Description | The PS-3300 is a megalithic semi-modular two piece synthesizer system from Korg. It was one of the first truly polyphonic analog synthesizers from the mid '70's! Beautiful wood panels, plenty of knobs and patch-points and a bold Korg sound! The system follows the PS-3100 model.
The PS-3300 is like having 3 stacked PS-3100s with a built-in mixer module. The PS-3300 loves the number 48 - 48 voice polyphony, 48 VCOs, 48 VCFs and 48 VCAs! That would make this one of the largest and fattest compact synthesizer systems around! Each note on the keyboard has microtonal tunings. There's also a general envelope generator and sample and hold. In addition to a great Korg sound, it features incredible modulation abilities and is still a very useful and coveted synth even today.
The Korg PS-3300 is one of 3 polyphonic modular synthesizer models made by Korg in the late 1970's. The high production costs and complexity of the instrument gave it a price tag that was out of reach for anyone but the wealthiest musicians of the day. Bob Moog was so impressed with the PS-3300 that after he was given a demonstration of it he is quoted as saying that it was "the best synthesizer for fat sounds".
The Korg PS-3300 is actually three complete synthesizer units in one. It has the unique feature of 48 voice polyphony with 48 oscillators with low-pass filters, envelopes and amplifiers, which is the equivalent of 144 oscillators, 144 filters, 144 envelopes and 144 amplifiers.
Each oscillator section has 6 waveforms that are Triangle, Sawtooth, Wide Rectangle, Narrow Rectangle, Pulse and Pulse Width Modulation. The unit has 6 LFO's that offer Triangle, Sawtooth, Ramp, Rectangle, Pink Noise and White Noise waveforms.
There are 12 filters available and offer Attack, Decay and Sustain control knobs as well as an unconventional Release function which can be controlled by a foot switch.
Global tuning is available via knobs with an octave switch with footages 16, 8, 4, 2 and there are separate control knobs for coarse and fine tune as well. An additional set of individual miniature tuning knobs referred to as "Temperament Adjust" are used for each of the twelve notes in the octave, making it possible to tune it to scales other than the Western standard of Equal temperament. Exotic scales such as the Byzantine scale or Eastern scales are available by these settings.
All audio is routed through a mixer and modulation section with 3 audio channels from the synthesizer units are mixed into a single channel with separate outputs and volume control for line and headphones. Each individual synth unit has its own individual audio output and CV output and input options for oscillator, filter, envelope and LFO's. There are also three external mixer inputs for effects loops or other sound sources. The mixed level can be modulated by control voltages from an LFO or envelope.
The synthesizer is controlled via the PS-3010 Polyphonic Keyboard which is a specialized 48 key keyboard with a proprietary 60-pin connector that connects to the Korg PS-3300 the Korg PS-3001. The keyboard has a trigger mode dial selector switch with 5 different trigger modes as well as a momentary switch for retriggering of envelopes during sustained notes, plus three on/off sliding switches. There is also an X-Y joystick with calibration sliders and separate CV outputs for X and Y direction movements.
The PS-3040 Dual Foot Controller is a two CV control pedal unit with variable range, which also can be connected to any parameter with a CV input.
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