Synthesizer von Gestern (Synths of the Past) II, sealed

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"Classic hardback book about classic synthesisers, in German, but with loads of superb illustrations - the most beautiful book about synths ever made.

Sealed, brand new. This is Book II, which is bigger than Book I, and includes authoritative text and diagrams and gorgeous photos.

The book starts with an in-depth interview with Oskar Sala, inventor of the Mixtur-Trautonium (used for the entire soundtrack of Hitchcock's 'The Birds'). Fantastic photos of his studio and various Trautoniums.

Other synths and electronic instruments covered in detail include:- Jorgensen Clavioline, ARP 2500, EMS Synthi 100, Moog Sonic Six, Emu modular, EMS Synthi Hi-Fli, ARP Pro Soloist, Steiner-Parker Synthacon, RMI Harmonic Synthesizer, EMS Synthi E, Birotron, PPG 1002, Moog Taurus, Liberation, Prodigy; Roland System 700, Synlab Modular, Yamaha SY1, Oberheim OB-1, Roland SH-7, Steiner EVI, Crumar DS-2, Yamaha CS-30, DX7; Korg Sigma, VC-10, Poly 61, Poly 800; ARP Quadra, Roland RS-505, VP-330, SPV-355, SH-101, TB-303, TR-606, MC-202, Jupiter 6; Fairlight CMI, Realton Variophon, Oberheim OB-Xa, OB-SX, Xpander; Gleeman Pentaphonic, RSF Kobol, Blackbox; Emu Emulator I, DK Synergy, SCI Prophet 600, Prophet T8; EEH Banana, Boehm Soundlab, OSC OSCar.

A beautiful quality coffee-table book - high production values, great illustrations, hardback, and as rare as some of the rarest synths it contains! Still sealed!"

RARE Italian CRUMAR DS-2 ANALOG SYNTH

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Videos at the auction and here.

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Crumar DS2 Analog Synthesizer

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"Crumar DS 2 analog synthesizer. This synth was manufactured from 1978 through the early 1980s and has a rich analog sound. The Crumar DS 2 is rare and very unique. The synth has two monophonic oscillators and a separate polyphonic section. All oscillators are routed to a 4-pole lowpass filter and then through the VCA. The VCOs, VCF, and VCA can all be modulated by two LFOs. The LFO routing capabilities of the Crumar DS 2 are very unique. The synthesizer is fully functional with the exception of a non-functioning LFO delay and pitch drift in the polyphonic section."

via PixelData in the comments of this post.

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Synthesizer von Gestern (Synths of the Past) Volume 2

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"This is a brand new sealed, unopened copy of the rare classic synthesiser book, 'Synthesizer von Gestern' by Matthias Becker. It is the second volume, which (at 146 pages) is larger than the first, and includes an incredible array of classic synths. Unlike the A-Z or Museum book, this is a beautifully-bound hardback, and is printed on very good quality paper. It is the first and only edition of this rare book. The picture is of another book, but it is identical.

When this book was out of print and no longer available, copies were changing hands for 100GBP-plus. Then the publishers found one last pallet of books in their warehouse, gave them to the author in lieu of royalties, and I drove to Koeln in Germany to bring back all I could.

It is in German, but so much of the book is taken up with beautiful full-colour photos and excellent illustrations that that isn't as important as you might think, if you don't speak German. It's a great coffee-table book, but full of serious information too - and the photos are in a class of their own. Crisp, beautiful, detailed, professional!

The book starts with an in-depth interview with Oskar Sala, inventor of the Mixtur-Trautonium (used for the entire soundtrack of Hitchcock's 'The Birds'). Fantastic photos of his studio and various Trautoniums.
Other synths and electronic instruments covered in detail include:-

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Crumar DS-2

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"Crumas DS 2 digital Synthie from 1978." Note the built in case.

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Crumar DS 2

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 "Crumar DS 2 Synthesizer Very Rare Vintage Released 1978"

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Crumar Spirit

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"OK, by now, everyone knows the Crumar Spirit was designed by some of the Moog folks, namely Dr Moog, Tom Rhea, and Jim Scott. What's never been explained is how or why. That's where I come in. This is how it might have happened...

Let's first set the stage.

The year is 1982. The monophonic Prodigy and Rogue were still in production. Moog's attempt at a less-knobby synth (the Source) had been released the year before. The powerful but problematic MemoryMoog had finally started to ship and everyone involved really needed a break because of all the problems. New development had temporarily ground to a halt as all hands came on board to salvage the MemoryMoog effort.

During this time, the Rhodes Chroma had also recently been released.

Three Moog folks - Dr Moog, Tom Rhea, and Jim Scott decided to take a short holiday overseas to unwind and reset. They chose Italy as their destination and set off on their trip.


Meanwhile...
In Italy, Crumar had the DS-2 and Performer synths out there. They had also teamed up with a New York based firm to create the GDS and Synergy but they were having as many problems with them as Moog and ARP did with their recent polysynths.

So, the three Moog employees are in Italy, touring around and checking out the local culture. A chance meeting with Mario Crucianelli kickstarts an idea for a new synth. Moog as a company is stretched too thin and is too worn out to take on any new R&D. Dr. Moog and friends discuss features that they'd like to see. Since this isn't going to be branded as a Moog, there is some more freedom to borrow ideas from other synths and to vary from the traditional Moog designs. They have had good luck with the CEM 3340 and 3360 ICs in the MemoryMoog and the Chroma was using the 3350 VCF to create some unusual routings and new sounds. Rather than worry about licensing a Moog filter for this product, the team decided to go off on a new track and try a pair of 3350's and provide separate control over each filter chip.

The idea for a monosynth that could sound traditional or radically modern was born and the Spirit is the result.

Well, that's how it might have happened...

Let's get back around to the auction now.
I have a Crumar Spirit, serial # 62, that's been cleaned and calibrated. In addition to the synth (110 volts) and power cord, I'm including the owner's manual and schematics. In addition, I sketched out the trimpot locations and names for the VCO board to make future calibrations easier. As an added bonus (I'm all about giving you guys bonuses), I'm including 2 CEM 3340 VCO ICs, 1 CEM 3350 filter IC, and 2 CEM 3360 VCA ICs. So you'll never have to worry about CEMs again."

Octave CAT

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“The original Octave Cat was a beast. Some features included a four-note sequencer patch, in which using the sub-oscillator on VCO-1 and the additional pulse, were allowed to form steps. Switching the sample and hold to VCO-1 could accomplish pseudo '4-step-sequencing' on VCO-2. More important than flashy tricks was the ease of use associated with Octave instruments. The machine was carefully and logically planned out, with ADSR and AR located on the upper left hand side (this arrangement allows for easy release or attack variations, which should be considered quite nifty). Unfortunately, the pitch bend slider seemed to be in poor review with many users (in the Cat's defense, the pitch slider is equipped with a "dead zone" in which any position 4 millimeters above or below the center hardly affects the pitch. This is probably achieved with the use of diodes). The original A-1000 of 1975 lacked voltage control, and had an external fuse. An updated version included CV control, but retained the external fuse. What I believe to be the final A-1000 revision places the fuse internally, and seems to be the most common of the A-1000 Cats. (Apparently VCO-1 has a different circuit design than VCO-2. It seems that VCO-1 has a better circuit design, so side by side comparisons will be made in the audio sample section.)
Three waveforms with two sub-oscillators offered a pleasing variety of waveforms and a ripping sound. Audio frequency pitch modulation was available, along with cross modulations of VCO-1 & VCO-2 and vise versa. Four envelope destinations along with the squirmy discrete A-1000 filter were enough to bring a smile to any synthesist of the era (a terrific November 1977 A-1000 Octave Cat ad can be seen here).
It is without doubt that the Octave Cat is a "special" synthesizer. Many mid to late 1970's synthesizers fit into this category as well (Crumar DS-2, EML Electrocomp 500, Powertran Transcendent 2000, KORG 800DV, Roland SH-1, Jen SX-1000, etc etc). These are the synthesizers that really never received the exposure of Arps and Moogs. The Cat has been considered a knock-off Arp Odyssey, and unrightfully so. Various sources claim that Arp took Octave Electronics to court, but the reality is that Arp dropped charges, and they were no strangers to "borrowing" ideas themselves. Comparing the Arp Odyssey to the Octave Cat is completely beside the point; they are both amazing instruments of the 20th century.
The Cat electronic music synthesizer has strong metal sliders. They feel very comfortable and precise. Unfortunately Arp opted for plastic sliders, which often feels stiff and hard these days. A good portion of the Cat is sliders, and perhaps 1/3 is knobs. The Cat is a synthesizer that rarely becomes boring, and new original sounds can always be developed. The actual sound of the Cat is unique as it is relatively indefinable, partly because no one has popularized it like the Minimoog.”

Text from- octavecat.homestead.com. The link isn't working for me. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to comment.

Crumar DS-2

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"IT FEATURES * Polyphony - Monophonic synthesizer section; 44 voice polyphonic string section * Oscillators - 2 DCOs * LFO - 2 LFOs; LFO 2 has Sample&hold and Staircase waveforms * Filter - 1 4-pole LPF with Cutoff, Resonance, ADSR and ENV-amount * VCA - ADSR * Keyboard - 44 keys * Memory - None * Control - Gate"

Crumar Performer Schematics

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"Crumar Schematics
- 10 pages of schematics for the Performer
- Performer Parts List
- DS 2 and Performer Interface guide (2 pages)
- one page of handwritten service info about the performer
- one page schematic for the C.P.B-1
- five pages of schematics for the O.M.B 2 synth (photocopied)"

Crumar DS2

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When digital was in...

"The DS-2 is basically a monosynthesizer with an added 44-voice polyphonic strings section. The DS-2 was one of the first synthesizers to use DCOs (digitally controlled osc.) making it stable in tune. Especially if you use the polyphonic string. This is a very big and good looking synth with a lot of knobs for instant hands-on control. And you don't need a hardcase, it's built into one.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Polyphony - Monophonic synthesizer section; 44 voice polyphonic string section
Oscillators - 2 DCOs
LFO - 2 LFOs; LFO 2 has Sample&hold and Staircase waveforms
Filter - 1 4-pole LPF with Cutoff, Resonance, ADSR and ENV-amount
VCA - ADSR
Keyboard - 44 keys
Memory - None
Control - Gate
Date Produced - 1978"

Crumar DS-2

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"Vintage Crumar DS-2 Synthesizer.One of the first dual DCO analog synths, with a poly section as well."

Anyone confirm these are DCOs and not VCOs?

Crumar DS-2

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