#41

Randomly stumbled upon this paper the other night, A Study of the Korg
MS10 & MS20 Filters by Timothy E. Stinchcombe, which is relevant to this thread and possibly of interest to a few of you:

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#42

:heart_eyes: very relevant to my interests, thank you!

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#43

Seconding the leaky, noisiness of the ms-20. I was shocked at the noise it spits out even with a clean patch, but it’s really so characterful it more than makes up for it. It was my first analog synth, so I was kind of looking for something rough as an antidote to the clinical sounds I was getting from vsts. Predictably became a gateway drug.

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#44

I sold the first synth I ever bought - the MiniBrute (which I bought after watching the Geoff Barrow video that Mylar Melodies made!) - to finance an MS20 Mini recently and it’s the best decision I’ve made, despite my sentimental attachment to the Brute (and the great sound). The MS20 feels “real” which is a stupid thing to say and I can’t explain any better than that, I’m afraid! I’ve had Moogs and a few other things (currently I have a couple of Werkstatts which I’m seeking to modify sometime soon) and the MS20 Mini feels like it belongs alongside them - offering something different to the sound of the Moog oscillators and filters whilst having comparable gravitas.

Edit:
Ezra Buchla made an interesting reference to the MS20 Mini in his interview for the Sound+Process podcast:

“Do whatever’s easiest and most accessible to you. Don’t think that you have to buy this and that because that’s what people are talking about online - that’s crazy. If you like playing with computers, then play with something on the computer. If you don’t want to see a screen - which is completely legitimate - then get an MS-20 or something. Korg made an MS-20 Mini and it’s cheap - you can get one… and it does a lot. It costs the same as the case and power supply for your new Eurorack, right? And I would be extremely sceptical of someone who claimed thay they’ve already done everything they can do with the MS-20 so now they have to get some more shit. It just depends what your interested in. If it’s about not spending money and making the sounds now and that’s the kind of sound then that’s what you should get: the cheap thing that makes the sound!”

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#45

There’s a play list of loads of videos created solely with the MS-20. If I ever reach the point where I think I’ve exhausted the sound, I’ll revisit these and remind myself that I haven’t!

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#46

I learned a lot about synthesis from messing around with MS-20 softsynths years back, had a go on a real one once or twice and probably will get the Mini some day :slight_smile: It doesn’t make much to achieve instant Merzbow on them. :smiley:

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#47

That guy is amazing - I have so many patch sheets from taking screen shots of his patches - he’s been doing them for years it seems

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#48

He puts up photos of each patch on his blog, it seems - links are in each video. What an absolute hero! I wish I knew even a tenth of what he knows about the MS20!

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#49

This thread led me to this site…

Wow!

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#50

I need to lock myself away for a few weeks with only my MS20 Mini, those patch diagrams and some form of recording device!

#51

Not sure it’s sacrilege or not but thoughts on the Behringer K-2? I’ve just bought one and it sounds great (the sound and modulation possibilities are more important to me than it being an original Korg). It’s also fits into Eurorack.

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#52

I’ve got an original ms-20 and I’m thinking about a k2

#53

20190828_184141
20190828_184141.jpg4032×3024 3.57 MB

This is my MS20. It sits in a pelican case next to my modular, but is used as a stand-alone instrument. The reverb is just a bit of subtle plate. At first I didn’t like the SQ1 but ive really found it to be a fun performance tool.

What I love about the MS20 is its muscular sound and the design of its interface. It’s also the only thing of its kind ive owned where i have really liked the sound of the FM.

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#54

Do you (or does anyone else) have experience building one of these from the SynthCube kits? Documentation seems poor at best

#55

Just found this thread… I kinda shifted my focus a few years ago and since then the MS-20 (mini) has been the core of my studio work. I wanted to look at it more as an all-in-one instrument/system and also give myself the limitation of a slightly more traditional voice architecture that still has enough flexibility. Also after not having what I felt was my own “instrument” and offered some more performative/action based functionality rather than electronics in general for years I was increasingly inspired by people like Felix Kubin who has used it for decades now or someone like Thomas Lehn’s use of the Synthi - learn it inside and out and all the subtleties and control like you would a violin. It is so much more than the sum of its parts, and while I do use it in conjunction sometimes with other little odds and ends even after years of use I still find new things I like in it, especially when you get into really picky patching where just the slightest nudge or waiting for it to heat up properly can send it drifting in different directions. My last album is actually only live recorded single track MS-20 and there was even more material and piles of patch sheets related to that which will just keep accumulating now. I think I’ll get a second one that I can make some modifications to which will offer up even more possibilities while still staying relatively true to the limited nature of the instrument/system while bending it a bit too. I’d also love to get an MS-50 and MS-04 some day if possible.

I do wish I had gotten the MS-20m or one of the full size kits while it was available, but I didn’t think it would be gone so fast… so while I usually steer clear of Behringer the K-2 is kinda appealing in its form factor, having the switchable filter, so on. I wonder if it is direct enough of a clone that it mods are also possible to it.

While the sound/character may not be for everyone I really don’t think there is another stand alone instrument out there that offers so much possibility, except for maybe a Synthi or Cwejman S-1, but both are in a different league price wise.

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#56

I recall people on Muffs building the EAS stuff a while ago, and the designer was semi-active on there. Apparently the Mindreader was the most difficult to calibrate, but I don’t know if the design was updated or its just the nature of the thing. On my mini it seems to be the circuitry most affected by warm up time. So if you are a novice builder and aren’t patient or have troubleshooting and calibration experience it might not be the easiest choice for a DIY project.

#57

I’d love to hear this.

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#58

cheers! I’m afraid I don’t have a bandcamp up for streaming, but there are samples from it floating around on various websites, soundcloud, so on. Generally it is all very reduced, focused on texture, and resembles a lot of my other recent work by sounding more like a super lo-fi field recording of a small bug than anything else.

Here is one:

In Europe SoundOhm or Metamkine has it, or direct from Senufo Editions (plus I recommend the other releases HIGHLY!), and Careful Catalog in the US has copies. Mine are in storage at the moment I’m afraid.

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#59

This is lovely. Not at all what I was expecting. Lots of breathing room in this.

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#60

There’s detailed comparison of the Mini & K-2 that was posted a couple of days ago. (In terms of sound, not internals.)

I picked up a lightly used MS-20 module a few months ago, before the K-2 appeared. It’ll be interesting to see if they maintain their prices now that the K-2 is available. I suspect they will, because of the limited number and different audiences, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mini gets discontinued.

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