Be a Part of the Party! Come to our Live Stream Opening the EVENT AT EMEAPP!
ARP@100 celebrates the life and work of our namesake, the visionary synthesizer pioneer Alan R. Pearlman with the opening of a remarkable exhibition, taking place this Saturday, June 7, on what would have been his 100th birthday. This fundraising event will highlight Alan's groundbreaking achievements and showcase his legendary ARP synthesizers. How to Attend
IN PERSON: Saturday, June 7 · 7 - 10pm EDT. Doors at 6:30pmIn-person event at EMEAPP in Pennsylvania
On-LINE STREAMING EVENT: Starts at 7:00pm EDT, but if you purchase a ticket and are out of the time zone, you can revisit for up to one month!
ALAN R. PEARLMAN FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL CELEBRATION OF THE CENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY OF ARP SYNTHESIZER FOUNDER, ALAN R. PEARLMAN, JUNE 7 AT THE MUSEUM OF MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
Kingston, NY - May 20, 2025 - This year marks the 100th birthday of the late inventor of the ARP synthesizer, Alan R. Pearlman. In honor of his pioneering innovations in electronic music, the Alan R. Pearlman Foundation will launch ARP@100: A Centennial Celebration of Alan R. Pearlman’s Legacy with EMEAPP at the Museum of Music Technology. A gala event kicks off a year’s worth of commemorative ARP centennial activities and takes place at EMEAPP, located in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, from 7 -10 pm.
June 7th Centennial activities at the museum include:
A live interview with the ARP Foundation’s director, Dina Pearlman-Ifil
Video excerpts from musicians, former ARP employees, and filmmaker Alex Ball’s celebrated ARP films
Performances on vintage ARP instruments by music pioneer Don Slepian and modular synthesist Ombient
The ability to try out a variety of synths
EMEAPP will unveil, at its Museum of Music Technology, a haven of vintage ARP history in which visitors will encounter an epic collection of ARP synthesizers, including the majestic ARP 2500 and a rare, early ARP 2502 with a cherry drop matrix. The iconic ARP 2600 Blue Meanie will be proudly displayed alongside an array of other ARP classics: the versatile Quadra, the expressive Soloist series, multiple iterations of the legendary Odyssey, the innovative Avatar, the powerful Chroma, the punchy Axxe, the compact Little Brother, and even a remarkable 16-Voice Electronic Piano – many of which will be playable!
Countless composers, musicians, and filmmakers worldwide have incorporated the ARP 2500 and ARP 2600 into their work, including early adopters Pete Townsend (in the “Who’s Next” album) and Elton John (in “Funeral for a Friend”). Stevie Wonder, an early adopter of the 2600, had his control panels labeled in Braille. The ARP 2600 was also responsible for the voice of R2-D2 in Star Wars films, and the 2500 was used to communicate with aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Alan R. Pearlman’s legacy as an engineer and inventor began at an early age. A fascination with sound occupied his interest, and he spent time as a child building amateur radios. In 1948, as a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he wrote, “The electronic instrument’s value is chiefly as a novelty. With greater attention on the part of the engineer to the needs of the musician, the day may not be too remote when the electronic instrument may take its place as a versatile, powerful, and expressive instrument.”
Attendees may reserve a spot at this exclusive celebration and fundraising event with a tax-deductible donation of $150 per ticket. The contribution includes complimentary wine/beer/other beverages, a selection of snacks, and a swag bag. Parking is Free.
The Museum of Music Technology/EMEAPP is located at 45 Mainland Road, Harleysville, PA 19438, just a short drive from the PA Turnpike Lansdale exits."
"We are pleased to present an in-depth conversation with Dina Pearlman-Ifil, executive director of the Alan R. Pearlman Foundation. We talk about the foundation, its mission to preserve the legacy of Alan R. Pearlman and make his instruments available to new generations of musicians, and the exciting events surrounding Pearlman's centennial this year. We also delve in Alan R. Pearlman's early interests in music technology, the musical questions that inspired the first ARP instruments, and Dina's own journey in music and creativity.
To find out more about the Alan R. Pearlman foundation, including their newsletter, upcoming events, and how to contribute, please visit their website:
00:00 Introduction
00:34 About the Alan R. Pearlman Foundation
06:40 Events planned for Alan R. Pearlman's centennial
13:24 How to learn more about the foundation and subscribe to the newsletter
14:27 Alan R. Pearlman's early and formative years with music and electronics
20:47 Op Amps and Analog Computing
25:04 Exploring electronic music and possibilities
29:55 The ARP 2500, and the "ARP" approach to musical instruments
39:18 Dina Pearlman-Ifil's journey through music, art, and technology
48:26 Conclusion
Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.
VEMIA is Peter Forrest's auction house. He is the author of The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizer Books.
"This potentially wonderful instrument is silent at the moment. We have had it here for two years or so, but time has run out and it needs to go to another person who can finish off the process of getting it 100% again.
It had power supply and disk drive issues. We have replaced the disk drive with an HxC drive, which contains everything that was on the floppies. Most of the OS floppies seem to have been corrupt or non-functioning. There is more work that needs to be done to the power supply / supplies. Both supplies are switchable 110/240V. The gas struts which should support the Grapher at an angle have given up holding up anything, and need to be replaced.
Cosmetically there is one superficial scratch above the Grapher's LED matrix, and the Solitary case front is not in brilliant cosmetic order.
It is serial number 990-0004-151. As there were apparently less than 40 of these made, I'm not sure why it has a long serial number. It has its original manual, original floppy disks in a case, the stunningly solid (military-grade?) custom flightcase, and the redundant (faulty) disk drive.
We believe this version is a Studio System, with eight voices (all with individual outs) and including the all-important Acxelizer for control and creation of voices.
""Here’s a little slice of my 2022 live streaming concert at EMEAPP, just outside Philly! My synth rig that night? A modest setup of only 13 vintage, historically iconic synthesizers, pianos, and organs. No big deal. This clip, though, highlights just two of the heavyweights: Keith Emerson’s colossal Moog Modular synth (dubbed 'The World’s Most Dangerous Synth,' because why not?)—the same beast he hauled around with Emerson, Lake & Palmer for 30+ years—and the massive Yamaha GX-1, which is basically an organ on steroids with a touch of Yamaha CS-80 DNA. If you’re ready for more sonic madness, the full concert is up on YouTube. Check it out and marvel at how I avoided toppling over under all that synth weight!"
"The advent of digital FM synthesis changed the trajectory of modern music production and performance. This inaugural episode of EMEAPP Interviews: focuses on the life and work of composer and innovator John Chowning who discovered and developed this concept. Join us as Mike Hunter spends some quality time with John discussing how it all came about, it might not be what you expect!"
Episode 1 here. This video has been added to that post as well.
"Time for more Rick Wright from Pink Floyd? You bet! Here is episode 2 of INSIDE THE MIX featuring the types of instruments that Rick used during the Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon and Animals era. Check out a Farfisa Compact Duo, Yamaha YC45D, EMS Synthi AKS, Solina String Synthesizer, Rhodes Super Satellite, Minimoog, Taurus bass pedals, Clavinet D6, ARP Quadra and Keith Emerson's Steinway Model D.
Mike Kiker joins us once again to recreate a Pink Floyd favorite, Wish You Were Here. He even gives us a close-up look at these remarkable instruments with demos!"
"In this episode of Sonic Test Drive, synth guru Dr. Mike Metlay lays out the beautiful Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 synthesizer. EMEAPP Award winner, Dave Smith, created this dual-manual beast which is basically TWO Prophet 5s in a box, that a LOT of WOW!
Read more about the Prophet-10 and other classic and rare synths (many from EMEAPP!) in Mike’s book SYNTH GEMS 1 which can be found here: https://bjooks.com/products/synth-gem..."
"Here is electronic music pioneer DON SLEPIAN taking us on a test drive of the EML 400/401. With fewer than 300 units produced, this is a unique opportunity to dive into a very rare bird!"
"Wanna see Gershon Kingsley's Moog used at the First Moog Quartet's premiere Carnegie Hall concert? Check out this quick video that tells the story of this innovative electronic music pioneer and one of his most influential performances.
Archival photos Courtesy of The Bob Moog Foundation archive."
"Happy birthday to synthesizer pioneer PETER ZINOVIEFF. Here's a quick look at some of his innovations within our EMS here at the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project (EMEAPP). This includes the VCS3 (The Putney), the Synthi AKS, the Synthetical Engine, and our Synthi 100 system, including the Compu-Synthi and the Vocoder 5000. Please follow us, there's lots of good stuff on the way!"
"Are you a fan of the original ARP Odyssey? Here is electronic music pioneer DON SLEPIAN with the first of two informative Sonic Test Drive videos about this legendary synthesizer. Do you have one? Have you ever played one? Please tell us about your experieces in the comment section. Don't forget to visit us at www.emeapp.org and join us as a FREE member!"
"Are you thinking of purchasing the new Cherry Audio PS-3300 plugin? Check out this video! Make sure you purchase it directly from cherryaudio.com as 10% of the profits will be donated to our organization during the month of October. An option for an additional $5 donation is also available at checkout so please consider that as well, your support is greatly appreciated!
While we were involved in prior product releases (GX-80 and Novachord), this was our first collaboration from the ground level with Cherry Audio and we definitely wanted to make an impression. We felt that a recreation of our cherished and ultra-rare KORG PS-3300 polyphonic synthesizer would be the perfect candidate for Cherry to translate from the actual hardware to the computer screen in their inimitable style. They did the PS-3300 justice and we are extremely proud to have been the source of the secrets to this mythical beast. We are also extremely grateful to the fine folks at Cherry Audio who have gone above and beyond in their support of EMEAPP and our mission. We look forward to future projects together.
To learn more about EMEAPP, please visit emeapp.org and become a free member!"
"PS-3300 is an exactingly faithful virtual analog emulation of the colossal and ultra-rare semi-modular analog polyphonic synthesizer released by KORG in 1977. Cherry Audio has pulled out all the stops to accurately recreate and update this mythical monster synth, from its massive stacked sonic character and signature multiple‑resonator sweeps to the considerable patching capabilities that distinguished the PS-3300 from all other polysynths at the time."
Introduction to Cherry Audio's PS-3300 - Hosted by Tim Shoebridge
"To get users up and running with PS-3300, Cherry Audio and Tim Shoebridge of Sound Mangling have again teamed up to create an introductory tutorial video walking users through the history and extensive features of this massive virtual synthesizer instrument.
"Today we present the new PS-3300 from our friends at Cherry Audio, in partnership with the good people at the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project (EMEAPP). The original Korg PS-3300 is a massive polyphonic semi-modular analog synthesizer with three independent polyphonic synth voices, each of which has a multi-waveform oscillator, low-pass resonant filter, a unique three-band resonator, independent tuning of each note of the scale and more. Cherry Audio's version recreates the look and sound of the original, and adds some additional modern features.
Such a beast of an instrument deserves a beast of a video, almost an hour in length, packed with details about the history of the instrument, how each part of the synth voice works, how to use all three together, the global and effects sections, and factory presets."
00:00 Introduction 00:26 History of the Korg PS-3300 01:33 Overview 02:39 Single voice - oscillator 05:40 Low pass filter 10:42 Resonators 13:56 Amplitude and frequency modulation (single voice) 17:56 More global modules 19:55 Temperament and intonation 23:48 Multiple voices 25:57 Multiple resonators and low-pass filters 34:27 Cross-voice modulation 39:23 Different temperaments on each voice 41:33 The effects section 48:48 Factory Presets 57:15 Conclusion
**NEW** Cherry Audio PS3300 // 3 polyphonic synths in a semi modular box
"This is one CRAZY synth!! 3 full polyphonic synths in one big box. Here's my review, demo and walkthrough of the Cherry Audio PS3300. It's a replica of the Korg of the same name from 1977. This is a great example of a unique and characterful synth from the days when they were figuring out how best to create and control the tones.
Each voice has a single oscillator, lowpass filter, ADSR envelope and 2 LFOs. The resonators are a great addition - 3 resonant BP filters per voice - gives a lush or crazy phasing effect.
Follow all this with Cherry Audios FX, and the scalable interface, MIDI control etc etc and you end up with something well worth picking up. Have a cheese sandwich for you dinner and pick this up instead of a pizza!"
0:00 what is it? 2:35 Oscillators 4:52 Filter 6:20 Envelope 7:22 Polyphony 7:41 Keyboard Volume Balance 8:18 Resonators 9:50 Amp Modulation 10:27 Keyboard CV Outputs 11:08 Mixer 13:08 CV Processors 15:23 Sample and Hold 16:21 CV Processors Signal Invert
Starts with the Minimoog, followed by lots of ARP QUADRA in this one. EMEAPP is a synth museum. You can find additional posts featuring them here.
"It does our hearts good to see the younger generations take an interest in the classic tunes from decades past and add their own flair to them. Here for your eyes and ears is the house band from the Fort Washington, PA chapter of the School Of Rock, performing a quartet of 70s classics (Frankenstein by The Edgar Winter Group, Have A Cigar by Pink Floyd, Hydra by Toto and Stargazer by Rainbow). Our good friend and School Of Rock musical director Mike Kiker (check out his INSIDE THE MIX: Rick Wright video on our channel, link below) guided these kids through the setlist and it was an awesome experience to see them light up our vintage keys and synths, amps and drum kit which added an extra layer of sonic authenticity to their performances.
You can find us at www.emeapp.org where we invite you to join us as a FREE member."
"Are you a fan of early Pink Floyd and their keyboardist, Richard Wright? We are too! Enjoy this deep look into instruments and techniques used by Rick in the early days of the band leading up to the time of their live-performance film release, Live At Pompeii. This includes the type of instruments he used on Obscured By Clouds, Atom Heart Mother, A Saucerful of Secrets and Meddle. We faithfully recreated his early setup and had musician Mike Kiker deliver a killer performance of their beloved song, Echoes."
"Time for more Rick Wright from Pink Floyd? You bet! Here is episode 2 of INSIDE THE MIX featuring the types of instruments that Rick used during the Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon and Animals era. Check out a Farfisa Compact Duo, Yamaha YC45D, EMS Synthi AKS, Solina String Synthesizer, Rhodes Super Satellite, Minimoog, Taurus bass pedals, Clavinet D6, ARP Quadra and Keith Emerson's Steinway Model D.
Mike Kiker joins us once again to recreate a Pink Floyd favorite, Wish You Were Here. He even gives us a close-up look at these remarkable instruments with demos!"
"This was a fun night. On April 22, 2023 we held our first video shoot in our live studio space with an audience in attendance with Ombient and Electric Diamond on the bill.
Ombient (Mike Hunter) was the opening performer on the bill and in the space of 30 minutes, he took the entire room on an electronic sonic journey complete with custom projections by PYXL8R. Armed with his custom Synthesizers.com modular system, Koma Elektronik Komplex Sequencer, Rhodes Chroma, Oberheim Matrix-6, ARP 2600 re-issue and a slew of effects, Ombient's performance was ultimately a swirling, constantly evolving set reminiscent of artists such as Tangerine Dream and Ashra.
A big thank you to Ombient (Mike Hunter), PXYL8R (Ken Palmer) Electric Diamon (Stuart Diamond, Don Slepian and Karen Bentley Pollick) and to all of our volunteers for helping to make this night a well-oiled and enjoyable experience for all.
You can find us at www.emeapp.org where we invite you to join us as a member."
"Here's a little Rhodes Chroma Polaris for ya from the EMEAPP synth collection. Join electronic musician and ace synthesist Don Slepian as he takes this vintage six voice beast from the mid-80s for a true sonic test drive as he demonstrates the wide sonic palette that this beast is capable of."
"That filter! Need we say more. The fabled Steiner-Parker Synthacon is a three oscillator beast of a portable mono-synth capable of immensely fat tones, is highly regarded for its tuning stability and is chock full of awesome control and modulation options. However, the star of the show is the Synthacon's peerless multi-mode LP/BP/HP which has cultivated an identity of its own and has achieved legendary status. Its a fantastic bit of electronic engineering and it truly behaves in a unique manner as compared to its contemporaries. Join Don Slepian as he takes a dive into the Sytnthacon and puts the filter through its paces."
"A special instrument, a very very special instrument. The legendary ARP Pro-Soloist is definitely in a class all of its own as far as performance synthesizers go. The preset sounds are iconic across many different genres from prog rock to funk and the expressiveness of the keyboard interface is second to none. We alway keep one of these gems wired into our keyboard rig here at EMEAPP because of it's performance flexibility, unique sonic character and because its just plain fun to play! Join Don Slepian as he demonstrates different presets on this instrument as well as the supreme expressiveness of the keyboard's aftertouch action."
Be a Part of the Party! Come to our Live Stream Opening the EVENT AT EMEAPP!
