'Dance Arp' the initial integral version of 'We are the fire' with Crumar Bit99 synth from the '80

video upload by Davide Micheli

With vocals further below.

"'Dance ARP' is a music song composed in 2024 by Davide Micheli. Some parts were extracted from it and later used to compose the song 'We are the Fire', released in July 2026 with the Sir Donkey band made by me and my friend Piero Pirani.

The song uses mainly vintage Italian electronic synthesizers from the 1980s

The track was strictly recorded with an analog mixer, similar to what was done in the 1980s, except for the digital conversion of the audio using a 24-bit audio interface and Cubase at 96 kHz.

In particular:
--A1985 Crumar Bit99 synthesizer was used for the Bass, Arpeggio, and Pad parts;
--An Elka Rapsody 610 and an Elka Twin 61 synthesizer from the 1980s were used for the string machine parts;
--A Crumar Multiman S from the 1980s were used for the string machine parts;
--A Elka Rapsody 610 synthesizer from the 1980s were adopted for the vintage '80 piano;
--A CRB Diamond 910 Gold vintage electronic organ of '80 was adopted for organ part on the initial part of music track
--A Korg Prologue was used for the synthetic sound effects.
--A Akai S5000 sampler for some for the strings in a central section of the song.

Finally, for the rhythm section, a Behringer RD-9 Drum Machine with a phaser and stereo modulation effects on some parts was used and you can hear drom going from left to right stereo channel. Hope you enjoy the music."

With vocals:

We are the fire (Sir Donkey band by Davide Micheli and Piero Pirani) recorded in Ankon Record studio

video upload by Davide Micheli Piero Pirani Sir Donkey

"This piece was conceived, composed, and then produced using almost exclusively vintage Italian electronic synthesizers from the 1980s at the private recording studio Ankon Records.

We appositely decided to make use of vintage Italian brand synthesizer to reproduce the music dance atmosphere, sonority and resonances of the Italo Disco dance of '80 era.

We are the fire is a dance music brand that harks back to 1980s music revisited with a contemporary twist. The song features my friend Piero Pirani and I who are the components of Sir Donkey band. A friend of ours, singer Maruzio, sang some parts in falsetto on some of the chorus parts.

The choruses and vocals sometimes have slight imperfections that we deliberately left on the recording without correcting."

Elka Twin 61 short demonstration

video upload by melodikakofoniko

"The Elkatwin is an Italian string/organ/bass keyboard, probably built in the early 1980's. Fully polyphonic strings, organ, and other sounds, with monophonic bass section."

Elka Twin 61 + Alesis Quadraverb

video upload by melodikakofoniko

"The Elka Twin 61 is a rare Italian string/organ/bass keyboard, built in the early 1980s. Fully polyphonic strings, organ, and other sounds, with monophonic bass section. It has 2 separate sections (A and B) with identical features. The sections can be combined and mixed together to create a huge wall of sound. It sounds super lush and early 80s – unlike typical 70s string machines. It has a great CEM3320 based phaser built in.

In this video both A and B sections are used – Organ for the part A and full strings for part B."

Elka Twin 61 (1981) + Farfisa Syntorchestra (1975) Quick demo

video upload by melodikakofoniko

"Lovely Italian vintage synthesizers.

FX used: Alesis Quadraverb plate 2"

Elka Twin 61 w MOD (ultra rare) 1980 (Serviced)

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

via this listing

"ultra rare modded Elka Twin 61 grey finish.

It's like having 2 Elka Rhapsody 610 in One with additional Fx and modulations.

I made a DEMO Video to show this synth in action [previously posted here]

In awesome aestetics conditions (just some little marks around)

100% perfectly working.

It comes with a MOD that let you play both A&B section without the original pedal."

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Modded Elka Twin 61 SN 2078

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

via this auction

Demo posted here.

"Comes with the rare MOD which let you use and mix both A&B sections without the unfindable Swell pedal."

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Elka Twin 61 w Mod

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

via this auction

"It's like having 2 Elka Rhapsody in One with additional Fx and modulations."

You can find the demo for this Elka Twin at the listing and prevoiusly posted here.

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Elka Twin 61 - Vintage Analog Synthesizer (1981) HD

video upload by Alberto Napolioni

"FREE Improvisations on this rare and incredible sounding versatile string synthesizer!

00:00 Boreas Wind
00:53 Empyrean's Call
01:12 Where are we going?
02:28 Catch my Breath
02:46 Funky Adrenaline
02:58 Per Aspera ad Astra (Rising)
03:33 Zephyr's Harp
03:44 Ethereal Pipes
04:06 House of Herbie
04:13 Maybe
04:28 Phasing Doubts
04:45 The Cat and the Mouse
05:08 Cassandra's Keys
05:27 Italo Rush
05:41 Har-Psy
06:04 Warping Strings
06:44 The Last Prayer (Dystopia)
07:39 Barry Cherry Merry
07:59 Chillin
08:15 Simple Song

Fx used:
OTO Bam reverb
OTO Bim delay"

Elka Twin 61 Grey Model

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via this auction

You can find demos of the black model in previous posts here.

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Elka Twin 61 Analog String Synth

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

via this auction

"When turned on, all buttons work and light up.
The sound stopped, only noise could be heard.
You can hear how the phaser and leslie effect works
Sold as spare parts or repairs."

See additional posts here for other pics and details on the Elka Twin 61.

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Elka ELKATWIN 61 VINTAGE STRING SYNTH SN 1044

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

via this auction

"Nice project for someone who knows what they're doing, the synth is in beautiful cosmetic condition and as well as being complete in terms of the full stand and case is complete internally, but just hasn't been used of years so needs an overhaul. Very rare early 1980's stringer, came out of the Elka factory in Italy at the same time as the legendary Synthex, and is notable for having a lovely phaser built in. Classic array of string and orchestral sounds, I have a copy of an an old magazine ad (which also features the Synthex on the same page!) describing the Elkatwin as a 'Polyphonic twin oscillator keyboard with manual bass possibilities', so there you go!"

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New Synth Gear and Makers in January 2015

After this year's massive New Years post, I thought it might be interesting to see how many new makers and new gear announcements we received in a single month.

This may or may not become a monthly theme on the site depending on interest.  If you think it's worth while, leave a comment.

At a high level we had 12 new makers, one new old maker previously never featured on the site, and a whopping 193 new synth related products. Check out the module list below.  The list is a combination of what was either announced or released this month.

The list in order of appearance:

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Elka Twin 61

via this auction

not the best shots but you can read the controls.

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