MS-X Is A Full Monophonic Analog Synthesizer Built From A KORG Monotron!

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MS-X is a chopped KORG Monotron Synthesizer with an complete classical engine, full accessible control panel and is available as a DIY project for free!

Who does not know, the small KORG Monotron, a small analog Synthesizer for less than 50 € with the best-known 12dB/oct lowpass filter of the MS-10/20. Above all, it’s a Synthesizer that’s just make fun because you can take it everywhere and play with it. This has unfortunately interface limits.

The musician & instrument developer Far Beyond Perception has tried to eliminate the limits in his new DIY project. The result is the MS-X, a fully analog Synthesizer that has the base of a KORG Montron but with a full-featured, accessible engine. It offers all the classic controls for the VCO, VCF, ADSR, VCA… There is one hurdle, however: this DIY project is not for beginners but for very experienced. The schematics are available for free download if you want to build an MS-X. Great project in any case

KORG MS-X

Description

Released by Korg in 1978, the MS10 is a very cool monophonic single-VCO analog synthesizer. With the authentic look of a mini-modular synth, the MS10 (as well as the MS20) became an instant classic because of its iconic 12dB/oct lowpass filter. Just like Moog or ARP filters, its signature is instantaneously recognizable and is capable of a wide variety of sounds from soft brassy leads to demonic self-oscillating stuff!

More than thirty years later, Korg got back in the analog playground by releasing the Monotron, a tiny monophonic synthesizer that looks like an old cassette tape (if someone even remembers what that is…). Despite its size and its lack of… well, pretty much everything, Korg had the genius idea to embed their old MS10/20 filter which brought a surprising musicality to the Monotron! So, to celebrate the Korg MS10 40th Anniversary, I decided to extensively modified a Monotron to pay tribute to its old ancestor!

I called it the MS-X.

KORG MS-X

Features

Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO)

  • Scale: 32′, 16′, 8′, 4′
  • Waveforms: Tri, Saw, Pulse (with PWM), VCO off
  • Variable pitch control
  • Glide control
  • Sub Oscillator

Voltage Controlled low-pass Filter (VCF)

  • Cutoff Frequency control
  • Peak (Resonance) control
  • Keyboard tracking switch

Voltage Control Amplifier (VCA)

  • MS10 VCA clone
  • Feedback loop

Modulation Generator (MG)

  • Waveforms: Triangle, Saw & Square
  • Frequency control
  • Frequency modulation of VCO & VCF

Envelope Generator (EG)

  • Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
  • Frequency modulation of VCO & VCF
  • Amplitude modulation of VCA

Additional features:

  • CV/gate
  • Drone mode
  • Manual gate trigger

The schematics are available now for free on the DJ Soul Machine website. Please read all the instructions before butchering your Monotron.

More information here: MS-X Synthesizer

Hardware Synthesizer News

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