EMS Soundbeam

Shot pulled from this auction. Note it is different than this one, although the video in the auction is the same. Also note that the Soundbeam logo is the same as the logo in these updated Soundbeams. If you know more about this, feel free to comment.

According to the EMS History page the Soundbeam was designed by Richard Monkhouse (Digital & Video design:1972 - 1975), however it was not manufactured until after Edward Williams took over EMS assests in 1984. According the site EMS (London) folded in 1979, their assets were bought by Datanomics who owned them from 1980 to 1984, followed by Edward Williams when the Soundbeam was made.

via Torsten Keppeler.

DIY Dub Club Sensible Systeme

Title link and image takes you to a video on DIY Dub Club. Also track back to the root for more.

via Sameli

Synth Mangler

Title link takes you there. Via Analog Industries.



- Two Soda Meiser-style fuzz's in one box
- Each has its own volume control, hiss and chaos modes
- Two seperate in's and out's for the fuzz's to be used seperately
- Run both fuzz's together (in series) with the flip of a switch
- The Joystick controls the intensity of both fuzz's

Akai VX600 Shots

Title link takes you to shots pulled from this auction.

Tiesco sx400 Demo

Demo by David Brands. Title link takes you there. Also saved here for posterity.

Is Kore a Nightmare?

Title link takes you to a post on the CDM forums with the following posted by Vincent. I was wondering about this ever since my dongle post. It's a 10 pound dongle. They should have shipped with a mini dongle for times when you don't want to use the controller. Say composing out in the park or in your comfy recliner. If any one has anything to add please feel free to comment.

"I just returned KORE after 3 weeks of unknowingly being an unpaid alpha tester...

What a nightmare. Just read NI's KORE forum and you'll see what I mean. I don't know if/how NI will fix this.

They've made the KORE hardware a 10 pound dongle, and since it must be attached to run and sends control messages through usb audio it requires a fair amount of cpu even if you don't want to use it...

Sounds like some of you guys are inside industry types that may know the guys at NI, if so, someone please have a talk with them... "

Earth, Wind & Fire’s Yamaha DX7 II FD Centennial LE

Shot and details via this post on craigslist.
"Earth, Wind & Fire’s Yamaha DX7 II FD Centennial limited edition. Stunning, silver body with gold buttons, 76 fluorescent keys. Flight case included. Celebrating their 100th anniversary in 1987, Yamaha created 100 of these worldwide selling for $3,995. Only 13 were allocated for the USA-this is one of them. Features: 76 keys (channel after touch; split; layer) 32 Voice (16 x 2); 6 operator x 2 (A & B); 64 patches; 64 performance memories; 64 voices via cartridge."

Ladytron on KCRW

Title link takes you to the post on DVDBorn. 4 Korg MS2000s and 2 MS20s all played, no sequencing. Great band. Love the feel of their music.

Electronic Ballet with Sound Beam

Via Alex Theakston on AH:
"the one we had [EMS Sound Beam] was a bit more advanced, with a control box and a separate beam device. in the first half of the video (not the upbeat last bit) it's triggering a virus, and we set up a constrained range of notes that could be triggered along the length of the beam. theres a CS5 in the mix too, and a speak n spell."

If you listen closely at the beginning you will hear that she is playing the sound beam with her movements and they are playing accompaniment.

Update: It's not an EMS Soundbeam but actually one of these.

Update: Alex pointed out that the Soundbeam logo is the same as the EMS. Interesting, I wonder what the history is. According to the EMS History page the sound beem was designed by Richard Monkhouse (Digital & Video design:1972 - 1975), however it was not manufactured until after Edward Williams took over the assests in 1984. According the site, EMS (London) folded in 1979, their assets were bought by Datanomics who owned them from 1980 to 1984, followed by Edward Williams when the Soundbeam was made.

Bluezone

Title link takes you to Bluezone, home to a number of unique electronic musical instruments built by Blauw.