"Pilgrims to Control Voltage aren't uncommon. The store is one of only a handful in the United States devoted exclusively to electronic music gear. In most cities, if you want to buy a synthesizer, a drum machine or -- bless you -- a theremin, your choices are general music stores, which typically don't have a wide electronic music selection, or online, where you can't test products before buying...
Today, Control Voltage's roomy shop is stocked with a panoply of musical gadgets. All the merchandise is set up to use and connected to headphones, inviting customers to sample the goods while sparing bystanders the cacophony. Control Voltage focuses on analog synthesizers, which have gained popularity over digital synths in recent years for their more organic sound. The store also specializes in modular synths: old-school, increasingly in-demand synthesizers made up of a case and an infinitely customizable set of 'modules.'
To a layperson, the instruments look as alien as flying-saucer consoles. To an electronic musician or a DIY type, they look like potential.
Those are Control Voltage's people. And, fortunately for Kramer and Bambina, there are a lot of them here. Portland boasts a flourishing music scene and a growing electronic community, and the city's culture encourages artistic impulses and obsession.
'In Portland, you've got to let your freak flag fly, right?" Kramer says. "People are open to expression out here. It's cool these days to be into something so much that that's the only thing you're into, as long as you're expressing yourself.'"
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