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SoundFoundation Producer Series Gold Card No. 2 | |
for the Korg WavestationArticle from Music Technology, August 1993 |
Get a taste of this new gold blend for the Korg Wavestation
The first thing that you notice about this SoundFoundation card is that it comes with lots of documentation: Performance List, Patch List, Wave Sequences List and Performance Notes (for example: "Atmospheric! Try octaves on the bass and a slow melody line for full effect. Try Vector Joystick"). There's even a sheet telling you just how great the sounds are and how they make use of the EX in Wavestation EX. (Sorry unexpanded owners, this one's not for you.) Having discarded all this excess verbiage (who reads the manuals anyway?) you plug in the card, play a few notes and... hey, this isn't half bad. SoundFoundation are a spin-off from the Advanced Media Group (AMG) who originally brought you the Valhala cards and billions of sample CDs. And in many ways, this ROM is the natural successor to the Valhala Gold Cards for the D50 and M1 that I was raving about two years ago. Out of the 50 Performances and 35 new Patches on this card, it's hard to find fault with any, and trying to choose a list of favourites is almost impossible.
This may simply mean that the programmer and I have similar tastes, but I don't think so. Most people buy Wavestations because, in a world of samploid AWM/FM tedium, the Wavey is a synthesiser in the true rock'n'roll sense (Eh? - Ed). And most Wavestation EX owners will love this card because it pushes the synth's performance capabilities to the edge: sweeping textures, punchy brasses, and pads that previously needed a Jupiter 8, a D50, and an M1 all receiving on the same MIDI channel. OK, some of them are a little close to the factory sounds, but what the hell - they're still damn good!
The card also proves impressive in the wave and patch departments: 32 new wave sequences are supplied, along with 35 new patches - every one of which is excellent and makes use of at least one of the newly programmed Wavesequences (I checked.). But, given that so many cards draw so heavily upon the internal ROM Waveseqences, it's hardly surprising that this card sounds so fresh.
Above all, I like this SoundFoundation card because it makes me want to play music. It raises my spirits. And there's not much you can say that about these days. Buy with confidence.
Usefulness | Highly |
Value for money | Not bad |
Star Quality | As good they get |
Price | £50 inc. VAT |
More from | AMG, (Contact Details) |
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Quality Control
Review by Gordon Reid
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