The Sounds of CE3K - ARP 2500 in Close Encounters of the Third Kind

THE SOUNDS OF CE3K from Tom Shone on Vimeo.

"The Sound Design of Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

Head of ARP Engineering Philip Dodd's on ARP 2500.

Circuit Bent Sci-fi Sound Machine

via this auction
freeform-delusion (RSS)

"Mono mini jack output (speaker has been removed_- Put this through your amp, PC/Laptop, mixer or Effects unit to further enhance the circuit bent sounds!

Yellow LED

Pitch Control - take those classic sounds to another dimension

The doll in the picture is not included, she is just posing with it like you see on The Price is Right"

video below - Close Encounters of the Third Kind sample in it.

Uploaded by eecouk on Nov 5, 2010

Yamaha SY2 Analog mono synth

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction

"This is a Yamaha SY2 Analog Mono Synthesiser Keyboard.

It was the 2nd Synth which Yamaha produced in the early 70's.

It features 28 preset patches (see photo) which can modified with a ADSR (attack, decay, sustain & release) envelope, a low & high pass filter with low and high resonance controls, vibrato (speed & depth), pulse width (alters ration of pulse height to width), portamento, tone blend and pitch blend. Using these controls you can get a massive amount of different sounds.

The SY-2 also features aftertouch where vibrato, wah wah and volume can be altered by pressing the key with varying pressure. The sensitivity of aftertouch can also be altered.

There are also a foot controls where if you connect a foot controller (no included) you can alter volume and wah wah.

On the back it features 2 output connectors RCA phono and 1/4 inch audio with low and high level switch.

This is a fantastic synth that produces great analog sounds that would be great for the studio or live on stage. It is also a great chance to get one of these hard to find synths. It also featured in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind!"

CLICK FOR MORE »

vr MIDI glove controller - firsts field tests

YouTube Uploaded by djbravetti on Feb 22, 2012

"One of the firsts field tests of my vr MIDI glove controller, this time at the very well known Ukraine festival, Kazantip.

More info about the glove here:
http://gustavobravetti.noisepages.com/2012/02/glove-midi-controller-2/
http://facebook.com/gustavobravettilive"

Close Encounters of The Third Kind Landing

Close Encounters of The Third Kind Landing

YouTube Uploaded by acebunny17 on Oct 13, 2008

Phil Dodds of ARP & a three wing ARP 2500 comes in at 2:11. Rumor is

"Scene from the movie Close encounters of the third kind(1977)"

Also see:
Close Encounters ARP 2500 for Sale - note the 3 wings.
Close Encounters of The Third Kind ARP 2500 at Cantos

And a JMJ version via Fernando Tecladista on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge:

Jean Michel Jarre - E.Téo & E.Téa

Uploaded by Baretta73 on Feb 19, 2012

"A total mystery surrounded this experiment... TILL NOW!!!

Um mistério completo cercou este experimento... ATÉ AGORA!!!"

Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Moog Recordings from the 1970s

Don't miss the update in this post.

YAMAHA SY-2 Synthesizer

via this auction

"YAMAHA SY-2 was the company's second venture into the blossoming synth market (no prizes what the first one was, then....). Its major claim to fame was the movie useage in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", when played by Francois Trufflemanger (or whatever his name was...) whilst waiting for the aliens to come out to play and give back the fighter planes etc they nicked (thieving gits...). He wasn't a great player.at all..only five notes in his portfolio. Its surprising that a Japanese synth was used at all. This was the era of synths when Moog & Sequential & ARP were champions of the the terrestial world....hey, thats the crazy world we and the aliens live in...........doo dee doo de doooooo"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Close Encounters of The Third Kind ARP 2500 at Cantos

via Wikimedia Commons via .guilty on flickr

"This is the ARP 2500 found in the last moments of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It is an actual synth however the movie had it housed in a white case at the time.

Got a demo of it; guess what was the patch stored XD

More photos to come...
Visited the Cantos tonight and got a lovely tour of the facilities. Took a lot of pictures & videos. The tour was conducted by Brandon Smith."


This photo was taken on February 12, 2009. This one in via DJ Ivan

Early ARP Synthesizer Factory Service Manuals

via this auction

"I was an ARP Factory Authorized Service Center in San Francisco during the mid-1970's, and was trained at a factory class in Los Angeles by factory service representative Fred Dodd [Phil Dodds], who played the role of the synth guy in the 1977 film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Included are original blue line and blue prints of schematics, factory service notes, my personal notes, advertising brochures and posters, etc. gathered when I had my repair shop in the San Francisco area. Though San Francisco's synth guru John Vierra blew the doors off the competition back then (myself included), I went on the burgeoning field of "Personal Computers" in which I prospered well.

All documentation is in very good to near-mint condition with no missing or unreadable pages. This is my personal collection of service and support documentation from ARP which includes support information for:

* ARP Omni model 2480
* ARP String Synths models 2600-2606, 3620, 2300
* ARP AXXE model 2300
* ARP Pro Soloist model 2701
* ARP Odyssey models 2800, 2810, 2811, 2812, 2813
* ARP Sequencer model 1601

Shipping will be in a 12 x 12 x 6 box weighing about 8 pounds."

CLICK FOR MORE »

ARP 2600 with 3620 Keyboard and Mods

via this auction

"This particular synth was restored by John @ Synhouse.com. It is the model 2601 and has the model 3620 keyboard. This is a matching pair, both serial numbers are 0413. Very hard to find these things with matching serials, for some reason. This synth comes with an original ARP 2600 manual, which is in good condition, the glue is old and the first couple of pages have come loose. It also comes with some original patch cords as well as custom patch cords, you can see them in the picture. This is a very special ARP as it has MIDI installed. It very well may be the first and ONLY ARP 2600 to have that. You can see picture 7 where the MIDI jack is located, the reset button (in picture 8) is discretely located. For very simple instructions on how the MIDIJack works go to http://www.synhouse.com/M1-Analog-User.html It is very simple.

Also, there were some modifications done to this synth, prior to the restoration, as you can see in photos 9 and 10. These were left intact, since they were cool, and just added some extra capabilities. The red tape is from the original modification, circa late 70's. This ARP 2600 was purchased from a studio in California and is rumored to have been used in some capacity during the filming of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". It cannot be confirmed or denied, so take it for what it is, a cool little tidbit. I have A/Bed this with the Timewarp 2600 and the Arturia 2600 virtual synths and it is not even close! This monster blows them away. Do not believe the hype. These old analog synths are VERY much worth whatever you pay for them. They may sound similar when you record the synth digitally, but if you play the synth through a PA, then play the virtual, digitized version through the PA, YOU CAN DEFINITELY HEAR THE DIFFERENCE! If I were playing live, it would be a no brainer. You really can hear the difference."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Yamaha SY-2

via this auction

"The SY-2 was used by the BBC radiophonic workshop on Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, and more! It was also used in Close encounters of the third kind (last picture, played by none other than mr François Truffaut!)."

Billy Corgan's Ichabod Featured in Keyboard Magazine

If you have this month's issue of Keyboard Magazine featuring Deadmau5, take a look at the last page. You will find a full page feature on Ichabod. You can see the associated online feature here.

http://mattsonminimodular.com/

See the Ichabod and MMM labels below for more. You can find the full sized shot of Ichabod paying tribute to Devil's Tower here and a video here. Think, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Philip Dodds, and the ARP 2500. This image was taken on route to delivery of Ichabod.

Steven Spielberg, Philip Dodds and the ARP 2500

via Cafe 80

"Young Mister Spielberg fiddles with an Arp 2500 synthesizer"

On the set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Be sure to see this post on synths in film, and this post on synth movies.

Mint ARP 2500 Synthesizer for Sale and Videos

via Steve: "This is a once in a lifetime chance to own an Arp 2500 without breaking the bank to do it. The eBay listing tells the whole story- this Arp 2500 was purchased during ARP's bankruptcy auction, on site at ARP, by my friend Larry O. The modules were, and remained, in plastic wrap with tags right off the QA line. He recently assembled them into a 'mini' Arp 2500 system built into a cabinet from the QA dept of ARP.

It was fully serviced by Phil at CMS just now and is on eBay.

You will probably never, ever, see such a pristine and AFFORDABLE Arp 2500 for sale... Get it before its gone!"

via this auction:
"The Who’s Pete Townshend and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page were only two of the devotees of this legendary instrument. Hell, it was the ARP 2500 that was used to call to the aliens in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”!

The History
This extremely rare and primo system is the last of more than 100 modules and eight cabinets I personally purchased from the auction at the ARP factory when the company went out of business back in 1981. These modules were still wrapped in plastic with QA tags attached when I got them. (See recent photo of QA tags below.) They have seen very little use over the last 30 years (the QA tags are stamped with 1975 dates).

The cabinet resided in ARP’s Engineering Department, where it was used for prototyping new modules. The original serial number tag identifies it as being the 45th cabinet made in 1970 (70-045). Five of the modules and the cabinet sport ARP’s earliest logo (the “squishy lines”), while the rest have the “treble clef” logo.

Vintage? Oh yeah.
Needless to say, I cherry-picked a beautiful configuration to keep as my final remnant: four VCOs, two VCFs, two VCAs, four envelope generators, sample/hold, noise generators.

For the full auction story and a listening tour of this instrument, copy and paste these links to see my YouTube videos [below]

The Modules
This is one sweeeeet system, the likes of which you are not likely to see again. It’s the real deal:
1004-T Oscillator (mixable waveform)
1023 Dual Oscillator
1045 Voltage-Controlled Voice (this thing is The S**t)
1036 Dual Sample & Hold/Random Voltage
1003 Dual EG
1006 Filtamp
1016 Dual Noise

Click “Buy It Now” and get an additional 1006 Filtamp, also just back from service by CMS!

The Icing on the Cake
Included are an original, print Owner’s Manual, a CD containing PDFs of all the circuits and parts (though you really should have Phil do any work on it), and a cabinet extension cable.

On request I can provide an Excel doc containing The Gory Details: serial numbers, CMS service specifics, patching details for the outer slots."

Sold For: US $12,000.00





ARP2500 KingoftheModulars

YouTube via theonlylarrytheo
"Larry the O gives a tour of his ARP2500, including how he purchased it at the ARP auction."

ARP2500 mod improv1


"Part 1 of 2 of Larry the O improvising on an ARP 2500 modulation patch. A sound design session from the boop-squawk school."

ARP2500 mod improv2


"Part 2 of 2 of Larry the O improvising on an ARP 2500 modulation patch. Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced? Well, I have."

ARP2500 S&H improv


"Larry the O improvising on an ARP 2500 sample-and-hold patch. Boop-squawk sound design, old-school style."

RIP Philip Dodds

I just heard the sad news that Philip Dodds has passed away this weekend. Philip Dodds was the head engineer of ARP. That's him behind the ARP 2500 (third from the left) in Close Encounters of The Third Kind. You can find previous posts featuring Philip Dodds, including some ARP history, here.

Nyle Steiner on IMDB and Philip Dodds of ARP

Peter Grenader of Plan B sent this one into AH. Title link takes you to Nyle Steiner's (of Steiner Parker fame) IMDB page. The following is the list of credits. Click here for previous posts on Steiner Parker.

Miscellaneous Crew:
* 1990s
1. Merry Christmas, George Bailey (1997) (TV) (musician: E.V.I.)
* 1980s
2. Mississippi Masala (1991) (musician: ewi)
* 1970s
3. No Way Out (1987) (musician) (as Nyle A. Steiner)
4. The Mosquito Coast (1986) (musician: synthesizers)
5. Enemy Mine (1985) (musician: electronic ensemble)
6. Apocalypse Now (1979) (musician: synthesizer)
... aka Apocalypse Now Redux (International: English title: longer version)

Self:
1. One Voice (1986) (TV) .... Synthesizer

For fun I checked on Philip Dodds of ARP. He has a page as well.

Filmography
Actor:
1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) .... Jean Claude
... aka CE3K (USA: informal short title)
... aka Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition (USA: reissue title)

Additional Details
Genres:
Adventure / Drama / Sci-Fi
STARmeter: ?
^ 4% since last week why?

Synths in TV and Film

Note: some of the videos below have been pulled from YouTube, but I'm keeping mention of them up as a reference that they are out there.

Let the page load before scrolling - it's a long one.
Be sure to see the Synth Movies list and see the Synth Movies and Synth TV and Film labels for more.

1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Synths: ARP 2500 played by Phillip Dodds, head of ARP Engineering, Yamaha CS-?.


2. Fame Synths: ARP 2600, MOOG Minimoog

CLICK FOR MORE »

Star Wars by the Electric Moog Orchestra

flickr by Terrance Tucker Creative Enterprises.
"The Oscar-Winning Score of STAR WARS is performed on a Moog Synthesizer by the Electric Moog Orchestra. I've often wondered what the music of Star Wars would sound like played on a Moog and I was not disappointed by this LP."

Update: videos below via UniQue Werkx in the comments.


Star Wars - Imperial Attack - The Electric Moog Orchestra
YouTube via breadthechicken | October 19, 2010 |

"Imperial Attack' performed by The Electric Moog Orchestra, 1977. I inserted an existing flipped video clip from my camera, a little shaky, but thought it might be (only slightly) more interesting than the LP cover. MOOG!"

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Electric Moog Orchestra

MrHopeTelevision | May 09, 2010 |

Magical Musical Thing

File this one under one of the best "made you look" Ebay auctions. I'm going through the newly listed stuff and I see a thumbnail of this image listed as "Magic Musical Thing." You can barely make out the image in the thumbnail but I see lots of colors and lights, so of course I click. And... It's a Hartmann Neuron! Only the Neuron of course is not up for auction, but rather... the "Magical Musical Thing"

No title link. Just the two shots and some details pulled via this auction.

Details:
"RARE MATTEL 1978 MAGICAL MUSICAL THING. THIS SYNTH WAS MARKETED AROUND THE TIME OF THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MOTION PICTURE 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND' & MAY HAVE BEEN AN ATTEMPT TO CAPITALIZE ON THE MARRIAGE OF COLOR AND SOUND THAT COMPRISED COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE HUMAN AND TERRESTRIAL IN THAT FAMOUS FILM'S FINALE SEQUENCE... VERY GOOD FULY FUNCTIONING CONDITION DESPITE THE LOSS OF THE MATTEL LOGO AND OTHER ADORNMENTS. COMES WITH BOX AND BOOKLET OF INSTRUCTIONS AND SONGS. STRANGE BEAUTY AND PROBABLY A WONDERFUL CANDIDATE FOR A CIRCUIT BENDING PROJECT... WILL BE ABOUT 5lbs. PACKAGED"

Apologies for the all caps, but I'm not about to convert that to lower case.

Electric Moog Orchestra - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

flickr by jon_blak.

Hmm... I know Philip Dodds and the ARP 2500 were featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Philip Dodds the head engineer of ARP is the guy playing the 2500 in the scene where they communicate to the mothership. The story is he was flown out to show how to work the synth and was asked to be in the film. I never thought about what other synths might have been featured.