"EMS unit with many features like double oscillator, pitch shifter, levels on every bands...etc... great sounds"
Update: Looks more like a Synton Syntovox 221 as seen in previous posts including demos, but note the different layout. I don't beleive I've seen this particular model before. If anyone knows what this is feel free to leave a comment.
Update 2 via the comments:
"I am assured by EMS that this is NOT an EMS build. After I complained to reverb the seller changed the description and calls it a "custom projekt". It is built around an EMS 2000, so good luck if it ever needs a service or repair. The seller still has it branded as EMS even though it is a codged together unit and NOT EMS. You can't put a Ferrari engine in a ford and sell it as a Ferrari, can you?"
And via the listing:
"this a rare opportunity to obtain a classic EMS sounds
and add many features like double oscillator, pitch shifter, levels on every bands... more a classic pin matrix....
this is a custom projekt based around an original EMS 2000 vocoder pcb board"
"This listing is for an EMS Vocoder 2000 MK1 speech synthesizer. A rare and classic unit, capable of producing very interesting vocal and tonal effects. Recently serviced by Rosen Sound, and in excellent working order."
"The Vintage Synthesizer Museum and Oscar Cash Present: The MIDI Jukebox.
On February 4th, from 1PM-4PM, we will transform VSM into a MIDI Karaoke bar. You pick the song, and we send the melodies to several synths and the drums to the TR-909. While the song plays you can twist knobs, change presets, or perform vocal duties with the assistance of the EMS Vocoder 2000. All this led by your handsome host, Oscar Cash.
If you are interested in attending in person, please contact us to join our mailing list, so you can reserve a spot.
As always, you can also book a private appointment to play these classics yourself.
https://www.vintagesynthesizermuseum.com"
"A look at Roland's Vocoder SVC-350. It's probably the best your money can buy - The Moog is hugely expensive and the EMS Vocoder 2000 and 3000 are incredibly rare (and equally expensive). This isn't bad value in comparison, they seem to sell for around £1500. BUT.. .sounds. a lot better than any other hardware I've used... but then most of them are digital - nothing wrong with that but they don't have the clarity for some reason. I'm not sure if the Digitech Talker has analog circuitry but that sounds very clear too. check out my vocoder roundup for more." [posted here]
"Professionally serviced and working perfectly. We had our tech replace the power supply capacitors as a preventative measure.
This unit is currently set to 240v and was originally in use in Germany. The plug is a 2 prong European plug. It can be switched between 240v and 115v via a switch on the back panel.
I almost skipped posting this as the only news here is there's a 4th production run of the Colossus. I guess it's interesting knowing how many are out there. What's also interesting is I always assumed the Colossus was either built in a limited initial run, or it was built per order only. This is a mammoth endeaver and each one costs 25,000 GBP which comes out to $35,000 US. It is $4500 less than this little Sennheiser VSM201 Vocoder!
Press release follows:
""Analogue Solutions announces forthcoming fourth run of Colossus supersized synth that trips back to the future of analogue
KINGSWINFORD, UK: following a showstopping showcase during its introduction at SynthFest UK 2019 in Sheffield, British boutique electronic instruments innovator Analogue Solutions is proud to announce a forthcoming fourth run of Colossus — its supersized synth that trips back to the future of analogue, albeit symbolising so much more than a powerful analogue ‘workstation’ with no fewer than 12 VCOs (Voltage-Controlled Oscillators) beating at its monumental musical heart, rather representing art, architecture, and superlative studio furniture at its hand-built best by taking its design cues from the colossal classic that is the EMS Synthi 100, although no Synthi circuit was cloned or copied in making the destined-to-be-classic Colossus fit for a new generation of high-flying owners — as of February 15…
"Professionally serviced and working perfectly. We had our tech replace the power supply capacitors as a preventative measure.
This unit is currently set to 240v and was originally in use in Germany. The plug is a 2 prong European plug. It can be switched between 240v and 115v via a switch on the back panel."
"Up for sale is the rare Voice Spectra Vocoder produced by Sky Soundlab (the same unit alternatively produced by Seekers).
It is in very good used condition with minor rack rash and some cosmetic wear.
It is in fully working functional condition.
Excellent youtube demo linked, it is not of this actual unit!
Comes with power cable. Some more info below:
This has a very clear sound for an analogue vocoder, a big part of why it makes voices so intelligible is the syllable function which inserts noise bursts into the signal for “s” and “sh” syllables. This is a pretty rare feature on an analogue vocoder, and it really helps with intelligiblity. The syllable function is also really cool for creating rhythms.
The Voice Spectra has good reputations in Japan for clear extent, high timbre, and for Speech Tracking Function (STF). STF is basically a pitch- to-voltage converter which functions by reading the glottal pulses of the speech signal. The control voltages from the output of the pitch extractor are fed to the VCO, so that this follow the cadences of the speech signaI. STF is an interesting additional facilities only to be found on more expensive vocoders like EMS.
Everyone familiar with vocoding will appreciate the Voice spectras compressor and Voiced/Unvoiced detector*.
The Voice spectra is a high quality studio-vocoder, appreciated by the staff at music studios, professional musicians, etc. in Japan. The articulation of the output signal is extremely good, being distinguished by remarkable clarity and distinctiveness. This quality of articulation, among other things, is what distinguishes SKY soundlab from other less sophisticated vocoders like the MAM VF11.
"We drop in at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Oakland, California, and try out a few of the synths!
For more information and reservations, please visit https://vintagesynthmuseum.squarespac...
Amazing series sent my way via John L Rice. Playlist and descriptions for each video in the playlist above, directly below. Enjoy. ;)
See here for previous posts featuring Battlestar Galactica.
Playlist:
1. Voice of the Cylon Pt. 1 The Synthesizer [ARP 2500]
Battlestar Galactica fans & synthesizer community, rejoice! For the first time in history the mysterious sound of the Cylon voice is revealed. I tracked down probably the last person alive who knows the entire formula, very private individual still works in visual arts. To him it was just a job he did 40 years ago, to me it's one of the most mesmerizing sounds in musical/sci-fi fx history. 6 parts to this series as of 11-2019.
2. Voice Of The Cylon Pt. 2 the Voice Recording
My contact told me "they brought us the voices" on Nagra III and IV tape machines. Vocoder recorded back to Nagra for film sync. Voice actor Micheal Santiago was hired to do the voice, but didn't, telling youtube user intromix later that "they ended up getting someone cheaper" to do it. One actor did all the voices, for consistency, reading the script in a lifeless, monotone voice as to not shift the frequency spectrum in the vocoder.
Finally it is known exactly which vocoder was used for the Cylon voice. Universal Studios had rented the EMS and Sennheiser, and when sound designer Peter Berkos was asked about it circa 2008 he mis-remembered due to having the Sennheiser manual still. Youtube user intromix has owned both and tested oscillators, it could not have been the Sennheiser but now we know for sure anyway.
The rare, quirky effect box that was used as an impromptu distortion device. My contact told me that they floated the idea of using a guitar amp and/or pedals, but did not even try it once they found this. ** Also, he told me NO Marshall Time modulator was used as it hadn't even been released yet.
5. Voice of the Cylon Pt. 5 Recording Gear
Two main pieces of studio recording gear that were present at Universal Studios in 1978 that had a big impact on the sonic character of the Cylon voice recording. Big thanks to Ken from Electrodyne for all his advice, as well as https://vintageking.com/ and http://petesplaceaudio.com
6. Voice Of the Cylon Pt. 6 Audio Demos & Credits
Resurrecting the sound of the Cylon Centurion from the original Battlestar Galactica 1978 using the original equipment. Once the vocoder was recorded, it was further altered/degraded by multiple tape transfers in the video editing process, post-production techniques (EQ and reverb, to "place" the character in a big room, spaceship, etc) My contact said there were just pieces of tape on the gear to place knobs/switches back where they were; and that the synthesizer frequently sounded very different from day to day or after a power outage. In the series there are wildly differing Cylon tones, tiny movements in gain or EQ settings (especially the ringy ARP 2500 filters) radically alter the vocoder due to the ultra-harmonic richness of the tone. So many preamps and transformers involved, it was hard for THEM to make the Cylon voice consistent. Supposedly sound designer Peter Berkos wrote notes on the process, Universal Studios couldn't locate any info at all, it likely all burned down in the great fire of 2008 as well as the golden ARP 2500 oscillator used all throughout Galactica 1980.
Preamp was running a bit hot in this demo, didn't catch until after, so this tone sounds extra crunchy in this example. I sampled my tones with lowpass filter a bit too low, hope to get another chance with the real thing some day.
7. Gold Cylon Voice Vulpa [extra video]
Recreating the lower voice of the Gold Cylon commander. There are so many steps and factors to re-creating the Cylon voice even the original crew could not make it consistent on a day-to-day basis. Out of hundreds of test files this year I'm only really happy with about 5 of them but will keep working to recreate it perfectly.
"For sale is an insanely rare EMS Vocoder System 3000. A once in a lifetime chance to own one of these? We think so. In our 10+ years of synthesizer hunting, this is the first ever 3000 we have encountered. The 2000 is quite rare, but the 3000 even more so. We've owned almost every major vocoder made (Roland VP330, SVC-350, Korg VC10, EMS 1000/2000, Sennheiser VSM201 (3 total!), Moog Vocoder etc) and to our ears the EMS is the best for dialing in intelligible vocals with synthesized tones. It just sounds excellent, easy to use and all around fantastic vocoder. The EMS 3000 adds level controls for 16 bands which makes it incredibly useful for dialing in more specific tones.
This unit is fully functional, recently serviced and in excellent shape. Don't pass this one up!"
"EMS Vocoder 2000 MK1 speech synthesizer. A rare and classic unit, capable of producing very interesting vocal and tonal effects. Recently serviced and in excellent working order."
"An in-depth synth studio tour of the Vintage Synthesizer Museum -- a classic synth, music & recording studio in Oakland, California.
The Vintage Synthesizer Museum is a legendary synthesizer music studio where you can play, record, and learn about vintage analog synths including Roland Jupiter 8, Yamaha CS-60, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Arp 2600 and more.
The Vintage Synth Museum features over 40+ analog synthesizers and various drum machines, effects, amplifiers, keyboards, music and audio recording tools.
To learn more or book your appointment at the Vintage Synth Museum, visit http://www.vintagesynthmuseum.com"
Update:
Video retitled: VINTAGE SYNTHESIZER MUSEUM - Synth Studio Tour & Synthesizer Reviews
With following description & timeline:
"An in-depth synth studio tour of the Vintage Synthesizer Museum -- a classic synth, music & recording studio in Oakland, California.
The Vintage Synthesizer Museum is a legendary synthesizer music studio where you can play, record, and learn about vintage analog synths including Roland Jupiter 8, Yamaha CS-60, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Arp 2600 and more.
The Vintage Synth Museum features over 40+ analog synthesizers and various drum machines, effects, amplifiers, keyboards, music and audio recording tools.
To learn more or book your appointment at the Vintage Synth Museum, visit http://www.vintagesynthmuseum.com
=======
Vintage Synthesizer Museum - Synth studio tour timecodes:
EMS SYNTHI 100 in the background. There's also an EMS Vocoder, a 16 Channel Quadraphonic Effects Generator by QUEG, a rare Jellinghaus DX-Programmer, and more. See the link in the descriptions below for more pics.
"Besuch des Studios für Elektronische Musik - 2018, Köln
Dokumentation dazu www.sequencer.de Suchbegriff WDR Studio reicht - dies sind zufällige Ausschnitte vom Besuch, vor allem für die Anwesenden, die Themen sind auf Sequencer.de gelistet. Das Video ist für mich selbst gedacht und für die, die da waren und erfüllt daher keine Gedanken an Qualität und Co. - Es ist nur da - bitte also das zu beachten - https://www.sequencer.de/blog/wdr-stu..."
Googlish:
"Visit to the electronic music studio - 2018, Cologne
Documentation on www.sequencer.de Search term WDR Studio is sufficient - these are random excerpts from the visit, especially for those present, the topics are listed on Sequencer.de. The video is for myself and for those who were there and therefore does not think about quality and co. - It's just there - so please keep this in mind - https: //www.sequencer.de/blog/wdr-stu ... "
"EMS unit with many features like double oscillator, pitch shifter, levels on every bands...etc... great sounds"
