Korg Celebrates Milestone 50th Anniversary

In honor of our company’s humble beginnings, we’re not going to spout out a long list of “firsts” and “impressive accomplishments.” Oh sure, everyone knows Korg created the famous M1 Music Workstation that defined the workstation category, and that we invented the world’s first handheld electronic guitar tuner and a whole lot of other cool stuff, but what we really want you to remember is that for 50 years, we’ve been passionate about bringing musicians of all genres the most expressive, user-friendly, great-sounding (and sometimes radical) musical creation tools we can. We’re excited to be there for you in the next 50 years as well, with products that bring fun and creativity to your life.

Last year, we ran promotions and contests relating to the 10th anniversary of our best-selling MicroKorg analog synth. This year, be sure to visit www.korg.com  throughout the year or check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KORGusa for more fun promotions we are putting together for you related to our anniversary. Who knows, we may decide to run a really major giveaway contest, and you wouldn’t want to miss out by not keeping in touch.

We’ll leave you with some fun “Betcha Didn’t Know” facts (well OK, maybe you already knew some of them, but give us a break; this stuff doesn’t write itself!):
• The name Korg is a derivative of the words “Keio” and “Organ.” Keio was the railway line near the first Korg workshop, and organs were the first category of keyboard products Korg explored creating after its first product, the DoncaMatic.
• Korg started out with a single idea for a product, the DoncaMatic rhythm machine (the original model resides in Japan and it still works!). Today, Korg’s diverse product range spans across many categories, from high end keyboard workstations, to electronic percussion instruments, to guitar tuners, to hand-held musical gadgets and apps, and more.
• Globally popular virtual band (and real-life project of British artists Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett) Gorillaz wrote a song called “DoncaMatic” in 2010. It was inspired by the Korg DoncaMatic, and features a sample of the voice of Korg’s founder and Chairman Tsutomu Katoh.
• A Korg Triton Music Workstation autographed by several music icons is part of the Hard Rock Café’s permanent traveling collection of rock n’ roll memorabilia.
• Korg’s founder was inducted into Guitar Center’s Hollywood RockWalk® in 2003, along with music icons Joe Zawinul and Herbie Hancock.
• Korg Kaoss Pad effect controllers have created signature sounds that are featured in a variety of songs for popular bands ranging from Radiohead to Muse to The Flaming Lips and more.

For more information on Korg’s 50 Year Anniversary, and any of its innovations, visit www.korg.com