January 8, 2026
Tune Wars: Aphex vs 440 Hz
Richard D. James interviews ex Korg engineer Tatsuya Takahashi (2017)
Aphex Twin vs the tuning police: Korg collab sparks fan frenzy
TLDR: Aphex Twin pushed Korg’s Monologue to add microtuning, challenging the standard A=440 tuning. Comments swooned over his brain, fought over archive vs source links, and corrected that Tatsuya still leads Korg’s Berlin R&D—proof this tweak matters and the fanbase lives for the drama.
Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) sits down with ex–Korg engineer Tatsuya Takahashi to gush over their Monologue collab and why he insisted on microtuning—changing how notes are spaced instead of sticking to the standard A=440 pitch. He even side-eyes that 440 Hz standard and name-drops Tesla. Cue the comment chaos: one camp is in full nerd-swoon, calling RDJ a wizard; another is busy fact-checking the “ex” label with “actually, he still leads Korg’s Berlin R&D (research and development).” A third? The link police showed up, demanding the live Warp page over archive links.
Fans flooded in with receipts: Pitchfork context from last year, a glowing video breakdown of “just how amazing RDJ is,” and nonstop clapping for the track “Korg Funk 5” (made only with Korg gear). The hottest debate: is microtuning genius rebellion or just fancy detuning? The mood says rebellion—“make it sound right to you” was the quote everyone ran with. Meanwhile, the archive vs source scuffle turned into meme territory (“Link cops vs Archive goblins”), and the Korg Truthers stormed in to correct Takahashi’s current role. Verdict: RDJ pushes boundaries; the community turns it into primetime drama, and nobody’s tuning their takes to 440.
Key Points
- •The interview covers Richard D. James and Tatsuya Takahashi’s collaboration on Korg’s monologue, which offers full microtuning editing.
- •Takahashi credits James’s insistence for including microtuning on the monologue, calling it a powerful feature.
- •James describes early tuning experiments on a Yamaha DX100, deliberately deviating from the A440 standard.
- •James cites A440’s 1939 adoption by western governments, historical radio broadcasts of 440 Hz tones, and Philips lab studies showing orchestral deviations.
- •Takahashi notes Tesla coils can produce music when modulated with audio; he is currently a Korg advisor and works full-time at Yadastar GmbH.