Korg ARP Odyssey Keyboard (Full Size)

[BobTheDog]

No chance they will sell that at that price.

[Mr Kay]

I have to admit, I'm surprised the MS-20 has sold so well.  People like to make bizarre sounds with it, thanks to the little modular bay.  As it's been called, the "poor man's 2600."

I wasn't, as the MS-20 was a cheap synth, it became ridiculously overhyped, some people asked the price of a brand new Pro-2!

[Paul Dither]

I have to admit, I'm surprised the MS-20 has sold so well.  People like to make bizarre sounds with it, thanks to the little modular bay.  As it's been called, the "poor man's 2600."

I wasn't, as the MS-20 was a cheap synth, it became ridiculously overhyped, some people asked the price of a brand new Pro-2!

That's true. The MS-20 mostly received its laurels retrospectively. There are quite a few original users, who couldn't afford anything better back in the day, who basically said it was rubbish and indeed nothing more than a poor man's 2600.

[Sacred Synthesis]

I never took to the sound of the MS-20.  It was too thin for my liking, and the original lacked PWM.  But it is an excellent little laboratory for learning synthesis and gaining some hold on the idea of patching.  It was a great educational tool on the way to better things.  I far preferred the Odyssey, though.  They're both excellent laboratories, but the ARP sounds more musical.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Alas, it's back!

http://www.synthanatomy.com/2018/01/namm-2018-arp-odyssey-fs-synthesizer-back-now-bundled-sq-1-sequencer.html

[LoboLives]

Alas, it's back!

http://www.synthanatomy.com/2018/01/namm-2018-arp-odyssey-fs-synthesizer-back-now-bundled-sq-1-sequencer.html

With an "ARP" sequencer.

[Manbird]

I never took to the sound of the MS-20.  It was too thin for my liking, and the original lacked PWM.  But it is an excellent little laboratory for learning synthesis and gaining some hold on the idea of patching.  It was a great educational tool on the way to better things.  I far preferred the Odyssey, though.  They're both excellent laboratories, but the ARP sounds more musical.

I must profess my love for the MS-20mini and perhaps my even greater love for my MS-10. The 10 I've had since my first days. I won it in a battle of the bands, doing my "Look ma, no hands!" Ron Mael impression, thank you very much! Anyway, it lives at my dad's house and I always find a space for it on whatever I'm recording when I come home. It's a lovely sounding instrument to me. By lovely I mean anything from sweet in the ear to teeth-hurtingly ugly. There's a "yowl" lurking in that filter. I'd never worked with an original MS-20, but I jumped when the mini was announced, and I adore it as much as I do the 10. My Micromoog will always sound like "synthesizer" to me. Even if I push it, it still remains identifiably electronic. Dr. Who, eh wot? But the MS twins have an organic, animal aspect that can lead me into weird and mysterious places. Plus, the 10's Ext In makes a great guitar overdrive!

Sorry to pull away from the ARP conversation at hand. I've used an Odyssey on a couple records, and loved it, but having access to them in studio has meant I've not "needed" one of my own. Not that I'd mind in the least, but that goes for about 36 other synths off the top of my head...   

[Sacred Synthesis]

That's an interesting opinion on the Ms-10/20.  I wish you could convince me of it.  I owned a brand new MS-20 many moons ago, and I found it a fascinating instrument, especially with the patch bay.  But my memory is of a rather thin and harsh overall tone, not one I would call sweet, warm, or pleasantly melodic.  I found the ARP Odyssey to be much more to my liking.  My memory of the Korg is regularly supported by the YouTube demonstrations I watch, which tend to be by kids in their socks recording in their bedrooms.  In other words, I seldom hear a really fine and serious musical application of the instrument.  It seems to appeal to those who may not yet be too concerned with sweetness, warmth, and a pleasantly melodic quality. 

In spite of all of this, I still wanted to buy one of the MS-20 kits when they were available, but my memories told me not to.  The instrument still interests me, though. 

What do you say, Ant?  Can you change my opinion?

[Manbird]

That's an interesting opinion on the Ms-10/20.  I wish you could convince me of it.  I owned a brand new MS-20 many moons ago, and I found it a fascinating instrument, especially with the patch bay.  But my memory is of a rather thin and harsh overall tone, not one I would call sweet, warm, or pleasantly melodic.  I found the ARP Odyssey to be much more to my liking.  My memory of the Korg is regularly supported by the YouTube demonstrations I watch, which tend to be by kids in their socks recording in their bedrooms.  In other words, I seldom hear a really fine and serious musical application of the instrument.  It seems to appeal to those who may not yet be too concerned with sweetness, warmth, and a pleasantly melodic quality. 

In spite of all of this, I still wanted to buy one of the MS-20 kits when they were available, but my memories told me not to.  The instrument still interests me, though. 

What do you say, Ant?  Can you change my opinion?

I suppose I'm at a place where I'm not wishing to convince anyone of anything! If I had examples handy of the MS-10 or 20 in action, used in what I claim are sweet ways, I'd point ye towards. My recordings are often so layered that I'd be hard pressed to say "See that bit there? MS-10 triangle in all melodic glory!" I'm not finding anything in my Soundcloud stack that would do the trick, but maybe I can grab the MS-10 from my dad's house and conjure something in the next few days. I mean, truth is, I DO reach for the 10/20 when I need something yowling and harsh. As I've said before, though, there's something deeply organic for me in the sounds those synths make, so "harsh" is more about feeling than tone. But I'm up for the challenge of conjuring the gentle purr of whatever strange demon lives inside that black metal box!

[LoboLives]

MS-20s are a lot more suited to experimental drones, especially run through effect units. Plus the “audio in” input offers interesting elements as well.  I was listening to the Shock Waves soundtrack while doing dishes this morning and I believe all of the score is done with Korg synths. I believe the MS series. Run through loads of reverb and tape echo machines. I find it’s much more of a background synth. Drones, loops, etc while you are doing something else Lead wise. I wouldn’t focus on it as the main element of a song but could I hear it droning in the background while a Prophet or a ARP or even bass or guitar play in the front? Darn right. In fact my friend showed me a metal band recently and they had the MS-20 running through a huge Orange amp just cranked. One of the scariest things I’ve ever heard.

Here...

[Sacred Synthesis]

Ant,

I meant "Can you change my mind?" only conversationally.  Don't waste your time making a video for my purposes.  But thanks, anyways.