KORG Wants to Make Instruments That Are Fun — Music Maker (1)

Published on 24 April 2014, the opening instalment of Tadahiko Sakamaki’s DMM.make column examines the difference between making an instrument easy to use and preserving the pleasure of making music. Writing as a KORG product planner, he argues that accessibility should help people create rather than automate away the experience.

Published on 24 April 2014, the opening instalment of Tadahiko Sakamaki’s DMM.make column examines the difference between making an instrument easy to use and preserving the pleasure of making music. Writing as a KORG product planner, he argues that accessibility should help people create rather than automate away the experience.

The article introduces KORG’s approaches across KAOSS PAD, DS-10, iELECTRIBE and MS-20 mini. It then turns to products he planned: kaossilator, monotron and littleBits Synth Kit. Touch, a small set of controls and rearrangeable modules offer different ways into synthesis.

The central question is what to remove and what to retain. Automatically generating a finished song may deliver an outcome without giving its user the pleasure of composing. Sakamaki instead describes instruments that experienced musicians find engaging and beginners can explore for themselves.