V.A.I. 55 Elka Wilgamat / Multivox MX-3000

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Another spin with these twooddbalss: The Elka Wilgamat and Multivox MX-3000.
The Elka Wilgamat is probably a bit familiar to our viewers by now - an Italian auto-accompaniment machine with three sections:

1. Analog drum machine section
2. Bass section with 2 sounds and variations
3. Chord section with 3 sounds

Harmonically controlled by a two-octave keyboard with a fill-in bar on top, it has a great warm sound that's unmistakably mid-1970s to our ears, the drum machine alone sounds great.

The Multivox MX-3000 is a pretty rare Japanese string machine and monophonic synth combo.
A bit similar to the Farfisa Soundmaker or maybe Solina String Synthesizer (the BIG one - not the regular String Ensemble) or the Crumar Composer but with a more complex polyphonic - or rather Divide Down - section.
Lots bells and whistles here.

It basically has three separate sections:

1. A bass synth section with multiple preset sounds and attack, decay and tone controls.

2. A polyphonic section with preset sounds that are modifiable in quite a few ways with a very nice and aggressive filter section, attack/decay, two different choruses, two glide modes and more.

3. Single Oscillator monophonic section. No presets but a few different wave forms, a very nice filter, portamento and the usual mono stuff for great leads, basses and even some space effects.

The Polyphonic filter and choruses are very cool on these, maybe that's what we got it for initially but it's turning in to our desert island machine, there's really a lot going on here, it's a versatile instrument with quite a unique and somewhat rustic sound.

They're famously hard to service due to lack of a good set of schematics.
The build-quality is strangely bad for late 1970s Japanese keyboards so they somehow always break down.
Vintage Audio Institute is a studio and gear vendor in the hills of Florence, Italy."

V.A.I. 54 Elka Wilgamat / Multivox MX-3000

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"These two machines match up quite well to our ears so we made a bunch of videos - more coming soon.
The Elka Wilgamat is probably a bit familiar to our viewers by now - an Italian auto-accompaniment machine with three sections:

1. Analog drum machine section
2. Bass section with 2 sounds and variations
3. Chord section with 3 sounds

Harmonically controlled by a two-octave keyboard with a fill-in bar on top, it has a great warm sound that's unmistakably mid-1970s to our ears, the drum machine alone sounds great.

The Multivox MX-3000 is a pretty rare Japanese string machine and monophonic synth combo.
A bit similar to the Farfisa Soundmaker or maybe Solina String Synthesizer (the BIG one - not the regular String Ensemble) or the Crumar Composer but with a more complex polyphonic - or rather Divide Down - section.
Lots bells and whistles here.

It basically has three separate sections:

1. A bass synth section with multiple preset sounds and attack, decay and tone controls.

2. A polyphonic section with preset sounds that are modifiable in quite a few ways with a very nice and aggressive filter section, attack/decay, two different choruses, two glide modes and more.

3. Single Oscillator monophonic section. No presets but a few different wave forms, a very nice filter, portamento and the usual mono stuff for great leads, basses and even some space effects.

The Polyphonic filter and choruses are very cool on these, maybe that's what we got it for initially but it's turning in to our desert island machine, there's really a lot going on here, it's a versatile instrument with quite a unique and somewhat rustic sound.

They're famously hard to service due to lack of a good set of schematics.
The build-quality is strangely bad for late 1970s Japanese keyboards so they somehow always break down.

Enjoy, more coming."

Exploring 2 Welson Stereo Symphony !

video upload by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Welson Stereo Symphony - sometimes called Welson Stereo Orchestra.
A rare, Italian string machine from the mid 70's with brass, trumpet, Piano and Harpsichord presets and multiple panning controls.
We just got two of these back from repairs so thought we'd make a comparison video.
To our ears they sound very similar, as should be, but some presets do differ a bit.
This could be because of ageing components and calibration, or the fact that only a small number of these were ever made, at least compared to the Solina String Ensemble or Logan String Melody, and small production runs don't have the same consistency as the large ones.
Volume and sustain controls for each presets at the split point, maybe a bit excessive but anyways - this is a great sounding instrument in our opinion.
Playing around with the preset and Orchestra pan options gives you a wider range of sounds than your normal string machine."

VAI 60 : Solina String Synthesizer / Elka Rhythm Machine

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Another video on the marvellous Solina String Synthesizer.
Here you can really hear the Solina String modified by the mono filters to basically create a polyphonic divide-down synthesizer.

The Elka Rhythm Machine is the model Elka released after Drummer One. The sound is a bit similar and the controls as well, although it lacks the lovely cowbell sound of the Drummer One.
This particular one has a transplanted chassi made from a Billy bookshelf from Ikea dressed in some Tolex-like material - not a bad job at all.
Normally the come in a blue metal case."

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VAI 59 : Solina String Synthesizer / Elka Wilgamat 3

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Heavy on monophonic modulation this time: the monophonic filter is really chopping up the polyphonic section to pieces.

Check out our earlier posts on the Solina String Synthesizer if you're interested in hearing or knowing more.

The Elka Wilgamat 3 has been featured before, we have a special video dedicated to that one, but in short it's an auto-accompaniment machine with four sections: drums, bass, chords and an arpeggiator."

VAI 19 : Solina String Synthesizer

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"More music with the rare Solina String Synthesizer, please see our previous video, VAI 18, for more info on this one.

Small Stone Phaser and Binson Echorec 2 for effects."

VAI 18 :Solina String Synthesizer

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"One take just playing some chords on the Solina String Synthesizer - no over dubs.
Binson Echorec 2 is the effect source.

It looks like an inflated Solina String Ensemble.
Story goes that American ARP sent a bunch of keyboard-less monophonic ARP Explorers to Eminent in Holland in the mid 70's.
Eminent incorporated most of these synths in to a huge double manual living room-furniture organ that also included the Solina String Ensemble.
A small batch of ARP Explorers were left over and Eminent decided to make a limited, "lightweight" edition : A Solina String Ensemble combined with the ARP Explorer synthesizer.
Both fairly limited instruments on their own, the combination of a mono-synth and string machine make them become more than the sum of their parts.

Here in Italy there were many similar combos and the earliest one, The Farfisa Syntorchestra was released the same year, 1975.
Which one came first? We don't know, please use the comment section if you know the answer.

The possibility of routing the String Ensemble section into the ARP Explorer filter section is a great tool, the filter of the Explorer is great, adding the mono section vibrato to the string section as well.

There are some bewildering flaws with the Solina String Synthesizer, which makes us think that the production schedule was rather tight when these were made:
The ARP Explorer Section seems to emit a ticking noise in certain filter modes (we've confirmed this with other owners of this instrument)
There are no separate outputs for the String and Mono section (WHY?!)
The mono synth always engages the highest note when you play a chord, whereas on many of the Italian counterparts you can 'prioritise': choose if the Mono section will engage the highest or the lowest note in a chord."

VAI 31 : Solina String Ensemble with Small Stone and Mu-Tron II

Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"Quickie with the Solina String Ensemble just back from service that's going up for sale.
This one sounds nice and retro, there are not two that sound alike, we've had six, or is it seven, of these so far."