Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Monotron AI simulator
(@Monotron_simulator)
Hub AI
Monotron AI simulator
(@Monotron_simulator)
Monotron
Monotron (stylised as monotron in all lowercase) is the collective name of a series of miniature monophonic analogue synthesisers produced by Korg, a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments. There are three models in the series: the original Monotron (released 2010), the Monotron Duo (released 2011) and the Monotron Delay (released 2011). The models share a minimalist set of synthesis components, consisting only of a voltage-controlled oscillator, voltage-controlled filter, a voltage-controlled amplifier and a low-frequency oscillator.
Critics received the Monotron series well, citing the synthesisers' analogue circuits, which were a novelty at the time. The Monotrons proved successful with consumers, especially with electronics hobbyists, who made modifications to the synthesisers' designs. Korg did not originally intend for the Monotrons to be used for this purpose: rather, it was a consequence of the company labeling the synthesisers' PCB solder points and publicly releasing their schematics.
The Monotron played a role in an "analogue revival" of synthesisers by showing that analogue synthesisers could still be popular in the digital era. Korg's decision to release the Monotron in 2010 emboldened other manufacturers to produce their own offerings, making analogue synthesisers popular again. Korg continued to release other analogue offerings, such as the Monotribe (released in 2011).
Announced in the summer of 2010 at the German music exposition Musikmesse, the Monotron was Korg's first analogue synthesiser to be released in two decades (the last release being the Trident mkII). The Monotron was designed by Korg's Tatsuya Takahashi.
Monotron measures 12 cm × 7 cm (4.7 in × 2.8 in), weighs approximately 100 grams (3.5 oz) and has a monochrome black-and-white design. It has a continuous ribbon controller for pitch and gate, similar to the touch controller found on Korg's Koass Pad line. The ribbon controller is also connected to the filter cutoff. Attached to the faceplate, there are five knobs for changing parameters.
In terms of its sound engine, the Monotron is relatively bare-bones and only includes the basic elements of a monophonic synthesiser. Monotron has a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), voltage-controlled filter (VCF), a simple gated voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) and a low-frequency oscillator (LFO). The VCO and LFO both use a sawtooth waveform. The Monotron's VCO has a pitch tuning control and can reach frequencies below human hearing (i.e. <20 Hz). The LFO has a frequency range of <1 Hz to 900 Hz and can be routed to VCO pitch or filter cutoff, with control over modulation intensity. The VCF is the same design as the Korg-25 filter chip that used on the MS-10 and MS-20 synthesisers. It has control over cutoff and resonance. External connections on the Monotron consist of a headphone output and an audio input.
The Monotron was received well by critics, who praised its full analogue circuitry and affordable price. Concerns were raised about the synthesiser's ribbon keyboard and noisy signal output, but critics overlooked these problems. According to MusicRadar, a music journalism website:
Once you look past the limitations and remind yourself that this is a true analogue synth for a bargain price, the Monotron is a real winner. It's certainly not perfect, but it's an inspiring piece of equipment to have kicking around the studio and it sounds good enough to use it on a track.
Monotron
Monotron (stylised as monotron in all lowercase) is the collective name of a series of miniature monophonic analogue synthesisers produced by Korg, a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments. There are three models in the series: the original Monotron (released 2010), the Monotron Duo (released 2011) and the Monotron Delay (released 2011). The models share a minimalist set of synthesis components, consisting only of a voltage-controlled oscillator, voltage-controlled filter, a voltage-controlled amplifier and a low-frequency oscillator.
Critics received the Monotron series well, citing the synthesisers' analogue circuits, which were a novelty at the time. The Monotrons proved successful with consumers, especially with electronics hobbyists, who made modifications to the synthesisers' designs. Korg did not originally intend for the Monotrons to be used for this purpose: rather, it was a consequence of the company labeling the synthesisers' PCB solder points and publicly releasing their schematics.
The Monotron played a role in an "analogue revival" of synthesisers by showing that analogue synthesisers could still be popular in the digital era. Korg's decision to release the Monotron in 2010 emboldened other manufacturers to produce their own offerings, making analogue synthesisers popular again. Korg continued to release other analogue offerings, such as the Monotribe (released in 2011).
Announced in the summer of 2010 at the German music exposition Musikmesse, the Monotron was Korg's first analogue synthesiser to be released in two decades (the last release being the Trident mkII). The Monotron was designed by Korg's Tatsuya Takahashi.
Monotron measures 12 cm × 7 cm (4.7 in × 2.8 in), weighs approximately 100 grams (3.5 oz) and has a monochrome black-and-white design. It has a continuous ribbon controller for pitch and gate, similar to the touch controller found on Korg's Koass Pad line. The ribbon controller is also connected to the filter cutoff. Attached to the faceplate, there are five knobs for changing parameters.
In terms of its sound engine, the Monotron is relatively bare-bones and only includes the basic elements of a monophonic synthesiser. Monotron has a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), voltage-controlled filter (VCF), a simple gated voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) and a low-frequency oscillator (LFO). The VCO and LFO both use a sawtooth waveform. The Monotron's VCO has a pitch tuning control and can reach frequencies below human hearing (i.e. <20 Hz). The LFO has a frequency range of <1 Hz to 900 Hz and can be routed to VCO pitch or filter cutoff, with control over modulation intensity. The VCF is the same design as the Korg-25 filter chip that used on the MS-10 and MS-20 synthesisers. It has control over cutoff and resonance. External connections on the Monotron consist of a headphone output and an audio input.
The Monotron was received well by critics, who praised its full analogue circuitry and affordable price. Concerns were raised about the synthesiser's ribbon keyboard and noisy signal output, but critics overlooked these problems. According to MusicRadar, a music journalism website:
Once you look past the limitations and remind yourself that this is a true analogue synth for a bargain price, the Monotron is a real winner. It's certainly not perfect, but it's an inspiring piece of equipment to have kicking around the studio and it sounds good enough to use it on a track.