The Monologue may be a cut-down version of the Minilogue, but it offers a few features its polyphonic big brother can't match.
To follow the popular four-voice Minilogue synth, Korg could have gone either way — larger or smaller. Perhaps concerned for the UK and its shrinking pound, they chose the latter. The Monologue is a trimmed-down, single-voice version of the Minilogue, itself not exactly huge. The filter and envelope implementation has been simplified, the delay is gone and the keyboard reduced to a mere two octaves. Despite the trimming process, there's a surprisingly gutsy synthesizer left; it consists of dual VCOs and a sequencer with a few tricks that could inspire envy in Minilogue owners. The 100 memories contain both patch and sequencer data and if you enjoy a touch of the exotic with your monosynth, you'll be pleased to learn that micro-tuning is incorporated.
Externals
The Monologue is a chip off the old block, even down to its wooden rear and the tiny screen for displaying waveforms, sequencer data or information such as patch names and parameter values. The oscilloscope functionality is no mere gimmick either since it promotes a wider understanding of the actions of the filter, of waveform shape movement and of the new drive circuit.
Probably the best thing that can be said about the mini keyboard is that it deviates from the C-C 'standard' usually imposed. In what might be an attempt to lure guitarists to the dark side, Korg have opted for a 25-note E-E range instead. The keyboard transmits velocity (but not aftertouch) and while it's perfectly fine for tapping notes into the sequencer, the Monologue becomes far more pleasurable when an external controller is involved. If you prefer to remain compact, a total of eight velocity curves are offered, so even though you won't fancy pounding the keyboard too vigorously, you should be able to find a response that suits both your strength and the synth engine's basic velocity routings.
Instantly neat and jammable, the Monologue has a similar footprint to the average laptop (approximately 35 x 28cm). Despite its reduced scale, it's fitted with full-sized audio connections throughout — ie. the main output, headphone socket and the input, which is suitable for processing (line level) external gear through the filter and drive. If for some reason the standard silver faceplate doesn't grab you, other models are available, in anodised black, dark blue, gold and red! While it's wonderful to have so much choice, they'd all have looked classier without the protruding screws that litter the panel.
Korg omitted any form of CV/Gate interfacing but have fitted clock I/O and sync options suitable for Electribes, Volcas or any source of 5V pulses. MIDI is on hand via (regular-sized) in and out sockets or USB. Finally, half a dozen AA alkaline batteries are supplied, reputed to last between six and eight hours, or three afternoon sessions in my case. Alternatively, a 9V power adaptor is available, but as an optional extra.
Exploring The Synthesizer Engine
Having paused only to insert the batteries and scan the 'Quick Start Guide', I was soon lost in a realm of dirty acid homages, noise grooves and bass to wobble tectonic plates with. I flirted briefly with the keyboard before hitting Play on the sequencer, after which I never looked back.
Impressively, the sequencer continues to flow smoothly as new patches are selected, and by spinning the Program encoder, I was treated to a non-stop demo of wicked sounds and associated sequences. Before touching even a single knob, I'd gained a pretty comprehensive idea of the Monologue's range thanks to a better than average set of edgy, glitchy factory patches.
If you've spent time with a Minilogue much will be familiar, from the angled performance slider to the tiny, pin-sharp OLED screen. It trumps the larger model in at least one respect: that row of 16 buttons taking pride of place, optimised for your sequencing comfort. The buttons are also used to access pages of the menu system, summoned at a press of the Edit Mode button.
Having satisfied myself that navigation would be relatively painless, my first instinct was to check the filter, which is an updated two-pole low-pass design described as having "more bite". Korg did a great job here and fortunately the filter's bite doesn't come at the expense of the bass end, which is reassuringly warm and full. The addition of drive lends the Monologue a rougher, darker character than its larger sibling, one that becomes an overdriven roar at its maximum. Yet even fully cranked up, drive never becomes too much, nor does it excessively boost the volume.
The filter's resonant whistle is effective over a broad range too, from its initial onset up to its loudest shriek. To track the whistle across the keyboard you'll need to take a trip into Edit Mode where, after a few presses of the fourth illuminated button, you reach 'cutoff keyboard tracking'. Tracking is offered at 0, 50 and 100 percent. The same menu is used to access velocity control over the filter cutoff and amplitude.
It was while relishing the filter's sweet spots that I noticed the controls offer 10-bit resolution. No wonder those sweeps are so smooth; they cover a range from 0-1023! The resolution is halved for some controls, eg. LFO or EG modulation depth, both of which switch to a negative range when the intensity knob is paired with the shift key.
If the filter shines, its task is made easier by the presence of a pair of versatile VCOs. The first has sawtooth, triangle and square waves, the second drops the square in favour of white noise. It's debatable whether losing the square wave was the optimum choice but that aside, all waves (except noise) are modified using the Shape knob. So as well as regular pulse width adjustment, you're treated to a (slightly crackly) wavefolding of the triangle waveform, while the sawtooth acquires odd harmonics and a more hollow tonality. All waves gain welcome extra fuzziness when their shape is modulated either by the LFO or by the sequencer's motion recording.
VCO2 features a four-way switch for octave shifts, plus a knob offering a further octave either way but in fine resolution. The detunes are pretty lush and even when the pitch offset is at zero, a gentle phasing remains. If you require a perfect lock, oscillator sync will deliver it — and more besides. With sync active, VCO2 becomes the slave of VCO1 and checking through the limited modulation routings, you'll see that the envelope can be routed to the slave's pitch — the typical path to tearing sync lead tones. Robbed of a square slave, I found that using a sawtooth produced the most pleasing (or at least the smoothest) results, ready to benefit from a dash of grit from the Drive knob. For 'Prodigy-like' performance control, you can assign the sprung slider to control VCO2's pitch — marvellous!
The ring modulator replaces VCO2's output with a signal containing the sum and the difference of two oscillator frequencies. Ring modulators famously generate metallic, atonal and bell-like sounds from irregular intervals and are a source of distinctive percussive material for sequencing purposes.
You may have noticed that the Monologue lacks the VCO cross-modula...
