Korg MS-20: Tips and Tricks

[SS1535]

I recently purchased a Korg MS-20 synth, and I have since been trying my best to work through the accompanying guidebooks and learn its functionalities (and having a great time doing so, of course). However, I was wondering whether anyone here has experience working with this synth and might be willing to pass on any helpful advice to the novice? Anything big or small would be much appreciated!

[holy ghost]

I still feel like I haven't really discovered the full hidden mysterious depths of the MS20 but I will say that learning to use the external signal processor is very helpful for developing weird sounds. Even patching the headphone out into the ESP in and back into the synth opens up a whole world of new sounds but looping effects through it is really interesting as well. I've plugged my bass into the mixer and the mixer into the ESP for bizarre new sounds.

Patching the noise generator into the sample and hold section is interesting but gets kind of boring using the online tutorials I found on youtube, but I found using the trigger out on the ESP into the trigger in to bypass the keyboard resulted in the most interesting sounds.

I bought a Moogerfooger ring mod a few years ago and I've been trying to work the CV outs into the synth so the ring mod acts as a controller with some success. But not a ton of success!

[duckworship]

I still feel like I haven't really discovered the full hidden mysterious depths of the MS20 but I will say that learning to use the external signal processor is very helpful for developing weird sounds. Even patching the headphone out into the ESP in and back into the synth opens up a whole world of new sounds but looping effects through it is really interesting as well. I've plugged my bass into the mixer and the mixer into the ESP for bizarre new sounds.

Patching the noise generator into the sample and hold section is interesting but gets kind of boring using the online tutorials I found on youtube, but I found using the trigger out on the ESP into the trigger in to bypass the keyboard resulted in the most interesting sounds.

I bought a Moogerfooger ring mod a few years ago and I've been trying to work the CV outs into the synth so the ring mod acts as a controller with some success. But not a ton of success!

Maybe I'm completely wrong but I thought I read somewhere that the MS-20 mini doesn't really have the usual CV stuff going on and you have to get some module or whatever to convert the CV signals into something that the Korg synth registers

[SS1535]

I still feel like I haven't really discovered the full hidden mysterious depths of the MS20 but I will say that learning to use the external signal processor is very helpful for developing weird sounds. Even patching the headphone out into the ESP in and back into the synth opens up a whole world of new sounds but looping effects through it is really interesting as well. I've plugged my bass into the mixer and the mixer into the ESP for bizarre new sounds.

Patching the noise generator into the sample and hold section is interesting but gets kind of boring using the online tutorials I found on youtube, but I found using the trigger out on the ESP into the trigger in to bypass the keyboard resulted in the most interesting sounds.

I bought a Moogerfooger ring mod a few years ago and I've been trying to work the CV outs into the synth so the ring mod acts as a controller with some success. But not a ton of success!

So far bypassing the keyboard has been really helpful---if only because it takes away the need to have one hand holding down a key as I experiment with knobs. I only got into experimenting with the ESP within the last few days, but it has resulted in some of the more interesting sounds. Putting the noise generator into the external signal input of the ESP (which I think might be recommended in the manual?) has been especially great.

I really like the idea of patching the headphone output back into the synth!

[holy ghost]

Maybe I'm completely wrong but I thought I read somewhere that the MS-20 mini doesn't really have the usual CV stuff going on and you have to get some module or whatever to convert the CV signals into something that the Korg synth registers

I think the MF and the MS both run unipolar at 0 or +5v - it's when you're using a sequencer/gate you have to make sure it's set at the same voltage which is not the same... I can get it working, but it's just not doing exactly what I want.

To be fair, I don't spend a lot of time "making music" these days so I have not tapped into it's full potential.

[December Man]

Go down Ipppei's rabbit hole:

https://www.youtube.com/@IppeiTambata/videos

His blog also has patch diagrams:

http://blog.ipppei.com/archives/cat_50032881.html

[ASN]

I still feel like I haven't really discovered the full hidden mysterious depths of the MS20 but I will say that learning to use the external signal processor is very helpful for developing weird sounds. Even patching the headphone out into the ESP in and back into the synth opens up a whole world of new sounds but looping effects through it is really interesting as well. I've plugged my bass into the mixer and the mixer into the ESP for bizarre new sounds.

Patching the noise generator into the sample and hold section is interesting but gets kind of boring using the online tutorials I found on youtube, but I found using the trigger out on the ESP into the trigger in to bypass the keyboard resulted in the most interesting sounds.

I bought a Moogerfooger ring mod a few years ago and I've been trying to work the CV outs into the synth so the ring mod acts as a controller with some success. But not a ton of success!

Maybe I'm completely wrong but I thought I read somewhere that the MS-20 mini doesn't really have the usual CV stuff going on and you have to get some module or whatever to convert the CV signals into something that the Korg synth registers

MS20 uses Hz/V instead of the modern standard V/Oct. if you use an SQ1 you can set to send either Hz/V or V/Oct for CV

[Remi]

Go down Ipppei's rabbit hole:

https://www.youtube.com/@IppeiTambata/videos

His blog also has patch diagrams:

http://blog.ipppei.com/archives/cat_50032881.html

I spent so much time watching his videos when I first got the MS20.

I don't have much to add to the discussion but I find the patch panel of the MS20 very non-sensical (even more so nowadays, as I've been using modular synths for a few years now.) My advice to learn how it works would be the s6ame I give to people who get into modular synths : start slow and small.

With the MS20 that'd be starting with patches with 3 cables or less and trying to understand what each patched thing does. If you make a 10-cable patch but don't know why you patched such and such things together and what they do in the final bigger patch, it's useless. Modular synths are about going from a molecular approach to an atomic one and in my humble opinion, the best way to learn is to start with simple things and expand later.