Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Reiko Kashiwagi - Dream Of Dream - Yamaha FX1 Album
via Andrew in the comments of the Jimmy and the Yamaha FX1 post.via My Jazz World: "This LP has been produced by Yamaha in order to promote an instrument called the Yamaha Electone FX-1, it was released in 1984 on Toshiba Records. The FX-1 is played by Reiko Kashiwagi, additional players are Seiichi Nakamura on sax, Atsuo Fujimoto on guitar, Masashi Yokoyama on bass, Yoshikazu Harada and Masahiro Miyazaki on drums, Ichiko Hashimoto and Etsuo Yamakawa on synth and Akiyoshi Adachi on percussion."
Giving this one the Stocking Stuffers label as it is free.
Update via Jonathan in the comments: "There are 2 of these organs on eBay right now!Search for 'Electone FX-1'" And sure enough there is along with other albums featuring the FX-1.
via these auctions
Bottom Album: ELECTONE FX-1 RECORD, BIRTH OF NEW
BLHe,bunrg%7E%7E_12.JPG)
1981 MOOG CE Modular Synthesizer Owners Manual
via this auction
"It is a reprint bought from Moog CE in Buffalo when I was putting a system together in the mid-90's
Huge detailed 190 page book, covering every module and system config from the glory days of the 60's ~70's Moog Modular . . orig copyright of 1981"
See the Modusonics label below for more info on Moog CE aka Moog Custom Engineering.
Update: after Moog Music folded, three companies grabbed the name - Moog CE aka Modusonics owned by Michael Bucki, Moog Music Inc owned by Don Martin and Moog Music Ltd in the UK. See this post for more including a link to a great Sound on Sound article on Bob Moog's comeback with the Voyager.I updated all Donimoog and Modusonic posts with the same labels so you can find related info on each of the new/interim Moog companies. Be sure to parse through all of them and don't miss this letter from Bob Moog himself.
VINTAGE ARP SYNTHESIZER PRO SOLIST II MODEL 2710
via this auctionsome close-ups of the controls
"Arp Synthesizer Pro Solist II Model 2710 shows serial number 2710-053"
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Vactrol VCF
YouTube via beckhusen. Check out the lower left module.
"Included the A-101-1 Vactrol VCF in my system"
John Berndt, Rose Burt, Max Eisenbacher, Max Eisenburg at Red Room 2009 Part1
YouTube via dennisovich
"John Berndt :reeds, Rose Hammer Burt :reeds, Max Eilbacher :ARP 2600 synthesizer, Max Eisenburg :blacet modular synthesizer at the Red Room, December 4th 2009, Baltimore Maryland"
John Berndt, Rose Burt, Max Eisenbacher, Max Eisenburg at Red Room 2009 Part2
ARP 2600 Death Dance
YouTube via thenormanconquest
"the music was created entirely by the best synthesizer ever made- the ARP 2600!!!"
Synth80s on the Marion Systems MSR-2
Synth80s posted the following on the Analogue Heaven mailing list. I thought it was worth posting here as there isn't much information on this short lived and rare synth by Tom Oberheim. I asked Synth80s if I could put it up and he gave the OK. via Synth80s:
"My two cents from having previously owned a MSR-2 for many years:
The MSR-2 is certainly not a do-all synth, but it has some strengths. For one thing, it's an 8 to 16 voice analog in a 1U rack format (if you have one ASM card inside or two), which is certainly not common. Because it's a 1U rack synth, it obviously doesn't have an ideal UI for quick tweaking (no faders, few knobs, etc.), but the OS is very logical and usable -- it's very similar to the eminently logical OS in the E-mu Proteus line. The modulation possibilities are fairly thorough and the filters are really interesting, especially using FM. The MSR-2 also has a DB-25 input for running external audio through the interesting filters, but I never tried it. I may be incorrect, but I recall that the pin-outs on the DB-25 didn't follow the Tascam standard that most other equipment used/uses, so I think one would have to make or have made a custom cable to use this feature. At least it's fully documented in the well-written manual.
The oscillators were deemed HROs (High Resolution Oscillators), which I understand to be DCOs that allowed waveshaping to bridge between the common waveforms (square/pulse, saw, etc.) My understanding is that they are DCOs with finer control than those in Tom Oberheim's previous design with his old company (the Matrix 6 / Matrix 1000, with which the MSR-2 shares a similar synthesis architecture). The HROs are a custom CEM part that's related to the current part used in DSI synths and I think the filters are CEM as well. A couple years back, I had a brief e-mail Q&A with Dave Smith about the analog synthesis parts in the DSI Evolver line -- Dave gave me permission to relay his description to the AH list, which I did back in 2007. In short, he said "the synth chips are an improved version of the Marion parts; the originals had some nasty oscillations and noise in them. Plus we drive them with much faster update rates and precision from the DSPs, so the overall quality of sound is much better. Cheers, Dave." I'm not sure if the same chips are used in the P08, but it would make sense.
Regarding the envelopes, this is from memory, but I recall that the early units had some issue that caused them to be very slow, but that the issue was fixed later in the production run. I also recalled that Tom Oberheim offered to fix the earlier units at no cost (I don't know if the fix was hardware, software or a combination), but I think the reputational damage had been done because the early review and demo units all had slow envelopes. My unit had the faster envelopes which were still not what I'd call fast, but also not slow enough to be an issue.
One solely practical negative: the power brick is beastly and proprietary with a MIDI-like DIN connector, but with a few more connection points than a MIDI cable as I recall. It had to be tethered to something or placed on top of the unit to avoid pulling the connector out!
So, given all that, my opinion is that the MSR-2 is definitely not a great synth for basses, percussion and strong, beefy analog sounds, but it's very good at deep, complex, evolving sounds. The oscillators can be made to do very interesting things with PWM and other modulation of the waveshaping features, though the effects are subtle. The best feature is the interesting filters which can do all kinds of nonsense using resonance and FM. Oddly, if you're good at programming digital devices with menu-based OSes, it's a good programmer's analog synth -- very capable and deep, but not immediate.
I think the MSR-2 biggest problem was the timing of its release. Who was buying new analog in 1994? Who was even making new analog in 1994? ;-) As I've said before, I thing the MSR-2 was a "synth out of time," out of step with current trends of the day, but more valuable than people may have given it credit for at its time of release. Lastly, FWIW, my MSR-2 recently sold for $775 on eBay including U.S. shipping.
-Synth80s"
Followed by:
"With regards to architecture and sound quality, I agree that the Matrix 6 / 1000 and MSR-2 are substantially similar, but the MSR-2 oscillators sound significantly different to my ears. I'm not saying they're a lot better (maybe they're worse to some ears), but they're different enough to be worth noting. The Matrix 6 / 1000 always sounded a little more generically mid-80s' DCO to me. The MSR-2 is hard to put a finger on -- it does sound different than anything else I've played. While still soft sounding, the HROs are fairly rich and a little grainy in an interesting way. I don't recall how the filters sound on a Matrix.
Lastly, with regards to price, I'm sometimes shocked at what the market will bear for certain items as well, but I think the value of the MSR-2 may be driven in part by its relative rarity. For better or for worse, it's one of the only analog synths of its era and it was produced in low numbers by one of the all-time legends. I just wish the first model had been more successful for Tom so he could have expanded the company in other areas -- the MSR-2 chassis is modular and was intended to eventually incorporate other models of sound generation, but that never materialized.
Some good links:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/mar94/tomoberheim.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/dec94/marionmsr2.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/nov95/marionsynth.html"
"My two cents from having previously owned a MSR-2 for many years:
The MSR-2 is certainly not a do-all synth, but it has some strengths. For one thing, it's an 8 to 16 voice analog in a 1U rack format (if you have one ASM card inside or two), which is certainly not common. Because it's a 1U rack synth, it obviously doesn't have an ideal UI for quick tweaking (no faders, few knobs, etc.), but the OS is very logical and usable -- it's very similar to the eminently logical OS in the E-mu Proteus line. The modulation possibilities are fairly thorough and the filters are really interesting, especially using FM. The MSR-2 also has a DB-25 input for running external audio through the interesting filters, but I never tried it. I may be incorrect, but I recall that the pin-outs on the DB-25 didn't follow the Tascam standard that most other equipment used/uses, so I think one would have to make or have made a custom cable to use this feature. At least it's fully documented in the well-written manual.
The oscillators were deemed HROs (High Resolution Oscillators), which I understand to be DCOs that allowed waveshaping to bridge between the common waveforms (square/pulse, saw, etc.) My understanding is that they are DCOs with finer control than those in Tom Oberheim's previous design with his old company (the Matrix 6 / Matrix 1000, with which the MSR-2 shares a similar synthesis architecture). The HROs are a custom CEM part that's related to the current part used in DSI synths and I think the filters are CEM as well. A couple years back, I had a brief e-mail Q&A with Dave Smith about the analog synthesis parts in the DSI Evolver line -- Dave gave me permission to relay his description to the AH list, which I did back in 2007. In short, he said "the synth chips are an improved version of the Marion parts; the originals had some nasty oscillations and noise in them. Plus we drive them with much faster update rates and precision from the DSPs, so the overall quality of sound is much better. Cheers, Dave." I'm not sure if the same chips are used in the P08, but it would make sense.
Regarding the envelopes, this is from memory, but I recall that the early units had some issue that caused them to be very slow, but that the issue was fixed later in the production run. I also recalled that Tom Oberheim offered to fix the earlier units at no cost (I don't know if the fix was hardware, software or a combination), but I think the reputational damage had been done because the early review and demo units all had slow envelopes. My unit had the faster envelopes which were still not what I'd call fast, but also not slow enough to be an issue.
One solely practical negative: the power brick is beastly and proprietary with a MIDI-like DIN connector, but with a few more connection points than a MIDI cable as I recall. It had to be tethered to something or placed on top of the unit to avoid pulling the connector out!
So, given all that, my opinion is that the MSR-2 is definitely not a great synth for basses, percussion and strong, beefy analog sounds, but it's very good at deep, complex, evolving sounds. The oscillators can be made to do very interesting things with PWM and other modulation of the waveshaping features, though the effects are subtle. The best feature is the interesting filters which can do all kinds of nonsense using resonance and FM. Oddly, if you're good at programming digital devices with menu-based OSes, it's a good programmer's analog synth -- very capable and deep, but not immediate.
I think the MSR-2 biggest problem was the timing of its release. Who was buying new analog in 1994? Who was even making new analog in 1994? ;-) As I've said before, I thing the MSR-2 was a "synth out of time," out of step with current trends of the day, but more valuable than people may have given it credit for at its time of release. Lastly, FWIW, my MSR-2 recently sold for $775 on eBay including U.S. shipping.
-Synth80s"
Followed by:
"With regards to architecture and sound quality, I agree that the Matrix 6 / 1000 and MSR-2 are substantially similar, but the MSR-2 oscillators sound significantly different to my ears. I'm not saying they're a lot better (maybe they're worse to some ears), but they're different enough to be worth noting. The Matrix 6 / 1000 always sounded a little more generically mid-80s' DCO to me. The MSR-2 is hard to put a finger on -- it does sound different than anything else I've played. While still soft sounding, the HROs are fairly rich and a little grainy in an interesting way. I don't recall how the filters sound on a Matrix.
Lastly, with regards to price, I'm sometimes shocked at what the market will bear for certain items as well, but I think the value of the MSR-2 may be driven in part by its relative rarity. For better or for worse, it's one of the only analog synths of its era and it was produced in low numbers by one of the all-time legends. I just wish the first model had been more successful for Tom so he could have expanded the company in other areas -- the MSR-2 chassis is modular and was intended to eventually incorporate other models of sound generation, but that never materialized.
Some good links:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/mar94/tomoberheim.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/dec94/marionmsr2.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/nov95/marionsynth.html"
Me playing Depeche Mode "Master and Servant".
YouTube via DX5
"(previous one deleted due to a fault).
Live 1984 version cover.
Gear:
Upper. Emu EMAX II HD (2mb ram)
Lower. Emu Emax (All sounds coming from my own library)
Right (hidden): Yamaha DX7 (bells sound)"
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MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
