MiniKorg-700S

The MiniKorg-700S is an old and simple monophonic analog keyboard from Korg. It is a dual-oscillator synth related to Korg's first monosynth, the single oscillator MiniKorg-700. Most of the controls are located in an odd place beneath the keyboard so as to make room above the keyboard for a sheet-music stand. Some controls have bizarre names like Bender, Traveler and Expand for the auto-bend, filter and envelope, respectively.

MiniKorg-700

It has three ring modulators for some strange sounds and noises. Sometimes a decent bass sound for techno music can be achieved using the MiniKorg's hi-pass and low-pass filters. The two oscillators can be de-tuned and they offer triangle, sawtooth and square waveforms. There are some strange analog effects built-in as well such as portamento, a rudimentary repeat-delay, auto-bend (bender), vibrato and Chorus and Noise waveforms.

This limited and quirky little synth is a nice collectors item but rarely seen or used anymore. It has relatively no performance controls like pitch/mod, but for ancient analog technology, this synth is quite stable and reliable. It is still quite capable of generating a very analog bass sound, thud, thump, growl or squeal. The wood side-panels and large primary colored knobs and sliders are a sure sign of Vintage status. It has been used by The Cure, ComaTeens, Kitaro, Human League, N-Trance, Vangelis, the Normal, Stevie Wonder, The Cars and Paul Hardcastle.

Edwin Balzan

November 28, 2010 @ 2:52 pm

Here is how Human League used the 700s in Being Boiled!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdjtAIMZXTs&feature=player_embedded#!

thesauce

November 7, 2010 @ 12:31 am

the overly condescending overview above does not give this nifty synth the credit it deserves. there truly is nothing like the sound of a vintage monosynth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zANtPgP8NLc

George

September 2, 2010 @ 11:21 am

Interesting bit of footage there K Steward :) Love this synth, love the layout, different to many other synths. The sound is very fat too. :)

K Seward

August 12, 2010 @ 12:16 am

Pretty sure the miniKorg 700 is used on Alex Chilton's Like Flies on Sherbert.

A video of the recording session, check out around the 23 min mark on "My Rival":

http://vimeo.com/10266927

ThatGuitarGuy

August 4, 2010 @ 2:03 pm

Picked one up for about $200 a few years ago and I wouldn't trade it for anything - spare, possibly, a Polivoks. :)

It makes 'professional' analog-modeling synthesizers seem predictable, static and tame. It makes my KS4 feel like a toy. Sometimes late at night, when nobody is looking, I'll run it through an envelope filter and into my dual-Monotron setup for MS20-style action/response (knobs, anyone?).

Its a lot of fun to play around with in real-time, but its a real killer in the mix once injected into your DAW and cleaned up - SLIGHTLY.

Mine is a little banged up, so it does go out of tune after heavy use/being put to use for an hour+... however, this is easily remedied by nudging a slider or working that classic 'analog detune' into your sound.

4.5/5

<1098765432>

 

Post Comment!

Your Name: (Required.)

Email Address: (Required, not published.)

Image verification: (required)

Message:

 

Posting Rules:
Please keep your comments relevant! Do not post requests for help, do not use for sales, do not post unless you have something interesting to say about this instrument, or we may delete your post.

I have read and understand the posting rules.