Korg’s period Volume 4 catalogue presents the Mini Pops 35 beside the 45, both compact preset-rhythm companions for other instruments.
The machine in the record
Isaac Brock / a reported touring Mini Pops.
Isaac Brock’s 2024 Reverb-shop sale was reported to include a Korg Mini Pops 35 among instruments Modest Mouse had travelled with. No song is named, and the source relays the shop description, so this remains a reported working-collection association.
Read Modest Mouse puts up Isaac Brock’s vintage gear on Reverb ↗A rhythm section within reach
The Mini Pops 35 put its accompaniment controls where a player could reach them between phrases. A row of rhythm buttons sat below volume, balance and tempo controls. Start the beat from the panel, or connect the optional footswitch and leave both hands on another instrument. Korg supplied separate outputs for a guitar amplifier and a hi-fi, organ or PA setup. The little box was designed to join equipment a musician already had.
Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Model differences, connections and panel controls ↗ Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Rhythm combinations, footswitch and specifications ↗
Two buttons, another rhythm
Choosing a rhythm was only the beginning. Two or more buttons could be held together to mix patterns. Waltz had a particular consequence: include it in a combination and the result moved into triple metre. The two-beat selection opened another set of choices, with separate A–F selectors for bass-and-snare and cymbal parts. Korg counted thirty-six combinations between them. These were physical choices made at the panel, rather than stored user compositions.
Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Model differences, connections and panel controls ↗ Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Rhythm combinations, footswitch and specifications ↗ Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Factory rhythm notation and two-beat variations ↗
Change the weight of the beat
Balance changed the percussion's emphasis: more bass drum in one direction, more cymbal and maracas in the other. Tempo changed the pace, while the lamp marked the beginning of the measure. Eight percussion sounds supplied the material. The interest lies in how much a player could alter without writing a new pattern: the weight of the beat, its combinations and the moment it entered.
Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Model differences, connections and panel controls ↗ Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Rhythm combinations, footswitch and specifications ↗
Recording and working accounts
Explore 1 source account
- Isaac Brock / Modest Mouse — Touring gear collection
Isaac Brock’s 2024 Reverb-shop sale was reported to include a Korg Mini Pops 35 among the instruments Modest Mouse had travelled with. It places the compact preset box in Brock’s working collection, even though no particular song is named.
Sources
- Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner's Manual
- Korg General Catalog, Mini Pops 35 / 45 entries
- Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Model differences, connections and panel controls
- Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Rhythm combinations, footswitch and specifications
- Mini Pops 35 / 45 Owner’s Manual — Factory rhythm notation and two-beat variations
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