Korg Wavestate SE 61

61-Key Wave Sequencing Synthesizer

Organic, inspirational, and mind-blowingly powerful.

Wavestate SE is the powerful evolution of KORG’s legendary WAVESTATION, taking Wave Sequencing to a new level. Designed in California and built in Japan, wavestate SE includes a premium 61-note keyboard with aftertouch, in an all-metal chassis. Built for a new era of musicians, composers, and producers, wavestate SE features hundreds of dynamic sounds, extensive hands-on control and 120 notes of polyphony to inspire new levels of creativity.

KORG’s legendary WAVESTATION introduced the world to Wave Sequencing, transforming raw samples into sounds that no-one had ever heard before. The flagship OASYS and KRONOS keyboards developed Wave Sequencing even further, expanding on its unique palette of lush, evolving pads and driving rhythms.

In 2020, the acclaimed wavestate took Wave Sequencing to the next level. Featuring the radically re-imagined Wave Sequencing 2.0, the wavestate delivers astonishing, ever-changing sounds with extensive hands-on control. Far from a nostalgic reissue, the wavestate was designed from the ground up for a new generation of musicians, producers, and composers, taking cues from sources as diverse as modular synths, groove boxes, and algorithmic composition.

The wavestate also introduced another ground-breaking concept: wavestate native software (*sold separately, wavestate users can purchase at a discount) makes it available inside your DAW, with full compatibility and without compromise. It’s perfect for moving seamlessly between software and hardware workflows.

Now, KORG is delighted to present the flagship wavestate SE. Made in Japan, the wavestate SE features KORG’s premium 61-note natural-touch keyboard with aftertouch, for the same superb feel as KORG’s high-end workstations. The metal body is sleek and strong, ready for gigs and studio alike. Metal knobs have just the right weight for easy tweaking. Under the hood, it also features an astounding 120 stereo voices of polyphony–almost twice as many as the original wavestate.

The wavestate SE comes with hundreds of sounds updated for aftertouch control. It’s also completely compatible with sounds and samples for both the original wavestate and wavestate native software, including many excellent third-party libraries.

Exclusive hard case included

The wavestate SE ships in a dedicated hard case, including space for cables and a sustain pedal. Your instrument can travel protected, whether you’re carrying it to a rehearsal downtown or packing it up for a world tour.

Wave Sequencing 2.0

The original WAVESTATION gave each step of a wave sequence a duration, a sample and a pitch. This created ear-catching repetitive patterns, giving rise to entirely new approaches to sound design. But what if the sounds could evolve in organic and unexpected ways, instead of just repeating?

Wave Sequencing 2.0 separates the timing, the sequence of samples, and the melody, so that each can be manipulated independently. It also adds new characteristics, including shapes, gate times, and step sequencer values. Each of these is a “Lane”, and each Lane can have a different number of steps, and its own start, end and loop points.

Every time the sequence moves forward, the individual Lanes are combined to create the output. For instance, a sample may be matched with a different duration, pitch, shape, gate length, and step sequence value every time that it plays. You can modulate each Lane’s start, end, and loop points separately for every note, using velocity, LFOs, envelopes, Mod Knobs, or other controllers. Each note in a chord can even be playing something different!

Lanes can also randomize the step order every time they play, with realtime control over the range of included steps. Finally, individual steps can be randomly skipped, with a modulatable probability from 0 to 100%. The result is organic, ever-changing sounds that respond to your control. The four onboard arpeggiators can interact with Wave Sequences for even more possibilities.

Easily expressive. Exceptionally deep.

Bursting with knobs and controllers, the wavestate SE invites you to explore. All of the basics–filter, envelopes, LFOs, effects–are at your fingertips with dedicated front-panel controls. Eight programmable Mod Knobs are customized to bring out the most in every sound, often taking them in entirely new directions. Use the knobs in realtime performance, and also save the results as new sounds. Add in the Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheels and the unique Vector Joystick, and you’ll always have multiple dimensions of realtime expression. Want to dig deeper? Almost all front-panel knobs, and most on-screen parameters, can be modulated. You can even modulate settings for individual Wave Sequence steps! Mod Processors let you transform modulation signals using quantization, smoothing, curvature, and more.

Randomization that inspires.

Looking for even more inspiration? A dedicated front-panel button, marked by a “dice” icon, generates new sounds via intelligent randomization. Randomize the entire sound or just a part of it, such as the filter, the Sample Lane, or the effects. Use the results directly, or as a jumping-off point for your own creations.

An arsenal of effects.

The wavestate SE’s superb effects deliver production-ready sounds. Each layer has three dedicated effects; additionally, the Performance has a master reverb and parametric EQ. Along with standards such as compressors, EQs, choruses, flangers, phasers, and stereo delays, you’ll find distinctive processors such as the Wave Shaper, Talking Modulator, Reverse Delay, Multiband Mod Delay, and Overb (from the OASYS), plus modeled effects including VOX guitar amps, VOX wah, multi-head tape echo, and a collection of classic guitar pedals.Choose your filter.

Add vintage character to your sounds with the aggressive MS-20 Lowpass or Highpass filters, or the strong, sweet Polysix Lowpass. Shape and refine with a full collection of resonant 2-pole and 4-pole Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass, and Band Reject filters. Or, step outside the box with KORG’s unique Multi Filter, which creates modulatable blends of multiple modes simultaneously.

Gigabytes of samples. 120 stereo voices.

Totaling in the gigabytes, the wavestate SE’s sample library is more than a thousand times larger than that of the original WAVESTATION. That’s a lot of great-sounding raw material for Wave Sequences. There’s a bank of samples from Plugin Guru, brand-new samples from KORG, and a selection from the NAUTILUS, KRONOS and KROME libraries. Of course, KORG also provides all of the WAVESTATION’s samples (including all options), plus a huge library of WAVESTATION Wave Sequences. Play up to 120 stereo voices with pristine clarity, using KORG’s proprietary anti-aliasing sample playback technology.

FEATURES

• 61-note natural-feel keyboard with aftertouch
• Hundreds of updated sounds
• Elegant, road-worthy metal construction
• Exclusive hard case included
• Premium Japanese manufacturing
• Limited Platinum edition
• Wave Sequencing 2.0
• Extensive modulation with hands-on control
• Gigabytes of samples – and import up to 4GB of your own
• Modeled filters, including MS-20 and Polysix
• 120 stereo voices
• 4 Layers with Vector control
• 14 simultaneous effects
• Set Lists and Smooth Sound Transitions
• Randomization
• Free Editor/Librarian and Sample Builder software for Mac and Windows
• Designed by KORG R&D in California
• Special crossgrade to wavestate native software