

M1

Digital synthesizer Music Workstation

The Korg M1 in my opinion is, together with the Yamaha DX7 and the Roland D-50, one of the three classic synths of the 80's . Still today, playing patch 00, "Universe" gives me goose-bumps.

Korg M1 audio demos in mp3

Korg M1 factory songs

Song0 Oh Yes!1

Song1 Out There

Song2 Harmony1

Song3 Harmony2

Song4 Ms. Muro

Song5 Oh Yes!2

Stream all audio demos below

PROG

Preset Prog with demo My comments

00 Universe One of the most famous synthesizer presets of all time, "Universe" is the outstandingly beautiful "Choir" sample with a backwash of "Lore", an intriguing and mysterious percussion loop - generously bathed in reverb and delay. I personally think that this single preset, I00 Universe, that greeted the user upon turning the M1 on, was responsible for many, many of the sales of this instrument.

01 Piano16' The famous M1 piano. At the time, this was considered a nice piano sound. Nowadays, it's considered "plasticky". At any rate, during the early 90s it was quickly adopted as THE piano for House music - and it appears on many hit house records from that era.

02 Brass1 Nice brass ensemble

03 Ooh-Ahh Another signature M1 sound - the ethereal choir

04 Guitar1 Warm acoustic guitar

05 BottleBell Very typical Korg series M/T sound

06 Fretless Famous, outstanding preset - very realistic and expressive fretless bass.

07 Symphonic Nice string ensemble

08 PanFlute Great sound. In the late '80s and early '90s, sounds like these were de rigueur - for New Age styles.

09 Drums#1 Solid drums. Back in 1988, quality drums like these on a synthesizer were unheard of - a very marked line still existed between synths and drum machines.

10 PanMallet Another classic M1 mix

11 E.Piano1 Classic M1 electric piano, heard in many songs

12 Trumpet Realistic trumpet, with cool vibrato engaged by mod wheel

13 Nimbus Beautiful preset that mixes a pad with the great Koto Trem sample.

14 DistGuitar Nice distorted electric guitar

15 Vibes Beautiful and expressive vibraphone

16 PickBass Another famous M1 preset, this sample exudes coolness ;-)

17 Organ2 Very, very famous preset - House music of the early 90s basically lived on this preset and the TR-909, at some point. Also works as intended, as jazz organ.

18 Flute Realistic flute

19 Pole Another M1 signature sound

20 DreamPad Awesome synth pad, very 80s, regal and powerful.

21 MagicPiano A cross between the piano and magic organ

22 SoloSax Nice and honest tenor

23 Choir Nice choir, great for pads

25 Kalimba Excellent kalimba, sampled well

26 A.Bass Realistic pizzicato contrabass, very jazzy

27 Strings Thin strings

28 SynMallet Hypnotic percussive synth

29 Drums#2 More solid drums

30 Lore The Korg M1 sound, on which "Universe" is based

31 Harpsicord Great-sounding harpsichord - with a nice room reverb

32 DoubleReed Warm and reedy bassoon!

33 Bottles More sounds for the New Age crowd

34 KotoTrem Classic sample - many M1 presets are based on this

35 BellRing Very nice bell play

36 SynthBass1 Classic Minimoog style synth bass.

37 Timp&Bells Very nice timpani and bell split

38 SoloSynth Expressive and powerful solo synth

39 Pop Nice "Popcorn" style lead synth

40 Magician Characteristic and evolving synth

41 Piano8' M1 piano, an octave higher

42 Overture More strings

43 Angels Ethereal choirs

44 Sitar1 Nice ethnic flavor

45 Tubular Beautifully sampled church bells

46 SlapBass Awesome slap bass! Was the M1 used for the "Seinfeld" theme?

47 PipeOrgan Beautiful pipe organ!!!

48 Wire Nice digital synth

49 Drum#3 More drums, very good ones

50 BambuTrem Another classic trem sound

51 E.Piano4 Wider, more chorused electric piano

53 VoiceWave Very cool sample (Voice Wave)

54 Guitar2 Nice electric guitar, open

55 MetalHit Yep

56 SynthBass2 More contemporary syn bass

57 StringRise Exactly

58 PanWave Quirky synth

59 Hammer Yes

60 CloudNine Beautiful soundtrack synth pad!

62 TenorSax Clean and realistic sax

63 Voices more nice choirs

64 RockGuitar Nice chorused electric guitar, very '80s

65 WindBells Ok

66 SynthBass3 "Liquid" sounding syn bass

67 Organ1 Great jazz Hammond

68 Block It is

69 FingerSnap Yep

70 MagicOrgan Another famous M1 preset, an organ mixed with a mysterious bell synth

71 E.Piano2 Variation on the FM piano

72 Brass2 realistic

73 FVWave based on the Fv wave

74 PickGuitar Ok

75 Digi-Bells Pretty digital bells

76 AnalogBass Fat syn bass

77 PingWave Sounds like a whale lament- great!

78 VibeHit Cool delays in this one

79 Pluck Awesome cavern reverb

80 Good&Bad The classic Morricone sounds

81 Digital2 Very digital and 80s

82 MuteTrp Miles

83 Stratos Beauty!!! pad

84 Sitar2 More India for you

86 Digital4 more digital goodness

87 SoftHorns That's what they are

88 HellsBells Interesting atmospheric preset

89 Drop Yes

91 E.Piano3 Another FM piano

92 SynthBrass The obligatory Oberheim Jump sound

93 Digital5 More digital sounds

94 E.Guitar1 Cool Strat

95 Rhythm Very nice ethnic rhythm

96 MonoSynth Cool digital solo synth

97 Hold... Beautiful ambient/soundtrack synth

98 Wait... ...the trem comes in ;-)