Deep in the forest of Superbooth earlier this month, Korg showed off some up-and-coming gems, if you knew where to look. That included a compact NTS mixer, updated Sinevibes effects for Korg gear, and add-ons for the phase 8 “acoustic synthesizer,” including effects you can 3D-print. I’ve done some digging on what it’s about.
Korg’s Berlin office has established a regular presence at Superbooth in a wooded area just outside the main stage. This year’s theme was a lemonade stand, with regular performances of invited guests on the phase 8. That included myself, Tom, Late Snack, Fabin & Zufu, Lukas, Liam, Le Sec, Kyle Dixon, and the legendary Cuckoo — a mix of friends and Korg Berlin’s own team. (I’ll let you know when those videos arrive.)
Into the woods!
Photo: Artemiy Pavlov.
phase 8 goodies
Korg’s phase 8 instrument got a starring role this year, now with units getting into the hands of players. The phase 8 had some special reveals/previews at the show:
- Bass resonators, extending the low-frequency response of the instrument
- phase 8 app created by Iarla Scaife (Berlin) and Keisuke Nohara (Tokyo), which while you see it running on an iPad will be available for browsers with MIDI support (like Chromium) That opens a visual editor for patterns, MIDI option configuration, preset management, and more.
- 3D-printed “acoustic effects” — call it “acoustic DSP,” if you like. Hadrien Costrejean, an intern from Paris, created and demoed these.
The acoustic effects sound really amazing, opening up other timbral possibilities. I hope to dive into that in detail soon. The physical effects are planned for some public release, as is the Web app.
Bex Burch did a special album collaboration with Korg, too, played on a customized phase 8 with Chizu, On, Koto and So Takahashi. That was recorded in Korg Berlin’s offices, and those of us at a brunch after the show got treated to a gorgeous live performance.
And the weekend following the main show, Korg hosted a session for children at the kid-focused “minibooth,” with a special DIY edition of the phase 8.
NTS-4 mixer
The NTS family got a soft launch of a new addition — a really clever compact mixer. This looks more like something I’d use than even Korg’s existing volca mixer. Multi-effects onboard, lots of quick stereo mixing, and USB-C — check that layout, as it seems ideal for not just mini desktop gear but live sets in tight spaces.
Like the rest of the NTS line, it’s designed for easy assembly as a no-solder, no-specialized-tools kit. More on this once we can get our hands on it.
Photos: Artemiy Pavlov
Sinevibes meets Korg
Sinevibes (apart from Artemiy being our ersatz photographer here) has been the one firm making the possibilities of Korg’s development kit a reality. On the microKORG2, you can install up to 128 plug-ins at once, running four of them simultaneously. And so Artemiy was on-hand with the NTS-1 mkII and microKORG2 to show off new updates for his line, including Droplet v2 for prologue, minilogue xd, NTS-1, NTS-1 mkII, NTS-3, and microKORG2.
That Droplet v2 update is sounding lush.
We’ll have a full rundown here of what’s new really soon, so watch for that. I’m planning to test on the NTS-3 — that’s the Kaoss Pad — which has the performance controls I need!
Photos: Artemiy Pavlov.
And more
More images by Artemiy, including me playing on phase 8 and his effects, and the translucent handytraxx record player collab with Atmos Tokyo (retailer) and Supreme.
And lastly, these custom speakers we played on are by Amsterdam-based custom speaker maker KIKUNO (since lots of people were asking):
I want to give a special thanks to Rachel Aiello for setting up the live sets, and to Tatsuya Takahashi and Samantha Melnyk for their work on phase 8 and extended conversations about using it. Samantha and Tats also spoke to me for an interview at their office, which I’ll be sharing along with some performance nots on the instrument (including me experimenting with tuning it to maqams).
That’s Tats, Samantha, and lots of other friends and colleagues who contributed to the instrument across the present and past team.
So go pour yourself some lemonade and you’ve got the full experience, I hope!