Logan BIG BAND SN 533 // Only around 1000 units produced until 1982

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"One of the few remaining and perfect working Logan Big Band on the planet. Recently checked, calibrated and cleaned by a professional technician, this impressive analog orchestral synthesizer looks great and works like a charm. Professional packing and shipping insurance included in the shipping costs.

The Big Band is a six-voice polyphonic synthesizer produced by the Italian manufacturer Logan from 1980 to 1982. Released in the same period of the Vocalist (in fact they share the same design concept), the Big Band is an extremely rare machine: only around 1000 units produced before the Logan cessation of business in 1982 and most of the other remaining units are in very poor conditions.

The Big Band features a variety of very warm analog sounds organized into 3 main sections delimited by red lines : Brass + Strings/Organs/Reeds + Pianos. The individual sounds of the 3 sections already sounds very warm singularly but by mixing them in various combinations, and let's face it there are plenty to choose from, the full potential comes to light and the machine become very impressive.

Brass : The analog brass sound of the Big Band is absolutely one of the most impressive ever. In the Brass section the controls are: Brass 16" and Brass 8" controls (2 separated Brass octaves), Brilliance (Cutoff Filter ), Attack (Filter Attack) and two controls for Vibrato effect: Depth and Delay. The red on/off switch activates/deactivates the Brass section.

The Brass oscillators are very stable and bold and can be altered using the Attack control with its variable curve shape that can ranges from immediate to an arrival time of 1 second. With the maximum attack time the Brilliance control gives the sound a very pleasant bright effect, with the minimum attack time the brass becomes radically more aggressive and punchy.

Strings/Organs/Reeds : Here you can select one of the 3 included sounds at once using the 3 on/off switches. In this section there are String 16" String 8" and String 4" controls (3 separated String/Organ octaves) that can be used to set the volume of Strings or Organs, depending on what on/off switch is selected. Strings, Organs and Reeds shares the (volume) Attack and Sustain controls. By selecting the Reeds on/off switch, the String and Organ switches are turned off and you can play the Musette and Accordion sounds.

In addition to the controls, Strings and Organs share also the same Top-Octave Frequency Generator and they basically differ by the speed of chorus applied to the sound sources (Strings = fast, Organs = slow). The chorus is based on analog BBD circuitry that gives the sounds lush organic variations. Both Strings and Organs implement a static 6db/oct LP filter that combined with a gentle boost on the fundamental frequencies, generate a characteristic human-choir in the background. Musette and Accordion, as always happens with vintage Italian string machines, are useful extras to be mixed with other onboard sounds.

Pianos : The Piano section features Piano 16" and Piano 8" controls (2 separated Piano octaves), the Harpsichord volume and the Sustain control which works for all the 3 Piano sources. The red on/off switch activate/deactivate the Piano section.

In contrast to many other string machines, here the Piano is a very enjoyable sound to be played also individually. It implements a static 12 db/oct LP filter and quite fast volume envelopes, so it sounds dark and solid but extra harmonics can be easily and effectively added using the Harpsichord. The Piano section sounds great singularly but when used in conjunction with the sounds of other sections can be the basis of very interesting organ, keyboard sounds and to enrich further the Brass sounds."