Rare birds: Elka Wilgamat 1 / analog drum machine and accompaniment unit

video upload by ohm_studi_ohm

"Here is another 'one man band' from the 70s I just serviced. Many dead CMOS chipsets, lots of bad connections on the motherboard daughterboards sockets (broken pins, bad solder joint) and a dying voltage regulator, among other things. Custom built keyboard to trigger the accompaniment unit, with jack socket input for pedal that introduce drum breaks. A different flavor than the Welson Ritmo I recently demoed but definitely in the same mood.
Recorded through a Teisco 120 to add some reverb."

This appears to be the first post to feature the Elka Wilgamat 1. Note the "1" on the right. The Elka Wilgamat minus the "1" has been featured on the site before in previous posts here. Which came first? :) You can find additional Elka Wilgamat models here.

Update: according to Ohm Studio: "Electronics are exactly the same. I think this one is later and was an add for some Elka organ, maybe Concorde or something. The black color is I think factory since it’s all over the case even inside. It’s clearly the same fake wood as the original but painted black, probably to better match the organ aesthetics. I definitely remember seeing auctions with Elka organ and this wilgamat unit bundle. Also the complete wilgamat electronics and controls are fitted in some Elka organ, spinet and combo. Don’t remember which model but I did scavenged à spinet one to retrieve all the pcbs."

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V.A.I. 55 Elka Wilgamat / Multivox MX-3000

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Another spin with these twooddbalss: The Elka Wilgamat and Multivox MX-3000.
The Elka Wilgamat is probably a bit familiar to our viewers by now - an Italian auto-accompaniment machine with three sections:

1. Analog drum machine section
2. Bass section with 2 sounds and variations
3. Chord section with 3 sounds

Harmonically controlled by a two-octave keyboard with a fill-in bar on top, it has a great warm sound that's unmistakably mid-1970s to our ears, the drum machine alone sounds great.

The Multivox MX-3000 is a pretty rare Japanese string machine and monophonic synth combo.
A bit similar to the Farfisa Soundmaker or maybe Solina String Synthesizer (the BIG one - not the regular String Ensemble) or the Crumar Composer but with a more complex polyphonic - or rather Divide Down - section.
Lots bells and whistles here.

It basically has three separate sections:

1. A bass synth section with multiple preset sounds and attack, decay and tone controls.

2. A polyphonic section with preset sounds that are modifiable in quite a few ways with a very nice and aggressive filter section, attack/decay, two different choruses, two glide modes and more.

3. Single Oscillator monophonic section. No presets but a few different wave forms, a very nice filter, portamento and the usual mono stuff for great leads, basses and even some space effects.

The Polyphonic filter and choruses are very cool on these, maybe that's what we got it for initially but it's turning in to our desert island machine, there's really a lot going on here, it's a versatile instrument with quite a unique and somewhat rustic sound.

They're famously hard to service due to lack of a good set of schematics.
The build-quality is strangely bad for late 1970s Japanese keyboards so they somehow always break down.
Vintage Audio Institute is a studio and gear vendor in the hills of Florence, Italy."

Elka Wilgamat analog drum machine and accompaniment unit SN 1227

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

via this auction

Note the listing is for only 1 unit.

"The Elka Wilgamat was an accompaniment unit intended as an add-on to some of Elka's organ line and also as a standalone unit with dedicated 2 octave keyboard. It consists of a rhythm unit, a bass section and a chord section. All sounds are of course fully analog. It is very similar in features and sound to theGodwin Drummaker, Wersi Wersimatic WM24, Elgam Carousel or Böhm Böhmat."

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V.A.I. 54 Elka Wilgamat / Multivox MX-3000

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"These two machines match up quite well to our ears so we made a bunch of videos - more coming soon.
The Elka Wilgamat is probably a bit familiar to our viewers by now - an Italian auto-accompaniment machine with three sections:

1. Analog drum machine section
2. Bass section with 2 sounds and variations
3. Chord section with 3 sounds

Harmonically controlled by a two-octave keyboard with a fill-in bar on top, it has a great warm sound that's unmistakably mid-1970s to our ears, the drum machine alone sounds great.

The Multivox MX-3000 is a pretty rare Japanese string machine and monophonic synth combo.
A bit similar to the Farfisa Soundmaker or maybe Solina String Synthesizer (the BIG one - not the regular String Ensemble) or the Crumar Composer but with a more complex polyphonic - or rather Divide Down - section.
Lots bells and whistles here.

It basically has three separate sections:

1. A bass synth section with multiple preset sounds and attack, decay and tone controls.

2. A polyphonic section with preset sounds that are modifiable in quite a few ways with a very nice and aggressive filter section, attack/decay, two different choruses, two glide modes and more.

3. Single Oscillator monophonic section. No presets but a few different wave forms, a very nice filter, portamento and the usual mono stuff for great leads, basses and even some space effects.

The Polyphonic filter and choruses are very cool on these, maybe that's what we got it for initially but it's turning in to our desert island machine, there's really a lot going on here, it's a versatile instrument with quite a unique and somewhat rustic sound.

They're famously hard to service due to lack of a good set of schematics.
The build-quality is strangely bad for late 1970s Japanese keyboards so they somehow always break down.

Enjoy, more coming."

ELKA Wilgamat 1 SN 239

via this auction

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Wilgamat III Modifications - version 3

video upload by mysterycircuits

"Modified Elka Wilgamat 3. DIY keyboard controller using Yamaha PSR-12 keys. Tubbutec uniPulse for MIDI clocking and drum triggering. Individual accompaniment sounds switched on and off from keyboard controller, accessible via DB25 to 1/4" breakout. Four octaves of square waves called "Synth" follow the bass lines. "Roll" button on keyboard activates a built in drum roll. Fill, Minor, and 7th are controlled from keyboard. More info at: www.mysterycircuits.com/wilgamatIIIv3.html"

Additional Wilgamat III posts

Moby's Drum Machines For Sale

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

You can find them on Reverb here.

Don't miss the video here.

Update: some pics and details captured. I made the mistake of trying to capture them all and then realized how many were listed. :) I ended up switching to the more esoteric models. Quite a few have never been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH before. What's a little bit interesting, is only two new labels were needed, one for Domino and one for Side-Kick-Er. All other brands have been featured before. See the labels at the bottom of this post. Side note: Blogger limits the number of characters to 200 for labels, so I wasn't able to capture them all for this post. You can always search for the brand names featured for more. I assume most do this anyway. The labels are more for maintenance and for finding posts that may not feature brand names in descriptions.

Pictured:

Realistic Concertmate Electronic Accompanist-Metronome

"Fully analog rhythmic companion utilizing 5 beat buttons to combine how you wish. Features metronome, speaker and line out, and tempo control.

Serial: 42-2103. Works with no issue."

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Elka Wilgamat: all patterns and variations and some tips

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
video upload by ohm_studi_ohm

00:00 intro
01:10 all patterns and variations demos
06:17 instruments played as solo"



"UNIT IS FOR SALE:
https://reverb.com/item/89181075
https://www.ebay.com/itm/306255320490

I've serviced several Wilgamat and I noticed that sometimes you can miss some minor issues in an otherwise working unit, mainly in the bass accompaniement arpeggios: missing notes, wrong pitched notes, double trigger notes... These issues (as most of the issues in this instruments) are caused by faulty CMOS chipsets. These are cheap and easy to replace. Issue can however be in the AY-1-1313 chipsets (Priority Latching Network chipset) and these are harder to find.

Here you can listen to a fullly working and proper sounding unit and compare it to yours. Pay particular attention to the bass part, especially in "walking bass" mode. If one or more patterns do not sound like these then you have some faulty chipsets somewhere.

There is a non intended use of these unit I like: when playing in "key" start mode with lowest tempo, you can use this unit as a simple bass or synth keyboard.

Depending on the pattern selected you don't get the same result. With a little pratice it can turn as a nice simple bass keyboard.

Also note the bass section only spans over 1 octave whereas the accompanient sections spans over 2."

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Welson Ritmo - Serviced with DIY Keyboard

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

via this listing

"Rare, analog auto-accompaniment machine from Italy with DIY keyboard - these don’t come up for sale often and if you’re a fan of Elgam Carousel or Elka Wilgamat you might need this.

The Welson Ritmo has 4 sections with individual volumes and minor modulation controls:

1. Analog drum machine with 12 preset rhythms

2. Bass line generator with 2 sounds and 2 bass lines per rhythm

3. Chords section with 2 independent chord sounds with volumes.

4. Arpeggiator with 1 sound with volume and decay controls and harmony.

Very good condition unit just back from service with some minor paint chips on top and a few smaller dings on the wooden sides.

The DIY keyboard is heavy duty and has a vintage feel - it was made from a vintage Gem organ keybed.

220 volt with Italian 3-prong power plug

Item ships from Italy"

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