Seekers? Rare SKY Soundlab VoiceSpectra VOCODER SN AAB003898

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

OK, here's an interesting find. If you take a look at this post from 2012, you will see the same vocoder branded Seekers. You'll also find a demo video of it.

A funny side note: Some of you that followed the site early on may have remembered a gentleman by the name of Elhardt. He was a bit of a prankster who would release images of new product teasers. One was the Bahn Sage back in 2005, and his follow-up was the Seekers SMS 2000. People caught on to him with the Sage, so he likely went with Seekers as an unknown but verifiable brand, that or he just came up with the name by sheer coincidence.

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Synth Rorschach #18: Kitten on the Keys

via CatSynth

This one reminded me of the Bahn Sage (see label below) meets The Schmidt. It's kind of interesting to think The Schmidt is real.

Seekers Voice Spectra 12 band analog vocoder

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
YouTube Published on Aug 22, 2012 by TallmanJosh

"For sale on Ebay" Be sure to see the very bottom of this post for a note on Seekers.


via this auction

"This has a very clear sound for an analogue vocoder, a big part of why it makes voices so intelligible is the syllable function which inserts noise bursts into the signal for “s” and “sh” syllables. This is a pretty rare feature on an analogue vocoder, and it really helps with intelligiblity. The syllable function is also really cool for creating rhythms.

Here’s some info on it pulled of the interwebs [appears to be via Analogue.org]:

The Voice Spectra has good reputations in Japan for clear extent, high timbre, and for Speech Tracking Function (STF). STF is basically a pitch- to-voltage converter which functions by reading the glottal pulses of the speech signal. The control voltages from the output of the pitch extractor are fed to the VCO, so that this follow the cadences of the speech signaI. STF is an interesting additional facilities only to be found on more expensive vocoders like EMS.

Everyone familiar with vocoding will appreciate the Voice spectras compressor and Voiced/Unvoiced detector*.

The Voice spectra is a high quality studio-vocoder, appreciated by the staff at music studios, professional musicians, etc. in Japan. The articulation of the output signal is extremely good, being distinguished by remarkable clarity and distinctiveness. This quality of articulation, among other things, is what distinguishes SKY soundlab from other less sophisticated vocoders like the MAM VF11. The Voice spectra comes with an inbuilt power supply as well.

*If the air from the lungs is not forced through the vocal chords, but simply expelled through the mouth, then so ralled UNVOICED sounds are produced, such as `f' or `h'. These are basically similar to the type of sounds which can be produced by a noise generator. Most excitation signals do not have a sufficiently wide dynamic spectrum to synthesise the sound of sibilants (`s', `h', etc.). For this reason the voiced/unvoiced detector ensures that the noise generator provides the synthesiser section with the appropriate `raw material' whenever the excitation signal cannot do so.

The voice can be seen as a complex sound generating instrument, consisting of a frequency and amplitude-controlled oscillator (the vocal chords and lungs), a noise generator (the lungs) and a set of tone filters (the mouth and nasal cavities).

Technical specifications

Mic-line inputs: MIC -40dBm / 47K Line: 0dBm / 20K

Synthesis/Instrument Input: 0dBm / 100K
Output: +0dBm

Filterbank:12 Analysing filters and 12 Synthesizing filters

#01 90 - 130 (Hz)
#02 130 - 190
#03 190 - 280
#04 280 - 410
#05 410 - 610
#06 610 - 900
#07 900 - 1340
#08 1340 - 1950
#09 1950 - 2800
#10 2800 - 4100
#11 4100 - 6070
#12 6070 - 8900

Internal excitation sources: white noise generator and sawtooth oscillator (20-900Hz). Both may be gated by the voiced/unvoiced detector. Oscillator frequency fixed or tracking mode.

Metering: LED for speech and excitation levels"

So, regarding Seekers, some of you might remember this beauty. See the Seekers label below for more. There was a real Seekers manufacturer that made this vocoder and then there was Elhardt.

New John Bowen Solaris Demos by Ken Elhardt

Also see the first set of Elhardt's Solaris demos here.

John Bowen Solaris Modular Comparisons via Elhardt

Below are some notes on the John Bowen Synth Design Solaris posted on the AH email list by Kenneth Elhardt, reposted here with Elhardt's blessing. One thing that can be argued as standing out the most on the Solaris is it's ability to freely rearrange various components of the synth engine. Typically synths have a basic signal path that goes something like this: oscillator --> mixer --> filter --> output, with various modifiers for each section. Not so with the Solaris. The Solaris is a bit closer to a modular. The beauty of a modular is that you typically have each component of the sound creation process as a separate module with input and output jacks that can be arranged however you like. You connect the various inputs and outputs of modules with patch cords. Apparently the same concept applies to the Solaris, minus the cords of course.

via Elhardt (be sure to read my note on the Oscillators and Rotors further below):

"Since John Bowen reads my posts on AH, I'll have to give you a positive biased rundown. :-) Almost every possible thing you can think of can act as a mod source to just about anything else, including external audio inputs (there are 4 of them) and virtually any component in the synth. So you could mix two Supersaw waves, run them through a filter and use that to modulate an Osc. Virtually everything can become an audio input to anything else, so you could take that above example and run it through a ring modulator. It has 4 simultaneously available filters (each with its own VCA) and mixers, each with a choice of what you want going into them, meaning you can configure them anyway you want without limits, just like a modular synth. There are lots of filter types. 4 lag processors are provided that you can use to smooth out any signal which I'm currently using to provide analog drift to the Osc's, though analog drift may be a future feature. I used the included envelope follower with a Mic to get an expressive Mic controlled trumpet sound. Because of the number of VCOs, filters, VCAs, LFOs and EGs, sounds that required a bi-timbral synth can be done on a single Solaris voice.

I'm also liking the way the OS and patches are all stored on a Compact Flash card. This means no more limits as to how many presets you have available to you. If you have 2000 sounds, then they're all there on the synth. It also makes it easy to back up patches on computer and easy to upgrade the OS because [there's] no more need to connect Midi to a computer, pull up a sequencer, and send streams to data back and and forth. I'd like to see more companies use this method.

-Elhardt"


With that in mind, one thing I thought worth pointing out here is that the Solaris has four oscillators, and each oscillator can have a completely different type of sound source including standard analog modeled waveforms, Prophet VS waveforms, Waldorf and PPG wavetables, samples and more. Via the specs page:

"Four (4) oscillators. Each can be of the following types:

MultiMode (standard waveshapes, combinations, plus saw stack)
WaveTable (wavetables 1-64 from the Waldorf Microwave synthesizers) [1 - 30 are PPG]
Sample playback (.raw format)
CEM VCO chip model (like those used in the later Rev. 3.x versions of the Prophet 5)
All of the waveforms used in the Prophet VS
(temperature stable) model of the oscillator used in the MiniMoog."

There is also a new form of synthesis called Rotors "Two (2) rotors which are special sound sources, implemented as a looping wavesequence of four (4) assignable inputs, played successively." In short think of a sequencer you can assign to trigger any sound source which you can speed up to the point it oscillates and produces sound. You can watch John Bowen give an example of it at the PNW SynthFest starting at 9:28 in this video (the link should take you to the 9:28 mark). You can also find some audio demos on the Solaris samples page starting with sample #5.

As for other components / "modules" on the Solaris, you can find the complete (massive) spec list on http://www.johnbowen.com/.

Now take all that and think of how you can apply it in a flexible modular fashion.

One synth the Solaris frequently gets compared to in interface is the Oberheim Matrix-12. The Matrix-12 has a reputation for being highly modular in editing as well. It might be worth doing some digging to see which is more flexible.

Be sure to also check out Elhardt's first audio demo of the Solaris here.

Sound Design Samples by Kenneth Elhardt

click here for some samples of sounds designed by Ken Elhardt. As of this post you'll find samples for the Alesis ION, Andromeda A6 and Roland Jupiter-8. If you click on the Elhardt label below you'll find some previous posts with more samples and some of his own synth creations.

Binson Echorec Explanation

YouTube via hiwattbob | May 26, 2008

"here's how the binson echorec works."

Also see this video.

via Elhardt on AH

Behringer's First Synthesizer UB-1

via Elhardt on the AH list

Would be interesting...

The look reminds me of the RMI Harmonic Synthesizer.

Jupiter-8 Cymbol

via Elhardt:
"I created a really good cymbal patch on the Jupiter-8 about 25 years ago. I
was lost when the backup battery went dead. I finally got around to
creating it again today. I takes advantage of the JP8's unison mode to turn
a whimpy metallic sound into a thick metallic harmonic spectrum leading to a
realistic sounding cymbal. MP3 below. First is the sound with unison
turned off completely dry, then with it turned on completely dry, then the
same sound with a longer decay and some reverb."



JP8_Cymbal.mp3

Polymoog Resonator Section

YouTube via Elhardt. follow-up to this post.

"This is an unplanned demo I threw together today of a Polymoog 3 Band Resonator that I ripped out of my Polymoog and built into a stand-alone unit for processing sounds. It consists of three filters in parallel which all be switched to lowpass, bandpass, or highpass modes. Each filter has three controls: frequency, resonance, and amplitude. It's one of the unique things about the Polymoog synthesizer which you don't find in any other polyphonic analog synth.

What happened to the rest of my Polymoog? I used the Polymoog case to built a coffee table, of which you can see a few pictures at the end of the video. That was sold off. The rest of my Polymoog was sold for parts to quite a few people. My Polymoog just had too many problems to bother putting in the time and effort to fix."

Polymoog 3-Band Resonator for Sale/Auction

via Elhardt on the Moog Forum
"I've been going back and forth as to whether I want to sell this thing because even though that was my original intention, the end result is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, stand-alone unit, that I put quite a bit of work into extricating from my Polymoog and getting it built. It's essentially a 3 Band Variable Formant Filter for all kinds of tonal modifications, similar to the Polyfusion module that somebody just put up on ebay, but the Polymoog Resonator can also switch the filters into lowpass and hipass modes in addition to bandpass, and it covers a greater range of frequencies. See links for Polyfusion comparison:

[http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2009/08/rare-polyfusion-modular-moog-format.html - note the original link went to the Polyfusion formant filter auction, but that will expire in time so I added the post link]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matrixsynth/30931197/

I was originally going to put it up at $550 + shipping (Paypal preferred, I'm located in Cary, NC and can also be picked up for cash), but the only way to give more people a shot at buying it, since there's only one of these on the planet, is to allow them to bid on it if they want to pay more than that amount. So it goes up here at the initial bid of $550. If somebody offers that amount and nobody else bids, it's yours. I'll give it about a week (bid increments of a minimum of $10). For anybody not a member of the Moog Forum, you can email me with a bid and I can post that to the thread. If it doesn't sell, it will probably go on ebay, or maybe I'll end up keeping it for a while. A bunch of pictures are at the link below, and it includes everything you see in the 3rd photo down (Resonator, Power Supply, and a couple of 1/4" cables).

http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/search?q=polymoogerfooger [Note this is a search on polymoogerfooger which will bring up this post as well. The prior two posts are here and here].

I can be contacted at my last name, which is my Moog Forum user name, same as my last name, followed by @att.net (just to avoid those internet scanning spambots) for those not registered on the Moog Forum who might have questions or want to bid.

-Ken Elhardt"

Silverwood v3.0

on Native Instruments User Library
Free and recommended by Doktor Future in the comments of this post: "The SilverwoodV3.ens does many wind instruments, and is great with the EWI. MP3 here.

Description
"Breath controlled physical model brass, woodwind, and Hammond organ synthesizer
*** Update: V3 now includes a model of a Hammond organ. The model includes percussion, key click, chorus, harmonic foldback, and a set of drawbars that can morph from one setting to another. ***

Silverwood is a synthesizer that mimics acoustic wind instruments. It contains no oscillators or envelope generators. Instead, it creates sounds using waveguide physical modeling synthesis, and is activated by a wind or breath controller. It is monophonic.

Please note that without a wind or breath controller, Silverwood will make no sound. Update: V3 includes a 'KB Test' button, which when activated will trigger the model whenever MIDI note-on events are received.

Six physical models are included: brass, saxophone, clarinet, flute, recorder, and organ. After a sound is created by a model, it passes through an equalizer that mimics the bell of an acoustic instrument.

The snapshots include these acoustic instrument emulations:

Brass: Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Tuba, Cornet, Flugelhorn, Euphonium
Saxophones: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone
Double Reeds: Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon
Clarinets: Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Flutes: Piccolo, Flute, Bass Flute
Other Pipes: Pan Pipes, Irish Whistle, Shakuhachi
Other Reeds: Uilleann Pipes, Scots Pipes, Accordion, Harmonica
Organs: Various popular Hammond settings.

Each snapshot responds to MIDI breath pressure (on CC2) and pitchbend data. Various other MIDI control sources are supported.

Snapshot names indicate the instrument’s natural range and the pitchbend effects. For example, the snapshot “Trumpet F#3-D6 +screech –falloff” indicates that the instrument is a trumpet, that it’s natural range is from F#3 to D6, that bending the pitch up adds screech, and that bending the pitch down adds falloff.

The sample mp3 demonstrates the oboe and bassoon emulations.

Many of the mouthpiece and bore designs are based on STK, created by Drs. Perry Cook and Gary Scavone.

The graphic control elements were created by Vera Kinter, at http://www.artvera-music.com, and were provided by Bernd Keil.

I wish to acknowledge these whose publications have assisted me in the creation of this instrument:

Dr. Jim Clark
Dr. Perry Cook
Mr. Kenneth Elhardt
Mr. Rob Hordijk
Dr. Toshifumi Kunimoto
Dr. Gary Scavone
Dr. Julius Smith
Dr. Vesa Välimäki"

Polymoog Coffee Table Graphics

via Elhardt:
"In case anybody wants nice scalable graphics I drew up of the Polymoog synth's panel, I have pdf file links below. It's what I used for my coffee table. It took probably 2 to 3 full days of constant measuring and drawing in Corel draw. It's good for reference or you can send the file straight to your local printer and print a full size image to hang on your wall.

The 1st file I used the include fonts option option, but I never know for sure whether they're in there, or whether it's still using the fonts in Windows. It looks better on the screen at smaller sizes than the 2nd. The 2nd file is the same thing, but with fonts converted to curves, so it doesn't rely on fonts at all. That's what Express Printing told me to send them. The 3rd file is the same as the 2nd, but with the keyboard included, so for those who might want to make a polymoog coffee table, I've just saved you a bunch of work.

http://home.att.net/~elhardt3/PolymoogPanel_Fonts.pdf
http://home.att.net/~elhardt3/PolymoogPanel_Curves.pdf
http://home.att.net/~elhardt3/PolymoogPanelKeyboard_Print.pdf

-Elhardt"

mirrored here

Me & TC Helicon Singing Christmas Tunes

via Kenneth Elhardt on AH:

"Christmas related T.C. Helicon demos I several months back.

Short demo showing how to get a larger choir sound out of a T.C. Helicon Quintet being used like a vocoder.
http://home.att.net/~elhardt4/TCHelicon_RealtimeChoir.mp3

This demo was done monophonically overdubbing one voice at a time. 4 part polyphony, each part overdubbed 3 times for a total of 12 tracks/people.
http://home.att.net/~elhardt4/TCHelicon_OComeAllYeFaithful.mp3

An earlier test of my trying to sound like a boys choir, but do to not using compression there's a lot of unevenness, and it didn't turn out sounding like a big group. But since it's related to the Christmas season, what the hell.
http://home.att.net/~elhardt4/TCHelicon_Jerusalem.mp3

-Elhardt"

STAGEA ELS-01C Demonstration Movie - Horizontal Touch

YouTube via yamahacorporation

"Yuki Wada presenting the STAGEA ELS-01C."
via Kenneth Elhardt on the AH list:
"A lot of people would like polyphonic aftertouch on their synths. I've
always wanted horizontal touch for doing manual vibrato as that seems
potentially more useful. I thought that was gone with the old Yamaha organs
and the GX-1, but noticed in the Yamaha Stagea demo video at the link below,
they still have that feature. Go to the 1:58 mark to see how that works.
Now I have to wonder why they're not putting that on any of their synths!
Wish the Vax77 Keyboard people were doing this, or some other MIDI keyboard
manufacturer."

Update: Yuki Wada live:

Yuki Wada Lupin 3rd

YouTube via kyanhpham. "Ms. Yuki Wada's concert in Vietnam"

Inside the Stand-Alone Polymoog Resonator - (Polymoogerfooger)

This is a follow-up to this post.

via Elhardt on the AH list:
"Now that I got the external power supply and other parts and finished it, I took a photo of the inside, back, and a new one of the front now that there's a red/green LED there which works just like the Moogerfoogers. That means it's green when the unit is enabled, and red when bypassed."

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Stand-Alone Polymoog Resonator - (Polymoogerfooger)

via Elhardt on AH: "Preliminary pictures of a one-of-a-kind stand alone Polymoog 3 Band Resonator. Just one more thing my defunct Polymoog synth produced as I don't believe in wasting any part of a Polymoog. It makes a great external processing unit. After I get the finishing parts from Mouser, it will also have a red/green bypass/enable LED on the front panel and will probably go up for sale or auction if I can manage to part with it.

-Elhardt
Bahn Audio Systems Custom Design Division"

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Custom Printed Moog Stickers and a Polymoog Case

via Elhardt on AH:

"Since I'm going to be parting out my Polymoog, I figured my lid which is in almost new condition might be something somebody would want to buy to make their Polymoog look new. However, since day one that back Moog sticker was all scraped up (this was Moog's NAMM demo) making that part not look new.

So I spent several hours in Corel Draw, measuring and drawing up a new Polymoog sticker to replace the one there. Since the print shop has a minimum order cost, I had to print a bunch of extras including different sizes and colors, plus I went with the additional high-gloss laminated coating over the top which looks beautiful. Printed on Orajet vinyl stickers. So if anybody needs Moog stickers to replace damaged or missing ones on either a Polymoog, the back of a Multimoog or to replace the missing plastic logo on the front of a Multimoog, or if you just want a Moog bumper sticker, or to put Moog stickers on other manufacturer's gear to increase its value to Moog vintage prices, or for any other reason, then here's pricing and sticker details below. Note, if for some reason there's more of a demand than I expected, I can always have more printed up, including other sizes too, and even possibly with user requested text put right in the sticker, such as your name, synth SN#, etc.

Minimum order $6 Paypal, free mailing to US (and probably free to Canada and
Europe assuming mailing a letter isn't outrageous)

(1) $6, Polymoog Sticker 7" x 2-3/8" with the rounded rectangle around the edge. I have several in black, and one each in the colors at picture below. (2) $6, Polymoog Sized Sticker but without the white rectagular boarder. White logo, black backgrount. Looks stately without being pretentious.
(3) $4, Multimoog Back Side Sticker, Moog text is 4-3/16". Black background, White logo.
(4) $2, Multimoog Front Logo Plate Sticker Replacement, Moog text is 2-1/2" wide. Black background, White logo.

If your interested in purchasing, email me what you want so I can see if I still have any left.

-Elhardt"

Update: If you are interested you can contact elhardt, same name at att.net.

SMS-2000 Synth Expansion Box Wood Frame for Sale

via the synth hoax king Ken Elhardt on the SDIY list, the frame of the SMS-2000 is for sale. If you don't know what the SMS-2000, click here, scroll to the bottom of the page, click older posts and scroll down to the first SMS 2000 post. Don't miss the Bahn Sage while you are there. Some truly amazing work.

Notes via KH on SDIY:
"SMS-2000 Synth expansion box wood frame. If you build DIY electronics projects and want something a bit nicer than an ugly, unfinished looking plastic or aluminum box to put knobs/buttons on and electronics inside, then pictured below is a nice wooden frame. It fits a 10.5" by 7.75" piece of metal or whatever material your panel will be. See pictures below. Note that my router took a small chip out of the upper left corner as barely seen in the bottom image in the first picture below. Only held together by wood screws, so it can be taken apart and a refinished or laquered up for a glossy shine if one desires. $20 plus $7 postage for the lower 48 states, Paypal." More images here.

MOTM Flute Patch by Elhardt

via My Synthesis Technology...