The ELKA Wilgamat 3

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Introducing the Elka Wilgamat 3

Probably from 1982 - if anyone has the exact production year - please get in touch :)

This is a 4 section analog auto- comp machine manufactured in Italy.
It was originally incorporated into organs but some stand-alone units we're made as well.
There's a predecessor was released in 1976 - the Elka Wilgamat - that has a quite similar layout and analog sound (if you'd like to know what sounds that one makes please search our channel for some videos we made previously)
Elka, to our knowledge at least, never released a Wilgamat 2.
The machine might not have the coolest individual sounds or rhythm-patterns, but summing up its different parts it can be a pretty fun machine to play and a great tool for us non-keyboardists to get started on new tracks.
It does not engage at all without the 2-octave keyboard, a compatible organ or foot pedal hooked up to it.
There are no MIDI or sync capabilities - although there is a "Clock Out" on the back - we're unsure if it actually works.
These have been known to be modified in a few different ways :
they have been MIDI-fied and clock synced - if you're interested in that please search the web."

Also see Two Modified Elka Wilgamat IIIs

VAI 51 Elka Wilgamat III / Elka Solist 505

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"More Elka Wilgamat III - this time with some external help from the Schulte Compact Phasing and Roland RE-301 for rooms.
We also like to use the Roland Space Echo as a tape machine : a round on tape, wet only echo with one bounce, does magic for drum compression."

Vintage Audio Institute Italia posts

VAI 50 : Elka Wilgamat III / Elka Solist 505

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"The Elka Wilgamat III is an analog auto-accompaniment machine from 1982 It has four sections:
An analog Drum machine
A Bass sections
A piano / brass chord section
And an arpeggiator

Apart from the auto rhythm to each section, you can play the bass and piano/brass sounds just like a synth, no modulation capabilities.
The Elka Solist 505 is a monophonic preset synthesizer from 1976 with a unique / quirky timbre, great filter on this one. And a great look :)"

Elka Wilgamat

Ohm. Studio

"Simple demo of the unit I’m selling to show it’s present working condition.

Basically drum machine and bass section work fine but accompaniment part is not. Sometimes it produces sound, sometimes not and most of the time it makes bass section do strange things when activated."

Elka Wilgamat mk1

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

via this auction

You can find some demos in previous posts here.

Two Modified Elka Wilgamat IIIs

Published on Dec 23, 2019 mysterycircuits

"The first Wilgamat 3 I modified in 2005. The second one is from 2019. Both were originally built in Italy around 1982. More information is at www.mysterycircuits.com"

Elka Wilgamat - Analog Auto-Comp Machine 1976

Published on Mar 14, 2019 Italian Vintage Stuff!

"Great sounding analog drum machine and auto comp unit.
It features three chord voices and two bass voices plus a range of great 70s Roland sounding drum sounds with a fill-in option that I of course forgot to use on this video.
The auto accompaniment section is a two octave bass and chord synth that can be controlled by either an external two-octave keyboard, an Elka organ or foot pedal via a 31-pin cable.
The bass and chord patterns change depending on the rhythm, Salsa, Rock, Bossa Nova...
In total 16 different rhythm presets with fill option, two bass patterns (auto and walking bass), two bass sounds, with a bass sustain option.
The accompaniment consists of three sounds that of course sounds nothing like what they're named after: Piano, Guitar and Brass.
There are individual volumes for the three sections, plus an overall master volume.
This one was modded with separate outputs.
These standalone units are rare, they were incorporated into the Elka X 705 Space Organ, apparently used by Jean Michel Jarre to make the Oxygen record."

Elka Wilgamat - Jamming with Envelope Filter and Space Echo

Published on Mar 14, 2019 Italian Vintage Stuff!

"Ella Wilgamat is an analog Drum/bass/chord machine from the 70s, originally part of the massive "Space Organ" 705X, used by Jean Michel Jarre on Oxygen.
This is just a quick jam with the Digitech Synth Wah-guitar pedal and some spring reverb and echo via the Roland Re-301."

You can find a few models of the Elka Wilgamat in the archives.

Moby's Drum Machines For Sale

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

You can find them on Reverb here.

Don't miss the video here.

Update: some pics and details captured. I made the mistake of trying to capture them all and then realized how many were listed. :) I ended up switching to the more esoteric models. Quite a few have never been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH before. What's a little bit interesting, is only two new labels were needed, one for Domino and one for Side-Kick-Er. All other brands have been featured before. See the labels at the bottom of this post. Side note: Blogger limits the number of characters to 200 for labels, so I wasn't able to capture them all for this post. You can always search for the brand names featured for more. I assume most do this anyway. The labels are more for maintenance and for finding posts that may not feature brand names in descriptions.

Pictured:

Realistic Concertmate Electronic Accompanist-Metronome

"Fully analog rhythmic companion utilizing 5 beat buttons to combine how you wish. Features metronome, speaker and line out, and tempo control.

Serial: 42-2103. Works with no issue."

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Elka Wilgamat lll Vintage Analog Synth Drum Machine

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

via this auction

"Below is an interesting article and great source of information about the Wilgamat lll and potential mod to make it work just right." [here]

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Rare Elka Wilgamat III Analog Drum Machine

via this auction

RARE Vintage 70's ELKA WILGAMAT 111 Analog Drum Machine III

via this auction

"Made in Italy. 16 drum beats. Bass, chord, and arpeggio controls..."

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Little love for the ELKA WILGAMAT III

YouTube Uploaded by joyoussound on Jun 25, 2011

"A disco try-out on my own song "Why must I still keep dreaming?" played on Elka Wilgamat III when I still had one. I didn't give it any effort yet it still manages to sound so good.

Somebody please bring back my ELKA! :)"

ELKA Wilgamat III

via this auction

ELKASONG VGPG

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ELKA Wilgamat 3

via this auction

ELKA Wilgamat 1 SN 239

via this auction

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Elka Wilgamat Vintage Analog Expander

via this auction

"This rare expanders can be connected to Elka Organ or played with a special keyboard. it can produce very unusual electronic sounds."

Update via Matthew in the comments: "wilgaplainboss.mp3)

From the looks and sounds of this the Wilgamat is the auto-accompaniment and drum box from the Elka X-705 (possibly the most fantastic keyboard in existence). Given that Wilgamats regularly clear £100, and Elka Rhapsodies & Elka Soloists make £200 each, the X-705 with two Rhapsodies, one Soloist, one Wilgamat, two drawbar organs, a dedicated preset analogue bass synth and a spring reverb represents something of a colossal bargain as they rarely raise over £300. Unfortunately they're also colossally heavy so look for one in your area. Berliners, get your money out - ;)"

ELKA WILGAMAT III

images via this auction
"RARE ELKA WILGAMAT III SYNTH ORGAN DRUM MACHINE"

Update via Chris Jenkins in the comments:
"I have one of these; it seems to be in working order, but you need an Elka organ with a compatible KEYBOARDS output socket to make the Wilgamat play. Mike Walters came up with an ingenious solution; he built his Wilgamat III into a cabinet with its own keyboard. See [link]"