Segwist

In a few days I’m flying out to South East Asia for the remainder of the year, which means the past few weeks have seen a doubling of reviews of music hardware to cover the street press content in my absence. There have been some surprises, such as the excellent AKG C214 microphone inspiring myself and Kris Ko to record some acoustic guitars on a Segue track that should see the light of day in early 2009. There have also been some bits and pieces that have met but not entirely exceeded my expectations. One of those is the Korg Micro-X.

Like many people I first laid eyes on this in a music store and assumed it was the follow up to the hugely successful Korg MicroKorg. I don’t actually like the MicroKorg personally which is probably as much to do with being bored of seeing it on stage in live acts and used as a vocoder in Indie bands. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but I doubt I’m the only music tech geek hoping to see some more interesting hardware make its way back on stage. As to the Micro-X, oddly enough it’s nothing like its namesake and is in fact a budget priced rompler. It does add some interesting features like four outputs and a VST style plugin to raise the bar on what is probably best described as a cut down Triton. My actual review is relatively pleased, given the demographic that this is aimed at, so there are few surprises that a rompler looks and behaves like a rompler. I never buy into the price-points of gear unless it is a bargain or absurdly overpriced, but I would imagine that the cost of the Micro-X at present is largely due to the financial crisis affecting the Australian dollar and thus causing import price hikes. If one ignores the fact that a Novation X-Station can be had at a relatively similar price (adding a proper virtual analogue synth, effects, ASIO audio interface, midi controller and S/PDIF out to boot) and focuses on the Micro-X soundset as the bulk of its desirability, then there is a very real niche to be exploited here as an alternative to the largely synthetic and abstract world of VST plugins.

While I’m not going to recap my review here, I can say that there were some surprises amongst the relatively safe package. The software included enables the Micro-X to behave as something of a VST, and takes its cues from the Virus Ti in that regards. This should help to squeeze even more out of the onboard sounds, which herald from the Triton style of HI synthesis. It’s easy to forget when surrounded by Kontakt packs and a collection of synths and samples that there is a need amongst new or genre specific producers to turn to a stock soundset and dial up some piano or bass tones without wading through plugins or shelling out for the big ticket gear. In this regards, I fired up Ableton as I do with any review, and started to scroll through sounds, letting some musical ideas form.

The following little loop is derived quickly with all sounds being played manually from the Micro-X, bar the kick drum and a hat pattern. The percussion is quickly EQ’d in Ableton, as is the delay on the piano for my own sanity sake, but the bass is surprisingly usable.

Full Loop:

Bass Solo:

Piano Solo:

Every bit of music gear that comes through the studio for review gets recorded as I poke and prod my way around the device, with the odd bit of inspiration stemming from some serendipitous moment. These are essential reference points for reviews at times, recalling interesting things that make the gear unique (or terrible!!) but are usually consigned to the archive folder unless a useful sample or phrase can be extracted from the random noise. I post the above as much as a reminder that the most unassuming gear can yield a few nice sounds, and also to force myself to get more into the habit of sharing these explorations! With that, I must get some sleep, pack some bags and catch a plane.

Tags: Ableton, Korg, Loops, Micro-X, MicroKorg, Review

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 3:25 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.