MATRIXSYNTH

Vintage Computer Festival: The rare, historic, and bizarre

Click here for a video on CNet covering this year's Vintage Computer Festival. The Con Brio makes an appearance at about 2:09 left.

via James Grahame of the excellent Retro Thing.

Two Studio Pics via Scott Metzger

I spy with my synth eye...

Yamaha CS80
Prophet VS Rack
E-mu E6400
? You fill the rest

ARP Avatar - 6 videos

YouTube via 123synthland. Up for auction here. Note there are six videos in this set.
"We deal in vintage synthesizers, but you already know that. :) Here's the ARP Avatar we've currently got up for sale. The Avatar is essentially a keyboard-less version of the ARP Odyssey that was designed to be played by either a guitar or a CV Gate instrument like an old vintage keyboard with 1 volt per octave and gate outputs or an analog sequencer.
These days most people use them with a MIDI to CV converter or a guitar. These are pretty rare. They're often without the guitar pickup or their guitar circuitry isn't working right. This particular one was tested with a guitar, works well and comes with the hard to find guitar pickup as well. This series of video clips features the Avatar, with occasional help from a few other items we're unloading - a Roland RE-201 Space Echo, Roland SH-101 Blue and Oberheim Mini-Sequencer. All of the sounds are coming from the Avatar in all except 1 video where the SH-101 is patched through the filter together with the Avatar's oscillators. The reverb and delay effects are courtesy of the Roland Space Echo and any sequences you hear come from the Oberheim Mini-Sequencer and/or the SH-101. Several of these videos show just the ARP triggering itself, without a sequencer. Enjoy, and email me anytime at minime123@onebox.com"

The ARP Ensemble Organ

There was some discussion of the ARP Ensemble Organ on AH.
From Ivan:
"I finally found the photo!? Took me a few hours of digging through back copies of Musical Merchandise review.? It is from the August 1974 issue and was shown at the June 1974 NAMM show: link [pictured]

So what David has is the same unit that was called the "Arp Ensemble."? Evidently it was sold with a Pro Soloist to make it a three-manual organ per the letter I got from a dealer ages ago: [link]

While searching for this info I also found a pic of the rare double-keyboard Mellotron: [link]"

Previously from Dave Hillel Wilson of the New England Synthesizer Museum had to say:
"It helps to remember that the ARP String Ensemble IV was really the Solina, manufactured by Eminent and rebadged by ARP. I bought a Pro Soloist a few years back from someone who told me it was the top keyboard on an organ. I played this organ and it sounded amazing, so I bought it for the Museum. It is called the Eminent 310, and is similar to the 310 U used by Jean-Michel Jarre."

images mirrored here

Update via Milo Johnson in the comments:
"That "double keyboard Mellotron" looks to be the Mellotron/Novatron Mark V prototype, and the year would be correct for it. There were 28 or 30 units made before the company finally folded. The Mellotron Mark I, Mark II, and SFX Consoles were all double-keyboard models as well, and there were an approximate total of 500 two-manual Mellotrons made in the early days. Fast forward to nowm when both Mellotron and Mellotronics are offering or developing new two-manual Mellotrons."

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."