Vintage Synth Explorer

Korg • PolySix

The PolySix was a milestone because, along with the Roland Juno 6 which appeared almost simultaneously, in 1981 the PolySix was the first opportunity ordinary mortals had to get their hands on a proper programmable polysynth. Up until then, you had to be loaded to afford a Prophet 5, Oberheim OB-Xa, or Roland Jupiter 8.

At first glance it looks like a scaled-down Mono/Poly, but really it's not! In fact it had a lot of great new features such as 32 memory patches, 6 voices of polyphony, cassette backup of memory, even programmable modulation effects and Chorus, Phase, Ensemble!

The Polysix has warm-sounding real analog oscillators, softer and brassy-er sounding that the Juno. Engage the built-in Chorus on a simple single-oscillator sawtooth patch and you were pretty darned close to that expensive Prophet sound. But the big ace in the Polysix's hand was the Ensemble effect. Instant Mellotron-like strings.

Like the Mono/Poly the voices can be played in Unison for a 6-oscillator lead sound that was so big, it was often too big! The advanced arpeggiator can memorize and sequence chords across the keyboard. The PolySix has now been recreated in software as part of the Korg Legacy software bundle! The PolySix has been used by Eat Static, Geoff Downes, Astral Projection, Jimi Tenor, Global Communications, Kitaro, Robert Rich, Keith Emerson and Tears for Fears.

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JulianWB

Posted 17 days ago

This was my first polysynth and it'll be there to the end. When I first saw it in the shop I KNEW what it would sound like and how to work it before I'd even touched it. Korg did a very clever thing with this: they made a simple thing that sounded really good. Yes it can be really cheesy and old-fashioned, that 1970s bad movie soundtrack sound - but it's also got that 'what you can get from it is far bigger than what it is' vibe going on that makes it a classic. It's totally intuitive and has its own unique character, and that does it for me.

Ben

Posted 21 days ago

If your KLM-367A board is irreparably damaged due to severe battery leakage you may be interested in the clone created by Jed.

Check this site for more info : http://sites.google.com/site/jedjorgensen/

marcinha

Posted 131 days ago

Rory O'Ryan

check this: http://www.analogia.pl/s_nkorgPolysix.php

Max Vondel

Posted 151 days ago

My all time favorite analog synth. Better than Juno 60, JX-3P. Emminently tweekable with pots rather than sliders. Good models are getting hard to find. I Love it....5/5*

ichor75

Posted 151 days ago

my polysix is a completely revitalised and modded version (analogia.pl), it has kenton midi and modular inputs, not to mention minty look and housing made of solid wood.

it's not too flexible, but still able to make great things that other synths can not. i was going to sell it after getting andromeda, but naaah, i won't.

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