Korg M1, courtesy of Audio Fanzine
A polyphonic digital synthesizer manufactured by Korg, and introduced in 1988. It was notable as Korg's first completely digital synth, but it is better known today as being the synth that introduced the arranger workstation concept. Korg claims to have sold over 250,000 units, which if true makes the M1 the best-selling synth in history, by a good bit.
The M1 is 16-voice polyphonic and 8-part multitimbral, unusual capabilities for 1988. The voice architecture was fairly conventional; a subtractive setup with sample playback oscillators as the signal source. Each fed a low pass digital VCF which was non-resonant (a common setup in early digital synths), and then a digital VCA controlled by a six-segment envelope generator. The outstanding feature of the voices was the samples themselves. Korg devoted a generous-for-the-time 4 MBytes of memory for sample storage. The samples included a number of non-Western instruments and sound sources, mostly played by Korg employees themselves, and many of the instrument sounds were multisampled. The M1 shipped with 144 high-quality sample sounds, and another 130 could be had by installing an expansion board. There was no user sampling capability. But over time, a number of third parties produced additional expansion packs.
Patch memory consisted of 100 locations. The M1 had an excellent selection of onboard effects for its time, including flanging, chorusing, and a Leslie simulator. The user interface was very minimal, with a two-line display and a one-knob interface for parameter control; besides the data entry slider, the only other analog control on the synth was the master volume control. As a result, most users stuck to the factory patches or purchased patch sets, rather than attempting to program their own. The synth did, however, include a complete MIDI implementation, and can now easily be programmed by most patch editing software.
The built-in sequencer became the capability for which the M1 is most noted. The sequencer was capable of 8 tracks of recording per song, with 7700 memory steps available. Any track could drive any multitimbral part. Quantizing to several levels was available, and full editing capability was provided, including inserting, deleting and replacing notes, step entry, and "punch in" recording. A complete song could be saved on a memory card or dumped to a computer via MIDI. This made the M1 a popular choice for studio use by composers and arrangers, and saw much use in film and television soundtracks.
The M1 was packaged with a 61-note, C-to-C keyboard with velocity and aftertouch. A joystick, typical for '80s Korg synths, provided pitch and modulation control. A jack on the rear panel (labeled "damper", an allusion to the damper pedal of a piano) allowed for a sustain pedal to be connected. The case itself was somewhat of a fashion statement, being all black, as opposed to colorful cases and controls on Korg's earlier polyphonic synths. A rack mount version was also produced, known as the M1R.
A notable use of the M1 was on the American television show Seinfeld, where composer Jonathan Wolff used it to to create slap-bass lines. This appeared in the show's theme, and frequently as sound accents during scene transitions. Wolff re-performed the theme and accents for each episode.
The M1 was produced from 1988 to 1995. Because so many were built, they can be found inexpensively on the used market. The ones that include the Korg sample expansion board are valued somewhat higher.