What if I told you you could take a KORG keyboard – or even the ultra-cheap NTS-1 – and add a bass and drum machine, just by downloading a file? Sinevibes’ Artemiy Pavlov has been raving about the possibility of KORG’s platform. Now he’s realizing it.
KORG’s ‘logue platform lets you download and run add-on sound code. That’s what developer Artemiy had already described as a “plug-in.” It’s not strictly speaking what you get from running a plug-in on a computer, but in practical terms, it is what you expect from them.
First, you need compatible hardware – the prologue, minilogue xd, or NTS-1. (That last one is just above a hundred bucks street.)
Then you literally connect a USB cable, launch the Sound Librarian app, and drag and drop the Groove plugin file into a slot in your USER OSCILLATORS.
And then you get bass & drum – or, if you like, drum & bass. Whoa.
Artemiy is really proud of this pretty video, so have a look:
Artemiy has crammed some 14 DSP blocks into the code, which work together to make a playable ensemble of instruments. It really shines on the keyboards, because the instruments are mapped to key zones. Then just dial in the percussion and bass sounds you want, and trigger from the sequencer or keys.
This really super-powers the NTS-1, because the combo mean you have a dirt cheap groovestation – just add a sequencer (phone-to-MIDI or KORG SQ-1 for example). Fun times:
There is a lot inside, so this isn’t just about some kick drum presets and an oscillator thrown in. You get a full package of sound capabilities:
– 3x exponential envelope generators
– 3x oscillators (sine, triangle, saw, square)
– noise generator (white, shot)
– modulation matrix
– mixer
– bit depth reduction
– state-variable filter (low-pass, high-pass)
– clipping distortion
– comb filter (positive, negative)
– trigger probability evaluation
– amplifier
I especially appreciate the bit depth reduction, distortion, and amplifier, plus comb filter – so there’s a lot of character loaded in here. It’s meant to be punchy and dynamic when you play it, in the studio or (some day again, we can’t wait) live.
The full package is US$59. I’m just starting to play with it, but this looks invaluable. And at that price, the combo of the NTS-1 and Groove looks killer, if you don’t have the budget for a keyboard ‘logue.
https://www.sinevibes.com/korggroove/
Previously, Artemiy wrote for us about why he was excited about this platform as a developer – so it’s nice to look back on this and see why he was so excited about his vision: