Every so often, something comes along that’s just irresistibly lovable. So it was with the Korg monotron. With a price of US$60 (or far less), a pocketable size, the ability to run on batteries, a nice, glowing red LFO knob, a delicious filter, and toy-like playability, everyone loves the monotron. People who have racks of vintage synths love the monotron. People who have never seen a synth before love the monotron.

Then, along came the Korg Monotribe, which grafted ultra-simplified analog drum circuitry and a sequencer, and … somehow, you wanted to love the thing instead of just loving it. I talked to a number of people who struggled to find something to say about the Monotribe – it didn’t have that magical effect the monotron did. Readers didn’t like thd drum sounds. The unit was bigger and pricier, but still lacked real control voltage or MIDI without hacking. Some of these units found very happy homes, to be sure, some mods were impressive, and it was great to see the circuit designs, which are quite clever, released. (Look closely at that design, and I think you begin to appreciate what was beautiful about the Monotribe that a lot of people missed: the circuits for the drums, while some folks maligned them, are incredibly elegant and simple.) But the bottom line: the Monotribe simply wasn’t the sensation the monotron was.

Well, Korg has wisely returned to the cute, impossible-not-to-buy, pocket-sized monotron package with two new models. And suddenly, that feeling — that “yeah, I have to have that” feeling, rather than the “I think I might want it” — is back.

The monotron DUO looks like it’s just a monotron with a new paint job, but it’s not. In addition to bumping from one VCO to a far more interesting two, the X-MOD circuitry comes straight out of Korg’s ridiculously-brilliant Mono/Poly classic. (Edit: I should add that the X-MOD is not specifically what made the Mono/Poly great – but it is nice to see anything off the original. In this case, it’s essentially a pitched FM, as readers point out, and as you can see in the video.) And that turns to another lesson learned from the monotron: bring back great circuits (like the filter on the MS) into modern designs. Like tasting the Tootsie Roll candy you had as a kid, it remains every bit as sweet. It’s otherwise the same monotron VCO square wave synth (double doubling your enjoyment in the process), but the addition of X-Mod should be good fun, as was the LFO on the previous model. Update: it appears the DUO also has the key range switch present on the Monotribe – bonus!

Then there’s the monotron DELAY. The silkscreen looks like it escaped from a movie tie-in toy for The Last Starfighter. But what you get is both that brilliant analog filter (the MS-10/MS-20) and a new “Space Delay.” I’m guessing the delay is digital, as it offers “analog-style echoes,” but no matter. Korg may have just created something more useful than the original monotron, because now you have a simple delay unit and the filter and the Stylophone-style controls in one unit, with an audio input jack.

Yeah, the ongoing emphasis on the “analog muscle” in these is a little funny, but let’s be honest: you want these. 2011 just got its first obvious Christmas list entries. And some of us will be looking for a holiday we can make up just to get them sooner.

Hope to have a hands-on — and some sound samples of the delay, which we know only by its silkscreen YouTube demos from Korg JP right now — soon.

http://korg.com/monotrons

See also DE:BUG coverage [Deutsch] – hi, guys, see you tonight at your Berlin Music Days party!

Want to win over electronic sound geeks? Korg’s found a simple formula: give them a steady diet of compact, affordable, fun toys that can also be serious sound tools. And so, Korg actually manages to upstage some “bigger” tech announcements this week with some good, clean gear candy. Aside from the expected Monotribe, there’s the unexpected Wavedrum Mini.

You’ve probably already seen the Korg Monotribe, the follow-up to the stocking stuffer analog handheld, the Monotron. It’s been leaked and teased as the words “under strict embargo” have come to mean in the music tech blogosphere “publish as quickly as possible.”

If you just joined us, though, the Monotribe is best described as a Monotron with step sequencer, new control features, analog sync, and simple drum circuits.

Let me boil down some predictions about this instrument, due summer this year.

1. Price will be the deciding factor. Keep the street well under US$200, Korg, and it’ll be a blockbuster. Go above that, and we’ll have to start comparing it to a pretty broad variety of boutique instruments – oh, and lots of stuff on eBay, even from a company called Korg.

2. More evolved synth control, not drums, is the killer feature. Yes, there are “discrete analog” drum sounds, but since they’re fixed, that doesn’t mean much. (Leave that to the modders.) So, instead, see the synth side.

I love the Monotron’s sound, when combined with its deliciously-raucous LFO and classic MS-10 / MS-20 Korg analog filter. Revisiting Korg’s own filter circuit was a stroke of genius. Extend on that success with the Monotribe by adding step-sequencing and recording, and add different control modes (including the ability to hit actual notes on its tiny ribbon), and it all becomes more useful. I also like pushing the frequency range. There’s a double-edged sword here, too, though – by adding features, it’s apparent what’s missing. And as a synth, the Monotribe is pretty limited. It pales oddly versus the (affordable when introduced) Roland TB303; I’d hesitate to even make the comparison. (But see item #1, which overrides the rest.)

3. The design is a bit of a disappointment – but it could be more fun than a Monotron. The original Monotron was iconic and adorable, tiny enough to fit in your hand, dirt-cheap and simple enough to give to non-synth friends in place of wine. The new Monotribe is mostly utilitarian-looking, as if several units were cut and paste together, and with the extra bulk, you still don’t get niceties like, um, MIDI. But no matter: again, assuming they’ve got the price right, this appears to be a fun little busy box for synth addicts that can make most iOS apps look soulless by comparison.

4. Sync is more fun than you think. So, that sync jack will take an audio pulse. That means you could send this a click and sync to a DAW – or, I’d imagine, do some fun audio triggering with it. Hacks should therefore be really easy on the sync side. And it could wind up being sync that moves this into the must-buy category.

Demos:

It’ll be a fascinating test – can you take something ultra-minimal, make it a little less minimal, and have it still work?

And yes, it’s funny to hear the word “analog” turn into a “new” marketing buzzword.

Will people make whole albums with it? They will, indeed. Listen to Chris Randall tell CDM about putting the Monotron on EPs.

And a Mobile Drum

The Korg Wavedrum Mini is equally adorable. On the Wavedrum Mini, it’s easier to complain about absent MIDI output since it’d make a terrific little controller, but that’s about the only gripe so far. Again, the major unknown – and it could be the deciding factor – is price.

The Wavedrum Mini is otherwise an ultra-portable drum pad with speaker, and a “sensor clip” — I’m guessing just a trigger — that you can put on anything. There are built-in patterns and things, but let’s skip to the good parts.

It’s a win for:
1. Anyone who needs to play with batteries.
2. Anyone who needs something ultra-portable for practice (especially with the speaker and headphone jack).
3. Anyone wanting a fun toy to play with drum triggers, using that clip.

It’s just a shame the clip and pad can’t be used with MIDI or USB or Bluetooth or anything but audio. Makers, time for us to step in and offer a little DIY alternative, huh?

Due summer 2011.

Full disclosure: Create Digital Music produces and sells the competing MeeBlip. Okay, that was fun to say.

Looking for all the world like it was inspired by the Gakken SX-150 synth, but packed with Korg analog electronics, the monotron has to be one of the biggest surprise announcements from a major vendor in recent memory. The tiny has the filter from the classic KORG MS-10 and MS-20 and is called a “real analog” synth.

It’s also likely to be very hackable, though we’ll know more about that soon. I think we’ve found the stocking stuffer of 2010, and it’s only March.

Pricing: MSRP US$85
Availability: August 2010
(note: this is official information from KORG USA; for some reason some other dates and prices are floating around)

Specs:

• A ribbon controller for vibrato, glide, and pitch
• Circuitry: one voltage-controlled oscillator, one voltage-controlled filter, one low-frequency oscillator.
• Controls: five knobs, one switch.
• LED blinks with the LFO.
• Same voltage-controlled filter circuitry as on the legendary KORG MS-10 and MS-20 semi-modulars – now, if we could only convince KORG to give us a monotron Pro with more of the MS in it.
• Runs on two AAA’s
• External audio input (updated) for filtering any external input – awesome. (Thanks, arne/styrofoammusic!)

Official product info:
Monotron Page @ KORG

Videos:

Via Engadget, MusicRadar, Gizmodo

As seen in September on Palm Sounds, though worth repeating here.

Griff Promo Movie from Daniel Webb on Vimeo.

Promos are good, but actually learning how to use the tool is often the best way to judge it musically. It’s well worth going through the whole walkthrough, as that should give you an idea of whether or not this way of working is your style:

Griff Walkthrough from Daniel Webb on Vimeo.

Head to the official Griff site for more:

planetgriff.com

And you know, while we’ve seen some apps come close, we really haven’t seen an iPhone app quite this comprehensive.

Making music with Windows Mobile – Mobile Minute

Some, like Pocket Stompbox and a Theremin, are more of a novelty. But the free Frequency Tuner looks handy. (Of course, Brad will also tempt you with productivity-killing Windows Mobile apps.)

For more of this kind of tiny music gear, don’t miss the Palm Sounds (that’s palm as in your hand, not Palm OS necessarily).

Tiny MP3 players have become ubiquitous, but MiJam thinks you’ll want to use pocket-able toy-like music gadgets that make music. At about US$20 each (according to Technabob, these odd little devices purport to behave as musical instruments, down to what looks like either membrane or very slim buttons for keys:

miJamm Mini Lixx is supposed to be a guitar, with buttons for frets.

miniJamm Mini Drums has miniscule pads for drums.

Mini Keys is a faux-synth, with what looks like eight keys.

Mini Mixer pumps out a beat, digital effects of some kind, “scratch”, and whatever “voice” means, with tempo and volume controls.

miJam minis, via the handheld music making blog Palm Sounds

The idea with all of them is to plug your iPod through the devices, then jam along to tunes. For $20, it seems all they give you is headphone in and/or out and some sampled sounds. But I find myself strangely fascinated by how bizarre the whole concept is … and I wonder if it might be possible to create a device this small that actually was useful (albeit for more than $20).

All that’s missing: the world’s tiniest violin.

Stuff them in your pocket with last week’s pocketable device, the Pacemaker DJ MP3 player

This isn’t the first weird device idea to come from miJam. In December, they unveiled a $30 “scratch mixer” which also turned out to be just a device with some sampled sounds. iLounge reviewed the mixer, drum sticks, and “guitar.” Most were instruments in shape only, and the gizmos are intended as toys, but the ideas are still interesting. Of course, none is as surreal as the interactive iPod-compatible flower: