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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Elka Wilgamat Analog Drum Machine and Synth

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

via this Reverb listing

"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 the Godwin Drummaker, Wersi Wersimatic WM24, Elgam Carousel or Böhm Böhmat. If you don't know these units check the video I made with a different unit. [previously posted here] Unit was serviced and is in fully working order. It comes with a custom DIY keyboard and cable. Cosmetic the unit has some scuffs mainly on the case but overall looks very nice."

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Elka Wilgamat analog drum machine and synth

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

via this listing

"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 the Godwin Drummaker, Wersi Wersimatic WM24, Elgam Carousel or Böhm Böhmat.

if you don't know these units check the video I made with a different unit: [previously featured here]

Unit was serviced and is in fully working order. It comes with a custom DIY keyboard and cable. Cosmetic the unit has some scuffs mainly on the case but overall looks very nice."

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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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Elka Wilgamat, Oberheim DX and Powertran Transcendent 2000 in sync

video upload by ohm_studi_ohm

"Since I just finished adding DIN SYNC24 to my Elka Wilgamat I decided to hook it to the Arturia Keystep pro and further added an Oberheim DX and a Powertran Transcendent 2000 to the game.
Playing with the Wilgamat accompaniment part brought a known melody to my memory so temptation was high to follow this path...

The Transcendent can be seen in another video i made earlier this month. It was modded to add a sub oscillator and also to correct the peculiar CV/Gate it originally used in order to use it in a standard CV/gate environnment. It's now working fine when controlled externally as you can hear.

If you want to add sync to the Wilgamat there are 2 issues you need to adress:
- the unit needs 4ppq so unless you have a device capable of providing such a clock frequency you need to convert the more conventional 24ppq to 4ppq.
It's actually very easy to do by using a single 4018 chipset, which can divide by 6 the incoming frequency
- second issue is that the clock on the WIlgamat ask for negative pulses so you need to convert the positive pulses to negative ones. I used a single op amp to do that (TL071)"

Exploring the Cosmic Beauty of the Elgam Carousel

video upload by HAINBACH

"Form changes function - the Elgam Carousel first appeared as part of a big organ. Elgam quickly realized that they could a make a standalone product out of this, for the more mobile musicians entertaining crowds at business and family functions. They set a trend - CRB and Elka followed with the Computerband 2000 and Wilgamat. These standalone keyboards can be called the first groove boxes. In this video I demo this cosmic sounding wonder and show real world applications in scoring.

Music, Soundpack and thanks:
https://www.patreon.com/hainbach

LISTEN TO My Music: https://hainbach.bandcamp.com"

You can find additional posts featuring the Elgam Carousel here.

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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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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Elka Wilgamat III - Serviced with modifications

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

via this auction

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video posted here

"Elka Wilgamat III with custom controller keyboard modified with foot switch control access.
Just back from service and sounding heavenly.
The 4 buttons on top of the keyboard substitute the rare foot-switch - giving access to the drum fills (3 different fills for every rhythm pattern!) start/stop, minor and 7th chords - If you check my video on YouTube you’ll get it.
The original main unit is in good condition with signs of wear of some areas.
The keyboard looks almost like new.

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rare birds: Welson Ritmo / analog drum and accompaniment unit

video upload by ohm_studi_ohm

Also see this one from 2022 with a smaller keyboard controller.

"The Welson Ritmo was a accompaniment unit intended as an add-on to some of Welson's organ line. It consists of a rhythm unit, a bass section, a chord section and an arpeggiato section. All sounds are of course fully analog. It is very similar in features and sound to the Elka Wilgamat, Böhm Böhmat and Wersi Wersimatic CX1. They are actually built around the same chipset family (SGS M2xx), but the Ritmo cannot be programmed.

It was never intended as a standalone unit so I built a custom keyboard to make it so.

Unit is very easy and straightforward to use with some nice features: for instance you can play it in "free chord" or 'one finger chord'. In the first mode you need to make a 3 notes chord to trigger the arp sound. With one or 2 notes you only trigger the bass and chord sounds, this make for some nice performance variations. The bass section can be set to 'walking bass', and in this mode you also need 3 notes to trigger the melody.

In 'one finger chord' you play a major chord with one key. There is a pedal input on the back to make the chords minors. I also added a switch on the keyboard to alternate between major and minor chords when playing in the "one finger chord" mode.

Other nice features are "keystart" (obvious functionnality) and 'memory' which holds the played notes (and rhythm). And like almost all the preset rhythm units you can combine different rhythms together."

Pics via SALES.OHMSTUDIOHM@GMX.FR

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WERSI WERSIMATIC II

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"It's still here and we love it - so here we go again with new music :
The Wersimatic II - the previous generation of the Wersimatic 24 auto-accompaniment machine and probably familiar to fans of the Elgam Carousel, Böhm Solist 78, Elka Wilgamat and Godwin Drummaker 45 units.

The Wersimatic II has 4 sections on board:
Bass line tone generator
Drum machine with individual mute options
Various chord sounds
Various Arpeggiator sounds (same sounds as chords but with busier patterns)

The bass sounds great - very nice and analog.
Drum sounds are very analog - this is sound generation in its infancy - the hi-hats scare me :)
The chord and arpeggiator sounds were processed through the Digitech Synth Wah - a relatively cheap envelope follower pedal that’s a great bang for the buck.

The sounds and controls are across the board identical to the Wersimatic 24 unit as far as we can tell but the difference being the Wersimatic II was never made as a stand-alone unit - it was part of a large, double manual organ called Wersi Helios.
This particular one is unique : it has been transplanted from that organ into a smaller box with a twelve buttons acting as chord control instead of the two bottom octaves of the organ.

Special thanks to Organfairy for the rare schematics that were necessary to complete the repair : dude you f-ing rock

Vintage Audio Institute is a gear vendor and recording studio in the hills of Florence"

Additional Wersimatic II posts

ELKA WILGAMAT (1975)

video upload by Synthesizer Home

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

V.A.I. 56 Elka Wilgamat / Multivox MX-3000

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"With a little help from external effects, the Wilgamat auto accompaniment machine really shines brighter than a lot of the other Tanz-nite units out there.
It's a good match with the rare Multivox MX-3000 in our opinion, lots of wonky tones you really don't get out of your standard Roland / Korg gear.

The Multivox synthesizer is really a 4 section divide down string machine and poly synth with an added Monophonic synth section.
It's a little reminiscent of the Crumar Composer but the polyphonic section really has more going on - with a great filter, slide and glide modulation, two different choruses and on and on.
We're still exploring the complete set of possibilities of this beast of a string machine / mono combo. It might even make a great cappuccino.

Vintage Audio Institute is a gear vendor and recording facility in Florence Italy - we make these videos for fun in our spare time."

Elka Wilgamat - 1976 - Auto Accompaniment Unit SN 1376

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

Update: moving this one back on top as I had the wrong auction link. Sorry about that. It is now fixed.

via this auction

You can find demos of the Wilgamat in previous posts here.

"This is the first model, complete with the controller keyboard, attachments for music sheet stand and leg attachment pieces on the sides.

The legs and music sheet stand are not included.

The Wilgamat is in good condition but close to very good condition - with a few lighter scuffs and some smaller areas missing the wood finish - quite typical for these machines.

It’s had little use - the front panel looks almost new and the buttons and sliders work great. Fully functional and sounds amazing - please watch the video of this very unit for sale - no effects added.

Some general info:

It features three chord voices and two bass voices plus a range of great drum sounds, with a fill-in option engaged by pressing the wooden bar on top of the controller keyboard.
The auto accompaniment section is a two octave bass and chord synth that can be controlled by either an external two-octave keyboard, an Elka organ or foot pedal via a 31-pin cable.
The bass and chord patterns change depending on the rhythm, Salsa, Rock, Bossa Nova...
In total 16 different rhythm presets with fill-in option, two bass patterns (auto and walking bass), two bass sounds, with a bass sustain option.
The accompaniment consists of three sounds that of course sounds nothing like what they're named after: Piano, Guitar and Brass.
There are individual volume for each of the three sections, plus an overall master volume.
These standalone units are very rare to find complete with the original controller keyboard.

220 volt with EU plug Items ship from Italy."

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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."

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."

VAI 20 : Elka Wilgamat / Farfisa Syntorchestra 4

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"A quick video we threw together some time ago, the Elka Wilgamat is a Drum machine, bass and chord generator from 1976 or so, originally part of the Elka X705 organ. We got this machine modded with separate outputs, sending the bass to the Maestro Sound System for woodwinds, a great 1960s filter/octave/fuzz effect, that stopped working during the making of this video.
The Syntorchestra 4 is of course the younger sibling of the Syntorchestra - a rather simple mono synth and divide down string / brass keyboard - it shares the controls of the older one, but sounds less characteristic.
We still really like it tho, the presets are great with some external boost."

Exploring the Wersimatic II

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Another take with the Wersimatic II, the older sister / brother of the Wersimatic 24 auto-accompaniment machine and distant cousin to the Elgam Carousel, Böhm Solist 78, Elka Wilgamat and Godwin Drummaker 45.

The sounds and controls are across the board identical to the Wersimatic 24 unit as far as we can tell.
The Wersimatic II was never made as a stand-alone unit but was part of a large, double manual organ called Wersi Helios in the mid 70s.
This particular one has been transplanted from an organ into a smaller box with a twelve buttons acting as chord control instead of the bottom keys of the organ.

Special thanks to Organfairy for the rare schematics : dude you f-ing rock

The Wersimatic II has sections on board:
Bass
Drum machine
Various chord sounds"

Additional Wersimatic II posts

Exploring the Wersimatic WM 24

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"We thought there wasn't really anything decent info out there on this rarity so here's a video that sheds some light on the Wersi Wersimatic 24 A & B units.

Wersimatic 24 is an analog drum machine, bass / chord arpeggiator generator similar to the Elgam Carousel, Elka Wilgamat, Godwin Drummaker 45 and Böhm Solist units, The Wersimatic 24 was manufactured in Germany in the early 1970s.
These were also part of various model Wersi organs of the era, such as the Helios that featured the "Wersimatic II" auto-comp section and they seem to be identical in controls and sounds.
The Wersimatic 24 is a bit different than your regular auto-accompaniment machine since the keyboard is a separate instrument: it holds the circuit boards and sound generators for the melodic section and sports its own volume slider and audio jack output.
The keyboard is powered by the drum machine unit via a DIN cable though, and the tempo is regulated on the drum machine as well.

24 drum patterns with 8 mutable sounds
12 rhythmic chord/bass/arpeggiator patterns
Bass section with one sound
3 chord sounds
2 arpeggiator sounds (the second arpeggiator sound is not functioning at the moment)

The bass covers two octaves, which is rare for this type of machine (the Elgam Carousel, Elka Wilgamat has a one octave bass section only) and can generate almost synth like arpeggiator patterns.

We like this machine a lot, especially the bass section and the drum sounds are really raw and industrial sounding.

Sorry for dirty fingernails, it's black paint residue - not dirt - promise.

Vintage Audio Institute is a gear vendor and studio in the hills of Florence."

Wersimatic posts