Single Synth Berlin School Synth Jam With The Korg Wavestate Synthesizer

This video, via Waveformer, captures a single-synth Berlin School-style synth jam, featuring the Korg Wavestate synthesizer.

Here’s what they shared about the technical details:

The performance has four layers that are used as four individual parts/tracks – two independent melodic arpeggiators, one bass layer and one pad layer. During the jam, I play with the arpeggiators and do live sound design. The complete jam was recorded in one go with no post-processing except some light compression.”

Wavestate performance mod knobs:
Knob 1: Layer A (arp melody 1) Octave
Knob 2: Layer B (bass) Octave
Knob 3: Layer C (pad) Octave
Knob 4: Layer D (arp melody 2) Octave
Knob 5: Layer A (arp melody 1) Amp Level
Knob 6: Layer B (bass) Amp Level
Knob 7: Layer C (pad) Amp Level
Knob 8: Layer D (arp melody 2) Amp Level

ModWheel controls the decimator effect for Layer A, and makes layer B and D softer.

Joystick X controls Reverb Effect Level.
Joystick Y controls Layer C (pad) Bandpass Filter Cutoff Frequency

The audio is recorded to SD card on a Zoom R-16 recorder and normalized in Audacity. Video is recorded on a Canon EOS M50 mk2 with the included EF-M 15-45mm lens. Audio and video is synchronized in DaVinci Resolve 18 (free version).

9 thoughts on “Single Synth Berlin School Synth Jam With The Korg Wavestate Synthesizer

  1. Waveformer does fantastic work on this synth, and he explains how to as well— I bought his patches. They are educational (even though quite a bit too sweet sounding for my personal taste).

    1. Thank you for your kind words :-).

      The Wavestate is a really fun synth to play with and explore. With its wave sequencing and the extensive modulation features, it has changed the way I think about and compose music. That has been a great experience for me. Kudos to Korg for creating this wonder of a synth.

  2. Nice work! I really like enjoyed your synth jam. It was very mellow, very relaxing, very dreamy. It put me in another whole headspace. I played Solitaire through the whole track and just relaxed and enjoyed. You really made that Korg Wavestate really sing. It’s making me really want to purchase one myself (I won’t, I can’t afford it) besides, I already have a Hydrasynth and that is all my wife, and my bank account is going to allow me to purchase. Nice work, dude.

  3. Thomas, very nice work here on the Wavestate. Thank you for your contributions on Synthtopia. I purchased a Wavestate this last Spring 2022. Your videos helped me to explore the synth deeper. The synth is more amazing than I anticipated. Deep Synth to work, experiment with. I’m still scratching the surface of this horn of plenty. I’ve always enjoyed your work. Love the Berlin sound. Big fan TD, KS, etc.

    Thank you Thomas,!!!

    1. Thank you, Bill.

      The Wavestate is very deep. It took me a couple of days to wrap my head around the wave sequencing stuff and how the different sequencing lanes interact. But now I find it quite easy and intuitive to use. There is little menu diving, usually just one click of a button and then you can turn a dedicated knob to change a parameter. I think Korg did a lot of things right with the “user interface” for this synth.

      Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze are great inspirations to me as well :-).

  4. wavestate synth are a very unique experience. :0)

    I really love digital delay synched arps and rhythmic phrases as a compositional tool. the wonderful syncopations are entracing.

  5. That was a real pleasure, but I was already keen on Berlin style works, so I’m an easy mark. I can recommend Wavestate native for DAWs, which is compatible with the hardware version. It can be a bit of a brain twister, but it feels easier to surf. There’s a good reason you see this, the Opsix and the MoDWave in so many rigs. I’m an inch away from a Korg logo tattoo.

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