Korg 770

Korg 770 Image

An ancient synthesizer from Korg. Aside from being very old, there isn't much else to say about the 770. It was released in 1976, is monophonic, very limited in design, flexibility and sonic possibility. It can make some weird noises largely due to its retro-cool ring modulator. You can also run external sounds through it. Bass, string and lead sounds are ok. It's got a fast envelope, auto bend, and LFO re-trigger too. An ole' classic that's fun to play with and useful if you're in the mood for buzzy analog sounds. It is used by Freddy Fresh, Simple Minds and The Human League.

29 Visitor comments
choggie kendall
October 18, 2011 @ 1:44 am
Hey Mate-Email me with a ball-park price-Let's haggle. You know what you got n' it's worthy of archival care!
surreal funfair
February 8, 2011 @ 12:20 pm
hey barth,

you still got the synth? i'm from germany - so not that far away.
if you still have it and want to sell it, email me at surreal.funfair@gmx.de
sascha
Jeremy
February 5, 2011 @ 5:04 pm
I have one for sale. I'm in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. I will ship it anywhere. email me if you are interested. fyi. the current price of this synth does not match what this site says they are worth. It's a vintage collectors item. Good luck finding one. lol email me if you want to make me an offer...
plikestechno
January 25, 2011 @ 5:16 pm
Got this synth recently after hoping for a 700s to come up in my city for awhile and this synth has the same basic architecture.

It sounds old. That is the best and worst thing about it but still at the end of the day is why I bought it. Very vintage sound and feel. Not for all types of music but good for experimental, disco and that new kind of noisy electro house.

These go for a lot of money now, as does the 700s. If you really like the sound of it, go for it but it is definitely a boutique synth. Wouldn't want to have it as my only mono.
Jay B
November 6, 2010 @ 8:54 am
I must agree with Chris, people who don't like this synth simply don't know how to get the best of it. The filter is a forerunner for the MS-20 filter and is wild and beautiful. There's a really cool Ring Modulator, the best I've heard apart from the Ring Mod on Yamaha CS series synths and there's some unusual pitch modulation possibilities to boot. The 770 also sports a High Pass and a Low Pass filter like the MS-20 and there's an external input, although I haven't tried this yet. With it's two oscillators, this synth can scream and it can whisper and it has a sound of it's own, somewhere between a Minikorg 700s and an MS-20. For it's size it packs a punch, and who can resist the cute front panel with envelope decay labelled as "Singing Level" (no kidding).
 
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  • Demos & Media

  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1     - Synthesizer Korg 770

    Manual - Download the original owner's manual from SoundProgramming.net.

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - 1 - Monophonic
  • Oscillators - VCO-1: Scale (64', 32', 16', 8', 4', 2'), Waveform (triangle, square, sawtooth, pulse, PWM, External Signal).
    VCO-2: Coarse Tuning (16'-1'), Fine Tuning, Mode Selector (sawtooth, Ring 1, 2, Scale Noise, Pink Noise, White Noise).
  • LFO - 2 (LFO2 is called VCO Vibrato)
  • Filter - (2) VCF's: High Pass and Low Pass (Traveler).
  • VCA - VCA + ENVELOPE GENERATOR: Attack Time, Singing Level, Range Selector, Sustain Selector, Envelope Mode Selector, Trigger Mode Selector
  • Keyboard - 32 Keys
  • Memory - None
  • Control - VCF foot pedal; CV/Gate mods can be added; Mouth/Breath Controller
  • Date Produced - 1976
  • Resources & Credits

  • Images from Korg Electronic Music Instruments Vol. 5 (catalog).

    Thanks to Mark Strijbos for providing some information.

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