Brian Kehew demonstrates the Mellotron at the Museum of Making Music

YouTube via MellotronMovie | January 24, 2011 |

"Brian Kehew demonstrates the Mellotron at the Museum of Making Music screening of "Mellodrama: The Mellotron Movie" in September 2010
www.mellotronmovie.com"

NAMM 2013: Gene Stopp & Brian Kehew at The Bob Moog Foundation Booth

via The Bob Moog Foundation on Facebook

"Top-notch modular tech Gene Stopp and the inimitable Brian Kehew stop by the Bob Moog Foundation booth at NAMM 2103."

http://moogfoundation.org

CONN Electric Band

Images and audio sent my way via Brian Kehew of The MOOG Cookbook.

All WAV files hosted on Twango.

download here
Presets
Presets 2
Bass and Drums
Variable Sound

More images

Update: Some words from Brian Kehew:
"It's from CONN - the same people who sold trumpets and saxes to kids in band class. But I think it's made by Lowrey - just a hunch. It has a lead mono synth with two oscillators, sounds very much like an ARP Soloist or Moog Minitmoog. One of the preset settings is "variable" and you have some adjustments you can make in the sound, the others are all presets you see on front. On the left is a set of black keys that do the bass note and chords. The bass tone 9as you hear) is HUGE and super deep. It plays a simple bass line when you start the drum machine. There is a cool beatbox, typical 70s one. And my favorite feature is that it can all run through the spring reverb inside - 3 settings from minimal to underwater! I love the fake wood grain stuff.
I've only ever seen three of these; the two others were one my friend Roger Manning (of Moog Cookbook) has, and one other I sold to Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo."

More OB-Mx Samples Via Brian Kehew

Click here for another sample of the OB-Mx sent my way via Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook. It's the 4M mp3. The other is the sample he previously sent in.

"Here are some of my sounds, they kinda show off what the synth does well. It's aggressive without losing the "muscle" of the sound; a real DIRTY sound when you want it. It has nice complexity and definitely sounds analog. I think it's unfairly treated by some people, although there are others like me that are in love with it. The filters sound great, and the complexity - from the Matrix-style routings - gives it a lot of options if you're a programming nut.

I think it got too much attention for being connected to Don Buchla - he did very little on the synth, and it's NOT like a Buchla really. But you have to give them credit - at the time this came out NOBODY was making analog synths. I thought it was such a bold (and commercially ahead-of-it's time, or behind-it's-time!) idea. Sure was expensive though. For a short time, about three years ago, unused voice cards were turning up - they all sold fast as people stacked up their synth. Mine now has all twelve voices."

OB-Mx shot via Sequencer.de.

The Con Brio Rises!

via Brian Kehew of The MOOG Cookbook. Only two Conbrio ADS 200s were ever made. See the links in Brian's message below for more info on this rare digital synth from the past.

"Hi guys - this is a quickie announcement - we're rushing to prepare an exhibit for this year's annual (and final) "VINTAGE COMPUTER FAIR"!

Why? This Con Brio synthesizer I've had for a decade is finally going to make noise in public again. Just this week we heard it for the first time - maybe the first one of these has been used in 20+ years...

http://www.synthmuseum.com/conbrio/conads20001.html

http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-favorite-retro-synth-conbrio-ads.html

It's been a legendary beast - mostly because of how it looks (of course). But until this week, we didn't know it was really GOOD. As a slightly outside observer, it was truly amazing - the design and interface are superb - you can fly on this thing and work very quickly. They implemented the synthesis with some REALLY tricky methods, as well as writing their own disc drive code, things like that. It sounds like other digital synths of the era - but with much better fidelity, its basic tone is pretty great. I am now gonna try and reunite the designers (one of them is coming along for the show and may give a talk). I will probably soon do a detailed web page showing some of the clever ideas and history. ANd my goal is to lend it out to some people, who can take it for a month and do ONE piece on it - so I can make some kind of "ALL Con Brio" CD so people can finally hear it. I don't think it's ever been on a commercial record release...

The FAIR and the MUSEUM: Sat/Sun 10-6 pm!! Exhibits from 2-6pm!

http://www.vintage.org/2007/main/

So - if you're interested in coming by (Mountain View, CA) I'll be there with it. PLEASE pass on the info to your techie-geek friends who may also appreciate this or a roomfull (museum nearby) of vintage computers; Altair, Digital Equipment Corp., Timex, Commodore, early Apple, etc."

Update via Brian in the comments:
"Well, I would think so too, but that's not true exactly. The three guys who did the Con Brio are serious computer experts; the one seen at the show makes his living manufacturing THE fastest RAM you can buy today. He says the way the Con Brio works (which is not a microprocessor counting to create "oscillators") would still be hard on a typical modern computer. If it were done by a microprocessor running numbers, yes, a modern computer would have it beat, but the speed of the Com Brio lies in the "dumb logic" way the waveforms are done, which allows it to be driven a light-speed type rates - "doing the math" with a microprocessor is harder and takes more power. They were far ahead of their time and finding unique solutions to the problems they had.

You mention the comparison between the 16 oscillators and Bill's 136 - actually the Con Brio does run 16 oscillators on each voice/key; TIMES its sixteen voices, so this is actually 256 simultaneous "oscillators" running.

On the 6 different configurations on a DX7 being adequate for what sounds are needed; to do the simple Hammond organ patch with "all drawbars out" is impossible with that limited set - and that's just 8 sine waves, no overtones per harmonic: the 6-operator setup won't do it. There is capability there with so many configurations - and how it's used is up to the user. Same for the Minimoog - Moog engineers felt that more than 3 oscillators made very little difference in the sound. Serious modular synthesists would disagree.

Not to mention - analog hardware. ALL digi synths have it for output - and the choices made there by designers can drastically affect the tone of the output - otherwise all CD players would sound the same playing the same Pink Floyd record, and we know they don't! Yet another reason a Nord Modular doesn't sound like a Doepfer or Buchla... You "can do it" in software, but it will not sound the same."

Professor William Hoskins and His Mystery Moog

Pictured to the left is Professor William Hoskins (via). What you see there is not the mystery Moog, but his Moog modular system. This post is about another Moog synth, one most likely based on the Sonic VI. If you have any information on what this synth might be after reading this, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly. My contact info is on the bottom right of the site. I have already contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew author of Kaleidoscope Eyes A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper, as well as Trevor Pinch, author of Analog Days [Amazon hardcover & paperback, preview on Google books], and featured in this exclusive post. I also contacted James Husted of Synthwerks, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular, Steven Jones of Synthwood, and Carbon111, all of whom know their synth history. None were familiar with what the synth might be.

The story: I was recently contacted by a Paul Rego with the following:

"I've been searching the Internet for over a year now and have not been able find a specific synth. Since you seem to know and work with every type of synth known, I thought I'd ask you...

Around 1973 - 1974, I took private synthesizer lessons at Jacksonville University (Florida). The instructor was Professor William Hoskins and the synth was a custom Studio Moog assembled by Professor Hoskins.

One day, Professor Hoskins showed me his personal, portable synthesizer. He brought out what looked like a brown suitcase. When he opened it, I saw a Moog Sonic VI.

This is nothing new. I've seen lots of images of this synth on the Internet. The one aspect of this particular synth, that I cannot find anywhere, is that it had a touch-sensitive keyboard. The keyboard was made of plastic and had a gray / brown color. Outlining the keys (showing the location of the 'white' and 'black' keys) was an almost medium blue color (about an eighth-inch thick). (He and I tinkered with this synth for about a half-hour to an hour.)

Professor Hoskins passed away several years ago, so I can't ask him about it. I did contact his family but they don't remember anything about this synth.

I do remember Professor Hoskins telling me that he and Bob Moog had 'gone to school together'. I think he was referring to electronics school but I never asked him more about it. I thought I had read somewhere that Professor Hoskins and Bob Moog had briefly worked together on a Sonic VI prototype but I don't know if that's true. (Even if what I saw was a prototype, someone has to own it now and should be proud enough of it to post some photos somewhere.)

I thought the background story might help in your own research on this.

Basically, I'd just like to know if this synth ever existed or am I just not remembering it correctly.

Thank you for your time and attention."

My first obvious guess considering the blue was the Buchla Music Easel or separate Buchla touchplate keyboard modded into the case of a Sonic VI. I sent Paul a couple of links to various images.

Paul replied: "the synth I saw didn't look like the Buchla Easel. Good call though.

The 'blue', which outlined the keys on the Sonic VI I saw was a bit lighter in color than the blue in your photos and maybe had a bit of green in it (closer to turquoise). There was no red or other color on the keyboard (that I can remember) and the entire keyboard seemed to be one piece of plastic with only the blue / green outlines separating the 'keys'.

I also read a story recently about the time when Musonics bought Moog and had a synth ('Sonic V'?) of their own, at that time, but I haven't research this too much yet. One thought I had was the synth I saw was something from Musonics but was never officially released (until it had the 'Moog' name placed on it). I'm pretty sure the synth I saw had the 'Moog' logo and the word 'Sonic VI'. (Not 100% sure but it seems clear in my memory.)"

I also sent Paul images of the EMS Synthi AKS. Paul replied it was the closest, but definitely not it.

I contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew to see if they knew of anything. Michelle replied: "...I can tell you that we have several of William Hoskins reel-to-reel tapes in the archives, so there was obviously a significant professional relationship between he and Bob.

I don't ever remember reading anything about the Sonic VI, but maybe Brian does. One thing I can tell you for sure is that Dad began working with John Eaton in 1970 on the Multi-Touch Sensitive keyboard [left via]. The main component of the MTS was the touch-sensitive keyboard, of course. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Dad would have used his work with John to push boundaries on another project."

Brian replied: "Bob didn't design or build the original Sonic V (from Musonics before they bought Moog) that was Gene Zumchak: The Sonic V did have a brown wood style. It's even unlikely Bob did much on the Sonic Six as it was the same thing with a new outer case.

The Sonic VI was the version Moog made in 1972 and later, in a plastic suitcase version. Many of these were made vs the very few Sonic V's. So one might think they saw a Sonic VI when it was the V (same front panel and features). But the brown suitcase and colored keys and touch sensitive thing are ALL unusual. I know a little about Prof Hoskins from the paperwork of the past, but no mention of this synth. Definitely unusual to have keys like that anywhere, anytime!" Followed by: "And there IS touch (velocity) sensitivity on Wendy Carlos' synth by 1971 for Clockwork Orange, but it's used under the normal keyboard. THIS velocity was very possible, but would not make the keys look different. Again - maybe a Sonic V was retrofitted with a cooler keyboard later in the 80s, but why not do so on a BETTER synth!?" :)

On a separate thread, Trevor Pinch got back to me with the following: "Bill Hoskins was important in that he was one of the first people David VanKouvering approached about minimoog reiail sales etc. I have a good album of his somewhere! I think he may have been Bob's favorite composer for a while.

I have no idea about the touch key board but I'm in touch with Gene Zumchak the guy who designed the Sonic Six, so I'll ask him. (I guess you know the joke that the Sonic Six was known by Moog engineers as the Chronic Sick!)

Actually its story might be kinda interesting - Zummy (as he is known) told me that it was made with 741 op amps and in many ways was more advanced than the minimoog.
Maybe it has had an unfair press. I never heard one or saw one for real."

James Husted sent me the image of Professor Hoskins at the top of this post. I sent it to Paul to see if maybe it brought back any memories that might help.

He replied: "The custom Moog modular in that photo is the same one I took lessons on. However, this is an early photo and when I saw that Moog modular, Professor Hoskins had already added a top layer to that cabinet — which included a Moog sequencer. (I have a photo of it, that I took around 1990, but the top part of the photo, showing the upper section, is cut off.)

The reason you didn't see Professor Hoskins' 'Sonic VI' is... I'm guessing that he didn't bring it to the university very often. When I saw it, I was at his home. He had invited me over one Saturday afternoon to see HIS custom Moog modular. It was in his garage, which he had made-over into a nice studio. It also had a two-manual organ, at least two reel-to-reel tape decks and LOTS of recording tape. Later, during that same session, he said 'There's something else I want to show you. Come inside.' We went into the living room and I sat on the couch. He said 'I'll be right back.' After about a minute, he came back carrying a brown 'suitcase'. He set it on the coffee table in front of me and sat down on the couch. He opened it up and... Whoa! I had never seen one of these and it was the first time I had seen a Ring Modulator!

---

I remember seeing Professor Hoskins play his Sonic VI during a live performance of his album 'Galactic Fantasy / Eastern Reflections'. The Jacksonville University orchestra played most of his composition but at one point his Sonic VI was brought out and he played it while at center stage. I could see it clearly from my seat but, of course, I could only see the back of it, which simply looked like the back of a brown suitcase.

---

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Since I think this is important, I thought I'd try to recreate the 'Sonic VI' I think I saw. I 'Photoshopped' a production Sonic VI and attached it to this message. It's the best image of what I think I saw.

Modifying the image forced my memory to go into more detail. Here's what I'm fairly certain of:

• The outer color of the "suitcase" was almost dark brown.

• The outer shape was more square than the production Sonic VI.

• The thickness of the top and bottom sections was thicker than the production Sonic VI model.

• The keyboard was made of slightly textured plastic, otherwise completely flat, was brown / gray in color and had a vibrant blue outline between the keys. (I'm not 100% sure if the "black" keys were outlined or solid blue.)

• The background color of the back panel and the area surrounding the keyboard was almost dark brown. It looked like it was made out of either pressed cardboard or thin wood. It really reminded me more of the thin 'wood' used in old, tube televisions and radios (during the 1960s).

What I'm not 'fairly sure' of:

• I can't remember if it had a Mod Wheel.

• I think there was more space between the modules.

• I think it had two speakers (placed on the left and right side of the back panel). Each might have been the size of the center speaker-grill in my photo.

• I can't remember if there were any connectors, switches or knobs on the keyboard section."

Update: via Aaron aka theglyph in the comments: "Holy shit! That's the guy from JU. There was an electronics repair/pawn shop here in Jacksonville called Active Electronics that had a bunch of synths back in 90's. The owner had a sign in the store explicitly stating that the synths were not for sale and that customers were not allowed to walk up and look at them or touch them. I walked in day and walked close enough to notice that the MiniMoogs had very low serial #'s. It wasn't until I read Analog Days that I found out that the earliest Mini were sold here in Jacksonville. There so much more to this story that I don't know where to begin but I can say that I did an obscure Moog at the store that I've never seen photographed since and I simply thought I was loosing my mind recollecting it. WOW!

Cheers,
theglyph"

Update: Above, Brian originally mentioned Bill Hemsath as the person that designed the Sonic V. He meant to say Gene Zumchak. This has been updated.

Updates: via Dorothy in the comments:
"HI, as a Hoskins kid, I watched Dad perform on the synthesizer and I know we had the Sonic but I thought it was a "V". Dad had several custom modules built for him by Bob Moog. They were friends but didn't go to school together -- Dad went to Trumansburg NY to work with Bob on the synthesizer that they got for Jacksonville University (in 1969, I think). I will have to go digging in the Will Hoskins letters that I have. Those of you who knew Dad know that he was very meticulous about writing up the components that he bought and what they were for.
Late in Dad's life, when he was basically letting go of most composing effort except for revising existing scores, Bob helped Dad find a collector (in Germany, as I recall), who bought all of Dad's big home synthesizer. I think some of the smaller units were in the hands of Steve Smith, who was Dad's right-hand man at the JU studio for some years. Whatever happened to them, I don't think Dad would have cared as long as someone was using them to create music. He wouldn't have collected synthesizers as museum pieces, he actively used everything he got from Moog until he was ready to let it go."

Followed by: "BTW, that last time I spoke to Bob Moog was after Dad died, when Bob came to Rochester NY http://www.esm.rochester.edu/news/?id=132 which is near where I live now. Bob spoke very fondly of working with Dad, because Dad cared as much about the science of music synthesis as any composer Bob knew. Dad did some work with him on modulators and other components for JU and the Hoskins home studio."

Followed by: "Hoskins synth photo --not a Sonic -- in news article 1970 [link]"

Update 6/6/2010:

Some more interesting bits of Moog history:

Trevor Pinch checked with Gene Zumchak who had the following to say:

"I am not aware of a touch sensitive keyboard on the Sonic V or 6. It did have a two-note keyboard and the highest key pressed and lowest pressed could be routed to Osc 1 and Osc 2.

They removed the keyswitch bus and superimposed a highpitch (100KHz?) tone on the voltage string. This might have been the source of a whine that some users complained about that wasn't present in the Sonic V."

via Josh Brandt: 'Okay, I did hear back from David Mash [VP of IT at Berklee and friend of Bob Moog], who says that the story he was telling me several years ago was about a keyboard Bob was building for John Eaton. I asked about the story he'd told me and if the pictures you posted could be of the instrument he'd been talking about, and he said:

"The story I was no doubt telling was definitely about the keyboard Bob built for John Eaton [middle pic above]. Bob was going to show us the completed instrument (which my friends Jeff Tripp and Paul Derocco helped complete), but we never got to see it due to the way the conversation turned over dinner. I did see the instrument several times during the design/build stages and again later after it was complete.

The keyboard was simply a controller and not a synth, so definitely not the portable synth the blog is referring to. I know Brian, and was involved briefly with him and a bit more with Michelle Moog on the NAMM Museum exhibit, and they used a couple of my photos for the exhibit. They're great people and working hard to preserve Bob's legacy.'"

Update via WmJHeart in the comments:

"Thanks Matrix, for hosting this page. I own a copy of Will's Galactic Fantasy & Eastern Reflections (my personal favorite) recording on vinyl. But I also discovered and listened to the entire album on YouTube recently! Here:"

Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections (1979)[Full Album]

video upload by

Published on Jul 12, 2017 TheHomecoming

"Rare electronic/synth/moog private pressing LP

TITLE 'Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections'

William Hoskins, "Galactic Fantasy, Eastern Reflections" [CP-158]
TRACK 01 AUDIO TITLE "Overture : Stars Are Suns" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 00:00
TRACK 02 AUDIO TITLE "Intermezzo : Interplanetary Communique" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 06:39
TRACK 03 AUDIO TITLE "Star Nocturne" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 08:11
TRACK 04 AUDIO TITLE "Scherzo : Comets" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 16:35
TRACK 05 AUDIO TITLE "Beyond Beyond" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 18:54
TRACK 06 AUDIO TITLE "Prolog : Theme and Variation" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 23:40
TRACK 07 AUDIO TITLE "Lower Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 27:55
TRACK 08 AUDIO TITLE "Song : Open Skies" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 31:22
TRACK 09 AUDIO TITLE "Drum Chime" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 35:28
TRACK 10 AUDIO TITLE "Upper Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 39:41
TRACK 11 AUDIO TITLE "Epilog : Processional" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 41:30

A1
Overture: Stars Are Suns
A2
Intermezzo: Interplanetary Communique
A3
Star Nocturne
A4
Scherzo: Comets
A5
Beyond Beyond: An Entropy Study
A6
Eastern Reflections
Eastern Reflections
B1
Prolog: Theme and Variation
B2
Lower Heterophonie
B3
Song: Open Skies
B4
Drum Chime
B5
Upper Heterophonie
B6
Epilog: Processional

Criminally under-rated set of Early American Moog Modular Synthesizer Music - the sole release by composer William Hoskins, the 'Director of Electronic Music and Composer-in-Residence at Jacksonville University in Florida.' Issued in 1979 by the Harriman, NY-based Spectrum - a 'Division of UNI-PRO Recordings, Inc.' the LP consists of a pair of discrete pieces, with each taking up a side of its own."

Update via Kimberly S Beasley in the comments:

"Hello, everyone. I am the current chair of the Department of Music at Jacksonville University and I have the original Sonic VI manuals and one of Hoskin's Moogs....happy to share photos tomorrow."

Kimberly sent in the images with the following:

"This has been in the possession of our Professor Emeritus Dr. William Schirmer as it was given to him by Hoskins. Hoskins' granddaughter Dorothy is also aware of the instrument. We also have a large collection of manuscripts of Hoskins.

There is also a mini-Moog we just refurbished in our recording studio."

You can see WM. Hoskins written on the top right of the manual. Note "Home Copy" on the blue cover. It's kind of neat to think of him perusing through the manual in the comfort of his home.

David Van Koevering Has Passed Away

Update: this post will be pinned on top for the day. You can find newer posts below.

Brian Kehew wrote in to let us know synth legend David Van Koevering passed away yesterday at the age of 77. Per Brian, "So many people in the industry knew him; such a long and varied life!" Indeed. The following is the obituary sent to him from Van Koevering's family.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Functional and Audio Demos of the Ultra Rare Con Brio ADS 200R Synthesizer

Those of you who have been coming to the site over the years should be familiar with the ultra rare Con Brio ADS. There was a keyboard version and a remote, or rather desktop, version. They are identical in function and sound. There is only one known ADS 200R in existance and that is it in the videos above (and farther below). Note the placeholder image is the ADS 200 keyboard version but you will see the videos feature the 200R. Brian Kehew wrote in to let us know he is working on a website that will cover the history of this rare synth. He also made the set of functional and audio demos. Above are the functional demos and farther below are the audio demos. You will find video titles and descriptions for each video in the playlistbelow, but before that, here's what Brian had to say:

"I've been making a website for the Con Brio synth history. Will be ready in a few more months. But meanwhile I've uploaded some video of how the thing worked. Primitive now, especially to younger musicians. But for anyone who lived through the days of floppy discs and early digital synthesis will see how advanced the Con Brio's design was.

We still don't know much about the workings, as all known manuals are gone, and the designers can't recall everything of how it did work. Here are some simple explanations and demonstrations of the main functions.

It's also a true 16-bit synthesizer, which was rare and expensive at the time. It also used an iron output transformer (like good studio consoles) which somehow also helps it sound (in my opinion) better than the Fairlight, DKS and Synclavier designs.

The two instruments I had are now at the EMEAPP Archive Project in PA, they may be able to make better headway figuring out more of the system and it's operations..."

Be sure to see the Con Brio label for various bits of info that have come in over the years. Also see the exclusive label for the rare of the rare in the synth world.

Playlist: 1. Con Brio Synthesizer Instructional #1: Loading the O.S. and Light Show

This is the basic beginning, to load an Operating System for the Con Brio synthesizer from an 8" floppy disc. First, the Light Show disc is used, then the standard OS disc that allows for music synthesis.

2. Con Brio Synthesizer Instructional #2; Panel lights show relevance.

One of the most-brilliant and unique aspects of the Con Brio design is the implementation of panel lights; they guide you to work much faster and more accurately.

3. Con Brio Synthesizer Instructional #3: Loading Sounds onto the keyboard zones.

Finding sounds on the 8" floppy disc directories, and then assigning them to the two keyboards in various combinations.

4. Con Brio Synthesizer Instructional #4 - Speed of Disc Access

One of the notable aspects of the Con Brio systems is a custom-written code to make disc access practically instantaneous. This demonstration shows the rapid access speed when loading from the floppy drive.

5.

Further demonstration of loading sounds from disc and sequences to play them.

Con Brio Synthesizer Instructional #5 - Basic Loading 6. Con Brio Synthesizer Instruction #6 - Ensemble

Loading and using the Ensemble feature; the Con Brio could store a combination of sounds, layers, outputs, and sequences - and then save the whole set as an "Ensemble" preset - which loads nearly instantaneously.

7. Con Brio Synthesizer Instruction #7 - Loading and Stacking

Bringing in two sounds and layering them together.

8. Con Brio Synthesizers #8 - String Sequence with Tempo change

Basic Tempo control of a string sequence with the panel Tempo knob.

9. Con Brio Synthesizer Instructional #9 - Tuning and Synthesis modes experiment

As none of the Con Brio Owner's Manuals survived, it's very difficult to understand how they were supposed to operate. With a little guidance and help from the inventors, some methods produce results. This video is an experiment with saved alternate Tuning Tables and the Synthesis modes.

1 Con Brio Audio Demo One

A really nice wide-ranging set of sounds, changing across time, yet just a beginning demonstration of what the instrument could have done with more time and exploration.

2 Con Brio - String Section

Some string section sounds, very detailed and shimmering timbres.

3 Con Brio - Pipe Organ

Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition using a basic pipe organ program.

4 Con Brio - Wine Glasses

Digital synthesizers excel at this kind of crystalline ringing sound.

5 Con Brio - Sound 67

Playback of a sound with glitching, jittery elements; a fairly complex layered tone with some noise components, too.

6 Custom Con Brio Sounds

These tones are quite ahead of their time for 1980, and still sound quite modern. Easy enough to do them today, but back then, these were exceptional tones.

7 Random Number demo

Very similar to the randomness of a Sample/Hold on an analog synthesizer, but quickly becomes more layered and deep, a complexity that would take many analog synths to generate.

Con Brio Synthesizers #8 - String Sequence with Tempo change

Basic Tempo control of a string sequence with the panel Tempo knob.

9 Con Brio - Clear and Bright sequence

Demonstrates the sharp and detailed sound of these instruments.

10 Con Brio - Short Latin sequence

Just as the title suggests...

11 Con Brio - Dramatic

Dramatix, suspenseful set of sounds.

Cataloging the Archives:

via The Bob Moog Foundation where you will find the full post.

"At the beginning of Janauary a team of six volunteers, lead by our volunteer curator Douglas Babb and Moog enthusiast/historian Brian Kehew gathered for five solid days to begin the cataloging process of Bob’s Archives. We certainly accomplished quite a bit, but given the extensive nature of the archives, only about 25% have been cataloged. Our work continues – and what fascinating work it is! During the five day process, there were repeated exclamations of “Wow, look at this!” or “I’ve never seen this before!!” or “I never knew Bob worked on that!”. The discoveries were priceless! A special thanks to Doug, Brian, Wheat Williams, August Worley, David Hamilton and Jarod White for your help!"

EMS Founder Peter Zinovieff Has Passed Away

Update: Image of Peter Zinovieff (previously in via Brian Kehew).

"Circa 1975: A photo from the Frankfurt Music Fair

Peter Zinovieff in the EMS synthesizer booth.

They are featuring the rare SYNTHI P model, just announced on the left side and stand. Underneath the board listing EMS musical artists is a SYNTHI HI-FLI effects unit is barely seen. Another unusual/prototype model is next to the Hi-Fli."


Peter Zinovieff and Electronic Music Studios video upload by JeffreyPlaide


Peter Zinovieff: Synth Pioneer video upload by Sound On Sound magazine Jul 21, 2016


Peter Zinovieff talks about modern musical interfaces video upload by Expressive E Jan 6, 2016


Peter Zinovieff feature uploaded by Erica Synths on Nov 23, 2020. This was the latest video to feature Peter Zinovieff that I am aware of.


Peter Zinovieff interview 2015 video upload by 香港電子音樂社 Hong Kong Electronic Music Society Jun 30, 2015


Dr Peter Zinovieff intro & performance excerpt - Deliaphonic 2017 video upload by Deliaphonic Aug 29, 2018

And a few perspectives from others:

Bright Sparks Behind The Scenes - The Brits video by GForce Software published Feb 16, 2021

Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast hosted by The Galaxy Electric - E1 Peter Zinovieff

video by The Galaxy Electric published Jan 27, 2021

Peter Zinovieff Electronic Calendar

video by Mark Jenkins published Dec 9, 2019 - Electronic Calendar available through this post.

You can find a history of posts mentioning Peter Zinovieff here.

via The Guardian

"Peter Zinovieff, a hugely influential figure in British music whose early synthesisers helped to change the sound of pop, has died aged 88. He had suffered a fall at home earlier this month.

With its marketing slogan 'think of a sound – now make it', his company Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was one of the first to bring synthesisers out of studios and to the public. With products such as the portable VCS3 and Synthi A, EMS customers – including David Bowie, Kraftwerk, the Who, Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd – were often taught to use the instruments by Zinovieff.

In 1967 he collaborated with Paul McCartney on Carnival of Light, a performance of a 14-minute avant garde composition created between Beatles sessions for Penny Lane that has never been released.

He was also a respected composer of his own work, including early experiments with AI composition and sampling – he claimed to have invented the latter technique." You can read the full post here.

via Wikipedia:

"Peter Zinovieff (26 January 1933 – 23 June 2021) was a British engineer and composer, whose EMS company made the VCS3 synthesizer in the late 1960s. The synthesizer was used by many early progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd[3] and White Noise, and Krautrock groups[4] as well as more pop-oriented artists, including Todd Rundgren and David Bowie. In later life he worked primarily as a composer of electronic music.

Zinovieff was born on 26 January 1933;[5] his parents, Leo Zinovieff and Sofka, née Princess Sophia Dolgorouky, were both Russian aristocrats, who met in London after their families had emigrated to escape the Russian Revolution and soon divorced.[6] During World War II he and his brother Ian lived with their grandparents in Guildford and then with their father in Sussex. He attended Guildford Royal Grammar School, Gordonstoun School and Oxford University, where he earned a doctorate in geology.[7][8]

Zinovieff's work followed research at Bell Labs by Max Mathews and Jean-Claude Risset, and an MIT thesis (1963) by David Alan Luce.[9] In 1966–67, Zinovieff, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson ran Unit Delta Plus, an organisation to create and promote electronic music. It was based in the studio Zinovieff had built, in a shed at his house in Putney. (The house is near the Thames, and the studio was later partially destroyed by a flood).[10][11] EMS grew out of MUSYS, which was a performance controller operating as an analogue-digital hybrid.[12] It was a synthesiser system which Zinovieff developed with the help of David Cockerell and Peter Grogono, and used two DEC PDP-8 minicomputers and a piano keyboard.[13] Unit Delta Plus ran a concert of electronic music at the Watermill Theatre in 1966, with a light show. In early 1967 they performed in concerts at The Roundhouse, at which the Carnival of Light was also played; they split up later in 1967.[11] Paul McCartney had visited the studio, but Zinovieff had little interest in popular music.[14]

In 1968, part of the studio was recreated at Connaught Hall, for a performance of pieces by Justin Connolly and David Lumsdaine.[15] At the IFIP congress that year, the composition ZASP by Zinovieff with Alan Sutcliffe took second prize in a contest, behind a piece by Iannis Xenakis.[16]

In 1969, Zinovieff sought financing through an ad in The Times but received only one response, £50 on the mistaken premise it was the price of a synthesiser. Instead he formed EMS with Cockerell and Tristram Cary.[17] At the end of the 1960s, EMS Ltd. was one of four companies offering commercial synthesizers, the others being ARP, Buchla, and Moog.[18] In the 1970s Zinovieff became interested in the video synthesizer developed by Robert Monkhouse, and EMS produced it as the Spectron.[19]

Jon Lord of Deep Purple described Zinovieff as "a mad professor type": "I was ushered into his workshop and he was in there talking to a computer, trying to get it to answer back".[20] Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, in their history of the synthesizer revolution, see him rather as aristocratically averse to "trade".[21]

Zinovieff wrote the libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask of Orpheus,[22] and also the words for Nenia: The Death of Orpheus (1970).[23] The section Tristan's Folly in Tristan (1975) by Hans Werner Henze included a tape by Zinovieff."

Update:

Peter Zinovieff: A Tribute by CatSynth TV

video upload by CatSynth TV

"We look back at the life and work of Peter Zinovieff, who passed away last week at the age of 88. His work at Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was a major influence on musicians of the 1970s and beyond. At EMS, he co-created the well-known and coveted VCS3 and Synthi series. But he was also a composer in his own right, working on pioneering electronic music in the 1960s and returning to active composition in the 2010s with several collaborations with artists in other media and exploring massive sound spatialization.

Additional background music provided via the Arturia Synthi V as a tribute."

You can find additional posts featuring Peter Zinovieff here.

Kraftwerk on Meeting Bob Moog

This one in via Brian Kehew.

I thought the following was pretty great. It's at the end of a rare interview with Kraftwerk's Ralf Hütter on the Miami New Times.

"Before you leave, may I ask you what influence Moog has had on your music?

We met him when we were recording a TV show in Los Angeles back in '75 and Mr. Moog was there. We used a monophonic Minimoog -- we didn't have the budget for the larger one -- but he, of course, knew that already. What he didn't know was that meeting the machine's inventor was one of the true highlights of our lives."

Update: below is an image of Kraftwerk from 1976 via Wikipedia's page for Trans Europe Express.  You can see the Minimoog as well as a couple of ARP Odysseys.  Curios what that is in the background left.

Update2 via Steven in the comments: "It's a Synthanorma sequencer (by Matten & Wiechers).
http://a-u-t-o-b-a-h-n.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/elektromusik-u-t-o-b-h-n-der-besten-das.html

I guess it's an earlier model than this one.
http://www.matrixsynth.com/2007/02/synthanorma-sequenzer.html"

And via Brian: "Under the Minimoog is an Orchestron, Model A or B..."

Mystery CV-controlled quad audio box - Buchla?

via Brian Kehew

"My friend found this in some surplus yard near the Bay Area. It's a CV-controlled quad audio box of some kind, with joystick control. Missing most of its guts and no labels. Obviously not a production unit. Wonder if it's related to the Grateful Dead concerts in quad?"

Anyone have any ideas?

Update via Cooper Sloan in the comments: "Looks buchla... Besides proximity to Berkley and aesthetics the blue pcb is a clue."

via Brian: "Not Buchla from the people I've asked, and the connectors etc are different. But it seems so similar in style, so maybe a related copy. He had a lot of people work for him that could have built this as well."

via Dennis Matana on the AH list: "Looks like something from Elektor. They also used blue pcb's...and the connectors look similar. I'm restoring a Formant at the moment and also the vocoder from Elektor."

Update via gchang (Gary Chang) in the comments: "The obvious Buchla nod is the jack selection - using banana jacks for the cv inputs, but none of the layout is at all similar to Buchla devices, who rarely created anything with conventional VCAs.

My guess is that it is a custom quad locator made for a studio that had a Buchla system as the main unit of the room... "

Con Brio ADS200... in a van... down by the river...

A little humor in the title for any fans of Chris Farley and his classic Van Down by The River skit on SNL (Saturday Night Live).

Humor aside, Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook sent me some exclusive shots of his Con Brio ADS200. You can check them out here. More will follow after the show mentioned below. If you remember from this previous post, only two of these were made and this one has just been resuscitated. If you are in the area you can see and hear it at "The FAIR and the MUSEUM: Sat/Sun 10-6 pm!! Exhibits from 2-6pm!"

More info on this shots from Brian:
You will see -
1) Con Brio ADS200 - the one I've had for over almost 15 years. This was me driving it up to a "vintage computer warehouse" in Silicon Valley - hoping we could get it running again.
2) Con Brio ADS200-R, which was picked up on the way, where it had been stored in a garage! Or the main part of it - minus the keyboards, which are already taken out. It hadn't worked when it was put away either - and no discs or manual, alas...
3) One of the main boards inside (forget which one), there are about 10 inside, various functions.
4) The wiring BEHIND that very board - now you can see why this stuff was so expensive to make - this is called "wire wrap" construction, and VERY time intensive - and you can't make a mistake!"

Oberheim OB-Mx Sample

Title link takes you to an amazing sample of the Oberheim OB-Mx sent my way via Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook. I've heard some samples of the OB-Mx in the past that were good, but nothing like this. There is a bit of controversy over the OB-Mx. Don Buchla helped design the synth. There was an early prototype version said to sound much better than the final release. It's rumored that the final release was rushed to market by Gibson (owner of Oberheim at the time). The synth was buggy, voice boards were prone to failure and tuning problems, it was very expensive, and it was said that it was lackluster in the sound department. After listening to these samples, I'm not so sure. It sounds amazing to me - very unique, heavy and full. This thing has balls. Big stinky, rubber, balls (something rubbery about the sound). Put a plug in it Butt Probe, this is refined nastiness.

OB-Mx Prototype (shot via teknobo)


OB-Mx Final (shot via VSE)


Thanks for the sample Brian. Here are a few older posts on the OB-Mx: 1, 2, 3 (samples), 4 (pics and samples), 5 (samples).

Free Moog Sonic Infinity DVD

Apparently Moog Music is launching a "Sonic Infinity" ad campaign and part of it is a free DVD. You send them your address and they'll send you the DVD free. Title link takes you there.



"Moog Launches Sonic Infinity Ad Campaign

Sonic Infinity
This past December Moog launched a new ad campaign that you will see throughout the year... Sonic Infinity.

The campaign is designed to create awareness among non-Moog users that our gear is only limited by their imagination.

The first ad appeared in the December issue of Keyboard. The ad offered a new "Sonic Infinity" DVD featuring Moog Clinician and Product Development Consultant, Brian Kehew. The DVD was filmed at Asheville's premier night spot, The Orange Peel, where Brian conducted a Moog Clinic.

If you would like a copy of the DVD, they are free. Simply email sonic@moogmusic.com with your name and mailing address.

The campaign theme will be supported at both the Winter NAMM and the upcoming Musik Messe in Frankfurt as well as in Moog ads throughout the year. "

Bob Moog Foundation Releases 2012 “Moog Pioneers in the Studio” Calendar

"December 6, 2011 - Asheville, NC - The Bob Moog Foundation announces the release of its 2012 calendar, “ Moog Pioneers in the Studio.” The calendar features photos and history from Bob Moog’s archives, as well as photos from collections of pioneering synthesists. The photos and text, compiled and written by BMF volunteer historian Brian Kehew, focus on more obscure luminaries and their fascinating instruments.

Through documenting the many musicians, composers, and scholars who collaborated with Moog, the Foundation aims to share the breadth of material encompassed in the inventor’s archives and to share the very rich history of electronic music. In addition to three photos that feature Moog himself, “Moog Pioneers in the Studio” also features Joel Chadabe, Jon Appleton, Jean Jacques-Perrey, Chris Swansen, Jon Weiss, Max Brand, Herb Deutsch, JD Robb, Eric Siday, Emmanuel Ghent, Mort Garson, and Gil Trythall.

As an ode to Moog’s pioneering work in modular synthesis, the background of calendar grid features art images of vintage Moog modules from symphonic synthiesist Erik Norlander’s 1967 modular system. The images were taken by Shaun Hollingsworth of [SIC] Images. The calendar was designed by Rose Hecht and edited by Geary Yelton. Both Kehew and Executive Director Michelle Moog-Koussa wrote forewords for the calendar.

“Saints be praised, the Bob Moog Foundation has released another fantastic, picture-laden calendar, this one for 2012! Featured in gorgeous vintage photos and posing with Moog modular synthesizers — and on occasion with the great Bob Moog himself — are 12 important pioneers of synthesized and electro-acoustic music. Some of these pioneers I’m familiar with, others not so much, and I welcome the challenge of learning more about them beyond what’s revealed by their accompanying captions. Cheers to the Bob Moog Foundation for recognizing these pioneers! I urge everyone to support the crucial Bob Moog Foundation cause by first purchasing this new calendar and by contributing in any way humanly possible.”

—Mark Vail, Music Historian, Author, Teacher and Journalist

The calendar is available for purchase on the Bob Moog Foundation's brand new online store. All proceeds from online sales go to support the Foundation's ongoing projects, including the preservation of Bob's historical and extensive archives, the expansion of our Dr. Bob's Sound School, and creation of the Moogseum in Asheville, N."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Big Briar Cove - Bob Moog's View

via Brian Kehew:
"A photo of the area called Big Briar Cove, taken from the porch deck of the home where Bob and Shirleigh Moog raised their kids. It's where Bob took the name Big Briar when he started his new company, long before they regained the rights to Moog Music Inc. Such a beautiful location, far from the main roads and even neighbors! There's a stream on the property and woods all around.

I had always head about this area and the house where they lived, but thought it would be good to share this wonderful place, a common sight in Bob's 'normal' life."

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bobmoog
http://bobmoogfoundation.com/
http://bigbriar.com/ / http://www.moogmusic.com/

Morris Hayes with Moog Voyager & Plexiglass B3 & Leslie

via Brian Kehew

"Morris Hayes, keyboard player for Prince, with plexiglass Hammond B3 and Leslie 147. Plus Minimoog Voyager."

Santa came early...

via Brian Kehew:

"Just got this in... very excited. I had seen and played the prototype, but it's even nicer on the final released version. Cyril Lance had mentioned they went for an "upgrade" on the wood - and it is much nicer quality than my old Voyager. It looks a lot more like the wood on early Minimoogs from the 70-72 era, which I think were the most attractive ones.

Looking forward to putting it through it's paces soon... "

The JEN Electonico Laughing/Crying Glider Synthesizer

Here's an odd article sent my way via Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook. The image is clearly an ARP 2500. Anyone know more about this? Click on the image to read the article.

Update: this one appears to be debunked. See the comments. This is the same ARP 2500 shot from sequencer.de which means it is the same 2500 in the Synthorama Museum. You can tell by the extra module on top of the sequencer.de image. Credit goes to mr.scrappy for spotting the image.