This one isn’t a remake or reboot: KORG’s new generation of analog synths is growing, with 8- and 16-voice polyphonic Prologue keyboards.
And whereas the Minilogue and Monologue are all about affordable, new synthesis, the Prologue is something else: it’s really a new analog flagship, something KORG haven’t had in decades.
Case in point: the keyboards, in 49- and 61-key variants, come with the action shared on the KRONOS. You get 8-voice / 49-key, or 16-voice / 61-key – all with discrete analog circuitry.
There’s another departure here, too: an open, programmable multi engine, which will feature an SDK for developers.
But the basic argument for the Prologue is this: maybe you want a different architecture that lets you mix up sounds and voices in interesting ways. So you get the ability to play two timbres at once, layering and splitting, or playing in Poly, Mono, Unison, and Chord modes. (New, indeed, but that also shares some of the kind of musical thinking that made the KORG Mono/Poly great.)
To that, you can add a deeper multi-effects unit – making this more of an all-in-one sound creation workstation than the entry level units. Two effects slots give you Mod and Delay/Reverb.
But I think it’s the openness that could be most interesting. You can actually program your own oscillators and modulation effects or download community-contributed code. I’ve asked KORG for more details.
That’s up our alley, of course, so naturally I’ll be finding more about that soon for y’all.
Available this month:
8-voice, 49-key US$1499
16-voice, 61-key US$1999
www.korg.com/products/synthesizers/prologue/
Aw, I still wanted Polylogue, even though that’s not a word. 😉