Korg DW-8000
Encyclopedia
The Korg DW-8000 synthesizer
was released to the buying public in late 1985 along with its cheaper stable mate the Korg DW-6000
synthesizer. The DW-8000 was an eight note polyphonic
hybrid digital
-analog
synthesizer instrument. By the time of its launch Korg
had already begun a common trend in 80s synthesizer design of using numerical parameter access as with the Korg Poly-800
eschewing the heavily laden control panels of earlier designs.
A more unusual feature of the instrument for the time was the use of sampled waveform
s as the basic building block of sounds, and the inclusion of a digital delay effect. This latter feature was one significant factor in the relative success of the DW-8000 compared DW-6000 released the same year.
that was both velocity sensitive and could sense channel pressure after touch as well, sending it via MIDI
if required. A four way joystick was provided to control LFO modulation as well as pitch bend. Pulling the joystick bender towards you also allowed control over VCF
as well. Around the back panel were headphones, stereo line out, pedal inputs for damper, portamento
and program up were available. Also available were two sockets for tape interface to facilitate offline patch backup and storage. Electrical power was supplied via a two pin IEC C9 type connection cable rather than the rather more ubiquitous C13 type, which can potentially be a source of frustration if lost just before performance.
with suitable software that can send the MIDI dump request message to it. A modern and more reliable alternative to the cassette tape interface is the portable CD player with wave files saved on CD. An optional accessory was the MEX-8000 a hardware device which could provide extra storage to the user.
ROM
chips, played back through the two digital oscillators and processed by relatively familiar subtractive synthesis facilities. The waveforms themselves were the usual staple sine
, sawtooth
, and pulse
waveforms, but more unusually featured waveforms such as acoustic piano and saxophone. To aid the user in appropriate selection each of the sixteen wave samples are printed on the right hand end of the operating panel along with the parameter reference below. Any two of the digitised waveforms could be used by the 2 DCOs provided. A noise source could be added separately to add further colour.
VCA
enveloper using six stages and similar arrangement also for the analogue filter. The filter is unmistakably analogue and can be pushed into self oscillation
using the filter resonance parameter. Further modulation of the sound could be applied using the single LFO which could either modulate the DCOs to produce vibrato effect or the filter, or even both at the same time should such be desired. An important creative limitation of the DW-8000 architecture was that the user could not control the LFO depth with respect to each DCO, they were both modulated in common thereby losing some flexibility.
section. As the rest of the synthesizer architecture up to this point in the sound chain was analogue, the signal had to be converted back to a digital signal. This fact is evident in the increased noise when using the delay effect. Despite this it was a flexible digital delay that gave times ranging from 2 to and 512 milliseconds in length. Added to this was a modulation depth parameter so the user could create chorus
and flanging
effects as well as delay.
. The arpeggiator can be set to latch so that the sequence continues to play after the user releases the keys, or un-latched then the sequence will immediately stop when keys are released. A facility to make the arpeggio span one or two octaves, or even the full keyboard can be selected. Finally a tempo
slider sits immediately to the left of the arpeggiator controls to control the speed of the arpeggiator sequence.
was to become an important motif in Korg keyboards during the latter half of the 1980s. Other manufacturers whether knowingly or not were soon arriving with instruments using similar ingredients of samples and effects but still using traditional subtractive synthesis, only with better technology. The Korg DW-8000 was not multitimbral
and would therefore not fare well in the market that only two years later would produce both the Roland
D-50
and MT-32
which used samples of real attack transients to create increased realism whilst the MT32 also brought multitimbral facilities with relatively high quality effects. Korg themselves took longer to find the winning combination but by the end of the decade had hit considerable success with their M1
workstation which itself included a few old DWGS samples.
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
was released to the buying public in late 1985 along with its cheaper stable mate the Korg DW-6000
Korg dw-6000
The Korg DW-6000 is a six note polyphonic hybrid synthesizer with two digital oscillators and one analogue lowpass filter per voice. Its eight basic waveforms were originally generated through additive synthesis , but there is no facility for editing their harmonic content by the user.Patch...
synthesizer. The DW-8000 was an eight note polyphonic
Polyphony (instrument)
Polyphony Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic.-Synthesizer:Most of early synthesizers were monophonic musical instruments which can play only one note at a time, and are often called monosynth as opposed to polysynth...
hybrid digital
Digital synthesizer
A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing techniques to make musical sounds.Electronic keyboards make music through sound waves.-History:...
-analog
Analog synthesizer
An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques 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 and electro-mechanical technologies...
synthesizer instrument. By the time of its launch Korg
Korg
is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners...
had already begun a common trend in 80s synthesizer design of using numerical parameter access as with the Korg Poly-800
Korg Poly-800
The Korg Poly-800 is a synthesizer released by Korg in 1983. Its initial list price of $795 made it the first fully programmable synthesizer that sold for less than $1000. It featured a 49 key non-velocity sensitive keyboard, two buttons for data entry, and a joystick controller, which could...
eschewing the heavily laden control panels of earlier designs.
A more unusual feature of the instrument for the time was the use of sampled waveform
Waveform
Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...
s as the basic building block of sounds, and the inclusion of a digital delay effect. This latter feature was one significant factor in the relative success of the DW-8000 compared DW-6000 released the same year.
Physical characteristics
Physically the instrument used a 61 note synthesizer action keyboardMusical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
that was both velocity sensitive and could sense channel pressure after touch as well, sending it via MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIDI is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982 by Gordon Hall, that enables electronic musical instruments , computers and other electronic equipment to communicate and synchronize with each other...
if required. A four way joystick was provided to control LFO modulation as well as pitch bend. Pulling the joystick bender towards you also allowed control over VCF
Voltage-controlled filter
A voltage-controlled filter is a filter whose operating characteristics can be controlled by means of a control voltage applied to one or more inputs...
as well. Around the back panel were headphones, stereo line out, pedal inputs for damper, portamento
Portamento
Portamento is a musical term originated from the Italian expression "portamento della voce" , denoting from the beginning of the 17th century a vocal slide between two pitches and its emulation by members of the violin family and certain wind instruments, and is sometimes used...
and program up were available. Also available were two sockets for tape interface to facilitate offline patch backup and storage. Electrical power was supplied via a two pin IEC C9 type connection cable rather than the rather more ubiquitous C13 type, which can potentially be a source of frustration if lost just before performance.
Patch storage and backup
The instrument had 64 memories which could be backed up to cassette tape in similar fashion to that used for home computers of the time. This system could be prone to error or miss-hap as the availability of the “verify” feature for the tape backup system can attest to. The instrument did however possess the capability in MIDI to allow sys-ex transfer provided you had another DW-8000 or a computerComputer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
with suitable software that can send the MIDI dump request message to it. A modern and more reliable alternative to the cassette tape interface is the portable CD player with wave files saved on CD. An optional accessory was the MEX-8000 a hardware device which could provide extra storage to the user.
DWGS synthesis
As basic material sixteen digitized waveforms were available to the user through a system Korg called DWGS for Digital Waveform Generator System. The DWGS system can simply be thought of as an early sample playback system where only short or single cycle waveforms are stored on four 256 KilobitKilobit
The kilobit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix kilo is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 103 , and therefore,...
ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
chips, played back through the two digital oscillators and processed by relatively familiar subtractive synthesis facilities. The waveforms themselves were the usual staple sine
Sine wave
The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical function that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It occurs often in pure mathematics, as well as physics, signal processing, electrical engineering and many other fields...
, sawtooth
Sawtooth wave
The sawtooth wave is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform. It is named a sawtooth based on its resemblance to the teeth on the blade of a saw....
, and pulse
Pulse wave
A pulse wave or pulse train is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform that is similar to a square wave, but does not have the symmetrical shape associated with a perfect square wave. It is a term common to synthesizer programming, and is a typical waveform available on many synths. The exact shape of...
waveforms, but more unusually featured waveforms such as acoustic piano and saxophone. To aid the user in appropriate selection each of the sixteen wave samples are printed on the right hand end of the operating panel along with the parameter reference below. Any two of the digitised waveforms could be used by the 2 DCOs provided. A noise source could be added separately to add further colour.
Oscillator modes
The synthesizer could be used in two polyphonic modes and two monophonic modes. The latter monophonic modes are worthy of examination on account of sounds they can generate. Each of the two monophonic modes arranged the oscillators into a single note stack of slightly detuned oscillators. Use of these two monophonic modes changes the character of any given patch quite considerably, generally imbuing it with what could best be described as a powerful or fat sound.Analogue VCA and VCF stages
Whilst the source sounds were digital the subsequent major sound shaping stages consisted of an analogueAnalog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
VCA
Variable-gain amplifier
A variable-gain or voltage-controlled amplifier is an electronic amplifier that varies its gain depending on a control voltage .VCAs have many applications, including audio level compression, synthesizers and amplitude modulation....
enveloper using six stages and similar arrangement also for the analogue filter. The filter is unmistakably analogue and can be pushed into self oscillation
Oscillation
Oscillation is the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples include a swinging pendulum and AC power. The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes...
using the filter resonance parameter. Further modulation of the sound could be applied using the single LFO which could either modulate the DCOs to produce vibrato effect or the filter, or even both at the same time should such be desired. An important creative limitation of the DW-8000 architecture was that the user could not control the LFO depth with respect to each DCO, they were both modulated in common thereby losing some flexibility.
Digital delay effects
The final key part of the architectural jigsaw was the digital delayDelay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
section. As the rest of the synthesizer architecture up to this point in the sound chain was analogue, the signal had to be converted back to a digital signal. This fact is evident in the increased noise when using the delay effect. Despite this it was a flexible digital delay that gave times ranging from 2 to and 512 milliseconds in length. Added to this was a modulation depth parameter so the user could create chorus
Chorus effect
In music, a chorus effect occurs when individual sounds with roughly the same timbre and nearly the same pitch converge and are perceived as one...
and flanging
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
effects as well as delay.
Arpeggiator section
In 1985 synthesizers with built in sequencing facilities were quite rare however the DW-8000 did have a 64-note arpeggiator section. The 64 note memory could be especially useful when the arpeggiator was set to its “assignable” mode. This allowed the arpeggiator to loop round any number of notes up to 64 that the user added to the arpeggioArpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
. The arpeggiator can be set to latch so that the sequence continues to play after the user releases the keys, or un-latched then the sequence will immediately stop when keys are released. A facility to make the arpeggio span one or two octaves, or even the full keyboard can be selected. Finally a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
slider sits immediately to the left of the arpeggiator controls to control the speed of the arpeggiator sequence.
Angel City mod
One aftermarket add-on, the Angel City mod, was available for the DW-8000. No longer being sold by Angel City but still available by Musitronics at http://www.musitronics.org/products/dw8000_ex_e.html for € 78. This is exactly the same upgrade and are even using the original Angel City install document (complete with "Angel City" copyright throughout).- The product description reads:
- KORG DW/EX 8000
- Systemexpansion
- This expansion offers completely new features for your DW/EX 8000 Synthesizer. The most remarkable are:
- Splitting and Doubling Sounds
- Local off function
- Key Transpose, Random MG Waveform and Compare function
- Two MIDI Send- and Receive channels
- Compare and MIDI Program Change for all 128 Sounds
- Our new operating system expands the function of your DW/EX 8000 dramatically. Create completely new sounds using the new splitting and doubling features. Use the Local ON/Off function to control one ore more external sound modules with one part of your keyboard while playing your DW/EX 8000 with the other one. Since the DW/EX 8000 now has two MIDI Send- and Receive channels, this expansion offers a two part MIDI multi mode. The voice allocation is done dynamically.
- There are eight new parameters in total. Six of these eight parameters - 18 (Sound B), 27 (Key Transpose), 28 (Detune A-B), 36 (Split Mode), 37 (Split Point) and 38 (Bal. A-B) - can be stored for each sound individually. Of course all new parameters are fully compatible with the old soundsets. Each existing Program can be improved by using the new features. All new parameters can be stored on data tape and in our memory expansion too.
- New functions of the DW/EX 8000 Expansion:
- Parameter 18: Sound B
- Value from 11-88. This parameter defines, which Sound will be used as 2nd one.
- Parameter 27: Key Transpose
- With this parameter you can adjust the tuning of your DW 8000 by semitones upwards by one octave maximum.
- Parameter 28: Detune A-B
- Finetuning between Sound A and Sound B with 7 different settings. This is especially helpful for Doubling Sounds due to detuning between four (!) oscillators.
- Parameter 36: Split Mode
- This is the most important parameter of this expansion. It defines, whether the DW 8000 works in Splitting Mode as before or in Doubling Mode. Also the Local ON/OFF function is realised with this parameter.
- Mode 1: The DW 8000 works as before
- Mode 2: Local OFF Lower Manual. The lower part of the keyboard is switched off, the upper part produces DW 8000 Sounds. However, the whole keyboard transmits MIDI data.
- Mode 3: Local OFF Upper Manual. The upper part of the keyboard is switched off, the lower part produces DW 8000 Sounds. However, the whole keyboard transmits MIDI data.
- Mode 4: DW 8000 Local OFF. No Sounds are produced anymore from the keyboard, however MIDI data will be transmitted and received.
- Mode 5: Splitting. Here the DW 8000 works in Splitting Mode. The lower part of the keyboard produces the selected Sound, the upper part produces the sound selected by parameter 18.
- Mode 6: Splitting. Like Mode 5 in vice versa.
- Mode 7: Doubling Sounds. Sound A and Sound B will be layered. They can be played on the left site of the keyboard up to the splitpoint.
- Mode 8: Like Mode 7, but the Sounds can be played from the splitpoint upwards on the upper site of the keyboard.
- Parameter 37: Split Point
- With this parameter you can set the splitpoint to any of the 61 keys.
- Parameter 38: Balance A-B
- Defines the balance of the volume between A and B.
- Parameter 78: MIDI Mode
- Definition of the adjustment for the MIDI channels A and B to the Sounds A and B for transmitting and receiving of MIDI data.
- Parameter 88: MIDI Channel B
- Works like parameter 84 in principle but for the 2nd MIDI channel B.
- The following parameters can be splitted:
- 11 OSC 1 OCTAVE, 12 OSC 1 WAVEFORM (1-8) or (9-12), 14 AUTO BEND SELECT, 15 AUTO BEND MODE, 16 AUTO BEND TIME, 17 AUTO BEND INTENSITY, 21 OSC 2 OCTAVE, 22 OSC 2 WAVEFORM, (1-8) or (9-12), 24 INTERVAL, 25 DETUNE, 27 KEY TRNSPOSE, 31 VCF CUTOFF, 33 VCF KEYBOARD TRACK, 35 VCF EG INT, 41 VCF ATTACK, 42 VCF DECAY, 43 VCF BREAK POINT, 44 VCF SLOPE, 45 VCF SUSTAIN, 46 VCF RELEASE, 47 VCF VELOCITY SENSE, 51 VCA ATTACK, 52 VCA DECAY, 53 VCA BREAK POINT, 54 VCA SLOPE, 55 VCA SUSTAIN, 56 VCA RELEASE, 57 VCA VELOCITY SENSE, 66 OSC BEND, 67 VCF BEND, 77 PORTAMENTO TIME, 82 VCF AFTER TOUCH UND 83 VCA AFTER TOUCH
- All remaining parameters are defined by Sound A always.
- Further you have a random generator for the MG waveform. Finally we have programmed the DW 8000 in that way, that the last used Sound will be heard again, if you turn off and switch on your keyboard. The Compare function allows to compare the Sounds while editing them. While selecting a Sound and pressing the PROGRAM button in parallel, Program Change Messages between 64 and 127 will be transmitted via MIDI Out.
Historical assessment
The DW-8000 in itself cannot be seen as a huge milestone or breakthrough product, but the hybrid architecture of samples partnered with subtractive synthesisSubtractive synthesis
Subtractive synthesis is a method of sound synthesis in which partials of an audio signal are attenuated by a filter to alter the timbre of the sound...
was to become an important motif in Korg keyboards during the latter half of the 1980s. Other manufacturers whether knowingly or not were soon arriving with instruments using similar ingredients of samples and effects but still using traditional subtractive synthesis, only with better technology. The Korg DW-8000 was not multitimbral
Multitimbral
Monotimbral is usually used in reference to electronic synthesisers which can produce a single timbre at a given pitch upon pressing a single or multiple keys .An electronic musical instrument may be...
and would therefore not fare well in the market that only two years later would produce both the Roland
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
D-50
Roland D-50
The Roland D-50 is a polyphonic 61-key synthesizer produced by Roland. It was released in 1987. Its features include Linear Arithmetic synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analog synthesis-styled layout design. The external Roland PG-1000 Programmer could also be...
and MT-32
Roland MT-32
The Roland MT-32 Multi-Timbre Sound Module is a MIDI synthesizer module first released in 1987 by Roland Corporation. Along with its compatible modules, it established an early de-facto standard in computer music and was the first product in Roland's ミュージくん line of Desktop Music System packages...
which used samples of real attack transients to create increased realism whilst the MT32 also brought multitimbral facilities with relatively high quality effects. Korg themselves took longer to find the winning combination but by the end of the decade had hit considerable success with their M1
Korg M1
The Korg M1 is the world's first widely-known music workstation. Its onboard MIDI sequencer and palette of sounds allowed musicians to produce complete professional arrangements...
workstation which itself included a few old DWGS samples.
Notable users
- Kevin MooreKevin MooreFor the blues singer, see Keb' Mo'.Kevin Moore is a keyboardist, vocalist and composer and founder of the Chroma Key music project. He is also a former member of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater, co-founder of the progressive rock supergroup O.S.I. and has composed film soundtracks...
of Dream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would... - Tony KayeTony Kaye (musician)Tony Kaye is a British musician.Kaye was the original keyboard player for the progressive rock group Yes from 1968 to 1971, and rejoined Yes from 1983 to 1995...
of YesYes (band)Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets... - Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
- Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
- Keith EmersonKeith EmersonKeith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
-- used during his tenure with Emerson, Lake & PowellEmerson, Lake & PowellEmerson, Lake & Powell, sometimes abbreviated as ELPowell, were an English rock band, an offshoot or variant lineup of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that released one official studio album in 1986....
(for example, his solo in the song "Love Blind") - Lyle MaysLyle MaysLyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group...
of Pat Metheny GroupPat Metheny GroupThe Pat Metheny Group is a jazz group founded in 1977. The core members of the group are guitarist and bandleader Pat Metheny, composer, keyboardist and pianist Lyle Mays , and bassist and producer Steve Rodby...