The Stunning Korg Trident
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- A look at a wonderful vintage synth, the Korg Trident Mk I from 1980.
0:00 The Intro
1:45 The Synthesizer
3:29 The Brass
5:37 The Strings
8:27 The Flanger
9:16 The Trident
10:55 The Rear Panel Experiments
15:48 The Legacy
17:33 The Outro Jam
Huge thanks to my Patrons for their support. Thanks also to you for watching.
Disappointing Korg never thought to give it a NepTUNE button.
that's Roland's wheelhouse :)
That intro tune was a superb theme song for a show about a group of aquatic teenage adventurers and their magic squid
Presumably these aquatic teenagers hunt underwater with...a trident?
And probably produced by a French animation studio
This is exactly what I was thinking!😂
sigmund the seamonster?
It sounds like the idea is to avoid having the brass while something else is playing..
Honestly NOTHING better than getting outta work and having a new Alex Ball video to enjoy on the ride home. Thank you Sir!
Most kind, thank you!
Vintage synths just sound so alive.
Yeah. I would describe as them sounding like they are in the room
I alas, no longer own any vintage synths and at the time was young and didn't appreciate them. After all, the digital gear I had could produce so many more voices and on multiple channels. I was young and hadn't developed taste..
When I recently began building out a studio, I remember plugging in my first new analogue synth (a behringer model d) and just being blown away at the presence it had... I know the older ones where less corners were cut and the boards weren't so simplified have even more character but as a pleb, I am more than happy there is new analogue gear produced with fairly decent midi support and not requiring constant servicing
1:46 I almost cried when that came out of it. 😍
something to do with them being analog therefore having the sounds they produce being much closer to nature
Its so refreshing to hear someone actually playing their vintage synths instead of letting them gather dust.
Yep, I hope they're still being used after I'm long gone.
@@AlexBallMusic If I owned a CS-80 I think I'd wanna be buried with it, just in case lol
@@TheOriginalCodagonna show up with a shovel sorry my man.
Mum, is that you?
Who assumes that vintage synths are gathering dust? I play mine all the time and assume others do too!
1982. Hamburg. Steinway&Sons had their own store in the city, selling not only their pianos but all kinds of instruments. And they had a „Synthesizer Studio“ that opened at 14:00. It was like a church. And boy, did I go there to pray. They got a Trident, which I loved, and everything MS by Korg. But also a Jupiter 8, Yamaha CS-70m, Kawai and Teisco stuff. I never forgave my parents for not being rich.
Ah, those where the days. And later on, we all pilgrimaged to Amptown in Wandsbek...
@@everpuremusicTrue. Good times.
I'd sign up to that religion. 😂
oh yeah good ole Stineinway in Colonaden... those where the days...
Wow, I'd totally forgotten about Teisco! 😎
I have to admit: when you were dancing, I was thinking "Gads! don't break another synth!"
My days of silly studio dancing are over.
Maybe.
We’re clubbing together to get you a more padded room 😉
Great Vid as always, but I always felt that your ability as a keyboard player and musician is what really sets you apart from other UA-camrs rather than just the gear reviews themselves.
Thanks very much!
Having seemingly limitless resources to keep acquiring vintage kit also sets him apart
Foist! When I saw the thumbnail I was Poseiden myself with excitement!
I'm kraken up! 😁
That's an apollo-ing dad joke.
If at foist you don't succeed, Tri-Trident again..!
@@zmix Take a bow.
That Brass feature is so odd, love it!
Yep! The PS-3100 has an envelope generator for modulation with a 1 - 5 trigger select. Also odd, but more useful for nerds like us.
Agreed, I hope Cherry Audio got hold of one to emulate. Maybe you could reach out to them Alex?
Yessss! I cut my synthesizer teeth on this instrument back in the mid 80’s! It’s a beastly and heavy board to lug around in the back of a Chevy Chevette…
Oooph. Yeah, can't imagine dragging one of these around on the road! You must have developed some muscle doing that!
My dad used to gig with one of these. I would regularly lug a Trident, Rhodes 73 Suitcase and an ARP Axxe. Did my back in once moving the Trident on and off the Rhodes - was on painkillers (and my back) for a week afterwards. But, it was built like an absolute tank!
Beautiful!!! The Trident is nice too!!!
🫵
“… not that there’s anything wrong with that …” 👀😏👀😏
yooooo can't wait for Exclusively the flanger to end up on Bad Gear
The best esoteric nerd on the entire Internet ❤️🤟 - You’re cooking with absolute fire in this one!
Not many places offer short trigger discos.
Loved that part 😂
Damn, Trident is really magical, one of a kind synthesizer.
I really have become enamoured with Korg, since my 1st experience in the late 70's the MS-10's and 20's , and their renaissance is wonderful
Octave bass and stereo panning heaven on this episode of Mr Balls synth wonders , thank you
It sounds like it should be played on spaceships.
Also it's cute seeing the SQ1 there, it's like a kid conducting a band of its grandparents
SQ-1 is a nifty thing. Does look amusing up against its oversized relatives though. 😂
The mad scientist section is magnificent. Brilliant experiments. You are an artist.
Cheers!
Thank you Alex, you have put an unjustly underrated synth perfectly in the spotlight. As always, expertly explained and ingeniously presented musically. Thank you very much Alex ❤❤❤
Alex, this makes me feel warm Beethovenesque joy. Keep pushing ! It's rare in this day and age to access such high-quality, heart-felt content. Respect !!!
The stunning Alex ball playing a cool synthesizer and creating dope tracks as always
Thank you sir.
My first synth when I was 14 in 1981 was a Korg 700S that I bought off a nice old guy on my paper round. Seeing it accompanying the Trident in the intro brought a tear to my eye. Really regret selling it in the late 80’s. Tempted to buy one now even at the astronomical prices today. I remember the Trident in E&MM a magazine at the time (Electronics and Music Maker)
You probably know, but Korg also has a modern clone, or reissue (or whatever) of the 700S - it's still pretty damn expensive, though, haha
They did some mad monos in the 70s. The 700S is such a quirky chap, especially when that top section is engaged.
This one is modded with midi, which is neat.
I love the 700S. Imagine if they made a sequel of it, around the same time as the Trident. With polyphony and probably some odd and wonderful features.
Korg were really interesting in that aspect. They tried a lot of things, -and the company survived it. (Even though the experimental time is unfortunately over.)
@@VarionJimmy It's so cool, isn't it? Never had one (as you'd expect, heh), but I love what I've seen/ heard. Those raw, buzzy, warm '70s (well, and early '80s, but ykwim) monosynths, man.
Studio Electronics was going to put out a model of Boomstar with a filter based on the 700/s - not sure if they ever did. Unfortunately, I don't think so. Speaking of which, the Boomstars are such awesome modern monos. Never had one of them, either, but I've wanted one since around the time they came out, heh.
If I'd spent less money on mags like E&MM and H&SR (and car and motorcycle magazines), I might have had more money for music gear! 🙄
Man, the "Capriccio in Disco" is sublime!! Actually, all the numbers are delightful.
You are the best Alex! Always entertaining, always informative! And just seeing your studio makes me salivate. All the best to you sir
Thank you!
2:22 Immediately had me singing "Can't help falling in love"... at least the first three chords. Took me a second to figure out what it was. I would have gone mad if I hadn't.
Haha, yeah can kind of hear that.
This was one of Rick Wakeman's favourite synths
Yep. Seen concert footage of him blasting away on it.
Keith Emerson too.
I really like the idea of the silence note function. I can imagine my younger self spending hours experimenting with all kinds of patterns in order to get a funky brass stab rhythm going! It's exactly the kind of functional limitation that would have inspired me to get creative!
Well this is easily replicated in software which where the widest range of young people have access to synths, it cant beat the real thing but still pretty dam good.
@@HOLLASOUNDS Of course yes.
You're right.... a simple trigger and pulse count function would do the same thing.
It's not so much the specific thing that I'm nostalgic for though but rather the feeling of getting a bit of kit with some brand new function that just happens to come with a quirky limitation! That kind of thing invited, no, demanded... creative use back in the day before DAWs when electronic instruments were actually unique objects with character that needed to be explored and discovered.
Artificially constraining myself doesn't feel the same as just figuring something out as a matter of necessity.
It's a similar thing to when people had to navigate their way around the original TB-303 sequencer. The way it worked and didn't work totally shaped the music they made.
@@GrahamMilkdrop Ofcourse there is nothing like having real hardware but I will say that some software does give that same experimental experience of hardware such as Reason Rack, with is software mostly made to look and function like rack hardware. Plig stuff up in different ways experimenting, like Alex was doing here and see what sound comes out. Alex was using Reason before He got all his gear.
As always, a very cool tour through these vintage synths. The row of buttons with LEDs above brings me back to my graduate school days in the late 80s. We had a magnetic resonance machine with exactly those buttons on the console. Cool to see them in other places as well.
Brilliant as usual Alex,definitely need headphones for this one. Thanks for showing this off.
Thanks you Alex, always liked these but always seemed very mysterious ( in functionality) to me really enjoyed your detailed run though of this fascinating synth, never seen it covered anywhere near as well! Great job on the tunes ....Sounds pretty awesome too doesn’t it !😍
Love a good whole tone modulation, almost as much as I love modulation by thirds. Thanks for modulating my day!!
Another superb hommage to a neglected giant! Love it all, but the last jam was extra sweet/great.
There is an obscure jam called "Music Sounds Better With You". The long-forgotten band members Thomas, Guy-Man and Alain used Trident for bass on that track :) Thank you for another great episode!
Some lovely sounds from that synth.
I have watched your work on & off for several years now, the studio tour caused me to subscribe, I am very glad I did, I particularly enjoyed the dance and the outro which was wicked. Cheers.
A great video Alex. Thank you.
Great video! Thanks! Keep 'em coming!
Great content Alex, really entertaining AND informative 😁
Oh, and of all the synth channels on YT… and there are a lot… yours is my fav!! Thanks for being refreshing, authentic and just frikin neat!
Cheers!
Outstanding as per usual Mr Ball. I love how it looks as much as it sounds (that awesome Trident logo!) and I fell in love with it back in school when I saw a little black and white picture of one in a book. Then, on a school trip to Cambridge, I ventured into a music shop looking for synth brochures for my growing collection and they had a Trident on display!!! It was a marvel, and I was so glad to see it (and touch it!) for real. No idea how much it was, but I am sure a fraction of what it is worth today. Thanks Alex!
OH man, I'm so glad you did a video on this. You always do the best job showing off what stuff can do, and this is a dream synth of mine. Happy day!
Cheers! It's been on my list for a long time too, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.
The Trident is featured quite prominently on the KINKS 1983 album: State of Confusion.
Especially on: Come Dancing.
And on their next album: Word of Mouth(1984)
Do it Again, & the Sopranos soundtrack song: Livin' on a Thin Line are also excellent examples of how good this synth is.
All these songs are on UA-cam for your reference.🙂
Thanks, that's ace. I'll check those out.
Brilliant - I didn’t see many bands using these - I think OMD used them on record?
@Robin - Yeah I couldn't believe it when Alex was saying this synth hadn't been very popular among well-known bands, as its sounds seem so familiar to me, reminding me of songs like 'Mr Roboto' by Styx 😀
Beautiful composition!!!
0:50 That sound at the end is a preset Reason Studios copied about 17 years ago, I remember them using that sound in the Reason 2.0 demo song.
Sounds amazing, lovely gurgling at the start what a lovely synth,so versatile
Pure nostalgia, listening to those sounds! 🤩 Especially the ones with the Flanger effect, which remind me of some of Gary Numan's stuff 🙂
I almost feel bad for having taken such amazing sounds completely for granted during my teenage years = 80's 😅
Another great video! Love the humour, too
😁👍
Thank you, Alex! 😊
Ive been waiting for SO LONG for some Trident love Alex!!! What a monster.
Been on the list for a long time.
As a teenager (way back) the Trident was on my dream synth list.
Did you ever get one?
@@AlexBallMusic no sadly I never could afford one at the time and now I have a collection of more modern (and reliable synths). Love your videos though Alex.
The outro jam was like EBM John Carpenter, so sick. I’m a huge fan of stringers and this one is the best of both worlds (the other world being legit poly synths).
Oh wow!
I have a brief encounter with the Trident back in the 80'S but didn't have the chance to fully experience the synth but your video show how really good it is, thank you for opening my eyes on that beauty.
Trident! Get in! One synth I wish I’d kept! Your demos demonstrate just what a powerhouse these beasts were! I did my one and only album with an M1, mk1 Rhodes 88, ARP Axxe and a mk1 Trident - worked well.
What a brilliant piece of kit.
Great work as always, keep it up!
Excellent video Alex. I also love those old Korgs. They really don't make them like that anymore. With all sections engaged, I just find it to be overwhelming, in a good way. And that last part of what you did experiments with the rear jacks. Awesome sounds! Like robots talking but way more alive and expressive than you could reasonably expect from a bunch of capacitors and resistors. Lovely, lovely stuff!
Man, I love Korg. They always made these weird synths back in the day.
Very fun vid. Those real panel experiments really exploded what you can do with that thing. Absolutely amazing…
Thanks for showing this synth off.
Yep, having a bunch of things to chuck into the back really opens it up.
I didn't even try different FX on the different sections either. Loads still to play with!
@@AlexBallMusic the Free Radikal here on UA-cam puts a delay or a Mr Hyde Filter on his Sigma constantly and I love throwing a delay on mine… the Analogue Solutions or Dreadbox effects have cv ins and/or outs which would also allow you to tie them in to say a sequence. That lovely sequenced waveform movement could be sequenced with some effects change. Talk about cool…
Fantastic vid Alex. Edutainment at its finest
I'm glad I bought mine long before this video ; )
I love mine and have just started hooking it up with my modular synth so I appreciate your tips with the cv inputs.
I have made some videos myself but only filmed when I played on it.
It's a synth that literally comes alive when you play it and use all its sections.
Thanks for a nice video. I
Always hear people bang on about this, good to see a video about it from you.
It's a cracker and a little off the beaten path of Prophets and Jupiters. I thought it was worth a video.
I would love to see a reissue of the Trident. Probably at the top of my classic synths wishlist.
You give me the pleasure of playing around with awesome synths and gear with the benefit that you can do crazy good music with them!
Thank you Jeffrey, most kind!
Alex! Loved this one! Great Jams and you made me LOL a few times. Might be my fav of the year! Thanks so much! I owned a Korg Delta that I would put through a Multimoog’s filter and envelopes. We did have one in the 48th store back in the day for quite sometime for the reasons you mentioned but you make it sing! Cheers!
Yo! Ah yes, the Delta. I'm told it's a turkey, but I've never played one. Was it ok, it was it naff?
I tried the Lambda and didn't like it, but the Trident is a winner.
Just need to try the PS synths now.
@@AlexBallMusic well for me working in a store back in the day, it was disappointing but we sold a lot, live players loved it for some reason lol. I also took home a Lamda and did some recordings with it and the multi Moog. That is what the Delta should have been but Trident came along is way more! A later we had a PS3200 poly synth, and then the Poly6 started coming in. Also owned a miniKorg in the 70’s loved seeing it! I can’t remember how much MS stuff we sold. Also, a lot!
Fantastic performance and instrument - sounds awesome!
If it wasn't for the incredible Korg Trident Mk 1 synthesizer, we would never have a "Short Trigger Disco". So therefore we will say: Thank you, Korg. And everybody lived happily ever after.
The label on the back has provided an inspirational band name - Un Choc Electrique - without question a synth outfit!
mind blowing as ever
I LOVED the Trident when I tried it out years ago. I had an Arp Omni at the time and the Trident felt like a real synthesizer comparitively.
Yeah, the Omni was built for a purpose and with a market in mind, which it did perfectly, but it was basic.
The Trident even outdoes the Quadra I think.
@@AlexBallMusic Hearing it here, these are some of my favorite sounds ever.
Fantastic sound!
Real Blakes 7 vibes from that chord at 1:51. The stereo imaging is awesome too :)
Yep, got it rigged up with individual outs at all times. 😀
Thanks! There is a fine free software version available from Full Bucket.
Less than a minute in - Oh that sounds good. Reminds me of Larry Fast 1980's. And that's a good thing my man. You never fail to deliver!
I love your insanity. Keep grooving mate!
That sequencing the 3 synth is superb!
what a great, clean, powerful sound 👍
Indeed!
Great job Alex as always! Stunning synth the trident, would love one of these . Better get saving and put the wife up for hire⚡️Great channel man⚡️
Cheers!
That filter is amazing!
Thank goodness you are a synth dork! Another wonderful review. Love your work Alex!
Dorks gonna dork. 🤓
I love to see you having fun on the Korg corner! I little korg shelf , who one day will grow to be a full conner to!
Everyone needs a Korger.
One of my favorite old (huge) synths. Great video, as always :)
2:05 that envelope is fantastic.
Yeah, nice pluck to it when you need.
Hello Alex: This synth is amazing. I completely understand why you are absolutely in love with this old equipment. Have a lovely day.
Yeah, this instrument is a case in point. So alive, so evocative, so...brown.
Glad to see no synths were harmed during the making of *this* video 😛
Sounds amazing with the CV inputs
It sounds so very 1980. It's Buck Rogers. It's mid-season CHiPs, it's Dr David Banner. It's Multi-coloured Swap Swap. It's Take Hart. It's Morph, It's Jim'll.........Okay you get the picture :)
Beedee beedee beede ! You are right, Buck !
@@DoctorNemmocome on Twiki , look at Colonel Deering’s Spandex jump suit 😅
It sounds soooo nice!!!!!
It's quite the experience. 😀
This is one of my favorite synthesizer!
Great stuff Alex. Dayum!
Cheers mate.
I had no idea that synth was so neat!
Brilliant! As ever, but possibly more so.
Firstly, thankyou for transporting me yet again to my warm fuzzy rose-tinted happy place (early/mid 70s-early 80s).
Secondly, and why this particular video leaps out at me, the section on figuring out/creatively exploiting what the designers implemented (the interfacing) was a huge eye (ear??) opener. I’ve never read a review (I’m old enough to remember “Keyfax”…) or seen a demo that illustrates this so effectively. I would have liked a quick blast of the (mythical?) piano presets though 😉
Entertaining, instructive, very funny (for us dorks), and better “new” music than I generally hear in any given day. More power to your elbow sir!❤
Nice one AB!
oh my god i think i fell in love with this synth when you played the full thing. so *thick*. thankfully Full Bucket Music make a free emulation!
Just downloaded the sample pack. The stereo samples are incredible. I love how the filter and amplitude travel across the stereo field differently.
Wow! Never heard of the Trident, but thanks so much for that. Brilliant presentation, and thank goodness you didn't kick a few keys off of this thing just for fun. Save that for the Mark 2, eh!
No wild limbs were employed in the vicinity of the Trident.
7/4, nice. Beautiful keyboard. Want.
You never fail to make me grin like an idiot.
I'm off to Bandcamp to get some of your tunez. I'm sorry it's taken me so long.
😀
damn, that's a jack of all trades, you could even make psytrance with that. Those sounds at 14:45 OMG
Polysics are a fantastic group named after the synth~ :)
I adore this synth!
Gorgeous isn't it!
Since I'm so early, first I'd like to say, Studio Tour best song ever! Also, it would be cool to explore the British Synth history, specifically with regards to the eras from EMS through to Novation and forward towards Modal and stuff like that. You rock!
EMS is due to happen. In fact, I had something lined up that I had to temporarily postpone. It's near the top of my list,fear not.
Ha! Fantastic tour around a classic I always forget about. But, the horror shots. And reacting to sounds with your face! Been a minute since you did that. LOL!
The "I'm about to modulate" face.
@@AlexBallMusic I feel like that could be a t-shirt. LOL
For some reason I've been thinking about the Trident for the last week! Wish I could play one.