Each step in the wave sequence can have a different duration, pitch, fine tuning, level and crossfade amount. By combining wave sequencing with vector synthesis-the process of mixing and morphing between multiple waveforms of audio samples-the Wavestation differed from other sample-based synthesizers of the digital era.Ī wave sequence is a programmed list of PCM waves playing in succession.

Moreover, a wave sequence can be programmed to 'jump' to any PCM wave in ROM memory, whereas similar synths were designed to move sequentially through the wavetable. Wave Sequencing improved the vector synthesis on Prophet VS, by incorporating the ability to crossfade up to 255 waveforms, rather than only four. Although the Korg Wavestation was the first keyboard that used Wave Sequencing, its roots can be traced back to the preceding variations of wavetable-lookup synthesis, including the multiple-wavetable synthesizers realized as PPG Wave that was produced by Palm Products GmbH in the early 80s, and the vector synthesis realized as Prophet VS by Sequential Circuits, Inc. The two primary synthesis concepts designed into the Wavestation were Wave Sequencing and vector synthesis, the latter Korg dubbed 'Advanced Vector Synthesis'. The Wavestation lineup consisted of four models: the Wavestation and Wavestation EX keyboards, and the Wavestation A/D and Wavestation SR rackmount sound modules. Keyboard Magazine readers gave the Wavestation its 'Hardware Innovation of the Year' award, and in 1995 Keyboard listed it as one of the '20 Instruments that Shook the World.' The Wavestation's 'Advanced Vector Synthesis' sound architecture resembled early vector synths such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS.ĭesigned as a 'pure' synthesizer rather than a music workstation, it lacked an on-board song sequencer, yet the Wavestation, unlike any synthesizer prior to its release, was capable of generating complex, lush timbres and rhythmic sequences that sounded like a complete soundtrack by pressing only one key.

Its primary innovation was Wave Sequencing, a method of multi-timbral sound generation in which different PCM waveform data are played successively, resulting in continuously evolving sounds. The Korg Wavestation is a vector synthesis synthesizer first produced in the early 1990s and later re-released as a software synthesizer in 2004.

Korg wave station