Korg legacy collection re authorization mod#
Korg legacy collection re authorization software#

If I had to guess - which I do, because I have no inside information one way or the other - I would say that the Legacy Collection might be two disparate development projects that happened to come to fruition simultaneously, and which the top brass at Korg decided to combine into a single product.

If Korg Native mode (which we'll come to next month) worked across the whole package, everything would feel more like a single product. Likewise, if the hardware controller were not so obviously designed to support the MS20 software, everything would feel more coherent. Now, if Legacy Cell supported the Wavestation, everything would feel more integrated.

Korg legacy collection re authorization software#

There are five components in the Legacy Collection: three independent software synths (the MS20, Polysix and the Wavestation), a 'Combination' module called Legacy Cell that links the MS20 and Polysix (but not the Wavestation) and a hardware controller modelled on the original MS20. This is why I was so surprised to find that there appeared to be no single philosophy underlying the product. My expectations prior to trying it out were therefore very high. General ImpressionsД®ven before its release, the Legacy Collection generated a significant amount of interest. So we'll say no more about it until next month.

Korg legacy collection re authorization mod#

But while the mod wheel will carry out its appropriate task, none of the knobs or patch-points are active, not even the master volume control. Sure, you can plug it into the host computer using a USB cable, and use its velocity-sensitive mini-keyboard to play the Wavestation. Unfortunately, it's also very specific in its role as an MS20 hardware controller. it's Korg's Legacy Collection.Дon't you just love the English language? It has words such as 'cute' and 'unbearably' which, when combined correctly, let me tell you that the MS20 hardware controller is almost unbearably cute. There's even a bit of the M1 philosophy tucked away inside it. And, in a weird twist of fate, it's a recreation of the Korg MS20, a reincarnation of the Korg Polysix, and a reinvention of the Wavestation. It's to do with the desirability and usability of the product. It's not a matter of pricing software synths have never been particularly expensive. But, as yet, there has been no software synth that has made me want to jump up and down and shout 'gimme! gimme! gimme!' as did the first MS20s, Polysixes, M1s and Wavestations, all those years ago.Д«ut today there's a product that threatens to signal the maturity of the software synth, both in terms of sexiness and capability. Since the late '90s, everything has become smaller, lighter, faster, cheaper, and more powerful, and advances in computer technology have started to reap a tangible benefit, because the fledgling technology of software synthesizers has been improving rapidly of late. With its greatly improved vector synthesis and wave sequencing, this gave everyone access to the expensive, 'produced' sounds that were once the preserve of million-dollar studios. The company repeated the trick two years later when it released the Wavestation. The result was the M1, the instrument that signalled the maturity of the digital synth, and established the form of the modern keyboard workstation. In 1988, Korg did it again, employing Yamaha's VLSI and surfacemount techniques to combine sample+synthesis technology with digital multi-effects units and 16-track MIDI sequencing. It showed that polyphonic synthesis had matured, and placed it for the first time in the grasping hands of impoverished musicians, myself among them. Sure, there was nothing particularly radical in this, but it was a 'real' polysynth as opposed to a paraphonic string synthesizer on steroids, and it sounded superb. Its beguiling patchbay and external signal processor may have promised far more than they delivered, but the instrument nonetheless signalled a new maturity and accessibility for modular synthesis, placing it in the grasping hands of impoverished students, myself among them.ДЄnother prime example appeared three years later when Korg launched the 'Poor Man's Prophet 5', the Polysix. Take the Korg MS20, which first appeared in 1978.

Numerous examples exist if you look for them. Occasionally, an expensive and unattainable technology will mature to the point that something previously esoteric, distant and impenetrable becomes warm, cuddly, and practical. This month, we focus on the Wavestation plug-in. Now that Korg's Legacy Collection is properly complete, we follow up last month's preview with the first instalment of our three-part in-depth review.

Korg legacy collection re-authorization