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Korg Polysix | |
Article from Electronics & Music Maker, August 1982 |
As if these facilities weren't enough, there is a bank of buttons to the right of the instrument that enables you to store up to 32 of your own sounds in 4 banks of 8 locations in a computer memory. Storing a sound is simplicity itself. You push a slider switch (located to the right of the 8 memory selectors) to 'Enable', and the red Write button will now begin to flash. You then press the grey Manual button followed by the bank and memory selector buttons to specify the preset location, whereupon the LED on the Write button will go out and the sound is stored. By pushing the slider switch back to 'Disable', the sound is protected from erasure.
The control panel is in permanent Edit and should you feel that the sound you have just recalled from a particular memory needs a slower attack or more filter sweep you simply move the appropriate control until you are happy with the sound. If you want to store the updated sound, you just go through the Write procedure but instead of pressing the Manual button, you only press the relevant memory location buttons and the updated sound is stored. If you don't want to store the revised sound, you simply press the memory location buttons and the sound reverts to its original state.
Storage and editing of all the synthesiser functions (except the Arpeggiator) is done with the memory circuits and sounds can be 'dumped' on to cassette, in which case the 4 bank selectors double as 'To tape, From tape, Verify, Error/Cancel' switches (upon selection of the tape interface slider located to the left of the top bank of buttons). Although I've not tried this procedure it is reputed to take only 8 seconds to dump and retrieve sounds to and from cassette.
The Korg also has a key assign mode. There are 4 buttons associated with this section which are 'Poly' which puts the keyboard into the polyphonic 6 voice mode. 'Unison' puts all 6 voices under control of 1 key for some stunning lead line sounds. 'Chord Memory' allows you to play a chord and hold it so that by playing only 1 note the chord remains constant. This is particularly effective with intervals of a 5th and an octave. 'Hold' as the name implies sustains any notes indefinitely.
Finally, to the left of the keyboard are 2 wheels, one for injection of vibrato as described earlier, the other for pitch bending. This latter wheel has a variable sensitivity control so that you preset your bends very precisely to a tone, a third, fifth or whatever. These are generally comfortable to use and a great improvement on KORG's usual joystick but I share Dave Crombie's view in his review of Korg's Mono/Poly (E&MM April 1982) that it is difficult to tell whether or not the wheel is back at the centre of its travel because the detent is so weak.
In appearance, the Polysix is a smart, professional looking instrument that is not too dissimilar to a Prophet 5. The control panel is blue and the casework is a smart wood finish, with brackets on the back of the instrument for winding the mains cable around. The Polysix is very sturdily built and it's good to see that no compromises have been made in its construction.
I think the Korg Polysix is a winner. It is capable of producing rich orchestral sounds as well as delicate solo sounds. The programmable section makes it ideal for stage and studio work alike and the edit facilities make it very flexible indeed. I must admit that, although I appreciate the usefulness of memories, I feel that some people don't explore the full potential of a synthesiser equipped with such facilities. Instead they select a memory as an easy way out. I have heard many reports of Prophets, Jupiter 8s, etc. being returned for service with the original factory presets in them, not one original sound anywhere. This probably explains why so much synth music sounds so similar these days. I just hope that people take the time to explore the Polysix and not rely on the factory presets because it is capable of producing a wide range of sounds.
My only criticisms are that I would like to have seen a noise generator and polyphonic portamento included. The Arpeggiator trigger input is not directly compatible with ARP, Roland or Seq. Circuits but may be interfaced using the Korg MS-02 Interface or E&MM Universal Trigger Interface.
All in all, though, I give Korg full marks for producing a great synth. It has all the right features on it and I personally prefer it to some of the top of the range polysynths I've played. As these synths have all gone up in price recently putting most of them in the £3500 bracket the Polysix, at £1200 or less is a very important instrument and will attract a lot of customers — including me.
The Korg Polysix is distributed in the U.K, by Rose Morris & Co Ltd, (Contact Details).
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