Korg M1 Unboxing & Jam 

And Juno 106

And JX3P

I doubt the inclusion of the D50. I have one, it looks killer, but it also is MINT. As mint as every D50 I see in collections. Why did this synth did not get stage use? DX7's and M1's most of the time have proper Patina. D50's seemed to had use for licking or adoration only.

​@@lovemadeinjapan there were plenty of D50s on stages all around the world in the late 80s, along with M1s, DX7s and plenty of other classic 80s and 90s digital synths.

@@madness8556 Can you explain why they never seem to have wear?

No way, the most iconic sound is the "piano16" sound, almost every piano-house-rave track from the late 80s early 90s used it.

THAT ORGAN 🥰

@@OzwellSpencer I think you'll find almost every piano-house rave track used 12bit samples of other piano tunes matey.

Let's not forget Gypsy Woman by Crystal Waters. M1 organ galore :-D

@@mima85 True. But ........ to get the waveforms that the Korg M1 uses, they sampled other instruments. The organ was supposedly a DX7 original sound, that Korg sampled and used in the M1 ;-)

I still have my M1 since new out of the box! I will never get rid of it. I have designed so many sounds on it. It's all what you do with the gear. Like Buddy Rich on a cheap drum kit.

It sounds incredible. I recently got started on my synth journey and got a Yamaha CSx1. Impressed by the superior M1 sound quality.

Hence the many musicians still using old gear, often even much older than this Korg.

1991 a local music store had a rental special for a month, so I got one and played with it in my dorm room. After messing around with a JX-8P and DX21, it was in a whole different league. I still have a serious soft spot for the generation of synths 1986-1994 or so. So much of the music made when I was in high school and college originated in the hearts of those beasts. Thank you for the memories, Claudio!

@Richard B - *I purchased one while stationed in Europe back in 1988 *Dumbazz live-in girlfriend "accidently" tipped a bookcase on it in 1995, and destroyed it *Kept all my sound cards just in case I was able to purchase another one *Purchased the Korg Collection - M-1 (soft synth) about 2 years ago. (not a 100% reproduction of the original, but better than what I had which was nothing)

@@thespadestable The Korg Collection is bloody amazing. Glad you were eventually re-united!

@@thespadestable I have both the M1/R and the software version. Honestly, the software sounds cleaner in my opinion, (obviously the D>A) plus you get every expansion. Just knock some tops off the high end it sounds identical ;)

wait till you ear about electric pianos that were born in the 50's and 70's analog synths....

Also, I'm 99% sure "Chica de Humo" uses a LOT of M1 sounds but couldn't find more info about it.

@Keyser Söze Absolutely! The D-50 is up there as well. Claudio even mentioned being torn between the two, but ending up with a D-50 before he ultimately got the M1. Can’t blame him lol. Both are beautiful machines that carry so much nostalgia that aged like fine wine.

D50, M1, DX7 were staples of the “Grupero” era. Bukis all day on them bad boys.

Oh god, so many Mexican groups used the M1. Bryndis, Temerarios, Tierra Caliente, and many more

I have always wondered way

Yup

yess I was just about to write it

without question ! Bang on

hells to the yeah

Ride On Time - Black Box (M1 - Piano 8)

I would have coffee and talk to him.

never sell your synths 🤓

That's encouraging that they're still around to buy! Pleased you were able to replace. Changing the battery is involved. I've done it on mine with the help of RU-vid guides. There's a guide to change the memory to flash-like fram but I'm not brave enough for the mod. Owned mine since 1990. Loving synthastix waverex refill pcm card, bought in recent years, to add further samples like 909 - check it out. Acts like SD card. No affiliation incentive or referral.

Hi, can yiu just show me how to set it to classical piano sound?

Why did you buy it if you could have downloaded it for free?

You played with Kitaro?!!

@@Doctormix Yes, it was my first gig as a sideman. I played on the albums Mandala, An Enchanted Evening (live), Cirque Ingenieux, and Gaia Onbashira. We toured from 94-99 all over the world from US to Europe, Japan, South East Asia, it was great.

Holy crap. I have Celestial Scenery, Silk Road Vol 1....

Been a Kitaro fan for like 25 years, saw him at Symphony Hall in Boston and the Wang Center

It's excellent, as you can generally expect out of VST's. Next to my two real M1's, it's spot on. Waiting for the Kronos VST. Just a matter of time. Korrg will no doubt be moving on to the next thing soon as it's a decade old. VST's are excellent alternatives for classic keyboards. Try them for yourself.

I honestly can't tell the difference between that VST and the real device. Their emulation was so close to the original circuitry. Also you get all of the sound library that for decades were extremely hard to track down.

@@culttelevision Yes, the fact it has all the rom cards is a big plus. Korg should release a “boutique” M1 like the D-05.

@@n8goulet Theres a Kontakt library for the Kronos, last time I heard. Not sure if its official or has all the patches, though.

@@Nik.leonard Their VST does include all of Korg's own rom cards. In addition, it has the ability to import sysex patches. The only thing missing sadly is the popular 3rd party Invision Plus 1 wave rom and patches. Both of my M1's have that board internally installed.

thx 😸

but Chicago songs are before '88 so is it possible? maybe other Korg synths

@@goldblatalex7516 those Cetera songs where not made with M1 ...but sound great! Cheers

@@carlinhospapanegro ohh yes! they a sound great and i love his voice and songs

@@goldblatalex7516 not suggesting that Chicago or Cetera used the M1. Was simple going on what the Good Doctor was playing in this video at that time point. Hope that clears up any confusion.

The regular choir patch is one of my favorites.

I love Magic Piano myself 😎

Listen to EMF's - "Children" from Schubert Dip

My favorite couple of guys.

7....talk about spoiled 😁😉

Mine, too. How much time I spent in my youth with that device.

That's a goooood one! I was about to say "Broken Wings", but it turned to be impossible! (The m1 is from 1988)

probably not as the song is from 1982 and the synth made on 1988

Ha! Same here except I bought Creator as my sequencer. I bought a M1R a year later.

Such a sterile sounding era.

To me, not so much. For me, the M1 sounded murky and muddy. It just didn't sound high fidelity at all. However, it did have a lot of features and sounds - especially its multi-timbral and multi-track capabilities.

I have the same touch in my old Korg N5 with i connect via midi to my M1r

Was this a German company? Because I did exactly the same thing as I also wasn't very fond of the idea to send them my M1.

True!

Definitely agree. I can here all the classics in my head.

Yeah it is

No endless selection of wavetables, just a good amount of now iconic sounds!

My two favorite synths. I too only have the D50, but maybe one day..... :)

@Love made in Japan what about "Intruder FX" wasnt that patch 88? 😉

Even more so with new waverex user programmable pcm sample card. No affiliation. Just a happy m1 and waverex owner.

How much was it when you bought it And what year ?

Get iM1 on the App Store - has all these (sounds) and more. And of course the real deal is to own an M1 but still kudos to KORG for transcending the Synth into the present

I have an M1 at home but I also got the VST version which KORG did a great job with: it's very faithful to the original and has all the expansion cards included. Amazing piece of gear.

Go get it before the prices skyrocket.

My combo was an M1 and an SY85....great machines!!

On my M1 too the round buttons don’t work…are they easy to replace? Are any special tools required? Where did u get the parts from?

@@MrMediterrano The push buttons are in groups of four or two interconnected. After years of pressing they snap and loose their "click" , you can buy replacements ( secondhand ) from ebay ... they lift out of a recess with your fingers and their are plenty of really good tutorials on RU-vid ... Always worth changing the onboard battery while you have the back off .... Good luck .

I know how it feels. 😞

Are you sure the M1 was sold more often than the DX7?

@@timschulz9563 I want figures......now! ;-} My feeling tells me, KORG did better with the M1 than Yamaha did with the DX7. Two different concepts, totally different personal experience. The M1has much more warmth and I guess, that's why it's still more in our hearts and souls than the cooler sounding DX7. But seriously, there mustbe some hard figures that show which sold better!

@@R---66---R So, I googled it and found this: Casio VL-1 (I'm not sure if this qualifies as a synth...) 1,000,000 , M1 250,000 , DX7 160,000-200,000 up to 1,000,000

@@timschulz9563 Positive! It's well documented. Check around reliable sources online like Keyboard Magazine, Electronic Musician, Sound on Sound, etc. 33 years later, the M1 is the best selling synth of all time. Not the DX7. Not the Kronos, not the Triton and not even the MOTIF. The M1 was simply that far revolutionary for the time it came out, and continued to dominate for years to come. But what really made it great was not only the sounds from Korg, but tons of expansion sounds from various companies, hardware accessories, etc. They expanded the M1 to do things it wasn't originally designed for. New M1 products are still coming out to this day. A couple years ago a new sample card for the M1 came out that gives you a modern amount of memory to work with, and you can load wav files right into from you PC via USB to the card. All kinds of products made their way to the M1 like the Frontal Lobe (I had one), Invision Plus 1 internal board (I have two. Single best add-on) and much more. The M1 wasn't just about the synth, it was about the M1 as a platform the way a PC or Mac is a platform. Without all the 3rd party stuff they wouldn't have been nearly as magical. The greatest hardware in the world is nothing special without tons of great supported products for it, unless your an expert programmer which very few are.

And there was I thinking I was the microKorg.

Do you know what is at 7:35 - that short snippet from Queen?? It's driving me mad, I can't think which Queen track it is!

I'm going slightly mad - thank goodness - I was going slightly mad LOL

As a long time owner of the M1 since it came out with tons of updates (two of them), you are 100% correct. I've effectively replaced my M1's, DX7, D50 and many others with VSTs. My M1's sit in storage. iM1 sounds fantastic side by side next to one of my M1's, except the great Invision Plus 1 board that isn't available on the M1 since it required internal rom waves that Korg didn't have the rights to, and can't be loaded via sysex because it requires the wave rom. I did have decent luck sampling the patch from it I use the most into my MODX. I'll probably try some others. I have a dozen vintage synths still besides the ones I replaced, but the future is clear. I'll be scaling back, maybe continue to buy some new ones (like the great MODX) and be replacing my classics with software when the values climb further. Will probably keep one M1 since it meant so much to me for so long. For the past 2 years I've gigged without the M1, but it's really still with me and used plenty as a virtual version. I do need a MIDI controller with aftertouch to get the best use out of iM1, so that's what I do. Works great for plenty of other synths too. The Montage & Kronos sounds don't take advantage of aftertouch nearly to the extent the M1 did, so I can live without that on my MODX. But not on M1 sounds.

still?

@@therealOXOC i have now. A cool and cheap casio to learn on. :)

@@EphemeralProductions pretty cool. the only postive thing i got all day so i'm thankful. love ya dude.

@@therealOXOC um ok you too. lol. Do i know u?

@@EphemeralProductions sure. we all are the same. i love the you have bought an cheap casio to learn the basics. i have a casio CT-470 myself. it's so much fun. i love you dude .

It’s just Queen

Liz sure knows how to write a good tune.