Korg Monologue

K
org’s approach over
the last few years
has taken in
recreations of
original hardware
alongside budget-
priced Volca boxes,
ultimately arriving at the Minilogue, a
newly designed polyphonic analogue
design. The Minilogue tipped a nod to
specific older gear, but was very much
a 21st century take on things.
Korg’s latest synth is the
Monologue, and as you would expect
it’s monophonic. However, it’s not just
The synth architecture is relatively
conventional, with some quite clever
functional tricks which extend its
range. There are two oscillators, each
with three waveforms. Just VCO2 has
Octave and Pitch controls this time,
and Noise is only available in place of
the square wave in VCO2.
Like the Minilogue, both VCOs
have a shape control. This allows
VCO1’s square wave width to be
altered and modulated. In the case of
the sawtooth and triangle waves the
shape control ‘folds’ the wave, with
the result being increased harmonics.
Cross Modulation has been
dropped, but there is still the ability
to engage oscillator Sync and Ring
Modulation in VCO2. This appears to
be straight amplitude modulation, as
the result still contains the original
carrier frequency. Together they open
up the possibility of creating harsher
or more metallic tones.
The mixer section has
independent controls for each VCO,
and also allows the injection of
external audio signals. After this the
audio signals pass into the filter. The
Quick Guide makes no mention of its
specification, but audio analysis
reveals it to be a two-pole (12dB/
octave) design. Twist the Resonance
control and it is easy to hear the
emphasis point around the cutoff
frequency proceed to self-oscillation.
Combine this with a suitable
key-tracking setting (configured in the
Program Edit menu), and you have a
third, playable oscillator source. To be
honest, I didn’t miss the Monologue’s
four-pole option, though a high-pass
a Minilogue trimmed of three voices.
There is a family resemblance – a real
wood back panel, mini keys and the
same set of inputs and outputs. This
time though we have a smaller (and
lighter) footprint, with an octave taken
off the keyboard and portability
enhanced by the possibility of battery
power. And, like the Volcas, the box
includes some batteries to get you
going, but no PSU. Overall it is a
good-looking little synth, with the gold
metallic front giving ours a certain
amount of ‘bling’ appeal (there are
four other colours available too).
THE PROS & CONS
+
The self-oscillating
filter and drive
control allow the
synth to cover a
wide range of sonic
territory – from
rounded basses to
dirty leads
Fun and portable,
with battery power
Microtuning is an
unusual, and
welcome, offering on
a synth of this type
-
Despite some clever
design, the synth has
a limited envelope
generator section
when compared to
some similar synths
Having some
parameters hidden
in menus makes the
synth less directly
hands-on at times
Notes and parameters can
be automated with ease,
and Korg go to town with
their Motion Sequencing
Korg Monologue | Reviews
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FMU312.rev_korg_mono.indd 83 02/11/2016 14:39