Vintage Korg Trident Mk1

Vintage Korg Trident Mark 1. This unit has the black MS-20 style knobs, and the previous owner also fitted it with a MIDI IN port. It's an instrument that's strange and wonderful at the same time. The moment I got it, I started playing the notes from Phoenix's 1901. I love that song, and I think this is what they used! Be sure to download the free WAV files for full audio quality.

3 sections of sounds: synth, brass and string. They can all be used simultaneously, creating huge epic pads and other monstrous sounds. Mine's got 1 ADSR for the synth, 1 ADSR for the brass, and 1 AR for the strings. Synth and brass seem to have their own filters, while the string section has a knob that reads "filter KBD balance" which can make it bright or soft.

I'm particularly fond of the joystick, which does pitch bend left to right, vibrato going up, and tremolo going down. Very expressive! Of course, no written material about the Trident would be complete without mentioning the onboard flanger, which can go from subtle to "way too much feedback." Splitting up the keyboard is also pretty easy, with dedicated switches that let you do stuff like play synth on lower keyboard, while only brass and strings play on the higher notes.

For those who care, I think the Mark 2 Trident has an additional envelope on the synth to control the filter. The Mark 1, however, has 50% pulse, variable pulse width, as well as pulse width modulation on oscillator 1 of the synth.