The Birotron

"Rick Wakeman of the band "Yes" invented and developed this instrument along with help from David Biro. Wakeman formed the company Birotronics, Ltd. which made just 35 Birotrons. Like the Mellotron, the Birotron "sampled" instruments and uses 8-track tapes for the various sounds. This was necessary before digital sampling became available. They were mainly used for strings, choirs, brass, and flutes; sounds not easily reproduced on the synthesizers of that era."

via 8-Track Heaven where you will find more info.

via John Van Eaton

Updates via the comments:
via Darren Landrum:
I seem to recall this one used tape loops, which contained continuous sounds. Shaping could then be added via an envelope generator. Great for sustaining sounds like strings, organ, and choir, but not so good for transient sounds like tubular bells. Of course, the Mellotron was most famous for the sustaining sounds, so maybe the Biro fellow was on to something. The only artist I can recall using the tubular bell tape for the Mellotron is Isao Tomita.

via Milo Johnson:
"The Birotron used 37 8-track tapes, one per key (with all of the attendant problems of 8-tracks) instead of strips of tape like the Mellotron and Chamberlin. Mellotron sounds last about eight seconds and then the tape has to rewind to play the note again. The Birotron used hand-crossfaded recordings to give "infinite" sustain, or at least until the 8-track clicked and changed direction. Rick was the money man and contributed some ideas for improving the instrument, but Dave had already developed it when he approached Rick for financing. It looks like fewer than 20 were ultimately produced and about half of them are accounted for. Dave didn't have one of his own instruments for many years until David Kean of Mellotron.com found and restored one and gave it to him. There is a Yahoo! Birotron Group moderated by Dave Biro, open membership so you can get the story straight from the horse's mouth."

A look at some of the Moog and electronic music albums and Records in my Collection

YouTube via vinylelvis1

"I have loved electronic music for a long time! The Moog is my favourite though. Some of the artists and musicians are incredible! Perry and Kingsley,Claude Denjean,Morton Subotnick,Tomita...just to name a few! Moog albums can be hard to find,some are easier than others. I always see the "Everything you wanted to hear on the moog......" and the Star Wars moog album too. In sounds from way out....album music is playing in background. You might recognize some bits of it used in different songs done recently. Enjoy!"

Isao Tomita - When you wish upon a Star

Re-
Uploaded on Dec 23, 2011 CharmedOrc·212 videos
YouTube via 5488773.  previously posted, but taken down.

"aca isao tomita tocando su MOOG III . hermosa cancion =)"

Pure magic.

Classitronic – Electronic Classical Music

via pualshillito on the forum

"Hot on the heals of the Classitronic sound cloud group (which is doing quite well :) I have setup a new blog for fans and makers of electronic classical music and yes it is at www.classitronic.net where you can find out more about artists producing new and exciting interpretations as well as the past masters like Isao Tomita and Wendy Carlos.

Hope to see you there

Paul Shillito"

Isao Tomita Casio Jacket

flickr by Loscha
(click for more)

Also see the Casio Glory flickr set.
"The finest in Casio information is housed here."

Beowulf - In the Hall of the Mountian King

YouTube via paulshillitomusic

via the forum

"Just finished another classical electronica piece this time its "In the hall of the mountain king" by Greig but this time I edited clips from Beowulf (the CGI film) to the music.

Boosted my range of soft synths with CS-80V, Juptier 8V and Virtual String Machine all of which were used along with Omnisphere, a big favourite of mine and of course cubase 4.

Took about 2 weeks of evening and weekend work to do the arrangement and 2 hours to slot the video arround it, best seen in HD for Angelina Jolie alone Wink let alone the better quality audio.

Hope you enjoy

Paul"

YouTube video description:
"Beowulf set to "In the hall of the mountain king" by Edvard Grieg electronically recreated in an Isao Tomita style.

The music was created first then the clips of Beowulf were edited around the music, this I think works well because of the superb look and animation in the film together with the theme of the composition and sounds used.

Robert Zemeckis 2007 Beowulf is completely computer generated using the voices and the looks of the real actors including Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins which quite suites the music I recreated, synthesised sounds for synthespians.

Music created using Jupiter 8V, CS-80V, Omnisphere, Virtual String Machine soft synths and arranged and mixed in Cubase 4."
Some Angelina Jolie for you...

TOMITA STUDIO (in the late 1980s)

YouTube via synmusik. Don't miss this Tomita vid.
"There is an episode of having suddenly visited Tomita's house when Michael Jackson came to Japan. Both Synclavier is used. And, Tomita thought that he was interested about a state-of-the-art digital synthesizer. However, he was interested in Old Moog Synthesizer surprisingly, and he asked Tomita how to make the sound of the whistle of 'Snowflakes Are Dancing'."

Vintage Moog P2 Modular Synth (Rick Powell Collection)

via this auction

"This unit is part of the Rick Powell Collection. Rick was a musician, a major producer and a contemporary and close friend of Bob Moog, among others, and often received original units from manufacturers to test in the studios. Rick was my studio partner up until the day he passed away and his wife has asked me to sell some of the items that were studio kept for many years. There are many treasures in this collection and we will be adding them as they are photographed, tested and cataloged.

This is probably the crown jewel of the collection. The Moog P2 Modular Synthesizer. Rick used this very unit on his Choir Book LP and also the Switched On Country LP. You can see it in its full glory on the attached album photo. You can also read about the P2 and the other modular Moogs at synthmuseum.com


This synth has no power supply (that we could find among the storage area in their home). Perhaps if someone can show me a picture of what it's supposed to look like, we could find it more easily. Or perhaps it's not available. I've read that the power supplies that originally came with this unit weren't very reliable and many collectors have built their own. The unit has been kept in the home for many years. Stored in A/C. We have no idea what it needs in order to make sounds. Perhaps a few tubes and a power supply would get it going. You collectors will know more than I do about it. I can barely work a light switch.

This unit has the 950 keyboard (serial 2048) in very good condition. Also the 2 loaded banks, also in good condition built into the travel cases. The modules are 4 of the 902 voltage controller amplifiers, 2 of the 911 envelope generators, a 907 fixed filter bank, a 904-A voltage controlled low pass filter, a 904-B voltage controlled high pass filter, a 901-A oscillator controller, a 901-B oscillator, a 903 white sound source, a 901 voltage controlled oscillator and 2 of the mixer units. The cable that runs from the keyboard to the units and the cable that runs from unit to unit are there and look to be in fine condition.

Here's a little story about Rick you may enjoy. He told me that when he was in Nashville, RCA approached him about doing a series of albums to compete with Walter Carlos' LPs of Switched On Bach. Rick turned them down, thinking it wouldn't go over very well or pay very well. So RCA went to another synth artist named Tomita. Rick always laughed about how stupid he was to have turned that down. But being the good-natured optimist that he was, he kept working on the "next tech" device that would enhance people's ability to make music."

CLICK FOR MORE »

360 Systems 20/20 Frequency Shifter (BODE)

via this auction

"This is a very rare item, probably the first I've seen one on ebay. It is a Frequency Shifter, model 20/20 by 360 Systems.

360 Systems was (and still is) an innovative company that developed this pitch changer (as used by Synergy/Larry Fast, John McLaughlin), one of the first guitar synths (John McLaughlin) the first sample-playback keyboard and many audio post devices since. They also developed the first LINN Drum for Roger Linn. Bob Easton was/is their clever designer."
360 based their design on Harold Bode's rare "Klangumwandler" that was made and sold for Moog in the late 1960s and early '70s.

The Moog/Bode 6552 Klangumwandler ('sound-changer', in German) was an interesting concept, to modify pitch (frequency) without changing the overtone structure. Bode's invention was first created for Ussachevsky's electronic music studio at Columbia University (Bob was quite familiar with the composer and studio, as well as his various students like Wendy Carlos. Wendy and Tomita used this module on their classic albums. Club of the Knobs synthesizers now make a very accurate replica of the original Bode/Moog module and you can see it (and the similarity to this 360 design) on their website. The 360 has the same "series of 5" settings (5,50,500) as the Bode - and mixed vs. independent outputs, although the squelch is internal on the 360 via trimpot. There is CV (Voltage Control) of the frequency - great with a sequencer, CV pedal (McLaughlin) or random. These are similar to a ring modulator, but have a VERY unusual effect at the lowest settings. This is the effect I love (and why anyone should own this) - a deep phasing in stereo, without "messing up" the sonic quality of the original signal - all bass a treble frequencies remain solid, and the harmonics shift around in stereo beautifully. It's weird but not ugly - very HiFi and cool-sounding.

BODE

some text from the web):
'... the EWE, which stands for Electro Wagnerian Emancipator. There's only one of them; it was designed for me by Bob Easton at 360 Systems… That is now gathering dust in the warehouse. I tried to use it on "Big Swifty" from Waka/Jawaka - Hot Rats, but it didn't end up on the final track." (BTW synth geeks - this is mystery item was basically just an EML Polybox, same idea!)

'We also have some neat little 360 Systems model 2800 programmable equalizers, which are four-band parametric with memory storage for saving any particular settings that you may like. Those were designed by Bob Easton and are no longer available, but we have a few of them.'"

via Brian Kehew of Moog Cookbook

Update via eben in the comments: "check out the comment in that ebay auction in the questions section - none other than Tom Rhea, author of the minimoog owners manual"

via the auction:
Q: Hey neighbor, interesting that you have a frequency shifter for sale, but your description that a klangumwandler shifts without changing the overtone structure is incorrect. Pitch shifting a la the Eventide Harmonizer does this; Harald Bode built frequency shifter(s) that provide a LINEAR shift in frequency (Hz) for all partials in the input signal. This will, of course drastically change the "overtone structure," not preserve it. Sorry to be a drudge about this, but I knew Harald well, teach this stuff at a well known music College," This message purely in the interest of sharing information. Hope you get a good penny. PS, I have several Bode 1630 FS (lucky me, but just knowing Harald was the real treat!) Tom Rhea (author Minimoog Owner's Manual, etc.) Good luck in the sale! Apr-14-09
A: Hey Tom - you are likely QUITE right. I only said it was based upon the Bode - which seems quite true given the controls and front panel, steps of "5's" etc. Obviously, the audio track given shows what this very unit does exactly, so no deception is implied.

Debussy - Danse in an Isao Tomita Style

YouTube via paulshillitomusic.

via the forum

"Electronically created version of Debussy's Dance or Danse as it is also known as in a Isao Tomita style. Another one of the pieces I created about 10 years ago, the video is a bit more abstract, again playing around with After Effects CS3, no meaning to the video just something show :-)

Synths used making this include Roland JV1080, Korg Prophecy, Waldorf wave, Yamaha AN1x , Waldorf Pulse and sequenced on Cubase."

Debussy's Arabesque No 2


"An original Electronic version of Debussy's Arabesque No.2 created in an Isao Tomita style. I created this piece about 10 years ago but after deciding to start recording again, I brought it out storage to show the world. The video was created in AE to avoid have just a slide show of photos."

ROLAND VP-330 "Vocoder Plus" Mk2

YouTube via retrosound72.

More vids by retrosound72 here.

"vintage gear demo by RetroSound

Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus Mark2 (1979)

For me the best analog-strings ever...

... and used by Vangelis (Blade Runner, Chariots Of Fire, The Bounty, See You Later...), Tomita, Kitaro, Mike Oldfield, Tony Banks, YMO, Laurie Anderson and many more."

Isao TOMITA

YouTube via moog3p
"Isao Tomita (冨田 勲, Tomita Isao), is a renowned Japanese electronic music composer."

MATSUTAKE / YMO CLICK

YouTube via moog3p.

Be sure to check out these posts for more YMO. See this post.
"Hideki Matsutake is a Japanese composer, arranger, and computer programmer.He is a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra in the fourth.Isao Tomita is his mentor."

星に願いを

YouTube via moog3p. isao tomita

Update: found it again:
Isao Tomita - When you wish upon a Star

YouTube via 5488773
"aca isao tomita tocando su MOOG III . hermosa cancion =)"

"MINNA NO SEKAI"opening theme

YouTube via denha

""MINNA NO SEKAI" is japanese educational TV show.
冨田勲作曲、NHK教育「みんなのせかい」テーマです。
リズムを含む全パート、access社のvirusTI desktopを使用しました。"
""MINNA NO SEKAI" is japanese educational TV show.
Composer Isao Tomita, NHK Education, "with everyone?" Theme.
Including part-time rhythm, access, use virusTI desktop."

Moogfest™ 2008 Honors Bob Moog, Features The Moog Guitar

"ASHEVILLE, N.C. (August 2008) – inTouch Entertainment, in cooperation with Moog Music, Inc. presents Moogfest 2008, Monday, October 13 at the Hammerstein Grand Ballroom in New York City. A stellar lineup of top Moog users will gather for an evening of ground-shaking music to honor Bob Moog and commemorate his groundbreaking achievements.

“This is our fifth year presenting this tribute to Bob and we’re excited about moving to The Hammerstein, which is more than twice as large as our previous venue,” said Mike Adams, Moog Music President. “Every year the artists who play at Moogfest tell us what a fun event it is, and as a result we have been privy to many fine performances. This year’s lineup and our annual “Bob Tribute” award will make for another fantastic evening for music fans.”

Moogfest 2008 will also feature Moog Music’s transforming new instrument, The Moog Guitar.

Performers scheduled to participate include Umphrey's McGee, Eric McFadden Trio, Bernie Worrell (P-Funk), Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits), Jamie Shields (The New Deal),
Joe Russo (Benevuto/Russo) and others.

Bob Moog's namesake analog synthesizers helped catapult the careers of such diverse artists as rockers Todd Rundgren, Edgar Winter, Gary Numan and Devo; funksters Parliament-Funkadelic and Zapp; disco producer Giorgio Moroder with disco diva Donna Summer; fusioneers Chick Corea with Return To Forever, Herbie Hancock with The Headhunters, Jan Hammer with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Klaus Doldinger with Passport and Joe Zawinul with Weather Report; New Age icon Tomita and classical performer Wendy Carlos.

Moogfest 2008 offers an opportunity for artists to play alongside the world's leading Moog players. Entry submissions should be made by September 10; artists selected will be compensated an amount to be determined based on draw, experience, etc. For more information visit www.sonicbids.com/Moogfest.

Tickets for Moogfest 2008 are available through Ticketmaster. For more information on Moogfest 2008, visit moogfest.com. For more information on The Moog Guitar visit moogmusic.com."

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 Incredible Sounds of the Synclavier II

via this auction

"Ultra rare private pressing demo record on clear blue vinyl, an artifact of electronic music history originally given out to prospective buyers of this innovative classic synth. It contains a montage of brief melodies and unique sound effects showing off the amazing capabilities of this system that combined sampled and FM synthesized sounds and was designed by legendary electronic composer Jon Appleton at Dartmouth College. The music and programming on this disc is credited to Denny Jaeger and Bill Keenan, plus there is an excerpt of a synthesized version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Patrick Gleeson (member of Herbie Hancock's 70s-era electric funk band). The Sync II has featured prominently in the recordings of Pat Metheny, Michael Jackson (who pretty much swiped the synth intro to "Beat It" from this lp!), Laurie Anderson, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Soft Cell, Marc Almond, Bronski Beat, ABBA, Genesis, Chick Corea, George Duke, Sting, Tomita, and Stevie Wonder."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Isao Tomita

isaotomita.net















website via Benjamin Ward. sent my way via LDT

The MOOG Strikes Bach

One of the many MOOG albums following Switched on Bach.

via daddio of tapewarm.

Update via Suit & Tie Guy in the comments:
"that's Hans Wurman. apparently he made a follow-up album which was never released.

there were alot of records which "followed" S-OB, but as far as quality goes the only two that come close are this one and Switched-On Nashville.

S-ON is quite interesting as there's some Tomita-like vocal synthesis on "Folsum Prison Blues" which blows my mind ever time i drop the needle on that cut. if you ever come across it, digitally or on vinyl, don't hesitate to grab it.

apparenlty John Mitchell claimed to feel The Moog Strikes Bach was either peer or superior to S-OB. if you check the Synthesizers.com Yahoo! group archive you should find some posts regarding this."