
Korg Step Master: Rhythm Training Machine - dpflan
http://www.korg.com/us/products/dance/stepmaster/
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S_A_P
I am actually really impressed with Korg these days. They were among the first
to push their classics into the VST/Audio Unit/AAX world. They also have
pushed their electribes into iOS. Gadget, while kind of pricey is truly a
unique take on computer composition and I find myself creating music that
sounds entirely different than what I would create in Logic, Reason or Fl
Studio.(which to some degree also affect my writing, but I think Gadget is
probably the most unique workflow Ive seen).

On the Analog synthesizer front, they are IMO the leader in democratizing
analog synths and creating recreations of previously unavailable synthesizers.
Arp Odyssey, MS-20 reissue, ms-20 KITS! They are also creating many new and
well received analogs or digital analog hybrids with the Minilog, monolog and
King Korg. The volca series is also great entry level gear. Im a huge fan of
what Korg is doing and I have the Odyssey desktop module. In many ways its
better than searching out a nice example of an original Arp. For the most
part, they've compared pretty favorably to the originals and have the benefit
of USB and midi. I have been able to create a spot on recreation of Herbie
Hancock's "chameleon" bassline with it.

Contrast this with Roland. They have also recently been trying to recreate
their past(again) but digitally(only). From an outsiders perspective it looks
like they have lost their analog expertise to attrition or retirement, as they
have only released two analog synthesizers in recent times in the SE-01
boutique module and the JDxi hybrid synth. The rest of their repro gear is
digitally modelled. I dont think there is anything wrong with that, and I do
own some of it (TR-8 and JP-08) but my take is that they are riding on past
success more than pushing the technology forward.

As for this app, it certainly isnt anything I would use or want, but I think
its great they are pushing rhythm and music to a large audience. No reason to
hate on them for that...

~~~
cJ0th
absolutely. As for Roland: It's a miracle that they still exist. They've
always been incapable of understanding the market. The (now legendary) TB-303
was a complete failure at what it was actually intended to be and when its
second hand prices skyrocketed because Techno happened it took Roland more
than 30 years to come up with a remake.

~~~
S_A_P
I was planning to add in my original comment that the Roland SE-02 wasn't even
built by Roland, its a studio electronics adaptation into their boutique form
factor. That said, its a pretty cool little piece of gear that can definitely
give you the Minimoog-ish sound its shooting for and a bit more. I wouldn't
say its a perfect minimoog clone though, but its a great little piece of gear.

Funny think about the TB-303. I found one in a pawn shop while I was in
college in College Station. They had a TR-606/TB-303 for 60 dollars. I was
just beginning to get into my gear head phase and remember reading on one of
the early internet music sites what an important piece of gear it was.
Thinking its too good to be true, I took an extra 386 PC I had laying around
and offered it in trade(I was broke and didnt have 60 bucks). They accepted,
and I took home these 2 boxes. This was around 1997 I believe. Wish I'd have
kept them, but I ended up profiting pretty nicely from them.

~~~
cJ0th
That's a nice story re the 303 ;)

The SE-02 is all right but let's see what happens when Behringer introduces
its Moog clone for $300! [http://www.factmag.com/2017/06/28/behringer-d-synth-
pre-orde...](http://www.factmag.com/2017/06/28/behringer-d-synth-pre-order/)

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blub
I actually downloaded this once out of curiosity but couldn't figure out how
to use it. By that I mean it was neither intuitive, nor fun.

From my experience the big benefit of doing dance classes is that the
instructor can physically move with you in the right way and grab your arms or
body and hold them into position if needed.

The second best way of learning is from a video which includes a lot of
explanations. Almost all videos explain the moves, but it's very important to
know how to tense your body where to put your weight, how to shift your
weight, etc. e.g: if you're dancing with a partner and you're not keeping your
arms rigid then you can't lead properly, because she won't be able to figure
out what you want to do. This is almost completely invisible when looking at
dancers, so it needs to be explained.

~~~
andrewingram
Regarding partnerwork, rigidity depends on the dance. The frame in cross-body
salsa is ideally very relaxed (except for moments of muscle engagement to
allow certain moves)

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jimmcslim
What the? I think Korg needs to get Tatsuya [1] back on board...

[1] [http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2017/02/16/synth-guru-
tats...](http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2017/02/16/synth-guru-tatsuya-
takahashi-leaving-his-role-at-korg/)

~~~
blub
Korg is nowadays a top iOS music app producer, with hits like Gadget, iMS-20,
iElectribe, etc. They also have Gadget running on the Mac and it costs more
than Logic.

~~~
jameskegel
> it costs more than Logic.

Are you talking about Logic DAW software? If so, that's pretty impressive,
ballsy even.

~~~
blub
Yes, that's about $200 nowadays, Gadget costs $299 (I think they reduced it).

It definitely has fewer features compared to Logic, but it's also
significantly easier to make a song with it. Since it got started on the iPad,
the UI is simpler and cleaner compared to a traditional DAW.

It's also packing quite a few synths, such as Korg M1, Wavestation and ARP
Odyssey, all of them useable as plugins.

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blacksmith_tb
Now if only it had a Pavlok[1] integration, it could punish you for failing to
keep the beat.

1: [https://pavlok.com/](https://pavlok.com/)

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snvzz
For the task at hand, I do wonder how it compares (and whether it does) with
the likes of llsif, deresute or mirishita.

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seekbeak
From the title, I was hoping it was some sort of cool step sequencer that
would somehow help with rhythm training.

How wrong I was.

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hellofunk
I honestly thought this was a joke. The dancing model in the videos helps
perpetuate this fallacy.

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sogen
Great! one more thing to avoid leaving the house

/s

