User manual KORG M1

[. . . ] Korg M1 Manual 2/01 Basic Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 01 Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 02 Edit Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11 Edit Combination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 12 Sequencer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 17 Global. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 24 MIDI Exclusive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 27 Cards 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 35 Cards 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 40 Reference/FAQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 45 Quick Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 51 Basic Operation The M1 has synthesizer sounds, sampled sounds, and drum sounds permanently stored as 144 multisound waveforms. Additional waveforms can temporarily be accessed from an MSC ROM card inserted in the rear slot. [. . . ] Too many of the patches are tuned in fourths, which is even worse than fifths if you're trying to figure out what key you're in. Some others were near-duplicates with only the retuning of one oscillator by an octave (or a fourth). We spotted two actual duplicates with only the name changed--Analg Lead and Moog Lead, and Pick Bass and Bassey. 2 Nothing in this bank stands out, except for five synth basses, two of which are very similar to each other. The usual pile of string and choir pads--and never mind patches tuned in fifths, Fat String (which also has a pitch swoop when you play hard) is just plain tuned a fifth high, in the wrong key. No brass except for 2001, which sounds very analog but does feature a nice rich swell. No less than three single-oscillator patches use the double reed wave; they're virtually identical except for vibrato and a little filter enveloping. And don't try to play chords with Saxy; it sounds full-bodied on solo lines, but an inherent problem in the M1's hardware causes a pulse wave this loud to distort and then cut out entirely when the internal signal path overloads. Korg PCM Card Sets MSC/MPC-01 MSC/MPC-02 Synth MSC/MPC-03 Drums MSC/MPC-04 Orchestra MSC/MPC-05 Piano MSC/MPC-06 Fretted Instruments MSC/MPC-07 Synth 2 MSC/MPC-08 Percussion MSC/MPC-09 Organ MSC/MPC-10 Ethnic MSC/MPC-11 Brass MSC/MPC-12 Synth 3 MSC/MPC-13 Ethnic 2 MSC/MPC-14 Sound Effects MSC/MPC-15 Drums 2 MSC/MPC-16 Environment Korg MSC/MPC-01 Korg's own sound support for the M1 includes a series of card pairs, each consisting of a PCM (wave data) card bundled with a standard program ROM card. The first pair in the series is pretty much meat and potatoes--long on the strings and brass, but not long on imagination. There are even a few key and velocity splits within the single patches, one of the M1's less useful capabilities. Our excitement level rose a bit when we heard the wonderful pulsing machine drone of Talking M1, and patches like Chin-Brass (brass with a chiffy attack), while not exactly visionary, could certainly be valuable additions to a song. The PCM card has seven new waves: A string section, a solo violin, a choir, saxophone, an additional piano, marimba, harp, and "spring" ( metallic attack with a sustaining tonal loop). The piano has very short samples, but at least it's an alternative to the usual M1 piano. The best reason to buy the card may be for the extra string section, which can be layered with the internal M1 strings for some very rich pads. --JA Korg MSC/MPC-03 Drums MSC-03 offers 28 new drum and percussion waveforms: four kicks, one snare, three hats, a ride, a tom, and several percussion instruments (such as tabla, bongos, and timbale). Three of the kicks are super-solid and punchy, the fourth is heavily processed. We're suprised (and disappointed) that there is only one snare drum. Kudos to Korg, though, for including the oft-over-looked foot-closed hi-hat. There are, of course, a bunch of cool drum kits (ambient, techno, etc. ), but the real surprises are the knockout non-drum patches. The gorgeous new age material (Mythology), EPs (MagicRoad and SmoothRoad), and special effects (WhaleSong, with its undersea echoes and upward bend of a minor third in response to aftertouch) are quite good. --GR Korg MSC/MPC-04 Orchestra We're discouraged by this card set. [. . . ] · Initialize the M1 to factory default settings: Press INT, CARD, and COMBI buttons while switching the power on. (Warning: This Korg M1, Page 49 deletes all internal memory, including all sounds, sequences, drum kits, and global settings. If you have any common sense, don't do this without a backup. ) Can I put new waveforms into an M1?Presently the M1 can access new waveforms only through the rear slot with a commercially made MPC/MSC sound card set. [. . . ]