The
Korg Wavedrum is one of the rarest and
most extraordinary electronic musical
instruments ever created. It was a
longtime goal of mine to find one while
living in Japan.
Unfortunately, these drums were nowhere to be found. It was only while in Seoul, Korea, that I discovered one: unfortunately however it was not for sale. The owner however kindly gave me the contact information for Takeshi Yoshida, the Korg International Marketing Director. Upon contacting him, I was informed that there were no Wavedrums available in Japan. He did, however, remember seeing one in a shop in Delhi, India. He mentioned that upon his next trip to South Asia that he would try to pick it up. Six months later I received a call saying that the drum was available for me to pick up in downtown Tokyo: Yoshida-San had indeed followed through on his word and brought it back from India. I took a Shinkansen from Kyoto where I was living and met Yoshida-San for Tempura. I left with a brand new Wavedrum- one of the last ones available. Additionally, as a gift from Korg, I received a new RE-1 programmer for free.
I took the opportunity upon another trip to Japan in 2004 to request an interview with Mr. Mori, the inventor of the Wavedrum, at the Korg headquarters in Tokyo.
It was a rare pleasure and honor to interview Mr. Mori about the Wavedrum, and it was a big surprise that he had also invited the Wavedrum project manager, Mr. Motohashi as well. The full transcript of the interview is available for download in the downloads section.
During this interview, I was presented with the original prototype metal frame for the Wavedrum, along with a DVD of the Wavedrum MK1 release party, available for viewing here.
As many of you will be aware, the Wavedrum MK2 that I learned about during the interview was recently released. A full translation of Motohashi-San's video introduction to the MK2 version of the instrument can be found on the site as well.
Unfortunately, these drums were nowhere to be found. It was only while in Seoul, Korea, that I discovered one: unfortunately however it was not for sale. The owner however kindly gave me the contact information for Takeshi Yoshida, the Korg International Marketing Director. Upon contacting him, I was informed that there were no Wavedrums available in Japan. He did, however, remember seeing one in a shop in Delhi, India. He mentioned that upon his next trip to South Asia that he would try to pick it up. Six months later I received a call saying that the drum was available for me to pick up in downtown Tokyo: Yoshida-San had indeed followed through on his word and brought it back from India. I took a Shinkansen from Kyoto where I was living and met Yoshida-San for Tempura. I left with a brand new Wavedrum- one of the last ones available. Additionally, as a gift from Korg, I received a new RE-1 programmer for free.
I took the opportunity upon another trip to Japan in 2004 to request an interview with Mr. Mori, the inventor of the Wavedrum, at the Korg headquarters in Tokyo.
It was a rare pleasure and honor to interview Mr. Mori about the Wavedrum, and it was a big surprise that he had also invited the Wavedrum project manager, Mr. Motohashi as well. The full transcript of the interview is available for download in the downloads section.
During this interview, I was presented with the original prototype metal frame for the Wavedrum, along with a DVD of the Wavedrum MK1 release party, available for viewing here.
As many of you will be aware, the Wavedrum MK2 that I learned about during the interview was recently released. A full translation of Motohashi-San's video introduction to the MK2 version of the instrument can be found on the site as well.
At
some point during your visit to the
site, please take a moment to
register
with
your contact information. I keep
an encrypted database of Wavedrum
users and only use this
information to communicate
Wavedrum related information,
updates to the site, and Wavedrum
information from Japan. The
information is not sold and will
not be given out to anyone.
The first
video
is the never before seen
Wavedrum WD-1 Release Party
video. This footage contains
the first ever live
performances of the Wavedrum as
well as tradeshow
demonstrations and closeups.
The video was given to me by
Motohashi-San in Tokyo as a
gift, and it is my honor to
share it today. Thank you
Motohashi-San and
Mori-San!
The
second video
is
Motohashi-San presenting the
features of Wavedrum MK2.
The translation can be found in the downloads section.
The translation can be found in the downloads section.
© 2009 Tim Pasch Contact Me