With its filthy sound and screaming resonance, the filter section on the Korg MS-20 synth is legendary in music production circles. Now, thanks to Filter MS-20, Arturia’s new free plugin, you have the opportunity to have it in your DAW for nothing.
As on the original you get both high- and low-pass filters, both of which feature those much-loved Peak (resonance) controls. There’s a distortion section, too, for additional filth.
Arturia has also taken the opportunity to add some modern enhancements to FIlter MS-20. You can “modulate and animate the virtual circuitry”, reroute the filter and distortion sections and add stereo width.
The plugin looks pretty tweakable, too; it has a knob-per-function main interface, macro-style controls for easy edits, and an Advanced panel that gives you access to the envelope follower, step sequencer and function generator.
This means that Filter MS-20 should be pretty flexible - capable of creating everything from filtered and distorted sounds to stereo phasing, pumping sidechain and auto-wah effects, in fact.
Its launch follows the release of Arturia’s emulation of the MS-20 synth earlier this year. This is included in its V Collection 9 bundle.
You’ll note that the font for the Filter MS-20’s logo nods to the one used by Daft Punk - the French duo are believed to have been fans of Korg’s synth. Other famous MS-20 lovers include The Chemical Brothers and Aphex Twin.
The regular price of Filter MS-20 will be €99, but it can be downloaded for free until 2 January 2023. It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats and you can grab it now from the Arturia website.
