About
KORG PSS60 Programmable Super Section is an auto-accompaniment machine with an FM synth and a PCM drum machine.
KORG PSS60 (1987)
Accompaniment machine with 3 parts - chord, bass and drums. Songs can be programmed by setting and chaining musical styles and chord names.
Here are some .mp3 examples of PSS60 - preset patterns and some factory demos.
No external effects are used.
Funk - Ambience FX: first off, and then on (256KB)
Bruto gave me Japanese magazine review of PSS60. Raraly found resources for this machine.
PSS60 reviews
KORG PSS-50 is the first model of the Programmable Super Section series. KORG emphasized in their advertisement that its drum part was digital - PCM. So the synth part may not be PCM. I suppose it might be something like a filter-less version of POLY-800 with their drum machines at that time - DDM-110/220. Also SAS-20 Super Accompaniment System may be related, as it's the first accompaniment keyboard from KORG.
KORG PSS-50 (1984)
KORG SAS-20 (1983)
In the mid-80s, KORG experienced the worst time in their history. Their new DW-8000 was overwhelmed by the best-selling synth, DX7. KORG started to rebuild itself with YAMAHA's support, and released DS-8, which is an FM synth with a unique analog-synth-like interface. PSS60 was made in that era. A new design scheme was introduced, together with P3 and Symphony PCM modules. Finally they completely revived by making the new best-seller, M1.
KORG made DDD-1 PCM drum machine at that time, and it may be related to PSS60's drum section.
KORG DS-8 (1987)
KORG Symphony (1988)
KORG DDD-1 (1986)
KORG M1 (1988)
YAMAHA's Portasound series at that time use 2-OP FM and PCM drums. In PSS680, Portasound evolved into a workstation with synthetic editability. (For 2-OP FM sound demos, see YAMAHA PSS-390 page.)
YAMAHA PSS680 (1988)
KORG continued to make the accompaniment series. Using X3 / X5 engine, They made i series accompaniment synthesizers, and later KARMA.
KORG i3 (1993)
Deep Synthesis: Home1. 29. 2007