KORG phase8 – Acoustic Synthesizer

Pretty sick demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFNQoekyGAs

at 6:20 he's showing how placing different objects on the resonators changes their tone.

I want this so bad.

Cheap Eurorack ersatz version https://gieskes.nl/eurorack/?file=4-relay-module ?

I keep telling myself to stop lusting over gear and just start making music, but…

EDIT: Saw that it’s pretty much a fixed-key device, which makes it much less appealing. Still pretty damn cool, though.

Maybe i'm not fully grasping how it works, but i don't really see the acoustic part, aren't the resonators just turning the steel vibrations into an electric signal via coils in the same way an electric guitar works? basically what's the advantage of this vs plugin an electric guitar as a signal input to an analog synth?

$1149.99, in case you are wondering: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1946617-REG/korg_phas...

Seems like the bars are just there to produce the (almost) sine wave oscillation part of the synth which is neat I guess but it just seems like a gimmick if I am being totally honest. I still respect them trying new ideas though.

Wow, this is really innovative. It really takes "physical modeling" synths to another, more literal level. Would love to have been a fly on the wall when the idea was proposed.

This + an Ekdahl Moisturizer would be an interesting pairing.

Physical hardware is fun, sounds better (when analog or acoustic) but I can't go back after a long time with a streamlined VST-based workflow. For playing without a computer, I simply use romplers for the convenience. So, while I have a gut desire for this gear, I won't ever actually buy it...

Glad to see this has finally been released after years of R&D :) can't wait to see what Takahashi-san and team cook up next.

In principle, Korg Berlin looks like a great model for satellite incubator within an established organization. Would absolutely love to work there.

They have visible pickups, which presumably have a permanent magnet core.

But how are the resonators getting 'plucked'? Is it the same electromagnet as the pickup or a separate one? I can't imagine those two modes would work well. (i.e. dumping current across the coil would make the magnet want to escape)

Perhaps there's a field coil instead of a permanent magnet?

And here I told myself I wasn't going to buy anymore synthesizers.

Looks really neat. I wish I had one, I am curious but it just sounds like an FM to me. In the demos I hear very decayed percussive FM sounds or mellow bell like FM sounds.

If Kraftwerk were still doing their thing this would be right up their alley. But they probably got their own special gear.

Is there a demo ? i couldn't find it on the page

I guess I am left wondering why the person in the photo is playing it with a pencil and a truffle.

Congrats, this was news more than 2 years ago. Maybe next time post an Wikipedia article instead.