In 1988 a midi sequencer alone could set you back $400-1000. Computer based sequencing cost even more. The Korg M1 included a fairly decent sequencer in box. The realistic 16-bit sounds (plus the workstation factor) made it an extremely attractive option.
I think you really missed the mark on this one Zach. The M1 is the best selling professional synthesizer keyboard for very good reasons.The point of the M1 wasn't to replace all the classic analog synthesizers, though it can replicate some of those sounds.Before the Korg M1, there were very few portable synthesizers that could replicate real instrument sounds. The Kurzweil K250 kind of started that trend, but it was not very portable to a gigging musician like say, the Yamaha DX7, and the K250 had cost more than $10,000. What most bands needed was a "half way decent" acoustic piano sound. This alone at the time was not too readily available and professional bands turned to the Yamaha CP-70 or 80, which were bulky and expensive.The M1 piano sound unlike most prior synthesizers was usable enough that most bands didn't need to turn to the CP-70 or some bulky instrument. The piano still wasn't great compared to what came only a short time later when memory prices came way down, and synths finally had enough memory for decent grand piano sounds with long sustains. But the piano was just one of many fantastic instrument sounds the M1 could replicate. My M1 can still make some of the best sax sounds of any keyboard out there. Strings & orchestral sounds were great. Solo violin & flute (flute from Plus One expansion board). The stock factory choir patch is still one of the best ones available. There are all kinds of great pads and atmospheric sounds. The M1 could make great bells, drums and again, mimic a wide variety of real instrument sounds for 1988. The built in effects that could be programmed with the sounds was great for the time. Many of the best M1 sounds still have not been outdone by the Kronos or Montage. The number one thing about the M1 was the great sound collections available for it from both 3rd parties and Korg, and hardware expansion accessories too. The M1 stayed relevant for many years. Only the piano fell behind when the next generation could make a better "grand" piano sound with good sustain, but the M1 still excelled in other areas during that time.The M1 was a hit for both studio professionals, and affordable enough and portable enough that it was ideal for the numerous weekend warriors like me that plays clubs and bars. The next closest thing in 1988, the K250, was too large, bulky and expensive for that. The DX7 could not make a usable piano sound. The M1's 16 bit samples were much more realistic than say, the affordable & portable Ensoniq Mirage. For more than 25 years, the M1 was my main keyboard in my rig. The Invision Plus One board installed in both of my M1's breathed new life into them in 1993 adding one of the best electric guitar sounds I've heard out of a synth yet, a couple great B3 sounds with real-time Leslie that could be assigned via foot pedal I used extensively with my rock bands, and many other sounds. I felt with new synths from Korg and others, I'd "give up more than I'd gain" by so called "upgrading". The M1 platform has so many great sound collections to choose from, you can find all sorts of useful sounds. But no, the M1 was not so much about creating your own sounds from scratch like an analog synth, no was it meant to replace that. Ideally, most keyboard players with pair the M1 with other synths. I used Casio CZ's for many of my analog synth patches & a Roland module. Also a Yamaha FM sound module for FM sounds. Still, I was surprise the M1 could make some analog synth patches that were decent, including lead sounds I used. In the past 2 years I've switched to the Yamaha Montage engine as my main sound engine (in the form of the light weight MODX). I gig with a MIDI controller with aftertouch and many sliders & knobs, and my M1 now lives in the software VST format and sounds great, along with tons of other classic synths from Moogs, Oberheims, ARP's, Rolands, Hammond, etc.I still use M1 sounds all the time, and don't believe a Kronos or Montage could really replace many of the sounds I use, but the VST on my laptop can. You would think today's romplers would be far superior to the M1 in every way, but it isn't true. Even those from Korg. I think Korg made a huge mistake not including an M1 engine in their Kronos that could load numerous great sound collections.
@@Talia.777 Sound programming is what makes a lot of synths. One band offered to kick out their keyboardist who had a Kronos because they liked my sounds better. The Kronos can not import M1 patches and a lot of great ones existed. It's not all about just the hardware, but more the software. The same for computers. Most people don't write their own. Better hardware exists every year.
@@n8goulet Yeah, agreed... One can create sounds and playing the way that no one would find out it is from a 30 year old synth. But you're saying very professional sound makers on kronos can't create a M1 sound at all?! 🤔 That's weird ....but since your using M1 for a long time, I take your words for it 😊👍 I myself have Yamaha Tyros 5 + Arturia essential MK2 midi keyboard + FANTOM G7... I've had many Synths and Arrangers... What I mean is that I'm very familiar with this matter.... But again I agree with what you said... YANNI went from having 4 to 5 korg M1 to all Triton and then all korg krome...😅😁
@@Talia.777 In a way the closest rival to the Korg M1 regarding specifications was the Yamaha SY55. My friend had the former and I the latter. The SY had the better synth engine and sequencer, and some sounds were more realistic etc. However the M1 was FAR more successful and had certain patch sounds that most people wanted at the time. The M1 also got there first with the affordable workstation concept a year earlier.
"I think you really missed the mark on this one Zach." Colossal understatement right here. "Only the piano fell behind when the next generation could make a better "grand" piano sound with good sustain, but the M1 still excelled in other areas during that time" And this was relatively easily corrected because you could both tweak existing presets to create your own or create entirely new ones from scratch, right on the console, or else import new sound fonts via memory cards, else use it as a head unit for MIDI control and employ external sound fonts through other synths. Zach doesn't know what he's talking about on the M1 and it's clear that his bias is getting in the way of real objectivity.
I paid $3000 for the M1 when I was 20 years old in 1989. Still to this day I consider it the best instrument purchase I ever did in my entire life. I started playing synths when I was about 15 or 16 years old, but with the M1 for the first time in my life I could actually create entire songs since it was multitimbral. The sounds were also like nothing I had ever experienced before. The M one started me on the journey of creating full music compositions, hence it will always have a special place in my heart for that reason. Would I buy one now? No, I’ll just stick with the good memories. :)
Korg M1 original price was US$ 2,166.00, which was likely the actual "street" price because Korg didn't publish official suggested retail prices/MSRP at the time and because the M1 was in high demand upon release and for a significant time thereafter so discounting was less common.
@@ShallRemainUnknown The price that every music store in Los Angeles that I had checked was selling them for $2799, but I had to pay $2999 for that particular music store that I bought it from to let me pay half upfront and the rest in 30 days.
@@seanchristophersynthesizer6999 Supply/demand could drive prices up (grey-market import DX7s were an issue for Yamaha in the beginning) and you could have been taken advantage of, but fact remains that Keyboard magazine (USA) listed $2166 as price in its original review, and main competition D-50 MSRP $1899, SY77 MSRP $2999 (1989, including entire heavily enhanced DX7II 6-op FM engine plus entire PCM engine + $300-400 floppy drive +largest available LCD, etc.), Kawai K4 MSRP $1,445 (1989, 32-oscillator vs M1's 16), and Korg own 1989 M1-enhanced+compatible T3 MSRP ~$2,799 (2x ROM @ 8MB + 1MB sample RAM + $300-400 floppy drive + large LCD). Make of that what you will.
The DX7 and the D50 did everything(and more actually) than the M1 did, there's nothing really special about the M1 per se, you just feel that way because it's the first synthesizer that you came across that allowed you to do those things, had you come across any other synthesizer that allowed that then that would've been the best instrument to you
Got this in my high school, and after 30+ years I still enjoy designing interesting sounds out of its PCM and digitalized analog waveforms. Granted it's no true Analog or FM synth, but lots of time you can get close if you are good. Compared to D50, M1's acoustic instrument are more realistic, has more transient sounds(or you can isolate out the attack of PCM), which then can be combined with DWGS or PCM loop to create 'synth acoustic' sounds that can only be synthesized by 8-operator FM. It takes a creative mind(certainly not preset player) to fully explore M1's potential !
I agree. The M1 is a very powerful synthesizer, indeed. By the way, analog synthesizers are also capable of doing FM synthesis. I think you mean subtractive or FM synths, not "Analog or FM synths".
I spent hours programming my T3EX and got a stack load of great original sounds out of it, particularly big pads. The extra 4mb PCM Rom above what the M1 offered including improved acoustic waves and extra wave sweeps added a lot of sonic power to what the M1 already offered. These included improved acoustic pianos and very useful soft and hard EPs as well as extra sax, drums, a great second slap bass, clarinet that was missing on the M1 and some decent extra string ensemble and pad waves including a nice vocoder multisound. The T3 combis were outstanding and even stand up nicely today over 30 years later! The 2 biggest limitations of the M and T architecture were the grainy sounding non resonant low pass filters and the limited 16 notes of polyphony. The 01W improved the polyphony by doubling it to 32 notes but Korg didn't include multiband resonant filters in their digital synths up until they released their Prophecy and Trinity in 1995.
I think was a harsh review, I have the m1r in the studio and I'm very happy with it, it has its uses but I can see now from this video how any synth can be made to sound bad intentionally
The synth and pad sounds are still killer. This paved the way for the korgs we love today. I ordered an x5d based off the M1. I don’t really do the flagship boards cause of size so I always tend to go for the Swiss Army knives instead. X5d, x50, m50, krome ex, kross, micro x. All are just as powerful as the flagship versions
You weren't there, dude. No offense intended, but you literally don't know what you're talking about. You're very obviously letting your experiences get in the way of your objectivity. First off, it's a synth, so you can change and modify the preset sounds. Sort of the whole point of a synth, yeah? So if you don't like the presets, you can create something you do. The M1 was the most popular synth because it was a workhorse unit that could do EVERYTHING. It had many of the features of both the DX7 and the D50 but also added many of its own features. It was an extremely powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use unit that was - most importantly - compact and portable. It's only Achilles heel is that it isn't a true FM synth. That aside, the M1 was the FIRST portable synth to offer realistic analog instrument sounds. No one did that before them. Not Roland, not Yamaha, not Kawaii, not Behringer, not Moog, and not Modal. No one, except Kurzweil, was even trying. Before the M1 came along, if you wanted analog instrument sounds you needed analog instruments and the musicians that came with them. You wanted realistic strings? You needed violinists. Realistic saxophone? Real saxophone and player. Realistic drums? Real drums and drummer. The M1 changed that, almost literally overnight. Now, instead of having/paying for additional musicians and studio time musicians and producers could just hook up an M1 and have passably realistic strings, horns, woodwinds, and percussion. Compare the M1's analog presets to the D50s strings and horns; the D50 sounds horrible in comparison. Ditto woodwinds. And drums? JFK, synth drums were simply AWFUL until the M1 came along. Before the M1 you could very easily tell when synth drums were used and when real drums were. And this is saying NOTHING about the DX7, which abandoned realistic analog instrument sounds entirely. We had a DX7 at our high school and it was terrible - IDK why our music director bought it because it was known for electronic music, not analog, and we ha no other electronic instruments in the band. It went literally untouched for all 5 years I was in band. On top of that, the M1 had a built-in sequencer. The D50 didn't, neither did the DX7. Original M1s are still hailed as useful, powerful instruments today. Back then the M1 was a godsend for professional musicians as it raised the bar for synths and what was expected from them. It was compact, powerful, flexible, easy-to-use, and had everything an aspiring or professional musician could possibly want from a synth (at the time). And it sounded great, especially when comparing it to its main rivals, the DX7 and the D50. I was exposed to all three of those instruments when they emerged. The D50 is hard to use, and sounds obviously like a synth. the DX7 even moreso. The DX7 also feels cheap. The build quality is meh, the plastics used are...well...*plastic* (Korg and Roland used aluminum for their shells). The keys on the D50 and Dx7 both feel mushy. The M1's keyboard is lovely to play and responds ver much like a real piano. JFC, you might as well shit talk Henry Ford, saying "Really, the invention of the production line is overrated." It's the most popular synth ever because it was the best synth ever released to that point, and it changed the entire industry. That's why. The M1 is one of the best instruments ever made in the history of musical instrument making, full stop. Oh, and in case anyone might think that I'm expressing my bias: no, I'm not; I don't own or play synths, nor have ever. I'm an analog musician, guitars, bass, piano, voice.
Keep in mind back in the day there were 256K and 512K memory limits to make these affordable and these synths use assembly language to get all the code to fit. To save space samples were made at 38 instead off 44-48 kHz which gives these a unique sound. These were instant on devices as well with very little processing power. The fact that so many still work are a testament to the quality of components that KORG used. Today its all junk made to last five years and no one has the skill to code in assembly.
Why? In the Pyramind Video recap pt 1 Dave Smith said ever since 1987 all Yamaha, Korg, and Roland did are basically building M1s. That tells you the place of M1 in the history of synth by the legend himself.
The default patches were certainly overused, but you could create some interesting stuff if you were prepared to spend time editing. And the expansion ROM cards added even more interesting samples.
Why You record demo in MONO??? 2021 outside the window ... Unfortunately, Mono record did not reveal all the beauty of the sound. The synthesizer demonstration is exactly the category of video, where the sound quality is in the first place.
@@asoundlab All 4 were broken? The FX line is capable of some fancy routing, you could use port 3 and 4 to work every bit the same as L+R. And there is the headphone jack.
Yeah, you are really out of touch on this. This was a very significant synth because of the huge advances it represented in terms of sounds in a portable unit which was affordable to the masses. The reason the sounds are so dated now is because it was so popular and accessible. Is it applicable now? Of course not, but it was earth shattering at the time. It still has a place in house music because it was so significant to late 80s/early 90s dance artists because it was something they could actually afford.
What a crap intro to a video of the best selling synth (and first music workstation) of all time. It's no surprise coming from a fan of Grunge garbage, though... The worst period of the 90's for me (especially fu*king Nirvana), and what killed a lot of the "80's spirit". What irritates me the most is talking about the M1 with an underlining demeaning, not understanding or respecting what was the cutting edge technology of the time, and from someone who was probably not even born (or just a baby) when this machine was released. Some of the sounds of these late 80's/early 90's digital Korg synths still kick's ass of a lot of flagship workstations of today in terms of Character. Also, a completely unimaginative "demo" of the factory presets. Too much tinkering of filters and parameters in real time with random notes and chords, and too little actual PLAYING of the sounds... Bored me to tears, really... THAT was "painful", not the M1 great sounds. But that's just me... 🙄
The M1 is NOT a rompler, it is a synthesizer. People have no idea about how this thing worked. The machine has multi-samples. These contain up to 4 attack samples and a DWGS wave as the DW8000 introduced. The synth is rather basic, but it is a true VA synth. There is no resonance, no ring modulation, but the enveloped can be pretty complex. If you make layered sounds things can get really complex, in a way it is a true predecessor to the Wavestation, you can get similar sounding tones. But the true power of the M1 is in the drums and the effects. This machine included a drum machine that turned your 808 or 909 into instant garbage (yes it STILL sounds better as drum machine than those), and the effects were really good, especially double 10 second reverbs on the drums could create some crazy illegal tunnel techo party music. The problem is that 90% of the users were 1-man cover band types, but it is still a very good synth, capable of sounds that even a Juno 60, Jupiter 8 or CS80 could dream off. Just push it!
I am sorry I think you got some facts wrong. I have been playing and using a lot of the early Korg Workstations from the M1, the X3 that i own, T1, O1W, etc... And Wavestation. They are romplers with ok synthesis but certainly no VA. Sounds are one or two multi samples with filter (and you are right about the lack of resonance). They are not VA because they do not synthesize the waves by calculating them like the Korg z1 (that i also own), AN1X or Nord Lead does. They have a lot of basic SAMPLED waveforms including basic ones and they are looped. Why does it matter? Well, the looped sampled waveforms are more static, cannot be tweaked as you can do in the Korg Z1 or even the newer Prophet 12 (hybrid analog filter + digital waveforms). That makes a big difference. One of the earliest VA is the Kurzweil K2000 (also owned it) which has sampled waveforms but also has some kind of calculated waveforms that you can mix and match with the help of 30+ algorithms. Very crude however. Also the M1 is not even near the Wavestation. The wavestation was also based in sampled, and the cool thing is the sequencing of the waves. Yes, some M1 sounds might remind you of the Wavestation because they sound like sequences... however they are based on a single samples withe texture. The wavestation can chain over 100 samples with different lenghts and with or without crossfade. It is closer to an improved wavetable synth engine. Does the M1 sound amazing? You bet it. It sounds brilliant and I still remember the first time I tried one more than 30 years ago. It was a game changer, with great presets, effects, and that INCREDIBLE design. The Korg X3 did not sound exactly as good to be honest, however it had many features that improved on the M1 (Floppy disk, more patch memories, slightly larger sample ROM etc) and had really incredible pads.
@@daniberlanga It all depends on the definition of VA, and M1 was lousy as VA I totally agree. I think the DX7 in a way was pretty much VA as it calculated every modulation of the original wave. But the most close to calculating classic 3 oscillator like output digitally was the ESQ-1 from 1986. It did not calculate the filter yet, that was still a real analog one.
But no resonance , no sync , no ringmodulator , the d50 was more synth than the M1 ever was , the m1 succes was the fx , multi , good basic waverom but still a rompler
@@cnfuzz If you see the average condition of a D50 (near mint) people were interested dick in whether it was a synth or not. They all put it on the dust shelf when the M1 came in. Those do have wear and tear. Even on the D50 99.9% used it as a rompler for its presets. Of the 64 main presets only one or two uses the synth possibilities (Spacious Sweep) yet those never made it into mainstream music.
In order to achieve money to buy one, I've convinced everyone in my family when I was 17 years old in 1991 to buy a M1. I had a Yamaha PSS keyboard and with the M1 I spent the best musical years of my life. Tons of gigs with several bands, lots of hours with the sequencer (everyone who has worked on this sequencer know about I'm telling...). For me is the best workstation ever. I own a korg Kronos and still having the same concept. Bigger, better but esentially the same concept. I still having the M1 only for romantic reasons ;-)
I did countless musical productions and backing tracks using nothing but my T3Ex's sequencer and it's internal sounds and effects. The 2 biggest limitations IMHO were the limited 16 notes of polyphony and the rather course 48ppqn sequencer resolution. The 01W doubled the polyphony to 32 voices and sequencer resolution to 96ppqn as well as doubling the number of sequencer tracks and multi timbral parts from 8 to 16.
I find the M1 (and later reiterations of the technology like 01R/W) quite usable. They are the staple sounds that can be used in many contexts. I think the engineers at Korg did extremely good job at that time and provided us, musicians, with very solid (albeit somewhat limited) instrument to play with. One thing I didn't like about M1 was that when changing patches, the sound was cut off. There were some synths from that era that could switch patches without this abrupt "cut".
Love seeing the pain on your face even looking at it... I laughed out loud when you talked about the famous organ 'She's homeless/90s pop' sound.. I also note on Piano 16' you refused to go high into the famous 'Black Box Ride on Time' sound... Universe is its best patch.. timeless..
I still like the Korg M1 and I'm hoping to get an M1R which is the module version next year. I suppose everyone has different opinions about the Korg M1 but one reason I like using rack synths like the Roland U-220 and Emu Proteus/2 is because it pushes me into working harder to produce better music like for example I'm more motivated to also use these older rack units with real instruments in the mix such as guitars, percussion instruments and also accordions and concertina whereas if I'm using VST instruments like Kontakt and Halion 7 I tend to be lazy and produce my entire backing tracks with midi instruments because with modern sample libraries everything sounds more realistic but with rack modules like the Roland U-220 and Korg M1 I like the fact the piano sounds digitized and also I like the M1's bell type sounds. To me the M1 is not what I would call lofi, when I think of lofi I think of Yamaha Porta Sound, Casiotone, Yamaha DX7 and early PCM drum machines like the Roland TR-707, DMX, Drumtrax and Linndrum or anything that's below 12 bit.
back in the day - The keyboard salespeople always shouted at me when I came into the same store and stayed for hours playing on the M1 without buying anything. lol
Lots of samples, plus FX and multi-timbre. Pretty big deal for 1988. And it established that sleek appearance that is uniquely Korg and still visible on instruments like the Nautilus. Never owned one but I remember playing one back then and being impressed by the full breathy choirs. Very new age.
I have to disagree concerning the sythesis capabilities: while the m1 seems rather basic, its true strenghrs (or weakness, depending on your taste) lies in the lofi-sounds of the PCMs. If you want to emulate analouge sounds the m1 will of course sound horrible. Especially in combination with the waveforms of the DW8000, whicht the m1 also contains, you still can create interesting pads that sound fresh and nostalgic at the same time. Also the envelopes are pretty flexible (invertable). Sure, the filter isn't impressive or anything, but does a good job. As with any other synth it just comes down to the sound: if it doesn't speak to you, there is no sense in trying.
M1 is great and I still use one today some of the layered sounds like "Lore" are quite nice and you can get a great software version on the iPad and computers as a VST (they even had a Nintendo DS version) the best selling synth is now probably the MicroKorg and it's still made and sold today (selling since 2002)
Sure, its presets are so dated that it can be hard to listen to, but those were programmed to the tastes of the times. It's only a stagnant "ROMpler" if you let it be. Check out these more contemporary sounds for the M1 from the LFOstore. ruclips.net/video/cR3LYIjipW4/видео.html I can't believe these sounds are coming from an M1. As another commenter noted, 14:56 (NK 2049) is incredible.
BEST SYNTH EVER MADE! Mind Blowing sound at the time because of the lush built in effects unit. Gave people goose bumps. The world had heard nothing like it. It is impossible for people today to understand what it was like at the time. That kind of sound was never heard before coming from a keyboard. Especially the choir type pads.
I saw this machine at Guitar Center way back when. I remember the dome-shaped acrylic buttons, and thought they were kind of weird, and I remember the COMBI button. I can't believe the sounds it can make. Imagine what Korg is doing now. I ended up buying a Motif 6 in 2004, which is really fun, but things have really progressed in the synth world.
Never had a chance to buy one but had a DX7 so i used to borrow my friend's all the time to go on gigs. Seems salsa musicians also loved the piano sound which was kinda bright and could cut through almost anything as some tunes would get pretty noisy because of all the percussion and horns blasting every few seconds lol.
that joystick distortion lever to the left of the Korg M1 keyboard on my keyboard isn't working I don't understand because you can tell me if you have to turn it on in some menu it's like it happened to be off because it doesn't seem to be broken so it works fine but it doesn't I can hear distortion I move the lever there and it doesn't distort the sound
M1 was about to blow DX7 up, and to mark an era of new standards in the world of synthesizers. It simply repeated the revolution Yamaha had previously made with its digital flagship, thus bringing unavoidable habits in live and studio work of professional musicians. Its successor T3 was even better, but M1 undoubtedly stays a model that put Korg in a leading position as a synth manufacturer for a while. Many competitive companies, even Yamaha, had to answer new technology challenge and introduce new pcm based sampling in their sound creation, so we got SY series, Kawai K1, K4 and Roland U and D series. The point of pcm-based synthesis is simple but in fact very persuasive: short sampled real basis of natural sound eventually upgraded with classic modular sound architecture (analogue, fm or linear, subtractive etc, depending on producer), adding envelope shape and filter parameters. It offered a wide variety of expression in many areas of music, and even today it can feed one's ear well, regardless the style.
I'm still an owner of M1. In good condition. I now have the waverex card for adding new samples. Have replaced the battery once. There is a hatdware hack to change the memory to be like flash so no battery needed but I'm not brave enough yet!
FWIW, Aural Expansion’s (Jouni Alkio) famous ‘Surreal Sheep’ album was made entirely on an M1. Yes, I, like you, also gravitated towards alternative and grunge during that era, but there was a lot of other great music that came out in the 90’s. You’ve come a long way, this is your smoothest video yet, it’s good to see you growing into this channel. A little more tech and history of the synth would be cool, but - Keep ‘em coming.
First of all, the M1 is a subtractive synthesizer with a digital low pass filter (without resonance). Like a Jupiter-8, a 2 oscillator patch has 8 voices of polyphony, but there is no oscillator sync or oscillator intermodulation of any kind. However, unlike the Jupiter-8, each of the M1's oscillators has their own envelopes. Just like the partials in the D-50. The M1 has very flexible envelopes for pitch, filter, and amplifier, with more steps than simple ADSR on Jupiter-8. You have LFO's for both pitch and filter. And you can filter all the PCM waves, which you could not with the D-50. To top all that, there is a wonderful onboard effects processor with reverbs, delays, choruses, rotary speaker, distortion, and others. Secondly, we use linear PCM technology to this day, unless you are into data compression on lower end of consumer spectrum or a DSD audiophile on the higher end of the consumer spectrum. 44.1kHz 16-bit PCM is used on a CD, while a lot of recording is done in 24-bit 96kHz or 192kHz PCM, so that if you apply any processing, you can still mix down to CD quality. Next, you need to get an M1 in better physical condition to fully appreciate it. The keyboard on the unit featured in this video seems as sticky as it is uneven. Lastly, the M1 is one of the best sounding, best looking, and best put together (with metal construction) synthesizers ever made. And I am only surprised that it was such a good seller, because fine things do not sell in great numbers. And the M1 is the one of the finest electronic instruments that have ever been devised by human kind. In fact, the M1 would not look out of place on top of a Steinway piano. And please don't try that with your Minibrute or Minilogue, because YOU are going to give ME a PTSD.
I spent all my money on a Korg DSS-1 a few months before the M1 came out. Truth be told, the DSS-1 is powerful, but I kind of craved the quick access of the M1. I finally got the M1 sounds when I got the computer version when it came out, but the one I really like and use is the iM1 for iPad. I sometimes trigger it from my DSS1 via midi.
I share Zach's sentiment about the M1. It is not a favorite of mine but it did become necessary to have one. The soundset was a 'must' to reproduce anything that hit the music charts in its day.
I'm definitely feeling your pain when it comes to overused, overproduced sounds and painful memories of one's childhood and teenage years. I'm not sure though that the M1 is to blame though. I think it's an awesome instrument, and that a lot of our discontent with some of its sounds may be more linked to an over-saturation of cloying/uncreative mainstream music of the late 80's/90's/00's than to this instrument itself. Yes, my mom has also been a huge fan of never-ending rotations of the same 30+ songs for decades, which I will probably not be able to even listen to anymore at some point. But, I am still a firm believer that the M1 can be used in innovative and creative ways, and that it can sound great and fresh again. I think I might go for Korg's vst version of the instrument however, because it has many more presets and a lot greater polyphony than the actual hardware unit, and it costs a lot less. I've been playing around with the M1 vst demo, and it sounds very interesting when I mix it with my Juno DS. Usually on the piano patches, I set the Juno DS at 70-80% volume and the M1 at about 30-40%. It makes it kinda different in a good, charming sort of way. My Juno DS can do 16-sound layers, and Korg M1 vst can do 8-sound layers, so there's plenty of potential for all sorts of complex, creative sounds there, not to mention that the oscillators/operators on Korg vst don't seem all that difficult to master.
I definitely get your frustration with why this was the best selling synth. I personally loved the instrument but the reason it was the best selling was NOT that it was the most powerful synth or even the most fun to use. It sold so well because it was perfectly setup for song writers. If you think about it, back in 1988 not every local garage band could afford to buy studio time. Using a 4-track or 8-tack tape deck to write your music and hear it back was not so easy depending on the gear you owned. Using a hardware sequencer was fine but not every local band could afford multiple synths to sketch out their ideas. The Korg M1 was also easier to use than some hardware samplers. In the end, the Korg M1 gave you decent samples (for that time) and a wide variety of instruments (acoustic and digital) that you could sketch with when writing songs using the 8-track sequencer that also had a pattern sequencer, a full drum kit, and very solid effects. Throw in full midi implementation and you essentially got a great starter kit for young performing bands and song writing musicians to work with. Korg hit the nail on the head with these features for non-tech types who simply wanted something to write songs with, hear their arrangements, and then put their music into play with their bands. Korg was not interested in the M1 being a synthesis programming dream machine. It was not. It appealed to people writing pop, rock, jazz, classical and other types of music. The instrument was not only a favorite at the time for song writers but also did well in the music education industry. Thousands and thousands of schools and colleges purchased these units. It was essentially the first ROMpler Workstation that made it easy for song writers and composers to hear their sketches without the need for difficult to use 4 and 8 track tape decks or expensive audio equipment. Keep in mind too that while hardware samplers existed they were difficult to use (except for some of the Ensoniq sampler boards) and they were also time consuming. So essentially the Korg M1 was marketed to the average musician who knew nothing about synth programming but wanted to write songs and make their own demos. This is NOT to say that you can't do some incredibly good custom programs on the M1. You can. Some people created some monster patches on these things. But in terms of sales it was the song writers and arrangers who gravitated to this synth.
Me myself am proud owner of the w/01 Fd, I think the form factor is something you should count in. The black sterile design has something elegant about it. It has a timeless look to it.
I don't know why you have to trash this synth. It did a lot of good for music, and it still does have an influence. You have to understand, analog synths were widely available, but by that point, nearly all sounded badly dated and were being sold cheaply. Many people who owned synths also didn't want to be programmers to fetch only weirdness/Brian Eno-ish creativeness. You, and many out there, also have to understand that NOT ALL keyboard players are synth programmers, nor do they want to be! Programming is time consuming and not everyone has the patience and/or know how. Even when something came "like" a certain instrument on the analog stuff, it sometimes wasn't that convincing enough for either the musician and/or the listener + producer. People wanted something that sounded cleaner, newer, realistic - on top of affordable. Synths like the Korg M1 changed the game.
I remember when my friend first bought this about 30 years ago, he actually had the M1 R and a mini keyboard and the mini timepiece all done through his old Mac with Mark of the unicorn digital performer and some kind of electronic drum set and his less 1622 mixer with an 8-track tascam. . Few years later he upgraded to pro tools and switch to the 01w. I don't remember all the details but it's been 30 years I remember we had a great time and had professional sounding recordings.. but I do remember the processing power on that early 90s Mac wasn't nearly it enough needed when using a lot of effects along with pro tools
Funny you absolute slate these machines yet they made history and in huge demand to this day !!! What’s the point in you reviewing everything with a negative attitude !!!!
I remember this one, it was like a swiss knife for multi artist concerts who came to perform a few songs. They didn't bring instruments and therefore the M1 landed on every raider list, a memory card with the sounds they needed was all it took. I still have a Yamaha SY85 which is a comparable rompler, They don't sound half as bad as you would expect 30y later
Just bought a secondhand one, buttons broke, battery needs replacement and maybe another thing but nice to play. Queen - I'm going slightly mad is one thing I've had a go at
This synth to me is still a great synth. I was lucky to pick one up before the holidays of 2020 from the original owner for only $200 US in absolute showroom condition. It came with 5 cards and the manual in the original plastic. All that was missing was the original box. I remember this keyboard used in many records in the 90s, both in the Anglo and Latin music business. It was in many studios I went to. I think it can still be relevant today and the future. If the 80s sound has come back, so will the 90s. I'm glad I got it to add to my collection and for the price I paid.
@@dvdny Yes. Tell me about it. As is, it's worth at least $700 or more. He had more keyboards that are worth money in absolute mint condition. I'm taking advantage of all the deals I find before I move to a farther state.
@@georgegeez8708 yes, I’m moving soon to, or I’d be snapping up local bargains as well. I already have about 80 bits of gear I have to pack if I don’t sell them.
@@georgegeez8708 to be honest, I’d be glad to act as someone’s pawn shop for things like this. Buying things is easy, it’s selling that’s a pain. I think you’re right though - youngish kid was selling a system 1 for a song last week. Probably was to pay rent. Sigh.
It is not being made as an all-inclusive piece of hardware (i.e. the keyboard version in this video, or the keyboard-less rack unit version called the M1R), BUT a significantly improved version (sounds virtually the same with enhancements and fully compatible with the original sound patches) is currently sold by Korg which is software-only that runs on a Windows or Mac OS personal computer in a standard format called VST.
I'm sure the opinion here is mostly based on hating on the songs frequently heard with the M1's stock patches, but I've got sounds out of this and it's T series sibling that other M1 owners said were not possible. My M1REX is one of my most treasured possessions for good reason, so ner!
Yeah, sounds familiar. Not entirely painful to my 51 year old midwestern ears, but a bit tired. I wonder how it could sound in a different context. Blank slate with a new creator. We've got an Alesis QS7 that suffers from the same syndrome. Rompler patches aplenty. Used to dig it out for Halloween, but now I'm thinking it deserves better.
Actually seeing how rare the M1rs are and also the fact I have seen one go for as much as £599 leads me to think maybe I might have to settle on the VST version of the Korg M1 which does sound fairly close to the original hardware plus the M1 VST also includes all the sounds from the M1 rom cards as well as the T1 sounds. I hate it when people are so purist over everything having to be hardware.
Finally bought the M1. I've been looking for an M1 in good condition for years, and I finally found one. Paid $999 + $100 shipping + tax, came up to $1,196. It's supposedly like new, will see.
@@TomatoFettuccini It's fantastic!!! Sounds amazing!!! Looks and feels highest end!!! I got it cleaned up inside, the LCD panel was quite dusty from inside. There are some leaked capacitors on the power board. A replacement power supply board seems unattainable. So all is top notch, except that it probably needs recapping on the power supply board.
I loved that thing, while I used in in '96. But I never used the piano. I hated it because every 2nd dance song in the radio has it. It was germany and I was 15....
Korg M1: "Verkaufszahlen von mehr als 100 000 Exemplaren" ( = more than 100.000 sold items). Korg themselves recently tell that on their "iM1 for iPad" page. With that being said the Yamaha DX7 should still be number one with 160.000 items. Not sure about the result when you add instruments like the T1, T2(ex) and T3 (ex) to the mix... Other unverified "sources" on the internet (for example a post on the sequencer.de forum from 2011) claim that - according to rumours (?!) - around 250.000 items of the M1 were built. But as you can read on megasynth.de this information was NOT confirmed by Korg when being asked about it. They only officially confirmed that they reached the serial number of 100.000 in November 1990. Quote: "KORG bestätigt diese Zahl zwar nicht, waren aber bereit mir mitzuteilen, dass in den ersten zwei Jahren 100.000 Geräte gebaut wurden, und die Seriennummer 100.000 im November 1990 erreicht war." Since the number of sold devices was definitely going down more and more with the arrival of the 01/W in 1991, it's quite obvious why Korg never confirmed that number. One could guess that they came close to the DX7 towards the end...but never actually "beat" it. Why else should a company NOT brag about having built the most sold synthesizer worldwide? ;-) The only possible way to find out the "real" number might be to check out the serial numbers of all still existing M1 devices on the second-hand market...and find the highest one of those.
Easy, the M1 goes from serial 000001 up, and Korg had no gaps in the serial numbers. I have serial 321014. It is from 94 according to the soldered ROM.
@@lovemadeinjapan Wow! That's really impressive. It must be one of the very last ones. If anyone has a higher serial number, please post it here. Thanks! :-)
I had a T3EX for over 25 years and it was my one stop shop for music production for many years! I milked everything I could out of those 16 notes of polyphony, 2 fx units, 8 track sequencer with lousy 47ppqn of note resolution. It was known as the M1 on steroids but the Korg T series was priced way too high to have a big impact and the 01W was released a couple of years later with a price closer to the M1 when it was first released. I seriously considered trading my T3 for an 01W but decided against it because I actually preferred the sound of the T3. Saying that, I had an 01W for many years and it was certainly better in terms of better fx, twice as much polyphony and a better sequencer with double the tracks and multi timbral parts and increases 96ppqn note resolution.
T3EX was the M1 architecture with a bunch more samples. 01/W was improved architecture with some of the M1 samples, but at least 80% new ones. IMO they are complimentary, as both are missing of the best of each other.
@@madness8556 It was slightly brighter. I was never that much into Acoustic Pianos though. I was more into the FM style Electric Pianos. I feel the 01/W was stronger in this dept, as it had a couple of really good FM EP samples (probably from the DX7)
@@madness8556 Did you ever play the 01/Wpro's Acoustic Piano? The stock 01/W only had one sample. The pro added another sample that sounded just a bit better. Kind of like the M1 which only had that M1 Piano, but the T-Series added another one that sounded like the WS EX sample (Which is the one that you enjoyed playing)
listen, i get that you're upset that certain patches were used in new age songs/stations a lot but let's be real here, this little device is probably one of the greatest synthesizers ever made
can you get me to put it on the internet through the keyboard to export the information inside those MSC cards not those feeling I'm talking about those others you have so I can import it into my Korg M1 keyboard because I don't have the cards physically I wanted to import them. I'm not referring to feeling I'm talking about the other cards. please.
I’ve always been an analog synth guy and I’ve seen all the good analog synth companies go bankrupt or having to settle making crapy pcm stuff to survive like Roland did. I have a little bit of respect for the DX7 because of the underlying FM synthesis method but its inconvenient interface made it near impossible for anybody to make their own sounds so 99% of the people who ever owned a DX7 never made a patch themselves and used it as a rompler. Now the M1 and all other successful PCM based synth that followed were an additional nail in the analog synth coffin. In the 90s I was like ok this digital fad will stop, people will realize it sounds like crap and manufacturers will make analog synths again but no, we got more PCM crap despite the fact that by the end of the 90s the prices of 80s analog gear started to increase. At one point in the early 2000 synth companies started to notice the popularity of 80s analog gear and came out with the first generation of virtual analog synth. These sounded better than PCM but IMO not as good as true analog synths. It took 10 more excruciating years before we could see modern analog synth hit the market. Nowadays we have a pretty good selection of analog synths on the market and we have a better balance of analog and digital on the market. But each time I ear a Korg M1 I vomit in my mouth because it brings me back to the worst period in synth history.
People associate the M1 with the songs made with them which makes them hate the instrument ….Every synthesiser made will put a time stamp on music the Oberheim/Prophet/Juno/Jupiter/PPG Wave early 80s DX7/D.50 mid 80s the M1 the 90s technology evolves each decade but you can’t just degrade them because you hated songs that were made with them !!!! People say cheap sounds etc when these synths first came out it was evident they were a milestone in technology affordable and accessible !!!! Look at the Fairlight CMI and Synclavier cost the price of a house !!! And the sounds were crap but then they were groundbreaking but you don’t have to be objective because it doesn’t suit your music taste.
We would be better served by just talking about the instrument and it's history. While you have negative associations with the instrument, others just came for the story of the instrument. I know more about your feelings than where it was used in your discussion.
Fair enough, based on your comment and a few others, I’ll do a follow up piece that is focused solely on the history of the m1 as it is a fairly influential instrument.
This is got to be one of the most difficult keyboards ever to reprogram especially when you lose the memory backup battery inside of it what I ate did lose all your soundbanks will be lost if you don't have the cards to reload to soundbanks back into this and one animal believe me you'll be hooking your system up to a midi system in downloading programs to program this thing via and maybe hook up through your keyboard and USB difficult keyboard I like it but I don't like the fact that when the backup battery dies so does your sound bites are lost completely I have seven keyboards vintage keyboards and never have had problems with the cord and one where the other keyboards the banks are still all stored in the factory default settings this thing they are lost for good if their memory battery should ever die and I'm pretty sure a few years out there had that problem
I ran into that too, but importing factory sound via midi is just a snap, compared to changing backup battery on any synth. I wish every brand put the backup battery inside a lid, so we don't need to disassemble the shell for that every 20 years.
BS. 3 years newer 01W shared the same AI synth architecture as M1, except with 6MB ROM vs M1's 4MB. With full length PCM, M1 is much better than D50's Frankstein approach of tone assembly, which even with 4 partials still cannot produce any usable keyboard or acoustical sounds. DX7 is unique in its own way, but the only useful sounds of it are Elec Pianos or FM bass.
This is the first time I have ever disliked a video on RUclips. It's not so much that I like the M1. Rather that you didn't provide very much useful information. First, though the M1 used to be the best-selling synth of all time, I believe that the MicroKORG overtook that title long ago. Next, if you wish to be critical, you could have focused on the M1's: - Lack of knobs or sliders for an interface. - Lack of a resonant filter. - Lack of significant sound-shaping. Instead, you spent most of your effort complaining about middle-school trauma and PTSD inspired by hearing the sounds of the M1. You say early on that PCM is "cheap" yet you acknowledge that the 4 MB or ROM installed on the M1 was expensive. I'm guessing that you were comparing ROM memory of this instrument to RAM used in hardware samplers that were contemporary to the M1? You recognized appropriately that the M1 was the first ROMpler and that it was a workstation. You discuss how it continued the migration away from analog synthesis started by the DX7. However, you overlooked the Roland D-50 as an important step between the two. The introduction of the D-50 was what killed sales for the DX7. One of the biggest reasons for this was the fact that the D-50 had a built-in reverb which significantly enhanced the sound of the instrument. Korg learned from this and included two multi-effects in the M1 (including reverb) which further enhanced how "polished" it sounded. The production value of your footage here is excellent - good lighting and framing. I'm not sure if the mono audio was a choice or a mistake. You had some decent information, but so much of this video is weighed down with your personal baggage that it practically invalidates it as a useful reference. This was more of an opinion video than an informative one. I challenge you to focus more on useful information for videos on this channel and if you wish to complain about how an instrument traumatized you, label such a video as a rant and make a separate video with useful information. To be clear, my intent in writing this comment is not to be mean or cruel. It is to help you produce better content in the future. Good luck with that. Peace.
Was about to comment similar. But you brought it to the point an I could have never be that clear. I am not sure about the channel. Music tec? But it seems a bit about a guy and his passion. Not that I care but it opens many questions about intention and quality of the content. Is there a video about other tec beside synths? and more facts please. some stories are nice but are they based on facts or just collectors anecdotes? Playing presets is not doing justice to any synth. Compare strengths and weaknesses of synths.
@Alamo Music Audio Lab This was the first video of yours I watched. I've enjoyed and liked many others in the meantime. I've even enjoyed your insight enough to subscribe to your channel. I still have my M1 that I bought in 1990. I set it up with pianos, organs, electric pianos (Rhodes and Wurlitzers), as well as some simple standard synth sounds including an assortment of brass and strings. For me it became my meat-and-potatoes gigging board. It's got a great keybed and it covers a variety of useful sounds. Yet, I don't think of it as a synth. Heck, from a sound "design" standpoint, it even gives ROMplers a bad name. I have an E-MU Command Station and a Roland JV-2080 and I can make truly unique sounds with them. But almost anything you do with an M1 sounds like it's from an M1. You joked about what it said about us that it was the most popular "synth" of all time. What it said was that gigging musicians were grateful to have a single board that didn't break their back that could convincingly sound like a piano, electric pianos, organs, and other staple instruments. And it provided some cool choir sounds to boot! It wasn't innovative from a programming and design perspective. It was innovative (for the time) for the realistic way it represented so many useful instruments in one package...even drums! With all that, plus 8-part multi-timbrality, plus a sequencer, it was also the first workstation you could use to create an entire track. Is it as unique a sound design tool as a DX7, a D-50, or a Wavestation? Nope. It has some iconic patches, but I've never been able to do much more than layer the samples in different combinations to get different sounds. Thanks for accepting my critique as a good sport. You've got a great channel here. Keep up the good work! Peace.
It is not that easy. You should take into account that the MicroKORG came in various models and flavours. If you take flavours of the M1, the sales count goes over 500k. The T1/T2/T3/M1R/M3 are as much M1 as MicroKORGs are MicroKORGs. The all have the exact same 16-bit 16-channel sound generator and FX line.
I think that he’s very much missing the perspective of “what was available at the time,” and “how much different it was from everything else at the time”. Just seems like a very subjective Retrosight about what he didn’t like about the music that was around at the time that used the M1. His Jokes about PTSD are a little distasteful and mentioned in an ill-thought choice of words trying to represent some form of “humour”…. …. however joking about PTSD or any other sort of depression is NOT cool. Go check out any of the DrMix Korg M1 videos for a less subjective response to the technology that was deployed at the time in 1988z
Well, I certainly would not want to have anything to do with a person who prefers grunge to music; nonetheless, the author of this video has hist right to free speech and therefore making jokes about PTSD.
"middle school memories are not something most people enjoy reliving" you do look like the type to say that lol please tell me you weren't a locker accessory at one point lol
I had a more positive memory. I always kept the image of that sleek machine in high school in my brain, and when I was 40, I found these go for peanuts, and bought one. To my surprise it excited some serious GAS, and it is capable of so much more than playing the piano for singing Phil Collins' "Think Twice" along.
Dude, if this keyboard gives you PTSD, maybe you should have a different sales person do the review. This is one of the grimmest, darkest reviews I’ve ever heard.
In 1988 a midi sequencer alone could set you back $400-1000. Computer based sequencing cost even more. The Korg M1 included a fairly decent sequencer in box. The realistic 16-bit sounds (plus the workstation factor) made it an extremely attractive option.
I think you really missed the mark on this one Zach. The M1 is the best selling professional synthesizer keyboard for very good reasons.The point of the M1 wasn't to replace all the classic analog synthesizers, though it can replicate some of those sounds.Before the Korg M1, there were very few portable synthesizers that could replicate real instrument sounds. The Kurzweil K250 kind of started that trend, but it was not very portable to a gigging musician like say, the Yamaha DX7, and the K250 had cost more than $10,000. What most bands needed was a "half way decent" acoustic piano sound. This alone at the time was not too readily available and professional bands turned to the Yamaha CP-70 or 80, which were bulky and expensive.The M1 piano sound unlike most prior synthesizers was usable enough that most bands didn't need to turn to the CP-70 or some bulky instrument. The piano still wasn't great compared to what came only a short time later when memory prices came way down, and synths finally had enough memory for decent grand piano sounds with long sustains. But the piano was just one of many fantastic instrument sounds the M1 could replicate. My M1 can still make some of the best sax sounds of any keyboard out there. Strings & orchestral sounds were great. Solo violin & flute (flute from Plus One expansion board). The stock factory choir patch is still one of the best ones available. There are all kinds of great pads and atmospheric sounds. The M1 could make great bells, drums and again, mimic a wide variety of real instrument sounds for 1988. The built in effects that could be programmed with the sounds was great for the time. Many of the best M1 sounds still have not been outdone by the Kronos or Montage. The number one thing about the M1 was the great sound collections available for it from both 3rd parties and Korg, and hardware expansion accessories too. The M1 stayed relevant for many years. Only the piano fell behind when the next generation could make a better "grand" piano sound with good sustain, but the M1 still excelled in other areas during that time.The M1 was a hit for both studio professionals, and affordable enough and portable enough that it was ideal for the numerous weekend warriors like me that plays clubs and bars. The next closest thing in 1988, the K250, was too large, bulky and expensive for that. The DX7 could not make a usable piano sound. The M1's 16 bit samples were much more realistic than say, the affordable & portable Ensoniq Mirage. For more than 25 years, the M1 was my main keyboard in my rig. The Invision Plus One board installed in both of my M1's breathed new life into them in 1993 adding one of the best electric guitar sounds I've heard out of a synth yet, a couple great B3 sounds with real-time Leslie that could be assigned via foot pedal I used extensively with my rock bands, and many other sounds. I felt with new synths from Korg and others, I'd "give up more than I'd gain" by so called "upgrading". The M1 platform has so many great sound collections to choose from, you can find all sorts of useful sounds. But no, the M1 was not so much about creating your own sounds from scratch like an analog synth, no was it meant to replace that. Ideally, most keyboard players with pair the M1 with other synths. I used Casio CZ's for many of my analog synth patches & a Roland module. Also a Yamaha FM sound module for FM sounds. Still, I was surprise the M1 could make some analog synth patches that were decent, including lead sounds I used. In the past 2 years I've switched to the Yamaha Montage engine as my main sound engine (in the form of the light weight MODX). I gig with a MIDI controller with aftertouch and many sliders & knobs, and my M1 now lives in the software VST format and sounds great, along with tons of other classic synths from Moogs, Oberheims, ARP's, Rolands, Hammond, etc.I still use M1 sounds all the time, and don't believe a Kronos or Montage could really replace many of the sounds I use, but the VST on my laptop can. You would think today's romplers would be far superior to the M1 in every way, but it isn't true. Even those from Korg. I think Korg made a huge mistake not including an M1 engine in their Kronos that could load numerous great sound collections.
@@Talia.777 Sound programming is what makes a lot of synths.
One band offered to kick out their keyboardist who had a Kronos because they liked my sounds better. The Kronos can not import M1 patches and a lot of great ones existed. It's not all about just the hardware, but more the software. The same for computers. Most people don't write their own. Better hardware exists every year.
@@n8goulet Yeah, agreed...
One can create sounds and playing the way that no one would find out it is from a 30 year old synth.
But you're saying very professional sound makers on kronos can't create a M1 sound at all?! 🤔
That's weird ....but since your using M1 for a long time, I take your words for it 😊👍
I myself have Yamaha Tyros 5 + Arturia essential MK2 midi keyboard + FANTOM G7...
I've had many Synths and Arrangers...
What I mean is that I'm very familiar with this matter.... But again I agree with what you said...
YANNI went from having 4 to 5 korg M1 to all Triton and then all korg krome...😅😁
Excellent comment
@@Talia.777 In a way the closest rival to the Korg M1 regarding specifications was the Yamaha SY55. My friend had the former and I the latter. The SY had the better synth engine and sequencer, and some sounds were more realistic etc. However the M1 was FAR more successful and had certain patch sounds that most people wanted at the time. The M1 also got there first with the affordable workstation concept a year earlier.
"I think you really missed the mark on this one Zach."
Colossal understatement right here.
"Only the piano fell behind when the next generation could make a better "grand" piano sound with good sustain, but the M1 still excelled in other areas during that time"
And this was relatively easily corrected because you could both tweak existing presets to create your own or create entirely new ones from scratch, right on the console, or else import new sound fonts via memory cards, else use it as a head unit for MIDI control and employ external sound fonts through other synths.
Zach doesn't know what he's talking about on the M1 and it's clear that his bias is getting in the way of real objectivity.
I paid $3000 for the M1 when I was 20 years old in 1989. Still to this day I consider it the best instrument purchase I ever did in my entire life. I started playing synths when I was about 15 or 16 years old, but with the M1 for the first time in my life I could actually create entire songs since it was multitimbral. The sounds were also like nothing I had ever experienced before. The M one started me on the journey of creating full music compositions, hence it will always have a special place in my heart for that reason. Would I buy one now? No, I’ll just stick with the good memories. :)
Korg makes good pianos i can't afford one
Korg M1 original price was US$ 2,166.00, which was likely the actual "street" price because Korg didn't publish official suggested retail prices/MSRP at the time and because the M1 was in high demand upon release and for a significant time thereafter so discounting was less common.
@@ShallRemainUnknown The price that every music store in Los Angeles that I had checked was selling them for $2799, but I had to pay $2999 for that particular music store that I bought it from to let me pay half upfront and the rest in 30 days.
@@seanchristophersynthesizer6999 Supply/demand could drive prices up (grey-market import DX7s were an issue for Yamaha in the beginning) and you could have been taken advantage of, but fact remains that Keyboard magazine (USA) listed $2166 as price in its original review, and main competition D-50 MSRP $1899, SY77 MSRP $2999 (1989, including entire heavily enhanced DX7II 6-op FM engine plus entire PCM engine + $300-400 floppy drive +largest available LCD, etc.), Kawai K4 MSRP $1,445 (1989, 32-oscillator vs M1's 16), and Korg own 1989 M1-enhanced+compatible T3 MSRP ~$2,799 (2x ROM @ 8MB + 1MB sample RAM + $300-400 floppy drive + large LCD). Make of that what you will.
The DX7 and the D50 did everything(and more actually) than the M1 did, there's nothing really special about the M1 per se, you just feel that way because it's the first synthesizer that you came across that allowed you to do those things, had you come across any other synthesizer that allowed that then that would've been the best instrument to you
Got this in my high school, and after 30+ years I still enjoy designing interesting sounds out of its PCM and digitalized analog waveforms. Granted it's no true Analog or FM synth, but lots of time you can get close if you are good. Compared to D50, M1's acoustic instrument are more realistic, has more transient sounds(or you can isolate out the attack of PCM), which then can be combined with DWGS or PCM loop to create 'synth acoustic' sounds that can only be synthesized by 8-operator FM. It takes a creative mind(certainly not preset player) to fully explore M1's potential !
I agree. The M1 is a very powerful synthesizer, indeed. By the way, analog synthesizers are also capable of doing FM synthesis. I think you mean subtractive or FM synths, not "Analog or FM synths".
I spent hours programming my T3EX and got a stack load of great original sounds out of it, particularly big pads. The extra 4mb PCM Rom above what the M1 offered including improved acoustic waves and extra wave sweeps added a lot of sonic power to what the M1 already offered. These included improved acoustic pianos and very useful soft and hard EPs as well as extra sax, drums, a great second slap bass, clarinet that was missing on the M1 and some decent extra string ensemble and pad waves including a nice vocoder multisound. The T3 combis were outstanding and even stand up nicely today over 30 years later! The 2 biggest limitations of the M and T architecture were the grainy sounding non resonant low pass filters and the limited 16 notes of polyphony. The 01W improved the polyphony by doubling it to 32 notes but Korg didn't include multiband resonant filters in their digital synths up until they released their Prophecy and Trinity in 1995.
I think was a harsh review, I have the m1r in the studio and I'm very happy with it, it has its uses but I can see now from this video how any synth can be made to sound bad intentionally
The synth and pad sounds are still killer. This paved the way for the korgs we love today. I ordered an x5d based off the M1. I don’t really do the flagship boards cause of size so I always tend to go for the Swiss Army knives instead. X5d, x50, m50, krome ex, kross, micro x. All are just as powerful as the flagship versions
You weren't there, dude.
No offense intended, but you literally don't know what you're talking about. You're very obviously letting your experiences get in the way of your objectivity.
First off, it's a synth, so you can change and modify the preset sounds. Sort of the whole point of a synth, yeah? So if you don't like the presets, you can create something you do.
The M1 was the most popular synth because it was a workhorse unit that could do EVERYTHING. It had many of the features of both the DX7 and the D50 but also added many of its own features. It was an extremely powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use unit that was - most importantly - compact and portable. It's only Achilles heel is that it isn't a true FM synth.
That aside, the M1 was the FIRST portable synth to offer realistic analog instrument sounds. No one did that before them. Not Roland, not Yamaha, not Kawaii, not Behringer, not Moog, and not Modal. No one, except Kurzweil, was even trying.
Before the M1 came along, if you wanted analog instrument sounds you needed analog instruments and the musicians that came with them.
You wanted realistic strings? You needed violinists. Realistic saxophone? Real saxophone and player. Realistic drums? Real drums and drummer. The M1 changed that, almost literally overnight.
Now, instead of having/paying for additional musicians and studio time musicians and producers could just hook up an M1 and have passably realistic strings, horns, woodwinds, and percussion.
Compare the M1's analog presets to the D50s strings and horns; the D50 sounds horrible in comparison. Ditto woodwinds. And drums? JFK, synth drums were simply AWFUL until the M1 came along. Before the M1 you could very easily tell when synth drums were used and when real drums were. And this is saying NOTHING about the DX7, which abandoned realistic analog instrument sounds entirely. We had a DX7 at our high school and it was terrible - IDK why our music director bought it because it was known for electronic music, not analog, and we ha no other electronic instruments in the band. It went literally untouched for all 5 years I was in band.
On top of that, the M1 had a built-in sequencer. The D50 didn't, neither did the DX7.
Original M1s are still hailed as useful, powerful instruments today. Back then the M1 was a godsend for professional musicians as it raised the bar for synths and what was expected from them.
It was compact, powerful, flexible, easy-to-use, and had everything an aspiring or professional musician could possibly want from a synth (at the time). And it sounded great, especially when comparing it to its main rivals, the DX7 and the D50. I was exposed to all three of those instruments when they emerged. The D50 is hard to use, and sounds obviously like a synth. the DX7 even moreso. The DX7 also feels cheap. The build quality is meh, the plastics used are...well...*plastic* (Korg and Roland used aluminum for their shells). The keys on the D50 and Dx7 both feel mushy. The M1's keyboard is lovely to play and responds ver much like a real piano.
JFC, you might as well shit talk Henry Ford, saying "Really, the invention of the production line is overrated."
It's the most popular synth ever because it was the best synth ever released to that point, and it changed the entire industry. That's why.
The M1 is one of the best instruments ever made in the history of musical instrument making, full stop.
Oh, and in case anyone might think that I'm expressing my bias: no, I'm not; I don't own or play synths, nor have ever. I'm an analog musician, guitars, bass, piano, voice.
Keep in mind back in the day there were 256K and 512K memory limits to make these affordable and these synths use assembly language to get all the code to fit. To save space samples were made at 38 instead off 44-48 kHz which gives these a unique sound. These were instant on devices as well with very little processing power. The fact that so many still work are a testament to the quality of components that KORG used. Today its all junk made to last five years and no one has the skill to code in assembly.
@4:30 Do you get PTSD every time you listen to a piano piece? Because it’s been the same sound for 200 years now. :-)
Why? In the Pyramind Video recap pt 1 Dave Smith said ever since 1987 all Yamaha, Korg, and Roland did are basically building M1s. That tells you the place of M1 in the history of synth by the legend himself.
In a way not true, Korg did lots of true analog synth(not fake analog like Roland did) in the past decade.
Dave Smith did not meant this as a compliment though.
@@Jauly Well, all he meant is 'flagship' synth like Kronos, Fantom, or Montage basically all stem from M1's 'workstation' concept.
The M1 has 100 multisounds and 44 drum sounds in 4mb of waveform rom that was unprecedented at the time back in 1988.
@8:24 - you gave the M1 E. Piano 1 more love than anyone else on YT has ever done. That was the sound that made me fall in love with this thing.
The default patches were certainly overused, but you could create some interesting stuff if you were prepared to spend time editing. And the expansion ROM cards added even more interesting samples.
PCM , that is not a cheap form of sampling . It is just they way digital sampling is called :
Why You record demo in MONO??? 2021 outside the window ... Unfortunately, Mono record did not reveal all the beauty of the sound. The synthesizer demonstration is exactly the category of video, where the sound quality is in the first place.
This particular m1 had broken outputs unfortunately so we had to make do with mono
@@asoundlab All 4 were broken? The FX line is capable of some fancy routing, you could use port 3 and 4 to work every bit the same as L+R. And there is the headphone jack.
Yeah, you are really out of touch on this. This was a very significant synth because of the huge advances it represented in terms of sounds in a portable unit which was affordable to the masses. The reason the sounds are so dated now is because it was so popular and accessible. Is it applicable now? Of course not, but it was earth shattering at the time. It still has a place in house music because it was so significant to late 80s/early 90s dance artists because it was something they could actually afford.
I thought this was a 15 years old video before clicking on it to see its in full HD. You Mister, look so old school. Nice one!
This guy has no clue how much stuff M1 really packs, much useful than DX7/D-50/ESQ-1 IMO. To nowadays you can still gig with it alone.
What a crap intro to a video of the best selling synth (and first music workstation) of all time.
It's no surprise coming from a fan of Grunge garbage, though... The worst period of the 90's for me (especially fu*king Nirvana), and what killed a lot of the "80's spirit".
What irritates me the most is talking about the M1 with an underlining demeaning, not understanding or respecting what was the cutting edge technology of the time, and from someone who was probably not even born (or just a baby) when this machine was released.
Some of the sounds of these late 80's/early 90's digital Korg synths still kick's ass of a lot of flagship workstations of today in terms of Character.
Also, a completely unimaginative "demo" of the factory presets. Too much tinkering of filters and parameters in real time with random notes and chords, and too little actual PLAYING of the sounds... Bored me to tears, really... THAT was "painful", not the M1 great sounds.
But that's just me... 🙄
The M1 is NOT a rompler, it is a synthesizer. People have no idea about how this thing worked. The machine has multi-samples. These contain up to 4 attack samples and a DWGS wave as the DW8000 introduced. The synth is rather basic, but it is a true VA synth. There is no resonance, no ring modulation, but the enveloped can be pretty complex. If you make layered sounds things can get really complex, in a way it is a true predecessor to the Wavestation, you can get similar sounding tones.
But the true power of the M1 is in the drums and the effects. This machine included a drum machine that turned your 808 or 909 into instant garbage (yes it STILL sounds better as drum machine than those), and the effects were really good, especially double 10 second reverbs on the drums could create some crazy illegal tunnel techo party music.
The problem is that 90% of the users were 1-man cover band types, but it is still a very good synth, capable of sounds that even a Juno 60, Jupiter 8 or CS80 could dream off. Just push it!
I am sorry I think you got some facts wrong. I have been playing and using a lot of the early Korg Workstations from the M1, the X3 that i own, T1, O1W, etc... And Wavestation. They are romplers with ok synthesis but certainly no VA. Sounds are one or two multi samples with filter (and you are right about the lack of resonance). They are not VA because they do not synthesize the waves by calculating them like the Korg z1 (that i also own), AN1X or Nord Lead does. They have a lot of basic SAMPLED waveforms including basic ones and they are looped. Why does it matter? Well, the looped sampled waveforms are more static, cannot be tweaked as you can do in the Korg Z1 or even the newer Prophet 12 (hybrid analog filter + digital waveforms). That makes a big difference. One of the earliest VA is the Kurzweil K2000 (also owned it) which has sampled waveforms but also has some kind of calculated waveforms that you can mix and match with the help of 30+ algorithms. Very crude however. Also the M1 is not even near the Wavestation. The wavestation was also based in sampled, and the cool thing is the sequencing of the waves. Yes, some M1 sounds might remind you of the Wavestation because they sound like sequences... however they are based on a single samples withe texture. The wavestation can chain over 100 samples with different lenghts and with or without crossfade. It is closer to an improved wavetable synth engine. Does the M1 sound amazing? You bet it. It sounds brilliant and I still remember the first time I tried one more than 30 years ago. It was a game changer, with great presets, effects, and that INCREDIBLE design. The Korg X3 did not sound exactly as good to be honest, however it had many features that improved on the M1 (Floppy disk, more patch memories, slightly larger sample ROM etc) and had really incredible pads.
@@daniberlanga It all depends on the definition of VA, and M1 was lousy as VA I totally agree. I think the DX7 in a way was pretty much VA as it calculated every modulation of the original wave. But the most close to calculating classic 3 oscillator like output digitally was the ESQ-1 from 1986. It did not calculate the filter yet, that was still a real analog one.
But no resonance , no sync , no ringmodulator , the d50 was more synth than the M1 ever was , the m1 succes was the fx , multi , good basic waverom but still a rompler
@@cnfuzz If you see the average condition of a D50 (near mint) people were interested dick in whether it was a synth or not. They all put it on the dust shelf when the M1 came in. Those do have wear and tear. Even on the D50 99.9% used it as a rompler for its presets. Of the 64 main presets only one or two uses the synth possibilities (Spacious Sweep) yet those never made it into mainstream music.
Yeah pretty much sounds like a ROMpler as stated by you
In order to achieve money to buy one, I've convinced everyone in my family when I was 17 years old in 1991 to buy a M1. I had a Yamaha PSS keyboard and with the M1 I spent the best musical years of my life. Tons of gigs with several bands, lots of hours with the sequencer (everyone who has worked on this sequencer know about I'm telling...). For me is the best workstation ever. I own a korg Kronos and still having the same concept. Bigger, better but esentially the same concept. I still having the M1 only for romantic reasons ;-)
i guess Im kinda randomly asking but do anybody know a good site to stream newly released tv shows online ?
@Jase Clark flixportal :P
@Jace Kyle thanks, I went there and it seems like a nice service :) I appreciate it !
@Jase Clark no problem =)
I did countless musical productions and backing tracks using nothing but my T3Ex's sequencer and it's internal sounds and effects. The 2 biggest limitations IMHO were the limited 16 notes of polyphony and the rather course 48ppqn sequencer resolution. The 01W doubled the polyphony to 32 voices and sequencer resolution to 96ppqn as well as doubling the number of sequencer tracks and multi timbral parts from 8 to 16.
Still have the Korg M1R in my racks. And it will never leave, nor will it be sold. It still blows more recent machines out of the water.
I find the M1 (and later reiterations of the technology like 01R/W) quite usable. They are the staple sounds that can be used in many contexts. I think the engineers at Korg did extremely good job at that time and provided us, musicians, with very solid (albeit somewhat limited) instrument to play with. One thing I didn't like about M1 was that when changing patches, the sound was cut off. There were some synths from that era that could switch patches without this abrupt "cut".
Love seeing the pain on your face even looking at it... I laughed out loud when you talked about the famous organ 'She's homeless/90s pop' sound.. I also note on Piano 16' you refused to go high into the famous 'Black Box Ride on Time' sound... Universe is its best patch.. timeless..
I still like the Korg M1 and I'm hoping to get an M1R which is the module version next year. I suppose everyone has different
opinions about the Korg M1 but one reason I like using rack synths like the Roland U-220 and Emu Proteus/2 is because it
pushes me into working harder to produce better music like for example I'm more motivated to also use these older rack units
with real instruments in the mix such as guitars, percussion instruments and also accordions and concertina whereas if I'm
using VST instruments like Kontakt and Halion 7 I tend to be lazy and produce my entire backing tracks with midi instruments
because with modern sample libraries everything sounds more realistic but with rack modules like the Roland U-220 and Korg
M1 I like the fact the piano sounds digitized and also I like the M1's bell type sounds. To me the M1 is not what I would call lofi,
when I think of lofi I think of Yamaha Porta Sound, Casiotone, Yamaha DX7 and early PCM drum machines like the Roland TR-707,
DMX, Drumtrax and Linndrum or anything that's below 12 bit.
Why is this guys reviews always negative like every instrument review I watch this guy has something negative to say about them
back in the day - The keyboard salespeople always shouted at me when I came into the same store and stayed for hours playing on the M1 without buying anything. lol
Love it 😂😂
Lots of samples, plus FX and multi-timbre. Pretty big deal for 1988. And it established that sleek appearance that is uniquely Korg and still visible on instruments like the Nautilus. Never owned one but I remember playing one back then and being impressed by the full breathy choirs. Very new age.
I agree, one of the sleekest synthesizers ever made, and a very powerful synthesizer as well.
I have to disagree concerning the sythesis capabilities: while the m1 seems rather basic, its true strenghrs (or weakness, depending on your taste) lies in the lofi-sounds of the PCMs. If you want to emulate analouge sounds the m1 will of course sound horrible. Especially in combination with the waveforms of the DW8000, whicht the m1 also contains, you still can create interesting pads that sound fresh and nostalgic at the same time. Also the envelopes are pretty flexible (invertable). Sure, the filter isn't impressive or anything, but does a good job. As with any other synth it just comes down to the sound: if it doesn't speak to you, there is no sense in trying.
M1 is great and I still use one today
some of the layered sounds like "Lore" are quite nice and you can get a great software version on the iPad and computers as a VST (they even had a Nintendo DS version)
the best selling synth is now probably the MicroKorg and it's still made and sold today (selling since 2002)
Sure, its presets are so dated that it can be hard to listen to, but those were programmed to the tastes of the times. It's only a stagnant "ROMpler" if you let it be. Check out these more contemporary sounds for the M1 from the LFOstore. ruclips.net/video/cR3LYIjipW4/видео.html I can't believe these sounds are coming from an M1. As another commenter noted, 14:56 (NK 2049) is incredible.
BEST SYNTH EVER MADE! Mind Blowing sound at the time because of the lush built in effects unit. Gave people goose bumps. The world had heard nothing like it. It is impossible for people today to understand what it was like at the time. That kind of sound was never heard before coming from a keyboard. Especially the choir type pads.
I saw this machine at Guitar Center way back when. I remember the dome-shaped acrylic buttons, and thought they were kind of weird, and I remember the COMBI button. I can't believe the sounds it can make. Imagine what Korg is doing now. I ended up buying a Motif 6 in 2004, which is really fun, but things have really progressed in the synth world.
Never had a chance to buy one but had a DX7 so i used to borrow my friend's all the time to go on gigs. Seems salsa musicians also loved the piano sound which was kinda bright and could cut through almost anything as some tunes would get pretty noisy because of all the percussion and horns blasting every few seconds lol.
Believe me most of the M1 sounds can be heard with Mexican music
I regularly use my M1R, I absolutely love it. This whole middle school thing you're talking about man....what?
There were third party rack expanders that let you dump any sample of choice into the m1 engine via the card slot , one of them was the dd sam1
that joystick distortion lever to the left of the Korg M1 keyboard on my keyboard isn't working I don't understand because you can tell me if you have to turn it on in some menu it's like it happened to be off because it doesn't seem to be broken so it works fine but it doesn't I can hear distortion I move the lever there and it doesn't distort the sound
M1 was about to blow DX7 up, and to mark an era of new standards in the world of synthesizers. It simply repeated the revolution Yamaha had previously made with its digital flagship, thus bringing unavoidable habits in live and studio work of professional musicians. Its successor T3 was even better, but M1 undoubtedly stays a model that put Korg in a leading position as a synth manufacturer for a while. Many competitive companies, even Yamaha, had to answer new technology challenge and introduce new pcm based sampling in their sound creation, so we got SY series, Kawai K1, K4 and Roland U and D series. The point of pcm-based synthesis is simple but in fact very persuasive: short sampled real basis of natural sound eventually upgraded with classic modular sound architecture (analogue, fm or linear, subtractive etc, depending on producer), adding envelope shape and filter parameters. It offered a wide variety of expression in many areas of music, and even today it can feed one's ear well, regardless the style.
that intro has to be the best selling intro of all time! middle school blows.
I'm still an owner of M1. In good condition. I now have the waverex card for adding new samples. Have replaced the battery once. There is a hatdware hack to change the memory to be like flash so no battery needed but I'm not brave enough yet!
FWIW, Aural Expansion’s (Jouni Alkio) famous ‘Surreal Sheep’ album was made entirely on an M1. Yes, I, like you, also gravitated towards alternative and grunge during that era, but there was a lot of other great music that came out in the 90’s. You’ve come a long way, this is your smoothest video yet, it’s good to see you growing into this channel. A little more tech and history of the synth would be cool, but - Keep ‘em coming.
You can use your own samples using Front Lobe expansion or the german Waverex card.
First of all, the M1 is a subtractive synthesizer with a digital low pass filter (without resonance). Like a Jupiter-8, a 2 oscillator patch has 8 voices of polyphony, but there is no oscillator sync or oscillator intermodulation of any kind. However, unlike the Jupiter-8, each of the M1's oscillators has their own envelopes. Just like the partials in the D-50. The M1 has very flexible envelopes for pitch, filter, and amplifier, with more steps than simple ADSR on Jupiter-8. You have LFO's for both pitch and filter. And you can filter all the PCM waves, which you could not with the D-50. To top all that, there is a wonderful onboard effects processor with reverbs, delays, choruses, rotary speaker, distortion, and others.
Secondly, we use linear PCM technology to this day, unless you are into data compression on lower end of consumer spectrum or a DSD audiophile on the higher end of the consumer spectrum. 44.1kHz 16-bit PCM is used on a CD, while a lot of recording is done in 24-bit 96kHz or 192kHz PCM, so that if you apply any processing, you can still mix down to CD quality.
Next, you need to get an M1 in better physical condition to fully appreciate it. The keyboard on the unit featured in this video seems as sticky as it is uneven.
Lastly, the M1 is one of the best sounding, best looking, and best put together (with metal construction) synthesizers ever made. And I am only surprised that it was such a good seller, because fine things do not sell in great numbers. And the M1 is the one of the finest electronic instruments that have ever been devised by human kind. In fact, the M1 would not look out of place on top of a Steinway piano. And please don't try that with your Minibrute or Minilogue, because YOU are going to give ME a PTSD.
M1 would be decent with a Steinway, but a WS EX would be the ultimate piece to go with your Steinway, lol
I spent all my money on a Korg DSS-1 a few months before the M1 came out. Truth be told, the DSS-1 is powerful, but I kind of craved the quick access of the M1. I finally got the M1 sounds when I got the computer version when it came out, but the one I really like and use is the iM1 for iPad. I sometimes trigger it from my DSS1 via midi.
I share Zach's sentiment about the M1. It is not a favorite of mine but it did become necessary to have one. The soundset was a 'must' to reproduce anything that hit the music charts in its day.
Just bought mine for £150,love it!
I got mine and it’s awesome. I can go down memory lane anytime I like 😅
I own one almost in a brand new condition, Wow !! Lots of memories
I'm definitely feeling your pain when it comes to overused, overproduced sounds and painful memories of one's childhood and teenage years. I'm not sure though that the M1 is to blame though. I think it's an awesome instrument, and that a lot of our discontent with some of its sounds may be more linked to an over-saturation of cloying/uncreative mainstream music of the late 80's/90's/00's than to this instrument itself. Yes, my mom has also been a huge fan of never-ending rotations of the same 30+ songs for decades, which I will probably not be able to even listen to anymore at some point. But, I am still a firm believer that the M1 can be used in innovative and creative ways, and that it can sound great and fresh again. I think I might go for Korg's vst version of the instrument however, because it has many more presets and a lot greater polyphony than the actual hardware unit, and it costs a lot less. I've been playing around with the M1 vst demo, and it sounds very interesting when I mix it with my Juno DS. Usually on the piano patches, I set the Juno DS at 70-80% volume and the M1 at about 30-40%. It makes it kinda different in a good, charming sort of way. My Juno DS can do 16-sound layers, and Korg M1 vst can do 8-sound layers, so there's plenty of potential for all sorts of complex, creative sounds there, not to mention that the oscillators/operators on Korg vst don't seem all that difficult to master.
I definitely get your frustration with why this was the best selling synth. I personally loved the instrument but the reason it was the best selling was NOT that it was the most powerful synth or even the most fun to use. It sold so well because it was perfectly setup for song writers. If you think about it, back in 1988 not every local garage band could afford to buy studio time. Using a 4-track or 8-tack tape deck to write your music and hear it back was not so easy depending on the gear you owned. Using a hardware sequencer was fine but not every local band could afford multiple synths to sketch out their ideas. The Korg M1 was also easier to use than some hardware samplers. In the end, the Korg M1 gave you decent samples (for that time) and a wide variety of instruments (acoustic and digital) that you could sketch with when writing songs using the 8-track sequencer that also had a pattern sequencer, a full drum kit, and very solid effects. Throw in full midi implementation and you essentially got a great starter kit for young performing bands and song writing musicians to work with.
Korg hit the nail on the head with these features for non-tech types who simply wanted something to write songs with, hear their arrangements, and then put their music into play with their bands. Korg was not interested in the M1 being a synthesis programming dream machine. It was not. It appealed to people writing pop, rock, jazz, classical and other types of music. The instrument was not only a favorite at the time for song writers but also did well in the music education industry. Thousands and thousands of schools and colleges purchased these units.
It was essentially the first ROMpler Workstation that made it easy for song writers and composers to hear their sketches without the need for difficult to use 4 and 8 track tape decks or expensive audio equipment. Keep in mind too that while hardware samplers existed they were difficult to use (except for some of the Ensoniq sampler boards) and they were also time consuming. So essentially the Korg M1 was marketed to the average musician who knew nothing about synth programming but wanted to write songs and make their own demos. This is NOT to say that you can't do some incredibly good custom programs on the M1. You can. Some people created some monster patches on these things. But in terms of sales it was the song writers and arrangers who gravitated to this synth.
Me myself am proud owner of the w/01 Fd, I think the form factor is something you should count in. The black sterile design has something elegant about it. It has a timeless look to it.
I don't know why you have to trash this synth. It did a lot of good for music, and it still does have an influence. You have to understand, analog synths were widely available, but by that point, nearly all sounded badly dated and were being sold cheaply. Many people who owned synths also didn't want to be programmers to fetch only weirdness/Brian Eno-ish creativeness. You, and many out there, also have to understand that NOT ALL keyboard players are synth programmers, nor do they want to be! Programming is time consuming and not everyone has the patience and/or know how. Even when something came "like" a certain instrument on the analog stuff, it sometimes wasn't that convincing enough for either the musician and/or the listener + producer.
People wanted something that sounded cleaner, newer, realistic - on top of affordable. Synths like the Korg M1 changed the game.
I remember when my friend first bought this about 30 years ago, he actually had the M1 R and a mini keyboard and the mini timepiece all done through his old Mac with Mark of the unicorn digital performer and some kind of electronic drum set and his less 1622 mixer with an 8-track tascam. . Few years later he upgraded to pro tools and switch to the 01w. I don't remember all the details but it's been 30 years I remember we had a great time and had professional sounding recordings.. but I do remember the processing power on that early 90s Mac wasn't nearly it enough needed when using a lot of effects along with pro tools
Funny you absolute slate these machines yet they made history and in huge demand to this day !!! What’s the point in you reviewing everything with a negative attitude !!!!
I remember this one, it was like a swiss knife for multi artist concerts who came to perform a few songs. They didn't bring instruments and therefore the M1 landed on every raider list, a memory card with the sounds they needed was all it took. I still have a Yamaha SY85 which is a comparable rompler, They don't sound half as bad as you would expect 30y later
Just bought a secondhand one, buttons broke, battery needs replacement and maybe another thing but nice to play. Queen - I'm going slightly mad is one thing I've had a go at
It’s a beautiful dynamic synth which I have in the Korg software version . I’m a big fan ! ( although D50 still my all time favourite) 😀
Why is D50 your all time favourite?
@@georgefromgreece4119 Cause D50 was the best combining analog with pcm, not just a straight rompler
This synth to me is still a great synth. I was lucky to pick one up before the holidays of 2020 from the original owner for only $200 US in absolute showroom condition. It came with 5 cards and the manual in the original plastic. All that was missing was the original box. I remember this keyboard used in many records in the 90s, both in the Anglo and Latin music business. It was in many studios I went to. I think it can still be relevant today and the future. If the 80s sound has come back, so will the 90s. I'm glad I got it to add to my collection and for the price I paid.
Jeezus, $200! Lucky.
@@dvdny Yes. Tell me about it. As is, it's worth at least $700 or more. He had more keyboards that are worth money in absolute mint condition. I'm taking advantage of all the deals I find before I move to a farther state.
I forgot to mention, it's sad some of the deals I have found have been due to the pandemic and people having to pay bills.
@@georgegeez8708 yes, I’m moving soon to, or I’d be snapping up local bargains as well. I already have about 80 bits of gear I have to pack if I don’t sell them.
@@georgegeez8708 to be honest, I’d be glad to act as someone’s pawn shop for things like this. Buying things is easy, it’s selling that’s a pain. I think you’re right though - youngish kid was selling a system 1 for a song last week. Probably was to pay rent. Sigh.
How much did it cost in the 80's?
Is the Korg m1 still being made I'm interested to buy one 😁
Nope
It is not being made as an all-inclusive piece of hardware (i.e. the keyboard version in this video, or the keyboard-less rack unit version called the M1R), BUT a significantly improved version (sounds virtually the same with enhancements and fully compatible with the original sound patches) is currently sold by Korg which is software-only that runs on a Windows or Mac OS personal computer in a standard format called VST.
I'm sure the opinion here is mostly based on hating on the songs frequently heard with the M1's stock patches, but I've got sounds out of this and it's T series sibling that other M1 owners said were not possible.
My M1REX is one of my most treasured possessions for good reason, so ner!
Yeah, sounds familiar. Not entirely painful to my 51 year old midwestern ears, but a bit tired. I wonder how it could sound in a different context. Blank slate with a new creator. We've got an Alesis QS7 that suffers from the same syndrome. Rompler patches aplenty. Used to dig it out for Halloween, but now I'm thinking it deserves better.
I just started using the one I bought yen years ago.
Time to move on bro. let the pain wash away like a carless whisper.
Actually seeing how rare the M1rs are and also the fact I have seen one go for as much as £599 leads me to think maybe
I might have to settle on the VST version of the Korg M1 which does sound fairly close to the original hardware plus the
M1 VST also includes all the sounds from the M1 rom cards as well as the T1 sounds. I hate it when people are so purist
over everything having to be hardware.
I have the vst version. Its sound like the real one, but the real one is fattterrrrrr!
Sounds eerily similar to the Kawai K4. I think that was also 16 bit PCM technology from around that time.
Finally bought the M1. I've been looking for an M1 in good condition for years, and I finally found one. Paid $999 + $100 shipping + tax, came up to $1,196. It's supposedly like new, will see.
How's your M1 working out? It's been 8 months. Give us an update!
@@TomatoFettuccini It's fantastic!!! Sounds amazing!!! Looks and feels highest end!!! I got it cleaned up inside, the LCD panel was quite dusty from inside. There are some leaked capacitors on the power board. A replacement power supply board seems unattainable. So all is top notch, except that it probably needs recapping on the power supply board.
I loved that thing, while I used in in '96. But I never used the piano. I hated it because every 2nd dance song in the radio has it. It was germany and I was 15....
Good old Blue System
I'm really interested in patterns. I wonder if 8 can download some premade patterns to work on?
Korg M1: "Verkaufszahlen von mehr als 100 000 Exemplaren" ( = more than 100.000 sold items). Korg themselves recently tell that on their "iM1 for iPad" page. With that being said the Yamaha DX7 should still be number one with 160.000 items. Not sure about the result when you add instruments like the T1, T2(ex) and T3 (ex) to the mix...
Other unverified "sources" on the internet (for example a post on the sequencer.de forum from 2011) claim that - according to rumours (?!) - around 250.000 items of the M1 were built. But as you can read on megasynth.de this information was NOT confirmed by Korg when being asked about it. They only officially confirmed that they reached the serial number of 100.000 in November 1990. Quote: "KORG bestätigt diese Zahl zwar nicht, waren aber bereit mir mitzuteilen, dass in den ersten zwei Jahren 100.000 Geräte gebaut wurden, und die Seriennummer 100.000 im November 1990 erreicht war."
Since the number of sold devices was definitely going down more and more with the arrival of the 01/W in 1991, it's quite obvious why Korg never confirmed that number. One could guess that they came close to the DX7 towards the end...but never actually "beat" it. Why else should a company NOT brag about having built the most sold synthesizer worldwide? ;-) The only possible way to find out the "real" number might be to check out the serial numbers of all still existing M1 devices on the second-hand market...and find the highest one of those.
Easy, the M1 goes from serial 000001 up, and Korg had no gaps in the serial numbers. I have serial 321014. It is from 94 according to the soldered ROM.
@@lovemadeinjapan Wow! That's really impressive. It must be one of the very last ones. If anyone has a higher serial number, please post it here. Thanks! :-)
I wanna get one
Bro really had it out for the M1 1:03
I had a T3EX for over 25 years and it was my one stop shop for music production for many years! I milked everything I could out of those 16 notes of polyphony, 2 fx units, 8 track sequencer with lousy 47ppqn of note resolution. It was known as the M1 on steroids but the Korg T series was priced way too high to have a big impact and the 01W was released a couple of years later with a price closer to the M1 when it was first released. I seriously considered trading my T3 for an 01W but decided against it because I actually preferred the sound of the T3. Saying that, I had an 01W for many years and it was certainly better in terms of better fx, twice as much polyphony and a better sequencer with double the tracks and multi timbral parts and increases 96ppqn note resolution.
T3EX was the M1 architecture with a bunch more samples. 01/W was improved architecture with some of the M1 samples, but at least 80% new ones. IMO they are complimentary, as both are missing of the best of each other.
@@apreviousseagle836 spot on. I found the T series piano (as opposed to the M1 piano) to be more playable than the stock O1W piano.
@@madness8556 It was slightly brighter. I was never that much into Acoustic Pianos though. I was more into the FM style Electric Pianos. I feel the 01/W was stronger in this dept, as it had a couple of really good FM EP samples (probably from the DX7)
@@apreviousseagle836 yes indeed the O1W had alot more EP multi sounds then both the M and T series.
@@madness8556 Did you ever play the 01/Wpro's Acoustic Piano? The stock 01/W only had one sample. The pro added another sample that sounded just a bit better. Kind of like the M1 which only had that M1 Piano, but the T-Series added another one that sounded like the WS EX sample (Which is the one that you enjoyed playing)
I have thiis feeling that Serum is the real best selling synth of all time
"So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?"
listen, i get that you're upset that certain patches were used in new age songs/stations a lot but let's be real here, this little device is probably one of the greatest synthesizers ever made
can you get me to put it on the internet through the keyboard to export the information inside those MSC cards not those feeling I'm talking about those others you have so I can import it into my Korg M1 keyboard because I don't have the cards physically I wanted to import them. I'm not referring to feeling I'm talking about the other cards. please.
09:04 sounds cool to me.
I’ve always been an analog synth guy and I’ve seen all the good analog synth companies go bankrupt or having to settle making crapy pcm stuff to survive like Roland did. I have a little bit of respect for the DX7 because of the underlying FM synthesis method but its inconvenient interface made it near impossible for anybody to make their own sounds so 99% of the people who ever owned a DX7 never made a patch themselves and used it as a rompler. Now the M1 and all other successful PCM based synth that followed were an additional nail in the analog synth coffin. In the 90s I was like ok this digital fad will stop, people will realize it sounds like crap and manufacturers will make analog synths again but no, we got more PCM crap despite the fact that by the end of the 90s the prices of 80s analog gear started to increase. At one point in the early 2000 synth companies started to notice the popularity of 80s analog gear and came out with the first generation of virtual analog synth. These sounded better than PCM but IMO not as good as true analog synths. It took 10 more excruciating years before we could see modern analog synth hit the market. Nowadays we have a pretty good selection of analog synths on the market and we have a better balance of analog and digital on the market. But each time I ear a Korg M1 I vomit in my mouth because it brings me back to the worst period in synth history.
It really is a sad history...at least there is a 2nd act happening today :)
I had no idea one could even replicate an M1 sounding piano with a couple of Jupiter 8's, let alone a Steinway
People associate the M1 with the songs made with them which makes them hate the instrument ….Every synthesiser made will put a time stamp on music the Oberheim/Prophet/Juno/Jupiter/PPG Wave early 80s DX7/D.50 mid 80s the M1 the 90s technology evolves each decade but you can’t just degrade them because you hated songs that were made with them !!!! People say cheap sounds etc when these synths first came out it was evident they were a milestone in technology affordable and accessible !!!!
Look at the Fairlight CMI and Synclavier cost the price of a house !!! And the sounds were crap but then they were groundbreaking but you don’t have to be objective because it doesn’t suit your music taste.
Selling my M1 keyboard.
Don't play the patches that wound. Break the cycle of synth sadomasochism.
Apart from the millennial snowflake whine preface, which was really, really bad... this demo has been quite lukewarm. No cookie.
99 sounds but my patch aint one
We would be better served by just talking about the instrument and it's history. While you have negative associations with the instrument, others just came for the story of the instrument. I know more about your feelings than where it was used in your discussion.
Fair enough, based on your comment and a few others, I’ll do a follow up piece that is focused solely on the history of the m1 as it is a fairly influential instrument.
This is got to be one of the most difficult keyboards ever to reprogram especially when you lose the memory backup battery inside of it what I ate did lose all your soundbanks will be lost if you don't have the cards to reload to soundbanks back into this and one animal believe me you'll be hooking your system up to a midi system in downloading programs to program this thing via and maybe hook up through your keyboard and USB difficult keyboard I like it but I don't like the fact that when the backup battery dies so does your sound bites are lost completely I have seven keyboards vintage keyboards and never have had problems with the cord and one where the other keyboards the banks are still all stored in the factory default settings this thing they are lost for good if their memory battery should ever die and I'm pretty sure a few years out there had that problem
I ran into that too, but importing factory sound via midi is just a snap, compared to changing backup battery on any synth. I wish every brand put the backup battery inside a lid, so we don't need to disassemble the shell for that every 20 years.
I think some of the sampled sounds are like emulator sounds.
01W it was a blast . This is an cheap imitation of dx7 and d50
No it wasn't but it bored the crap out of me. Had one used.
BS. 3 years newer 01W shared the same AI synth architecture as M1, except with 6MB ROM vs M1's 4MB. With full length PCM, M1 is much better than D50's Frankstein approach of tone assembly, which even with 4 partials still cannot produce any usable keyboard or acoustical sounds. DX7 is unique in its own way, but the only useful sounds of it are Elec Pianos or FM bass.
Man the M1 was and still is very painful to hear. I have PTSD for it as the sounds are quite dreadful.
This is the first time I have ever disliked a video on RUclips. It's not so much that I like the M1. Rather that you didn't provide very much useful information.
First, though the M1 used to be the best-selling synth of all time, I believe that the MicroKORG overtook that title long ago.
Next, if you wish to be critical, you could have focused on the M1's:
- Lack of knobs or sliders for an interface.
- Lack of a resonant filter.
- Lack of significant sound-shaping.
Instead, you spent most of your effort complaining about middle-school trauma and PTSD inspired by hearing the sounds of the M1.
You say early on that PCM is "cheap" yet you acknowledge that the 4 MB or ROM installed on the M1 was expensive. I'm guessing that you were comparing ROM memory of this instrument to RAM used in hardware samplers that were contemporary to the M1?
You recognized appropriately that the M1 was the first ROMpler and that it was a workstation. You discuss how it continued the migration away from analog synthesis started by the DX7. However, you overlooked the Roland D-50 as an important step between the two. The introduction of the D-50 was what killed sales for the DX7. One of the biggest reasons for this was the fact that the D-50 had a built-in reverb which significantly enhanced the sound of the instrument. Korg learned from this and included two multi-effects in the M1 (including reverb) which further enhanced how "polished" it sounded.
The production value of your footage here is excellent - good lighting and framing.
I'm not sure if the mono audio was a choice or a mistake.
You had some decent information, but so much of this video is weighed down with your personal baggage that it practically invalidates it as a useful reference. This was more of an opinion video than an informative one.
I challenge you to focus more on useful information for videos on this channel and if you wish to complain about how an instrument traumatized you, label such a video as a rant and make a separate video with useful information.
To be clear, my intent in writing this comment is not to be mean or cruel. It is to help you produce better content in the future. Good luck with that.
Peace.
I fully agree!
Was about to comment similar. But you brought it to the point an I could have never be that clear.
I am not sure about the channel. Music tec? But it seems a bit about a guy and his passion. Not that I care but it opens many questions about intention and quality of the content. Is there a video about other tec beside synths? and more facts please. some stories are nice but are they based on facts or just collectors anecdotes? Playing presets is not doing justice to any synth. Compare strengths and weaknesses of synths.
Appreciate the feedback :). Will do a follow up piece that is focused more on the history of the m1 and less on my opinion and personal experience.
@Alamo Music Audio Lab
This was the first video of yours I watched. I've enjoyed and liked many others in the meantime. I've even enjoyed your insight enough to subscribe to your channel.
I still have my M1 that I bought in 1990. I set it up with pianos, organs, electric pianos (Rhodes and Wurlitzers), as well as some simple standard synth sounds including an assortment of brass and strings. For me it became my meat-and-potatoes gigging board. It's got a great keybed and it covers a variety of useful sounds. Yet, I don't think of it as a synth.
Heck, from a sound "design" standpoint, it even gives ROMplers a bad name. I have an E-MU Command Station and a Roland JV-2080 and I can make truly unique sounds with them. But almost anything you do with an M1 sounds like it's from an M1.
You joked about what it said about us that it was the most popular "synth" of all time. What it said was that gigging musicians were grateful to have a single board that didn't break their back that could convincingly sound like a piano, electric pianos, organs, and other staple instruments. And it provided some cool choir sounds to boot! It wasn't innovative from a programming and design perspective. It was innovative (for the time) for the realistic way it represented so many useful instruments in one package...even drums! With all that, plus 8-part multi-timbrality, plus a sequencer, it was also the first workstation you could use to create an entire track.
Is it as unique a sound design tool as a DX7, a D-50, or a Wavestation? Nope. It has some iconic patches, but I've never been able to do much more than layer the samples in different combinations to get different sounds.
Thanks for accepting my critique as a good sport. You've got a great channel here. Keep up the good work!
Peace.
It is not that easy. You should take into account that the MicroKORG came in various models and flavours. If you take flavours of the M1, the sales count goes over 500k. The T1/T2/T3/M1R/M3 are as much M1 as MicroKORGs are MicroKORGs. The all have the exact same 16-bit 16-channel sound generator and FX line.
One things for sure, the M1 is streets ahead of the chinese rubbish being produced today and crucially will still outlast it.
Horrible demo... just play the M1 demo songs and you'll know why it outsold the primitive DX7 and one-trick-pony D-50 !
I think that he’s very much missing the perspective of “what was available at the time,” and “how much different it was from everything else at the time”.
Just seems like a very subjective Retrosight about what he didn’t like about the music that was around at the time that used the M1.
His Jokes about PTSD are a little distasteful and mentioned in an ill-thought choice of words trying to represent some form of “humour”….
…. however joking about PTSD or any other sort of depression is NOT cool.
Go check out any of the DrMix Korg M1 videos for a less subjective response to the technology that was deployed at the time in 1988z
Well, I certainly would not want to have anything to do with a person who prefers grunge to music; nonetheless, the author of this video has hist right to free speech and therefore making jokes about PTSD.
@@dvamateur Yep, and we have the right to give a 👎
😎👍
I realized this guy hates everything 😂
"middle school memories are not something most people enjoy reliving" you do look like the type to say that lol please tell me you weren't a locker accessory at one point lol
I had a more positive memory. I always kept the image of that sleek machine in high school in my brain, and when I was 40, I found these go for peanuts, and bought one. To my surprise it excited some serious GAS, and it is capable of so much more than playing the piano for singing Phil Collins' "Think Twice" along.
I share your M1 pain. I cannot listen to bands like Roxette anymore. Sampled instruments insteam of real instruments like the piano.
I didn't buy one when I had the money when I was a teen. I bought a car instead.
Totally triggered
Dude, if this keyboard gives you PTSD, maybe you should have a different sales person do the review. This is one of the grimmest, darkest reviews I’ve ever heard.
Yeah it was weird. I have never had PTSD from a synthesizer, well, except for the Hartmann Neuron, because of its $8k price tag
In hindsight maybe for me the M1 wasn't the best. The D50 was unique and so was the DX7
The M1 was much better than the Dx7, don't play yourself
@@FIXTREME no it wasnt