Korg monologue
Lesson 5: Movement with the EG and LFO
Goal: make sounds that change over time. The monologue has one EG and one LFO, so the trick is choosing well what each one moves.
The EG: one envelope, two jobs
The EG shapes the volume (VCA) and, at the same time, moves one TARGET by an amount set with INT. The TYPE switch decides how the volume behaves.
| TYPE | Volume (VCA) | TARGET (pitch or cutoff) | DECAY knob means | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GATE | On while the key is held, no shaping | Attack then decay | Time to fall to 0 after the peak | Organ-like notes with a filter or pitch blip |
| A/D | Attack then decay, regardless of key length | Attack then decay | Time to fall to 0 after the peak | Plucks, percussion, short basses |
| A/G/D | Attack, holds while the key is down, decays on release | Same shape | Release time after the key is let go | Leads, pads, held basses |
- ATTACK (0 to 1023): time to reach full level after a note starts.
- INT (0 to +511, or 0 to −511 with SHIFT): how far the EG moves the target. SHIFT + INT gives negative amounts, so the envelope pushes cutoff or pitch down instead of up.
- TARGET: CUTOFF (filter sweep), PITCH (both VCOs) or PITCH 2 (VCO 2 only).
PITCH 2 with sync on is worth singling out: the envelope sweeps VCO 2 against VCO 1, giving a sync sweep on every note.
Try it
- Saw bass, CUTOFF about a quarter, RESONANCE about half, TARGET CUTOFF, TYPE A/D, ATTACK 0, DECAY about a third.
- Raise INT. Each note now starts bright and closes down: the classic synth pluck.
- Switch TARGET to PITCH, short DECAY, high INT. You now have a pitch drop, the basis of a synth kick or tom.
The LFO
| Control | Settings | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WAVE | Saw, triangle, square | Triangle for smooth vibrato, square for trills, saw for ramps |
| MODE | FAST (0.5 Hz to 2.8 kHz), SLOW (0.05 to 28 Hz), 1-SHOT (0.05 to 28 Hz) | 1-SHOT stops half a cycle after a note starts, making it a second simple envelope |
| RATE | 0 to 1023 | Speed |
| INT | 0 to 1023, negative with SHIFT | Amount |
| TARGET | PITCH (both VCOs), SHAPE (both VCOs), CUTOFF | Vibrato, timbre movement, wah |
FAST mode reaches audio rate. An audio-rate LFO on PITCH or CUTOFF gives FM-style metallic and growling tones rather than a wobble.
LFO BPM Sync
PROGRAM EDIT > button 8 > LFO BPM Sync: On locks the LFO to the sequencer tempo. RATE then steps through note values: 1/8 down to 1/2048 in FAST mode, and 4 down to 1/64 in SLOW and 1-SHOT (the manual lists the values but not their units). This is how you get a wobble bass that stays in time.
Exercise 5
Build three patches from the starting panel: a pluck (EG on cutoff), a lead with gentle vibrato (A/G/D, slow triangle LFO on pitch, small INT), and a tempo-synced wobble bass (LFO on cutoff, BPM Sync on). Then use SHIFT + EG INT to make a patch that gets darker as each note goes on.