Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm w/ Original Box & Manual

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via this auction

"A very beautiful CR-78 with its original box, pedal and manual.
It is in excellent cosmetic condition, and it will be fully serviced prior to sale.
There is no battery leakage as it has been removed and replaced before it happens.
So this CR-78 is in excellent shape in and out !"

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Brother GX-151 aka Baldwin Discoverer DS-50 Analog Synthesizer / Drum Machine SN 111892 w/ Extras

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

via this auction

You can find dmeos of one in previous posts.

"Incredibly cool piece of RARE vintage analog goodness. This is a pretty-much-mint condition 1970 Brother Auto Emillion GX-151 Synthesizer/Organ.

Before it was the Baldwin Discoverer DS-50, it was the Brother Auto-Emillion GX-151, manufactured by the Japanese printer company, who later sold the rights to Baldwin.

Made by Brother Industries, Nagoya Japan, and sold in the US under the name Baldwin Discoverer. Which was a favorite of Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys, and later Radiohead, Gorillaz, Beck, Haley Williams - Tiny Desk NPR, etc...

This one’s definitely for the collector, but could also be a fully functioning addition to the keys collection of any recording studio looking for those extremely rare, cool retro vibes.

This analog synth/organ has a number of great preset sounds, as well as the potential to create your own sounds combining different sound voices.

This machine has the ability to record user-created arpeggiated or chord sequences, and this function works perfectly. One saved sequence can be stored on a microchip which is working perfectly, even after powering off. It is also one finger or live automated if desired. Similar to a Suzuki Omnichord, but with a synth/keyboard.

There is a Mic input which can be volume controlled on the interface, expression pedal input, Line out, and Line in, Input jack for DC 12V.

There's a great built-in analog drum machine, with great preset rhythms, reminiscent of the Roland CR-78, and two different rhythms can be played at once, creating nice new combinations.

This is a great sounding machine with tons of character.

Again, it is in collector condition. Comes with the original Instruction Manual, the two original music stands, and complete with the original dark grey Brother carry bag.

Minus one tiny scratch on the left end piece. Every function, knob, and slider is in working condition. It’s been in storage for a few years, so some of the pots are scratchy, could use some canned air or contact cleaner. All in all, it’s in fantastic shape.

Purchased in Ireland, Comes with the original European 250v Brother A/C adapter. I’ll include the after market 12v USA adaptor pictured."

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MTI Auto Orchestra Rare Vintage 70s All Analog Drum Machine Sting Machine & Bass Synth

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"Up for us a very unique and very rare Hand Made in American MTI Auto Orchestra from the late 70s. It’s an all Analog VCO first generation full band auto accompaniment machine with built in simi programmable Drum Machine, Expression Pedal controlled String Machine and Foot Pedal controlled Bass Synth. It’s in very good condition with normal wear. Everything works as it should and it sounds so good that your jaw will drop!

The Drum Machine sounds very similar to a Roland CR 78 mixed with a Roland CR8000. Programming it is very similar to those machines as well with a plethora of push button rhythm variation and fill options. You can also mute and and unmute individual kit pieces for build ups and break downs.

The String Machine sounds very lush and reminiscent of a ARP Solina. It’s controlled by the expression pedal and you have different chord options to choose from with your foot! You also have the option to do monophonic string Melodies controlled by the foot pedal keyboard. You also have the option to have different rhythm variations of the strings the perfectly sync to the drum beat. How cool is that!

The Bass Synth sounds reminiscent of a Roland TB 303 mixed with a Moog Taurus. That is controlled by the foot pedal keyboard and like the string machine section has the option for it to sync to the drum beat or played live. It will also follow along with the expression pedal chord of your choice when the in that mode.

Each section has a volume control and the string and bass section have limited by useful tone shaping controls.

This thing is the real deal and a serious drum machine or synth collectors dream machine. Very few of these machines were made and I have never seen one in this good of condition with the accompanying foot pedals. It’s the original “Band In A Box” and you can do complete sets just with this. Perfect for Indie, Lofi, Dreampop, Experimental, Techno or Folk musicians who want to add the magic of this machine to their music."

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Patch of The Week: 'Filter Drums' Part 1 - Analogue Cowbell w/ Fixed Filter Bank 914 (& VCF Clave)

video upload by AJH Synth Official

"This week's patch is the first of a short series showing ways to use filters for vintage rhythm/drum machine percussion style sounds, beginning with an analogue cowbell-type sound using the Fixed Filter Bank 914.

00:00 Patch of The Week: 'Filter Drums'
02:07 Patch Sheet

Some filters can be used to create tones without any input sound, simply by pushing them into self-oscillation (raising resonance beyond it's threshold point), but the Fixed Filter Bank is not a regular filter/VCF, so it works a little differently. Rather than controlling the overall frequency of the filter, each of it's bandpass filters has a preset frequency, for which you control the level. On the AJH Synth module they are deliberately tuned to one of two pitches when pushed into feedback, which makes it more musically useful. Here, I mix in some white noise to add texture to the feedback frequencies.

For comparison, I also included the Ladder Filter here to demonstate how a typical VCF (which can self-oscillate) can be controlled by a sequencer, with the steps controlling the pitches it produces. The point is that either module has it's advantages when used to synthesize particular sounds. In this video the ladder filter is producing simple tuned claves."

Patch of The Week: No-Input Filter Drums Part 2 - Using VCF Self-Oscillation to create Percussion

video upload by AJH Synth Official

"This week's patch shows some ideas for using self-oscillating analogue filters to produce vintage drum machine inspired sounds, the basis of which can be used to emulate such sounds as the clave, bongo, cowbell, and kick/bass drum of early rhythm boxes. I used the sounds of the Roland CR-78, TR-77 and Acetone FR-2L as inspiration here, but in a later Patch of The Week video I'll be recreating some sounds of 70's machines more directly, using VCOs and noise sources. In the meantime, the methods contained here might be of interest to those wanting to make some simple percussive accompaniment with a limited number of modules. At the end of the video I'll show some vintage-inspired patterns using the modular as a 4 voice drum machine, without needing to use samples or a sampler. Patch notes and link to downloadable patch sheet below.

Index:
00:00 Intro
00:25 VCF Clave
01:12 Fixed Filter Bank Bongo/Cowbell
02:27 Gemini 2412 Bongo
03:20 VCF Kick/Bass Drum"

The First Famous Drum Machine!

video upload by Alex Ball

"The Roland CompuRhythm or CR-78 from 1978 is arguably the first famous drum machine. In this short video, I take a look at why that is.

Free sample pack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iV0Z...

Thanks to the owner of this CR-78 and thanks to Autoy for filling in the sounds I couldn't get due to it needing a visit to the synth doctor."

La Scoumoune - cover on AX80, CS20M, Ritm-2, Bit One, K3, EK44, Emax

video by Valmont

"A fantastic soundtrack written by François de Roubaix in 1972

Yamaha CS20-M: Lead 1
EMI Ritm-2: Bass
Kawai K3: Voices
Akai AX-80: Rythmic chords and Lead 2
E-Mu Emax II: Main chords
Crumar Bit One: Chords 2
Elka EK-44: Countermelody

Drums: Boss DR-55, Roland CR-78, Korg Rhythm 55, Korg Minipops 7, NI Abbey Road 60s Drummer

FX: Dangerous Bax EQ, U-He Presswerk, ACME Opticom XLA-3, SSL Native Drumstrip, A.O.M Invisible Limiter, IK TR5 EQual, Softube Saturation Knob, Eventide 2016 Room, SynthScience Autopan Modulator, Arturia Tape-201, XLN RC-20, Izotope Mastering Essentials, Nomad Factory 80's Spaces, Waves CLA Bass, D-16 Syntorus, Alex Hilton Stereo Control A1, Valhalla VintageVerb, Waves J37, Eventide Blackhole, IK MixBox, Xfer LFO Tool, Lindell 50 Buss

Fun fact: this is my dad's ringtone :D"

CHI (チ) featuring Roland SYSTEM 100 Synthesizer (HD music video demo)

video by Robert Saint John

"CHI (チ), a performance with the Roland SYSTEM 100 semi-modular analog monosynth from 1975. I'm using the Roland Boutique A-01 Controller+Generator to both trigger the gate of the Model 104 Sequencer and to maintain sync between the System 100 and an iPad running Zenbeats, for its CR-78 based drumkit. Model 103 Mixer provides spring reverb and is connected to the BOSS RE-20 SpaceEcho. Live performance captured with Roland GO:Mixer.

CHI (チ) by Robert Saint John, Music and Video © ℗ 2021"

Vintage Tonic

Magnus Lidström

"We have developed a machine-learning algorithm that generates synth sounds from audio samples. To put this algorithm to the test we created Vintage Tonic: a recreation of ten legendary drum machines for Microtonic.

Read more about it here: https://soniccharge.com/forum/topic/1...

Download the patches from: https://soniccharge.com/download"

Some additional info:

"Vintage Tonic is a patch package for Microtonic created from recordings of the following classic drum machines:

Maestro Rhythm King (1960)
Keio / Korg Minipops 7 (1966)
Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm (1978)
Korg KR-55 (1979)
Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer (1980)
Oberheim DMX (1981)
Linn Drum (1982)
Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer (1984)
Roland TR-707 Rhythm Composer (1984)
Roland TR-505 Rhythm Composer (1986)

Notice that the collection includes both analog and digital drum machines. Naturally, the digital drum machines are much harder to reproduce using Microtonic's synthesizer engine, but even imperfect results are fun, and I find the sounds quite useful.

The older drum machines were mainly preset pattern players. I have painstakingly tried to reproduce not only their sounds but also all of their original patterns."

Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm Used by Arturia

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via this auction

Amazing studio shot from the listing. According to it, the CR-78 is the one used by Arturia to create their plug-in. See the seller's other items for more. A few are captured in posts below. A search for Celmar Engel will bring them up.

"Selling Studio gear coming from the personnel Collection of a famous French Music Producer, Celmar Engel... This is a Roland CR-78 in an amazing condition. No scratch, everything works perfectly and comes with the start/stop pedal. It was used by Arturia to create their CR78 plug in."

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Roland CR-78 run-through

"My CR-78. The preset patterns, the addition of my own patterns in the programmer, and the CR-78 triggering my Korg MS-20M towards the end. Audio through my speakers and the camera phone."

70s Synth Strings from Italy - The Crumar Multiman-S

Alex Ball synth vids

0:00 - Opening demo
0:35 - The String Synthesizer
2:44 - Paraphony
4:11 - The Crumar Multiman-S
4:32 - Basic Strings Demo
5:42 - Low Strings Ensemble Demo
6:07 - Phased Strings Demo
6:34 - Brass
7:46 - Piano
8:17 - Clavichord
8:31 - Bass
9:01 - The Multiman
10:11 - Outro Disco Bonanza

"Today we take a look at the Crumar Multiman-S, an Italian string synthesizer from 1977.

We also look at the concept of a string synthesizer in general; an instrument that served as a stop gap, but that forged its own identity due the distinctive sound and the records they were used in.

Originally conceived by Ken Freeman, others saw the impending gold rush and got their instruments out. When I say there was a 'string synth heyday', I'm not exaggerating. Here's a list of just some of them:

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Tubbutec Session #01 - Korg Minipops 7, Roland CR-78 and Roland SH-101

Tubbutec

"Three Tubbutec modified instruments in this video:

Minipops and CR-78 are both midi controlled via Tubbutec uniPulse. The interface allows velocity sensitive trigger of all instruments and clock sync.

The MiniPops Guiro can be pitch controlled, which is used to add a second melody line in some parts of the video.

The SH-101 is midi controlled using the Tubbutec SH-1oh1 CPU upgrade. Accent is controlled via midi, the additional filter envelope adds a smooth attack to the baseline.

More info:
https://tubbutec.de/uniPulse
https://tubbutec.de/Sh-1oh1"

ROLAND CR-78 COMPU-RHYTHM SN 883705

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via this auction

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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.

In this video I breakdown its features and use it to make a short track.

0:00 - Intro
0:42 - The WASP
2:07 - The Keyboard
2:59 - The Oscillators
3:40 - Noise
4:03 - The Controller Oscillator
5:06 - The Filter
6:08 - The Envelopes
6:30 - LINK
7:11 - Internal Speaker
7:32 - Demo Track
9:21 - Outro

Gear used:
EDP WASP (1978)
Simmons SDS-3 (1978)
AMS DMX 15~80S (1978)
Roland CR-78 (1978) samples

Some original brochure scans stolen from the wonderful Retro Synth Ads blog:
http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com"

Alex Ball synth vids

ROLAND CR-78 COMPU-RHYTHM

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Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm Case

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Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm - Programmable Rhythm Machine

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via this auction

"This one is in excellent cosmetic condition and is working 100%. As you may know, this was Roland's first programmable rhythm machine. There are a few companies making programmers for the CR-78 if you need one."

You can find previous posts featuring the programmer here.

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LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER Modifies a Roland CR-78

Modifying My Beloved Roland CR78 To Make It Actually Useful Published on May 9, 2020 LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER

"Today I Modified my Classic Roland #CR78 #Drum Machine to be a bit more useable using the Tubbutec Unipulse.
FREE Sample Pack available for download right here :- https://www.patreon.com/lookmumnocomp..."

Some Blondie Heart of Glass in there.

CR78 Modification With The Tubbutec Unipulse

Published on May 9, 2020 LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER BUT MORE SERIOUS ISH

LE CHOC DU FUTUR - THE SHOCK OF THE FUTURE Synth Movie

Published on May 3, 2019 MPM Premium

This one was sent in by a good friend of mine, Carla. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this one before. There's some prime synth spotting in the trailer alone. It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Note this is an actual movie, not a documentary. The film features music by Human League, Devo, Throbbing Gristle, Marc Collin, Clara Luciani, Jean-Michel Jarre, Cerrone, Aksak Maboul, Suicide, and Julie London.

In the trailer: Roland CompuRhythm CR-78, Moog modular, ARP 2600 orange & black, and a Yamaha CS80. Vintage Maestro Phase Shifter as well.


Description for the trailer above:

"FRANCE, 2019 / 84 MIN / FRENCH

In the Paris of 1978, old formulas do not charm listeners anymore and new music must arise. In a male-dominated industry, Ana uses her electronic gadgets to make herself heard, creating a new sound that will mark the decades to come: the music of the future.

WITH
Alma Jodorowsky from 'Blue is the Warmest Color'
(Cannes 2013); Philippe Rebbot from 'Gauguin' (2017);
Clara Luciani and Corine, both French singers

Produced by Nebo Productions, The Perfect Kiss Films
and Sogni Vera Films"

How To Load Synth Presets into the PG8X VST plugin

Published on Apr 26, 2020 Synth & Sundry

"Several viewers want to know how to load preset sounds into the PG-8X VST plugin synth emulating the classic Roland JX-8P. This is because when you first load up the PG8X in your DAW, the plugin's preset banks are empty which can throw off even the most experienced producer. This is why I put up this quick tutorial.

If you want to hear the PG8X in action, listen here: [Three videos below. Additional posts here]

If you'd like to support this channel with a one-off purchase, please check out our affordably priced music: https://synthandsundry.bandcamp.com"

Free Roland JX-8P synth emulator - PG8X VST plugin

Published on Oct 31, 2018 Synth & Sundry

"Massive synthwave vibes from this synth VST plugin. It's a faithful emulation of the classic Roland JX-8P synth, taking interface cues from the optional PG-800 hardware controller.
You can hear a few patches found on the internet. The PG8X VST synth plugin can load in original JX-8P patches over sysex. You can hear some pads, leads and brassy tones in a few melodic examples of what this free plug-in can do."

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