What I really wanted was a K2000, but in 1991 I knew that the salad days of the Korg M1 were drawing to a close. I sold the M1 privately and bought this direct from our product rep for $25 more than I received for the M1.

A rack version of the SY77, this unit covers all DX generation FM sounds, with effects and samples. Not many digital synths at that time had resonant filters, so this one was head and shoulders above the rest for analogue emulation. The samples are mostly crap though. So are the internal effects, come to think of it.

In 1992 I was recording with a band at Kensington Sound in Toronto and the TG77 was my main axe. We had booked a graveyard shift that ended at about 3am. Spadina Avenue was clownishly wide then, before the LRT tracks went in and they abolished angle parking. I’m wandering down the middle of the deserted street, trying to hail a cab, carrying something that looks like it could be full of either stolen diamonds or C4, and I get stopped by a Metro cruiser. I explain to them that everything is cool, but I guess I’m not very convincing.

“Studios are open at this time of night?” the cop asks. I tell him sure, off-hours are often cheaper rates.

“So what’s in the box?”

I’m a little tired, and not looking forward to explaining as much as I suspect I will have to, but I answer, “A synthesizer.”

A wave of comprehension creeps across the cop’s face. “You mean a Moog?”