Korg M1

The Korg M1, the keyboard that powered so many hits, you'd think the 1990s came with it pre-installed.

Here are some of the most iconic riffs, sounds and presets.

Let's get into it.

Penison, finally.

Beyonce, Break My Soul Queen, Don't Try So Hard snap rhythm as a dancer.

So there you go, another enormous collection of famous Korg M1 riffs, proving that in the late 80s and 90s, owning an M1 was apparently a legal requirement for having a hit record.

Let me know which riffs surprised you most, and which important M1 track I've still somehow managed to miss.

Fairlight CMI, Yamaha DX7 preset electric piano, you know, hate it as you might, still very, very influential.

We've got preset Korg M1, preset piano, TX81Z, lately bass, and Korg Prophecy preset 303.

Now, I've got something to play on this because I realised that I had actually used... two of these five on one track and i'll play it because i teased it before the show so let me play i don't i i don't know i did the remix or we did the remix but i'm trying to play the bit that only has the two elements that i'm talking about so here we go so this was a classic 90s which I think that was actually sampled and played from a Roland S300.

You know, what was the little S330, the little one-rack sampler, which had a wicked filter in it, really good TVF.

But it was the week where all of the things that we'd been working on got released at the same time.

So it was like we had three in the top 30 or top 40, and that was one of them.

And that M1 piano, and I would like to say, I feel I'm blushing now because I didn't realise I was blowing my own trumpet so much.

I played the guitar riff.

It was very impressive.

I mean, the two big machines that impressed everybody at the time was the DX7 from Yamaha and Korg M1.

Oh, yes.

The two big,

Hopefully you've had a few wait that's a D-50 moments along the way.

If you enjoyed this, there are full synth icon episodes on the Korg M1, Prophet 5, Roland Jupiter 4 and 8, Honor Clavinet D6, the Yamaha CS80, Vangelis Sound, and the DX7, all packed with famous riffs and original hardware.

You'll find links to those in the show notes.

If you want one-to-one lessons on how to program or produce in Logic Pro or you'd like help programming synths, analog or VST, head over to my website and get in touch.

All on the original hardware with the reverb delaying chorus pushed to that big cinematic space.

If you enjoyed this, there are plenty more Synthicon episodes waiting for you, including deep dives on Korg M1, Yamaha DX7, Roland Jupiter 4 and Jupiter 8, Honor Clavenet D6, The Prophet 5 and more.

All focused on real synths playing the famous riffs.

You'll find links in the show notes.