Raw, gritty and capable of doing unusual sounds

The Korg MS-20 FS I bought, because it adds a raw, lively somewhat unpredictable sound to my productions. I create music for video games as well as more pop oriented music like rock, synth-pop and elektro. Mostly I work on the computer with samples and vst's, but I also sing and collaborate with live singers and guitarists. To add some more liveliness to my tracks I also have a lot of analogue synthesizers. I don't have actual vintage synthesizers. The oldest one I have was released in 2017. They're retro-style or re-issues of vintage synths, because I like that sound, but I need modern features like usb connectivity for my workflow, and I don't the time and money for equipment that could break down any minute. I'm a musician, not a mechanic. This is why I bought the MS-20 FS. It's a re-issue of the MS-20 released in 1978, with the same size, the two filter types (One that sounds like the KORG35 and another that sounds like the later LM13600, though I believe neither are made with the original components from the late 70's early 80's). I also got the black one because that's how the original used to look.

The MS-20 is not the backbone of my studio. For a long time I thought I didn't even like the sound of the MS-20. It has a sound that none of my other synths have, so it adds something new to my palette. While my other synthesizers sound nice most of the time, this one can sound really nasty. You need that kind of synth to get some of the grittier sounds that are outside of the range of the others. It's difficult to describe the character in words, but I would say it's very bare bones and raw. It sounds exactly like what it is; a tiny rectangular metal box with a lot of pods and a complex patch bay. It can do a lot of weird complex sounds that most of the time don't sound "nice", but that are very interesting and sometimes usable. A happy accident machine. Even if you know what you're doing, it's difficult to find the sweet spot. I use it for squelchy leads, industrial machine sounds, computer-like sequences and blocky basses. Btw, this has the worst keybed of any of my synths (including the MODX6). The way you have to change the filtertype is also really strange. Instead of a simple switch on the frontpanel you need to hold three notes on the keybed while booting it up. Other than that, it feels pretty solid.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

From Gear Setup