Korg Berlin Acoustic Synthesis_phase 5
With little fanfare, a cryptic image appeared on Korg Berlin’s Instagram account. It showed what appeared to be a synthesizer without an enclosure, with the photo taken from the side. You could see a few knobs, some white and some marbled, as well as a switch and, inside, some circuit boards. It was accompanied by this text: “Incoming: Acoustic Synth_phase 5.” Is this a new prototype from Korg Berlin? Excite!



Korg Acoustic Synthesis_phase 5: The First Synth From Korg Berlin?
Due to the excitement generated by the image drop, Korg soon followed up with an official press release announcement. This is indeed a prototype for a new sound generation technology, “a form of acoustic synthesis which unites the sonic richness of real physically vibrating bodies with electronic control,” as Korg says in the press release. Real physically vibrating bodies? Super excite!

This will be the first instrument from Korg Berlin, which was founded by former Korg engineer Tatsuya Takahashi, the man behind a number of Korg’s biggest instruments in the company’s history, like the Minilogue, and Maximilian Rest, founder of E-RM Erfindungsbüro. I’ve been waiting to see what they produce and this is already exceeding my expectations.

What Is Acoustic Synthesis?
The press release doesn’t give much information about what acoustic synthesis is but looking at the new image, it appears that it involves electroacoustic sound generation. Sort of like Gamechanger Audio’s Motor Synth, Acoustic Synthesis_phase 5 appears to use physical parts to generate sound. Inside the window on the front panel, there are 12 strips, likely one for each note in an octave. The piano key-like array of buttons below the strips supports this idea. Do they vibrate? Are they struck? That remains to be seen.

What the additional buttons on the front of the Korg Acoustic Synthesis_phase 5 do is also a mystery but we can guess that the one in the upper right is likely volume, with the others changing the quality of the sound.

Korg stressed to me that this prototype is “far from a final product” but it does suggest that exciting things are ahead.

We’re chomping at the bit to hear Korg’s Acoustic Synthesis_phase 5 in action at Korg Berlin’s booth at Superbooth. Expect updates as we get them. If you’re heading to Superbooth, you can check it out too at booth Z440.

More Info:
https://www.gearnews.com/superbooth-23-korg-berlin-to-show-new-prototype-acoustic-synthesis_phase-5/

 

Looks like this could be a sort of modern hybrid of Korg's MOSS physical modeling board and electro-acoustic tech. Never got a chance to own a Z1 but I did have my Triton rack expanded with the EXB-MOSS years ago and it was probably the thing I loved most about it. This is incredibly intriguing for me because physical modeling / electro acoustic instruments are my favorite types of synthesis and an amalgamation of the two with physical controls would be pretty fucking cool.

 

Last edited: May 9, 2023

Ah yes, the Korg Lasagna.