Concept

Yes, it's really free.  I believe everyone should experience the joy of deep, complex musical improvisation, and I developed the Accelerator to be the fastest route to that goal.  This is not a shortcut machine that does the creative legwork for you, nor is it a restrictor that puts you into a sterile room with guardrails and safety nets.

This is a digital extension of the greatest synthesizer of all time, the Korg MS-20.  What if it had 16 customizable oscillators to choose from?  What if audio-rate modulation was encouraged?  What if a sequencer, effects, and percussive accompaniment were integrated from the start, and you could record a studio-quality mix at the moment of creation?

Of course with the breadth of digital tools also comes new limitations.  Rather than making a dedicated effort to copy my favorite designs, instead I have tried to follow the more abstract philosophies of Fumio Mieda and Hiroaki Nishijima.  This led to core values of the project like valuing sound aesthetic over clean processing, and adopting a high-speed, hard-driven development cycle.

The included Harmonic Brownian Motion Sequencer is a controllable chaos environment that almost completely rejects the idea of tonal music and never does the same thing twice.  You are free to enter the tonal realm by punching in your own notes via the keyboard, which records over the sequence, but a balance of harmonic and rhythmic evolution is inevitable.  It occupies the panel space designated for the external signal processor in the original MS-20 design.

The Accelerator is meant to be played primarily via the front panel knobs, and a skilled user can ride the sequencer like a never-ending wave of hypnotic inspiration, sculpting the perceived melody at will.  By focusing on controlling complex timbres and leaving the source melody up to chance, this device flips the script of what musical expression can and should be.

Specs

4 Operating Modes:

• Clean
• Tape Simulation
• Wavefolder
• Fuzz

Oscillator 1:

• Wavetable
• Physical Modeling
• Melodic Sampler
• Granular Sampler
• Drag & Drop User Samples

Oscillator 2:

• Sine AM
• Linear FM
• Exponential FM with Sync
• Square Ring Mod

Resonant 12db/Oct. Low Pass Filter & Saturator

Resonant 6db/Oct. High Pass Filter & Saturator

Triangle LFO with FM Input

Loopable DSR Envelope

ADSR Envelope

Drift LFO

2x VCAs

Sample & Hold

Variable Clock with Time Division

Harmonic Brownian Motion Sequencer:

• Atonal Generative Sequencer
• 3, 4, 5, or 8/16-Steps
• Controllable Melodic and Rhythmic Content
• Variable Melody Evolution Probability
• Variable Drum Evolution Probability
• Variable Drum Sample Swap Probability
• 3 Sequencer Memory Slots
• Arpeggiator-Style Keyboard Sequence Recording
• Variable Swing

Compressor with Sidechain Input

Stereo Chorus

Stereo Tape Delay with Modulatable Delay Time

5-Channel Generative Drum Machine

• Velocity Sensitivity
• 10 User-Selectable Drum Mix Combinations
  
• Drag & Drop User Drum Samples

Resonant DJ-Style Low Pass Filter & Low-Shelf EQ

35 Semi-Modular MIDI Patch Points

44.1k Stereo Recorder

44.1k Stem Recorder

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Program Requirements:

You need:

• A KORG MS-20ic midi controller

and

• A computer

Installation (macOS / Windows / Linux)

1. Download supersonicACCELERATOR

"Buy" it here (it's free).  You will receive an emailed link to your download.

2. Install SuperCollider

Download and install SuperCollider.

SuperCollider is the environment in which the code runs.  It is free and easy to set up.

3. Open and Run

• Connect your KORG MS-20ic via USB and turn the master volume/power switch OFF
• Open SuperCollider on your computer
• File > Open... select _main.scd from your downloaded supersonicACCELERATOR files.
• Click anywhere in the code and press Cmd + Enter (or Ctrl + Enter on PC) to run
• Turn on the MS-20ic power switch
• Enjoy!

Note: turn off the MS-20ic power switch to end the recording and save it.  Killing the SuperCollider process any other way will destroy the recording.

Note: Press Cmd + Shift + L (or Ctrl + Shift + L on PC) to end the program.

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(Optional 🛠 Bela Mini Installation)

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This is how I would recommend labeling your MS-20ic controller:

I sanded the black paint off mine and put some clear coat on it to protect the amazing natural color.  I also spray-painted the white keys silver.  You can also just use blank stickers as labels for a DIY punk look:

Personally, I just printed out the diagram from the quickstart guide and keep it under the synth.

FAQ