the new ‘Natural
Touch’ version performed. Its 37 miniature keys are chunky and square,
with the black notes squeezed in slightly, donating a fraction of the
available width to their white brethren. The keyboard action is very
light — far lighter than the mini keys of my Yamaha CS01 synth, for
example. But if you can adapt to this, you have three full octaves in a
package just 55cm long. A sprung octave transpose switch further
expands the range.
In common with the earlier
Microkorg, there are no pedal inputs of any kind. OK, so you’re unlikely
to attempt Grieg’s Piano Concerto on this keyboard, but a sustain
pedal is valuable for so many other purposes, not least when combined
with an arpeggiator. The remaining connections are pretty much as you’d
expect, with all audio handled via quarter-inch jacks (that’s a stereo
output pair, a headphone socket and an external input). Adjacent to the
input is a switch to determine whether it or the included XLR mic will
be the external source used. A USB socket is your means of direct
computer interfacing (about which more later) and MIDI is catered for by
just two sockets: Thru has been omitted.
Down To Business
The original Microkorg’s geeky panel text and cryptic
characters have been superseded by the XL’s moody amber display.
Commonly-used parameters are accessed via a simple matrix in which a
six-way switch lines up a row of options for tweaking via three small
knobs. The top row is for user-assignable functions. In the factory
patches, these are typically to sweep filter cutoff, adjust filter
envelope amount, or maybe boost an effect parameter, but there’s a
wide array of choices available. The second row is dedicated to key
filter parameters and a row for the amplitude envelope is next,
followed by another for effects. The penultimate row contains three of
the most commonly-used arpeggiator functions: type, latch and gate time.
If you’re thinking that this sounds
simplistic, the sixth row takes a bellyflop into the deep end. Labelled
‘Full Edit’, this opens up every page, parameter and value. If you’re
already a dab hand at keyhole surgery you’ll feel right at home, but
for us lesser mortals there are a heck of a lot of options to plough
through, including a multitude of synthesis pages, complete with virtual
patch cords, arpeggiation, effects and EQ. It doesn’t end there either,
because Full Edit is also the window to the MIDI and Global setup
pages, utilities, controller remapping and more.
Ploughing
through all of this with the XL’s small and not-terribly-precise knobs
can severely test your patience. Fortunately, the Exit/Shift button,
combined with the Octave transpose switch, generates single-value
increments or decrements. This is loads of help and even though it
doesn’t transform editing into a wholly joyful experience, it does give
you the tools to get the job done. For live performance, the knobs
have a ‘Catch’ mode, avoiding sudden jumps in value that would otherwise
occur when you mess with a stored patch. I’m not sure how much messing
the no-frills interface invites, though. Indeed, with space at a
premium, a tempo knob for the arpeggiator felt less justifiable than,
say, a button for arpeggiator latch.
Synthesis
The
rear panel features a 9V power port and on/off switch, USB port, MIDI
In and Out. The audio I/O is all on quarter-inch sockets and includes an
audio input with attendant level control knob, stereo audio outputs and
a headphone out.
Since the Microkorg XL’s closest relative is the Korg
R3, it is with the R3 that I will draw the most comparisons.
Architecturally, they are quite similar. Both feature eight voices of
Radias-sourced synthesis driven by MMT (Multiple Modelling Technology)
that can generate analogue, formant, VPM (Variable Phrase Modulation) or
digital waves, as well as processing external audio. Patches consist of
either one or two timbres, which may be layered (in which case the
polyphony is halved) or divided into two separate keyboard zones.
Alternatively, a patch can operate as a bi-timbral sound source via
separate MIDI channels. This adds up to a very capable sound engine,
and it’s probably a good idea to refer back to September 2007’s R3
review (see link at start of this review) for a full refresher. The
physical differences between the two synths are evident, leaving us free
to summarise the Microkorg XL in terms of its losses and, in some
cases, gains.
As per the R3, two oscillators
are processed via two filters, one being smoothly variable between low-,
high- and band-pass modes. Korg’s filters sound silky smooth and can be
configured for serial, parallel or individual oscillator processing. In
common with the Radias and R3, oscillator one is the more feature-rich
and contains the XL’s most significant addition: a new combined
PCM/DWGS wave generator. The waves on offer include, amongst others, a
sampled acoustic piano. I found it slightly weird to play piano via the
diddy keys, but when rigged up to a larger keyboard, the piano, short
and clunky though its samples are, cut through rather well. Other waves
include strings, organ, guitar, electric piano and brass — a collection
designed to give the XL considerable scope.
Modulation
sources and routing follow the familiar path that Korg have trodden for
some years. There are two LFOs and three envelopes, with a six-way
modulation bus to govern how they hang together. For overdrive
simulation, the adding of sub-octaves, decimation, and so on,
Drive/Waveshaper continues to be a superb tool. Should you wish to
waddle into the realm of the morbidly obese, Unison mode stacks and
detunes up to four voices, rattling speakers and disturbing pacemakers
in a way that seems somehow totally uncharacteristic of a keyboard
this size.
Not every R3 delight has made it
onboard unscathed. Sadly numbered amongst the missing are its modulation
sequencer, comb filter and formant motion. Formant motion is a cool
way to capture audio input and store its imprint for later use, while
the R3’s modulation sequencer can really energise pads and arpeggios.
The effects section has taken a bit of a battering, too — but we’ll
come to that later. Before then, a final item of good news: the XL
gains a selection of nine alternate scales, including one User Scale.
These are ideal for those who like to stray away from the Western,
well-tempered path.
Sounds
The
Microkorg XL’s main panel. As you can see, the position of the knobs is
hard to discern from above — though it’s nothing a dab of paint won’t
fix...
It’s hard to imagine any user, new or old, getting
lost on the Microkorg XL. There are 128 patches on board, selected by
two large knobs: Program Genre and Category. These offer eight genres,
including House/Disco, Jazz/Fusion, Drum & Bass/Breaks and Favorite
(sic), while eight categories encompass Lead, Bass, Vocoder and so on.
For the full range of patches, a bank A/B switch performs the necessary multiplication.
Looking directly downwards,
it’s not always clear where the knobs are pointing to — but I guess a
felt tip or dot of paint would soon put that right. I share Paul Ward’s
reservations about the usefulness of fixed genres and categories (as
expressed in the review of the original Microkorg, www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jan03/articles/microkorg.asp) but, as before, you are free to store any type of patch into any location.
I
felt that 128 patches wasn’t wildly generous by today’s standards. If
hardware synths are to retain their desirability, they surely can’t
afford to be complacent in this area. Fortunately, the patches chosen
are a good representation of what the XL is capable of. Expect to
encounter deep and throaty basses, howling, trashy leads, parpy brass
and smooth, mellow pads. And no Korg in recent years could be unleashed
without ear-catching dance-oriented synths and cunningly programmed
arpeggios. Bundle in a plethora of fine vocoders, organs and pianos
(you won’t find an acoustic piano in the R3 — or even the Radias!) and I
doubt anyone will find the Microkorg XL sonically underpowered.
Effects
The
Microkorg XL has a two-band equaliser plus two master effects, each
with up to 17 different Kaoss-pad derived algorithms. This is one area
where the XL feels like the R3’s poorer relation, especially when you
realise it doesn’t possess a reverb! Warm and airy reverberation has
been a Korg trademark for so long it’s practically ubiquitous.
The
effects include a variety of delays (including a decent tape-delay
simulation), which can be coaxed into delivering some impressions of
boingy reverb. Putting aside my reverb gripes, though, other effects
you’d typically expect are present and serviceable. Alongside the
phaser, flanger, distortion, filter and decimator, you’ll encounter old
friends such as ring modulation and Grainshifter. The latter isn’t some
large, hungry bovine creature, it’s a short sample and loop processor
that’s ideal for when you’ve invited Dr Weird to tea.
Naturally, MIDI clock sync is implemented throughout, whether for delay time or within the various modulation effects.
Conclusion
I’ve
long been a fan of Korg gear; the ESX1 Electribe and Radias are
amongst my ‘desert island’ essentials, so I was surprised not to feel
more love for the Microkorg XL. I think this was mostly due to the
build quality and a keyboard action that never quite reconciled with an
MSRP in excess of $700.
I suppose the XL is small enough to be viewed as a desktop module
that just happens to have a basic keyboard attached — for jamming
around the house and programming — but personally, I’d consider
stretching a little further for an R3 instead. However, if size and
battery operability are deciding factors, the XL becomes much more
attractive.
In the end, simplicity and
portability are what it’s all about; the fact that the Microkorg XL also
sounds rather good might see it matching the popularity of the previous
Microkorg — who can tell? The vocoder is a major plus, and with a
useable microphone included, you’re ready to produce highly intelligible
or seriously twisted results right out of the box.
At
times I found it genuinely perplexing that such a wide range of
quality tones could be spurted from a keyboard this small and light. So
even if, at the current price, the Microkorg XL doesn’t tick all the
boxes, it’s definitely more of a synth than it appears.
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