images via this auction"Aries was an innovative company located in Massachusetts that sold modular synthesizers in either kit form or pre-assembled through the late 1970's. Aries modules sound very much like Moog equipment (the voltage controlled filters are clearly a patent infringement) and use a similar patching system, except that mini jacks are used to make connections rather than the standard 1/4" leads.
As a result, Aries equipment is quite compact (by standards) and a fraction of the price of a second hand Moog or Emu system. With the exception of the Aries III, most of the systems were housed in rather bland plywood cases, and designed to be used for serious academic or studio work. (Aries assumed that its customers were serious bad-ass synthesists who would not care about cosmetics.)
The Aries marketing department appears to have had something of an attitude problem, and its promotional literature shows a clear distain for the pre-set and portable synthesizer market.
The Aries manual is prefaced with comments that "you bought one of our systems, so you're obviously not an idiot and we won't insult your intelligence by explaining basic functions to you". Potential customers were assured in a mildly threatening tone that modular synthesizers were the ONLY choice of a real musician.
Aries modular systems were not cheap, and ranged from about $1,400 for a very basic System I to almost $4,000 for a complete Series IV (in 1978 dollars!). At the same time, they were successful enough to drive Moog out of the kit market, and establish a reputation for well made, if ugly synthesizers. When I have had to bring Aries modules across the border, Customs has had trouble believing that this is musical equipment and not military surplus!
Pictured here are close-ups of four Aries modules: To the left are the (from left to right) AR-331 Pre-Amp/Envelope Follower, the AR-334 Sequencer and the AR-318 Sample and Hold. To the right is the AR-315 Balanced Modulator. Note the slight cosmetic and colour variations from year to year. Many of the modules had dual controls, such as the 8/16 event Sequencer. Pitch was set manually with the rotary pots, not an easy thing to do given the cramped space."
Update via Peter Grenader in the comments:
"Aries was NOT a patent infringement! That's completely inaccurate and I dare say ignorant comment. Electrically they were one of the best-designed synthesizers ever produced. These guys were engineers and smart ones at that. This becomes immediately obvious to anyone who sweeps their schematics and knows what they're looking at. Aries was the real deal.
Let's not forget the ARP 2600 was designed by Aries' co-founder Dennis Colin and would have been twice a good as it was if it wasn't later cheapened up by Pearlman who replaced the active CV mixers with passive summers which introduced bleed and interaction which wouldn't have been there if they had stuck to Colin's initial design.
Think twice before passing the Aries off as just another 'kit'. They're dual core VCOs were probably the best ever in the history of modular analog instruments."
