KORG monologue is a compact analog synthesizer and is something what Korg has been making lately – better less and cheaper. It’s based on the components of its “elder brother” Korg minilogue though it uses only one voice instead of four. It also has 2 VCOs per voice and one LFO. There are fewer factory and user presets in monologue – 80/20, while there are 100/100 in minilogue. We should also note that the company decided to use different 2-pole analog filter.

Someone would find microtuning function in monologue quite amusing – it sets you free from precise pitch/note/octave sync. Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin; he proves that you shouldn’t always stick to the rules and classics in music) was the one who advised this feature to be implemented in monologue. A lucky owner of the new instrument will get the opportunity to choose between 20 preset tunings, 6 user scales and 6 user octaves.

Nevertheless the two synthesizers have a lot in common – VCO, step sequencer (monologue has an elaborate one), an OLED screen, mini keys (well not exactly mini but definitely smaller than standard ones). Monologue has stripped down its keyboard by one octave and cut down on power consumption (by 2.5 times). Moreover now it’s battery powered.

KORG monologue will appear on 9 January 2017 in 5 colors (silver, black, red, dark blue, and gold – you can see the pictures on the synth page if you click on the header image). And surely there’s going to be that eternal annoying problem: when you’re ready to buy it you’ll hear something like “yes, 5 colors, but we have only silver one”. Sure you do.

Among other new products the Japanese corporation has to offer – new panels for analog modeling KingKORG synthesizer (now it’s available in black) and a software synth KORG ARP ODYSSEi for iOS.