Review: Korg Monotron DUO and DELAY
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- Опубліковано 8 гру 2011
- Just in time for Christmas, Korg bring on two new Monotrons - are you tempted?
Full article here: www.sonicstate.com/news/2011/1...
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I am getting so sick of people saying things like "people who use these TOYS are not REAL musicians". You're a real musician no matter how you make music, even if you write a full album on a stylophone. Often the most creative people are the ones that are most limited
I agree
Hes to young to know about Ralph (!)
Kraftwerk wrote a fairly popular song with a Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm machine on the melody, anyone who says that doesn't know anything
Well said, you can't get anything more toy like than any percussive instrument and yet 99.99% of records contain them! 😎
Both units are awesome to sample. I have the Delay in my locker at work. I use the Xynthesizr app and play sequences into the delay. Add the filter and it’s easy to get lost for a few minutes on a break. Everything can be music. Change your expectations
Weird little devices. They are addictive, but man they are fucking annoying if you are not the one using them.
Lol xD
Like drum solos lol
Definitely. When you are bound and chained you are forced to be creative. This is why a true artist can make anything. With anything.
They are a really great source for tone making... Percussion, basses... Solos (assuming you have small fingers or a stylus!)...
Case in point: ua-cam.com/video/4RccBWJJ_9w/v-deo.html
You can arrest the body but never the mind. Well, that's if you don't allow it.
@@ChannelZero1031 ohhh you ate that up
@@slurpee4203 Like at Seven eleven, honey.
@@ChannelZero1031 lolll😭
This was an excellent review, and I really appreciate the internal shots of the circuit boards. Thanks always for your good work.
Ironically enough, it's almost Christmas time again and I just discovered this thing. This sounds like it'd be perfect for Drone and Noise music, which I occasionally do for fun.
LMFAO's Sexy and I know it uses the TB-303 which was essentially the 80's version of a mini analog synth like this. So you can't really say you cant make hits with a small synth...
Love your demos and descriptions of these little noisy thingamabobs. Thank you!
Excellent review, I was quite happy with the original monotron and trying to decide on adding the duo or delay, now I know what I need. Thanks!
Great instructional piece. Just got a Monotron Delay and could figure out the LFO Waveform Trim Knob - but you explained and demonstrated that perfectly. What a great little sound toy - it's going to be all over my productions until I get bored and buy something else!
Been using the Delay as a dub siren for years now. Works perfectly!!
Roots Pablow looking to buy one for this reason! Would you recommend?
If you can only get one, buy the Duo. It's the most useful Monotron for musical sounds. The original Monotron is also great for learning how to use a synth because of the LFO. Both are very limited, but those limitations force you to use what's there and discover new sounds. I've had an original Monotron for a few months and still find new sounds.
If you can solder there are a lot of easy mods for them. You could make a really nice synth by combining a Duo and original and modding them.
11 years later Korg still flogging them for £40 … must have been a goldmine for them.
Ive just bought these,love the reviews,cant wait to play around.
thank you! i appreciate the speed and completeness of this review!
Fantastic! Thanks for posting, as always!
The Delay looks pretty great. I'm tempted to get one to complement (or replace) the Monotron currently velcro'd on my guitar.
You make very good reviews of Korg product´s! thank´s! - Levi
Well done Nick!
Cant wait to pick these up!
I want both. These look amazing for their price
I Love my KORG MONOTRON DELAY.... I can trip out for hours just making a new 50's SCI-FI soundtrack-- IN MY HANDS! Perfect EFX sounds, PERFECT FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought going into these two new monotrons I would prefer the duo over the delay,but I'm actually finding the delay more my speed,perhaps it's the LFO fun!
Wasent expecting much from the delay but with the AUX in it's looking like a great little pocket filter. Fantastic. Just the right size for my Christmas stocking as well. :D
I love that you don’t even have to use it for music if you know what you’re doing and that it’s so compatible and flexible, as well as portable.
really liking the duo, it'd be like playing my favorite settings on my microkorg without having to get it hooked up to the amp all the time.
In the 50s and early 60s, electronic music was made with oscillators controlled by a pitch knob (no synthesizers with keyboards yet), manipulated with tape. There's no reason you can't make music with a dual oscillator synth with a quantized ribbon.
i make ORGANIZED music using SOLELY THE 1/4 JACK!! (I take that "bzzt!" and alter the "pitch" using delay rate, and loop little bits. Everyone is stunned when they hear the techno music etc I make... to find out it's ALL just a "bzzt!" -- even all the "drum" sounds!
I already have a standard Monotron and will defo buy the Duo and Delay variants. Korg did a great job with the Mono-family, would be nice if they'd keep on releasing new variants. For example, I'd love to have a Monotron with the three drums (tuneable) of the Monotribe and a simple 8-step sequencer... the Monodrum! :) Anyway, I like our reviews, Nick, keep up the good work.
The wave looks like a square wave passing through an All-Pass Filter.
Is it for playing with the sound like this or can you apply the effects to another keyoard you have? Or what else you can use it for other then just messing around.
well, keep in mind that ALL MUSICIANS ARE DOING IT WRONG and always have been. (NOTHING about the history of music has been that intelligent. Lazy, lazy, lazy.) (EX: Musicians Touring is the DUMBEST and most inefficient thing ever.) (EX: carrying a LOT of gear to do gigs is LITERALLY DUMB.) (for instance, I've played art-metal guitar across the globe... yet I NEVER use an amp! I go direct into the PA and every guitarist calls it blasphemy... until I begin playing. THEN, they say "why did i waste $$ and time on an amp!!") (i've toured the world as a drummer -- touring's a lot of FUN for me, but not efficient -- and my ENTIRE drumkit fits in my shoulderbag (!). Takes me 30 seconds to set up, 3 seconds to break down! I'm 99% more efficient than most drummers, because I eschewed tradition and use a Roland SPD6 [think thick laptop with 6 rubber pads, which i play with only 2 drumsticks and no feet]! Yes, i sacrifice a few things, but GAIN 99% more than regular drummers of either acoustic or electronic kits! It's incredibly superior to regular drums, in almost every way. DRUMS are the dumbest instrument ever.)
(EX: I can play with a band IN A TINY BEDROOM (!!), and at ANY VOLUME. I can record full drums at ANY volume in any situation!! WOWZA!!)
People need to realize "TRADITION" means ANT-thinking.
@@umpygoodness2369you still did not answer his question lol
Yes you can
ua-cam.com/video/jpENq6_hOUg/v-deo.html
So I wonder if you really need those time ticker things to keep the beat or can you just play acid jazz break beats! ?
Also why are posters so angry? There's a way to voice your opinion without making yourself seem like you've forgotten to take your meds
Bunch of haters here angry at these lil things.
The entire internet need to read this. Daily.
Great review. Thanks
"you cant make talented music with these!"
-the talentless
Penelope Scott babbbbyyyyy
“Hold my beer”
Classic "outside looking in" fallacy.
Great review. I own both of these. They are absolutely great for what they are actually for and that's fucking around with sound.
Great review! Thanks
What a thoroughly excellent review, great idea showing what's inside too. VCC is Voltage cathode/collector usually positive and 3 volts in this case presumably:-D
Just ordered my Monotron Duo a couple hours ago. Should arrive by the 22nd of March 2013 :)
I can't wait!
If they made a monotron with a multi mode filter... done!!!! i would be in love and monotron would go down as one of the coolest product series ever.
Thanks for showing :)
Monotron pwm is long overdue!
Nice toys 4 the boys;-)
Already ordered one:-)
Nice stuff!
Euy nederland
love these little wee beasts... still need to get the 'classic' then I have the whole set.
All of them are muscially useful, the duo being the most versatile of the two I currently have... but the delay OWNS when it comes to making organic sounding drones/beat synth tones... and you can ges resonance, but only if you're ready to invaldiate to warranty and take a soldering iron to it...
Art is pleasure, it's not a social deal. You musn't come to art, it must make you vibrate without you have to change your habits.
just for kicks have you tried plugging the duo ouput into the aux in of the delay then outputting the delay back into the VCF of the duo? could be pretty gnarly feedback noise... or it could sound god-awful... only one way to find out...
then how would you record this? from the speakers? nah
May be possible with a splitter. I doubt it, but I’ve also never tried it haha
DarkLightProjector I plugged in my car cassette player adapter and play it while i drive
Thx much for your work!
Thank You. Well explained.
cool video, I have a Korg ms-2000b and a roland gaia but I like the idea to make a really mini synth like this to add effects!
Great video :) I randomly found these on Amazon in the year 2024 😁
For people with questions about handling the excessive noise, run it through a gate within your daw. I tend to use sonnox dynamics and it works a treat. Though I'm curious as to what cable he is using himself because I have never heard any of these units captured with such a low amount of noise without additional processing and everyone I've used goes through my apogee symphony
These two are really useful :)
@DJSkeeterson The reason the LFO trimpot is where it is is that these new Monotrons are made with the same case molds as the first one. The first Monotron has a trimpot in the same place for adjusting the ribbon's pitch range. This is also why the new features come at the expense of other features.
Thanks for this valuable great piece of information :) will defintiely buy the whole set, they're so cheap.
I have one of the original Monotrons Guitar Center had thel as a $50 Loss Leader at the time. I built an power adapter out of a piece of 9VDC Wall Wart, Short piect of Insulated Rod and a couple of clothing snaps (Glued on to the Rod and Soldered on to the Wall Wart leads) so I was able to run it off of Wall AC for more reliable Pitch, and I had a Plastic Bracket (Tap Plastics, Custom) made for it that conforms to the panel of a Nord NE-2, so it would stay in place with that unis. I tuned the ends of the Ribbon to a Minor Tenth (tuned Bb-C#) and that kept the pitch reference reasonably close. Still awkward to play and used more as a Noise maker, Recently I got a Volca Bass mostly using it as a Lead instrument.
Yes Oh god yes. You will learn so much more, and may even be able to start modyfing it.
I actually really like the Delay version, I feel like it has a lot of possibilities.
Too bad it doesn't have 1/4 jacks.
These are really neat looking. I was considering just a normal Monotron, but I might get one of these instead now. One question though: what is the MIDI stuff everyone is talking about? What would that do for the Monotron if a MIDI input was added? Thanks!
Cool Stuff, Korg.
Thank you for this video! Actually Korg sent it to me. However as a 75 year youngster who loves music I would love to know of a NEWBIE book to learn more about what my Delay unit is doing. I think I might purchase the other one too as you showed them plugged into each other.
Yeah! New synth every day
dude this is an awesome delay, i'm a get this for my guitar!
Did you ever get it?
really good video thanks
oh com'on Nick, why did you said "not the cleanest square wave l've ever eard"? l noted this kind of "snobbing" only on low-priced products. if the same wave were emitted by a fucking moog, l'me sure you're been talking about "lot of weight in that square...defenitively subby"
@sonicstate-You say the filter is the MS20 and MS10 "modeled." Is it the same component as in the Korg MS20. Is the delay on the second unit you reviewed (analogue BBD chip) or DSP?
Great review once again.
finally some one doing some thing with the new monotron
I think they'd do great with the original monotron and the monotribe, I want them!
I got the original Monotron, and I must get the delay version as well.
Since I don't own the original,I think I'd go for the delay first to play with the LFO,then add the Duo when I'm ready to combine efforts.
Hello, I probably missed it. But I didn't hear you talking about the noise those synths (specially the Duo) were making. So do the Duo makes as much noise as the original Monotron, or much less, like on the Monotribe for example ? Thanks for your answer.
After listening a second time, the duo or the delay alone seem okay, but when you process one into the other, it becomes pretty aweful in term of noise, that's a shame....
on the monotron duo regarding the line input, can all the knobs tweak the inputted sound?
I'm getting at least one of each of these!!!
Exactly, I would love a few of these just to make weird and interesting noises with them.
Nick with the goatee killing me haha!
is there a way to change the delay to have less noise? would inturrupting the line-in by adding a switch clean that up, or is that static coming from something else? (I noticed if you turn feedback all the way up and just turn it on it instantly has feedback and gets the sound of the switch clicking, so I don't know where the noise actually comes from)
@Goth108 I stand corrected after mailing to Korg.. the monotron delay really is a analog BBD delay.. so probably really the best you can get for this price.
So, the duo does in fact have an LFO, except it only works when you have the second oscillator turned off?
I bought one, and I have a lot of static noise on the headphones output. I use it to play with on the train, it's fun and you can get some fat bases out of it, if very delicatly tweaked.
So to me, it's a really good toy. If I want to make some "descent" music, I'll play with my Tempest.
oh yeah that would work, you mean the claviature would be 12 buttons that would as well be midi controllable. what you can do is you can have a device that makes pure triangle or square wave sounds and put them in the input.
@mattsynth great for background weirdness and filtering and - i used one on a track that made it onto a skateboard video soundtrack as well as a cheap stylophone- through efx processors they sound trippy as hell- for 60 bucks its hard to go wrong and in a few months im sure youll get it for 45 which is great for a usable analog sound
I think the issue is that "hardcore synth types" have been asking the major manufacturers to put out some real analog gear since I got into it 17 years ago. In the meantime a cottage industry of boutique designers met some of that demand but not much on the affordable side, and when Korg finally got around to it, it's one that requires hacking the hell out of just to get it functioning integrated with an existing synth setup.
@sonicstate what type of camera are you using ?
Great vid
Around 4:50 detuned sound is reminding me of some of the synth bass on Anymore by Goldfrapp
Today i found a Korg Monotron Delay for $35.
Mannnn i buy it, is a lot of fun and creative
@UltimaWeapon9339 but then it loses the analog character, knobs doesnt mean its analog, analog means its not digital, and im VERY glad there are still analog synths, even cheap ones like the monotrons
I think the Monotrons and MS-20 have some of the best filters I've heard.
I'm wondering can all three Monotrons be connected through the auxiliary inputs?
I have the mono with delay, it needs help getting a boost in gain, it's hissy, noisy and nearly impossible to play the note you want... but it's probably the best $50 you can spend on audio gear. Now I gotta pick up the duo which will fix at least one of the issues.
Great video
Just had fun modifying/distorting/destroying the sound from this Monotron video with my Monotron. Turn up the resonance just before self oscillation and turn the cutoff to about half and it's great for vocal distortion.
i plug my monotron into my amp all the time, it has a standard output, you just need a converter of sorts to go from quarter inch, to headphone jack...
Would one of these, or the original Monotron be good for someone who want to learn how to use a synth without paying a lot of money?
I didn't get the Delay one for some stupid reason. I'll be getting it today.
I guess that's why I have so much fun with this thing because I don't really know or care what the shape of the wave is... it fits in muh pocket.
Just got one. Wow!
One of the best tutorial reviews I have ever seen on UA-cam. Fantastic job sir. I play these things along with my Microkorg. They provide terrific "lead synth" and noise generator mayhem to other sounds in your mix.
I know nothing about these things but I want one, how much extra stuff do I need to actually listen to it without headphones? Eg through an amplifier? or would I need some speakers and sound desk? Anything like that?
Ya gotta keep the damn synth still. The camera never has time to focus so it just looks like 480p the whole time when it’s actually 720p. Made me dizzy. Besides that- helpful review. Very interesting synth. I really like what Korg is doing for the portable market.
Great units, I'll be adding them to my ever expanding Korg collection. It's pointless to have a virtual version for the iPad as it would be a virtual analogue were as the real thing is REAL analogue. I'll be making sounds with them and loading the samples into Alchemy. I already have a monotron and a monotribe.
That's right Sweep....its not a sausage....
I got both the delay and the duo this week. But one thing that annoys me is that the delay has some random clicks and pops. Kinda how the duo sounds when the cutoff is set to 0 and you touch the ribbon. Dont know if this is the way it should be or if I got a faulty one? I will probably go back to the store if I can find my receipt, but I'm staying in Japan and I dont speak any Japanese so not sure how I to explain it. Does this happen on your monotron delay as well?
Yup, I want the Duo !
got all 3 and the duo is by far the best and most usefull
Lo-Fi-Fe-Fum . Definetely going to get it :) Just a lovely synth to experiment with