Even better, this pattern of movement could be recorded and played back every time a note was triggered, using a vector envelope that worked alongside the traditional filter and amplitude envelopes. The core idea of the Prophet VS was that its four digital waveform oscillators were arranged on the points of a diamond, and the joystick could be used to mix the four oscillators in real time. Bowen went one step further, and wondered if it was possible to use a joystick to directly manipulate the elements of a sound. Years earlier, users had been introduced to the idea of a 2D left-hand controller the most obvious example at the time was the Roland 'paddle', which moved left/right for pitch bend and forward for modulation, and the Korg joystick, which moved left/right for pitch bend and forward/back for VCO and VCF modulation. John Bowen, who currently hand-builds the amazing Solaris synthesizer, was on a team at Sequential working up new ideas for synthesizers that blended analog and digital technology. and waaaaaay before that, there was a synthesizer called the Sequential Prophet VS. XY controllers are everywhere these days the Moog One has one, and before that the Moog Voyager had one, and before that the Technics SX-WSA1 had two (God I loved the UI on that synth!), and before that the Korg Z1 had one. It's an easy way to see in your mind a mixture of two properties, the X and Y of the position. However, I go further back than that, to a very powerful concept that we take for granted today but was revolutionary when it came out: the idea of vector control.Ī vector, of course, is a distance and direction on a plane. Most people look at wave sequencing as being at the core of the wavestate and its predecessors the Korg Wavestations. Let's get to know the Korg wavestate, shall we?įirst some background to explain where I'm coming from on this review, including some history. I'd like to thank you all for being so kind to me on my first foray into the GearLab now it's time to begin a discussion of another synth that has had me seriously intrigued for a long time.

Wavestate