Korg MS Series - Vocoder Pads

Usually when I want to play dreamy pads I use the Korg Triton (which I like a lot). This video demonstrates a typical Triton sound built on the MS series.

Used gear:
- Korg MS-50
- Korg MS-20 (2x)
- Korg MS-10
- Korg VC-10
- Korg SQ-10

The pad sound is created using the VC-10 and 1 MS-20 (and a chorus effect) and it also uses a little help from the MS-50. The vocoder is fed with a sawtooth waveform (a fixed tone from the MS-50 oscillator). The VC-10 itself adds a bit vibrato, pitch control is done by the VC-10 keyboard only. The vocoder output sound is then plugged into the MS-20 external input, so it uses both MS-20 filters. The MS-20 also adds some white noise (VCO1) and a bass note (VCO2 sawtooth 32'), the amount varies during the track (MS-20 vcomix). The MS-20 initial gain is controlled by the MS-50 voltage supply and is 'open' the whole time. This way the MS-20 doesn't need a trigger value for the main envelope (EG2), so it will process the vocoder's sound at any time. The MS20 pitch (CV IN) is controlled by the MS-10 keyboard (which also controls de pitch for the other MS-20 and the MS-10 itself).

The SQ-10 has three 8 step sequences. A: Rhythm section (played by the MS-50), B: The 'guitar' groove played by the MS-20 (lower right) with also some portamento from the SQ-10. C: Staccato melody played by the MS-10 (lower left). The MS-10 sequence is controlled by the probability patch, which is programmed using modules from one MS-20 and the MS-50. The probability itself is controlled by the MG pulse width (MS-50), max wide = 100%, max right = 0%. In this track the probability starts with a value of 0% (all steps are muted), from around 1:30 the probability is set to 100% (all steps are played), then around 2:19 the probability is set to 50% (each step has 50% chance of being played). The probability patch is always a great way of making an 8 step sequence more interesting. The MS-20 'guitar' groove is mixed with the MS-10 control wheel. The MS-50 rhythm section is mixed using the upper MS-20 control wheel.

The track has been recorded and mastered using Ableton Live.