I had been in the market for a couple years for a new workstation when I finally got around to buying the Korg M3 88 key. The first thing that caught my eye was the slick body style and user friendly touch screen interface. When I brought it home and plugged it in, I was instantly drawn in. I found it difficult to tear myself away from the thick, realistic sounds coming out of my speaker system.
The expanded OS that came installed by Sweetwater was amazing. The new expanded piano was much more realistic and dynamic than the previously installed piano. I soon found myself navigating through the different categories and banks of sounds provided by Korg. Instantly I started finding favorites so I started to build a user bank of favorite sounds and sounds I need for live performance. Editing and navigation inside this workstation is a breeze. If you can operate an Ipad then you can operate a Korg M3. The interface is so intuitive that when you see something you want to affect or edit you just reach out and touch it.
Soon after unboxing it I was bringing it to rehearsals and gigs. The response of everyone hearing for the first time was overwhelmingly positive. I found myself able to bring less gear and at the same time provide a better sound quality. This workstation replaced a fender rhodes, a B3 clone, and a keyboard that had acoustic pianos, electric pianos, and some synths. That was a huge plus for me. I was able to build and tailor sound banks and specific patches to fit the gigs I needed it for. This made my job even easier as I could just design a bank around the set list and almost mindlessly switch between organ, piano, rhodes, clavs, etc. I had drawbars programed to my faders, effects to my rhodes, and leslie switches on my joystick.
For anybody looking at getting into a workstation I would highly recommend the Korg M3 series. It does so much and it can fit just about anybody’s needs. It is fully customizable but comes ready to go for any application…Definitely a non-regret purchase!
