Circuit Bent Elmo's World

YouTube Uploaded by FrankenMusik on Jul 22, 2011

via this auction

"This circuit bent Elmo's World Phone has pitch control, distortion effect and a loop glitch, all housed in the phone!

Half way through I kicked on the an Alesis delay for added effect to Elmo's already twisted voice. They need this on Sesame Street.

http://www.frankenmusik.blogspot.com/

Distortion Glitch
1/8" Output Jack
Output Selector Switch
Drone/Loop Switch
Runs on 2 "AA" Batteries, not included"

The Scanimate

Moog Little Phatty and the Scanimate

YouTube Uploaded by experimentalsynth on Feb 1, 2012

"The first attempt at controlling analog video animation with control voltage created by a Moog synthesizer. Learn more at www.scanimate.com and www.experimentalsynth.com"

"Scanimate is a 100% analog video animation system in use form the late 60s to early 80s. It was used on a number of popular films & TV shows including, Star Wars, Logan's Run, Sesame Street & NBC Sports. Only eight were built and they originally sold for around $1,000,000."

Looks like an ARP 2500 style slider matrix in there.

via www.scanimate.com where you'll find additional details.

"Dave Sieg gave a talk at NotaCon in Cleveland, OH April 14, 2011 about Scanimate. 'The history of digital computer animation is fairly well documented, but considering that the 8 Scanimate analog computers ruled the airwaves for almost a decade, there has been very little written or revealed about them." Tracing his machine's roots back as far as the whirlwind project and some of the early work by Ivan Sutherland, Sieg showed a variety of clips from his archives to explain how animation was produced back in the days when an animator had to be an analog circuit design engineer.'"

Synth Rorschach #59: Scanimate: The Origins of Computer Motion Graphics

Scanimate: The Origins of Computer Motion Graphics from LinkedIn Learning on Vimeo.

This one is for the video synthesis fans out there.  As for the Synth Rorschach, see what specific synths you are reminded of watching this one. This one is in via Soviet Space Child.

"Digital artists have been trying to replicate the ephemeral quality of graphics from the 70s and 80s for years. But nothing comes close to the real (analog) thing. Get to know the first computer used for motion graphics and animation, Scanimate, and the men who've kept the machine alive for the last four decades. In this short documentary, Nick Campbell of Greyscalegorilla talks to Roy Weinstock, one of the original Scanimate animators, and Dave Sieg, the engineer who has kept it running all these years. Find out how this system of "tubes and 2x4s" became the predecessor of many modern motion graphics plugins and controls, and how the unusual collaboration between operators and engineers led to some of the most iconic motion graphics of the 1980s—including spots for Super Bowl VIII, Star Wars, and children's shows like The Electric Company and Sesame Street."

One Two Three Sesame Street - On YouTube

Steview Wonder. via Tim Peters.