KORG Unites Music Makers and Gamers with Gadget

The software facilitates music creation for single users or collaboratively, accommodating up to four individuals, either locally or via the online feature. Users can create and perform music by twisting and turning the Joy-Con™ or Nintendo Switch controllers within the program’s studios. For those looking to collaborate, KORG has integrated a multi-player mode while offering single players the challenge of crafting a song as quickly as possible with its Time Limit Mode.

KORG was mindful of creating software that facilitates music-making for novices and experienced musicians using its game-like DAW experience. Ibon Martinez Garcia, the head of global marketing for Korg, reflected on the development of Gadget sharing, “I look at Gadget as a way for people to play music differently. A DAW with many functions can be a barrier for beginners, and our initial theme was to minimize that barrier as much as possible. We worked on Gadget under the assumption that most users would be new to music production or perhaps had tried it once but quit because it was all too hard. For better or worse, computer-based DAW software has a steep learning curve for many people. Making music should be simple and fun, and that is where I wanted to start.”

The first version of Gadget was released in early 2014, and in the past eight years, it has received a warm welcome from music and gaming enthusiasts alike. Martinez Garcia said, “People are using Gadget in all sorts of ways that may not be obvious to people who live and breathe music technology daily. Some use it in education, and we hope more will deploy Gadget in this capacity.”

Editor’s Note: ELECTRIBE is considered the precursor to Gadget and is available on the DS-10, an earlier handheld gaming model from Nintendo. The DS-10 was built utilizing detailed advice from ELECTRIBE engineers on sequencer and synth specifications, and the software remains hugely popular worldwide. This knowledge and experience greatly influenced the development of Gadget.

The development and launch of Gadget is part of Korg’s long history of developing products that intersect with the gaming industry. Martinez Garcia reflected, “Children that grew up familiar with computer games are now becoming full-fledged engineers. They were deeply influenced by game culture, especially the game music culture. These memories underlie the drive for Korg to make such products. We believe it would be great if more people see Gadget as a pathway to music and the culture of music, especially if their work creates positive change for the industry.”

Since the initial launch of the Nintendo Switch platform, Korg has also developed Gadget 2 for iOS and Mac/Plugins.