Korg iMS-20 for iPad: vintage touch

UPDATE: we featured the iMS-20 in our iPad Classics for a Reason series. I was expecting this to happen. Put together Korg’s know-how (their tradition, the virtual editions that came out a few years ago, and the more recent iElectribe) and Nobuyoshi Sano (he’s the producer of KORG DS-10 for Nintendo DS) and you get… the iMS-20 for iPad.

This means that Korg didn’t just adapt the code of the MS-20 Legacy Edition for the iPad. They’ve actually included a 16 step sequencer, a mini-studio with synth, sequencer, effects and drum machine (always using MS-20 sounds), Kaoss Pad inspired functions, and an online publishing-share feature (through Soundcloud). Smart people, indeed.
I liked very much (and I still use) their Legacy MS-20 Edition, so I’m glad to see this happen and I’m sure it’s lots of fun, especially given the added features (even if nothing can beat having real keys to press and real knobs to turn).
As I already said about the iElectribe, I’m not a big fan of GUIs with knobs on touch-screen devices and I’m curious to see how the patching works, but I guess that most people wants them as part of the “emulation feeling”.

Here’s a nice video from DinSync blog.

Some more details:

Drum machine
It’s a six-part drum machine. Each hit has an independent control of pitch and gate time. Up to sixteen patterns are available, to be arranged in a song. As said, the sounds of this drum machine are also created using a built-in MS-20.

Mixer and FX
It’s a 7 channel mixer – complete with VU metering – with 14 Effects; Short Delay, BPM Sync Delay, Reverb 1, Reverb 2, Chorus/Flanger, Equalizer, Compressor, Tube Simulator (Valve Force), Low-Pass Filter, High-Pass Filter, Band-Pass Filter, Talking Modulator, Decimator, Grain Shifterr.

Kaoss Pad functions
Two Kaoss pad control surfaces – one for generating musical phrases, as found on the KAOSSILATOR; the other for changing parameter values (X-Y axis parameter settings).

16-step analog sequencer
A tribute to the rare Korg SQ-10. Featuring 12 steps, this analog sequencer could produce either a series of pitches, or create a cyclic pattern of control changes to the volume, panning, filter brightness, or other synthesizer parameters. The KORG iMS-20 provides a 16-step analog sequencer that has been designed based on this SQ-10. It features new improvements not found on the original analog sequencer, such as easy control of notes, volume and pan, or synth/effect parameters, plus all of the SQ-10’s classic and unique functionality such as three-channels of voltage control and six types of sequence modes.

Publish and share
Icing on the cake: using SoundCloud’s services (embedded in the app), audio data exported by KORG iMS-20 and its song data can now be quickly published and shared anywhere on the web (social networks, etc.).

Price
The KORG iMS-20 for iPad is available for download purchase from Apple’s App Store (inside the iTunes Store). The regular price of $ 32.99 (USD) has been discounted to a special introductory price of $ 15.99 (USD) until January 31, 2011.

Product page