Also included were 8 more effects algorithms which contained some very usable vocoder FX. These included some much needed piano, bass, and percussion, as well as some quirky voice snippets, 'industrial' noises and a complete drum kit.

Two years later and an upgraded version, the EX was released with an additional 2Mb of PCM waveforms. Those instantly recognisable pluck, chiff and chime wave sequences were everywhere and in that respect it had something in common with those classic but totally over used Roland D50 'one note tune' pre-sets. In fact the pre-sets were so good that it seemed like every TV show or ad composer was using a Wavestation. It has some exceptional on board ROM pre-sets that with just a couple of keys held down can sound like a complete demo tune rather than just a single instrument. These involve manipulating the raw PCM/oscillator sources with complex vector envelopes and wave tables to produce some very unique and extraordinary sounds and was said to be a programmers dream, well maybe. But this was no ordinary synth because as well as as the familiar synth+sample, PCM/oscillator-filter-amplifier engine it also used two systems known as vector synthesis and wave sequencing. With 2 card slots for PCM, Program Data and RAM cards it was extremely well equipped. It arrived with a 61 note aftertouch sensitive keyboard, 32 oscillators and filters, 64 envelope generators and LFO's, 365 PCM waveforms, 2 multi-effects units and 24 bit processing. The original Wavestation WS1 was released in 1990 for £1600 and broke with accepted tradition by not being a workstation but a dedicated synth without a drum kit or a regular on board sequencer. Although the following article is intended for those of you who use a Wavestation A/D - or are going to - many of the techniques described can be applied to all versions. There aren't many contemporary synth's that can be called classics, especially digital ones but I'm going to stick my neck out and state that personally I think that the Korg Wavestation - and in particular the A/D version - is one of those classic synths. MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR KORG WAVESTATION - PART ONE (and TWO) SOUND ON SOUND magazine Vol.10 No.2 and 3. An edited version of this text also appears in

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