MusicRadar

The gooseneck mic is included as standard.

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• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

A few years ago, just when it looked like hardware synths were a dying breed, Korg bucked the trend and scored a major hit with their diminutive MicroKorg. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t too clever, but it was a bundle of instant fun that had just enough going for it to charm its way into everyone’s live set-up.

The R3 is designed on similar principles but ups the game considerably. For starters, the synth engine is identical to the top-line Radias model and that equates to a massive range of sounds from classic to experimental. The three-octave keyboard gives it a bit more room for the players - naturally, they’re full-sized keys and there’s enough space to play solos and hold down chord beds, which is perfect for exploring the power of its 16-band vocoder.

Depending on where your interests lie, the vocoder could be a major reason to get this. Bear in mind that the excellent Radias synth engine is supplying an endless flow of carrier waves, add the convenience of the built-in goose neck microphone and it all makes for a very useful bit of kit for stage, and a sonically excellent choice for the studio.

Another of the Radias engine’s highlights is the way it combines sample recording with the vocoder in the process dubbed ‘Formant Motion’. This allows the user to record (or load via the editor) a sound or voice into the R3, which is used as the modulator waveform for the vocoder. It’s a cute little process, and it's surprising that no-one had thought of it before the Radias. This works much like using a sample as one of the oscillators, so the sample re-starts each time a key is played.

Recording is a simple, one-touch process; up to 7.5 seconds can be captured for each motion and 16 sets of recordings can be stored on the machine. Loading waveforms via the editor is a very viable option and opens up the opportunity to experiment with all kinds of fresh material so it’s not just vocals that get the robot treatment. The editor also comes in handy for sending recordings back to the computer where they can be trimmed, cropped and generally mashed to perfection before transporting them back to the R3 for more mischief.

Patches

Looking at the layout, it’s not exactly crammed with knobs and buttons. The left-hand side has the pitch and modulation wheels, as well as the controls for adjusting the levels for the mic and the audio inputs on the rear. The larger dial in the centre is used for selecting the patch categories, while the back-lit buttons select individual patches. The total number of presets clocks in at 128, which is frankly a bit skimpy for this century but at least the software editor can help.

The five dials on the right are used for most of the programming jobs: one to scroll through the pages and four for editing the associated parameters. Each one has an LCD screen above it - aka a ‘scribble pad’ - which displays its current assignment and an LED halo to show its value. It doesn’t take long to get accustomed to editing in this way, and you may be pleasantly surprised by how fast it is to get around.