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At the 2026 NAMM Show, held Jan 22–24 in Anaheim, California, Korg has officially introduced the phase8, an electro-acoustic instrument, based on the concept of acoustic synthesis.

Harnessing a new form of “Acoustic Synthesis” technology conceived at Korg’s experimental Berlin outpost, phase8 is the brainchild of renowned engineer Tatsuya “Tats” Takahashi, best known for masterminding the Minilogue and the Volca series.

Tats unveiled the final evolution of phase8 today on stage at 2026 NAMM Show, telling the audience that the product was inspired by the desire to design an instrument that feels “organic” and “alive” in a “flooded market” of feature-laden synthesizers. Tats declared that phase8 is not only “beyond analogue vs digital”, but “beyond electronics” altogether.

Acoustic synthesis has been a fairly niche concept to date, implemented on instruments like the Vo-96 Acoustic Synth and the String Armonica. It’s based around the idea of using electronics to control the vibration of physical objects – like strings on a guitar – which makes it possible to create sounds that would not otherwise be possible on an acoustic instrument.

With the phase8, Korg is testing the waters for making acoustic synthesis mainstream.

The phase8 offers eight independent electromechanical voices driving steel resonators – so the sound is controlled electronically, but generated acoustically.

At the heart of phase8 are eight chromatically tuned steel resonators – the synth comes with 13 of these that can be swapped out and tuned by the user – that produce sound via electromagnetic stimulation.

The resonators can also be physically touched, plucked, strummed or tapped, and Korg suggests that you place objects on the instrument to experiment with new textures and tones. phase8’s Air slider allows you to boost or dampen the acoustic response of anything that’s brought into contact with the resonators.

The phase8 is equipped with dedicated envelopes and velocity control for each resonator, and features a polymetric step sequencer that supports both step programming and unquantized live recording. Sequences can be stored and recalled via eight memory slots, and a Shift knob can be used to add delayed triggers to each resonator relative to the chosen tempo.

All of phase8’s controls can be automated across a sequence using the record function, and three modulation effects are on offer: you get good old tremolo along with two audio-rate, pitch-dependent styles of modulation, one of which can be harmonically quantized.

Connectivity includes MIDI TRS-A In/Out, USB-C for USB-MIDI and firmware, Sync In/Out and a CV input for hooking up the synth with a wider set-up, along with a ¼-inch line audio output, and a 3.5mm headphone output.

Note*: Korg has not provided an official video demo at this time.

The Korg phase8 is priced at $1149 and available now.

In this video, via Christian Halten, Tatsuya ‘Tats’ Takahashi discusses Korg’s unique phase8 synthesizer.
Takahashi discusses their journey in creating the phase8, goals for the project and his interest in tactile interaction with electronic instruments.

The phase8 is an eight-voice electro-acoustic instrument, with envelope control, sequencing, waveshaping and audio modulation. It generates sound using eight independent electro-mechanical voices, where the sound is generated using electronically controlled metal resonators.

Korg expects for the phase8 to be available starting in Q1 of 2026, priced under 1000 Euro.

Designer Eric Pitra of Landscape has introduced a new handheld device, Ferrous, that offers a way to get new sounds from steel-stringed instruments like guitar, piano, bass, etc.

The Landscape Ferrous, created with Artist/Performer/designer Victoria Shen, lets you magnetically ‘strum’ strings, creating harmonically complex “ghostly sounds” not normally associated with these instruments.

Ferrous’ spinning disc contains six strong earth magnets. Adjusting the rotational speed of the disc will change which strings are most affected and their harmonic content.

If the disc is spinning slowly, lower strings resonate; if the disc is spinning quickly higher strings will resonate louder. The results can sound like an unknown instrument in a reverberated physical space, floating sine wave tones, or feedback.

Fluctuation of rotation speed by using the thumbwheel, rev button, touch-plate or control voltage input can create a soft strumming effect across multiple strings or shifts in harmonic content. New harmonics and overtones can emerge from both lower and higher strings as the disc spins faster. The distance at which Ferrous is held from strings affects how strongly they will resonate and their harmonics.

If Ferrous is placed near guitar pickups you will hear the heavy sounds of the magnets and the motor, with the resulting pitch based upon the disc’s RPM.