The Korg Poly-61 was released in 1982 as the successor to the Polysix. It was somewhat of a step up from the Polysix, as it has 2 DCOs for better reliability. It also retained the arpeggiator of the Polysix. It has a very dirty sharp sound much like the Yamaha DX7. This is good if you are into the lo-fi sound of electronica. The Poly-61 can provide cool gritty basses or trippy analog sounds and fx.

Also added is the familiar Korg joystick, which can be used to modulate the VCO or the VCF. However, its filter only has 7 steps of resonance and is not as fat as the Polysix's filter. It also uses the same method of programming the Poly-800 and Yamaha DX-7 use, so it's not a very useful synth for real-time-tweaking junkies. The first Poly-61s didn't have MIDI, but the Poly-61M released in 1984 corrects this. Overall, the Poly-61 is still a decent synth, and it can be acquired for practically nothing! It has been used by FM Static and The Faint.

echoloch

April 8, 2013 @ 12:44 pm

Recently bought a midi version from ebay out of curiosity. I owned a juno 106 and sold it before buying this one and I have really been enjoying it. Ive been using it in mixes more than i thought i would. I sound even better using on board fx in abelton live. Its not a jupiter 6 or monopoly that I own but it has its own character that you might be interested in. I could have been my lack of programing knowledge when I owned a juno 106 but to my ear the poly61 is all around more appealing to my ears.

mondovermona

February 27, 2013 @ 2:40 am

@tom: I fully agree!
Go and find a decent analog (stereo) chorus (stomp box) and add it to the Poly61. The sharp sound of the Poly61 let the analog choruses, phasers, etc. shine at their best. Give it a try!

Also try any kind of distortion or overdrive pedal for an agressive but shining lead guittarr sound.
(see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8wcrNXu_L80 which includes a nice Poly61 lead)

I even prefer it over the Polysix (oh yes...)

Francois

February 26, 2013 @ 9:50 am

Bought a pristine P61M last September for 200 $. I was first disappointed as I found it rather thin compared to my Trident, but it finally found where it sounds at his best: all kind of ostinatis & arpegios. MIDI implementation is basic: notes and prog change, no more.
As other said, keep the battery under strict control: don't let it spreading its nasty guts on the boards, as it will litteraly eat the tracks.

Tom

February 13, 2013 @ 7:10 pm

The definition of underrated. Punchy envelopes, a super grainy 4 bit DCO2, and a discreet filter like the ms20 with a strong and haunting resonance gives this instrument a character of its own - sort of like the Jupiter 6. Far from the sound of Poly 800, this is a very gritty, analog sounding machine. If Korg had added a chorus/ensemble effect, I believe it would have been much higher in regard today. Still, push button programming is never optimal, but I feel it works well enough here. Too bad about the battery leakage, so beware.

strangeranium

February 3, 2013 @ 6:39 pm

my first ever synth. i loved it. man, you can get deep with this thing when you get in there.
i just loved making big deep dubby chords, ran through a guitar delay pedal.... super..
and that rpeg, oh yeah i loved that thing, throbbing dark grungy techy lines... and pads that go for ever... i loved the env, you can get some really long attack times...
i am most definitely on the hunt for another...
i regret loaning it out, for it never returned.
possibly one of the most underated synths ever...

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