Korg Monotron

Mine finally came this week. In case you slept, it's a tiny, single voice, fully analog synth with a copy of the MS-20 filter. It has a ribbon keyboard to be played with a stylus, though it surprisingly doesn't come with one. Another thing that surprised was how small it was; I mean it is really small. The size doesn't really create a problem other than making the ribbon keyboard pretty difficult (but not impossible) to use with your finger. The only other annoying thing about this box is that the battery compartment (yeah it runs on 2 AAA batteries) is kind of tricky and the batteries keep wanting to pop out until you get the battery cover on.

Those few details aside, I totally love this synth. The sound is full of warm, squishy, analog goodness. The filter is, of course, one of the main draws. One thing I like about filter is that, even with the resonance cranked, it distorts really nicely and doesn't get screechy like most digital synths.

The build quality, feature set, size, and the 1/8 inch in/out make the Monotron seem more like a toy than a serious instrument, but the sound quality alone makes it fit for real music-making. The ribbon-style keyboard makes it tough to nail down a specific pitch or melody, but with some minor editing and a sampler, there's no reason this box has to be relegated to merely a sci-fi noisemaker. The LFO, though I haven't looked at it in a scope, sounds like a falling ramp wave of sorts. Since it re-triggers when you press the keyboard, you can route it to the filter and use it as a kind of poor man's envelope generator and play simple melody lines that way. I've read at least one review that says that it isn't good for bass sounds, but I disagree. It may not be good for playing basslines, but you can certainly get some heavy bass tones out of it that you could throw into a sampler.

Overall, for total sound quality and fun potential, you really can't beat this synth for the price (they're selling for $60 most places). I've only been playing with mine for a day or so, and I'm already thinking about getting another one. I've been thinking about getting one of these guys for a while, and playing with the Monotron has only made me want one even more. If you have a spare $60 to spend on gear, I absolutely recommend the Monotron. I hope that the other big synth manufacturers will take a cue from it's popularity and put out some comparable, affordable analog gear instead of leaving it to boutique companies who are always going to be more expensive because of the small runs.