Poly-61M
Digital/analog synthesizer

A cross between a PolySix and a Poly-800.  Actually it's easier to program than an 800.  Solid, honest analog sounds.

 

Korg Poly-61M audio demos

the Factory sounds:

 

Stream all preset examples below:

Preset name with  example My comments
11  Fat Brass Great-sounding synth brass patch.
12  Bowed Strings 8' Analog and warm strings.
13  Synthe Clav 16' Honest reproduction of a Clavinet.  A bit synthy...
14  Vibes Piano Haunting, melodramatically sad.  Also a good candidate for the Poly-61M's on-board arpeggiator.
15  Percussive Organ 888800000 organ with plenty of key-click.  Great sound.
16  Funk Bass Great '70s style synth bass.  Works also in the higher register - as a solo funky worm-synth.
17  Flute Good programming - makes it sound like in a small room.  OK.
18  Helicopter Apocalypse Now
21  Brass in 5ths These types of sounds were much used by '70s Progressive Rock artists such as Keith Emerson.
22  Soft Strings 16' Awesome analog string ensemble.
23  Synthe Piano What it says.
24  Steel Tongue Flute Cool synth sound
25  New Wave Organ Great for New Wave, and for The Doors - a cross between Vox and Farfisa.
26  Celeste Oh, this is beauty.  What marvelous, dreamy sound...
27  Pipe Organ Add a "Cathedral Reverb" patch from your favorite FX processor and you're set.
28  Synthe Sweep Playing around with resonance and VCF LFO.
31  Solo Brass Very cool, analog trumpet/trombone!
32  Horns Nice.
33  Crescendo Fat Brass Juicy rising filters
34  Brass in Octaves Medieval goodness.
35  Piccolo Trumpet Pocket trumpet sound.  Very good.
36  Obi Wah Reference to Oberheim synths.  Nice sound.  Funky.
37  Synthe Brass Big, powerful, analog resonant polysynth!
38  Purcussive Brass (I suppose it's a typo for "Percussive")  Very good, full brass patch.
41  High Strings 4' Well-programmed small ensemble
42  Low Strings 16' Outstanding warm, dark string ensemble.
43  Bowed Violins Just what it says.
44  Sforzando Strings A little soft but would work for '80s music.
45  Pizz Strings Bright and synthy
46  Solo Violin Great, honest reproduction.  Expressive vibrato
47  Square Wave Ensemble A cool synth ensemble.
48  Lunar Flutes Nice.
51  Clav Actually sounds more like brass...
52  Harpsichord Good sound!  Has the right fharmonics.
53  Plucked Synthe Nice :-) .. these are the 1980s!
54  Bright Piano Actually, for an analog synth, a beautiful emulation.
55  Sinful Eyes Outstanding!  Great analog-synth monster patch
56  Vibes Dreamy, jazzy... perfect patch.
57  Reed Piano A piano with a more metallic tone.
58  Jazz Guitar The muted, warm tone of a hollow-body.
61  Organ 1 Hammond land.  Again it's 888800000.
62  Organ 2 Hammond again.  This time could be 808000808.
63  Organ 3 Awesome patch!  It grooves like a fox.
64  Chimes-chord Cinematic quality.  For '60s movies.
65  Steel Drums Welcome to the islands
66  Accordion or synth
67 Harmonica okay
68  Sax Ensemble Cool analog ensemble.  Reminds me of the synth horns used in "Puttin' on the ritz" - the version by Taco.
71  Space Cathedral Great patch.  This is highly hypnotic!
72  Honky Tonk Whew... this piano is really out of tune!
73  Space Voice Great synthesized male vocals
74  Music Box Perfect for a horror movie scene.
75  Grunge Strange sound.
76  Synthe Gong Excellent patch.  Reminds me of the Nord Modular for some reason...
77  Break Up Good for special effects in a movie.
78  Om-pah Brass Fantastic patch!!!  Quirky, different, strange... we want more!

Presets 81-88 are the same as in 11-18.

 

Korg Poly-61M manual

available as .pdf at http://www.synthesizer.at/download/download.htm#  (great site, by the way).  I noticed that pages 30, 31 and 112 were missing, and so was the Data Table sheet, so here there are:

Korg Poly-61M Owner's Manual - page 30.JPG
Korg Poly-61M Owner's Manual - page 31.JPG
Korg Poly-61M Owner's Manual - page 112 (back cover).JPG

Korg Poly-61M Data Table - page 1-4.JPG
Korg Poly-61M Data Table - page 2-4.JPG
Korg Poly-61M Data Table - page 3-4.JPG
Korg Poly-61M Data Table - page 4-4.JPG

Between the .pdf manual and the files above, we have a complete manual set.

Korg Poly-61M preloaded sound data (.wav files to load into the synth)

Preloaded Sound Data of Poly-61.wav

 Korg Poly-61M photos (click to enlarge)

       

       
 

Year of release: 1983
Polyphony: 6-voice
Sound generation method: analog, 2 DCOs
Preset memories 64
MIDI: in, out, thru
Sound expansion capabilities: no
Sequencer no
Arpeggiator yes
Effects no

 

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