The Korg MS-10 is an

analogue synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of vacuum-tube (t ...

created by

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...

in 1978. Unlike its bigger brother, the

Korg MS-20 The Korg MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and which was in production until 1983. It was part of Korg's MS series of instruments, which also included the single oscillator MS-10, the ke ...

, the MS-10 only has one VCO, one VCF and one

envelope generator In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immediate initial sound which gradually decreases in volume to zero. An envelope may relate to elements such ...

. It is

monophonic Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sou ...

and has 32 keys. The MS-10 is well known for its huge sounding electro bass sounds.

Sound and features

The MS-10 synthesizer features a single

voltage-controlled oscillator A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is an electronic oscillator whose oscillation frequency is controlled by a voltage input. The applied input voltage determines the instantaneous oscillation frequency. Consequently, a VCO can be used for fre ...

(VCO) offering four waveforms: triangle, sawtooth, pulse, and white noise, and incorporates the same 12dB/octave low-pass filter found in the original MS-20. It is equipped with one

low-frequency oscillator Low-frequency oscillation (LFO) is an electronic frequency that is usually below 20 Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep. This is used to modulate musical equipment such as synthesizers to create audio effects such as vibrato, tremolo ...

(LFO), known as the "modulation generator," which has two controls for rate and shape, and two outputs: pulse and sloped. The shape control adjusts the pulse width and the contour of the sloped output, with the midpoint setting yielding a 50% pulse width and a triangle wave shape. The LFO's influence on the VCO frequency and filter cutoff is adjustable via dedicated knobs on the control panel. Additionally, the MS-10 features a single envelope generator, complete with controls for Hold, Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release. Although the MS-10 has normalized connections, they can be modified with patch cables. This allows the LFO to modulate the pulse width of the VCO or the amplitude of the VCA. It also has a noise generator with

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and

pink noise Pink noise, noise, fractional noise or fractal noise is a signal (information theory), signal or process with a frequency spectrum such that the power spectral density (power per frequency interval) is inversely proportional to the frequenc ...

outputs, CV in and out, and an external signal input, not to be confused with the "External Signal Processor" of the MS-20.

References

{{Korg MS-10 Analog synthesizers Monophonic synthesizers