"String section with Cello, Violin and Percussion and also a 'solo' switch for lead lines.
* Reeds section with Accordion, Musette and Organ.
* Piano section with Piano and also HonkyTonk.
* Brass section with Trombone and Trumpet and with it's own controls for Attack and Brilliance.
* An effects section that has a 'mute' function and also vibrato.
* Finally a general section with overall Attack and Sustain.
LED's in each section light up to show you which parameters are active and tweak-able for each You can also mix voices by pressing both buttons to create new sounds and textures. Has it's own built-in amplifier and speakers in the bottom so you can either play it stand alone, or hook it up to a separate amp and speakers. Sockets on the rear include headphones, sustain and pedal and the external output."
"Like nearly all the high end vintage analog synths we sell, this item has been METICULOUSLY disassembled, cleaned inside and out, FULLY serviced by professionals who’ve been servicing and selling vintage synths for more than the last 2 decades, and systematically tested multiple times over a long period to ensure it’s working exactly as it should. No BS. No ebay surprises. We’re perfectionists and don’t cut corners. Although this instrument came to us in relatively good shape, we want our items to be better than the rest and invested *many* hours of tech time plus parts costs to fully overhaul this unit so it would be clean, working like new again and as reliable as possible for its next owner. This was a serious investment of time, love, and money, and was definitely worth the effort and is of course reflected in the higher than usual price. If you’re looking for a great sounding example of this model that works just like it should without needing to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in tech fees and waiting from weeks to years, this one should make you very happy.
"Fully disassembled, cleaned inside and out, and meticulously serviced and reassembled. Working perfectly. This process was performed by an expert vintage synth tech and took 13 hours. The end result is an instrument that's better than the rest and is priced accordingly. Ready to play, no excuses. This unit's got the better J-wire keyboard mechanism. We replaced the wooden sides with brand new replicas made by a third party."
"This is a real rarity in any condition, arguably Roland's rarest vintage synth, and here we have one almost 'New Old Stock' in the original box! An early 80's desktop module from Roland in their absolute prime, based on the SH101 / MC202 architecture with the classic Curtis CEM3340 VCO plus the legendary IR3109 VCF chip as found in everything from the Jupiter 8 to the Juno 60. Driven by CV/gate, we've tested it using both an Arturia MicroFreak and a Korg SQ1 with stunning results, and has the added bonus of a built in 2 channel mono-signal mixer for routing other gear through, plus 21 slider caps as used on the Juno 6 and 60! Mad!!! Feels like this unique unit pre-dated the whole 'desktop module' thing that has been with us since the early days of Virtual Analogue from Nord and Access Virus, and by around 25 years! A very modern feeling old thing, with that small desk-space footprint but big sound we're all looking for these days."
"In this demo, I take you on a tour through Roland's most popular single-oscillator, synth from 1982... The Juno 60! a rich sounding, yet very modest synth..some pedigree declare it the finest single-osc. ever?! ..hmm, but it is tough trying to think of something that gives this thing shade!
First half of this demo is a virtual 'walk-thru' of the features.. then towards the end is a walk-through of how to use the Tape Interface to backup the sound-patches to a D.A.W. (Logic Pro X)
Left: Manfred Fricke (via Amazona.de) back in the day with his first creations, the MFB-501 drum machine (right), and MFB-601 digital sequencer (left).
2nd image is Manfred Fricke with the MFB SYNTH II at SUPERBOOTH (unknown source).
We lost another legend in the synth world. Sad news in via STROMKULT:
"'On June, 17th around 11am Manfred Fricke from Berlin alias MFB sadly passed away after having had a hard time with cancer for a while already. He left his wife Gloria and his son Jean-Marcel behind, we are all very sad having lost this partner, friend and father.'
HerrSchneider
Manfred Fricke was one of Berlins pioneers of analog synth and drum machine makers. He has been the weapon of choice for many (not only) starting musicians. Let’s be honest, who didn’t have one of his creations early in his or hers journey into electronic musical instruments – or at least thought about getting one – and why shouldn’t you? Manfred Fricke's machines always brought something unique to the table, they were mostly analog, affordable, in small plastic housings and just did the job. Manfred always focused on keeping his products affordable for his clients and the instruments quite often made their way to professional use later on, and the musicians often kept their first units as something almost holy, because it were these machines that paved the way into analog electronic music making.
But it would be too short-sighted to associate MFB only with budget entry-level products. Especially the drum machines Tanzbär and Tanzbär II, or the great Dominion 1 show that Manfred Fricke also built machines that met higher demands. The Tanzbär, in particular, is considered by many to be their favorite drum machine of the last few years, especially in terms of its amazing sound.
We hope that MFB will continue to exist and that it will continue to make it easier for many generations of musicians to enter the world of electronic sound production.
We wish Manfred Fricke's son Jean-Marcel continued success for the future of MFB and extend our condolences to him and his family. And lets hope that Manfred will finally meet up with all the other good guys on the other side.
MFB's Manfred Fricke's first procuct, the Fricke MFB-501 drum machine.
Description via this video:
"This little analog beatbox was developed in 1980 1979 by Manfred Fricke. It was offered at 380 DM. As a low-cost model on the market for analog rhythm generators the small black and white "Switch Box" quickly found a lot of friends, because its configuration could be compared to its expensive far east competitors: 64 patterns and as many fill-ins switchable via micro switches, speed control via potentiometer, 10 analog percussion instruments (activated by means of micro switches), combined mono/stereo outputs (jack), In & Out (5 Vss) and trigger footswitch inputs (jack) for start and fill-in
(retail price for the switch at 16 DM). An external wall power supply provides 12 volts.
Approx. 5000 units of the MFB-501 had been sold. Not so bad for a one-man company. So this drum machine is one of the top-selling devices in the history of the Berlin engineer offices M. Fricke . If you're lucky, this iconic device can still be found on the relevant internet sales platforms.
Today, maintenance of this tiny noise machine is still easily feasible, because Fricke employed only commercially available components. Therefore, 'presumedly dead 501's' can be reanimated without major problems."
MFB 601 Vintage Digital Sequencer, Teardown, Repair and partial analysis
Published on Feb 2, 2015 FPV Electronics
Note this video is FPV Electronics of course, and not Manfred Fricke.
"This device is exclusively built from 7400 and 4000 series basic logic ICs. Making it must have been so much more difficult than just programming a generic µController as we would do today."
1976: MFB was founded by engineer Manfred Fricke. So far there were more than some hundred products constructed and distributed. The first developments and products were primarly video games for industrial playmachines.
1979: A lowcost drummachine was introduced in 1979. (98 DM for the self construction kit). The legendary drumcomputer MFB-501 was finished and sold. Although it was not the most prominent drumcomputer of that time it surely was one of the best selling drum units in Germany. Some shops sold ten times more MFB-501s than Roland TR-808s. More products for the musician followed, such as the Digital-Sequencer MFB-601 and the digital drum machine MFB-512. All of these featured rich products were offered at exceptional low prices.
1984: The E-Drum module series 1000 and 2000 followed with corresponding pads.
1986: A new construction period started in 1986 with product launches of the MIDI-CV converter MFB-201 and the MIDI drummer MFB-SYNTH was finished in 1997, although its development dates back to the eighties. The machine never went into production since 2001, the year of the company´s 25th anniversary because of decreased interest in analogue synthesizer technology especially in the sales channels.
From 1986 Manfred Fricke specialized in products for video applications. Alone 20 different framegrabbers for the Apple II, C-64 und IBM compatible PCs were constructed. A very high percentage of these framegrabbers were and are still in use for special industrial purposes. Custom development is still done here, so these specialized tools are not available for other customers.
1994: MFB introduced the world´s first videomixer below 1.000 DM, the MFB-901. Its successor MFB-902 was available in 1995. Another important development in the video section was the model MFB-912, a digital video memory. This 1998 product was highly acclaimed by the press.
1999: The successor MFB-915 added sound and higher picture resolution. It´s available since October 1999. Another successor is the model MFB-920 with an integrated harddrive offering better options for nonlinear cutting and post processing of the recorded material.
2001: During this year, Manfred Fricke also developed another new MIDI drum-module. MFB-KULT, includes most of the famous sounds of the older machines. Both MFB-SYNTH and MFB-KULT are availabale since December 2001. Because of constant requests for the digital sequencer MFB-601 a successor MFB-602. was introduced in May 2002.
2002: Since August 2002 there´s also a little brother of the MFB-SYNTH, the MFB-SYNTH LITE
"Quick patch from scratch with plinky, a realy basic one, i will make more on other aspec of plinky .
You can see my proto case for plinky and the expandeur, next step make it thinner and 3d printable :)
Thank you for watching.
My name is Meska of the statik collective . I've been making mostly "dark and expérimental" music for more than ten years now, i'v learn so much online, now it's time for me to share my knoledge, my exploration and this channel is a place to talk about the tools, sound design and techniques to make music with.
i'm tattooist at day jobs and you can found my work here : www.meska.fr
"Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Karl Learmont / Angelspit is known for vicious synths, slamming modular distorted drums, and lyrics with a twist of sarcasm. Angelspit’s new album The Ignorance Cartel is their nineteenth release since their inception in June 2004. Currently based in LA, Angelspit has toured the USA and Europe multiple times – dragging their synths around with them.
We chatted with Karl on how he uses the Prophet Rev2 in his music."
"String section with Cello, Violin and Percussion and also a 'solo' switch for lead lines.
