When Korg released the Trident in 1980, they made a bold choice: instead of chasing deeper synthesis complexity, they built a machine around three completely different sonic personalities living on one keyboard. It's a synthesizer that refuses to be pinned down.
The Trident splits its eight voices across three independent sections, each with its own character. The Synthesizer section gives you classic subtractive synthesis with dual VCOs per voice, offering sawtooth and pulse waveforms with PWM control, feeding into a shared SSM2044 lowpass filter with resonance and envelope modulation. The Strings section uses a simpler architecture but adds ensemble and bowing effects that genuinely approximate string attack and sustain. The Brass section rounds out the trio with its own ADSR envelope and dedicated filter, capable of producing everything from authentic brass tones to additional synth textures. All three sections can layer together or split across the 61-key keyboard for independent performance control. The standout feature is the global flanger with its own LFO, capable of self-oscillation and assignable to any section—it's genuinely the instrument's secret weapon for creating lush, vintage-sounding pads and textures.
The Trident has aged remarkably well in the hands of players like Rick Wakeman and Joe Zawinul, who recognized its strength as a performance instrument. The separate outputs for each section mean you can route Synth, Brass, and Strings to different mixer channels or effects units, while expression inputs let you control individual section volumes via foot pedal. The mkII version doubled the patch memory to 32 user presets and added independent filter envelope control, making it even more flexible. What initially reads as simplicity—one filter per section, straightforward controls—reveals itself as elegant design that prioritizes playability and sonic character over feature bloat. It's warm, immediate, and genuinely fun to explore.
