Korg wavestate MKII 37-key Wave Sequencing Synthesizer

Make Waves with Even More Motion!

Korg debuted its original wavestate synth to widespread acclaim, garnering accolades for its ability to build on the company’s legendary 1990 Wavestation synth while introducing cutting-edge, real-time sample manipulation and synthesis tools. With the wavestate MKII, you can traverse even greater artistic vistas. Combining elements of subtractive synthesis, groove boxes, drum machines, and algorithmic composition, Korg’s wavestate MKII offers sonic capabilities you won’t find anywhere else. Presets can be saved as a Set List for fast recall, and Smooth Sound Transitions that allow a sound to finish ringing out even after you’ve changed patches. Synthesists at City Music are elated by the welcome additions that accompany the wavestate MKII. These include an increase of the polyphony from 64 to 96 voices, 15 new performances, 43 more presets, and a comprehensive update to each of the 246 Performance choices, as well as more than half of the other presets onboard

Wave Sequencing 2.0

With its ability to take raw samples and transform them into never-before-heard sounds, the original Korg Wavestation became a favorite for its rich, evocative pads and pulsating, rhythmic sounds. Wave Sequencing returned in Korg’s OASYS and KRONOS keyboards to the delight of music producers, sound designers, and composers alike. And with the wavestate MKII synthesizer, Wave Sequencing 2.0 gives you more creative potential to manipulate sounds.

In the original Wavestation keyboard, a wave sequence is comprised of individual steps, each with its own duration, sample, and pitch. The results could be incredibly animated and rhythmic, but with unchanging repetition. Wave Sequencing 2.0 allows you to manipulate sample sequence, timing, and pitch independently to create complex, evolving patches with a non-linear vibe. Each of these parameters (and many more) are assigned their own “Lane,” and each Lane can have a different number of steps, with control over their start, end, and loop points. Lanes can even randomize their step order every time they are played, for a completely unpredictable and non-linear playing experience.

Get hands-on with your sound

With its unique sound engine and practically limitless modulation capabilities, it’s clear the Korg wavestate MKII is ideal for producers, composers, and sound designers. And with its generous set of hands-on controls (much more than the original Wavestation offered!) you have everything you need for expressive real-time performance too. Fans of the original at City Music were pleased to see the return of the Vector Joystick, giving you XY control over four layers of sound. You also have easy access to envelopes and LFOs, filters, modulation lanes, and sequence steps.

Not only does the wavestate MKII give you ample hands-on control, but the vast majority of knobs and on-screen parameters can be modulated. You’ll even be able to modulate the settings of individual wave sequence steps, if you want to fine-tune your sounds to that extent. And while we’re talking modulation, the wavestate MKII offers built-in modulation signal transformation to get even more creative with your patches. Modulation signals can be quantized, or smoothed out, or even have their curvature manipulated, rivaling the modulation capabilities of certain modular synthesizer components for unmatched rhythmic control.

Now featuring 96 stereo voices with a huge sample library

With gigabytes of samples to explore, the wavestate MKII features thousands of times more raw samples than the original Wavestation. And in addition to completely new samples from Korg, you’ll also find a range of samples from Korg’s KRONOS and KROME libraries, as well as a cool bank of sounds from Plugin Guru. However you decide to combine them, you’ll be able to play up to 96 stereo voices simultaneously, with amazingly pristine sound quality thanks to Korg’s anti-aliasing sample playback technology, far surpassing the 64-voice limit of its predecessor. Experience the defining characteristics that made the original Wavestation so popular with a whole new level of sound quality and sonic precision.

Spend some time with the wavestate MKII and you’ll soon love the ability to control four layers of sound at a time. Use the Vector Joystick to morph between the layers in real time. Each layer has its own arpeggiator, and layers can have up to three dedicated effects like tape echo, reverb, guitar amp modeling, and much more. With the ability to smoothly morph from an intriguing soundscape into a vibrant lead tone and back again, the wavestate MKII may be the performance synthesizer you’ve been waiting for.

Shape your sounds with MS-20 and Polysix filters

While Wave Sequencing offers sonic possibilities far beyond typical subtractive synthesis, it’s hard to beat the creative potential of a good filter. The wavestate MKII synthesizer packs lowpass and highpass filters modeled after those found on the classic MS-20 synthesizer, as well as a lowpass filter model based on the Polysix synthesizer. You’ll also find an array of 2- and 4-pole lowpass, highpass, bandpass, and band-reject filters. And of course, you’ll also find Korg’s beloved multimode filter, which can morph and modulate between multiple filter modes.

Painless migration from studio to stage

A pair of balanced line-level outputs ensures the wavestate sounds fantastic even over long cable runs, and a headphone output is available for personal monitoring too — perfect for late-night sound design sessions. DIN MIDI ports are present for connecting with other MIDI-compatible hardware, and class-compliant USB MIDI is available for integrating with your computer. Speaking of which, we highly recommend downloading the free Librarian software from Korg — it’s the perfect way to manage your custom patches, create Set Lists, and much more.

Performance-ready Set List and transition tools

Contrasting the depth of its synthesis architecture, the wavestate MKII is optimized for live performance, complete with a handy way to manage sounds on tage — Set Lists. These allow you to organize your sounds based on the songs you’ll be performing, giving you fast access to your sounds and eliminating the need for menu diving to find the right patch.

And speaking of changing sounds on the fly, the wavestate MKII’s smooth transitions will appeal to anyone that’s ever played a keyboard live. Smooth transitions mean that when you change sound patches, the previous patch will decay naturally (based on its envelope and effects settings) instead of being cut off abruptly. And you can immediately begin playing the patch you’ve just selected as the previous patch fades out.

Korg wavestate MKII 37-key Synthesizer Features:

• Brings the iconic wave sequencing architecture of the original Wavestation synth into the 21st century
• New sounds include 15 more Performances and 43 more presets, bolstering the already-immense creative possibilities of the distinct wavestate design
• Ships with 261 performances, 799 programs, and 1,042 wave sequences
• Wave Sequencing 2.0 architecture with 4 simultaneous sound layers and 96 stereo voices of polyphony
• 4 sound layers can be blended in real time via Vector Joystick, with three dedicated effects per layer
• Total of 14 simultaneous effects for extravagant sonic excitement
• “Lanes” provide unique ways to manipulate pitch, sample duration, gate times, step sequencer values, and much more
• Four onboard arpeggiators, one per layer
• Eight programmable Mod knobs give you custom access to whatever parameters you’d like to tweak most often
• Ample hands-on control over practically all parameters
• Vast modulation potential, with multiple “Lanes” that can manipulate your sounds on a per-step basis
• Modulation processors allow you to re-shape mod signals using quantization, curvature, smoothing, and more
• Large (2GB) sample library, over 1,000x the size of the original Wavestation library
• Includes sample content from Korg’s KROME, KRONOS, and a custom bank from Plugin Guru
• Includes modeled MS-20 lowpass/highpass filters and modeled Polysix lowpass filter
• Dice button randomizes all parameters for instant sonic exploration
• Set Lists and Smooth Transitions make it easy to organize and manage your sounds for live performance
• 37 full-size keys balance playability and portability