Korg Arp Odyssey: "7 by 2" (Full Duophony)

Published on Jan 12, 2020 Kris Lennox

"Something for the Arp, given Korg's announcement RE the 2600. If the Odyssey is anything to go by, the 2600 will be something else. In saying that, the Odyssey is a very special synth in its own right. Finding a synth with such a strong bass is certainly a challenge. If looking for a great bass synth, I'd strongly recommend the Odyssey.

The duophony on the Odyssey is interesting in the sense that if you play a note and then play a 2nd note/voice multiple times, this note re-triggers the 1st note/voice. For some, this is a limitation - but it doesn't necessarily have to be seen as such.

Musically/compositionally, this is what is known as "1st Species Counterpoint" - which, in simple terms, is music written with a 1:1 rhythmic ratio (species counterpoint is primarily a description of rhythmic relationships). So, no 2nd species/3rd species/florid counterpoint etc possible on the Oddy - but this limitation allows for creative exploration of 1st species counterpoint.

I see this similar to the likes of early computer game music, where voices were very restricted. Despite the voice limitation, many great soundtracks were crafted.

The included is in 7/16, and initially sounds like only one idea/line, before gradually morphing into two independent voices. I'm treating each voice as multiple voices, hence the sound is possibly 'bigger' than what is commonly imagined with duophony.

MIDI sent from DAW to synth.

Soundcloud link here - https://soundcloud.com/user-736798162...

All best
Kris"