Korg Microkorg

Korg’s Microkorg is a trusted and excellent-sounding way to break into the world of synthesizers—packing a huge amount of functionality into a small and affordable package. In production for now over 15 years, the Microkorg packs all the features of classic analog polysynths into a clever and tremendously flexible instrument that can fit in any studio.

Born at the peak of the Virtual Analog synthesizer, the Microkorg uses the same sound engine as its older sibling, the MS-2000. And while certainly digital, it maintains a conceptual workflow inspired directly by classic analog synths (and a sound to match). It is capable of four voices of polyphony—these voices can be played polyphonically with the same timbre, divided between two separate layered timbres, or layered in unison to create huge-sounding leads and basslines. Within each voice, you’ll find the typical components of an analog synth voice: two oscillators, a noise source, a filter, a VCA, two envelopes, and two LFOs. These are followed by modulation effects (phaser, ensemble, or flanger) and a delay, providing tremendously useful end-of-chain effects.

The oscillators can be set to traditional waveforms (sine, triangle, saw, pulse, noise, and the like), or to digital waveshapes unlike the types of tones you’d expect to get from a typical analog oscillator. There are options for ring modulation, FM, and sync between the oscillators as well, enabling access to a rich set of timbres beyond these basic shapes alone. The filter can be set to lowpass, highpass, or bandpass modes…all with adjustable resonance and the ability to track the keyboard’s pitch. Combined with an integrated distortion, EQ, and the aforementioned effects, tons of sounds are at your fingertips.

The Microkorg features a four-slot internal modulation matrix—allowing you to route LFOs, envelopes, keyboard, key velocity, and pitch and mod wheels to a huge range of destinations. Combined with the integrated arpeggiator, this allows for a huge range of sonic animations: vibrato, filter wobbles, intense sweeping sync tones, and more. And of course, the integrated vocoder (with included gooseneck mic) is a perfect way to create robot vocals or to alter your synth’s sound with any incoming audio—a perfect playground for sonic experimentation.

What we love about the Microkorg, even so many years after its introduction, is that it provides such a huge range of sonic resources at a remarkable price. Yes, it’s digital, and yes, it has miniature keys—but it is also a powerful tool for exploring sound that is both affordable and approachable. Dive into the user manual or just select presets and turn knobs to your heart’s content. The Microkorg is perfect for anyone taking a first step into synthesis and hoping to keep finding new sounds for years to come.

Microkorg Features

Polyphonic virtual analog synthesizer
Excellent gateway into synthesizers
37 mini keys with pitch bend and mod wheel controllers
Up to four voices of polyphony
Patch memory for user sounds and plenty of presets to get you up and running
Integrated arpeggiator for cascading automatic arpeggios
Two oscillators, filter, and virtual VCA per voice
Two envelopes and two LFOs per voice
Integrated effects: Flanger, Phaser, Ensemble, and Delay
Vocoder functionality (complete with included gooseneck microphone)
Poly, mono, and unison modes
Multi-timbral: layer up to two sounds simultaneously
Small footprint, but huge virtual analog sound—sound engine borrowed from MS2000