Even if it’s already a couple of months old, a MUST for this summer is the interview with Fumio Mieda (engineer of the original MS-20) and Hiroaki Nishijima (chief engineer at Korg, responsible for the new MS-20). Reading it through only takes a couple of minutes. It’s a few of the details that make for mandatory reading.
First, there’s the comparison of the sizes of the instruments (see the picture). Very practical, considering that “86% of its original size” (as often described) is hard to imagine. Maybe you even thought the NEW was only slightly smaller than the OLD, but the picture makes it very clear just how much the new MS-20 has really shrunk. And it also answers your question of whether the key size has changed … the keys have shrunk right along with the rest of the instrument.
Above and beyond all that, there is a candid answer to why MIDI only features note on / off. It also becomes clear that Hiroaki Nishijima‘s aim has been to maintain the exact same sound quality found in the old MS-20. The question is also touched upon as to whether new additions of other members of the MS-series can be expected … we’ll leave the reading up to you.
LINK: https://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/ms_20mini/page_4.php
It should surprise nobody that the interview is, generally speaking, pure public relations. Still, the individual comments are interesting and they are precise. The interview can be seen as basic pre-information for a future in-depth comparison between the Vintage MS-20 and the New MS-20. And THAT should be here by the end of August …
PS: If you absolutely do not want to read anything at the moment, but we’ve managed to get you curious about some of the details, you should profit a lot just from watching the following Youtube video …