Prentke Romich Touch Talker TT-DB Assisted Learning PRC Teacher (Voice Synth)

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on Jul 7, 2015 Amanda Alfaro

I spotted an auction for a Touch Talker TT-DB below. I was curious what it sounded like so I did a quick search on YouTube and found the above. It's $299 on iTunes: LAMP Words For Life - Prentke Romich Company! The original hardware version below utilized Smoothtalker or DECTalk speech synthesis, and was built to interface with the Apple IIe, II+, and IBM PC. Not sure what the iOS version uses - new samples, samples of the original, or the actual synth engine of the original. Another interesting bit of synthesis history...

via this auction

"Touch Talker, models TT-DB, is a portable electronic communication aid offering synthesized speech output and optional printer or keyboard emulating output. Selections are made directly by pushing one of the keys on the membrane keyboard. Messages can be displayed on an LCD before being spoken. The Touch Talker can be used with Minspeak and Expanded Minspeak firmware, which allows vocabulary to be stored and recalled by semantic compaction and overlays to be created and reassigned. The Touch Talker can also be used to operate an environmental control system and a computer. Options for the Touch Talker include Smoothtalker or DECTalk speech synthesis, external printer, carrying case, keyboard emulating interface for the Apple IIe or II+ and the IBM-PC, the Memory Transfer Interface (which allows vocabulary sets to be stored on Apple diskette), and "Words Strategy" vocabulary software. Kits are also available to convert the keyboard to 8 or 32 positions. Contact manufacturer for option specifications and pricing. COMPATIBILITY: For use on Apple II+, Apple IIe, and IBM PC or compatible computers.

DIMENSIONS: 13 x 8.8 x 2.75 inches.
WEIGHT: 5.25 pounds.

Maker:

Prentke Romich Company"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Rare Zen-on EK200B MARCHING BASS KEYBOARD EK-2008 - 70s Japan

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

via this auction

This is the first one to be featured on the site. Just when you think you've seen it all, some never before piece of gear from synth history crops up. I capture them in the "New Old" label if you want to check some out. There are 101 posts over the last 13 years of running the site. Cool little bits of synth history.

"Very rare monophonic bass synthesizer keyboard ZENON EK200B made in Japan '70s
made as a student's marching band musical insturmnents.
looks very cool! mint-green panel with white wood side panel.
I'ts very hard to find even in Japan nowadays...


main panel has power,volume,sustain, tone selecter ( TUBA1,TUBA2,Electric BASS)
left side has internal speaker
back side has OUTPUT,Pitch,AC adaptor Inputs (for power & charge)

ZENON EK200B sound is very fat and warm analog Bass sound!"

CLICK FOR MORE »

MPC DSM8t British Analog Drum Synthesizer Module SN 235

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

via this auction

This is the first D.S.M. 8t to be featured on the site.

"Vintage DSM8t British analog drum synthesizer module. Made in the 80"s Tested and functioning. This item is used and has scratches. Three of the rubber feet are missing."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Vintage MPC 32x4 British Analog Drum Synthesizer Module SN 224

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

via this auction

This is the first MPC 32x4 to be featured on the site.

"Vintage MPC DSM 32X4 128 memory programmable drum synthesizer module. Made in the 80's. Tested and functioning. This is used , has some scratches and the rubber feet are missing."

CLICK FOR MORE »

MOOG PRODIGY - Exclusive 1:1 Replica / Clone

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Uploaded on Aug 12, 2018 John Doe

Update: some pics of the inside added below. According to the seller, this was a special order built from the schematics of the Prodigy.

via this auction

"Up for sale is EXCLUSIVE ONE-AND-ONLY 1:1 replica of legendary "MOOG PRODIGY" analog syntesizer.

Build build as a special order for private studio by a professional engineer.

The unit is build from the original "Prodigy Model 336A" scheme with the use of authentic top quality components which provides those original iconic sound. The synth is 100% pure analog. Its effective design employs two voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) with saw, triangle and pulse waveforms. These waveforms could be detuned up or down by more than a fifth, allowing for the creation of thick pads as well as atonal sounds. The two oscillators could be synchronized as well, then altered using the pitch wheel (in sync mode, the pitch wheel would alter the tonality of the sound, not the pitch. Roaring synth leads were made possible using this feature.) There's also a genuine Moog 24dB / octave lowpass filter (emphasis), A/D/S envelope generator, and LFO with square or triangle waveforms and routing to the VCF, VCO or both! Even Portamento, Pitch and Mod wheels. This instrument is capable of a full range of synthetic sounds, from a gentle whistle or flute in the upper ranges, to sub-level bass (a sub oscillator allowed for very deep lows). The voltage controlled amplifier (VCA) was controllable only via a 3-stage ADR envelope controller (ADR short for Attack Decay Release). The low frequency oscillator (LFO) of the Prodigy featured a triangle and square waveform, which could be routed to the VCO or VCF to create pitch or filter modulation effects. Keyboard has 32 keys. The casing is made of wood + metal (just like the original).

CLICK FOR MORE »

Benge Polysynthi Sketch

Published on Aug 15, 2018 zack dagoba

"Playing around on the EMS Polysynthi. No other effects were used in this video. It really is a clever little polysynth. The aftertouch is surprisingly expressive. And the voltage controllable analogue delay is shattering. See http://myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com for more"

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Variations V

Variations V (1966) - Merce Cunningham Dance Company Published on Oct 14, 2013

"Merce Cunningham
1966, 49:05, b&w, sound

First composed and performed in 1965, 'Variations V' is a true testament to 1960's experiments with "intermedia"—a coexistence and cutting across of artistic genres that profoundly informed Cunningham's choreographic practice. Video is materially integrated into the performance, with projections by Stan VanDerBeek and overlaid TV distortions by Nam June Paik enveloping the dancers. Twelve sound-sensitive electronic poles dot the stage; sound is triggered by the dancers' movements and then altered or delayed by the musicians. 'Variations V' predates Cunningham's 'video-dances,' demonstrating a different moment in his relation to the technology.

MUSICIANS John Cage 'Variations V'
DANCERS Merce Cunningham, Carolyn Brown, Barbara Lloyd, Sandra Neels, Albert Reid, Peter Saul, Gus Solomons Jr.

© 2013 Merce Cunningham Trust. All rights reserved."

via @moogmusicinc

"On this date in 1965: Bob Moog collaborated with John Cage, Nam June Paik, and others on The Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s visual, sonic, and kinetic happening Variations V."

$126,508.32 Massive Vintage Rare 1974 ARP 2500 in Superb Condition for Sale

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

via this auction, priced at $126,508.32 + $1,640.77 Shipping.

This one was spotted and sent in via an anonymous MATRIXSYNTH reader. It was once for sale back in August, 2017.

Details via the listing, captured for the archives:

"Selling my beloved ARP 2500 - Model 2515 Studio Cabinet. Serial number - 74-005

I am the second owner of this fantastic piece of history and purchased this instrument from a dutch composer/violinist who in turn ordered it directly from the Arp factory around 1976. Before my ownership, it was used in a reasonably well known studio in Hilversum for a multitude of experimental recordings throughout the 70s and 80s.

It is in pristine condition and original state with only a few cosmetic blemishes. It has been used and stored in a smoke free, temperature controlled environment and is a joy just to look at, let alone play. A well laid out collection of modules that offer many many years of deep exploration, I spent almost 6months just with the 1036(Sample/Hold/Random voltage) module :).

All modules are working and sounding fantastic. The filters are especially lush, definitely nothing else sounds like a 2500 and the unique matrix switch system is ripe territory for happy/accidental patching discoveries.
The fabulous ARP 2500 was used by famous musicians like Aphex Twin, Pete Townshend, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Jimmy Edgar, Luke Vibert, Vince Clarke, Faust, Eliane Radigue. And used in films like Logan's Run and communicating with the aliens in Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Here is your chance to own an instrument capable of taking you on an intergalactic journey through time and space...

Check out my other listings for more rare stuff.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Terratec Promedia Waldorf micro Wave PC EWS Synthesizer Module for the PC

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

via this auction

Here's something you don't see often. A Waldorf synth that sits in a PC drive bay.

The Waldorf microWavePC or micro WavePC. Curious what the EWS stands for. Electronic Wavetable Synthesizer? Excellent Waldorfian Supersynth?

P.S. I swear I've seen one before, but this just might be the first one to be featured on the site.

Update via Swissdoc:

"It [EWS] stands for Eierlegende WollmilchSau. Terratec used the EWS name for a series of soundcards.

The term 'eierlegende Wollmilchsau' is often used to describe product, which can do everything and more. It describes an animal, which is a hybrid out of chicken (can lay eggs), sheep (produces wool), cow (gives milk) and pig (in German Sau or Schwein). Translated it would then be: egg-laying wool-milk-pig. This is not working out in English, since the English language is missing the option of composing new words out of existing. Like Donaudampfschif...

There is a German Wikipedia entry for EWS only. But here is a nice visualization, of how a EWS may look like.

Coming back to the Terratec microWave PC. This a special version of the Microwave II/XT, but it runs a different OS. The latest OS for Microwave II/XT was not ported over back in time, so the Terratec microWave PC lacks a few features. On Sequencer.de there was a recent thread about soundsets for the Terratec microWave PC, where forum member Summa posted some converted banks. I made it available for download."

Brian Sharp at the Kawai T50 Japan 1978

Published on Apr 17, 2016 Mike Bracchi

"Recorded in Japan at a 1978 concert ... original 8-track tapes were sent to the UK and transferred to 16 track tape in Birmingham.

Brian then overdubbed the original recording by adding to the mix with a Kawai Grand Piano ...

I'm sorry about the 'popping, hissing and crackling' from my well worn record ... I keep meaning to replace it."

Another one spotted and sent my way via Conny. Based on the year, I'm guessing the Kawai T50 was analog. The following is some minimal info via organforum.com.

"Masato Akiyama was one of Kawai Japan's staff organists at the time, so would certainly have been heavily involved with the T50 project. A really nice guy and great player.I played my Japanese concerts with him and with another Kawai staff organist, Norio Goto, and our own Brian Sharp.The T50 strings were indeed superb, played from Manual IV (the top one in front of you), but available elsewhere via couplers. With eight, ten really, manuals, it took a few minutes to set up between numbers, but once started, you had enough pre-registered, and then plenty of sounds available pretty much instantly from the presets in front of you.

The T6 was a pre-production version of the T5. I have a picture of it from 1979, when it was in the museum at the Kawai/Teisco factory in Saitama Province."

If you know more, feel free to leave a comment.

Update: This is a follow-up this post on the Kawai DX800.

RARE KAWAI MEMORICORDER MC-1 WITH ORIGINAL MANUAL SN 331021

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

via this auction

Never seen one of these before.

Note the "Digital Excellence" DX  logo on the left.  The DX is in Yamaha font. The red orange stripe is reminiscent of Roland.


Update: You can find one sitting on top of a Kawai DX800 Digital Organ in this video. Considering the name, I am again curious if there is any relation to Yamaha. I checked Wikipedia and found the following:

"Koichi Kawai, the company founder, was born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1886. As the son of a wagon maker, Kawai developed an ability to create mechanical devices and inventions as young boy. His neighbor, Torakusu Yamaha, a watchmaker and reed organ builder, noticed Koichi riding past on a unique pedal-driven cart he built himself. Impressed, Yamaha, who was struggling to build his first upright pianos, took the early-teenager in as an apprentice. While just a young man, he became a key member of the research and development team that first introduced pianos to his country. He proved to be a gifted inventor who became the first to design and build a complete piano action in Japan. He was awarded many patents for his designs and inventions.[1]"

Fascinating bit of synth history.

Update2 via swissdoc: " With a bit of Google I could spot this document in French, which reveals the function of it

It is to store registration settings of the organ. It can save to magnetic card. Thats it. Nothing fancy."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Red Sound Micro Sync Beat Xtractor MIDI Clock Sync SN 00341

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

via this auction

Never seen one before now.

Kind of looks like a eurorack module, but it's not. RedSound were of course the makers of the RedSound Darkstar.

"The Micro Sync Beat Xtractor is a very reliable audio/MIDI synchroniser and BPM counter.

It accurately synchronizes your MIDI sequencer with audio playback, keeping the downbeats locked together for the perfect real-time groove.

This comes in really handy when syncing up a mix of equipment that's both old and new.

Features:
4-digit BPM display Synchronization status indicator
Rotating MIDI clock display
Tap 4 way Nudge control for manually adjusting the BPM Lock-in time
Typically 2 - 4 sec's (readable beat information)
Accuracy: 0.1 BPM
Input level: Nominal line level (1V peak)
Display: 1 x 4 character 7 segment LED BPM Range 60-230"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Original Arp Synthesizer Brochure Featuring the ARP 2500 & What is an Arp Synthesizer?

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

via this auction

"Original brochure from ARP ‘ what is Anna to Synthesizer?’ 3x5.5 folded card in VG shape no tears"

You can click on the bottom image to read the article.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Conbrio ADS 200 Original Catalog

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

via this auction

"4 page 1980 catalog for the Conbrio ADS200. Very rare promotional item. Has sticker on front. see pics."

That there is rare. See the Conbrio label below if you are not familiar with this synth.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Beaver & Krause Grace Cathedral Performance (1971)

Published on May 17, 2018 Moog Music Inc

"As one half of the electronic duo Beaver & Krause, Bernie Krause performed with the newly invented Moog synthesizer on hundreds of popular recording sessions through the late 60s and early 70s -- contributing the electronic sounds of the future to albums from The Doors, The Monkees, the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young, and The Beach Boys.

Over two nights in in January of 1971, Bernie Krause recorded his Moog Synthesizer IIIp in Grace Cathedral -- with a reverberation time of 7 seconds -- for the Beaver & Krause album Gandharva.

This archive footage, unreleased for nearly 50 years, shows Bernie Krause and Paul Beaver in collaboration with the Gandharva ensemble during their live session in the Grace Cathedral. Krause set up mics throughout the entire church and asked the musicians to walk through the nave as they performed, emphasizing the illusion of space on the recording.

Bernie Krause is the recipient of the 2018 Moog Innovation Award -- presented at Moogfest 2018, the annual music, art and technology festival in Durham, North Carolina. This award recognizes over 50 years of visionary work that has redefined our understanding of creativity and deepened the possibilities that can be shared between human and machine.

Learn more about Bernie Krause here: www.wildsanctuary.com/

Learn more about Moogfest at www.moogfest.com"

The Original ARP 2500 Build Invoice for Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Check that out.

See KORG microKAST Ep#21 A KORG Odyssey for additional details.

Note the invoice includes instructions on how it is to be built and there is no price. I'm guessing this was the internal build invoice for construction of the ARP 2500 and not the billing invoice to Columbia Pictures.

Amazing bit of synth history.

Apparently the system resides at Cantos. See this post for a video of the scenes that featured the ARP 2500.

You can find posts mentioning Close Encounters of the Third Kind here. Kind of a "one degree of separation" run of posts in the archives. :)

Update: See this post for an interview on the 2500 w/ Alan R Pearlman.

Albert van Abbe - Against The Clock

Published on Apr 25, 2018 FACTmagazine

Insane. Here is something you do not see everyday.

"Albert Van Abbe has been releasing gritty, atmospheric techno for over a decade on underground labels like Semantica and his own No Comment imprint, so we figured he'd know his way around a synth well enough to make a track in 10 minutes for our Against The Clock series.

However, we were completely unprepared for what we got when we caught up with him at the Willem Twee studios in the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch. There, he opted to make his track on a giant wall of oscilloscopes, pulse generators and filters from the 1950s and '60s along with an ARP 2500. Eurorack this is not."

Countryman Associates TYPE 968A Phase Shifter

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

via this auction

This is the first post to properly feature Countryman Associates (they were previously mentioned in the BBC video linked below). Check out the EMS SYNTHI in the background. I can't quite place what's on the upper left. Thought it might be the EMS SYNTHI Logik, but it's not. If anyone knows, feel free to leave a comment.

"Countryman released the first commercial phase shifting devices beginning with the Type 967 Phase Shifter around 1967; The 968A is the last model in this series, released around '71. Like the 967 and 968, the 968A uses an internal Envelope Follower rather than a cyclic LFO for phase modulation. There is also a CV input on the front panel, along with the audio input and output.

Besides being one of the very first of its kind, and having a very unique sound, the 968A is designed in a way that makes it particularly suited to experimental audio processes and special audio effects (as opposed to and different from your average stomp box phaser). There's not a lot of information online about this rare device, but what is available is mostly concerning it's experimental applications.

The 968A was used in a number of early electronic music studios including the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It's featured in this BBC TV 70's documentary film." [posted here]

CLICK FOR MORE »

Shasta Cults - Buchla Touché Waveshapes

Published on Apr 8, 2018 Shasta Cults

This is the first video ever featuring the graphic output of the Buchla Touché waveshapes, from currently the ONLY Buchla Touché with the ability to display them. This is as rare as it gets in the synth world.

"The Touché uses non linear wave shaping for timbre generation, same as the 360, 400, 700 and 259e (a distortion based wave shaping technique).  It has 9 native  wave shape tables (6 user programmable). A sine wave is generated digitally and then sent through the selected table. Timbre is effected by the amplitude of the sine wave, so it accents high and low harmonics more, based on sine wave level.  Timbre modulation was Don Buchla's wave shape technique. This particular Touché is a development model that will display wave shapes, as well as allow you can program your own…  if you can figure it out." See this page for some technical info on Waveshaping from ussb.edu.

The following was composed on the Touché using sine waves.



You can find previous posts featuring the rare Buchla Touché here.

ROLAND ELECTRONIC MUSIC SEMINAR 1980s MIDI Synthesizer Course Materials & Cassettes

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

via this auction

"In the mid-1980s, Roland sponsored the Electronic Music Seminar, an instructional course on MIDI, synthesizers and the use of computers in music.

The seminar featured professional musicians then at the forefront of the new technology, including:

Gary Wright - Singer / Songwriter ("Dream Weaver," "Love is Alive")
Suzanne Ciani - Electronic Music Pioneer / Sound Designer (and "Diva of the Diode")
Michael Boddicker - Film Composer ("Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai")

The seminar traveled on a multi-city tour at various venues across the country, and had a major impact on many young synthesists who attended.

This is the original seminar binder and materials that were distributed to attendees, including a 3-ring binder of printed course materials and the accompanying 4 audio cassettes of electronic music demonstrations (all tested and working.)

The binder consists of nine sections, corresponding to the topics presented at the all-day seminar:

1) Basic Performance System Design
2) Advanced System Design
3) Recording Applications
4) Advanced MIDI Techniques
5) Introduction to Computers and Music Software
6) Advanced Music Software
7) Audio / Visual Synchronization
8) MIDI Reference Materials
9) Glossaries

Aside from a little wear, the binder and materials are in excellent condition."

CLICK FOR MORE »