Korg Wavestate leak? - Sand, software and sound

It’s been difficult to sniff out any big reveals at Winter NAMM 2020 (January 16-19, 2020).

There’s one credible looking leak — the Korg Wavestate. It’s a 37-key ‘board with lots of knobs, buttons, mod wheel and pitch wheel. A modern re-make of the venerable Wavestation? Filters include MS-20 and POLYSIX settings along with the usual LPF, etc. [$799]

Korg Wave Sequencing 2.0
Full size keys
Vector joystick
Up to four sound layers each containing a sequence of PCM samples
64 stereo voices
Filter types: MS-20, POLYSIX, LPF, etc.
Price: 699 British pounds

It’s the only leak worth a headline — so far. 🙂 [Now that it’s official, I recommend the interview with Dan Phillips about the concepts and process behind the Wavestate.]

Good to hear about the SV-1 update — the Korg SV-2.

To fill the time, I’ve been browsing on-line retailers looking for bargains. The retailers are getting smacked with Christmas returns and you never know what might turn up. I got a good deal on a Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic and I’m eagerly awaiting delivery.

Even though sound tweaking via the Sonogenic front panel is limited, there may be an opportunity to edit and save patches using the MIDI Designer iPad app . I’ve been learning and experimenting with MIDI Designer, driving the Yamaha Genos via Bluetooth MIDI. MIDI Designer is a solid tool even though it’s a little price-y at $25USD. I wish it had a scripting capability in order to modify MIDI on-the-fly. Still, it’s worth considering if you need to implement a custom MIDI controller on iPad. Stay tuned for more.

Here are the goods Roland are hawking this week at CES 2020:

ZENBEATS Music Creation app
BOSS WAZA-AIR Wireless Personal Guitar Amplification System
V-MODA M-200 hi-res headphones
V-MODA Crossfade M-100 Master headphones
JUPITER-Xm Synthesizer
MC-101 Groovebox
MC-707 Groovebox
Roland Cloud
GO:LIVECAST Live streaming studio for smartphones

Hey, Roland! What’s up with ALL OF THE CAPITAL LETTERS?

At NAMM, look for the Roland A-88MKII MIDI 2.0-ready controller. Ivory feel PHA-4 action. $1,000USD. That is one long slab! As a player, I would be concerned about the long reach to the left hand pads, joystick and controls. I understand the desire to have a slender instrument — wrestling a deep, heavy behemoth is a nasty schlep. That’s still a long reach, however, and could become tiresome at a long gig.