This one in via
Soviet Space Child. Further below you will find a post from Uli Behringer on what he plans next. It is pretty much in line with what he said in his recent interview
posted here on the 23rd. Note he mentions bringing old classics back along with new creations. An interesting side note, is it appears Music Group IP, which Behringer falls under, made logo and trademark grabs for Oberheim. Via
dluther:
"The Oberheim logo and trademarks seem to have been filed by Music Group after Gibson turned it over to Wells Fargo, and it expired:
USPTO Assignments on the Web
Then Music Group IP made a claim on it on Dec 8 of last year (awaiting examination
Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
And Gibson must have caught wind of what's going on and is now trying to retrieve it on behalf of Bank of America as a "Security Interest:"
USPTO Assignments on the Web
It's interesting to note they filed these trademarks under the Music Group IP Inc. name instead of some shell organization. Given the specificity of the Oberheim marks reserved, I'd venture their next big synth will be an 'homage' to the OB-Xa, and possibly an OSCar. Given their treatment of the Juno-106, it might be something special..."
And here is what Uli Behringer
had to say regarding what's coming:
"Hello everyone, please allow me to chime in.
Since the introduction of our first synth, the DeepMind12, it has now become the best selling synthesizer at the world's largest retailers Thomann and Sweetwater. Our team is so excited that we have decided to go "all in".
What does that mean?
We have since hired 20 incredibly talented engineers and synth experts, and we're hiring many more. In fact we're looking for passionate software and hardware engineers for our Innovation Center in Manchester, UK. Please feel free to drop me a note and CV if you're interested...
Our dream is to cover every musical and technological angle, which includes analog and digital synths, samplers, romplers, drum machines - you name it.
We have also taken on the challenge to see if we can make a really cool analog synth for US$ 49 retail. That's not easy, but we'll give it a try! We like to make analog synths available especially for kids so they can learn to play an electronic instrument.
We'll be reviving both legacy synths based on authentic designs and original components but we're also heavily investing in research in the areas of cutting-edge granular and waveform synthesis, etc. in order to innovate and create something completely new.
Many people have asked us to revive synth jewels from the past and make them affordable so everyone can own one. This very much resonates with me because when I was a kid, I spent hours in stores playing and admiring those synths - however I couldn't afford them which was tremendously frustrating.
Frankly, I never understood why someone would charge you US$ 4,000 for a MiniMoog, when the components just cost around US $200.
We at Midas and Behringer believe in bringing these instruments back and making them affordable so everyone can play and enjoy them.
In order to introduce young people to the world of synthesizers, we have also hired lots of university fresh grads for our engineering departments - great guys that have discovered and now love building synths.
I can honestly say that this the best vibe we have ever had in our company and I am tremendously proud of these guys who put incredible effort and time in designing those synths.
As always we love to hear from you, learn what your thoughts are and what you want us to make. Building great things for customers is what we love and the purpose why we exist.
Thank you for all the fantastic support!
Uli"
Update: New OSCar and ARP 2600 on Behringer's Radar - this explains the OSCar logo above.
