Alesis Aurora ( Andromeda A6 )

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via this auction

"Unique A6 ! This is Kris Rhen's Aurora. I purchased it from him nearly 10 years ago and it has been in my studio ever since. Kris purchased one of two blue panel prototypes, modified it for a standard A6, tilted the panel, added oak sides and trim, changed the knobs, changed the LEDs to red and had a special boot screen programmed for him by Alesis. Quite an amazing project and the tilting of the front panel makes it significantly more ergonomic. Unforeseen life events are forcing me to sell it."

Check out a video of it posted here, and other posts here.

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Studio Tour #2 - Mark

Published on Aug 26, 2018 SynthMania

Cool intro piece. Great to hear synths being used in this style/context.

"A visit to my good friend Mark - We spent a few hours in his studio and went through his equipment, which includes classics like Mini and Memorymoog, but also modern equipment like the Andromeda and Poly Evolver. A huge thank you to Mark for sharing his knowledge and demonstrating the gear for us!

00:22 - Mark's theme on Andromeda & Elements
02:03 - Alesis Andromeda
03:16 - MacBeth Elements
04:07 - Moog Minimoog
05:22 - Hammond XK-3c with pair of Leslie 147s
06:14 - SoundConstruction workstation desk
07:28 - Eurorack modular skiff 1
09:11 - Focal Trio6 Be studio monitors
10:40 - Equator D5 monitors
11:28 - Empirical Labs LilFrEQ equalizer pair
12:13 - Moog Moogerfooger delays
12:45 - Empress Multidrive
15:12 - Kurzweil PC3X
16:25 - Eventide Eclipse
17:20 - API 2500 stereo compressor
18:10 - AKAI MPD232
19:09 - A genial idea from Mark! :-)
21:14 - Speck Xtramix mixer
21:25 - Aurora interface
21:30 - Coleman switcher
21:39 - Great River mic preamp
22:00 - Dave Smith Poly Evolver
24:27 - Poly Evolver demo
26:05 - Moog Memorymoog
28:57 - Memorymoog demo
30:51 - Moog Moogermoofer MIDI MuRF
31:58 - Moog Voyager demo
33:20 - Cwejman S1 mkII
34:17 - Oberheim Synthesizer Expander Module
34:55 - Eurorack modular skiff 2
35:39 - Andromeda demo
37:47 - Hammond XK-3c / AcousticSamples B5 organ demo"

Update:

Studio Tour #1 - Tom

Published on Jan 21, 2018 SynthMania

"A visit to my good friend Tom to buy (for the 2nd time!) a classic PPG synth from him. We spent a few hours in his studio and went through his equipment, that features many classic pieces of gear. Fired up the newly acquired Zhiyun Smooth Q and iPhone X, and this is a condensed "best of" version of the visit. A huge thank you to Tom for sharing his knowledge and demonstrating the gear for us!

Update from Tom:
Audio interface he uses: Forssell MADA-2a
Multitracking: Alesis HD24XR

00:46 - Toft Audio ATB24
01:37 - Marshall Time Modulator
04:38 - Roland RSP-550
09:08 - Publison DHM 89 B2
10:10 - Publison Infernal Machine 90
11:45 - Knif Audio Knifonium
13:50 - Oberheim Two Voice
17:52 - Roland Jupiter-8
20:15 - Modor NF-1
22:04 - Radikal Technologies Spectralis 2
23:31 - Sycologic M16R
24:16 - Hypersynth Xenophone
25:54 - Roland TR-8
27:08 - MacBeth Elements
29:47 - Kurzweil 250 RMX
33:13 - Eventide H8000FW
36:23 - Lexicon 480L
39:25 - Nord Electro 5D 73"

A6 Andromeda w/ Titled Front Panel Mod

This one in via Thomas Heck who brought us the custom black front panel overlays posted here. This A6 was modified to have a hinged front panel as well. Some of you might remember the Alesis Aurora mod.

Update: new pics here.

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Alesis Andromeda 2011 Demos & the Custom Alesis Aurora

YouTube Uploaded by JupiterSynth on Feb 27, 2011

"Demo of Alesis Andromeda analog synthesizer. Its power is simply impressive...Andromeda can sound like many of the famous vintage synthesizers and also different from all others. In these 10 minutes I could only cover a very very small fraction of its capabilities. Sound quality might not be very good due to the relatively poor recording equipment. Photos of my own A6 with modified side pannels.Enjoy !"

Alesis Andromeda 2011 Demo Part 2

Uploaded by JupiterSynth on Nov 21, 2011

"Part 2 of the Alesis A6 demo. Most of the patches used this time are made by myself. Hope you like it...Enjoy!"

The custom A6 pictures is the Alesis Aurora. You can find another custom tilted panel A6 here.

Update: Part of me wondered if it was an Elhardt hoax. some of you might remember the SMS 2000: here and here to start, as well as the Bahn Sage. See the Seekers and Bahn labels under each for follow-up posts if interested or the KH label. Yes I actually created a label for his antics.

Update via urge in the comments: "I can guarantee that the Aurora isn't an Elhardt hoax as its sitting in my studio.I purchased it from Khris a few years back; the top panel with the joystick and mixer section doesn't exist...."

Alesis Andromeda A6 Aurora Mod

This was a custom mod. I originally put a post up in August of 05 here. Anyone know the website where more info on this mod is hosted? I accidentally lost the link when mucking around with Blogger's settings a while back.

This image via Photobucket

Update: I found the original site but it is down. Some info and additional shots pulled from the Internet Archive Way Back Machine. You can find some thumbnails there, but most give you a 404 if you click on them for the larger shot. I pulled the large pics below before they are gone forever.

"Alesis made Synthesis History when they released their Alesis Andromeda A6, an analog polysynth bred with new technology and classic analog sound! Sixteen awesome voices with two types of filters, a vast modulation system, and enough bells and whistles to make the Andromeda A6 THE most highly featured analog polysynth in existence. If it only had a sloped panel...

SPECS:

* Take one Andromeda, lightly used (but out of warranty - very important!)
* Add one black on blue BETA Panel - because the pre-production beta panels were lacking the Pre- and Post-Filter Mix VIEW buttons, either the buttoncaps must be pulled off of the switches on the PCBs OR two holes need to be carefully drilled through the panel to accomodate. I drilled the holes after measuring about fifteen times each.
* Tilt that panel at approx. the same slope as the Korg MS-20. Requires the extending of a couple of ribbon cables inside, and some pop-rivetted braces. Not too hard.
* Custom wood endcheeks of nice Oak, plus a wood accent over the keyboard. I chose to go with thick, high quality wood to make Aurora more of a beast.
* Replace all green LEDs with red high-intensity ones. This also required changing some resistor values to increase the brightness.
* Replace the LCD with a Hantronix Blue-on-White display. Also, some resistor changes are needed.
* Have a very agreeable Alesis burn a custom Boot EPROM with the custom-designed bootup screen below.
* Build a custom top panel, complete with several additional controls (two joysticks, several switches and knobs) as well as a full 16-channel mixer with level and pan per channel, one for each of the 16 individual outs on the Andromeda.
* Add lots of careful, hard work and time, and PRESTO - you have the Aurora A6!

The Name: I went with Aurora for a couple of reasons.

1. Alliteration - AurorA - AndromedA - get it?
2. There is some legend/lore as to how the Alesis Andromeda got its name. Could be related to the Greek mythos. Could be related to the Andromeda galaxy. Could be darts thrown at dictionary pages :-) In any case, Aurora fits with the mythology bent because in Roman mythology, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn (Andromeda was rescued and married by Perseus in Greek mythos). Aurora also fits the 'celestial' thing as well, as the Aurora Borealis. Either way, it kept with what might have perhaps been Alesis' reasons for naming the Andromeda.
3. I just liked it.
4. The A6 is kept because this fits with Alesis' naming convention (QS8 = 81-key QuadraSynth, A6 = 61-key Analog). There is some rumor that A6 was a play on ASICs, the custom chips within Andromeda, but I'm assured this is just rumor :-) "

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Mod Is Murder

I thought this was a great shot via this VSE thread. I used to think the same, however some mods can actually be good, very good. Below are a few more mods from the thread. If you click on the DIY label you will see hundreds if not thousands of DIY posts, some including mods.

The mods pictured here:
Patch points
The Alesis Aurora
Rhodes Chroma with the CC+ Process Upgrade that adds full MIDI, and cosmetic improvements

Note the thread was originally on the rare Roland SH-3 vs. the newer SH-3A. Word is that Roland had to change the filter design on the SH-3 as it was too close to Moog's ladder filter. You can find some mp3s in the thread while it's up.

Update via Hajo on the SH3 rumors:
"My first Synth in 1976 was the Roland SH3a. I know all the stories about the differenes between the SH3 and the SH3a. So somebody talked in the WEB that a SH3 has gone for a huge amount of money (something like 12.000 US$) an VEMIA. In my opinion this is a hoax! I talked to Roland tech-men in Germany. He told me: There is a difference between the SH3 and the SH3a. The difference is only the design of the board internal. Some parts are arranged in a different way to improve the layout of the board. There was never a Moog Filter inside!!!"

Alesis Andromeda A6 with Modded Case

Two pics of an Andromeda A6 with titled control panel sent my way via Xavier. Note this one is different than the Alesis Aurora.

"The owner found a picture on the internet and wanted to modify his Andromeda to look like the picture. He had probably stumbled upon a pic of the Aurora. He said that the modification was both very easy and very cheap to perform, using a 1mm thick aluminium sheet and pieces of oak wood. Some other guys thought that it might have been a lot of work to have all the connection separated from the main panel but the owner explained that the Andromeda is indeed split already. When you crack the lid open, connections are at the bottom and all that was needed is to have pieces of aluminium to have the front panel stay at the correct angle, a 10x15mm square section wood stick to fit between the keyboard and the front panel and an angled 1mm aluminium sheet to fill the gap at the back. No need to have the logos redone at the back. Then, the wooden ends were prepared, varnished and attached to the synth."

Blue Q

Blue Waldorf Q modded with a full tilted front panel. It kind of reminds me of the Alesis Aurora. The Blue Q website is here. Hopefully more images and details on the mod will come in. This was sent to the Waldorf list via roel.

Update: click here for bigger images.

Aurora AR1

Marcus Couto on AH recently posted this asking if anyone knew more about it and if anyone actually owns one. If you know anything please comment. Title link takes you to Synth-Restore who carries it. There are demos on site. Details pulled from the doc linked on this page.

MODEL type: AURORA AR1
VCO 1 : saw,pulse,triangle waveform, adjustable pulse width, octave shift.
VCO 2: saw,square,triangle waveform, adjustable interval (pitch), octave shift, sub oscillator.
VCO 3: saw,square,triangle waveform, adjustable interval (pitch), octave shift, sub oscillator.
(main tuning from front panel control)

LFO: (can be used as another vco at hi-frequencies, for ring mod type effects) routing to VCO's, Pulse width, VCF, VCO & VCF.
Individual tri,sq,saw, random waveforms (any combination can be used) Manual depth, plus mod. wheel amount.
VCF 12db type (gives more raw sounding edge, similar to Oberheim, early ARP Odyssey)
High or low pass type (switchable) cutoff, resonance, keyboard tracking, ADSR amount, modulation from vco 3 also.
ENVELOPE GENERATOR. ADSR type (attack,decay,sustain,release) routed to VCF, and VCA. Auto trigger switch

PERFORMANCE CONTROLS: VCA keyboard gate mode, portamento (glide), white noise level, main output volume.
INTERFACE. Main output,headphones out, CV input, GATE input, VCF external control, external audio input.
POWER: IEC (kettle-plug) power input (external power switch/fuse holder) 220-240 volts.
37 note keyboard.
Aluminium data plate, with serial/model number
UK price £549
Turnaround time 4 weeks.
£200 deposit required (non returnable)"

BTW, if you heard the name Aurora in regards to synths but can't place it and know it's not this Aurora, it could be the Alesis Aurora you were thinking about.

Update via the comments:
" have had the AR1 for quite a while now and have used the synth on many recordings for solo projects under Brendan Pollard and Rogue Element.
She is extremely versatile, moog sounding but with careful manipulation even ARP. Fantastic for sound effects, leads, basses, etc.
Our studio is 90% analogue and she was definitely a worthy addition to our collection,
Cheers
Brendan www.rogue-element.uk.com"

Alesis Aurora

The one thing I love about the synth world is that its just as much about the old as it is the new. Take for example the Alesis Aurora. Krhen took it upon himself to convert his Alesis Andromeda into this beauty of a synth alluding to the old analogs of yore. It has wood side panels and a full tilted front panel. Not sure about the ribbon controller, but the knobs definitely look more accessible. Click here for more pics and the story behind the Alesis Aurora.