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Roland Juno-60
G9 – Korg Polysix
The Korg Polysix was the first polyphonic analog synth I owned.
And due to its (relatively) low 1982 price of $1799, it was the first
analog polyphonic synth for a lot of other musicians as well. I figured,
that was as good a reason as any to include it in "Vintage Keys".
Like the Roland Juno-60, the Polysix had only one oscillator. But it
disguised that with a fat sounding analog chorus/phaser/ensemble
effect, and it naturally had a bitchin' arpeggiator. One could switch the
Polysix to Unison mode, which produced super-fat mono lead sounds
that didn't need the chorus or phaser effects and that really cut
through the mix. If that wasn't enough, the Polysix also sported a
chord memory "Hold" mode – you hit the "Hold" button, then played a
chord of up to 6 notes, and the Polysix memorized your chord.
Anytime you subsequently engaged the "Hold" button, the Polysix
would re-trigger that chord with just one finger on the keyboard. (On
this voice, you can activate the memorized chord by pressing
Assignable Function Switch 2).This feature was ahead of its time and
is still sorely missing from most modern-day synths.
The Polysix was followed by its digitally-controlled successors, the
Poiy-61 and Poly-800. But I personally thought they sounded crap. It
was the Polysix that was the coolest of all of them.
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