We are proud to present Korg with the NAMM 2020 Best Of Show award for their WaveState synthesizer. The 37-Note WaveState is a reimagining of Korg’s WaveStation, which premiered the Japanese concern’s Wave Sequencing technology. The concept took raw samples and mutated them into evolving sounds that inspired keyboardists, sound designers and film composers all around the world. Korg pushed the technology further in the Oasys and Kronos workstations that followed. Revisiting wave sequencing, Korg developed version 2.0 employing modern advances, as well as incorporating current trends in hardware, software and music creation.
On the surface, the constantly evolving and morphing sounds will certain appeal to ambient, electronic and film composers, but there’s a lot of exciting new possibilities to be discovered by digging even deeper. Electronic music producers who are interested in pushing the boundaries even further will be well-rewarded by spending time mangling the raw samples and layering different elements to create massive, dynamic and often unpredictable sounds.
What will version 2.0 of Wave Sequencing do? With the original Wavestation, each step of a Wave Sequence had a duration, a sample, and a pitch. This created dynamic patterns, but the patterns repeated the same way, over and over. What if they could evolve in organic, unexpected ways, instead of just repeating? Wave Sequencing 2.0 splits apart the timing, the sequence of samples, and the melody, so that each can be manipulated independently. Also added are new characteristics including shapes, gate times, and step sequencer values. Each of these is a Lane, and each Lane can have a different number of steps and its own start, end, and loop points.
Every time the sequence moves forward, the individual Lanes are combined to create the output. For instance, a sample may be matched with a different duration, pitch, shape, gate length, and step sequence value every time that it plays. You can modulate each Lane’s start, end, and loop points separately for every note, using velocity, LFOs, envelopes, Mod Knobs, or other controllers. In fact, each note in a chord can be playing something different. Lanes can also randomize the step order every time they play, with realtime control over the range of included steps. Finally, individual steps can be randomly skipped, with a modulatable probability from 0 to 100%. The result is organic, ever-changing sounds that respond to your control. The four onboard arpeggiators can interact with Wave Sequences for even more possibilities.
Mind blown yet? Add a comprehensive filter section – lifted from the MS-20 – plenty of usable effects, plus other goodies and you can see why the WaveState topped our list. The only thing missing, unfortunately, is the ability to upload your own samples into the Wavestate, but if this first incarnation proves popular, a more robust 61-Note version just may include that attribute in the future.
The best part of the WaveState is its price. Coming in at $799 / €699, the Korg WaveState is accessible to everyone. In terms of build quality, sound quality and price, we couldn’t find another synth at NAMM that ticked all the boxes, and is actually available at your local music store. Congrats Korg on this exciting new product!
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Honorable Mentions:
Korg ARP 2600 FS
We wrote extensively on the ARP 2600 FS in a previous story after it’s official debut. The reboot, one of the worst kept secrets in the music business, was greatly anticipated, but Korg took their time to deliver something truly special. The 2600 looks gorgeous, sounds great and is sure to be a hit. Although users may not be able to obtain one of the limited edition runs of the full-size units, based on availability and price. The “FS” nomenclature allows us to speculate that they just might be a Mini version, based on the MS-20 enclosure around the corner. This would be priced around the MS-20’s price point, albeit with somewhat of a premium for the 2600’s status – $800 – $1000 street.
***Since we speculated about the ARP 2600 Mini a few “leaked” shots have appeared online. Check out the ARP 2600 Mini pictures.
Ashun Sound Machines HydraSynth
ASM’s Hydrasynth is an eight-voice, three-oscillator synthesizer containing a wave morphing synthesis engine. ASM. a Chinese concern, debuted the keyboard and desktop units this past fall, and NAMM provided an opportunity for punters to get their hands and ears on the unit. The show allowed the company to showcase their new 1.3 Firmware update. Featuring Warm Mode, 128 new patches and MPE functionality, the update was welcomed by the current user base and should appeal to users now in the market for a new sound source.
Arturia KeyStep Pro
Building upon their excellent sequencing offerings, Arturia’s new KeyStep Pro features: Four independent sequencers, controlling whatever synth, module, or drum machine you want — 16 patterns per track. Each sequencer pattern can be up to 64 steps long, and contain 16 notes per step — Link up to 16 patterns together to create whole songs or sections of your set — Scenes > Snapshots of all the sequences within a pattern, letting you instantly switch between sets of sequences — Projects > Everything in one place. Load, duplicate, tweak, edit, and save for later in its onboard memory.
Arturia is offering a lot of sequencing bang-for-the-buck with the KeyStep Pro, with a nice full-sized keyboard, to make this the nucleus of your home studio.
