THE SOLTON DISCO 64

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"On a sunny afternoon a few years ago we hooked up the Solton Disco 64 to make a co-hesive demonstration of its capabilities just to see the machine literally start smoking due to burned transistors.

The attempt was aborted and it's not until now that we've managed to get the machine fixed so we can give it a second try.

Boy this thing is as rare as it is cool - complete with SSM filters it's the predecessor to the more famous and common Solton Programmer 24.

This is not really a disco machine per se - it has 4 Disco rhythm patterns on board indeed but Waltz, Bossa Nova and all the standard rhythm patterns of most drum machines of the era.

Quite a few machines featured Disco in their names for no other reason than the hype and coolness of the genre at the time of production.

The Disco 64 has more features than most auto-accompaniment units: there's the chords section, a string machine, a monophonic bass synth with individual volumes for each section, mute options, 4 bass line variations, cut-off and resonance filter, different chord sounds and of course an analog drum machine with individual sound mute options. You can play the string machine and bass synth like a keyboard, independently from the auto comp section so it's a monophonic and polyphonic synth as well as an auto accompaniment unit.

Apart from separate outputs for the drums and auto comp section, this one came modded with a separate output for the string machine, very useful for running it through effects."

Additonal SOLTON DISCO 64 posts

Solton Disco 64 - SR 161/82

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"A quick demo with the wonderful Solton Disco 64
Strings separate out through a phaser, some light compression on drums and main mix."

Addtional Solton Disco 64 posts

Solton Disco 64 - Serviced with Midi

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"It comes with original foot pedals and the crazy-rare foot switch that unlock the drum-fills, as well as the lid for the main unit.

Since it doesn’t have the keyboard it’s been modified with Midi in.
An extra output for the string sound has been added for easy phase shifting routing.
This is a unique auto-accompaniment beast with a string machine, a monophonic bass synth with individual volumes for each section, mute options, 4 bass line variations, cut-off and resonance filter, 4 different chord sounds and of course an analog drum machine with mute option for individual drum sound and volumes for the 5 main drum sounds. You can play the string machine and bass synth like a keyboard, independently from the auto comp section so it's a monophonic synth and string machine as well!"

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Three Songs with the SOLTON DISCO 64

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"Auto accompaniment unicorn galore!
Boy this thing is as rare as it is cool - the predecessor of the Solton Programmer 24.

Not really a disco machine per se - quite a few machines featured Disco in their names for no other reason than the hype and coolness of the genre at the time (late 70s / early 80s).
But this is a unique auto-accompaniment beast with a string machine, a monophonic bass synth with individual volumes for each section, mute options, 4 bass line variations, cut-off and resonance filter, different chord sounds and of course an analog drum machine with individual sound mute options.
You can play the string machine and bass synth like a keyboard, independently from the auto comp section so it's a monophonic and polyphonic synth as well as an auto accompaniment unit.
Apart from separate outputs for the drums and auto comp section, this one came modded with a separate output for the string machine, quite useful for running it through effects.

Vintage Audio Institute Italia is a music studio and gear vendor in Florence, Italy."

Additional SOLTON DISCO 64 posts.

A QUICK TEST : SOLTON DISCO 64

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Before the Solton Programmer 24 - the by now fairly well-known Italo Disco machine - there was the Solton Disco 64.

After picking up this beautiful and mega rare species in Perugia not too long ago I filmed the first 10 minutes of trying it out and reacquainting myself with its perks.

I needed to touch up on how these work - which maybe isn’t as straight forward as it should be.

I already have another unit here but haven’t used it in a long time since it started emitting smoke a few years back. The machine has some minor scratchy pots but is otherwise working fairly well - every time something we buy isn't completely dead is kind of a miracle.

The Wah chord sound doesn’t sound right so that will be taken care of - it's in the shop for a check-up and a re-cap of the power supply and a few other minor interventions as we speak.

This is a nice, heavy chunk of a machine (main unit Is 16 kilos) in a brown faux leather suitcase with saloon style wood details, this is not really a disco machine per se - quite a few machines featured Disco in their names for no other reason than the hype and coolness of the genre at the time.

But this is a unique auto-accompaniment beast none the less - with a great sounding analog string machine, an analog, monophonic bass synth with filters, different chord sounds and of course a drum machine with individual sound mute options.

You can play the string machine and bass synth alone and independently from the auto comp section."

VAI 41 : Solton Disco 64

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"We're having so much fun with this machine - The Solton Disco 64 was made in very small numbers in Pocking, Germany in the early eighties.

Originally built as a big 2 keyboard organ for home users, a few of these stand alone units were produced as well. There are 4 sections on board :
analog drum section with mute options
analog bass section with resonance and low pass filter
string machine
various chord sounds.

The string machine and bass section can be played independently, like a synth, which would have been great if the action of the keys was better, it's very tough to play."

VAI 40 : Solton Disco 64

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Another video of this rare bird - the Solton Disco 64.
This is one take and two overdubs if we remember correctly - it's really fun and easy to improvise on and then use the same machine to do overdubs - you can play the sections as monophonic / polyphonic synthesizers as well as having the auto-accompaniment generating the sounds.
The sounds themselves might not be the most interesting, but the complete sum of its parts makes for a fun instrument, and external effects do help as well.
This was the predecessor of the Solton Programmer 24 and some of the sounds and the drum machine is featured in the the first model Solton Polyvox as well."

You can find additional Solton Disco 64 posts here.

VAI 39 : Solton Disco 64

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia


Not really a disco machine per se - a few machines featured Disco in their names for no other reason than the hype and coolness of the genre at the time.
But this is a unique auto-accompaniment beast with a string machine, a monophonic bass synth with filters, different chord sounds and of course an analog drum machine with individual sound mute options.
You can play the string machine and bass synth like a keyboard, independently from the auto comp section.
Apart from separate outputs for the drums and auto comp section, this one came modded with a separate output for the string machine, quite useful for running it through effects.


Vintage Audio Institute Italia is a music studio and gear vendor in Florence, Italy."

You can find an additional demo of the Solton Disco 64 here. One went for sale back in 2008.

Solton Ketron Programmer 24 - Synthesizer (1985) 80s italo disco machine

Published on Jun 19, 2019 RetroSound

"(c) 2019 vintage synthesizer demo by #RetroSound

#Solton (Ketron) #Programmer 24 from the year 1985

Made in italy by Ketron. Also called as "Italian Disco Machine"

It`s an early arranger workstation with analog stringensemble (cello, violin) and a triple-BBD chorus, a organ section (8`,4`,2`), four analog preset bass sounds (decay and filter cutoff variable) and 8-bit PCM drum sounds. Bass, synth arpeggio and strings are based on a M112 DCO and have SSM 2044 low-pass filters.

You can program and store up to 64 own patterns. MIDI and Trigger Out in included too. A "band in a box" with really nice sound.

This demo shows self programmed beats and synth lines. No presets.

recording: multi-track"

Solton Programmer 24s

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"The Solton Programmer 24s is an Italian analog synth from 1985. It's basically 80s in a box. It's got drums, bass, synth, arps, strings, organ sounds as well as a 64 programmable patterns with accompaniment if you so chose. This italo-disco synth is enough by itself to do an entire set.

All rhythm and bass have separate 1/4 outs as well as a main L/R and Midi I/O/T"

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Solton Ketron Programmer 24 - Analog Synthesizer (1985) 80s italo synth pop style

Published on Jan 2, 2018 RetroSound

"(c) 2018 vintage synthesizer demo by RetroSound

Solton (Ketron) Programmer 24 from the year 1985

Made in italy by Ketron. Also called as 'Italian Disco Machine'

It`s an early arranger workstation with analog stringensemble (cello, violin) and a triple-BBD chorus, a organ section (8`,4`,2`), four analog preset bass sounds (decay and filter cutoff variable) and 8-bit PCM drum sounds. Bass, synth arpeggio and strings are based on a M112 DCO and have SSM 2044 low-pass filters.

You can program and store up to 64 own patterns. MIDI and Trigger Out in included too. A "band in a box" with really nice sound.

This demo shows self programmed beats and synth lines. No presets.

recording: multi-track"

Solton Ketron Programmer 24 - Italo Disco Machine (1985)

Published on Dec 19, 2017 RetroSound

"(c) 2017 vintage synthesizer demo by RetroSound

Solton (Ketron) Programmer 24 from the year 1985

Also called as "Italian Disco Machine" is an early arranger workstation with analog stringensemble (cello, violin) and a triple-BBD chorus, an organ section (8`,4`,2`), four analog preset bass sounds (decay and filter cutoff variable) and 8-bit PCM drum sounds.

Bass, synth arpeggio and strings are based on a M112 DCO and have SSM 2044 low-pass filters.

You can program up to 64 patterns.

Midi and Trigger Out in included too.

A "band in a box" with really nice sound."

Solton Disco 64 Ultimative analog Disco Machine

Published on Mar 22, 2014 Obee1980·3 videos

"Very rare Solton Disco 64 analog synthesizer + drumcomputer / sequencer demo.
Funky machine made in Germany around 1978. This machine is up for sale."

SOLTON DISCO 64 DRUMMACHINE

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