Korg wavestate

[JoeCat]

...
and the other idiot who went on about "durr, herpa derpa it uses 'complex' wave sequencing dontcha know. derp." ... no shit. but it isn't magic. it isn't even rocket science.
...

@BONES - that'd be you, buddy. Please respond; I am popping buckets o' corn
(Also, I tried to imagine "durr, herpa derpa" in your Novakill voice, but it ain't happening. )

I'm was hoping the Sinevibes crew will be involved in this. They've done work DSP for the XD and Prologue, but I doubt there's a facility for those "plug-out" filters, etc. like the 'logues, since this is a completely different beast. Their Mac-only plugins are one of the few reasons I miss the platform.

[.jon]

Such a lovely synth, brilliant version of the old trick. Shame about the keyboard, it's too small to be very useful for that kind of synth engine, so it's basically just a waste of studio space. Looking forward to a module.

[kritikon]

Wah, wah, wah, rant, f**k you all, wah

A bit sensitive are we, or just have no manners because we're on the internet anonymously? Seriously, grow up kid. Being Oasis was out of fashion years ago and that type of behaviour was and is never pretty.

If you were around when S&S synths were the thing you'd know that very very few allowed user sample loading. Very few still do. They don't because the majority just don't need or want it. If it upsets you so much that you have a tantrum like that, maybe look around at what's on the market and suggest why Korg should buck the trend and spend their time giving features that no others do. They don't just release random features, they release features they think are useful, creative and more importantly...wanted.

And, what do you think a sampler is? If loading your own samples is not a sampler, I'm curious what you think is. You specifically said Korg made a wrong decision to not offer loading custom samples...that is specifically what samplers do. Nord is the only obvious contender in new synths that I can think of that does the user sampling thing...and tbh the price they want takes my breath away. At the pricepoint Korg are looking at, jeez, what do you want?

[whyterabbyt]

maybe look around at what's on the market and suggest why Korg should buck the trend and spend their time giving features that no others do

Others do do. This is precisely the feature that Waldorf sell (somewhat egregiously, it has to be said, in the form of a £100 'license' to turn on part of the firmware) as the SL Sample Option for the Blofeld.

[Daags]

Wah, wah, wah, my heinie hurts and I have no sense of irony, rant, wah, idiocy.

maybe look around at what's on the market and suggest why Korg should buck the trend and spend their time giving features that no others do

Others do do. This is precisely the feature that Waldorf sell (somewhat egregiously, it has to be said, in the form of a £100 'license' to turn on part of the firmware) as the SL Sample Option for the Blofeld.

[boombaxx]

I wish it was 61 keys and had the keybed from the wavestation with poly at. Why miss that out?

[tapper mike]

Without a display the configuration options must be pretty limited, surely?

No, config options of LinnStrument are very comprehensive, and self-contained (they don't need a computer to be changed). The button grid itself IS the display. Watch some videos about it

Yeah, I use the Linnstrument more as a non-mpe controller than an mpe device. It's easier for me to play than a conventional keybed.

I just wish it had some type of traditional controls on the left. Like touchstrip faders that worked on relative distance as opposed to fader like control and an x/y pad with fixed (kaos type) control and recenter (like a joystick) and maybe some buttons for switching like Yamaha registries or Roland Fantom "programs"

The thing about wavestate or even wavestation. It would be impossible to track rhythms or arpeggios or anything else time based when you are running out to separate midi channels. As well you'd need more processing power and ram for those additional midi channels with their duplicate instruments.

Don.t get me wrong sometimes there are unrealized solutions for mpe enabling non mpe devices (not always just sometimes)

[DrGonzo]

While I am a big fan of Korg and I think reviving the Wavestation is a cool move, I am seriously scratching my head on some of the choices Korg have made here. This thing absolutely needs an editor and anyone who take the time to look up the MIDI Implementation Chart will see that... well, it's not much there. Thing is that Korg haven't made a Sysex list available - because it doesn't use Sysex. It uses a proprietary format that Korg haven't published any documentation about. That means that if there ever will be an editor, it has to come from Korg. What scares me about that is that pumping out drivers and software for an ever-changing landscape of operating systems, will make the software you need to drive this thing - obsolete. Quickly.

Can't really understand why Korg chose to take that path. While Sysex isn't the sexiest thing on the planet, it works and there are quite a few developers making 3rd party editors. Not sure how Omnisphere communicates with their hardware integration technology. If it only relies on MIDI CCs then we might see a Wavestate profile for Omnisphere in the future.

/C

[Silaris]

I also hope that Korg releases a non-keyboard version of the Wavestate. A desktop module of the Wavestate is my preferred format. If it does happen, the said product would be an instant purchase.

[lfm]

Thing is that Korg haven't made a Sysex list available - because it doesn't use Sysex. It uses a proprietary format that Korg haven't published any documentation about. That means that if there ever will be an editor, it has to come from Korg. What scares me about that is that pumping out drivers and software for an ever-changing landscape of operating systems, will make the software you need to drive this thing - obsolete. Quickly.

They might come up with a spec.
I saw a comment from Dan or Korg RD one guy having issues - and talked about tcp/ip over usb. Drivers are network stuff - not midi.
A spec for this might turn up.

What I saw was that librarian had everything in a flash - major difference to Prologue librarian with midi over usb that take 5s or so.

But it's true that these ever changing OSes is trouble. One guy educated on windows management somehow, so he knows pc, had issues with 2 windows 10 computers and could not get librarian or updater to work.

I think there were somebody with Mac Catalina as well is not getting it to work.

I had no issues with windows 7 laptop - but there were quite a few steps installing it. But described step by step so it worked for me.

Maybe it's good to have some older computers too, to run updates and do librarian stuff on. This ever changing windows 10 seems like a culprit, no devs can keep up with everything they invent on each update.

Can't really understand why Korg chose to take that path. While Sysex isn't the sexiest thing on the planet, it works and there are quite a few developers making 3rd party editors.

They might improve it, one never knows. Major updates has come for other synths and workstations has happend.

Spec about sysex says just universal sysex and to do with tuning it seems.

But having configurable midi cc for controllers is where they stopped now.

Hardware synths really is about actually sitting by the unit and do everything - not needing a mouse click fest in computer. I find interface very well thought out.

You have presets on just about every level - full set list of 64 performances, performances, programs, wavesequences and sequence lanes. So you resuse this as you go.

Plenty of room for as many presets as you like.

And nice solo functions in interface to simplify that one sequence step stays as it is while trying out various samples etc. So sequencer does not forward steps all the time as it is running.

Also if to choose from existing performances and find one layer(program) that is interesting to use you have solo function for that too to quickly identify which layer is producing that you are mostly interested in. Just to hold [Enter] and any layer button to just listen to that. Then look at what program preset is called - and you use that in your own.

The 8 macro mod knobs work on 2 levels - both on performance level as well as on each layer(program). If you create a mod routing from performance knob to layer knob you have one knob modifying parameters on 4 different things for each layer. So a button lit tells if knob are working on current layer or all. And you make mod routing as you please from any knob in performance to anything else as parameters go in any layer.

So the layer(program) you work on can have these 8 knobs modify parameters as you have set up before. So you can make presets that are intended for working editing - and then change them for final version to what you need for realtime tweaking. Maybe changing the amount of steps played back in a sequence or change probability that one step plays etc.

Everything you touch is putting it on the display just about - and on the page where rest of parameters for that group of settings. You also have a feature to just put values on display without it modifying - hold [enter] and touch a knob and it's in the display with that field highlighted.

Working with steps in sequences there are clipboard functionality to copy/past and insert to extend or to cut. Every step is a synth basically, oscillator chosen from a sample that could be combinations of regular saw/square/sine you choose from, and then the timing lane is having transition settings how to fade in out to next step. Shape lane also has more settings for transitions.

They really made the interface fully functional as editing goes in my view.
What you could do in computer is making even more overview, I guess. Having all kind of presets in separate windows just to grab and drag somewhere.

It's shipped with one set list of 64 performances mapped to buttons on panel - 4 banks of 16. So have not looked yet but spec says

"Ships with over 240 Performances, 740 Programs, and 1,000 Wave Sequences Storage for tens of thousands of user Performances"

In other terms 64 performances is 256 programs available in 4 part sequencing as well.

I had it 4 days only - so going through and listen what to knick from. Starting to see the silhouette of it all. And it just amaze me. So many beautyful things to learn from "how did they do that?". And to even just get inspired using as is for some pieces of music. There are usually mapped mods to the 8 macro knobs to change many things as well, to adjust or remove something things in there.

So a great composer tool as is as well as depth to dig into getting more for sound design purposes. And really good things to choose or just learn from doing own stuff.

My view is not at all that I need a computer editor for it - very happy with it as is. I'm just limited by my imagination. But I really enjoy diving into these things making own patches.

If out of ideas use randomize and see if anything pops that you like and save away.

There is always room for 3rd party to make sets that people buy like on any synth out there. And well designed performances have 8 macro knobs that can be mapped to clever parameters - and even go into each of 4 parts layer with own 8 macro knobs allow for whole lot of tweaking. And you can just save this as you own performance. The rest of knobs and buttons on panel are basically for each step in a sequence and how it transition to next.

[DrGonzo]

Thing is that Korg haven't made a Sysex list available - because it doesn't use Sysex. It uses a proprietary format that Korg haven't published any documentation about. That means that if there ever will be an editor, it has to come from Korg. What scares me about that is that pumping out drivers and software for an ever-changing landscape of operating systems, will make the software you need to drive this thing - obsolete. Quickly.

They might come up with a spec.
I saw a comment from Dan or Korg RD one guy having issues - and talked about tcp/ip over usb. Drivers are network stuff - not midi.
A spec for this might turn up.

The latest I heard from Korg in that respect was that nothing was planned since it would require manpower that they couldn't allocate at the moment. So yes, a spec might show up one day. And then again, it might not.

/C

[dr_loop]

The latest I heard from Korg in that respect was that nothing was planned since it would require manpower that they couldn't allocate at the moment. So yes, a spec might show up one day. And then again, it might not.

...don't underestimate peoples curiosity. Since it is AFAIK a TCP/IP protocol, you can sniff around whats happening. It's definitly not me, but there must be folks with endurance enough to do exactly that.

[noxxle_]

Is it possible to power the wavestate through a laptop's usb port?

[trusampler]

No the wavestate requires a power adapter,it's not usb bus powered.

[MFXxx]

I'm still daily to understand why korg feel keyboardist and synth players want these micro keyboards. Waste of space for anyone with larger hands or used to the stretching and reaching for full size key notes.
Module will be well received tbh.