Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
Byimpatient-member Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:42 pm
Hey all,

Just hopped on a low price for a Korg Monologue and just making sure I didn't jump on it too soon.

Does anyone with a One use a Mini or monologue with it? Was hoping I could use it for melodic lines of any sorttt using my One as the brain, not just synth lines but also have that capability when needed, hence why I was thinking a monologue in the first place.

Got a price alert and grabbed it for $250 free shipping. Any help is much appreciated thanks.
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By MPC-Tutor Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:56 pm
Are you wondering if it physically 'works' with an MPC (it should), or looking for reassurance that it's a good synth (yes)? Or is it a good deal for the price (don't know).

Anyway, I have a minilogue XD and it sounds absolutely gorgeous. I think most of these Korgs are pretty decent for the money.
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By jabberwalky Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:16 pm
The monologue is a fine companion and works right away with USB midi. The monologue needs an additional power supply though, no USB power.
Byimpatient-member Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:30 pm
Thanks to both of you, didn't think I would get a response so fast. Very promising. That was my first post on the forum. Good to know if I have any questions along the way there is a solid community
Byimpatient-member Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:41 pm
I was going to initially grab something like a key step or mini lab but then wanted an analog synth. I hope I've with going with the monologue got two birds with one stone. As long as the mpc 's sound library can be mapped onto the monologue then it's done that for me. At less than double the price of a minilab or key step, where I would be limited to just a controller
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By 64hz Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:17 pm
I absolutely love my monologue for bass. It can also function as a analog drummachine if you know what your doing.
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By Ultros Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:52 am
Solid buy. $250 is a great price for that synth. Do you have much experience with synthesis @ original poster?

It'll make good bass, and if you're into one note at a time leads and solos it will do that mint too.

It's hard to say if it will fit in well as a lead synth because it pretty much depends in how your choices stack up spatially. With some decent feilding of your tracks you should be able to isolate it to a place where it functions with some degree of happiness.

Making an entire track with a mono synth will result in a really boring song tho, so dont be afraid to use those soft synths on the mpc to compliment it.
Byimpatient-member Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:06 am
64hz wrote:I absolutely love my monologue for bass. It can also function as a analog drummachine if you know what your doing.


Researching that now. So if it can act as a sequencer, drum machine, and midi controller as well as an analog synth for bass and melodic lines, it sounds to me that it would accommodate the MPC One very nicely. Not to mention the oscillators, etc. And being able to trigger it all from one compact workstation.

From there, the MPC would be used for the sampling, arrangement, etc.

Am I following, sort of? Ha. New to all of this. I've always just relied on looper pedals, my fractal audio Axe FX III, and DAW for drums.

The idea of having everything I send midi (guitar, bass, drums) being processed with one kit (MPC) and getting away from the virtual instruments stuff is something I've been looking forward to but never really thought of this possibilty until a month ago.

Very late getting to the party per usual but excited nonetheless
Byimpatient-member Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:14 am
Ultros wrote:Solid buy. $250 is a great price for that synth. Do you have much experience with synthesis @ original poster?

It'll make good bass, and if you're into one note at a time leads and solos it will do that mint too.

It's hard to say if it will fit in well as a lead synth because it pretty much depends in how your choices stack up spatially. With some decent feilding of your tracks you should be able to isolate it to a place where it functions with some degree of happiness.

Making an entire track with a mono synth will result in a really boring song tho, so dont be afraid to use those soft synths on the mpc to compliment it.


Thanks for the feedback on the price. It'll be my first synth ever haha.

I initially was looking at the key step/microlab II for midi control and soft synth route but had seen a YouTube video by chance of someone using their Monologue with their MPC Live and reading the comments, people were rlly hyping it up so I started thinking of getting that instead of the mini lab.

Weighing pros and cons, still watching one on eBay, and then the price alert came and $250 sealed the deal shipping included. I figured it is about $125 more than the micro lab II and have the added benefit of being an anolog synth.

I'll handle leads with my guitar, so hopefully the Monologue handles the Rhythm section well.
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By jabberwalky Mon Jan 03, 2022 3:08 pm
The monologue is a great rhythmic sequencer. I'd suggest just sending it clock trigger (maybe you could even just send it gate from the MPC one) and utilizing the internal sequencer, then you can do motion recording to your patches per step. That is where the monologue shines to me. The sounds are good too. Be sure you have it's latest firmware, they have improved it alot over the years.
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By EnochLight Mon Jan 03, 2022 4:21 pm
Cmurph240 wrote:Got a price alert and grabbed it for $250 free shipping. Any help is much appreciated thanks.


$250 USD shipped for a Monologue is an absolute steal - nice find! As far as monosynths go, the Dreadbox Typhon is currently my favorite, but it’s almost twice the cost and doesn’t even come with a keyboard and doesn’t run on batteries (well, it can via USB, and you can power Typhon and run it via USB-MIDI, but as a standalone synth you’d need to bring a power brick). Anyway, I’d say you did quite well.

And has already been pointed out, Monologue works fine with the MPC. Pretty sure Monologue does USB-MIDI as well, so that’s convenient.
Byimpatient-member Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:04 pm
jabberwalky wrote:The monologue is a great rhythmic sequencer. I'd suggest just sending it clock trigger (maybe you could even just send it gate from the MPC one) and utilizing the internal sequencer, then you can do motion recording to your patches per step. That is where the monologue shines to me. The sounds are good too. Be sure you have it's latest firmware, they have improved it alot over the years.



Looking into the sequencer now and motion recording, that's the terminology I was struggling to come up with. :Sigh: :lol:

When you say rhythm do you mean drums and bass or do you just think it shines more as a bass unit?

Someone above mentioned it can be turned into an analog drum machine, I looked into that and a user on YouTube was getting some great sounding kicks using a little trick.

And gotcha on getting the latest firmware, I read about that last night. I love when older units are improved over time with firmware. That's why I went with my Fractal because the owner of the company really has shown he cares about his heritage lines .
Byimpatient-member Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:06 pm
EnochLight wrote:
Cmurph240 wrote:Got a price alert and grabbed it for $250 free shipping. Any help is much appreciated thanks.


$250 USD shipped for a Monologue is an absolute steal - nice find! As far as monosynths go, the Dreadbox Typhon is currently my favorite, but it’s almost twice the cost and doesn’t even come with a keyboard and doesn’t run on batteries (well, it can via USB, and you can power Typhon and run it via USB-MIDI, but as a standalone synth you’d need to bring a power brick). Anyway, I’d say you did quite well.

And has already been pointed out, Monologue works fine with the MPC. Pretty sure Monologue does USB-MIDI as well, so that’s convenient.


Thanks for your input! Yeah the battery powered unit was a nice perk I thought. And the midi capabilities. I have a lot of old (but still good) gear that run best off those inputs/outputs.