OSCar Synthesizer | The New Romance

Published on Jan 21, 2018 Alex Ball

"A friend of mine brought over his 1983 OSCar analogue monosynth for the day. A fairly rare synth, they were used heavily by Ultravox.

So, we unleashed our New Romantic side.

Synths:
OSCar (sequences, bass, leads, FX)
Yamaha DX7 (bell piano)
Roland JX-3P (pads)
Roland Juno-6 (pads)
Roland SH-101 (some doubling of bass parts)
Rhythmic Robot EMU Emulator II VST (sampled piano)

Guitars:
Ibanez JEM 7DBK
Squier Jagmaster
Fender Blues Junior II mic'd with an SM57
Ibanez Tube Screamer 808
Boss Chorus CE-2

Bass:
Fender Jazz Bass
Orange OB1-300
DBX 266XL Compressor

Drums:
Past to future - California Drums
Fairlight CMI III samples

Vocals:
Recorded with an AKG C414

Plugins:
Waves, U-he, Goodhertz, T-racks, Past to future reverb impulses

All instruments performed by Alex Ball & Dave Grant
Song and recording by Alex Ball 2018"

Oscar Discovers the Theremin

Oscar Discovers the Theremin from Mark Camp on Vimeo.
via Mark. "I recently purchased a Moog Etherwave Theremin. My son Oscar absolutely loves it."

Oxford Synthesizer Company OSCar SN 0177

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

via this auction

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New OSCar and ARP 2600 on Behringer's Radar

This one spotted by Soviet Space Child:

"Aside from the Oscar synth, I can confirm that the 2600 is high on our priority list as it is a truly remarkable synth; I always wanted one for myself:-)

We are currently trying to acquire an original unit for benchmark purposes.

We hope we will be able to show you a first design draft within the next few weeks, while we're studying the circuit diagrams to provide you with an estimated retail price.

Once ready we will reach out to you to see if there is enough interest.

Uli"

That OSCar logo in this previous post on possible new Oberheim clones from Behringer, now makes more sense.

Oxford Synthesizer Company OSCar 37-Key Analog Monophonic Programmable Synthesizer

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

via this auction

Pic of the introduction fromt the user manual below for those intersted.

""Meet OSCar" Oxford Synthesizer Company OSCar 37-key Analog Monophonic Programmable Synthesizer Excellent Example! Great Condition!
SN: 0626
All foam is intact with some minor cracking on one piece as shown in photos. These foam pieces have become available on eBay if they should ever need replacing. Pots are also available from the same seller should one fail.
Plywood bottom shows no signs of damage and looks great.
Full Midi

Light scratching on some of the paint work, but overall very little wear.
Has Stand, soft large cloth cover, and a power converter included with sale.
Comes with Original Owners Manual, Not a Reprint!"

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OSCar Oxford Synthesizer Company Rare Vintage Monophonic Analog Synth SN 0180

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

via this auction

"For sale here is a rare OSCar Oxford Synthesiser Company. Includes a very nice fitting custom hard case (it will still be double boxed for shipping) and original manual. This OSCar has midi and is 100% fully functional. Cosmetically it's in great shape. It sounds AMAZING, with a huge set of features for the time, including programmable harmonic waveforms, patch memory, sequencer, an awesome arpeggiator, duophonic capabilities (yes you can play two notes at once) along with one of the best filters I have ever played, allowing for LP, BP, HP, overdrive capabilities. Huge bass, leads, effects unlike anything else. One of my favorite monophonic synthesizers of all time, & I've played them all, from Minimoogs to Arp Odysseys to Synton Syrinx. If I had to describe the sound I would say it's instant Boards of Canada, smooth, bubbly, analog with an aggressive Aphex Twin side that can get gritty & rough."

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Vintage Synthesizer Museum MIDI Karaoke with Oscar Cash

video upload by Vintage Synthesizer Museum

"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"

AE#133 Building An Oscar Music Synthesizer On A Bunch Of Prototype Boards

Artifact Electronics

"I wanted an Oscar Music Synthesizer for a while, but the longer I waited the more rare and expensive they got. So I finally built one with documentation and software available publicly on the internet.Here's a brief summary of the whole process."

AE#134 Testing The Oscar Music Synthesizer Built On A Bunch Of Prototype Boards
Artifact Electronics

OSCar synthesizer w/ MIDI

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

via this auction

" This auction is for a fully functioning, recently serviced and totally overhauled OSCar synthesizer, with MIDI. This is a great sounding synth with a lot of features that are unique even today. This one has been fully overhauled (see below), so if you're looking for one in great condition, this is it!

The following work was recently done on it:

New backup battery installed.
Replacement of all electrolytic capacitors (full recap).
All potmeters have been cleaned.
The keybed has been disassembled and deep cleaned.
The pin connectors between PCB’s have been replaced with hardwired flat cables, gone are your random OSCar issues! A superb mod.
There is one functional issue to note: the Separation knob does not work as specified in the manual. Whereas the manual suggests filter separation is at 0 when the knob is fully CCW, on this model 0 filter separation is at 12 o'clock. I have confirmed that this is the case for many OSCars--it appears to be a change that was made during production--but most importantly, it doesn't affect the how the function works."

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OSC OSCAR

images at this auction
"OSC OSCAR analog monophonic synth with MIDI. Rel. M2 which, I think, is the last version ever distributed.

The synth works perfectly and still looks like new. Few small and minor signs, but overall pretty fresh and clean.

It is just been fully refurbished by X-Tended Lab, Berlin. Every switch and pot cleaned, the keyboard contacts replaced and the whole power supply recapped, which is a sick point of this actual synth. A total of nearly 400 Euros have been spent for the restauration. The result is a synth which plays and sounds like new.
The original X-Tended receipt, showing the full list of works done will be included in the sale.

In addition, the original bank of OSC Factory Sound Patches have been uploaded into the memory, for the ultimate originality.

The OSCar is a particular and deeply interesting synth. Less than 250 of M2 version have been manufactured"

Conny Plank Studio original Oscar Synthesizer

via this auction

"this is the original Oscar Synthesizer of Conny Plank from his studio ! The Studio closed in 2006 and we sell all the remaining items, have look at our other auctions ! This Oscar works perfect and has been serviced by our technician 8 weeks ago including a new memory battery. It has an early Midi Version (dont know which one...) This Synthesizer has been used at a lot of Connys productions in the early 80s. One key has a cigarette burning spot, the rest looks good but of course not new."

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Oxford Synthesizer Company Oscar

via this auction

"Famous and now increasingly rare Oscar synthesizer made by the Oscar synthesizer company with midi options."

Uli Behringer on Next Steps - New Affordable Clones of Classic Vintage Synths & More

This one in via Soviet Space Child.  Further below you will find a post from Uli Behringer on what he plans next.  It is pretty much in line with what he said in his recent interview posted here on the 23rd. Note he mentions bringing old classics back along with new creations. An interesting side note, is it appears Music Group IP, which Behringer falls under, made logo and trademark grabs for Oberheim. Via dluther:

"The Oberheim logo and trademarks seem to have been filed by Music Group after Gibson turned it over to Wells Fargo, and it expired:

USPTO Assignments on the Web

Then Music Group IP made a claim on it on Dec 8 of last year (awaiting examination

Trademark Status & Document Retrieval

And Gibson must have caught wind of what's going on and is now trying to retrieve it on behalf of Bank of America as a "Security Interest:"

USPTO Assignments on the Web

It's interesting to note they filed these trademarks under the Music Group IP Inc. name instead of some shell organization. Given the specificity of the Oberheim marks reserved, I'd venture their next big synth will be an 'homage' to the OB-Xa, and possibly an OSCar. Given their treatment of the Juno-106, it might be something special..."

And here is what Uli Behringer had to say regarding what's coming:

"Hello everyone, please allow me to chime in.

Since the introduction of our first synth, the DeepMind12, it has now become the best selling synthesizer at the world's largest retailers Thomann and Sweetwater. Our team is so excited that we have decided to go "all in".

What does that mean?

We have since hired 20 incredibly talented engineers and synth experts, and we're hiring many more. In fact we're looking for passionate software and hardware engineers for our Innovation Center in Manchester, UK. Please feel free to drop me a note and CV if you're interested...

Our dream is to cover every musical and technological angle, which includes analog and digital synths, samplers, romplers, drum machines - you name it.

We have also taken on the challenge to see if we can make a really cool analog synth for US$ 49 retail. That's not easy, but we'll give it a try! We like to make analog synths available especially for kids so they can learn to play an electronic instrument.

We'll be reviving both legacy synths based on authentic designs and original components but we're also heavily investing in research in the areas of cutting-edge granular and waveform synthesis, etc. in order to innovate and create something completely new.

Many people have asked us to revive synth jewels from the past and make them affordable so everyone can own one. This very much resonates with me because when I was a kid, I spent hours in stores playing and admiring those synths - however I couldn't afford them which was tremendously frustrating.

Frankly, I never understood why someone would charge you US$ 4,000 for a MiniMoog, when the components just cost around US $200.

We at Midas and Behringer believe in bringing these instruments back and making them affordable so everyone can play and enjoy them.

In order to introduce young people to the world of synthesizers, we have also hired lots of university fresh grads for our engineering departments - great guys that have discovered and now love building synths.
I can honestly say that this the best vibe we have ever had in our company and I am tremendously proud of these guys who put incredible effort and time in designing those synths.

As always we love to hear from you, learn what your thoughts are and what you want us to make. Building great things for customers is what we love and the purpose why we exist.

Thank you for all the fantastic support!

Uli"

Update: New OSCar and ARP 2600 on Behringer's Radar - this explains the OSCar logo above.

Legendary Synth Designer Chris Hugget of EDP, OSC, and Novation has Passed Away

I'm hearing news that Novation's Chris Hugget passed away on Friday. Anyone coming to this site, likely knows he designed the original EDP WASP series of synths, the Oxford Synthesizer Company's OSCar, and more recently, various synths for Novation. Novation has a timeline of his creations here.

"Most people know him as the genius behind Wasp and OSCar, the legendary monosynth from Ultravox's Love's Great Adventure, Stevie Wonder's Skeletons, and Jean-Michel Jarre's Revolutions Overture.

Chris' synths have been used by everybody: Orbital, Ultravox, Tom Yorke, Trent Reznor, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Stevie Wonder, Jean Michel Jarre, Keith Emerson- the list is endless. His heritage synths are sought across the world, and sell for upwards of £5000.

He is a true synth legend. He is also our synth designer. Every Novation synth has been conceived, shaped and refined by his passion and expertise, which spans five decades."

Below are a few videos that pay tribute to his work. You can find additional posts mentioning Chris Hugget here.




Novation // Innovation Since 1992

Inside: Novation's Innovative Instrument Laboratory (Electronic Beats TV)




The WASP - A Very British Synthesizer


Alex Ball

"The WASP is an iconic British synthesizer designed by Electronic Dream Plant in 1978.

EDP were Adrian Wagner (yes he was a relation), Chris Huggett and Steven Evans. They only traded until around 1982, but that wasn't the end of their synth story. Chris Huggett in particular has had a prolific career in the industry, founding the Oxford Synthesizer Company in 1983 and releasing the (also iconic) OSCar and subsequently (after work with Akai), he joined Novation, who are still trading to this very day.

Back to 1978, the concept of the WASP was to build a powerful, low cost synthesizer. That seemed to have worked as one of the original reviews I found uses the headline "The Synth we can all afford" but still dubs it a professional instrument.

I also found a Moog price list dated June 15th 1978 and it lists the Minimoog as $1,995, the Multimoog as $1,495 and the Micromoog as $895. Assuming they sold for about the same in the UK, the equivalent prices would be approximately £1,090, £820 and £490 respectively. The aforementioned WASP review also states that an Odyssey is still over £1,000 in 1978, so with the WASP priced at £199 this demonstrates what a bargain it was at the time.

In fact, I had a brief conversation with a friend who remembers running out to buy it the moment he heard about it in 1978 and he still has his. It was also the first synth of Dave Stewart and Nick Rhodes among others."

The PULSCar files - #2

Published on Mar 6, 2018 Stereoping

"2nd remix - trying to make songs from raw ideas i sketched in the 90ies when i had an OSCar. Other gear used: Korg Poly6, Roland Juno6, Alesis AirFX, Yamaha R-1000 and 2 x Boss SE-50. As i lack a real OSCar today i try to substitude it with the PULSCar - a Pulse where it's ladder-VCF was replaced with the double 13600-OTA-VCF of the OSCar. The PULSCar-Project is still not finished in 03/2018."

More: http://www.matrixsynth.com/search?q=PULSCar

Rumore Indipendente - OSC oscar

YouTube Uploaded by RumoreIndipendente on Apr 8, 2011

"http://www.rumoreindipendente.com

Rumore Indipendente presenta una serie di patches realizzate con il sintetizzatore OSC Oscar.

http://www.rumoreindipendente.com"

Googlish: "Independent Noise presents a series of patches created with the synthesizer OSC Oscar."

Oscar digital/analogue synthesiser

via this auction

"...The OSCar is one of the great monosynths, with a legendary dual filter design that can range from moog like tones to vowel sounds.The oscillators are digital , but amazingly can sound warm and deep.They can also be programmed with your own custom waveforms with a unique harmonic synthesis system, give it digital tones and edge when needed.It has a very flexible step sequencer , with extensive sync facitlites and a built in clock divider that can sync to midi or analogue pulses.The envelopes have repeat functions that can create pulsed tones for instant basslines and there is an arppegiator.
The keyboard can transmit polyphonic midi information , letting you layer the OSCar with another synth.It also has an unusual key assign ( which can be tunrned off ) where a key off triggers the next held note.This can give some really great effects in basslines and solo's.There is a comprehensive LFO and the oscillators have their own PWM setting that doesn't use up the LFO for a rich chorus sound..."

Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar

Published on Dec 8, 2012 by jbfairlight

"Encore une démo de l'Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar la musique a été entièrement composée sur un OSCar et une BAR, encore merci a Push-Pull pour cette musique !"

GForce Software OSCar Competition - March 2014

via GForce Software

"For the month of March, 2014 we're offering you the chance to enter our 'OSCar Competition'.

The rules are simple.

Download and print this line drawing (.jpg) of the seminal OSCar synthesiser.
Colour it in. Either by hand or digitally.
Send us an image (max 1MB) of your effort via email here. [link at GForce Software]


Yes, we realise this may be considered a little frivolous, but music should be fun and this competition is just that, a bit of nerdy fun!!

If you have children, what better way to introduce them to a bit of creative synthing?

The winner of the competition will be chosen by an illustrious panel of (GForce) children and announced on our website and via email on Tuesday April 2nd 2014.

The winner will receive an impOSCar2 license.

Here's one we did ourselves!! [top pic]"

Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar synth demo

Uploaded on Mar 28, 2009 Matt Brock

"A demonstration of some sounds I programmed on my OSCar combined with a 'flypast' of the synth itself. No audio FX have been added apart from some mastering compression. I also wrote a blog post about the OSCar to go with this video: http://blog.mattbrock.co.uk/2009/03/2...

If you like the synth sounds in this video, check out my electronic music: http://www.dicepeople.com/"