"1979 ARP OMNI-2 Vintage Analog String Synthesizer Mostly Working Solina Moog
Looks beatup with scratches and fading. But, most features work. A previous owner even installed two working power outlets on the back. Replacement slider caps have been added to more closely match how it looked when new.
What doesn't work (or doesn't work well):
- Decay and Sustain in ADSR section. These are always at 100% regardless of there the slider is positioned.
- String Fast/Slow Release (top panel, right) seems to be at near 100% (long) if the slider is set a few millimeters to the right. There is no range.
- Single trigger illuminates but doesn't seem to do anything.
This thing is built with steel and is rugged. It weighs 42 lbs."
Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on Aug 2, 2012 keyboard resource
"Not much to this little keyboard. It has a built-in speaker and can be carried around like a suitcase. It's all note polyphonic and has a strange pitch bender pad."
"For sale is a rare PAiA Oz 3760, an old school poly-synth kit with a very distinctive sound. This early 1970s synth kit is assembled and portable. Needs work and I don't know it's playability. Case latches a little loose and top speaker decorative bezel is loose. Looks easily repaired, but I'm not equipped to do so.
The 1 1/3 octave keyboard is fully polyphonic and has a selectable five-octave range. As used by DEVO. The PAiA takes 9v batteries and has a built in speaker.
Background: PAiA Electronics, Inc. is an American synthesizer kit company that was started by John Simonton in 1967. It sells various musical electronics kits including analog synthesizers,theremins, mixers and various music production units designed by founder John Simonton, Craig Anderton, Marvin Jones, Steve Wood and others.
It has come to my attention that Don Buchla passed away on Wednesday, September 14, at the age of 79. Anyone coming to this site should be well aware of who he is; who he was to the world of synthesizers. For those that aren't, he was by all means one of the fathers of the modern day synthesizer. Credit usually goes to Bob Moog, mainly for two reasons. One, Bob Moog chose the standard keyboard as the main interface for his synthesizers as they were more accessible to musicians. Two, Bob Moog's approach focused mainly on reproducing the sounds of acoustic instruments. Wendy Carlos' Switch on Bach and Keith Emerson's use of the Moog Modular brought Moog synthesizers to the mainstream.
Don Buchla's instruments, however, focused mainly on the exploration of sound. Artists attracted to his instrument fell more into the realm of what was known as musique concrete. Musique concrete mainly focused on the manipulation of sound, initially composed with electro-acoustic instruments recorded and manipulated on analog tape.
via wikipedia: "Buchla formed his electronic music equipment company, Buchla and Associates, in 1962 in Berkeley, California. Buchla was commissioned by avant garde music composers Morton Subotnick and Ramon Sender, both of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, to create an electronic instrument for live performance. Under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation Buchla completed his first modular synthesizer in 1963." On the other hand (also via wikipedia): "Moog created the first voltage-controlled subtractive synthesizer to utilize a keyboard as a controller and demonstrated it at the AES convention in 1964." Update: Wikipedia appears to be incorrect on Buchla. Don Buchla started working on instruments in 1963, and the 100 was his first VC system completed in 1965. It was then sold in 66/67. The first name of the company was Buchla Associates in 66/67 followed by Buchla & Associates in 70/71. This New York times obituary has a good write-up on Don Buchla's work beyond just synthesizers. It also has 1965 as the date for the completion of his first synth.
Please note, this post isn't about who came first. In my opinion they both did and they both had different approaches. Most of you will be familiar with the terms East and West Coast synthesis. They pertain to these two different approaches with Buchla on the West and Moog on the East.
Don Buchla's passing is bittersweet. On the one hand his creations have finally gained popularity and respect in the modern day synthesizer community - a decade ago the focus was primarily on Bob Moog. On the other hand, he passed away not being able to do what he himself wanted to do in the end. He sold the rights to the Buchla name to BEMI, only to later take them to court. The case was settled, but I have been told it was far short from the initial agreement. It is also my understanding that Don Buchla was discouraged from working on creating new instruments.
One thing to consider is that although there were/are many Buchla clones out there that paid tribute to Don's work, it is my understanding that Don wasn't paid licensing for them and that Don wasn't necessarily thrilled by them. Think about it for a bit. One, people cloned his work, two, he did not get paid for his original creations, and three, people buying clones were putting their budgets towards clones vs. his new creations, for example, the 258 clone vs the new 261e. I was told from a reliable resource, that Don never had any interest in re-hashing old products. In a sense, they were more works of art, and he was always interested in creating something new, rather than re-hashing the old. However, I was told he was fine with people creating clones for personal use, just not for sale.
Writing this post is extremely difficult. I didn't know Don personally, but I did meet him a few times at NAMM. The first time I met him was a bit awkward because he doesn't talk fluff. His answers were very short, and he just kind of stood there as if implying, "are we done yet". I then realized, he wasn't implying that at all, he was just hanging out. The second time I met him, I said hello and didn't elaborate much. He then engaged in conversation with me. It was a simple thing, but something I will never forget. The video below with Don Buchla being interviewed by Mark Vail, captures the way I felt perfectly. If you were ever fortunate to meet him in person you will know what I mean. I'm going to miss him greatly, and will always wish I got to know him better.
And a message from Moog Music:
"Dear Don,
There are no words that can accurately portray the profound impact you have had on our lives. We are deeply inspired by your artistry, and your ground-breaking achievements will always inform the work we hold most closely to our hearts. You and Bob, through your distinctive styles, collaboration and friendship, have laid the foundation for our future. Your influence endures in our minds, hearts and hands as we craft tools that give rise to joyful experimentations. We will never truly capture the elegance and beauty that you and Bob achieved, but we promise to never stop trying.
From everyone at Moog, thank you for inspiring us and giving meaning to our life's work.
Love,
Your Friends At Moog"
Published on Aug 27, 2015 Redaktion Megasynth
And a rare performance of Don playing live with his instruments and Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails (NIN):
Everything Ends Here
Uploaded on Nov 18, 2011 Alessandro Cortini
"San Francisco Electronic Music Festival 2010
Alessandro Cortini + Don Buchla, performing the piece "everything ends here", from Blindoldfreak's 1st EP, 1."
via Retro Synth Ads where you'll find what's underneath the cover, along with the full write-up. Be sure to see the rest of Retro Synth Ads for additional vintage synth ads. The site is a great resource.
"Moog "The finest new Moogs you've ever seen" black & white advertisement including Memorymoog, Taurus II and DSC (Digital Sequential Controller) from page 55 in the January 1982 issue of Keyboard Magazine."
"This track was made using nothing more than the free samples and software that comes included with every Novation instrument.
With the Loopmasters sample library included for free, Novation’s Launch, SL, Impulse, Nova and Circuit series of MIDI controllers, keyboards and synths give you everything you need to get started making music right away.
Learn more: https://www.novationmusic.com/loopmas...
"For the last few years, all Novation products have shipped with a versatile 1GB collection of Loopmasters samples, giving music production novices a great audio resource with which to get started, and more experienced users a very useful addition to their established soundware library.
However, while the quality of the sounds themselves is every bit as high as you’d expect from the world’s leading sampling production house, we’ve decided 1GB just isn’t enough and increased the package from that already-sizeable amount to a whopping 4GB. And, yes, that’s for existing customers as well as new ones!
Packed with professional quality, royalty-free loops and one-shots, the newly expanded Loopmasters library takes in the gamut of contemporary genres – blues, funk, hip-hop, techno, DnB, house and many more – and a wide range of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. With this many samples at your fingertips, you’ll never be stuck for sonic inspiration, whether you’re looking for a starter sound for a new track or that certain ‘something’ that’s missing from your current work in progress.
Not only that, but owners of any Novation Launchkey, SL or Impulse keyboard also gain access to three amazing Simpler-based multisampled instruments for Ableton Live 9: Piano, Rhodes and Hammond Organ.
With the Loopmasters sample library included for free, Novation’s Launch, SL, Impulse, Nova and Circuit series of MIDI controllers, keyboards and synths give you everything you need to get started making music right away, from beats and basslines to melodics, vocals and FX."
Note: the Ultranova is pictured as a controller for the sample pack - it does not support sample loading itself.
"This synth is like a suped-up Roland SH-2000 preset, mono synth.
It looks good, was recently serviced and works great. Some cosmetic issues:
- Two voice tabs are broken (Fuzz Guitar 2 and Harpsichord). Fuzz Guitar 2 tab was glued back together. Both switches work (you can swap the tabs with whichever ones you use the least)
- Missing one, black slider cap.
The Multivox MX-2000 has almost exactly the same features and voices as the Roland SH-2000:
- Touch Volume (Off/On)
- Touch Wow (Off/On)
- Touch Growl (Off/On)
- Touch Vibrato (Off/On)
- Touch Pitch Bend (Up/Off/Down)
- Repeat (Off/On)
- Sustain Long (Off/On)
- Hold (Off/On)
- Easy Tuning knob
- Touch Sensitivity knob
- Volume slider
- Modulation Speed slider
- Modulation (amount) slider
- Cutoff Frequency slider
- Resonance slider
- Portamento Speed slider
- Portamento (Touch/Off/On)
- Random Note generator (LFO Trigger/Off/Random Trigger)
- Transpose (Low/Normal/High)
But, additional the second ocillator is what makes this synth different. You choose any frequency within the range (3rd, 5th, 6th, octave or any frequency in between) or select Unison for a thick single notes.
Voices: Tuba, Trombone, French Horn, Trumpet, Saxophone, Clarinet, Accordion, Bassoon, Oboe, Flute, Song Whistle, Singing Voice, Cello, Violin, Bass Guitar, Hawaiian Guitar, Banjo, Fuzz Guitar 1, Fuzz Guitar 2, Harpsichord, Piano, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Percolate (called Pop Corn on Roland SH-2000), Space Reed, Outer Space (called Planet on Roland SH-2000), Frogman, Alley Cat (called Funny Cat on Roland SH-2000), Ring Modulator (may be the same as Growl Wow on Roland SH-2000), Wind."
Yamaha has launched Soundmondo, a resource site for Reface synth owners to share their patches. The following is the official press release:
"Soundmondo Social Sound-Sharing Website Lets reface Users Inspire and be Inspired Any Place, Any Time
BUENA PARK, Calif. (January 8, 2016) — Yamaha has officially launched Soundmondo (www.soundmondo.com), a groundbreaking social sound-sharing website for sharing reface Mobile Mini Keyboard sounds.
Soundmondo is one of the first sites to implement WebMIDI, a new W3C (API) pioneered by Google in Chrome (versions 43 and later) earlier this year. WebMIDI connects MIDI devices to the Internet allowing musical instruments to play online synthesizers, as well as save or share sounds with Soundmondo. Because WebMIDI is part of Chrome, Soundmondo works on Mac, PC and Android devices.
The Yamaha reface Mobile Mini Keyboards are the first instruments to work with Soundmondo. Featuring four models, each with a unique tone generator and control panel, reface empowers users with an easy way to store, recall, organize and share their sounds.
'Soundmondo is social sound-sharing for synthesizers,' said Nate Tschetter, marketing manager, Music Production, Yamaha Corporation of America. 'Back in the day, synthesizers had patch sheets where sound re-creation was a manual process of duplicating settings from a printed diagram. Soundmondo instantly sends the sound to your instrument and visually shows you how to re-create it. It’s like having your own personal synth programmer on call 24/7.'
Saving sounds on Soundmondo is easy. Once the user connects their instrument and sets up an account, they simply hit CREATE and give their sound a name, a description and tags. They can also add a YouTube video and SoundCloud audio to really show off their sound.
According to Tschetter, the real fun comes in checking out sounds created by other Soundmondo users. BROWSE shows all available sounds (currently over 1,200), and the user can refine their search using tags. Once the user finds a sound they might like, they simply click on it and hit SYNC. This will send the sound to their connected reface AND show them how to move the controls to recreate the sound.
For reface DX users, there’s an added bonus: a full editor showing all parameters with full navigation and editing using a computer keyboard.
Yamaha reface Mobile Mini Keyboards, introduced this past summer, feature built-in speakers and battery power along with interactive controls, incredible keyboard feel and great sound for a truly pro instrument that lets musicians create their sound any place, any time.
"Looks good. Was recently serviced but still has a bit of a noise issue. The highest C# for polyphonic string voices sounds strange (lacks the same envelope as the rest of the keys). See video for demonstration. Missing one lid "cleat". A chunk is missing from right side foam end piece. See pictures.
Includes keyboard cover and new AC adapter.
If you're looking for those lush chunky, crunchy analog string sounds, this is the best keyboard for that."
"Looks beat. The ends have been taped and glued. But, all features, functions and keys work. Occasionally the leftmost C# will not work for poly voices. I've found that tugging the wire bundle immediately to the left for the keybed usually gets it to work again. There is probably a loose connection somewhere. Someone added a three-way switch which seems to combine the poly voices (see video).
Includes keyboard cover and all four feet.
This is like a combination ARP Pro-Soloist and simple polyphonic string machine. But, it has its own character especially when you add the envelope wah effect, portamento and vibrato."
Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in. New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process. If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com. This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!
"The MXR 185 drum machine sounds and looks much like the Linn LM-1. It uses 8-bit samples and is super fun to play with.
This basic video shows how to program it. It's important to set the LENgth of the pattern (1 - 99) before trying to record. You can erase the pattern by choosing a LENgth of 00 and then entering a new number."
"The addition of a VCF and VCA section and four wave shapes to choose makes the JEN SX-2000 much more versatile than other preset synths like the ARP Pro-Soloist, Roland SH-1000/2000, Yamaha SY-1/2 or Korg Micro-Preset M500. This is just a fun little synthesizer."
Note the bottom front panel is not colored like in this one. This is only the second post to feature the Concert Spectrum although there have been other SLM posts. See the SLM channel below.
"A bit of a zany tribute to NASA and other space exploration organizations around the world and also to science fiction writers and producers. They both inspire each other and provide the rest of us with some of our most exciting hopes, dreams and fantasies.
Thanks for watching, liking and commenting on my videos!
DETAILS:
Main Bass Line: 3 x Synth Tech MOTM-300 VCO's, sub-mixed with a Moon Modular M526 mixer and then into a Grove Audio PM Resonator followed by a prototype/beta sample of Grove Audio's G294A low pass filter kit I built (basically a Moog 904A clone) and finally into a MOTM-190 VCA that is being modulated by a Moon M511C VC EG. A Moon M569 sequencer provides 1 row of pitch control for the VCOs and gates for the EG, 2 rows of CV for the EG and the 4th row is transposing rows 1 and 2 via my custom modification. A MOTM-380 quad LFO also modulates the overall CV level of the EG. Strymon Mobius and BigSky pedals provided effects processing.
Occasional Melodic Line: Novation UltraNova MIDI'd to a Korg microStation playing preset patches in unison.
Rhythm Line: Roland TR505 drum machine playing stock patterns. MIDI out of the TR505 also goes to a Moon Modular M553 MIDI-To-Clock module to drive the M569 sequencer.
Lift Off Roar: Just a quick bit of sound design I did with the 5U modular. Two outputs from a MOTM-101 Noise module go into a Happy Nerding Fun VCF with a little help from a Synthesizers.com Q125 Signal processor etc.
Asteroid Thump And Following Explosion: these are licensed from Pond5.com and I had used them in a previous video a couple years ago.
Movie Dialog Clips: There are all licensed from Loopmasters.com and from two different movies; Assignment Outer Space and Cosmic Mission. (except for the word 'DERP' that I recorded myself ;-)
Video Clips: A majority of the clips are public domain and I downloaded them for free from www.pond5.com! Such a great resource for video makes, check 'em out! Some of the clips I had licensed before and used in prior videos.
Modular synth audio was recorded to a Marantz PMD-661 flash recorder and then transferred to my PC. Keyboard synths were recorded direct to the PC via the Ultranova's USB interface. My 'Derp Voice' was recorded direct to the PC using a Blue Microphones Yeti USB mic.
Everything was mixed/assembled in Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12."
Details via Wolfgang Palm (captured here for the archives):
"PPG WaveMapper 2 for Mac And PC 1Wolfgang Palm is pleased to announce the PPG WaveMapper 2 for Mac OS X and Windows. The PPG WaveMapper first appeared as an iOS App and received widespread acclaim from public and press alike.
Music Radar said of the iOS version of WaveMapper
'Wolfgang Palm’s second iOS synth is just as impressive as his first. Again, PPG WaveMapper is one of the most complex and impressive sounding instruments on the App Store.'
Francis Preve said of the iOS version of WaveMapper in Keyboard Magazine
'So, if the depth and complexity of WaveGenerator was a tad too intimidating for users, WaveMapper has that problem solved with real innovation and an interface that brings the fun of sound design to a whole new generation of producers.'
PPG WaveMapper 2 is a greatly expanded version, with many new features, including the WaveMap and new resource merging possibilities.
PPG WaveMapper 2 comes with a very flexible synth engine, capable of playing material from classic wavetables as well as samples and a new type which we call “Time corrected sample” (TCS). This type still has the advantage of wavetables, which is totally random access of the material, but preserving the authentic sound of the original sample.
PPG WaveMapper 2 has three oscillators have independent control of the sound resources and access of the material. Each oscillator has its own WaveMap with up to 16 zones, filled with any combination of the resources. The control of the zones can be done by the keyboard, which we call Multi- tabling, or by a path that determines how the engine plays back the material.
The synthesizer is controlled by over 200 parameters, which can be directly programmed on the two editor pages. In addition to that there is the SoundMap that acts as a module manipulation tool, moving the 8 icons to different fields on the Map changes sounds. These fields are loaded with programs that then define the results of the morphing. Thus the user can setup their own “themes” of sounds they wish to generate with a setup. The morphing can be done rapidly or in an evolving morph from one sound into another.
The built in Analyzer lets you convert your own samples into resources the synth can use in its oscillators. (fig Analyser)
WaveMapper 2 comes already with around 300 resources and a huge number of presets made by our sound design team from around the world.
The browser page allows you to list and sort your sounds. besides that you can exchange single presets with another bank of sounds.
Key Features:
3 Audio Oscillators
Up to 16 resources assembled within a WaveMap
Audio engine with 4 synthesis modes, and variable wave blending quality.
3 Noise generators, for audio and modulations
Classic 24 dB Lowpass Filter, combined with an overdrive simulation.
Dual amplifier, for versatile control of 2 audio signals as well as panning.
13 Envelopes, for control of pitch, waveform, filter, noise, gain, ringmod, and panning
4 LFOs
Analysis of your own samples and conversion into wavetables and time-corrected samples.
Powerful Step Sequencer with playback arpeggiator
Delay/Reverb effect
Directly accessible context help for each module
Free configurable schematic keypad, with extremely expressive modulation possibilities.
Ribbon controller to bend the pitch to variable intervals
4 Keyboard Modes, including mono and poly portamento.
Formats:
Mac: VST And AU 64 and 32bit
Windows: VST 64 and 32bit
PPG protection system used, no dongle or iLok is necessary.
Price:
PPG WaveMapper 2 is download only and is €99
Special intro promotional offer – buy the PPG WaveMapper 2 and WaveGenerator 2 plug-in bundle for just €149 – offer lasts 28 days.
"The Roland Saturn 09 (SA-09) has a built-in stereo chorus and stereo chorus + vibrato. While it doesn't sound much like an Hammond organ (more like a Farfisa), it produces interesting synthesizer sounds.
The switches and knobs look the same as a Jupiter 4 or TR-808."
"- All note polyphony for lush, rich chords.
- 9 voices in two separate sections: Percussive (electric piano, clavi, piano, harmonics) and Ensemble (brass, organ, chorus, strings 1, strings2).
- Three separate oscillators.
- Overal tuning and tuners for two of the three ocillators. Tuning LEDs blink faster the further you detune each ocillator. This creates interesting phasing and chorus effects or harsh noiscapes.
- Separate stereo chorus/phase shifter on/off switch for each section.
- Interesting tremolo effect for Percussive section with rate knob for a shimmering effect.
- Joystick controls pitch bend on the X-axis and chorus phase speed on the Y-axis. It is designed to sping back to the middle of the X-axis. The Y-axis stays in position.
- Separate volume sliders for each section.
- Tone filter knobs for each section.
- Filter cutoff knob for brass sound.
- Key click adds a plunking sound to electric piano (similar to RMI Electra-Piano's "accenter" except you control the amount).
- Decay knob for Percussive voices.
- Attack and release knobs for chorus, strings 1 and strings 2.
- Stereo, mono mix and headphone outputs.
- Expression pedal input jack (can be set to either or both sections). It may require a vintage Korg pedal as it doesn't work with a modern Roland EV-5.
- Sustain pedal input.
- Keyboard trigger out."
