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Vagabond Synth Nerd’s Journal Vol. 221 - The Meeting of Monster Machine and Korg’s Nautilus Part II

2025-01-21

Theme:sound&person, sound

■ From Kronos to Nautilus

I just purchased a Korg music workstation, Nautilus 61key, from Sound House. However, I have not had any time to use it and I have hardly touched it.

Nowadays, Japanese manufacturers such as Y, R, and Korg have been releasing workstation synthesizers that are competing with each other.
Korg released the Nautilus, a brushed-up version of the Kronos workstation, which was a big hit when it was released about 10 years ago.
The price has come down more than the Chronos, which is good news for those who want to get their hands on this type of equipment.

KORG / Nautilus NAUTILUS-61

KORG  / Nautilus NAUTILUS-61

The KORG NAUTILUS-61 is used by many professional musicians because of its high degree of perfection. Hiroyuki Namba, Mickey Yoshino, H ZETT M, Masanori Shimada, and many others are just to name a few.

I started to play a little at a time at the beginning of the year. Since it is a workstation, it takes a lot of work just to make sounds and edit them.
I am still baffled by the complexity of the program hierarchy that you enter through the display section and the size of the characters on the display. Although the letters are small, they are not difficult to see, so I am sure I will get used to it and that issue will clear up.

■ Nautilus is the culmination of Korg’s legacy!

Nautilus has been equipped with as many as nine different dedicated engines, including Korg's own acoustic piano sampling-based sound sources, sampling from famous electric piano machines, the CX-3 dedicated Hammond organ, and the famous synthesizer machines POLYSIX and MS-20. In addition, drum and bass sound sources are built in.
The arpeggiator, sequencer, and audio recorder make it possible to create music on a single machine, making it a super machine that can be considered to be the culmination of the Korg legacy.

The fact that this small machine has more specs than the Fairlight CMI that took the world by storm in the 80s or the Synclavier, which was ridiculed as being a set of a house and a car, and can be purchased for less than 200,000 yen is nothing but a boon of digital technology.
If I had purchased a Nautilus at that time (which is impossible), it would have cost several hundred million yen....

It is impossible to conclusively describe the culmination of such a musical instrument manufacturer here. I was astonished when I printed out the manual. There were more pages than a hardcover book. And, that's not all.
It is a bit too much for a workstation outsider like me, but I hope this report will be of some help to those who are interested. Needless to say, the road ahead will be challenging. I expect to make some noise along the way.

First of all, I would like to write about the sound output and its operation. I’m uploading these articles rather irregularly.

■ Before we begin...

Nautilus is both a workstation and a synthesizer. Being a synthesizer, it should have knobs and sliders for manual control in the panel section, but Nautilus omits a large percentage of these parts and uses them in conjunction with the display.

Nautilus controls, Source: Korg HP

The omitted parts are shown in the touch-view compatible display located in the center of the unit. (I use the dark mode for the purpose of reducing eye fatigue.)

The real-time knob on the left side is linked to the display. This knob is normally stored inside the main unit and comes up by pushing the top of the knob. By turning it with a finger, you can change the parameters.
The presence of such a storage knob prevents accidents such as accidentally touching it while playing and changing the sound. It is a practical and convenient feature for players who play.

This display and the real-time knob are used to select and edit tones.

The touch-view panel and retractable real-time knob on the Nautilus,Source: Korg HP

I will start with the modeling sound source of the CX-3 organ, a Korg traditional masterpiece, which gave me a good impression when I played the sound.

■ Korg CX-3, the famous Korg organ of my dreams

When I was a student, I owned a domestic Hammond organ called the Hammond New-X5. This Hammond also had a good sound, but the sound was produced by assembling the two-stage keyboard body section, foot keyboard volume pedal, and stand. The weight of the keyboard part alone is too heavy and difficult for one person to carry. Furthermore, the foot keyboard and stand made it impossible to bring the instrument into the studio.
Around 1980, the Korg CX-3 single-stage keyboard organ appeared.
My Hammond cost 630,000 yen, but it produced a sound comparable to the Hammond at the low 100,000 yen range. It was nothing short of amazing. It also sounded great and was large and light enough to be easily carried by one person. This organ is still used by professionals today. Toshiyuki Mori, my favorite keyboardist, played the CX-3 at Toshio Kadomatsu's live concert. It’s a truly great machine.

Also, this famous CX-3 sound source is included in Nautilus.
To select the CX-3 sound source for the Nautilus, you turn on the main power and wait. The loading time for the Nautilus to turn it on and have it be ready for use was 1 minute and 45 seconds.
The display shows the tones and there is an organ tone in the center of the second page, so you can tap it with your finger to produce the organ sound.
The output sounded good. The sound was different from my Yamaha YC61, which is a dedicated Yamaha organ machine (it’s not really an organ machine).
I have already written an article on the YC61 in the past, so please have a look at that.

As for the Nautilus CX-3, I'd say it's about 50-50 compared to the YC61 at this point. It sounds good. But, there is a clear difference. I can't write enough about that, so I'll leave it for next time.

So, please look forward to the next time!


The “sound & person” column is made up of contributions from you.
For details about contributing, click here.

shinsekenban

高校時代よりプログレシブロックの虜になり、大学入学と同時に軽音楽部に入部。キーボードを担当し、イエス、キャメル、四人囃子等のコピーバンドに参加。静岡の放送局に入社し、バンド活動を続ける。シンセサイザーの番組やニュース番組の音楽物、楽器リポート等を制作、また番組の音楽、選曲、SE ,ジングル制作等も担当。静岡県内のローランド、ヤマハ、鈴木楽器、河合楽器など楽器メーカーも取材多数。
富田勲、佐藤博、深町純、井上鑑、渡辺貞夫、マル・ウォルドロン、ゲイリー・バートン、小曽根真、本田俊之、渡辺香津美、村田陽一、上原ひろみ、デビッド・リンドレー、中村善郎、オルケスタ・デ・ラ・ルスなど(敬称略)、多くのミュージシャンを取材。
<好きな音楽>ジャズ、ボサノバ、フュージョン、プログレシブロック、Jポップ
<好きなミュージシャン>マイルス・デイビス、ビル・エバンス、ウェザーリポート、トム・ジョビン、ELP、ピンク・フロイド、イエス、キング・クリムゾン、佐藤博、村田陽一、中村善郎、松下誠、南佳孝等

KORG / ノーチラス NAUTILUS-61

KORG

ノーチラス NAUTILUS-61

¥222,800(incl. tax)

ワークステーションシンセサイザー、61鍵

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