The Korg PE-1000 (Polyphonic Ensemble) is a preset-based

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

analog synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses Analogue electronics, 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 var ...

released 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 1976. It was Korg's first polyphonic synthesizer and was marketed in the US as the Univox K4.

Background

In the mid-1970s,

polyphonic synthesizers Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (h ...

had started to emerge, with the releases of the

Yamaha GX-1 The Yamaha GX-1, first released as Electone GX-707, is an analog polyphony (instrument), polyphonic synthesizer developed by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha as a test bed for later consumer synths and Electone series organs for stage and home use. The ...

Oberheim Four Voice Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. Beginning in 1975, Oberheim developed some of the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers and was a prominent synthesizer and drum machine manufacture ...

, and

Polymoog The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time. Histor ...

signalling a new direction in synthesis technology. Korg aiming to produce a synthesizer capable of producing true polyphonic chords, as all of their previous synthesizers had been monophonic. Constructing a polyphonic synth was prohibitively expensive at the time. Although

string synthesizer A string synthesizer or string machine is a synthesizer designed to make sounds similar to those of a string section. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between electronic organs and general-purpose synthes ...

s had been available for a few years, they didn't offer the articulation of a true synthesizer. Korg's innovation involved integrating the basic features of a monosynth with the polyphonic sound generation system of string synthesizers, resulting in the release of two Polyphonic Ensemble keyboards. These instruments, the PE-1000 followed by the PE-2000, offered limited controls and primarily relied on preset sounds.

PE-1000

The PE-1000 generates

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

sounds through seven distinct presets, each defined by settings of the 'Traveler' filter first featured on the miniKORG 700 as well as an envelope generator. Although some control over the sound is possible, it operates with a single filter and envelope across all voices and lacks touch sensitivity.

PE-2000

The PE-2000 (Polyphonic Ensemble S) is a

, creating a richer sound than the PE-1000 through the use of three detunable divide-down generators with individual modulation oscillators, and a built-in phaser effect. It includes eight presets, such as organ, brass, chorus, and string sounds, and was utilized by notable artists like

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the grou ...

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...

, Kansas and

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

References

External links

Korg PE-1000 on Vintage Synth Explorer

Korg PE-2000 on Vintage Synth Explorer
{{Korg M Polyphonic synthesizers 1976 musical instruments