The Korg M1 is a keyboard instrument and music machine made by the Japanese company Korg from 1988 to 1995. It is one of the most sold synthesizers in history, with about 250,000 units sold. It was often used in popular music and background music during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The pre-set piano and organ sounds were used in 1990s house music, such as the Madonna song "Vogue" and the Robin S song "Show Me Love."

Development

Korg's chief engineer, Junichi Ikeuchi, led the design of the hardware for the M1. While many earlier synthesizers had sounds chosen for different markets, Korg's chairman, Tsutomu Kato, and his son, Seiki, decided that their synthesizers should use the same sounds worldwide. Korg formed an international team to create these sounds. To make a deep, blown bottle sound, the team played a pan flute over a large sake bottle.

Features

The M1 has a keyboard with 61 notes that responds to how hard the keys are pressed and how long they are held. It can play up to 16 notes at the same time. The keyboard includes a joystick for controlling pitch and modulation, an eight-track MIDI sequencer for recording music, separate controls for vibrato and filter effects, and ADSR envelopes that shape how sounds begin and end. Data can be saved on RAM and PCM cards.

The M1 includes a ROM with four megabytes of 16-bit PCM tones, which was a large amount of memory at the time. These tones include sounds from instruments that were not commonly used in mainstream music. The sounds consist of short bursts of sound, repeating loops, long sustained tones, and rhythmic samples. The timbres available include piano, strings, acoustic guitar, woodwinds, sitar, kalimba, wind chimes, and drums. Fact magazine described the sounds as "realistic and synthetic at the same time."

The M1 also includes effects such as reverb, delay, chorus, tremolo, EQ, distortion, and Leslie simulation, which was a new feature at the time. According to Sound on Sound, none of the M1's features were completely new, but they were combined in a way that had not been done before.

Reception

The M1 was released in 1988. In the UK, it had a retail price of £1499. It was made until 1995 and sold about 250,000 units.

Tony Hastings from Sound on Sound reviewed the M1 and said it was "expected to become very popular" with "amazing" sounds and many features that worked better than other similar devices. It was often used in popular music and music used for films or other media in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The piano and organ settings on the M1 were used in 1990s house music, such as the 1990 Madonna song "Vogue" and the 1990 Robin S song "Show Me Love." Other songs that used the M1 include "Rhythm is a Dancer" (1992) by Snap, "Money, Cash, Hoes" (1998) by Jay-Z, and "Beth/Rest" (2012) by Bon Iver.

In 2002, Mark Vail from Sound on Sound wrote that the M1 was the best-selling synthesizer in history, though Korg did not confirm the sales numbers. Both Sound on Sound and Fact described it as the most popular synthesizer ever. Fact said its success came from features like sampling and sequencing, which allowed musicians to create full songs without a studio before digital audio workstations became common.

Variants

After the M1's success, Korg introduced new workstations, including the T-series in 1989, the 01-series in 1991, the X-series in 1993, and the N-series in 1996. The 01/W improved upon the M1's AI synthesis with the AI2 system, which added more effects and digital waveshaping. The M1R and M3R were rack-mountable versions of the M1, with the M3R being less expensive. Korg also released the M1EX and M1REX, which were rack-mounted and included sounds from the T-series.

In 2005, Korg made a software version of the M1 available as part of the Korg Legacy Collection. This digital version supported 8-part multitimbrality, 256-note polyphony, and presets from all 19 optional ROM cards. In December 2010, Korg released another software version called Korg M01 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. Developed by AQ Interactive, this version included 8-part multitimbrality, 12-note polyphony, and 300 original M1 PCM sounds.