In the early 1960s, Korg founder Tsutomu Katoh was a nightclub proprietor. A popular Japanese accordionist and engineer named Tadashi Osanai performed regularly at Mr. Katoh’s club, and one evening, Mr. Katoh told Osanai it would be nice to have a rhythm machine to keep the beat. Mr. Osanai was sure he could build a rhythm machine himself, and convinced Mr. Katoh to finance his efforts.

In 1962, Mr. Katoh rented a small workshop alongside the Keio (pronounced Kayo) railway line so he and Mr. Osanai could develop a mechanical rhythm machine. Mr. Katoh named the fledgling enterprise Keio Electronic Laboratories, which later became Korg — a derivation of the words “Keio” and “ORGan.” Their first rhythm machine was ready in 1963. It was called the Disc Rotary Electric Auto Rhythm machine, but its more popular (and easy to say!) name was the DoncaMatic DA-20. Korg went on to release many models of “Drum Machines,” as they came to be known.