The Korg Poly-800 is a

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

released by

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they ...

in 1983. Its initial list price of $795 made it the first fully programmable synthesizer that sold for less than $1000. It featured a 49 key non-velocity sensitive keyboard, two buttons for data entry, and a joystick controller, which could modulate the DCO pitch or the VCF. Though the Poly-800 had

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

, it did not feature MIDI

SysEx MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, Digital electronics, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments ...

functionality (except EX800 - the expander-version; or by modding the Poly800 with additionally selectable EX-firmware-ROM), and patches had to be backed up to cassette tape. It had 8-voice

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

(

paraphony Paraphony is a term which has three distinct meanings in the field of music. In musical theory Paraphony is a term used in musical vernacular to refer to consonances which rely upon intervals of fifths and fourths. This terminology can be trac ...

) with one DCO per voice. It could be switched into double mode which stacks two DCOs for a fuller sound, but reduces the polyphony to 4 voices. It featured one analog resonant low-pass VCF with 24 dB/oct which was shared for all voices. Like a monophonic synthesizer, the filter was switchable between single or multiple modes. In single mode, the first key pressed triggers the filter envelope, and unless all keys are released, the filter does not re-trigger. In multi mode, each key pressed in turn triggers the filter envelope, even if other keys are still pressed down. Further it had three digital envelope generators, a noise generator, an LFO, and a chorus effect. The Poly-800 could be run off batteries and had guitar strap pegs, allowing a performer to wear it like a guitar. It was also available with reversed-colored keys, which gave an appearance similar to a

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...

organ.

Sequencer

It also sported a simple built in 256 step

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

EX-800

About a year after the Poly-800 was introduced, a keyboardless, rackmount/tabletop version, called the EX-800, was released, adding limited

SysEx capability. After production of the original keyboard ended in 1985, the enhanced Poly-800 MkII was released. It featured a digital delay instead of a chorus effect, and included limited MIDI SysEx functionality. It was produced until 1987.

Siel Societa Industrie Elettroniche (SIEL) was an Italian company that made electronic organs and synthesizers in the 1980s. Timeline of major products * 1979 - Orchestra (Divide down oscillator network for full poly. Brass/string/key/organ. ARP ...

produced an almost identical synthesizer, the DK-70 around the same time period.

Modifications

The low price for a used unit (in the 1990s it fell to under $200) and partial analog design of the Poly-800 made it appealing for modification by hobbyists. There is a modification that adds two knobs to the VCF, increasing the filter's range and expressiveness, known as th
Moog-Slayer filter modification
th
FM-800 filter modification
which adds a pseudo

Frequency modulation synthesis Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The frequency of an oscillator is altered "in accordance with the amplitude ...

(FM) control to the filter; a modification for external audio input; and some users have added a switch to control the filter slope, adjusting it from a 4 pole (24db/oct) to a 2 pole (12db/oct). It is also possible to install an additional EPROM containing the firmware of the EX800. That way it is possible to receive MIDI-sysex data, but keyboard-functionality will then be disabled. Before powering up the synthesizer users can select the firmware of choice by using a selective switch. The most recent modification to the Poly-800 family is th
Hawk-800 Firmware upgrade
which is both a hardware and firmware modification, radically updating the features and capabilities of the synthesizer. There is also the AtomaHawk-800 which adds software and MIDI control to the more popular hardware modifications.

References

External links

Vintage Synth Explorer

Yahoo! group for users and abusers of KORG POLY 800 and EX800 synths

New patches from AnalogAudio1 for the Poly-800 II
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