In the early 1960s, Korg founder Tsutomu Katoh was a nightclub proprietor. A popular Japanese accordionist and engineer named Tadashi Osanai performed regularly at Mr. Katoh’s club, and one evening, Mr. Katoh told Osanai it would be nice to have a rhythm machine to keep the beat. Mr. Osanai was sure he could build a rhythm machine himself, and convinced Mr. Katoh to finance his efforts. In 1963 they released the DoncaMatic DA-20 drum machine.  From the beginning, Korg has brought outstanding musical effects to the marketplace. In 1973, the company introduced their first synthesizer, the mini KORG 700 (K1 in the U.S.). This was the first product to be sold under the Korg brand name. It spawned an entire “mini KORG family” that became popular for providing high quality sound in an easy-to-use and affordable package.In the late 70's Korg created the MS10 and MS20 synthesizers, which retained some of the patching capabilities of early modular synthesizers. These two products were extremely successful, and are still coveted by  dance artists today. They were also joined by Korg’s first vocoder, the VC-10. Next came the PS-3100, Korg’s first polyphonic synthesizer, and the PS-3200, one of the first programmable polyphonic synthesizers ever created, allowing sounds to be recalled at the touch of a button. In 1980 Korg expanded into another new category – stage pianos. They introduced the LP-10, which was followed by the SP80, as well as the EPS-1, a unique instrument that layered piano and strings together. A few years later, the Sampled Grand series (SG1 and SG1D) provided an astounding piano sound with a keyboard action that was second to none.Korg also released the performance-oriented Trident, which combined a polyphonic/programmable synthesizer, a string synthesizer, a brass synthesizer, and effects into one single keyboard instrument. In January 1988, Korg took the music world by storm with the M1 Music Workstation. It combined a keyboard, realistic PCM-sampled sounds, a drum machine, a sequencer, and digital multi-effects in a single package. The M1 went on to become one of the most popular synthesizers of all time, and served as the archetype for an entire category of musical instruments: the music workstation. In 1999 the Triton Workstation/Sampler represented further advancements in workstation evolution. It offered a host of fresh features including a new HI (Hyper-Integrated) synthesis system, mono/stereo sampling, a newly designed sequencer with extensive editing options, powerful dual polyphonic arpeggiators, user-installable option boards, and more. Triton won both critical praise and popular appeal, and went on to become a mainstay in the professional recording community. Korg also entered the burgeoning dance market, unveiling its Electribe series, beginning with the Electribe•A Analog Modeling Synthesizer and the Electribe•R Rhythm Synthesizer. Both feature cutting edge sound-generation and a classic interface for creating patterns that perfectly capture the needs of this music genre. Korg is still revolutionizing the music world with workstations like the Triton Extreme and synths like the Radius or microKorg.