DK SYNERGY II+ SYNTHESIZER, KAYPRO II & SYNHCS SOFTWARE

synergyII timbres Uploaded on Sep 5, 2010 xenmaster0


s 2 demo 1 441 final 320x240stream Uploaded on Sep 5, 2010 xenmaster0

Warning: this is a long post and can't be paged with the "click for more" link otherwise the videos will not load. Also, no time to parse the entire listing, so everything captured below for the archives.

via this auction

"DIGITAL KEYBOARDS SYNERGY II+

WITH KAYPRO II & SYNHCS 3.182 PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE, 14 FLOPPY DISCS OF SYNERGY TIMBRES, and 3 SYNERGY ROM CARTRIDGES

This is the legendary Synergy synthesizer. It comes with the Kaypro II CP/M computer I bought with the Synergy and the SYNHCS software used to program the Synergy. Three Synergy ROM cartridges are included, WC-1 and WC-2, the Wendy Carlos Voice cartridges 1 and 2, and the VCART 4 cartrdige, along with a null modem cable that you use to connect the Synergy synthesizer with the Kaypro II computer.

Using the Kaypro II computer running the Synergy Host Control System software (SYNHCS), you gain access to the full capabilities of the Synergy synthesizer. With the Kaypro II computer + SYNHCS software, you can program the Synergy synthesizer to generate any kind of sound you can imagine. Then you can save the timbres you create on floppy disk and organize those timbres into banks of sounds, and send them to the Synergy synthesizer. (Originally the Synergy was sold with ROM cartridges but with the Kaypro you don't need 'em because you can send new timbres to the Synergy from the Kaypro. I am, however, also including one original Synergy ROM cartridge.)

You will also get the complete set of 13 Synergy voice library banks on floppy disk, L1 through L13 (on 7 floppy discs) as well as the 6 Synergy VCart voices banks 1 through 6 (6 floppy discs). You also get the WC-1 and WC-2 voice banks on floppy disc. Each synergy ROM cartridge or CRT file holds 24 timbres. So you get the complete set of 20 x 24 voices, or 480 Synergy voice library timbres. This is the complete set of timbres that were offered for the Synergy II+. You also get the Wendy Carlos WC-1 and WC-2 voice cartridges (these are duplicates of the WC-1 and WC-1 voice banks on floppy disc) plus the VCART4 cartridge. The VCART4 cartridge has been disassembled so that you can resolder the socket to use a ZIF (zero insertion force) socket if you prefer, and burn your own ROMs and swap them out in the ZIF socket. I'll include information on how to do that. As a practical matter, the Kaypro II computer can transfer voice files to the Synergy II as fast as swapping out EPROMS, but it's nice to have the ability.

The SYNHCS control program included with this Kaypro is the latest version, from October 11 1985, version 3.182. You can see the version number in one of the photographs of the Kaypro II screen. It's later than the version 3.15 SYNHCS that sold with most Synergy/Kaupro II combos. SYNHCS V 3.182 fromOctober 1985 is the final version of SYNHCS, and includes menu options the earlier SYNHCS didn't have -- the earlier version 3.15 dates from September 1983. This later version October 1985 version 3.182 of SYNHCS has features the earlier SYNHCS didn't have, and it's not generally available. I got it from Stony Stockell. I'm pretty sure that only a handful of other people have this latest final version of SYNHCS from 10/11/85.

There are 18 floppy discs all told: 7 discs containing Synergy voice banks 1 through 13 (2 banks per disc, so 7 discs there total) and Vcarts 1 through 6 (6 discs there) and the Wendy Carlos 1 and 2 Vcarts on a single floppy disc. along with the Kaypro CP/M 2.2 boot disk to boot up the Kaypro II computer and a disc of CP/M utilities, like UNERASE and some other very useful utilities. That makes 16 floppy discs. I've also included a CP/M 2.2G boot disc in case you want to use another model of Kaypro II. The boot discs differed depending on whether your Kaypro II had ROM 81-149C, ROM 81-232, or ROM 81-292. All that is spelled out in detail in one of the information sheets I'm including with this Synergy II+. I'm also including SYNHCS V 3.12, the earliest versionof SYNHCS, in case you pick up another Synergy II with older ROMS.

Some of these Synergy voice banks were designed by Wendy Carlos, and all of 'em sound gorgeous.

The Synergy synthesizer boasts a unique sound, unlike that of any other synthesizer. It can caress your ears with silken delicacy or hammer you with brutal rancor. The Synergy can sound raucous or subtle, and it can change from one to the other as you hit the keyboard harder. There's a reason for this: it has arguably the most complex and sophisticated synthesizer architecture ever created, unparallelled evern today. The Synergy's amplitude envelopes are more complex, its oscillators are arranged in a more sophisticated way, and its advanced features like digital noise source, quasiperiodic vibrato and digital formant filter still have not been fully duplicated by any other digital synthesizer -- even today."

"THE BELL LABS DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER AND THE SYNERGY II+

The Synergy is based on the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer designed by Hall Alles. The Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer used a remote computer to program the synth, with access by a different kind of port (RS-488 serial port, then common for programming lab equipment over a serial link). The remote computer at Bell Labs had to use software written by the composer (Laurie Spiegel, for example, whowrote programs on a DEC minicomputer in the then-new C programming language to control the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer) to program the synth. When Digital Keyboards licensed the design of the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer, they also built an 8-bit microcomputer that could program a version of the Synergy called the GDS.

About 700 Synergy I synths were sold all told, but less than 100 are still working today. A small handful of (I believe no more than 6) GDS systems were built in addition to the originl non-programmable Synergy I synths: GDS stands for "General Development System." These were versions of the Synergy with 16 front-panel digital sliders to control parameters of the synthesizers that hooked up to an associated CP/M computer thta used 8-inch floppy discs. With the GDS, you could program the Synergy and store voices on 8" disk via an S-100 buss CP/M computer based on the Ohio Scientific Challenger. Wendy Carlos bought a Synergy General Development System, Stockell kept one in his basement, Klaus Schulz had one, and someone else reportedly bought one (I don't know who).

When Kaypro started producing the Kaypro II CP/M computer in the early 1980s, Stony Stockell, the lead engineer on the Synergy synthesizer, saw an opportunity to replace the cumbersome General Development System with a cheaper setup for programming timbres on the Synergy, so he hired someone to write the Synergy Host Control Program in Z80 assembly language to program the Synergy using the Kaypro II instead of the S-100 buss IEEE 696 CP/M computer used with the GDS.

The new SYNHCS software was much more straightforward and didn't require any programming on the user's part. The Kaypro II was a standalone computer running CP/M, once again easy to use (unlike the Bell Labs minicomputers, which the user had to program to get anything out of 'em, even to send a note to the synthesizer!) and the Kaypro used a simple null modem cable linked to the RS-232 serial port in the back of the Synergy to program timbres, download and upload voice banks, and control the synthesizer's many subtle functions from the Kaypro.

The general method of programming involves pressing a specific button on the front of the Synergy to access a given function, then typing in a value in the Kaypro II to adjust the synthesizer parameter. Once you get the sound you want, you save it on the Kaypro floppy disk as a single .VCE file. Then you can load the VCE file off the Kaypro floppy disk and send it to the Synergy to recreate that timbre whenever you want. The SYNHCS program lets you arrange timbres defined by VCE files into banks which get saved as a single large files called a .CRT files, so SYNHCS combines the functions of synth programming and a synth librarian (and remember that this was back in 1981-1982!).

There was no such thing as the MIDI protocol when Hal Alles designed the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer in 1974-1975, and no such thing as a finalized MIDI spec when Stoney Stockell adapted Alles' design into the Synergy in 1978-1980 for Crumar's Digital Keyboards subsidiary.

MIDI became a big deal between 1981 and 1984, so Stockell retrofitted the Synergy synthesizer with an add-on circuit board that added full MIDI in and out capabilities. This was the Serial I/O board, which Crumar sold for owners of the original Synergy I synth to upgrade to a fully programmable Synergy II+ along with the SYNHCS software and the voice library discs and the Kaypro II. These new modified versions of the Synergy were called the Synergy II+. This Synergy II+ of course includes a MIDI IN and OUT port, along with the RS-232 serial port for programming the timbres via the Kaypro computer.

The last and most sophisticated version of the SYNHCS software was version 3.182, which is the version I'm including with this Synergy II+ synthesizer. To quote from the manual PRELIMINARY OPERATION OF THE SYNERGY II WITH COMPUTER, "The SYNHCS version 3.xx significantly extends the capabilities of the Synergy II+ synthesizer even beyond the original General Development System." Yes, this combination of the Kaypro II plus null modem cable plus Synergy II+ plus the final SYNHCS version from 1985 gives you more abilities than Wendy Carlos had when she programmed the Synergy voices for her albums Digital Moonscapes and Beauty In the Beast.

OVERVIEW OF THE SYNERGY II+ SYNTHESIZER ARCHITECTURE

Briefly, the combo of Kaypro computer plus Synergy II + plus SYNHCS CP/M sofware has greater capabilities than the original Synergy General Development System. It has 32 general assignable oscillators that you can set up in any configuration you want, with as few as 1 oscillator per note, or as many as 32 oscillators per note. If you use 16 oscillators you get two notes (duophonic), and if you use 1 oscillator you get 32 simultaneous notes, with any number of oscillators in between giving you an intermediate number of simultaneous notes. (For example, if you assign 8 oscillators as your voice architecture, you get 4 simultaneous notes.)

Each of the Synergy's 32 assignable oscillators has two different 16-point amplitude and frequency envelopes, a maximum and a minimum envelope, and the Synergy interpolates in between the max and min envelopes depending on how hard you strike the keyboard. (MIDI velocity, in other words, deermines the envelope interpolation: velocity 127 gives you maximum amplitude envelope, velocity 1 gives you the minimum amplitude envelope, and any velocity in between interpolates between the 2 amplitude envelopes you've programmed.)

This means that there are 128 total 16-point interpolated amplitude and frequency envelopes in the Synergy, 2 different amplitude envelopes and 2 different frequency envelopes for each of the 32 oscillators (maximum and minimum envelope for each oscillator). The Synergy has digital A and B filters, you could choose different types of waveforms, you had a digital noise source tht allows quasiperiodic vibrato, and the Synergy had assignable digital format filters to mimic the resonance of a real acoustic instrument. The Synergy uses a 73-key weighted piano-action keyboard with damping -- a realistic type of piano keyboard action rarely found on any synthesizers, and highly prized for its responsiveness and delicate touch. Just by itself, the Synergy II+ makes a superb MIDI controller keyboard, even without its awesome digital synthesis capabilities.

The Synergy II+ with 3.182 SYNHCS software and Kaypro CP/M programming computer remains arguably the most sophisticated and most complex synthesizer ever created. As the commercial version of the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer, you'd expect that.

Bell Labs, after all, is the place that invented the transistor and modern computer music (Max Mathews' MUSIC I program from 1959). I don't believe anyone has ever offered a Synergy II+ system this complete on eBay, or is ever likely to again. Most people who owned these systems don't know much about them, but I dug deep into the technical details and learned about the vagaries of the Kaypro II ROMs and the various CP/M versions required to run on each Kaypro model, as well as the different versions of SYNHCS and the pinout of the null-modem cable (it's not as simple as the usual pin 2->pin 3, pin 3->pin 2, pin 7->pin7 null modem cable), the hardwired I/O ports on the Kaypro, and so on. If you know Z80 assembly, you can program the Kaypro to talk to the Synergy yourself. Stockell's manual contains enough info for you to do that, if you want to.

SCHEMATICS, REPAIR MANUAL, INTRODUCTION TO SYNERGY AUDIO TAPE

I'm also including a full set of schematics of the Synergy II. This will come in handy if you ever need to repair it. The Synergy is mostly made from discrete logic chips except for the two hybrid Burr-Brown DACs, so unlike synths today, it can be repaired by replacing the quad encoder chips or buffer chips or swapping out a bad RAM chip or a bad Z80 CPU.

The original Synergy manual is included, of course. But I'm also including the ADDENDUM TO THE SYNERGY MANUAL, which I call the "repair manual." The first half of that manual adds new info to cover the new functions of the Synergy II+ which appeared when users added the Crumar Serial I/O board, but the last half of the ADDENDUM manual covers detailed diagnostic self-tests you can run. The self-tests identify problems in the keyboard scan processor, the the oscillator circuit, the VRAM buffer, the serial communications circuits, and other subsystems. So if something ever goes wrong, a repair technician can use those built-in diagnostics to fix the problem. However, you need the "repair manual" to do that -- so I'm including it.

All told, you get a 2-inch-tall stack of original Digital Keyboard Incorporated manuals with this Synergy:

PRELIMINARY OPERATION OF THE SYNERGY II WITH COMPUTER by T.D. Piggott

SYNERGY MANUAL REFERENCE SYSTEM V. 3.XX

SYNERGY VOICE LIBRARY 2.6 as of MAY '83

SYNERGY MANUAL ADDENDUM (the "repair manual")

SYNERGY CARTRIDGE MANUAL - VOLUME 3

WENDY CARLOS VOICE CARTRIDGES MANUAL

PRELIMINARY HOST CONTROL REFERENCE MANUAL by M. L. Stockell

plus

KAYPRO II TECHNICAL MANUAL (1984)

ADDENDUM TO THE USER'S GUIDE FOR THE KAYPRO 1984 -- this shows the pinout of the Kaypro II serial port, which the original Kaypro technical manual doesn't show you. It also gives the hardwired port addresses of the various I/O ports on the Kaypro II.

That's a lot of manuals. This is complex synthesizer, so you'll want 'em all. (Trivia note: the big blue Synergy synthesizer manual was typeset on a PDP-10 at the Stanford AI Lab, according to John Strawn.)

RUNDOWN ON WHAT YOU GET IN THIS AUCTION:

1. Synergy II+ synthesizer with MIDI IN/OUT ports, RS-232 serial port, and 73 weighted piano-action damped velocity sensitive keys. It's a fully working synthesizer with no defects (other than a few small scratches that don't show up on the pictures.). You can verify this is fully working and full programmable Synergy II+ by watching the first video.

2. Kaypro II CP/M computer with 64K of RAM and two single-sided disk drives plus computer keyboard. It's a working machine, as you can see in the video. This particular Kaypro uses ROM 81-149C and has a matching CP/M boot disc. (Different ROM versions required different boot discson the Kaypro II series.)

3. Null modem cable for connecting the Kaypro II computer to the Synergy II+ synthesizer so you can program the Synergy synthesizer and store timbres on the CP/M floppy discs.

4. 14 floppy discs of Synergy voice banks. SYNHCS program for programing the Synergy II+ with the kaypro, version 3.182 from 1985 and the earlier V 3.12 from 1983 in case you need it. CP/M boot disc for the Kaypro II and CP/M Utilities disc for the Kaypro II. 18 discs total. There are 480 Synergy voices on Kaypro floppy disc, enough for a lifetime of musical exploration even if you don't want to program new timbres using the Kaypro II+ with SYNHCS.

5. A 2-inch-tall stack of manuals -- every manual that was ever offered with this synthesizer, from the original typeset bound blue book that came with the Synergy synthesizer to the various addition manuals that came with the SYNHCS software and the Kaypro II.

6. Detailed schematics for the Synergy. This is crucial if you ever need this rare synth repaired. The schematics cover the keyboard encoder, the main logic board, the serial interface/MIDI board, and much more.

7. The audio INTRODUCTION TO THE SYNERGY cassette that came with the Synergy when I bought it.

8. Three Synergy ROM cartridges, the WC-1, WC-2, and VCART 4. VCART 4 is disassembled so you can desolder the socket and replace it with a ZIF socket if you want to.

9. Last but far from least, I will incude detailed instructions on how to burn your own Synergy ROM cartridges. I got to poking around with the Synergy after I bought it (lo those many years ago) and I figured out how to burn my own Synergy cartrdiges. It turns out to be surprisingly simple, and I'll include a description of what you have to do. It's not that complicated, but does require an EPROM programmer, which I am not including. There are some details you need to know in order to burn the older 2732 EPROMS. If you try it on a modern USB EPROM programmer, it won't work: you'll get an error message PROGRAMMING HALTED AT ADDRESS 0000x. I'll explain how to get around that, and what's going on with the older 2732 EPROMS.

To be absolutely clear, you are NOT getting the original Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer. You're getting a Synergy II+ with SYNHCS software and all the voices on floppy disc. The reason I talk so much about Hal Alles' Bell Labs digital synthesizer is that it was almost identical to the Synergy II. The only differences are that the Synergy has 32 oscillators instead of 64, the Synergy II used dual Z80s to replace a lot of Alles' original discrete logic chips, and the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer didn't have MIDI or easy-to-use programmingsoftware like SYNHCS. In fact, the included SYNHCS software + Kaypro II + Synergy II+ combo has more voicing capabilities and offers more programming options than the original Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer.

Safe to say that it's unlikely anyone else will ever again offer as complete a Synergy II+ setup as this with all the manuals, all the voice library floppies, the extremely rare V. 3.182 SYNHCS from 10/11/85, plus the schematics and "introduction to the Synergy" audio tape and the full set of correct CP/M boot discs for both versions of the Kaypro II computer. In case you ever need to replace your Kaypro II, you won't be left high and dry by the different-ROMS-require-different-versions-of-Kaypro-CP/M problem."