MicroKORG Synthesizer/Vocoder © 2002 Korg.
The Korg microKORG Synthesizer/Vocoder was a compact virtual analog synthesizer that combined powerful sound design capabilities with an integrated vocoder. Developed by Korg, it was based on the synthesis engine of the MS2000 and featured 4-voice polyphony, dual oscillators, resonant filters, modulation effects, and an 8-band vocoder with included microphone. Its portable size, distinctive sound, and affordable price made it one of the most successful synthesizers of the 21st century.
The microKORG shares much of its synthesis architecture with Korg’s MS2000 virtual analog synthesizer, repackaged into a smaller and more affordable format.
It features an integrated 8-band vocoder and was shipped with a gooseneck microphone, allowing users to create robotic and vocoded vocal effects immediately.
Despite its compact size, it offers dual oscillators, modulation matrix routing, arpeggiator functions, and extensive sound editing capabilities.
The instrument became especially popular in electronic music, indie rock, synth-pop, and live performance environments.
Its miniature keyboard helped reduce manufacturing costs and improve portability, though some performers preferred controlling it from a full-size MIDI keyboard.
The factory preset library was designed to showcase contemporary electronic sounds, including dance leads, basses, pads, and vocoder patches.
The microKORG remained in production for well over a decade, an unusually long lifespan in the synthesizer industry.
It became one of Korg’s best-selling synthesizers ever, with hundreds of thousands of units sold worldwide.
Artists from a wide variety of genres adopted the microKORG, making it one of the most recognizable synthesizers of the 2000s.
Today it is regarded as a modern classic and is often credited with helping revive mainstream interest in hardware synthesizers during the early 2000s.