"Legendary EDP Wasp by Chris Huggett, quirky looking toylike synth but a serious piece of kit, capable of rip roaring synth lines, fat bass...just straight up dirty with so much character. Great for all types of Electronic music, I'm sad to see it go but needs a must.
Overall condition is excellent, with minimal signs of wear and tear. Unlike most Wasps this one doesn't have the cracked corners on the casing, however there is a slight scratch on the keybed which can be seen but not obvious, this does not affect its use. (please see pictures)."
This analog beauty was in housed in an Anvil case in climate controlled storage for some time
I used a Variac to slowly recharge the filter capacitors for a few days for safety
It fired right up and the oscillators tuned perfectly after a few minutes so had a tech go through it for piece of mind
He sprayed out all the pots, jacks and switches with DeOxit and compressed air and it sounds great
I have no way to test out the Cassette Tape memory so I can't vouch for that but I'm certain that's not too much of a problem in 2016
I have more photos than ebay would allow me to post but feel free to message me and I'll be glad to email them to you
All 12 or 24db/oct Curtis Filter Chips are intact as as best I and the tech can tell, this has never been modified
Original Sprague Orange Drops are plentiful for that vintage punch - this thing's low end is devastating
The Ob-Xa weighs easily 45lbs so shipping will be a flat $200 unless you want to pick it up in Los Angeles"
You will not find a nicer, cleaner, or more pristine example of this VINTAGE Roland synthesizer. This one should be in a museum!
I really hate to let this one go. It looks like it was just unboxed for the very first time - Like it was put into its hard case in 1986 and hasn't seen daylight since. It's THAT nice!
Everything works perfectly, every sound works 100%, every key and button is 100%. This is a completely original synthesizer. Nothing has been rebuilt or repaired - it is in like new condition and has had just one owner since new. There isn't even any scuffing on the bottom from keyboard stands. The rubber feet look like they have never been touched. It will arrive in its original hard case (also in amazing condition). It comes with its original hard to find power cord. It is a separate cord that plugs into and detaches from the keyboard, not modified. It also comes with its sheet music stand that is designed specifically for the Alpha."
The 3rd in the Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the Tempest" series is currently up with BEAR’S DEN here.
"Inspired by, among other things, the paintings of Edward Hopper, the short stories of Raymond Carver, and film director Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, Bear’s Den is both erudite and intensely personal, defying trends and easy labelling. Musically, it also sees a startling progression. Following the amicable departure of guitarist Joey Haynes they are now a six piece touring unit built around a nucleus of Andrew Davie and multi-instrumentalist Kev Jones. While the band’s folk roots are still evident, they now come cloaked in the lush alchemy of ‘70’s and ‘80’s FM rock: Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and in particular, the nocturnal ambience of Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness On The Edge Of Town, alongside more contemporary artists such as The National, and Sufjan Stevens."
"This improvisation makes use of a soft metallic digital pad on the Poly Evolver, a string pad on one Prophet '08, and a flute-like solo patch on another Prophet '08.
The digital pad is either mellow or shrill, based on the position of the filter cut off frequency, which is controlled by the modulation wheel. Its extreme upper range has much aliasing.
The Prophet '08 string pad uses a 2-pole filter setting with a high resonance level,, and its filter is similarly controlled by the modulation wheel. This creates a somewhat tinny sound when the filter is opened wide. That's okay; these pieces are only musical experiments. Live and learn! Also, as always, the filter is very slowly modulated by an LFO. This creates a slight crescendo whenever a note or chord is sustained and gives the pad a slight heaving/breathing quality.
The flute sound seems simple enough, but it is deceptively elaborate. It consists of a narrow pulse and a square. The pulse width of each wave form is very slightly and slowly modulated. In addition, an LFO slowly modulates between one oscillator and the other. This means there is a subtle chorus effect from the PWM, a changing of timbre as the narrow pulse changes to a square and then back again, a faint beating of oscillators when the two briefly meet in the middle, plus a delayed vibrato which is either maintained by a smooth connected playing technique or retriggered (and thus, delayed) by a broken disconnected playing technique. its filter, too, is controlled by the modulation wheel. Of course, these effects are detectible only when a long note is heard, and that's fine, because they're meant to be musical nuances that don't overly attract attention to themselves.
Last but not least, the bass patch is changed according to the dynamics of the music. This is not always so easy to achieve, since it requires a free hand during a section that is also not using the pedalboard.
One further note. Since I'm playing with both hands and feet, I rarely have a limb free for making dynamic changes with a pedal. As a result, I program dynamic changes into the sounds themselves. One only has to sustain a note or chord in order to open up the volume and timbre. In this piece, I often do this after holding a note on the upper Prophet '08, which has the flute-like patch. This is always at the end of a phrase and in preparation for a change of keyboards. As I sustain the note with one finger, I simultaneously reach down with my thumb and press a note on the lower Prophet '08. The effect is that the flute sound slowly merges with the string sound, which then slowly opens up by means of its LFO, completely overtaking the flute sound. It sounds like I've got a tasteful sound engineer, or have done some carefully mixing after the recording. Nope! It's all automatic.
"The Moog 1130 Drum Controller from the 1970's. Was an analog drum pad controller marketed as an accessory for Moog synthesizers, including the Mini Moog and Sonic Six, according to the original ad, the 1130 'actuates unique musical tones with drumsticks'."
