Korg MS-10 analog synthesizer (video)

Date of construction: 1978–1983

This video documents the use of the Korg MS-10 analog synthesizer. In the first part, a noise sound source is modified by a filter that attenuates higher ranges of sound. The filter’s cut-off frequency is controlled by an oscillating source of voltage whose frequency is manually changed from high to low, producing a wobbling sound. In the following part, the direct output of “pink” and “white” noise by the synthesizer is demonstrated. Whereas in white noise, all frequencies are equally represented, in pink noise the higher ranges are attenuated. The noise-based arrangements demonstrated here were typically used as special effects, often imitating wind, fantasy sounds such as UFOs or laser guns, or percussion. By contrast, tones were usually generated using an oscillator with a clearly perceptible frequency.

The video was made by Nikita Braguinski at the Media Studies department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in April 2018. The unit shown is part of the department’s collection of historical apparatus, the Media Archaeological Fundus (accession no. 218).

The Media Archaeological Fundus at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Nikita Braguinski