Roger Powell's One of a Kind Controller Finds its Way Home to the BMF

via The Bob Moog Foundation.

"Pioneering synthesist Roger Powell recently donated his custom keyboard controller to the Bob Moog Foundation Archives. In a special post dedicated to the controller, BMF Archive and Education Specialist Marc Doty explores the unique history and functionality of this one-off design created by Bob Moog himself.

Interested in donating your piece of history to the Bob Moog Foundation? Please contact us at info@moogfoundation.org."

From the article (do check out the full post for the history and full story.  The following focuses only on the features): "Bob and Roger worked together to create a keyboard controller that could harness the power of two modular synthesizers in real-time through a single, convenient interface. A challenge was to do this while meeting Powell’s requirements for advanced controls over the dynamic and expressive qualities of the sound. The controller began its life as a Moog 951 keyboard, but a lot of features were added. The custom controller’s features included:

Two keyboard manuals, allowing independent patches on the two modular synthesizers to be played at the same time.

A pitch wheel.

A modulation wheel.

Individual scale, range, portamento settings, and portamento switches were installed for each manual. These could set for each keyboard individually, or combined to control both keyboards at the same time.

A built-in mixer section with four faders, to manage the sound of the two synths. This custom Bob Moog-designed mixer allowed Roger to easily manage the loudness of various patches and effects he was using in a live setting.

A volume control for the Echoplex delay unit Roger used with the system.

A VU meter for measuring the relative amplitude of the synthesizer output.

A headphone jack, headphone volume, and output on/off switch that allowed Roger to preview tuning and patch changes before making them audible to the audience.

Two “accessory” ports for a Ribbon Controller and a standalone Sample/Hold module.

The keyboard module interfaced with the modular systems through a special cable and connector port. This cable carried the control voltages from the two manuals, accessories, and modulation/pitch wheels and distributed them to the proper synthesizer modules. The cable also had several tracks of audio return which came back into the keyboard from the audio output of the modular; their loudness was individually controlled by the Bob Moog custom-designed mixer. The total output of the synthesizer, came out of the system’s Line Level Out XLR jack."

Vintage Synth Brochures Including The Syntar

via this auction

- TEXTURE software by Roger Powell (Utopia)
- 3) OBERHEIM MATRIX-1000 flyers - color - small smudge
- SYNTAR series I 'KEYTAR brochure & price list (George Mattson)
- FREEDOM I - Poly Keyboard Interface Controller (rare)
- STUDIO ELECTRONICS 'SE-1' MIDIMOOG flyer
- STRIDER SYSTEMS 'DCS II' pioneering digital synthesizer brochure & price list
- SEQUENTIAL CIRCUITS 'PROPHET T8' analog synth 6 page color brochure!!
(small split on last page seam - not torn)
- SIEL 'DK 80' hybrid synth 8 page color brochure
- SIEL Expander 80/DK600/EXPANDER/PX JR/MIDI INTERFACE

CLICK FOR MORE »

Additional Pics and Info on Roger Powell's Custom Moog Keyboard

See the update in this post.

Roger Powell To Donate Custom Dual Keyboard to The Bob Moog Foundation

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

"My custom dual-manual Moog keyboard controller was built in 1974 along with two System 55 cabinets containing a host of Moog modules. I had been doing clinics in the US and Europe for the Moog company, was hanging out with Bob a lot, and had just joined Todd Rundgren’s Utopiathat summer. The big system was put together for me to perform with on tours. The keyboard was designed to my specifications: two keyboard manuals, pitchbend and mod wheels, a mixer section with four faders, an effects loop, VU meter, and sockets for a Ribbon Controller and standalone Sample/Hold module. Bob himself worked on the mixer circuit design, and also handcrafted aluminum edge protectors for the 55 cabinets to help with wear-and-tear on the road!"

Update: additional pics and the official press release:

"Synthesist Roger Powell Donates a Piece of History to the Bob Moog Foundation

Asheville, NC - November 14, 2012 – In celebration of its recent six-year anniversary, the non-profit Bob Moog Foundation is pleased to announce a generous donation from American synthesist Roger Powell: a dual-manual keyboard that Moog Music custom built for him in 1974. The keyboard, which Powell acquired shortly after joining Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, was part of a synthesizer comprising two Moog System 55 cabinets housing a host of modules.

'The keyboard was designed to my specifications,' says Powell. 'Bob himself worked on the mixer circuit design.” Powell had been doing clinics for Moog Music in the U.S. and Europe, sometimes with Bob Moog when the system was assembled for touring with Utopia.

Like a lot of Moog gear, Powell’s keyboard comes with a fascinating story:

'After the first evening of a two-night booking in Cleveland, the custom keyboard was stolen from the stage. Strangely, the modular system cabinets were left untouched. My guess is that the thief believed the keyboard itself to be playable, as it resembled a two-manual organ. A few years later, the System 55s were destroyed in a warehouse fire, thus removing all remnants of the original system.

'In 2002, much to my surprise, the missing keyboard was listed on eBay. The person offering the keyboard had no idea it had been stolen and was not the thief. (He was younger than the age of the keyboard.) I was able to negotiate its return and have held onto it since, hoping to refurbish it but never completing that project.

'After Bob’s demise and the creation of the Bob Moog Foundation, it occurred to me that the custom keyboard deserved to be in a place where it can serve as my personal tribute to my dear friend Bob Moog. Bob and I spent some very happy times together; I will always remember laughing a lot with him, as we both shared an acerbic, wisecracking sense of humor.'

The Bob Moog Foundation is honored to accept Powell’s donation, and we look forward to restoring the keyboard to its original condition. Our goal is to display it publicly so that, in Powell’s words, 'People can enjoy seeing it and hearing about its interesting past.'

The Bob Moog Foundation is quick becoming a repository for a variety of donated artifacts from music and synthesizer enthusiasts from all over the world. The foundation is stewarding the preservation of donated items including: synthesizers, controllers, photos, schematics, correspondence, equipment, literature and more. Interested donors can contact the foundation at info@moogfoundation.org."

Update 11/15 via Mark Pulver: "Interesting! So, back in February of 2002 I tripped over an eBay auction that featured that controller. From history, I knew that it had been stolen from a gig in Cleveland many moons prior (1974?). I got an contact email for Roger, wrote him, and heard back. He was pretty stoked. We flipped some email and Roger has said it might be hard to prove ownership. I got Bob Moog and Roger Luther involved as well, and RogerL came up with that picture of him and Bob (and the controller).

He contacted the police, but the case had long been closed, so he contacted the eBay seller ("I found it in a storage unit..."). After some nudging and more proof digging from my side and some back and forth, he convinced the seller to let it go - but only after paying the asking price plus shipping to get it back. :("

Roger Powell ARP Odyssey Patches and Tutorial

Roger Powell ARP Odyssey Patches and Tutorial from Jochen Bohnes on Vimeo.

"Roger Powell Odyssey Patches and Tutorial

Published 1973 by Arp Instruments Inc.


I've just put together the pics and the audio track from arpodyssey.com/roger-powell.html because it's so nice to have it together...

This is the most beautiful tutorial for the ARP Odyssey i've ever heard. Thanks to Roger Powell for the tutorial and to Guy Phethean and the arpodyssey.com -people for keeping it alive."

Ultra Rare SYNAPSE MAGAZINE March 1977 TODD RUNDGREN

via this auction

You can find an online copy on the Cynthia site here. Fun to look through the ads. Note the Polyfusion joystick.

"SYNAPSE - THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC MAGAZINE - dated MARCH/APRIL 1977 featuring interviews with Roger Powell and Todd Rundgren and Steve Hillage of Gong and a feature article on "Synthesizers On The Eco-Front". Also many other interesting synthesizer-related articles and cool advertisements showcasing what are still the best synthesizers ever made. Synapse was the first and best synthesizer magazine. As it catered to a then very small audience, it was probably doomed from the start. They produced perhaps a dozen different issues over a three year period before their demise and is still considered a great publication by those musicians and analog synthesizer enthusiasts that are hip enough to be aware of its' existence. Each issue was produced in a very small press run and alas, very few remain so GRAB THIS NOW WHILE YOU CAN WITH THE "BUY IT NOW" OPTION.

This ultra rare issue features on its cover a photo of Utopia keyboardist ROGER POWELL and guitarist/vocalist TODD RUNDGREN. Of historical value, this issue is addressed to Peter Bergren and Sound Arts, the old Beaver and Krause recording studio in Los Angeles. Sound Arts used to be Synthesizer Heaven in the 1970's and I used to hang out at Sound Arts in the mid-seventies and this was an extra copy that Peter Bergren personally gave me in 1977. Sound editor Peter Bergren has won 2 Primetime Emmys and has thirteen other Emmy Nominations. The magazine has some minor wear and wrinkling and there is a tiny piece cut out of one of the ads. (See pictures.) Pages are bright. (The first three pictures are yellowish due to the absence of camera flash.) It has been stored for three decades in an archival plastic bag in a smoke-free environment."

CLICK FOR MORE »

MOOG SYNTHESIZER FLYERS AND MORE

via this auction

"Moog synthesizer ads and other cool things, from 1970-80's in very good condition except for Roger Powell sheet."

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Clavitar, The Moog Liberation, and the first Keytars

via this auction

Anyone know when the Clavitar was released? Here's a pic of George Duke in 1980 with one.

BTW, on the last page of the current September issue of Keyboard magazine (with Devo on the cover) is a one page feature on "Keytars Past and Pressent." I was under the impression that George Mattson's Performance Music Systems Syntar (1980) was the first keytar, before the Moog Liberation (1981). It looks like Roger Powell's Probe may have preceded it in 1977. Anyone know if it was just a controller or if it had a built in synth like the Syntar? Jan Hammer apparently also had a newer Probe, which you can see in this video and this video. Before everything was the Orphica from 1795.

Roger Powell image via audioholics

Orphica image via realsamples where you'll find a sample set of it. This might be a newer model though. The image or the Orphica in Keyboard looks much older and more like a mini harpsichord with neck attached.





Update via plaztec in the comments: "The Probe, as invented by Powell (& Jeremy Hill) and refined by Jan Hammer in the area of the pitch & mod wheels (note the left-hand sides of their respective keyboards are quite different, Hammer preferring the Minimoog-style wheels), was a controller and not a self-contained synthesizer. Both had custom rigs; Powell had a bank of Oberheim SEMs, IIRC - and Hammer the same, blending the SEM sound with the Minimoog in order to get his signature lead tone. Jan also experimented with a cruder, squarish remote in order to get the placement and angle of the wheels exactly right for him, prior to the building of his custom Probe. IMHO, those two guys in their heyday were, and remain, the single most credible-looking and compelling rock keyboardists to use remote keyboards on stage, especially considering the musicians they shared the stage with..."

Update via Jimmersound in the comments: "There's also info on the Probe in this Synapse issue."

ARP 2600 Pro-Soloist Synth Synthesizer Demo Records

via this auction

"Notes: Guaranteed original press. Set of two 70s era demo records for Arp keyboards. One is a one-side flexidisc featuring demos of the 2600, Odyssey, 2500, etc. Narrated by Roger Powell, with excerpts from The Who, etc. The other is a 2-side vinyl 7" demonstrating the Pro-Soloist. No narration, just musical examples. The flexidisc is fairly scuffed up, but listenable. The other disc is very clean, about VG++."

This one spotted and sent in via Pea Hicks (peahix).

Announcing the 2010 Bob Moog Foundation Calendar

via The Bob Moog Foundation.

This would make a great stocking stuffer.

"The Bob Moog Foundation has created a calendar celebrating the rich history of the Moog Legacy through vintage photos, memorabilia, quotes and information taken directly from Bob’s archive. The photos trace pivotal moments in Bob’s early career and highlight many musicians and pioneers who inspired his work. Throughout the calendar, which is laden with images of early Moog instruments, Bob’s thoughts and philosophies about his work are shared in an effort to give greater understanding to his history and path; his was one of collaboration, listening and absolute dedication to musician’s needs.

The calendar is comprised of five photos of Moog himself, taken from 1958-1974. The remaining photos are of:
* Leon Theremin
* Vladimir Ussachevsky
* Herb Deutsch
* Keith Emerson
* Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause
* Isao Tomita
* Joel Chadabe
* Roger Powell

The calendar was designed by graphics artist Rose Hecht in collaboration with the Bob Moog Foundaton. Through her designs, Rose pays hommage to the original Moog modular synthesizer as the instrument that spawned an industry and radically changed the face of popular music. The background of every page touts panels of knobs and patchbays — images taken from photos of an early modular that was used in Moog’s shop in the 60s. That instrument is one of the many priceless items in Moog’s archives.

The calendar is available for purchase on our online store. All proceeds go to fund our ongoing projects, including the preservation of the archives."

"What a beautiful, informative, and intricately detailed document the 2010 Bob Moog Foundation Calendar is! The rarely — if ever before — seen photos are outstanding, so much so that in 2011 I may extract and frame many of them for my studio walls. On second thought, the calendar as a whole will end up in my archives; I promise no scissors will ever touch it. Also extremely cool and drool-worthy are the Moog Modular images in the background. Well done! I can hardly wait for the 2011 edition." -- Mark Vail

Update: In case you attempted to purchase a 2010 Bob Moog Foundation Calendar and were unable to, the calendar is now available for purchase on the Bob Moog Foundation online store.

1971 Arp Synthesizers Demo Record Side A

YouTube via jafafah0ts

"1971 promo demo disc from Arp Synthesizers featuring Pete Townshend from The Who, among others."

1971 Arp Synthesizers Demo Record Side B


"Second side of a 1971 promo demo disc from Arp Synthesizers, featuring the following tracks:
1. Dave Fredericks - Stinger
2. Roger Powell - Queene Enfineska
3. Roger Powell - Hermatic Enigma
4. Dave Fredericks - Mockingbird Hill"

Music Non Suck - Early Electronic Music

Radio 216;s Musique Non Suck

Track listing:
01. Raymond Scott - Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (1960)
02. Laurie Spiegel - Patchwork (1976)
03. Pauline Oliveros - Bye Bye Butterfly (1965)
04. Tom Dissevelt - Ignition (1963)
05. Roger Powell - Lumia (Dance Of The Nebulae) (1973)
06 RCA - demonstration of synthesizing a human voice on the RCA Modular Synthesizer (1955)
07. Ralph Lundsten - IT (1968)
08. Ron Geesin - U.F.O. (1972)
09. Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece - Waterwheel (1976)
10. Charles Dodge - discussion on the cumbersomeness of early computer music
11. Charles Dodge - He Destroyed Her Image (1972)
12. Bell Labs - demonstration of the VODER speech synthesizer (1939)
13. Ursula Bogner - Für Ulrich/Pulsation (1969)
14. Erkki Kurenniemi - Sähkösoittimen Ääniä #1 (1971)
15. Gil Mellé - Wildfire (Andromeda Strain Soundtrack) (1971)
16. Delia Derbyshire - Effervescence (1972)
17. Tom Dissevelt - Syncopation (1958)
18. Raymond Scott - IBM Probe (1963)
19. Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples Of The Moon (1967)
20. Hugh Le Caine - demonstration of synthesizing strings on the Electronic Sackbut (1953)
21. Ilhan Mimaroglu - Agony (1965)
22. Raymond Scott - Futurama (1964)
23. Tom Dissevelt - Pacific Dawn (1963)
24. Louis And Bebe Barron - Once Around Altair (Forbidden Planet Soundtrack) (1956)
25. Herbert Eimert And Robert Beyer - Klangstudie II (1952)
26. Erkki Kurenniemi - Improvisaatio (1969)
27. John Pfeiffer - Orders (1968)
28. Frank Coe/Forrest J. Ackerman - Tone Tales From Tomarrow (1964)
via Jez

A word on The Moog Archives

via The Bob Moog Foundation newsletter

"Since January 2007, we have been hard at work preserving and restoring Bob's archives. To date, we have moved hundreds of instruments and components to a climate-controlled storage center. These important efforts are supported by The GRAMMY (TM) Foundation and private donors like you.

Learn more: Roger Powell Remembers Bob

YouTube via moogfoundation

Thanks for your ongoing support, as we work to support and honor Bob’s legacy through
documenting, teaching and celebrating innovative thinking in electronic music."

Also, if you are in the giving mood this season:

"To our friends, family & fellow Moogies:

Happy Holidays! We've got an exciting holiday season promotion to tell you about. We want to help you give the gift of Moog to the people in your life who love electronic music, Moog instruments and Bob Moog himself.

The way we see it, we need your support, and you need cool gifts to give friends and family this holiday season. So, we're offering this special holiday promotion. If you make a donation to the Bob Moog Foundation from today through December 15th, you will get our official "Bob's Pocket T-Shirt", which you can give as a gift to a friend or loved one. All of the proceeds from your donation will go to the efforts to restore Bob's Archives*. The choice is yours:

* For your $100 gift, we will send 2 T-Shirts, 2 copies of Mooged Out: Asheville, and 2 Bumper Stickers designed by Asheville artist Jenny Greer (a package value of over $250!!).
* Make a $50 donation to get 1 T-Shirt and 1 copy of Mooged Out: Asheville.

Order now and have your gift to give by Dec 10.**"

Jeff Beck - Blue Wind

YouTube via CloudFROST. Lync keytar. via Josh.

"Jeff Beck, Jan Hammer and Simon Phillips playing the classic song "Blue Wind" from Jeff's album "WIRED" 1976"

Update via va69nm: "Hell no! that's Jan playing his custom Probe controller, originally developed by Roger Powell for his gig with Utopia...arguably the original 'keytar,' with respect to Mattson's Syntar and George Duke's Clavitar. Hammer's controller was custom-wired to his Minimoog/Oberheim SEM rig that, per Hammer's own marketing of the day, "sounds a lot like a guitar." Powell's Probe had a different, smaller pitchbend/mod wheel array, whereas Hammer's was modeled with his fondness for the Minimoog's spacing & setup. Hammer played (as did Gary Wright & Steve Porcaro) with a strap-on, cutaway Mini keyboard and experimented with the angle of the pitch wheels by housing them in a separate, adjustable, squarish assembly mounted in place of the traditional pb/mod wheels, until the optimum angle was found; this placement was then implemented permanently on Hammer's probe. Hammer's signature Lync purported to be modeled after his Probe, but the Lync is a MIDI controller, not hardwired analog. Don't take my word for all this, Google is a powerful tool :) Kudos to Jan ( and to Roger!) for going above & beyond, innovating a style of playing remote keyboard and holding their own in rock bands while still looking credible and not gimmicky, that has yet to be equalled, IMHO..."

Moog Synthesizer - Roger Powell and Keith Emerson

flickr set by E_sus

"Roger Powell as the Moog Music Artist in Residence. Photo c. 1974"

"Keith Emerson, ELP tour c. 1970. Photo by Rudy Koppl"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roger Powell Remembers Bob

YouTube via moogfoundation. http://www.moogfoundation.org/

"Roger Powell tells us of Bob Moog's importance of him is Roger's life and Discusses the Moog Foundation."

Roger Powell Clinic

flickr by E-sus
(click for more)

full size

"Roger Powell conducting Moog synthesizer clinic April 1975."

David Bowie - Heroes - Musikladen 78

YouTube via aliensatemybrain.

One of my favorite Bowie tracks. Anyone know what's under the Prophet-5 in the end?

"The third track to the Musikladen Extra television show broadcast in Germany 1978,

Carlos Alomar
rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Adrian Belew
lead guitar, backing vocals

Simon House
electric violin

Brian Eno
piano, string ensemble, backing vocals

Roger Powell
keyboards, synthesiser, backing vocals

George Murray
bass, backing vocals

Dennis Davis
drums, percussion

"Heroes" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1977. Produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, it was released both as a single and as the title track of the album "Heroes". A product of Bowie's fertile 'Berlin' period, life in the city was crystallized into a tale of two lovers who come together in the shadow of the 'Wall of Shame' (though here "the shame was on the other side"). While not a huge hit at the time, the song has gone on to become one of Bowie's signature tunes and is well known today for its appearance in numerous advertisements. It has been cited as Bowie's most covered song after "Rebel Rebel"

The title of the song is a reference to the 1975 track "Hero" by the band Neu!,whom Bowie and Eno admired. It was one of the early tracks recorded during the album sessions, but remained an instrumental until towards the end of production.The quote marks in the title, a deliberate affectation, were designed to impart an ironic quality on the otherwise highly romantic, even triumphant, words and music.Producer Tony Visconti took credit for inspiring the image of the lovers kissing "by the wall", when he and backing vocalist Antonia Maass embraced in front of Bowie as he looked out of the Hansa Studio window.Bowie's habit in the period following the song's release was to say that the protagonists were based on an anonymous young couple but Visconti, who was married to Mary Hopkin at the time, contends that Bowie was protecting him and his affair with Maass. Bowie confirmed this in 2003.

The music, co-written by Bowie and Eno, has been likened to a Wall of Sound production, an undulating juggernaut of guitars, percussion and synthesizers.Eno has said that musically the piece always "sounded grand and heroic" and that he had "that very word - heroes - in my mind" even before Bowie composed the lyrics.[1] The basic backing track on the recording consists of a conventional arrangement of piano, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. However the remaining instrumental additions are highly distinctive. These largely consist of synthesizer parts by Eno using an EMS VCS3 to produce detuned low-frequency drones, with the beat frequencies from the three oscillators producing a juddering effect. In addition, King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp generated an unusual sustained sound by allowing his guitar to feed back and sitting at different positions in the room to alter the pitch of the feedback. Tony Visconti rigged up a system of three microphones to capture the epic vocal, with one microphone nine inches from Bowie, one 20 feet away and one 50 feet away. Only the first was opened for the quieter vocals at the start of the song, with the first and second opening on the louder passages, and all three on the loudest parts, creating progressively more reverb and ambience the louder the vocals became."

Bob Moog Foundation Receives GRAMMY™ Grant

via The Bob Moog Foundation:

"We are proud to announce that the Bob Moog Foundation has been awarded an “Archiving and Preservation Planning Grant” from the GRAMMY™ Foundation to assess the preservation needs of the over 300 reel-to-reel tapes in Bob’s archives. These tapes include seminal works in synthesis from the mid-60s to the late 70s, such as works from Herb Deutsch, Wendy Carlos, Larry Fast, Isao Tomita, Keith Emerson, Roger Powell, Chris Swansen, John Weiss, David Borden, Joel Chadabe, John Eaton and many, many more. The $8,000.00 grant provides for the assessment of the tape’s condition by a team of experts including an archivist, a preservationist (responsible for digital transfer), a historian and a copyright expert. Our assessment team includes archivist Steve Weiss, Sound and Image Librarian for UNC-CH, preservationist Seva David Ball, recording engineer/mastering engineer, Soundcurrent Mastering, historian Douglas Babb, Curator for the Bob Moog Foundation, and intellectual property attorney Steven Schnedler. Michelle Moog-Koussa will be coordinating the project.

Once the assessment is completed, the foundation will have the opportunity to apply for a $20,000-$40,000 preservation grant to set about preserving the tapes in a digital format, so that they can be shared through our website, traveling exhibits and our eventual Bob Moog Museum. We are VERY grateful to the GRAMMY™ Foundation for their support and belief in our project!"

See The Bob MOOG Foundation for more.

The Thomas Henry Mega Percussive Synthesizer

via Scott Stites on this electro-music thread. Keep an eye on the thread for updates. If images or samples come in, let me know.

"I guess I better extricate this from the Clangora thread before it derails that fine conversation. I hope I don't sound like I'm hyping this thing unnecessarily, but I truly am buzzed by this design. This one has been as hard to keep quiet about as the Mankato Filter. In fact, I often think about this as the Mankato of drum voices, it's that good. I'll start at the top:

This summer (summer 2007), Thomas quietly developed a drum voice that just sat me back in my seat. I'm not sure I've ever seen him work so hard on a single design - I'm sure he has, but in my experience breadboard testing things, I'm certain this one took more work than I've experienced with any other project. He literally designed this thing from the ground up, and we very thoroughly rung it out.

In the Clangora thread, Thomas mentioned how versatile it was (and it is extremely versatile). On top of that, the sound of this drum voice for me is simply stunning. A good deal of that is due to an innovation Thomas threw in there; it's something that I've never seen on any other drum voice. It was an idea that he picked up from an interview with Roger Powell years ago (it was Roger Powell, wasn't it Thomas? I'm kinda fuzzy here). It has to do with the impact circuit - I swear, it literally sounds like someone is striking this think with a real stick/mallet/hand/sledgehammer (depending on how it's tuned).

Just to give a rundown of the elements: the voice has three oscillators, a noise source, a balanced modulator (that can be unbalanced as well), three envelope generators, two VCAs, a noise source, a LP/BP switchable resonant VCF, and a versatile mixing section with send/receive loops. This one is a blast to tweak as it plays, BTW. It's the only drum voice I've played that can dissolve from a cowbell to a landing alien craft in a very non-seventies, non-disco-era Simmons way (though it can do that, too, if that's your thing).

Fortunately, Thomas designed it, so it is a very elegantly designed circuit (translation, it will fit on a single PCB). There are a lot of controls, so it won't be a small panel.

Right now, the target for the project is as the next electro-music PCB series, in the same vein as the Klee project. We're working on drafting a certain man from Nambucca Heads to crank out a PCB, and we're going to Klee team it to make sure what you get will be the best quality PCB we can offer. The documentation part already is very well done - can't beat those Thomas Henry schematics! I'm hoping to avoid the whole reservation process which is really a pain, but this is all in the prelim stage so far.

Expect samples. Very Happy

Cheerio,
Scott"