Somery of the Synthesizer sounds that were created by rere Senne Reem eas Man Teme eee OMe ate eR ee eR ny Neen ree Mer coeur mt emo ed EO Rc me Rec ere once eco sought after, and their innovative skills never fail to impress. 3 ver since the early 1970's I have been fascinated by the Sent OT eet ca ecm ererm Rye a one ert era Deer Rete Se Rea ee om TC eT ATED eee Mec me eee eS Pen Reece ee Seem enor e PO ee eee re een i to a whole host of talented keyboard players, such as Keith iS PR oe OCR Cenc COR Creme MCU Cee ere Mente S Cnc Cm mn POU Se cee ete SCOR oe ects oe ie : : Ser eee oe ee eee One RaTE a eC ee OC en eRe ose Eo eats SUT Sa CCR Cie aM ee ce To Peet Dern eee cic reckon Ce Sen om ay LIBRARY are admired today on the same basis as people admire vintage DSO momen ccn en come Re ea em ta THE CITY COLLEG! seen ce ta ee reenact kee Teed conte eccnr Ren en OO e Raa e eS ee ec ate me "a place that plays tribute to the inventors and musicians alike STOR un cues cen sore Se een Ocoee ere eeno Gay It may be difficult for some people to really appre Reet en Mm crmrea een ee eet nae tcte eect ea Oe eee eee CRON mele es Ue a Gift of ® but for those who do come to visit and step back in history to view the instruments of the past and to hear their sounds, | Michael Whalen hope you will be left with a lasting impression. Secu SeeSs SZ é ge N ipa Syuite THESIZER ee ean OSe TO PRESERVE, RESTORE AND PROMOTE A WIDER INTEREST IN THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF ANALOGUE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ALBURY * HERTFORDSHIRE * ENGLANDcuceeseseeeeesiseeeseeseeesiseeeseeseeeaieaseeseaeeeSeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemceceeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeee ess eee © THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS « 1 would like to thank the numerous i people who have helped with the ucion of this book and the Bob Moog writes... setting up of the museum. In particular to Bob Williams and ene © © Martin Newcomb has assembled by far most of this collection together the most extensive, most complete collection of electronic music instruments of the past Sect hanes to all the peop three decades that I've ever seen. Most of ' 6m the subject of analogue the instruments use analogue technology; in sacra satan all embody an element of adventurous eee aerate an innovation. In a very real way, this mide this book possible historic collection suggests the state of the ae automobile industry during its first three Roger Whisker decades, when literally bundreds of Tangent Graphic Design fledgling automobile manufacturers Be ere operated out of converted garages, every Front cover illustration new model incorporated features that had eee just been dreamed up by some starry-eyed Poa t innovator, and an air of exuberant Technographic, Saxmundbam creativity pervaded the industry. And, just a as automobile design eventually converged Martin Newcomb to a set of standard features that comprise today’s mass-produced ‘cookie-cutter’ cars, the plethora of early synthesizers and other electronic music paraphernalia have now converged to a relatively limited number of sre look-alike digital caricatures of the creative content of the earlier instruments. This exhibit is a living, working demonstration Martin Newcom) of bow our present day electronic music July 1994 arsenal evolved @@ Museum building Greg Bray, Widdingion Architect S.C. Fletcher PO Box 36 Ware, Herts SG11 2AP Telephone/Fax 02THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ AIMS AND SERVICES OF THE MUSEUM THE EXHIBITS A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY HISTORY OF THE SYNTHESIZER MOOG - HISTORY OF THE COMPANY MOOG - THE RANGE OF INSTRUMENTS OBERHEIM E-mu BUCHLA SEQUENTIAL ARP POLYFUSION EML EMS EDP ROLAND MISCELLANEOUS. HELPLINETHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ~ syntholocy ~ ANALOGUE SPECIALIST WE CARRY THE LARGEST INVENTORY OF ANALOGUE INCLUDING ARP, MOOG, ROLAND, BUCHIA, SERGE, OBERHEIM, KORG, SEQUENTIAL, EMS, POLYFUSION AND EML, MODULAR SYSTEMS, POLYPHONICS AND MONOPHONICS. BUY, SELL, TRADE AND ALSO HIRE. WE CAN USUALLY FIND ALL RARE VINTAGE SYNTHS AND PROVIDE FULL BACK-UP, OFTEN WITH ORIGINAL PARTS. U.K. U.S.A. TEL: 0279 771114 TEL: 213 850 5216 TEL/FAX: 071 722 1420 FAX: 213 850 1059 L : ne din T: 081 748 9967 F: 081 748 9968 oA| ANALOGUE SYSTEM Vintage Synthesizer Specialists ARP @ SEQUENTIAL @ EMU @ POLYFUSION @ MOOG @ OBERHEIM @ EMS @ ROLAND The UK’S LARGEST supplier of modular synths and home of the FB3 FILTER BANK oming soon... THE NEW TH48 SEQUENCER » We export to EUROPE and JAPAN and import from the USA reg- ularly. At ANALOGUE SYSTEMS we know how to use these instruments and offer a full back up service. Our engineer has Spent 16 years repairing and maintaining modular equipment ‘Gnd a full repair service is available with MOOG a speciality. We | always carry a good selection of MOOG modules in stock including brand new knobs. Bi UPA YK)© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY AIMS AND SERVICES OF THE MUSEUM $6) ook out for the forthcoming series of sample CD's recorded exclusively from the museum's exhibits. This will be the final word in detailed useable samples Produced by Paul Wiffen of Digital Village; with instruments played by John Sharp, the well respected programmer/session musician.99 he main aim of the Museum is to preserve the exhibits for all to see and he: tions to come. Subject to the success of this enterprise I hope it will continue to grow, and become a bigger and more impressive not only for today’s generation, but for genera- attraction. here are some improvements that will take place in due course, such as the introduction of a pa GATE, enabling for example the user to link the VCO of a Moog to the VCF of an ARP 2500 without having to run metres of patch cord across the Museum, ch bay system for CV and it Buch, ARP, et). The each named manufacturer (Ge Re ip will probably never be the intention to create a full blown studio environment in the Museum, but a lot of effort has been expended in 1 instrument is wired for use. Obviously from time to time repairs will be needed and it cannot be guaranteed that all exhibits will be working at all times. ing it a good working Museum where every £ the Museum becomes successful other secondary projects will run with the vision of making the Museum the focal point for everything connected with Analogue Synthesizers. here will be copy manuals available for most exhibits, plus manuals for instruments which are not yet on display. Any manuals that are sold will be accompanied by full colour prints of the specific instrument. Cc” schematics will be available to technicians and other enthusiasts, help line will be set up for anyone who may have a problem A tndersinding a specific part of seems to be quite a common problem that manuals are not produced in a particularly clear way n Analogue instrument. It hiring service will be available to studios and some establish: Arrests te might find it difficult to source some of these rarities, The hire of the whole Museum is a service that will be considered in the Future,UU THE EXHIBITS SS Solina Pro/DGX Solus Little Brother Omni Omni IT Blue Meanie 2500 Modular Wing 2500 Modular Main Cabinets with Keyboards x 3 2600 Grey x 2 with Keyboards 2600 Orange with Keyboard+ PPC's Sequencers x 6 Odyssey light Grey Odyssey Black and Gold 8 Channel Mixer 500 (Keyboard only) 100 modular x 2 Portable electronic music system 3 700 Series 200 modules x 5 SE ————— Emulator I Modular main cabinet + small cabinet + Keyboard Wasp Special Gnat Spider 101 300401 200 400 500 THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ ves3 AKS. Pitch-Voltage Converter Synthi 100 (Possibly 2 Models) ———KORG——— Ps 3100 Ps 3200 Ps 3300 CY Converter Sample and Hold Ribbon Controller (late) Ribbon C prototype introller (early Drum Liberation (prototype) Parametric Equaliser Pedals x 2 Bode Frequency Shifter syn Amp complete x 2 syn Amp without cabinet X-Y controller (prototype) X-Y controller (serial No, 1) 958 pedal (Serial No. 2) Vocoder 12 Stage Phaser Modular Modular 3¢ (late) + double sequencer 3c (early) Modular 55 x 2 (plus 6 additional cabinets) Modular 35 Modular 15 Modular 3? > All Modulars with Keyboa© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Memorymoog Micromoog Prodigy Minimoog x 3 Minimoog (limited edition No. 3) Multimoog Polymoog Keyboard String Filter Graphic Equaliser =—OBERHEEM— Ring Modulator 8 Voice 2 Voice Matrix 12 Xpander =—POEYFUSION— Modular cabinet with first Modules ever made Modular main cabinet upper tier Modular main cabinet lower tier round Sequencers x 2 (stand alone) Sound- Pedals x 2 =—ROLAND— 700 Lab series Vocoder VP330 700 Modular x 2 100 M (50 Modules) 100 (full set ) Keyboards 180, 181, 2 x 184 MC4B MCB M202 ‘TRSOS ‘TROO9 ‘TRS Revo 30 TB303 Jupiter 4 Jupiter 8. Chorus + Echo 201, 301, 501 SHS MPU 101 Converter ——SEQUENTIAE— Prophet 5 Prophet 10 Poly Sequencer split 8 Pro 1 ==MISCEELANEOUS— Birotron (ex-Chris Franke) Rhodes Chroma + Expander Ondiline Kobol Expander PPG 2.3 + Waveterm B Gleeman Pentaphonic black + memory update Flka Synthex Wavemakers filter bank OSC Oscar Formant Modular Russian Polyrock Yamaha CS 80 Vox Ampliphonic Octave plateau Voyetra 8THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY is a shame that the USA having played such a pioneering role in this industry has allowed so much Synthesizer equipment to leave their shores. Huge exports to Japan are quite often heard about and they are willing to pay top prices. The Japanese are usually very good at market domination, so their actions should be watched very carefully. The good news is for those people out there who have already got substantial collections for investment purposes, the day will surely come when such collections will be on offer at Sotherbys. The public awareness of the value of Analogue Synthesizers has possibly ended the days of the amazing bargains that were once available, where people just did not know the true value of what they possessed. Most of the items that were considered real bargains have 661 was fortunate no doubt a ady been tracked down. I doubt very much whether that Istarted collecting there is much to be found in lofis and attics, but there is no harm in Analogue Synthesisers in “reaming. the 1980's, because in the The prices you hear being mentioned for some of the most unlikely 1990 they have become * ichines can be astounding, such as £1250 for a Roland TB 303. If such a trade were to occur then nothing would surprise me increasingly difficult Generally it is a mistake to think that because it is old and Analog fo source, inevitably it must be worth good money. It is important to do your homework making their prices Sond ry to ascent nuch bigher. Items like the Roland TB 303 have been popular over the past few years because of current music n which are the rarities and sought after products, trends not because they are classic collectors items. The buzz word at the moment is ‘Modular’, and there be USA is still the main have been more and more enquiries about this type than in the past wea for finding Fortunately, Digisound and Roland 100M systems are easily affordable nalogue products but for any one who wants a good initiation into Modu ; However, this in tur is pushing up the prices of the big Moog an e Moog-a-week is ei eee ane On f the big M ; ARP systems making them beyond the reach of most people ymning into the Moog- As in all businesses supply and demand plays a crucial role, an¢ month for most top this does vary from continent to continent, as you move east from the ders, and this USA prices seem to get higher as items become harder to find. One luation will not thing to consider though when you have tracked down a pote prove 99 bargain in the USA, bear in mind the 25 t0 30 per cent you pay in VAT, duty and freight, this can turn a bargain into a very average purchase One final point that often gets overlooked when buying vintage keyboards, is the attention they need. Spare parts in some cases are becoming very difficult to find, this can render a much favoured key board virtually useless unless you have them. It is prudent to be aware of, and to try and keep in stock the required chips, pots, sliders etc that would be needed in the event of a breakdown of breakage© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SYNTHESIZER fhe first instrument produced that could be categorised as a Synthesizer was the Telharmonium, built by Thaddeus Cabill between 1896-1906. It weighed an complete unit, including the loud speakers, and required two people to play it. It was capable of basic polyphony, and had a zing 200 tons for the touch sensitive keyboard. The major problem with this, apart from the weight, was that the main unit made so much noise. Anyone wanting to listen to it would find the speakers were located in a separate room, In 1904 the radio valve was invented by Fleming, this left Cahill's concepts rather outdated. The audion, a variant of the radio valve, enabled electronic amplifiers and modulators to be built, and from this development came the Triode Electronics progressed rapidly over the following 20 years but it ‘was not until 1924 that Leon Theramin invented the Aetherophone. This showed definite signs that developments in the field of electronics were being used for electronic music ‘The name Actherophone was soon to be known and replaced by “Theramin’ Entire Vocoder processing device The two large racks at left are the digit into digital information for transmitting, The Theramin had no keyboard. It consisted of two antennae that attached to a main section; one was for pitch, and the other was for volume. Sound variations were produced by distance betwe which converts analysed sound ‘and back to analogue for receiving the antenna used two high frequency oscillators; one was fixed,while the pitch of the other one was adjusted by hand movement. and the users hands. The The next significant step was by the French inventor Ondes. In 1929 he produced the Ondes traditional style key timbre which the Theramin did not allow. The player of th tenot. This instrument with a | enabled a certain amount of control over Martenot wore a ring on his finger, and the note was controlled by the location of the ring on a piece of wire that stretched the length of the keyboard. He also invented the Ondiline, which in some ways is similar to the Martenot and is currently the oldest exhibit in the Museum The German inventor Frederich Trautwein produced the Trautonium in 1930. It consisted of a piece of wire stretched above a metal rail. By pressing the wire onto the rail an electric circuit was produced causing a valve to vibrate at a specific frequency. This frequency varied according to where the wire was pressed. Volume was controlled by a foot pedal and timbres were varied by harmonic filters. This monophonic invention was later upgraded to 10THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ jophonic and was called the Mixtur-Trautonium, basically ntaining two sets of generators The Hammond organ, although not a Synthesizer, moved tronic music forward through the use of it's tone wheel. From re came the introduction of the Novachord and Solovox. The fovachord was the first instrument to use top octave tone erators, which were divided to provide the pitches for the entire inge of the instrument. This system replaced much of the scromechanical tone generations used in organs. The Novachord, cause of its construction is considered closer to the Synthesizer ian the organ. The Solovox, using a two and a half octave onophonic keyboard which fitted under the piano keyboard gave piano player an added facility to play a melody or solo piece. mbre and pitch were adjustable by a series of switches placed on top of the instrument At the 1929 Paris exposition, Couplet and Givelet introduced their lutomatically Operating Oscillation Type’. It was similar to a jonola, a paper tape reader controlled a set of four voices plus plitude, modulation, articulation and timbre of each voice, thus nirolling the parameters that modern day Synthesizers can do, Right through to the 1950's there was much research into the ncept of information storage machines. This led to the first RCA usic Synthesizer, which was developed by Dr. H. F. Olsen and Belar in 1954. The Kent Music Box, although not as well known the RCA Music Synthesizer was still an important development. X. E. L. Kent’s inventions influenced Dr. Olsen's own thoughts guilt hy RA, Moon in collabe hen he visited a demonstration of the Kent Music Box in Chicago, with composer Joel Chaulahe co-ordinated electronic studio at th ir ideas of using tape to create an electronic musical voice were oer : State University of New York, Albany ie same, but Dr. Olsen’s approach was much more complex and fer this demonstration he reviewed his RCA Synthesizer and feated the RCA Mark I. ers main parameters. When these tapes were jsrument they were automatically synchronised. isc recorders each with six recording channels During the 1950's and 60's this machin i itis considered the last link in the cha controlled voltage to manipulate soun R.A. Moog, Herb Deutsch was an electronic music compos, fara University. He met Bob Moog at a confe w York In 1963. They had this idea of prod ler studios and at a cheaper price.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY During 1964 through the use of controlled voltage Bob Moog succeeded in producing an oscillator, filter and amplifier. A prototype of this machine was shown at the AES convention which resulted in the manufacture of individual Moog modules. Don Buchla had produced a similar electronic set up in 1963, but his work was less publicised and even less understood ‘The composition by Walter Carlos entitled “Switched On Bach” became the greatest seller of all time for a classical record. It was also the spring board that Bob Moog needed to popularise his modular systems and formed the basis for the music on this record. Bob Moog’s modular systems although smaller than the RCA Mark IL were still too big for bands to tour with, so designer Jim Scott and Bob set about designing a transportable instrument that kept the ne concepts of the larger Synthesizers. The Minimoog fitted this bill perfectly and it was released in 1971 Meanwhile in the UK Peter Zinovieff of EMS was producing the popular VCS3, This was an extremely versatile modular machine famous for it's tremendous sound effects, this was popularised by Brian Eno, and Pink Floyd. It was often thought that EMS lacked the drive to compete with it’s American business rivals, however it must be said that although small, EMS are still in business to this very day Alan Pearlman was a keen musician, engineer and businessman, he sold his industrial electronics firm and formed Tonus Inc. He was to specialise in musical electronics. In 1970 he produced the ARP 2500 modular, and then in 1971 the smaller ARP 2600, and ARP Odyssey Don Buchla was a lesser known figure but of equal importance working on the west coast researching controlled voltage, but implementing it in a totally different way. He did not use the VCO- VCF-VCA concept in the same way as Moog and ARP, his machines were termed Music Boxes as opposed to Synthesizers. Also located on the west coast was Tom Oberheim. He set up his company in 1969 making a notable contribution to the Synthesizer industry by initially specialising in accessories, After the period which saw the domination and great interest in modular systems, (although they carried on being produced up to the early 1980's); from the early 1970's there was a great need and support for the smaller Monophonics and Duophonics. The most popular being the Minimoog, but the Odyssey, Oscar and Wasp, to name but a few were all doing v hine having it's own character and use within a musical composition Very few machines ever fit the bill in every respect, which is why so many keyboard musicians had racks of keyboards, providing the best in bass end, lead lines, and sound effects. The mid 1970's gave birth to polyphonics. They gave more scope to the user, but in some cases they lacked that rich “Minimoog sound’. Oberheim introduced their two and four voice Synthesizers, Composer Emmanuel Ghent in the studio of The Independent Electronic Mus Centre using a paper tape reader University of Minois experimental music studio.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ hich consisted of multiple SEM's linked together to produce a Polyphonic sound. The Polymoog produced true polyphony and is Klassified as the first of it’s type. After this, Sequential Circuits produced the Prophet 5, setting a new standard by offering real usble sounds like piano, organ, strings and bass, Towards 1980 the polyphonic era was developed further by the se of micro-processors. No longer was it necessary to play with a mass of pots, sliders and switches. Most machines that were produced came with at least 16 oscillators as standard, and multi- envelopes had become a basic requirement, Tweaking had been placed by programming, and presets existed in all but a few machines. The user no longer had to worry about creating his own Bounds, The introduction of MIDI in the early 1980's, created a whole ipetcration of computerised sequencing packages and miscellaneous ipeigets, that left most users more engrossed in manuals than with Their keyboards. ‘The continued use of samplers meant that music pres being composed by using someone else's creation. This was becoming, and still is, quite commonplace. The manufacturers of Bhese modern instruments are creating the music of today to a pater degree than at any other time. They are in pursuit of making money at the expense of musical quality, and are giving people of litle talent the chance to buy a whole studio that fits comfortably fvo a back room, and with computer assistance they have the Bbilty to churn out the same sounds that seem to be dominating a igh proportion of today's music Walter Carlos Itis not a great surprise that there has been such a strong move back to analogue instruments. This may be through boredom of the Bime old MIDI sounds, or the realisation that analogue machines Kespite their faults have got so much to offer, It is a general view fat maybe these old machines were not around for that long and isd only scratched the surface, so people are coming back for a Becond look. Also the prices of these instruments at that time were mpensive in relation to the cost of a new car, or home, but now hey are a lot cheaper by comparison so more people are in a posi on to acquire analogue machines, The current trend will give a chance to many MIDI enthusiasts to aim the basics of synthesis, which with today's technology is so asily overlooked. It makes you wonder where trends will go from here. Will the rerest in replicating old machines into new bodies with stable mponents continue? Will we see on the horizon a Moog 3C Bodular exact in shape, size, design, and sound but with modem euitry and MIDI interface? Will the ideas of the past and present Poobine, taking the best of both eras, and producing a whole new Bneration of instruments? For the purist, any alterations to a classic achine is sacrilege, but alas who knows? One certainty is that the Rick Wakeman pulogue Synthesizer is here to stay! 13| | R.A) Moog’ was. D« on May 23rd (ostin New York mm, ach City. He attended the Manhattan School of Music until he was 14 years old ‘and then proceeded to the Bronx Schoo! of Science. In total he had completed 12 years of piano lessons so it was a disappointment for his music tutors that he picked science asa subject for further study rather than music. They believed that he could have eventually taken music up professionally. It was reported that whilst he should have been practising his piano, he was at times tinkering with clectronic gadgets with his father, (who was an Electronic Engineer), in their base- ment. Here was a boy who at the age of nine could quite adequately use a soldering iron! At the Bronx School of Science at the age of 15, he started to build and sell Theramins. lt was very. evident from an cafly age thatBob. was fascinated by electronic musical instruments. He gained a BS¢ in physisifrom the Queen's College and itwas thete that he started to-scil Theramin kits. He then went-on: to gain a Bs¢ in electrical engineering from Columbia and aPhd in physics from Cornell in 1965. Cornell was considered to be the best university of- ind,THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ R.A. Moog Inc. was established in 1954, and from this company Bob continued to sell Theramins. In 1961 he sold 1000 Theramin Kits at US$50 each from his home. Herb Deutsch, a former Therumin Customer of Bob's used the Theramin to teach ear training to his Pupils. In 1963 he took Bob to a concert to hear a piece of his music entitled “Music for Electronic Tape and Percussion’. Bob was impressed by Herb’s music and Herb became interested in Bob's flectronic ability, and his research, Herb wanted Bob to create Something for him that could allow various sounds and effects to be lused in his compositions. Such was his interest, that he moved to New York to be near Bob’s work. (In the same year Bob completed his Phd at Cornell and moved his base to Trumansburg). The ew premises were once used as a furniture shop, so they required extensive alteration. Also they were later to become the site lof Bob's electronic music studio containing state-of-the-art equipment. Bob soon produced the Voltage Controlled Oscillator, Myron Schaeffer the head of the University of Toronto Electronic Music Studio offered encouragement to Bob in his line of research and Soon the Voltage Controlled Amplifier was born. ‘To Bob these were just machines, so he was surprised that Herb was able to use these Modules to make music. This prompted more research and devel- lPpment, and not long after came the Voltage Controlled Filter, and a Keyboard. It was because of the struggle in those days for funding hese projects that the Filter was the only Module he patented. These new concepts were displayed at the ‘Audio Engincering Bociety’ (AES) convention in the Autumn of 1964. By 1965 his Eompany was selling these modules. Bob's first customer was Alwin Bikolias a choreographer, the second was composer Eric Siday Jwentor/Lecturer Vladimir Ussachevsky (who tutored Walter Carlos)i SRSA BAAS TT ” THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY listened to a composition by Chris Swansen played entirely on a Moog instrument. He was initially very suspicious of Bob's inve tions, and took some convincing that such a variety of sounds could come exclusively from these new modules: He however relented and went on to play an important role in writing the format for the Envelope Follower and Generator. These specifications went on to be used permanently. Vladimir wanted to trigger, by use of a button, a four part envelope device to create Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release (ADSR), over any given sound, It was a slow start, and there were very few customers initially Bob continued to collaborate with the users of his instruments thus enabling him to pinpoint the demands and needs of the market place. The first two sales reps that Bob employed were Paul Beaver and Walter Sear. Vladimir was not the only person to help specify Bob’s Modules. Other such collaborations were with Walter Carlos who specified the Fixed Filter Bank and Gustov who followed by the Low Pass Filter specifying As time progressed it started to become evident that if all these ntities they would modules were put together in varying q\ collectively become a very powerful instrument. So it came to be that in 1967 Bob's modules were known as the Moog Synthesizer. His name had become the generic term for the Synthesizer. The modules were broken down in to three distinct groups; Generators, Processors and Controllers, The age of Moog modulars was here and it was to last for many years. The release of ‘Switched on Bach’ by Walter Carlos in 1968 gave the Moog Modular a tremendous boost, it proved to the world just how versatile this machine could be. The record topped one million sales and was bought by both lassical and pop fans alike. The Moog Modular was not an instru- ment just for sitting in Colleges and Universities this was further proved by Keith Emerson of the bands Nice and ELP. Keith Emerson was the first to take a custom Moog 3C on tour and even to this day the track “Lucky Man” by ELP is remembered for its use of a Moog Modular in the closing bars. Released in 1968 by Paul Beaver and Bernard 1. Krause ‘material played fon a Moog Series Il Modular. The studio at R. 4, Moog Inc17 \wl]© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY that their total staff of 42 and the demand for Moog products would have to be moved to larger premises, they also had to resolve theit financial problems. Musonics were based in Williamsville, New York, outside Buffalo, and they had space, equipment, plus financial resources. It was run by Bill Waytena, a businessman who specialised in buying strug- sling companies, sorting them out, and then selling them off. He ‘was in the process of marketing product his engineers had pro- duced called the ‘Sonic 5. He had hoped that because of the trend of musicians flocking to buy these monophonic instruments that he would easily sell maybe 5,000 of them, He was soon to realise that this was not going to be the case, so the merger with R, A. Moog could be the answer. Moog had sales knowledge, and a good reputation which Musonics needed. The merger took place in 1971 and the company name was now Moog Musonics. Bill later scrapped the Musonics and stuck with Moog Music Inc, ‘The peak monthly production of Minimoogs at the old factory had been 40 Units, whilst the production afier the move shot up to 300 units, Jim Scott did not move with the company and he left to pursue a different direction From here onwards all instruments produced were aimed at live performance, taking the modular concepts, and condensing them into smaller, more manageable units. Bob's idea was to create a system that enabled musicians to express themselves, he never took credit for the results produced by such artists as Keith Emerson, and Walter Carlos, but he was responsible for creating the possibilities The Minimoog sold well. Moog's sales representative Dave Van Koevering was a harsh, but good salesman and he managed to sell with his unique style to the most unlikely people in the most Unusual places. It was he who suggested to the company the need for a preset product along the lines of ARP’s Pro Soloist. After agreement, and development, the new product called the ‘Satellite was shown at the 1973 NAMM show, It was a great hit, and the Thomas organ company bought the rights to the product, and Bill Waytena negotiated a sizable sum to be paid to Moog Music Inc for each sale. Bill seized the opportunity and approached Norlin Music Inc of Illinois (owners of Gibson guitars) with the view of selling the company. In 1973 Norlin Music Inc, the businessmen of the musical instrument industry, began doing business with Moog, Music, their first joint venture was the Taurus bass pedal Dave Luce joined Moog Music Ine in 1972 to produce the Poly- moog — he was in charge of engineering leaving Tom Gullo to head manufacturing. The Polymoog was a costly keyboard to produce and it had many problems. Norlin consolidated the manufacturing of instruments at Buffalo to reduce costs, subcontracting most of the assembly work. Moog was still under pressure to produce an even lighter instrument that could be carried with a shoulder strap. Jim Scott had since retuned to rejoin Moog and had been planning just such an Bob with 3C Moog.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ instrument in his absence from the company, so it did not take that ng before development began. In 1975 the Micromoog was first snat the NAMM show in Chicago, Bob Moo 977 to Fulfil his contract would have left the company earlier, but stayed until Norlin struggled on until 1984 to see the production of the jemorymoog, but did not last much longer This company went down in a familiar way to the other American ynthesizer producers. Right from the start, in the late 1960's they ‘were underfunded, the success of each new product would deter ‘mine whether there would be cash to develop the next. There was no room for mistakes, and there were insufficient funds for long term plans. There was no real foresight from management to antici pate where this industry was heading. Competition from the Japanese eventually proved too much for them, they were just too big to match. They could afford to take a long term view, and stick with product lines until they made good, they could afford failures and mistakes, s old and is currently As for Bob Moog, he is now sixty yea running Big Briar, developing and producing Theramins with midi: interface Roger Powell and Hob Moo ARP Versus Moog It could be entitled the court case that nearly was. Moog were (and still are) well known for their superiority over ARP on the quality of their Filters. This as mentioned before was the only design that Moog bad patented, so they felt they were on strong legal ground when they discovered that ARP were using their Filter Ladder design in a number of the ARP instruments. The 4012 Filter appeared in some early 2600's, All the Blue Meanie’s, the Axe, and some early light grey faced Odyssey’s. Alan Pearlman admitted this and ceased using the 4012 design, and changed it to the 4072. ARP then discovered that Moog bad stolen their Linear-Voltage-To- Exponential-Converter design, so it came to be that neither side could be bothered to take the matter any further.© o 6 6 bee TTT TTT TSSMUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY tem I, IpA mt ME TE TE A ANA AAN NTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ ress TUAW AAA eeecoo cit) a CTL TTT war CTT Td ° Wi \ TI TTT T LiTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ were all one black box systems and were models 10, 12 and 15. Model 10 contains the 901's and has R. A. Moog stamped on each nodule; model 12 contains 921’s and falls in the transitional period hetween the 2 company names; model 15 contains 921's and has modules stamped as Moog. The configuration differences can be found at the end of this section. The last two Modular models released also contained the 921 oscillators, but this time they came in wooden cabinets, The first of these was the model 35, consisting of a single main console cabinet the second, being the larger model 55 consisted of 2 cabinets; the model 55 was the only modular in the Moog range that included a 960 Sequencer as standard, Keith Emerson was the first person to dare to tour with a Moog modular, his system started out with one main console and then grew to consist of five cabinets. When he went on tour, his initial model was one of only a few experimental models that had the added facility of a preset device, the 14 presets enabled him more control over oscillator stability, frequency cut off levels and envelope generators. He literally had to punch in a card to acquire different patch set-up’s. Itis not possible to get every sound from these systems, which is acommon mistake made by people when thinking of Moog Modulars. With the aid of multi-track and effects you could possibly achieve most goals, but Bob built these systems for people to find new sounds, not to replicate old ones! Bob Moog and Keith Emerson. None of the Moog Modulars are hard-wired, they all require patching to regulate both control and signal paths. One aspect of the Moog Modulars that differs from other systems is their use of Switch Triggers (sudden decrease in voltage), as opposed to the use of Voltage Triggers (sudden increase in voltage) that appear in most other Modulars. This is why the 961 interface is essential when connecting a Moog Modular to another non-Moog system,© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY The following list shows all the module configurations for all the Moog Modular systems @ synthesizer I 2x 901 VCO 2x 902 VA's 1 x 903 White Sound Source 1 x 904a Low Pass Filter 1 x 905 Reverb Unit 1x 907 1 x 910 Power Supply 1 x 911 Envelope 1 x 950 Keyboard Controller 1 x 955 Linear Controller xed Filter Bank jenerator Plus 2 console circuit panels for patching, attenuating, and mixing @ synthesizer IL 1.901 VCO 1 x 901a Oscillator Controller 3x 901b Oscillators 1 x 901e Output Stage 3.x 902 VCA’s 1 x 903 White 1x 904 VCF 1x 905 Reverb Unit 1 x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1 x 910 Power Supply 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1 x 950 Keyboard Controller 2x 955 Linear Controllers 1 x 984 Four-Channel Mixer Plus 2 console circuit panels for patching, attenuating, and mixing ‘ound Source © Synthesizer HL 2x 901 YCO's 1x 901a Oscillator Controller 8 x 901b Oscillators 1 x 901¢ Output stage x 902 VCA's 1x 903 Whit 1x 904 VCF 1.x 905 Reverb Unit 1 x 910 Power Supply 3x911 1 x 912 Envelope Follower 1x 914 Extended Range Fixed Filter Bank 1 x 950 Keyboard Controller 2x 955 Linear Controllers 1 x 984 Four-Channel Mixer Plus 3 console circuit panels Sound Source javelope Generators © synthesizer IC 1x 901 VCO 1x 901a Oscillator Controller 2x 901b Oscillators 2.x 902 VCA's 1 x 903a Random Signal Generator 1 x 904a Low Pass Filter 1 x 905 Reverb Unit 1x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1 x 910 Power Supply 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1 x 950 Keyboard Controller 1 x 956 Ribbon Controller 1 x 991 Filter-Attenuator Panel 1.x 994 Jack Multiples Panel Blank panel with power supply wiring and space for one single unit module 2 Console panel No.3, each including 4-input mixer with + and - outputs 2-Trunk lines, control voltage switches, attenuator 1 Console panel No. 4 including CV switches, attenuator, trigger and envelope routing switches, 3 CV and trigger outputs @ synthesizer IP 1x 901 VCO 1x 901a Oscillator controller 2x 901b Oscillators 2x 902 VCA’s 1.x 903a Random Signal Generator 1 x 904a Low Pass Filter 1x 905 Reverb Unit 1 x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1x 910 Power Supply 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1 x 950 Keyboard Controller 1x 956 Ril 1x 991 Filter-Attenuator Panel Blank panels with power supply wiring for optional 960 ial controller and. bon Controller sequer 961 interface, or other modules 2 Console panel No.3, each including 4 input mixer with + and - outputs. 2 Trunk lines CY switch 1 Console panel No.7 includ- ing trigger and envelope routing and attenuator iches and jack multiples 1 Console pane! No.5 incluc: ing 3 CV and trigger outputs, and a power switch© synthesizer 2C 1x 901 VCO. 2x 901a Oscillator Controllers 5x 901b Oscillators 2x 902 1.x 908a Random Signal Generator 1 x 904a Low Pass Filter 1x 904b High Pass Filter 1 x 904c Filter Coupler 1x 905 Reverb Unit 1 x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1x 910 Power Supply 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1x 950 Keyboard Controller 1.x 956 Ribbon Controller 1x 984 Four-Channel Mixer Blank panels with power supply wiring for optional 960 tial controller and 961 interface, or other modules 3 Console panel No.3 each including 4 input mixer with + and - outputs. 2 Trunk lines, CV switches, attenuator 1 Console panel No.2 including, lowpass and high pass filters, jack multiples 3 CV and trigger outputs. 1 Console panel No.6 includin CV switches, attenuator, trigger and envelope routing switches, jack multiples 1 Console panel No.8 including, power switch @ synthesizer 2P 2.x 90a Oscillator Controllers 5 x 901b Oscillators 3x 902 VCA's 1x 903a R. Generator 1 x 904 Low Pass 1x 904b High Pass Filter 1x 904c Filter Coupler 1x 905 Reverb Unit 1x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1 x 910 Power Supply THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1x 950 Keyboard Controller 1x 956 Ribbon Controller 1 x 984 Four-Channel Mixer Blank panels supply wiring for optiona sequential controller and 961 interface, or other modules 3 Console panel No.3 each including 4 input mixer with + and - outputs 2 Trunk lines, CV switches, attenuator 1 Console panel No.2 including, Jow pass and high pass filters, jack multiples 3 CV and trigger outputs. 1 Console panel No.6 including CV switches, attenuator, trigger and envelope routing switches, jack multiples 1 Console panel No.8 including power switch © synthesizer 3C 1x 901 VCO 3x 901a Oscillator Controllers 9 x 901b Oscillators 3.x 902 VEA's 1 x 903a Random Signal Generator 1 x 904a Lowpass Filter 1 x 904b Highpass 1 x 904¢ Filter Coupler 1 x 905 Reverb Unit 1 3 ‘iter x 910 Power Supply x 911 Envelope Generators 1x 911a Dual Trigger Delay 1 x 912 Envelope Follower 1x 914 Extended Range Fixed Filter Bank 1 x 950 Keyboard Controller 1x 956 Ribbon Controller 1x 984 Four Channel Mixer 1 x 992 CV/Attenuator Panel 1 x 993 Trigger and Envelope Panel 4 Console panel No.3, each including 4-input mixer with + and - outputs, 2 trunk lines CV switches, atter ator 1 Console panel No.2 including lowpass filters, jack multiples, 3 CV and trigger outputs. 1 Console panel No8 including power switch © synthesizer 3P 1x 901 VCO 3 x 901a Oscillator Controller 9 x 901b Oscillators 3.x 902 VA's 1x 903a Random Signal Generator 1 x 904a Lowpass Filter 1 x 904b Highpass Filter 1 x 904c Filter Coupler 1 x 905 Reverb Unit 1x 910 Power Supply 3.x 911 Envelope Generators 1 x 911a Dual Trigger Delay 1 x 912 Envelope Follower 1x 914 Extended Range Fixed Filter Bank 1x 950 Keyboard Controller 1.x 956 Ribbon Controller 1 x 984 Four Channel Mixer 1 x 991 Filter / Attenuator Panel 1 x 992 CV / Attenuator Panel 1 x 998 Trigger and Envelope Voltages Panel 1 x 994 Jack Multiples Panel Blank panel with power supply wiring and space for 2 single unit modules 4 Console panel No.3 each including, 4-input mixer with + and - outputs, 2 trunk lines, CV switches, atte rato 1 Console panel No.1 including 3 CV and trigger outputs 1 Console panel No.9 including power switch© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ synthesizer 10 Lx 901 VCO 1 x 90la Oscillator Controller 2.x 901b Oscillators 1x 902 VCA 1x 903a Random Signal Generator 1 x 90a Lowpass Filter 1 x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1 x 910 Power Supply 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1 x 951 Keyboard Controller 1 Console panel No.1 including, 4-input mixer with + and - outputs, jack multiples, reversible attenuator, 2 €V and ti 2 trunk lines, power switch ger outputs, @ synthesizer 12 1x 902 VCA 1 x 903a Random Signal Generator 1 x 904a Lowpass Filter 1 x 907 Fixed Filter Bank 1x 910 Power Supply 2x 911 Envelope Generators 1x 921 VCO 1 x 921a Oscillator Driver 2x 921b Oscillators 1 x 952 Keyboard Controller ‘Input mixer with and - ‘outputs and jack multiples, reversible attenuator, 2 CV and trigger outputs, 2 trunk lines, power switch @ synthesizer 15 x 902 VCA x 904a Lowpass Filter x 907a Fixed Filter Bank x 910 Power Supply x 911 Envelope Generator x 921 VCO x 921a Oscillator Driver x 921b VCO x 923 Random Noise / Filter x 995 Attenuators Panel x 952 Keyboard Controller {Input mixer with + and 1 1 L 1 1 1 1 1 outputs, jack multiples Reversible attenuator, jack multiple 3 CV and tigger outputs, 2 trunk lines, power switch ©@ synthesizer 35 3 x 902 VCA's x 904a Lowpass Filter 904b Hi x hpass Filter x 907a Fixed Filter Bank x 911 Envelope Generator x 921 VCO x 921a Oscillator Driver x 921b VCO x 923 Random Noise / Filter x 930 Power Supply x 951 Keyboard Controller Blank console panel, nel 3, 1 console panel 35, 2.x console pa 1 console panel 4a. © synthesizer 55 5 x 902 VCA’s 1 x 903a Random Noise Generator 1 x 904a Lowpass Filter iter 1x 904b Highpass 5 x 911 Envelope Generators 1 x 911a Dual Trigger Delay 1 x 914 Fixed filter bank 2x 921a Oscillator driver 6 x 921b VCO's x 951 Keyboard controller x 960 Sequential controller x 961 Interface x 962 Sequential switch x 992 CV Panel x 993 Trigger and Envelope Voltages Panel 1 x 994 Dual Multiples Panel 1 x 995 Attenuator Panel 1 x blank panel, 3 console panel 3, 1 console panel 2, 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 console panel 8THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Moog Memorymoog The Memorymoog was produced around 1982, it has a 61 note key board and sold for £3,700. The brains of this machine sit in an Anodised Aluminium cabinet trimmed with walnut, making this machine look as good as it sounds. It has three oscillators per voice and six voice polyphony; there are 100 memories under the control of a Z-80 micro computer con- taining a full range of rich and interesting sounds. Once a preset has been displayed in the LED it can be modified by the massive range of buttons and knobs. Further sounds can be loaded into the Memorymoog via a cassette player that can be attached at the rear of the machine This machine has all the power of the Minimoog plus all the features of a good Polyphonic synthesizer. In mono unison mode there are 18 oscillators per note, giving a lot of depth to the sound There were many problems with this machine after release one being the power supply which caused tuning problems. This could however be modified to create stability. In 1984 just before the demise of the Moog empire the Memorymoog plus was introduced, giving the user a MIDI option On power up the machine indicates in the LED how many voices have tuned. It will play even if all six have not tuned, but some- times just by switching the machine off and then back on resolves the problem of a lost voice.! © THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @Micromoog The Micromoog is a very compact Synthesizer weighing only a litle i wer 20lb. It was first shown at the NAMM show in Chicago in 1975 } ind it was the brain child of designer Jim Scott, On it's release it i sold for around £800, It only has one oscillator, with a pitch range of 2-32’, and a rotary Waveform control variable through Sawtooth, Square, to Narrow Pulse. The Square Wave sub-oscillator is set to one or two octaves above normal pitch. The doubling circuit and the filter that racks the oscillators pitch exactly, creating a feeling of a multi oscillator instrument @ Moog Liberation The Moog Liberation was released in 1980 at a cost of $1,400. This 44 note keyboard presented in a guitar-styl kage made this instrument very popular in the U.S.A. It contains two VCO's but has ear \wattamd 30THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ Iyphonic action, such that it would have done better to have been jorised as a Monophonic instrument, There are similarities in concept with the Minimoog, but it has not got the same power. The neck of the keyboard contains a few performance controls; however there are no patch memories, so sound changes are carried out in the same manner as {inimoog. The popularity of this machine came mainly from it’s modu- n and performance controls. Despite the weight of this instrument it does not feel uncomfortable, due to the attention to detail they showed nen deciding where to fix the supporting straps. This exhibit is a proto- differing in colour from the production models. there is not a Polymoog exhibited in the Museum at this time, i is an important stage in Moog history so therefore deserves a mention. Like the Yamaha CS 80 it is the sort of instrument that if working is best @ Moog Polymoog/Polymoog Keyboard left alone in a comer, where it cannot be nudged, and where there is no need to move it. The smallest of jolts can cause the dislo ment of the voice cards, so it is amazing to think how musicians actually toured with these instrument ne first Polymoog was called the Apollo, and only allowed percussive sounds and would not sustain notes. However. the instrument progressed through the early to mid 1970's by the design work of Dave Luce. Rich Waborn, a Moog technician, observed the Apollo in use and realised that two oscillators per note were needed. Keith Emerson concluded that if this instrument was to be used for more than just lead lines and effects, that it would need to be lesigned around a longer keyboard. In 1976 the Polymoog was released and sold for £3,000. It contained a 71 note keyboard and a master t nerator creating, full polyphony. This, the first true polyphonic Synthesizer had a© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY velocity touch sensitive keyboard, plus memories. Despite the rest of the features, and the whole array of permutations, it was not that special to hear, and it had a very high failure rate right from the first production. In 1979 the simplified version was released and called the Polymoog Keyboard, at a cost of £2,150. This version concen- trated on the presets where these could then be modified with Modulation, Vibrato, etc, Overall it was considered marginally better @ Moog 1125 Sample and Hold The Sample and Hold unit can be used with a Minimoog, Micromoog, Multimoog, and Modulars. It is good for special effects and it can deliver a steady rhythm that is adjustable in speed and scale length, 1p and down the scale or at random. Ideal to play along with as a backing rhythm, @ Moog 1150 Ribbon Controller A very popular accessory, it creates all sorts of effects like Hawaiian guitar, musical saw or Theramin, It is a fret-less board controlled by running a finger up and down thus varying the pitch. @ Moog 958 and 1120 Foot Pedals They contrél Volume, Pitch bend and cut-off frequency 3 Band Parametric Equaliser hic EqualiserTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ @ Moog Vocoder Percussion controller, 1120 foot pedal and 955 linear control The Vocoder was released with & price tag of $6,500. It continuously analyses the timbral characteristics of one sound, and impresses these characteristics on another sound. The unit breaks down the program signal into 16 frequency bands; each one of which is continuously analysed and applied to the carrier @ Moog Graphic Equaliser The Graphic Equaliser has several resonant filter sections, whose centre frequencies and widths are fixed, but whose heights are variable by sliders featured on the front panel @ Moog Parametric Equaliser This unit contains fewer resonant filter sections than the Graphic Equaliser, but each section has three controls for peak height,width and centre frequencies @ Moog String Filter This is quite a rare Module that replicates the timbre of a Stradivaris violin from the input of a Sine wave @ Moog Multimoog The Multimoog was available from 1978 at a cost of £800. It was always advertised as the ideal live instrument, because everything is easily changeable from the front panel at great speed. It has numerous capabilities such as after-touch-sensitive keyboard, pitch-1 (© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ribbon, drone and multi-functioned modulation wheel. The pitch range on the units two VCO's are from 2 2", and volume empha between the two oscillators is balanced by a rotary knob. The w ined via a re cforms of Sawtooth, Square, and Pulse are ot knob that glides through with no fixed points. The keyboard contains 44 notes and the fat sounding 24dB/oct low pass filter. The Modulation oscillator can generate Triangle, Square, and able in speed and depth either by the keyboard after-touch or the modulation wheel — and that is just for starters! Sample and hold wave shapes vai @ Moog Prodigy The Moog Prodigy was a budget Monophonic keyboard released around 1980, and cost about £300. It managed to knock the Micromoog and EDP Wasp off their perch during it’s a growing numbers of Japanese imports, such as the Korg MS20, and the Yamaha CS15. This instrument with 32 notes and two VCO's, does not have the warmth of a Minimoog and it is simplistic, Both oscillators have Sawtooth, Triangle, and Pulse, a pitch range of 8-32’ on oscillator 1, and 4-16" on oscillator 2. The Oscillators can also be synchronised. There are few luxuries from here on, just the nerator, an LFO, and the usual sault on the usual fat filter with an envelope Modulation and Pitch wheels. It was designed as a training instrument, and it fits that bill well @ Moog Syn Amp The full cabinet cost $3,700. when it was released and it features 400 Watts of continuous © power output which is u: as a 200 Watt Bi-amp or as 2,200 Watt full range Bower amps, Four input channels are supplied, each capable of taking two inputs, a three band Parametric Equaliser is included on each channel. There is also a built in Reverb section, a 10 band Graphic Equaliser and an internal headphone monitor amp. Furthermore, two compressors, er selectable two 15° drivers, a compression driver, two wide dispersion tweet- ers, plus a mid-range horn. ‘These amps were definitely built to cope with a wide range of instruments, Moog Multimoog@ THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ Bode Frequency Shifter R. A. Moog manufactured the Bode instruments using Harold n and technical advice, This was one of three modules Bodes desi he designed that could fit either in the Moog Modular cabinets, or in 19° rack mount. The other two being the 6402 dual ring modula tor and the 6401 ring modulator. They have all become sought after items, offering the highest of quality This module creates changes in the harmonic structure of any natural or Synthesized sound by shifting the frequencies of that sound, shifts of between + 5 KHZ to - 5 KHZ are possible. It is also capable of facilitating voltage control step detuning with keyboard synthesizers, frequency shift modu lation, and the production of spiralling echo effects, @ Moog Sonic 6 The Sonic 6 is a portable Synthesizer that was designed for educational, live, and studio use. It has a four octave keyboard controller; monitor amplifier and speaker all housed in a compact case, signal flow is well illustrated on the front panel. It has two oscillators, an A=440 switch, Sawtooth, Triangle, Rectangle wave forms, Ring modulator, Noise source, a filter with LPF and resonance, and lastly an output mixerTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ © Moog Sonic 5© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY The Moog Source was produced to replace the Minimoog, taking into account the new Microprocessor technology, it was available from 1981 at a cost of £900. There are 37 notes, two VCO's and 16 user programmable memories, This exhibit came to the Museum boxed as new To many traditional Moog users the first surprise is the absence of knobs and switches, in it's place it uses digital access control. The Source has a variable increment knob for altering parameter values, which in most cases range from 0-99. These parameters are selected by pressing touch sensitive pads. The two VCO's can be indepen- dently volume adjusted, nd tuned (or synchronised) through a pitch range of 8-32’. If required this can be transposed up another octave from the performance panel. Three wave-forms are avail able, those being Triangle, Sawtooth and Pulse. The 24dB/oct LPF has an independent envelope generator. The usual features are available, including variable keyboard tracking, LFO, sample and hold, auto triggering. There is a sequencer with two 88 note channels; it is clocked by the L real time speed control, and once in operation ¢ n be transposed by pressing the relative key. The arpeggiator accepts a 24 note pattern, and plays it back immediately It seems there was a reluctance to change too much from the Minimoog because of it’s gre success. However while using this new technology it was thought at the time that more permutations could have been added. The Source was considered a little expensive but it does sound good @ Moog Minimoog ‘The Minimoog was sold for just under £1,200 when it was released in 1970 and it was considered the classic Monophonic for both it’s style, and sound. Containing a 44 note keyboard, three oscillators ation is usually used on the third oscil- pitch, or filter, or of course both, the modulation amount being adjusted by the modulation wheel. Each oscillator has six wave forms consisting of three types of with a range of 2-32, modu lator on eithi Rectangle wave, being a variable combination of Triangle and Sawtooth, plus a Sine wave. off, and can be volume controlled, The same applies to the Pink ach oscillator can be switched on or White noise source. The Moog filters are thought of as the best, and the 24dB/oct LPF in the Minimoog is no exception. The filter pots include cut off frequency, resonance, and filter amount; this is rator. The second ADS being for governed by an ADS envelope gene loudness control There has been much talk about the earlier models sounding better tt nthe later ones, but Bob Moog himself was reported to have said that this was more fiction than fact, the earlier oscillators were less stable (hence the A=440 switch), but the oscillator boards remained the same through to serial number 10175; then a newTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY board was used for extra stability. For those who liked the rough edge of the earlier models, the newer ones can quite easily be detuned, The Minimoog ran from 1970 to July 1981, including serial numbers 1017 to 13259, The earlier models, A B and C never went into production as they were purely prototypes and only model D was released. Dick Hyman first showed the Minimoog at the Eastman school of music in Rochester and then gave it a more general showing at the 1970 AES. It had a rather shaky start, but once Keith Emerson gave his seal of approval the orders came flooding in, and at it’s peak, sales reached 300 units per month. The introduction of Polyphonics in the mid 1970's, and then theTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY use of Microprocessors in the 1980's, finally proved too much for the Minimoog. It was reported that everyone had played the Minimoog, but too many people had played the same one! In 1981 at the NAMM conven last Minimoog. The last 25 were made as a limited edition and 1 am ion in Chicago Bob Moog was awarded the pleased that the Museum has acquired No 3, There are a further thr Musonics, and they are not that easy to find. © Minimoogs in the Museum, one of these being a Moog Limited edition brass plate 40 cigjom Oberheim started at the Kansas State University training to become an aircraft engineer. However he did not finish his training, instead he moved to California and worked as a trainee draughtsman, initially for the National Cash Register Company, and then for Abacus Inc, a small computer company. During this period he decided to go back to college to gain his degree in Physics at the U.C.L.A (which was to take him 9 years to complete). While at Abacus Ine, although he was not qualified, he did get involved with actual design work. Tom pursued many music courses, and participated in singing classes, his interest in rock music steadily grew. The first piece of musical equipment that Tom made was a 70, Watt hifi amp for Don Ellis, a trumpet player. Around this time Tom’ was also asked to build a Ring Modulator for friend Richard Grayson, He did not know initially what they were used for, but after researching and reading an article by Harold Bode, Tom built one and then connected it to'Richard’s piano. ‘It was a great success; soon the word got around and it became in great demand. Tom’s computer job eventually just got in the way of his music projects, so he quit, giving him more time to develop his music-products. On December 3ist-1969.Tom formed-his own company Oberheim Electronics, aimed at serving the performing musician.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY In 1970 the company Maestro, owned by’ Chicago Musical Instruments Co (later to become Norlin Music) employed ‘Tom's services to build the Ring Modulator. His next project was to try and replicate the sound of a Leslie speaker. It caused a few problems initially but the end product in 1971 was a phase shifter. 25,000 were built over a three year period, and in 1972 it became the first phase shifter to be used in a live performance. In 1971 he started work on the stand-alone digital sequencer; this being the second Oberheim electronics product. This was launched in 1972, and he then developed his Synthesizer Expander Module (SEM), which had it's first showing at the AES convention in May 1974. This project was only undertaken by Tom to boost his income from what he was receiving from Norlin, There were problems at Norlin and orders were being cancelled, causing Tom’s company direct problems. It was time for him to shed the accessory label and {get right into the Synthesizer business and this resulted in their next big project. In 1975 he used the Polyphonic keyboard Of EMU. systems at Santa Clara, and linked it to his SEM’s to form the four voice Polysynth, He continued fo pay EMU royalties on: sales of these instruments, and questionably so, this instrument the first true Polysynth, This was the first time that Tom's company had a product at a NAMM show under their own name. The idea from there was to put the mini-sequencer in the blank space to the left of the SEM’s, however the four voice proved a difficult instrument to use in live situations, with four sets of two oscillators to tune, and no overall control of the four voices. In 1976 Tom decided that instead of the sequencer they would put a programmer in its place. This did not memorise all the settings, but it did offer the live musician greater flexibility, ‘The principle and use of the SEM's was used up until 1979, then the OB-X was produced. advertised as Tom could see the effect the Japanese were having on this ndustry and established a relationship with Suzuki to handle distribution in that area. However pressures built up in the early 1980's for many of the electronic musical instrument m pufacturers, this made the banks in the U.S.A. nervous and Tom has every reason to feel bitter because his company went under while doing well, Order books were full but the stocks they were holding were high, putting a Strain on cash-flow. The ereditors moved in, and in 1985 the company re-fornied-under the name ‘of Oberheim ECC. Tom eventually left and formed Marion Systems in 1987. @ Oberbeim 8 voice ‘The eight voice was produced around 1976, and cost £7,500. There was a double manual version produced soon after that looked immense, and F ratrick Moraz went a step further and wa have owned a 12 voice version, whether this is tru 42 reported to I do not knowSYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOC Feeeeeer ‘ r o16OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY played. Als @ Oberheim 2 Voice Vaio wn 44THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ The first two voice machines were made with two SEM’s and two blank panels in a four Voice case. Then in 1976 you could buy a smaller unit of two SEM's with a 37 note keyboard, (at a cost of 31,995 an eight position two channel sequencer with sample and hold; which has become the more traditional two voice It operates in either Polyphonic or Monophonic mode; in Monophonic the user is able to adjust all four oscillators, two filters and four envelope generators. © Oberheim Matrix 12 The matrix 12 was released in 1985 and sold for around £4,000. It has 61 note keyboard, 24 oscillators, and 12 voice polyphony. It was reported to be the best analogue Synthesizer of that time, especially when combined with the Xpander. There is not much that it has not got; the routing versatility is that of a Modular Synthesizer all packed inside the control panel. You can link and finely adjust all the elements of synthesis with digital accuracy. After sifting through series of hidden pages by using the push button controls, you soon appreciate the effort that has gone into this machine© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ Oberbeim Xpander : The Xpander was produced before it's big brother (the Matrix 12) and sold for around & 3,000 in 1984, It does not come with a key- : of the matrix 12. It has the ability to process both MIDI and CV- Gate at the same time board and has approximately half the cap: Operation needs to take place either from a sequencer, such as an Oberheim DSX, an independent keyboard, or even a computer with MIDI interface. As with the Matrix 12, you can store 100 single patches that build up material to store 100 multi-patches.ave Rossum was just another one of the many De in the field of science and engineer- ing that enjoyed playing with analogue Synthesizers His interest and experimentation resulted inthe development and production of the Emu 25 in 1974, only two were made, and they were very much of Minimoog proportions. ‘The sécond one was just made: as Scott Wedge joined Dave in this common pursuit, Together they worked on modular concepts, starting with kits and sub modules, aiming their €feations at the hobby market Such was the demand for their products that the pair tuned this into-a full scale business, and between 1973 and 1981 from the Scotts Valley in California they produced around 100 factory-built wooden cabinets, ~ comprising of main cabinets, wings. and upper tiers. ‘The. modules were heavy duty, aluminium, state-ofthe- art, covering all aspects of synthesis, ‘The instruments just oozed class in every respect Inthe same year as their modular production started they ¢reated a guitar-synthesizer for John McLaughlin. ‘This However proved to be unreliable and it never became widely known:© THF MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY They also became well known for their keyboards, producing ally scanned Monophonic unit which was the first of it's ded and became the 4060 Polyphonic It was then u board, which had a built in 16 Microprocessor controlled k cer. Tom Oberheim paid royalties for this design sc four and eight voice Polysynth, channel seque he could use it with hi In 1978/79 Peter Baumann of early Tangerine Dream commis- rely to be the ultimate synthesizer sioned E-mu to build what was This was to be a 16 voice computer controlled instrument with two snalogue oscillators per voice and several filters, VCA's, LFO's Transient generators, etc, all digitally controlled. E-mu took on this project and built a prototype from the royalties they received [rom Sequential Circuits, for their design work on the Prophet 5 key- hoard, This was to be their next production; called the ‘Audity’ it was to come with a price tag of $70,000 and was due to be shown iL the 1979 AES convention. Alas, the situation drastically changed, Sequential Circuits considered that they had paid enough royalties and halted payments forthwith, In turn this switched off E-my 48THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ ‘money supply, so with only a few models made, they shelved the Audity project ‘The Audity situation became a blessing in disguise, because at the 1979 AES convention the Fairlight CMI was being exhibited at $30,000 and they saw the idea of sampling as being more commercially viable, and they felt that a similar instrument could be produced at a cheaper price. Soon to follow in 1981 was the Emulator at less than $8,000. They sold 300 of these and then proceeded to develop the Emulator IL Exmu were one of the few companies that can say that they made it through the modular era, and went on to see MIDI. E-mu never seemed to over-stretch themselves as they were not out to take on the whole market place. They planned wisely with product choice and never got out of their depth. @ E-mu Emulator IT The Emulator I was released in 1984 and cost around £7,000. The Keyboard contains 61 notes, and has velocity and after-touch sensi tivity. The maximum sample time is 17.6 seconds, the sample mode equals eights bits, and the sample frequency is 30 KHZ From the introduction of their first sampler they kept prices very competitive, and this version was no exception. E-mu can be credited for bringing sampling into the grasp of the masses, who could never expect to afford a Fairlight. The Emulator II became so SVSTEMS 417 Broadway Santa Cruz, CA 95060(© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY popular that other manufacturers also tried sampler manufacturing, such as Greengate, New England digital and PPG. However EMU managed to rise above them as well. The Emulator has a front panel with four edit controls, an LED. rs and functions are all clearly sereen and keypad. The paramet printed for ease of use, it was designed to encourage sampling, with the least possible inconvenience and complication, (Once the sound is loaded into the Emulator it can be modified as follows LPF with ADSR, VCA with ADSR, LEO with adjustable ratedel and speed variation, The modifiers apply t0 each note, and’eight notes can be played simultaneouslyon Buchla is possibly D:: Jeast understood. | of all the researchers who established themselves in the period of the 1960's through to the 1980's. What he achieved, when he achieved it, even the names of his achievements, and the precise order that it all happened in, is not that clear ez to many people, and to this day it is not that. particularly well documented, To. many, he fits the stereo-type image of the reclusive professor, due particularly to his retuc- tance to ever appear in the spot light. Don Buchla’s products were never mass produced or popularised, so it is not surprising to hear that even analogue enthusiasts have never seen any of his products, or in. some cases heard of his name. ‘A rather Unfair introduction to a man who was doing very similar work to Bob Moog, and was coming up with some equally interesting results.©: THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Don Buchla started out experimenting with acoustic instrument designs, his first electronic encounters occurred at the San Francisco tape centre, (founded by Morton Subotnic and Ramen Sender) in the early 1960's. Don was commissioned to develop Morton and Ramen’s idea of producing a machine that was capable of immense sound versatility, and could be used outside of studios. Don's research started in early 1963 and he soon produced his first voltage controlled modular Synthesizer (The Black Box). The tape centre moved in 1966 to Mills College, Oakland, California, where Don's first system resides. ‘The Mills College was then renamed ‘The Centre For Contemporary Music (CCM) Afier the invention in 1963, Don Buchla and Associates (as his company was called) began manufacturing his 100 series modules. They were broken down into three categories, audio signals, h module was 7” high and ge the following choices control voltages, and timing pulses. E: 41/2" wide (or multiple of), In the a were availa ple; Model 101 Cabinet Model 106 Mi Model 107 Voltage Controlled Mixer Model 110 Dual Voltage Controlled Gate Model 111 Dual Ring Modulator Model 112 Touch Controlled Voltage Source Model 114 Touch Controlled Voltage Source Model 115 Power Supply model 123 Sequential Voltage Source Model 124 Patchboard Model 130 Dual Envelope Detector model 140 ‘Timing Pulse Generator Model 144 Dual Square Wave Oscillator Model 146 Sequential Voltage Source Model 148 Harmonic Generator Model 150 Frequency Counter Model 156 Dual Control Voltage Processor, Model 158 Dual Sine-Sawtooth Oscillator Model 160 White Noise Generator Model 165 Dual Random Voltage Source Model 170 Dual Microphone Preamplifier Model 171 Dual Instrument Preamplifier Model 175 Dual Equaliser-Line Driver Model 180 Dual Attack Generator Model 185 Frequency Shifter Model 190 Dual Reverberation Unit ® Model 191 Sharp Cut-off Filter Model 192 Dual Low-pass Filter Model 194 Band-pass Filter Model 195 Octave Format Filter Model 196 Phase Shifter: Aiming 52THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY iS & oes secesece This range was gradually refined, culminating in the release of his 200 series modules in 1970 and these upgraded modules made up, the majority of Buchla modular systems. Prior to this in 1969 Don struck a deal with CBS entertainment industries, employing them to manufacture his instruments. Their marketing power and the subsequent sales of his equipment were good, bearing in mind that Don never produced anything aimed at mass markets. The relationship with CBS was short however, Don would not bend to the CBS ideals and insisted on pursuing his own research, so they then parted company The 1963 modular system he created was constructed earlier than Bob Moog's but was not as marketable, Don however does get credit for creating the first voltage controlled sequencer. In general Don's concepts of control voltage were different from Bob Moog the structure of VCO-VCF-VCA does not exist in the usual sense 54 Buchla Por able Music System 3THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ wven the envelopes are not the same. He had this idea of producing an ‘Electronic Music Box without any of the confines and rules of normal keyboard playing. He wanted the player to create his ows rameters, this was the exact vision of Morton Subotnic and Morton was very competent in demonstrating Don's invention, He brought out two records entitled ‘Silver Apples of the Moon’, and Wild Bull’, Morton Subotnic did for Don's popularity what Walter Carlos had done for Bob Moog, but on a smaller scale. The differing concepts in the Buchla camp make the Buchla boxes a nightmare to understand if you try to apply your knowledge gain from the conventional ARP and Moog modulars. They certainly do require a lot of patience. Don Buchla did not even prescribe initially to the use of a standard keyboard as he preferred a line of touch pl t could serve multi-purposes, such as his model 217 that contained 21 of these. His reasoning was that a keyboard of black P= LTT fixed pitch differentials; so why use the same for the exploration of — Buchla 700 electronic music? Don Buchla went on to produce the Music Easel in 1973, then the 300 series modules in 1975, which was a hybrid system featur computer control of both digital, and analogue devices. The 700 systems which all followed were all computer so many of the pioneers of that era, Don is still researching, and he has had much success with his MIDI controllers, most notable of these are his Thunder and Lightning inventions.YEQUENTIAL CIRCUITS inc "were thie main players in ‘equential Circuits started out in much the same way a8 most of the ¢lectronic musical instrument developers. Just a few peop’ a room, on the verge of a great new innovation, but Working on a shoe string budget. The three people at the core of the company were Dave Smith, Barb Fairhurst and John Bowen, ‘At the 1978 NAMM convention Dave Smith was” giving the Prophet 5 it’s first showing. At this time Moog, ARP, and Oberheim this-induistry, however Sequential Circuits had in the Prophet.5the ifstru- ment that was just what most keyboard players were after, It enabled the user to Store every para- meter into the internal computerised ‘memory,ao eee THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ The Prophet 5 put Sequential as the top manufacturer of Synthesizers for 5 years, putting a lot of pressure on all of their competitors, Nearly all the instruments they produced from then on were based on the same instrument, but they did not offer anything hat was extra special, All the comments about their range of inst ments that followed were always reviewed in relation to the Prophet 5, it just seemed a hard act to follow. The Prophet 10 had many problems before it was finally released, but despite it's great sound it was not that popular. The Prophet 600, 2000, 18 and VS were all good instruments but competition from Japan, under-fund: ing and no room for error, were all factors that were attacking them, just as they did at Moog. They made a few mistakes on product choice with the six trak/multi-trak, and computer accessories; from then on they never recovered. The last product they sold was the Prophet 3000 ~ about 300 of these were sold before their doors closed, In 1987 Yamaha acquired Sequential for $500,000. Dave Smith went along too, he stayed for a year, and then went to Korg, @ Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 The Prophet 5 designed by Dave Smith was sold for £2,800 at it’s release in 1978, It contains 61 notes, two oscillators per voice, with five voice polyphony. This instrument set the standard that caused the demise of many other Polyphonics. Dave Rossum of EMU helped with this design and contributed the SSM (solid state music) chips.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY During the life time of this instrument it underwent a number of revisions. The first Prophet 5's were the rev I's, these are very rare, and had serial numbers from 0001 to 0182, their colouring was different to all the other models, as they used a reddish Koa wood for the cabinet and the power switches were situated on the front panel, The rev 2's ran from serial number 0183 to 1300, the power back panel, the front panel position d edit button, Both the rev 1's and rev switch was situated on th contained the tune switch 2's used SSM chips which were notorious for their unreliability. On power up the instrument would go into an auto tuning routine, and all the oscillators would have to tune in order for the instrument to work. The story goes that some musicians would prefer to play out of tune than to auto tune the machine The rev 3's serial numbers ran from 1301 to 2469, and then risk loosin; completely they used the more reliable Curtis chips, They had cassette interface controls on the front panel as standard, although on earlier models this ‘ay appear as a modification, which would show different switch designs. The rev 3.2's an from serial number 2470 onwards until the last rev 33's were made, the rev 3.2's have voltage and gate outputs for each voice on the back panel, (earlier models could have this as a modification). The rev 3.3°s only upgrade -mory, the 40 memories were increased to 120. This instrument was praised for i's real sounds of rich brass and. warm strings and had it not been for the Yamaha DX7 it could have lasted longer. A 1005 poly-sequencer was introduced for the Prophet 5. It uses the storage capabilities of the micro computer, it allows five voice polyphony, and it has a 2600 note storage capacity. Sequences can be permanently stored on digital cassettes, @ Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 The Prophet 10 was produced in 1980, §5,400. It has a double manual keyboard (2 x 61 note), two oscilla- 10 voice polyphony and 80 memories, whilst later models contain a sequencer. and was sold for tors per voice This instrument was due to be launched around the time of the Prophet 5, but it's release was hampered by a number of problems with its development, Even afier it’s release the cost and size of this machine ‘was a bit too daunting, and sales never really got going. The six track pear on very early models) is very simple to use and it has a capacity of 4,000 notes which was increased to 10,200 alter the 16K chips were upgraded to 64K. Polyphonic sequencer (that does not ‘This exhibit uses Braemar cassettes to store data, this is situated at the side of the instrument. The models that ran up to serial number 331 used micro cassettes and proved unreliable, Ithas all the power, weight and mass of two Prophet 5 keyboards = it also sounds as good as it looks. 1005 Poly-Sequencer© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ Sequential Pro One The Pro One is a Monophonic Synthesizer that was launched in 981 at a price of about £450; it was a rather strange move when considering that just about every other company were bringing out Polyphonics. However, it is a quality machine that sold well. It has a 37 note keyboard; two VCO's; a step time sequencer with two channels (40 notes maximum); and an arpeggiator filter with ADSR and LFO. A smaller model maybe, but with all the style and sophistication of the Prophet 5 and 10.traded under the corporate name of Tonus Inc, based in’ Massachusetts. Alan Pearlman was an a engineer. whose early experience with music was at ‘ i . He had spent five years designing amplifiers for the Gemini and Apollo space program, and then went on to become chief executive officer for Selva systems, producers of micro computer software A ‘R. Pearlman founded the company ARP that Alan had the foresight many years before the introduc- tion of modular music systems, that electronic instru: ments would play an important role in future musical compositions. It was a belief that drove him to form his electronic instrument company. AR. Pearlman and nego Montenegry.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY The two other people he brought in with him as partners were Lewis G. Pollock, who was legal council and chairman of the exe: utive committee, and David Friend. In 1970 they released the 2500 Modular, a very innovative and successful Synthesizer. It is very obvious from the appearance of the ARP instruments that Alan Pearlman had this obsessive aversion to using anything on his creations that resembled Moog instruments, Many people would applaud him for his originality but it can also be common sense to build on a proven successful design that the market place was obviously happy with, Such examples were Where Moog used pots, ARP used sliders, Moog used patch cords nd ARP used a matrix board. When ARP did use patch cords they were the miniature size as opposed to the 1/4" size, whilst pitch and modulation wheels were initially a definite no. Despite gambling on totally new concepts ARP did well. The 2600 was hugely popular for musicians and for educational purpos- es, and the Odyssey also did well competing admirably with the Minimoog, Although their filters were not as powerful, their oscilla- tors were more stable, The ARP Omni went on to be their best seller and by the mid 1970’s ARP were dominating the Synthesizer market with a 40 per cent share of the $25 million total turnover It was quite common in the ARP camp to celebrate and spend lavishly afier a successful venture. They seemed to live as though there was no tomorow and as fast as the money was coming in it was being spent, so cash flow was always a problem, David Friend was president between 1977-80 and during that time Alan Pearlman, continually found himself out-voted on important decisions such as product choice. David Friend's Avatar, the guitar Synthesizer, was supposed to have been the highly successful new product, based fon the premise that there were more guitar players than keyboard players, Alan Pearlman was completely against the project but was out-voted. They sank $4 million out of the total company assets of $7 million into the project but the Avatar was not even functioning that well in trials ~ it had a high failure rate and needed more test= ing, However, it was eventually released and it flopped, returning only $1 million from their outlay The Modular Synthesizer Lab project was shelved in favour of the Avatar, The MSL was an educational aid, the 2600 was being w used in colleges all over, but a simplistic system was required introduction into synthesis. Many companies at this time were intro- ducing educational instruments and Alan Pearlman thought it was a good idea to follow suit because the educational market was too big to ignore. The basic MSL system comprised of five individual modules (based on the 2600). This number could be increased to 12 modules depending on how complex the system was to be. The systems were accompanied by a number of instruction manuals but due to the lack of liquidity during the hard times, the books and modules were sold to Electronic Music Products and Services in New York. AR. PearimanTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ ARP finally closed it's doors when just on the verge of releasing the Chroma, Engineer Phillip Dodds (of ncounters Of The Third Kind fame) remained at the company to wind up any loose ends, and after a lot of nce and effort he to secure a deal with CBS to buy ma design for $3; CBS then hired Phillip Dodds and the ARP engineering team to produce the Rhodes Chroma for them \ ARP had probably the biggest chance out of of it's competitors but 1 of actually making it. They had good sales, some ice. It was very evident that mi ne later ke very similar, they could not come th a new f and this plus the usual problem of Japanese competition finally proved too much for them ©2500 Modular Rear view ARP 2500.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ The ARP 2500 was produced around 1970, it was a modular Synthesizer that was hailed as the complete Synthesizer. The cabinets came in three sizes; a single, known as a wing; a doubl known as a main cabinet; and occasionally seen, a triple length c inet being the equivalent of three wings in length. A typical wing would contain 12 matrix boards, six above and six below. The modules would run along the middle, starting at the left with a blank and finishing off with the power supply. The 1000 series modules can be placed in any order, they can easily be removed and fitted in minutes. This enables the user to build up a system to his own specifications. The keyboards that come with this system can either be single or doubl yt and fit neatly under the main cabinet Patching is achieved by lining up the pins that slide up and down is p the p a ft 3 2 2: 2 ooo w on the matrix board, Any pins that appear on the same horizontal line will link the sources they represent together, enabling the user to create both signal and control paths without the need of patch cords obscuring the instrument. This instrument has been a favourite with Peter Townshend of The Who for a long time, ‘The modules that are available for this system are as follows; 1004 VCO, offering 5 independent output waveforms, Sine, Triangle, Square Sawtooth, and Pulse. Frequency modulation and pulse width modulation are available 1004p VCO, the same as the 1004 but with a built in wave- form mixer. 1004r VCO, the same as the 1004 but it includes a rocker switch selection of output waveforms, 1004t VCO, the same as the 1004 but it includes inverted outputs 1023 Dual VCO, one module containing two of the 1004 Pai configuration * > |mooutaron 1005 Modamp, it contains a precision balanced modulator, uywoe AVCA, and associated switching circuitry aos 1006 Filteramp, it contains a mixer, a LPRand VCA. a ceed | 1003 Dual Exponential Envelope Generator, containing a Srey four step envelope capable of very short rise and fall times. 1033 Dual Dela 1003 but it includes trigger delay circuits Exponential Envelope, the same as the 1046 Quad Exponential Envelope Generator, it contains a pair of envelopes without trigger delay and a pair with delay. Random Vol ige Source, it contains two 1016 Dual N te independent noise sources and filters to derive pink noise “cowteor votots and continuous slow random voltage. 1040 VCO / Noise Generator, a combination signal source, ‘on 210 1026 Pres et Voltage Module. itis used like a sequencer for@ THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY presetting voltages except that it has no stepping circuitry 1027 10 Position Sequencer, it is capable of creating high complex switching patterns with 30 preset voltages. 1001 Blank Module ; 1035 Triple Modulator, three precision balanced ; modulators, six microphone preamps, mixing and P switching circuitry, and overload indicators. 4 1036 Dual Sample And Hold / Random Voltage Generator : t contains 2 ultra low drift sample and hold circuits, two i” noise sources, and two wide range pulse generators 1047 Multimode Filter / Resonator, a combination HPF, LPF BPF, band reject, notch, and peak filter, at super high Q's the filter may be used as a tone generator with an 1 exponentially decaying sine wave output 1045 Voltage Controlled Voice, a combination envelope generator, VCO, VCF, VCA. 1050 Mix / Sequencer, a combination sequencer, mixer and analogue gate All of these available modules are in the very large 2500 system that t is in the museum @ ARP 2600 Blue Meanie USULUIHHEL Uc nitiT” SANASE HOR oaeuaa a BWaWoe He o |THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ The ARP 2600 was released in the later part of 1970 and stayed in production until the demise of the ARP empire in 1981, When they were first introduced they cost around $2,700, then in the mid. 1970's the price rose to around $3,500. Within this portable modular Synthesizer there are; two VCO's, ring modulator, sample and hold, noise source (pink and white), four pole lowpass VCE, two envelope generators, VCA, spring reverb, voltage processor and mic preamp. It is all hard wired and has detailed markings to show the paths — patch cords can be used. to set up intricate patches if required. The manual provided gives a good guide to the variety of sounds that can be produced on this instrument The 2600 in it’s early days was first made in a blue metal case and was referred to as the Blue Meanie, there were around 100 of these made, the earliest even before the ARP factory was completed. These models contained the 4012 filter ladder that was later changed. These early machines had their modules encapsulated in epoxy blocks making them just about impossible to work on. Soon alter these were manufactured the company introduced the grey faced versions in tolex cases not only to give the user an alternative finish but also for ARP to ascertain which of the two was most popular, the Blue Meanies lost, and were discontinued. Alan Pearlman was never happy with them anyway, he considered them too weak for the rigours of school life for which they were inten- ded. The epoxy block finish was used up until 1975 when it changed to a silicone rubber, and then around 1977-78 the whole concept of potting was ended© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY A more recent find which many enthusiasts have been asking questions about, was the discovery of a grey metal faced machine that resembled the Blue Meanie but is actually finished in grey. It is not clear how this fits in to the history of this model. Like so many of these new concepts, they took a while to catch and an endorsement from a famous musician always reaped rewards, Initially Roger Powell and David Friend literally took this t machine to people's door steps to try to promote it, and after mucl yersuasion they finally found some retail outlets that would accept the instrument. Dera ‘and PPCTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ The 2600 has undergone many changes in it’s long life although not all of them are visible from the outside. One of the obvious differences was the introduction of a fine tune slider to the VCF which does not appear on the Blue Meanie, Also the early four octave 3601 and 3604 keyboards had single voice priority output Tom Oberheim invented an upgrade, and retrofits were supplied to upgrade this keyboard to two voices. Further improvements took place such as single and multiple triggering, delayed vibrato and interval latch. ARP incorporated Tom's idea with their own and from 1975 the production of the 3620 went under way and became the sandard keyboard for the 2600 ~ the differences can be seen in the photograph This machine was highly popular. It was a portable music studio, and being hard wired it was used in live situations by respected musicians such as Edgar Winter, Pete Townshend and Stevie Wonder. Although hard wired the internal routing could be altered by using the mini jack leads, patching it like any other Modular Synthesizer In 1978 ARP changed all the legending to orange on black and this colour scheme continued until the company collapsed @ ARP Sequencer The ARP sequencer was available in the mid 1970's for $800 in two styles, the earlier model 1613 with black with gold markings had wooden ends, then the later model 1621 and 1623 which came out in 1978 was black with orange markings and had metal end panels.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY It produces either programmed or random sequences, and can be used with most instruments in the ARP range. It has dual quantizer circuits which permit chromatically scaled programming, control nges. The unit can voice notes controlled by one quantizer over accents, rhythmic and dynamic ¢ produce up to 16 singl (46/D, oF up to eight, two note chords controlled by two quantisers (8/2). The ARP sequencers can either be linked together in series or in parallel, creating both more complex, and longer sequences. The 1027 made in 1970, and used in the 2500 system was designed particularly for studio use, the model 1600 range was however designed for live use, ARP included a simplistic panel containing an easy start and stop sequence control via a foot switch. This is a wonderful sequencer that after nearly twenty years is sought after and used as a basis for today’s updated analogue style @ARP Little Brother This was made purely as an expander module, to be used in con- junction with other ARP systems. There is a choice of waveforms, such as Sawtooth, Square, Pulse, and Modulation Pulse. The pitch ranges from 2°-16" and the LFO for frequency modulation enables the production of many different timbres at once. Little Brother has 2 total of nine input/output jacks, so more than one unit can be linked together.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ tle _ brother ut in 1976, This po cating silk rd having it's tuTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ARP Omni IT an improved version of the original and it was introduced in 1978 as a single/multiple polyphonic keyboard with all electric switching. The sounds are finer than on the String Ensemble, and it has the addition of an orchestral repertoire. Unlike the first Omni it has three instruments in one, divided into string chorus, a poly synth section, and a ser ate bass synthesizer. All three can be played simultaneously through the aid of a split key board. For rich sounds each section has it's own volume control and output so each group of sounds can be divided across a stereo spectrum, ARP Pro /DGXTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ This instrument was produced in 1980, and sold for about £1,000, It 1 37 note keyboard, one VCO, ar 30 memories. It is ward instrument containing some good sounds tha y modified and was designed to create the most realistic and @ ARP Odyssey ire [ LtTTtT FE i Mths EEE HURT This instrument was going to be called the ARP 2700, but they eventually settled for the Odyssey. It was produced in 1972, around a year after the Minimoog’s introduction, and it sold for about £1,100. The keyboard consists of 37 notes and two VCO's, it has similar offerings to that of the 2600 but in a more conventional style. It was said that Keyboard players fell into two categories either users of Minimoog or Odyssey — some opted for both. The Odyssey is adjusted by sliders which makes calibration very difficult. Despite this it was a very popular live instrument used frequently by John Lord, Klaus Schultze, David Greenslade, ChickTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ @ ARP Solus @ ARP Digital Sequencer This Sequencer was designed for the 2500 Modular System but it never reached production. This model never worked and is never likely to.‘There are very few Polyfusion systems known of in this country Hans Zimmer of film score fame, based in the USA, probably has the largest system in the world, Their current rarity makes them more expensive than equivalent Moog systems. As with most modular systems they need to be patched, and they use 1/4” jacks. Of all the modular types that I have come across the Polyfusion is possibly the easiest to use, it is also the sturdiest The full list of available modules Gf you're lucky enough to find a system) is as follows 2002 Random Signal Generator. 2003 LFO. 2004 VCO. 2006 Voltage Controlled Quadrature Oscillator 2010 Dual VCA. 2012 Dual Ring Modulator 2016 Reverb, 20 LPF. 22 HPF 2028 Phase Shifter. 2030 Variable Formant Filter 2032 5 Band Parametric Equalizer 2040 Analogue Sequencer Detail of Polyfusion. 2041 Sequencer Output Distributor 2042 Dual Sequencer Row 2043 Sequential Switch. 2044 Envelope Follower 2046 Dual Envelope Generator 2047 Dual Voltage Controlled Envelope Gene 2048 Dual Sample and Hold 2050 1 Voice keyboard, 2051 1 Voice keyboard with Velocity 2054 1 Voice keyboard with Velocity and Pressure 2058 8 Voice keyboard with Velocity Sensitivity 2060 Power Supply 2064 Keyboard Interface (for 2051 and 2054). 2068 Keybsoare THREHACE (Tor 2058 . 2080 Four Input-Mixer: 2081 Bi-Polar Attenuators-and Multiples. 2083 Variable DC Voltage Sources arid’ Multiples. 2088 Keyboard outputs and Multiples 2090 Octave Divider. 2092 Voltage Quantizer. THE MUSEUM OP SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ethene Pc aa Tr Eee on oy?instruments have always been con sidered as being a part of the cheaper end of the electronic instrument market and few people have bothered to take them seriously. Like so many of the Analogue Synthesizers that come on to the market, they all have a character of their own, and once the designer label snobbery has been brushed aside, interesting idiosyn- ¢rasies can be discovered. EML are certainly worth a closer apprai In 1968 Dale Blake, Norman Milliard, Dennis Daugherty and Jeff Murray were working for a company called Gerber Scientific and their futures at this company looked unstable. They eventually left to pursue a’ challenge of creating a synthesizer for educa tional purposes, as per the request of the Connecticut State Department. It had been tried previously by a friend of Jeff Murray but it had not proved profitable The Black Monster as it was called, of which only ten were made was their first attempt. It fitted the criteria required for the public schools of Connecticut perfect- ly, it was made extremely heavy, with the addition of a concrete block to avoid it being stolen, it was sturdy, basic, and offered enough to suit the inquiring mind.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Norman Milliard first showed EML products at the Music Educators convention in Pennsylvania, From here he could see quite clearly what the competition was, (it must have seemed immense), but in the event he did however pick up a number of orders for EML and before long they started production on a num- ber of models. They were aiming their products at both educational centres and musicians, taking special care to keep their models competitively priced EML could see the drifting oscillator problems Moog had been experiencing with their discrete transistors, so they decided to use ‘op amps instead. They also used Allen Bradley controls on many of their models, thus keeping their instruments reliable and stylish. EML continued to do well in the early 1970's and in 1973 they brought John Borowicz into the team to add musical know ledge and understanding, which was sadly lacking, This enabled them to communicate with musicians and find out their needs. The atmosphere within the company was great until 1975, but changed that same year. There was a definite disagreement over product choice and the direction the company should be taking, Norman Milliard and John Borowicz considered themselves more attuned to musicians needs than the others and they were sure that Polyphonic instruments were the way forward, but no agreement was reached and in 1976 they both left with David Kusek and formed Star Instruments. ‘The remainder of the team continued and produced the Synkey, one of the first programmable 8. This was not a great success and the company just drified along until their demise in 1984, They succumbed to the same problems as their larger com- petitors, plus the worldwide problem of very expensive oil prices. ‘They always had a reasonable amount of business from schools and colleges but the oil price situation cut into that budget, so Synthesizers suddenly became less important to them. @The ElectroComp 101 ‘The model 101 released in 1972 at a cost of $1,400 (approx) was brought out to be used with the popular model 200. The 101 had Allen Bradley controls, four oscillators, a mult-imedia VCE, variable modulator, a 44 note keyboard that gives both three and four note chords, sample and hold, amplitude shaper, two envelope genera- tors, four mixers and one noise generator. It became their most successful instrument, selling 1000 over a ten year production period. It offered very good value for money.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY The ElectroComp 300 ® 298 2999998 » » ncept of the model {nally suggested by a profes: poser who was ay from the traditional \d retailed at $3. period. They were desig be used with the model 200, containing one VCO, envelope genera- tor, VCA, and a keyboard made of a 4 x 4 button keypad. Once again this was very popular with schools and colleges, ryboard, It was produced in hey sold around 400 in a seven The ElectroComp 400/401 avai) AUHHLLULULULL 1 “HAHN : 4 tors, a mult-imedia filter and an envelope gene 82THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ © The ElectroComp 500 ®eeeeee 0 ELECT his model was pe the largest se — howe turn out qui mm 1973 1 only $895, and it was good sounding instrument — watered down version of the 101. The company hoped it would compete with the likes of the Minimoog and Odyssey, but itas formed by Peter Zinovieff in EMS«: late 1960's. They were initially based in Bridge Road, Putney, in South London: During their most successful period Dave Cockerell contributed most of their designs, and was involved in the first prototypes. This period saw the emergence of the VES3 (Voltage Controlled Studio). It was conceived in 1968 by Dave, Peter, and composer Tristram ry. This instrument was basi- cally modular, and patchable via a matrix system as opposed to patch leads. The matrix system enabled an immense amount of routing, the limit being the extent of the user's ability and imagination, It ean also be operated in conjunction with the DK2 voltage control keyboard if wished. Considering it’s capabilities, they managed to pack this unit into a very com pact housing. The VCS3 was popular at many Universities and colleges, as well as with musicians. It found fame with Pink Floyd, and Brian Eno, and was also used by Klaus Schultze and J.M Jarre, but did not find that much success in the USA, however. ‘To this day, this unit is considered among the best for sound effects.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ The first Synthi A was produced in 1971, (chosen in preference to the VCS4). This was a briefcase version of the VCS3, the Synthi A was later adapted into an AKS version which still used the VCS3 circuitry but had updated oscillators. The KS was a touch sensitive keyboard sequencer containing 256 steps which was mounted into the lid of the briefcase, connecting to the unit via a membrane. The AKS being so portable found a lot of popularity and because of this the company decided to build a Synthi E. This was a simplified AKS aimed at the educational market In 1974 the colossal Synthi 100 was produced, the production number never got out of the thirties, which is not surprising when considering the cost of £10,000 and the weight in excess of 300 Kes. It was originally based on three VCS3's, but then grew to amass 12 cillators, envelopes, filters, a three track monophonic digiGl sequencer and two matrix boards of 64 x 64 ~ that if broken cotile cost casily half the value of the whole instrument to replace! ThIS machine was the only instrument that could compare with the colossal modular systems of the USA. In the same year the Synthi P was built, only four machines were in existence, three of these were prototypes. David Cockerell had upgraded the VCS3/AKS designs, both in appearance with a-new shape cabinet, and in technology witha more stable oscillator system, The whole project was however shelved because of techni= cal problems, and maybe the thought Of Yet another VCS3-clene iA the market place was pushing their luck Dave Cockerell left EMS soon after producing the Hi-Fli, then went on to Electro Harmonix in new York, but they collapsed in 1985 and he then went on to join Akai as a designer= (001 HLLNAS B@o8S ‘Soeose soc BoeseBoos BoeseGores POTEET= FY THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ From the mid 1970's Tim Orr became the main designer in EMS producing the very successful Vocoder range which to this day is still sought at ecially the model 5000. In 1975 after producing the Quadraphonie Effects Generator (QUEG) he left to design elec ronic instruments for Powertran, then in 1986 he went on to lecture Peter Eastly then took over as the key figure in design for EMS and came up with the Computer Synthi, It was based on the Synthi 100, however it was very complex and would have cost £25,000, hence it never became available commercially. Datanomics took over EMS in 1979, the first production under the new management was the Polysynthi, which was designed by Graham Hinton, and during it's three year struggle leading up to 1982 only 50 units were sold. Following this was another disaster in the form of the Datasynth, which never reached the public and Datanomics subse- quently bailed out of EMS, Edward Williams is the new owner of the EMS name, and Robin Wood is the product specialist who started his life there in the base ment, Nowadays EMS has a line of Sound beams that are sold worldwide and they also sell reconditioned items such as the VcS3 and the AKS which are now in great demand since the renewed interest in analogue instruments VS 3 and DK 2© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGYn 1977, Chris Huggett working as a free tance studio maintenance engineer, befriended Adrian Wagner (descendent of the classical composer), who was at that time involved in research into a new Synthesizer. The pair worked together to create an inexpensive, good sounding Synthesizer, using Chris's t nical expertise and Adrian’s innovative abilities. It was not too long before they came up with a prototype, with tran- sistor-transistor logic (TTL). ‘They obtained financial support from the direc- tors of Rod Argent's Keyboards, and formed the company EDP at ombe in Oxford. In return Rod Argent's in Denmark street had the sole r UK over distribu- tion. The first mod- els called the W started selling in 1978 at a rate of about 30 to 40 per week, and because they were cheap, customers kept coming back for more, even though some of these Wasps were experiencing technical problems. These malfunctions were not that uncommon either, proven by the fact that Rod Argent's were building up a stock pile of broken Wasps in their basement!© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ‘The Wasp was used by a number of top musicians such as J. M. Jarre, Dave Stewart, Pink Floyd, Genesis and Rick Wakeman. In 1980 Chris Huggett and Steven Evans produced a digital sequencer called the Spider. It had a 256 note memory and connect ed to the Wasp. This was very innovative, but it lacked the ability to quantise. Competition from other manufacturers that were producing low budget keyboards caused EDP many problems, such that Chris, resigned as a director, he however stayed on as a designer and completed the Caterpillar, which was a traditional keyboard designed to control up to four Wasps simultaneously. It could be said that this was an early example of a mother keyboard, but it did not catch on and it was not every Asp owner's wish to purchase a further three models! Even if someone did have four Wasps it would be unlikely that they would all be working and playing in tune with each other. For the cost of £1,000 to cover these five items it was more viable to look for an alternative product, and that is what potential customers did. Their final product was the Wasp Deluxe which had a three octave traditional keyboard, multiple triggering, and separate volume controls for the two oscillators, but once again it did not sel The Gnat, a single oscillator version of the Wasp was a good seller, Chris was working on this machine at the time of EDP’s demise, so Chris and Adrian launched this product under the name of EDP Oxford Ltd, Alas, Adrian lost this company to his wife and her mother due to a marital split, so they went on to form a third company called Wasp Synthesizers Inc. producing deluxe versions of the Wasp and the Gnat, 1981 saw the end of both companies, the outside competi- tion especially from the Japanese had become too great, During their four years in business they sold 3,000 Wasps, 1,000 Spiders, 100 Wasp Deluxe, and 1,500 Gnats (in a six month period). ‘The Hornet combined the Spider sequencer with the Wasp Deluxe and had a 37 note moving keyboard. However no production was ever reported, although a prototype apparently exists, @ EDP Spider ‘The Spider was designed specifically to interface with the Wasp. It measures about half the width of a Wasp and it’s physical appear- ance is of the same colouring and style. The price tag of £200 meant that for £400 you could own a good keyboard plus a sequencer package The Spider is a digital micro-computer based sequencer, there are ‘two modes of operation, either in pulse time, allowing a 252 note storage, or in real time with a 84 note storage. In both modes you have variable speed playback, note editing facilities, tape synchro- nisation input and a battery compartment.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY SPIDER ¥ EDP Wasp Special The standard keyboard sold for £200, and the deluxe version for £345, There is however no exact reference of a Wasp Special which has the wooden finish of a deluxe, but the contact keyboard of a standard version. ‘The Wasp certainly paved the way for a cheaper range of mono phonic Synthesizer, however the large impression that they first created was short lived. The Japanese brought out a whole run of cheap Monophonics, and within a year of the Wasp production Moog released the Prodigy, this greatly affected Wasp sales.@ Roland MC8 / MC4B he world's first computer music composer was released in February 1977 and cost £4,000. It was reviewed with some suspicion as this was the first time that musicians were offered computer power over music, It is a micro-processor that controls a digital sequencer. The concept is, if you can imagine, that the keyboard has been replaced with a calculator keypad and after the music is punched into the com- puter via the keypad, the computer can then store and transmit back the control voltage for an external Synthesizer when needed. Popularity was not very high for this new machine due to the time it took for most people to master it. ‘The idea of playing by ear was now being replaced by playing and understanding musical score. As the name suggests it is the equivalent of eight sequencers work- ing in synchronisation, each of the eight parts can hold 150 notes (1200 in total), and each sequence can be represented by a different instrument. A memory upgrade lable giving a total storage capacity of 5,300 notes, Any information on the MC8 can be loaded onto cassettes and then reloaded at a later stage. It is because you are entering numbers that correlate to the musical notes on a keyboard as opposed to play- ing the actual music that makes this machine difficult to master. In fact it took around three years before it was being widely used and during that time Roland had begun working on their new MC4. Although the MC4 had half the channels of an MC8, and cost half as much at only £2,000 it did have other refinements, This time the machine was user friendly, the data can be entered directly into the MC4 via a synthesizer keyboard, and each note can be heard on entry.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY at Oeeeoeee: [Eh oecees The standard MC4 offers a memory of 3,750 notes that could be upgraded to 11,500. This upgraded version called the MC4B also has the interface for direct connection to a digital cassette recorder (MTR 100), which enables loading and reloading of data at high speed. MCLTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Roland MC202 eS aa iv ds bbe APPab Leet pos © eo¢ ‘The MC202 was produced in 1983 and was sold for $595. It is a two channel Polyphonic sequencer that employs the same advanced programming system that is present in the MC4 and the MC8. This portable unit has a battery case and also contains many polyphOhie Synthesizer functions. It can be programmed live or by step, aiid synchronises to both the Roland 606 Drumtrax and the /TB303 Baseline, The tape synchronisation function allows it to lay down a syne tone on one tape track. The total memory for two ¢hannels amounts to 2,729 notes. Roland Revo 30© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY The Revo 30 was manufactured in 1976 and cost just $400. The Revo organ amp produced two speed rotating sound effects clectronically, and it consists of two speakers and a 30 Watt RMS amplifier. It can easily be fitted via alligator clips on to the two terminals of the organ @ Roland TR 808 Rhythm Composer The TR808 is a programmable rhythm unit that can be used in live performance, composing, and recording, The user can program 32 rhythms which can incorporate 11 different percussion sounds, each ‘one having it’s own level of control. For full mixing flexibility each sound has it’s own output so that they can be individually processed. The sounds included are; Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Low Tom/Conga, Mid Tom/Conga, High Tom/Conga, Rim Shot/Claves, Hand Clap/Maracas, Cow Bell, Cymbal, Open High Hat, and Closed High Hat. Each measure.can consist of up to 64 steps; a compo sition can comprise of 768 measures, @ Roland TR909THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ @ Roland 100M This is a very versatile modular system that can consist of as few as three modules in a 190 rack, or a system that is as large as money and space can dictate, in multiples of five modules in 191] racks. The systems are completely patchable with mini jack plugs and are usually used with either a 180, a 181, or a 184 four voice keyboard The modules initially retailed at about $275 per module, but now fetch as much as £350. 100M systems were considered as the lower end in modular terms, but the demand for these systems has pushed even these price eyond many enthusiasts reach. There are reports of some obscure modules being heard of in the Far East, other than those listed on the next page, but no inform: tion is available at this time, The followin; modules form the entire set of those commonly publicised, which | am pleased to say are all in the Museum, 110 VCO, VCA, VCE 112 VCO x2 121 VCF x2 130 VCA x2 131 Four input and three output mixer, one standard oscillator, head phone monitor socket 132 Two mixer sections of four inputs each, two outputs (normal phase and inverted phase), plus voltage processor section 140 Two envelope generators, plus one LFO, 150 Ring modulator, noise generator ( white and pink ), sample and hold, LFO. 165. Portamento x 2. 2 Phase shifter, audio delay, LFO, gate delay 173. Multiple gate 174 Parametric equaliser 182 Two channel, eight step analogue sequencer. 97 Mun otatTHE MUSEUM OP SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY 98THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Roland 100 tala aq i = AW Wao) tit DI) S(© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY The system 100 (not to be confused with the 100M) is a complete Synthesizer system made up of separate units that fit neatly together. They include the 101 keyboard module which has a VCO, VCF, LFO, AT and a 37 note SR, noise generator, HPF, audio mixer, test oscillator ceyboard. The 102 expander module includes sample and hold, envelope generator, LFO, VCO, audio mixer, ring modula- tor, HPF, VCF, and a VCA, The 103 mixer has four channels, echo, reverb and pan. A 104 sequencer module has either two channels of 12 steps or one channel of 2 steps. Finally the 109 monitor speakers provide full stereo, @ Roland Vocoder Plus VP 330 The Vocoder to many is mere gimmickry in a box! A machine that can demonstrate both robotics, and Pinky and Perky effects, but does not generally get the credit for what it can really do if pla in the right hands. The VP 330 was launched in 1979, and was sold for around $1,300. It has a 61 note keyboard plus built in effects that include ensemble and vibrato and it also has a key split facility, The good thing about this model is that if you get tired of the Vocoder there is, a keyboard that has some interesting sounds, The strings are impressive and the human voice takes the shape of male 8' and 4 and female 4° to produce both upper and lower register voices. It does not exactly reach the quality of sampled choral sounds that people would expect to t ar today, but it does offer a certain — Chorus/Echo Units 201, 301, 501 warmth, which is made better by the ensemble feature, adding depth to the overall sound. The Vocoder section consists of a tone control, vibrato, init level, and a choir setting for creating harm: ony with the user's own voice. As with all Vocoders it takes a certain amount of practise to synchronise the playing with the singing, \\ 100THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ ©@ Roland TB 303 Baseline ate 66S: soso eC eaCer ee The TB 303 was released in 1982 and sold for $395. It is both a sequencer and bass machine and it has found more popularity in recent years than when it was first released, due to the musical trends of rive and general disco. This has pushed up the machines price to amazing levels, but no doubt once the musical trends have changed the TB303 will come crashing back to earth and will trade at -more realistic prices that are fitting for an instrument of this quality There is no input for a Bass guitar, so all sequences are input via the keypad. The one voice that the Baseline has can be modified by four controls consisting of filter cut off, accent, resonance, and decay. The transpose button gives the user a four octave keyboard ‘The battery case has made this machine very portable and it fills, certain requirements that larger system would find unacceptable. All measures entered can be joined in any order to produce a long repetitious sequence, that can include up to 64 patterns. @ Roland Jupiter 4 The Jupiter 4 was available at £1,800 in 1978, it has 48 notes, one oscillator per voice, four voice polyphony, a memory of eight user programs, some basic presets such as piano, trombone, bass etc plus an arpeggiator. Although there is a sub-oscillator, the single oscillator per voice cin make the sounds a little light, but this can be boosted by the chorus button,© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ Roland Jupiter 8 The Jupiter 8 was launched in 1981, and cost around £4,000, it has 2 61 note keyboard, two oscillators per voice, eight voice polypho- ny, a total of 64 memories and an arpeggiator. It has both split keyboard and layering facilities, and the memory locations are available to store multiple patches. This is an impressive looking and sounding keyboard that was Roland's polyphonic flag ship for many years @ Roland SH5 The SH range helped put Roland well and truly into the lower priced keyboard market and this particular model is considered by many to be the best of that bunch, It was desig studios and live use ied in 1976 for both it contains 44 notes, two VCO's, two LFO's, sample and hold, noise generator, ring modulator, VCF, BPF envelope generator, and a VCA @ Roland 700 This is the massive modular system that looks sturdy stylish and sounds great. It has a huge amount of facilities that start with the ‘main console that can be used by itself, and then progresses with a further five cabinets. It was designed for studio use not for portability The main console is hard wired although facilities for patching are available. The other five cabinets all require patching, The set up of this system is as follows 102 Jupiter 8Main cabinet Bottom Left Bottom right Top Middle Top Right THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY VCO x 3, VCF x 2, VCA x 2, LFO x 2, Sample and Hold, ADSR x 2 Reverb, Phase shifter, Noise Generator Ring Modulator, Voltage Processor, Multiple Jacks, Envelope Follower and Integrator, Mixer, and Monitor. 6 x VCO's, LFO, Sample and Hold, Dual Envelope Generator Multiple Jacks, Mixer VCF x 2, VCA x 3, Dual Envelope Generator x 2, Gate Delay Multiple Jacks. Analogue Sequencer, Clock Oscillator, Master Controller, Series Out Parallel Out, Pulse Shaper Interface, Multimode Filter, Nine Channel Audio Mixer Two Channel Phase Shifter, 2 Channel Audio Delay Multiple Jacks, Analogue Switch. Lab Serieswas the creation of Wolfgang Palm PPG« Hamburg. He started servlelag and modifying Synthesizers in the carly 1970's, then by 1975 he was manufacturing his own products and liaised with Tangerine Dream to utilise their ideas for his creations In 1976 he produced his 1003 system, then in 1978 the system 340. He concentrated on digital techniques to obtain more control over harmonic content of oscil- lator waveforms. The system 340 was an cight voice machine, Synthesizer brain, keyboard controller, and video display. He was very brave to introduce so much digital computer technology when so many musicians and studios were using analogue The PPG Wave 2.2 introduced digital oscillators with the warmth of analogue filters and VCA’s. Andrew ‘Thomas of marketing worked hard to spread the word about this new keyboard and achieved a great deal - the 2.2 soon had international acclaim. The 2.3 and Waveterm B then evolved and stayed in production until 1987. In the mid 1980's many users of these systems con- sidered them to give a better quality of sample than the Fairlight Series I, The PRK processor keyboard came out to compete with the Emulator I. PPG then produced a hard disk unit, followed by the Realiser, which is an amazing machine that can be programmed to replicate the sounds of any other keyboard instru- ment. Steinburg Research took on Palm and the Realiser until 1988. It is not known how many of these units were actually sold.THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ @ PPG 2.3 + Waveterm B The PPG 2.3 was produced in 1984, the total cost for this with the Waveterm B was about £12,000. This eight Voice Polyphonic Synthesizer has a five octave pressure sensitive keyboard. The 16 digital oscillators (two per Voice) produce over 1800 waveforms. It nas seven split points enabling the user to play eight sounds at once. The 2.3 was the update from the 2.0 and the 2.2. The 2.3 can in fact be put into the 2.2 mode if required. The overall style did not really change ~ the LCD is on the front panel, which is used for programming modulation source, wave table, keyboard pressure, nd envelope data. Next to this are the pots for editing. Most of the ‘ontrol is obtained through the screen and appears as blocks of numbers, you can record eight separate sound bearing tracks of sequencing on the digital sequencer The Waveterm B has two processors, an eight bit 6809 and a 16/32 Motorola processor 68000, plus a 5.25” drive. It's main use is for adding quality to the overall sampleKorg PS 3100 - i AE i os VO0 10 TO TEE UY WW ‘This is the smaller brother inthe PS tanges andl inthe: ght hands Gin sound tarvellous. Tt can produce sepalate envelopes for each OS 4 notes, sind has three waveforms: Triangle, Polke, and Sawtooiti which have pitch Jevels-of 2; 498 and 16S Also: iE has frequency mhodblation pulse, and extemal width modulation-eontro! Inpu Avonmoduladon oscillators: Bller section, polyphonic sample and hold, and single'o: multiple thagering.p MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY ‘The PS 3200 was sold in 1978 for around £3,300 and unlike the PS 3100, this model has a separate keyboard (PS 3010) containing 48 notes. It has two oscillators per voice, full polyphony, 16 memories, and 12 temperament knobs to adjust the tuning of the notes to what ever scale the user desires, the two rows corresponding to the two oscillators, The signal generators have four waveforms, Pulse, Sawtooth, Triangle, and Rectangle, ranging from 2’ - 16. This keyboard con- tains most of the usual polyphonic facilities, plus a seven band graphic equalizer (125HZ. - KHZ). Korg PS 3300 When Keith Emerson turned to Korg after Bob Moog left Norlin in the 1977/78 period he usually had the PS 3300 in his line up. TI 4 mammoth instrument in every sense of the word, and like the PS 3200 it also uses the PS 3010 keyboard, but this is where the simi: larities cease. It captures everything the PS 3200 has and adds a lot more ~ and has an amazing selection of 144 complete Synthesizer circuits; each note becomes a separate Synthesizer — the sound is wonderful! Yamaha CS 80 The CS 80 started development a Nippon-Gakki Ltd in Hommatsu, eased in 1978, 2000 models were Japan in 1976 and was finally re sold in its brief life span before ceasing in 1979. The cost to the Detail of PS 3300. public was around £5,000, 107THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY It had a 61 note keyboard, two oscillators per voice, and eight voice polyphony. When considering the fact that this was one of the st polyphonic keyboards, it has an a zing, array of facilities, including six programmable memories, a velocity tive keyboard, and a key split and layering options, which were no where to be seen on other polyphonic keyboards at that time. ertouch sensi- This particular exhibit was owned by Stevig Wonder. He was very good at playing the Moog-style ribbon controller with two fingers at once. The CS 80 is a heavy beast, weighing in at 200Ib. They are also renowned for being temperamental, so if they are working well they are best left alone, preferably in a corner where they will not be knocked — much the a Polymoog, There are umpteen permutations of sound creation in this huge box and it has an unusual preset concept, whereby they are arranged in pairs, so they can be selected left and right in a. split keyboard arrangement. Any of the top row can be mixed with any of the bottom row. Tuning is not an easy task, and neither is fault- finding, The inside of this instrument looks like the inside of a telephone exchange, and because everything is so tightly packed it gives off a lot of heat, which in turn created problems with the oscillators, It was important that the oscillators that were used were ‘not sensitive to temperature is as the heat at the centre of this, Unit was greater than at the outer extremities, When the CS 80 is working it is a great sounding machine, and 1 think it achieves the aim that the CS range was striving for, and that was the creation of a natural sound as opposed to an electronic one. 108When Yamaha started to flood.the market with their electionic pianos, itswas not long before companies such as Grumai, Else and Siel were forced to switch their attention to other | products, and so they became producers of both h organs. and ‘synthesizer Mario. Maggi started the syle which was then devel ‘oped and-manufactured by Elka-Onla in 1984. 1 was as powerful a the Prophet 10, The name: Elka-in most people's minds conjres up images of programmable, a sequencer, sounding keyboard is definitely the pick. apparently the last instrument off the prokluction line was tele Stevie Wonder.© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY e RSF Kobol Expander Rubin Fernandez designed the RSF Kobol, and this machine whether with or without the keyboard, is difficult to find nowadays. J. M, Jarre is reported to have stacks of these and so has Hans Zimmer. The expander version does not come with a memory facility but makes up for it with it’s good filter @ Gleeman Pentaphonic In 1982 Al Gleeman of the Gleeman Bros, based in California, produced a Polyphonic keyboard called the Gleeman Pentaphonic a VCA, VCE, plus two ADSR envelopes. The Pentaphonic has a three octave The “Penta” coming from it’s five voices. Each voice hal keyboard, three oscillators per voice, eight wave shapes per oscil ator, and computer tuned chorusing. The sequencer stores 600 notes in true tempo, and allows you to adjust the volume of the sequencer while you play along with it. The Chr fic transposer enables the user to shift the keyboard and sequencer to any key ‘The basic price was £1,530, but this could be upgraded for £230. This upgrade included rear panel foot pedal jacks for controlling, the modulation depth, and filter cut off frequency; also a two axis joystick that replaces the original unit's one axis joystick, (which controlled pitch, and either modulation depth, or the filter cut off frequency). Lastly there is a programmer that gave access to 100 user programmable presets, In 1983, 50 clear versions were released to be an impressive live performance keyboard that was designed to hang around the neck by a strap like a guitar. Both of these keyboards sound impressive and are difficult to source, 110THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY Ondioline (7 vrai ti tir rt) as ss L This rare keyboard was designed by Ondes of France in the 1930's. Ics similar in some respects to the Martenot. The unit uses a relax- ation oscillator instead of the Heterodyne principle, and the variable resistance controls the frequency directly. No extra contacts are needed to ensure that only the correct note plays. The Ondioline also uses frequency dividers and waveforms — it operates in ways that were later adopted by electronic organ makers dl‘ho. Bironton’ was a collaboration between Dave Biro and Rick Wakeman and this panicular- model is repoiteet to have been owned ‘by Ghris Franke of Tangerine Dream, ‘They were mae towards the end of the 1970's and only 35 or 86. feached th. public THIS was an improvement in some Fespeets fromthe Meliowtun in that this maclinte:has-(Sur diflerenysounds as ‘Opposed 16: the Mellorron’s 3: The sounds are looped for continuous. Sound ‘ostead of the limited playing time dvailable. on a Mellotron, “the machine contains 19 tapes of therold eight track cartridge design-thar fit Inio lie rear ofthe machine, One: whe machine is powered Up, the pes are continually acivated, causing an annoy- ing raiding noise. Fach tape representy cern notes in each of the'three octaves, ge each. oF the. four ditivrént sounds, The sounds arc_marvellouws {despite the rattling), but the major problem is with the tapes, hecaise!theyate in constant notion they eventually wear out, The ‘manofactarers stated thar each set oF tapes should Last 100 hours efure. Heediig to be splice and a spate Ser oF tipes Was Avail. able with she machise as a past of the deal when insvas purchased from new. Now the eight itack catnilge system has ceased, the fanire of those nideliines that sul exist is. in doube; THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ @ Rhodes Chroma and Expander The history of the Rhodes Chroma starts in the closing section of ARP’s history, this is very fitting as this was the last product that ARP were involved with other than their electric piano. It was pro- duced in 1982 and sold for around £5,000, it contains a 64 note key board, it uses one or two oscillators per voice, and has eight or 16 voice polyphony as well as an after touch/velocity sensitive key- poard. The ARP styling is very evident with the Chroma, as it was with many of their other keyboards, There were 3,000 models made, and Phillip Dodds the head of the design team is sure the first 50 were the best built, That was before they moved from Massachusetts to the CBS Gulbranson plant. There they experienced problems with the CBS staff that they were having to work with, they had a wealth of knowledge in the building of organs, but not Synthesizers, they would not admit to their inability in this field, and insisted on doing things their way This resulted in problems with the tuning boards, which the CBS team finally admitted were at fault, However this problem was eventually solved. The 50 keypads on the Chroma represent each of the 50 presets: each keypad also controls the parameter that is printed on it, When 1 parameter is called up in this way it is then edited via the parame- ter slider, all editing values are displayed on the small LCD. The ange of sounds and the editing capabilities are vast, but like all keyboards this can only be realised once the machine has beer mastered,THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY iol ioiol Pe errr) oe} An expander can be linked to this keyboard to add more sound combinations, but not additional polyphony. The Chroma also has he interface to enable it to be linked to Apple computers, thus enabling the user to utilise multi-track sequencing. After the demise of EDP and the ventures that followed with Adrian Wagner, Chris Huggett attempted to refine the ideas of his past and produce a new keyboard. In 1983 he achieved this with the release of the Oscar. ‘The whole enterprise was financed and managed by che s under the name of the Oxford Synthesizer Company 114THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY he keyboard sold for around £600, and during it’s lifespan it went through a number of upgrades. Chris was constantly ying to improve this unit and compete with the competition, one of the last upgrades was forced on him by the emergence of MIDI. The Oscar became the only programmable monosynth that was fitted with prog MIDI. The machine itself although quite small, and light, has heaps f features, and a sound not too dissimilar to a Minimoog, but has the advantage of micro processors which keeps everything tigh Sequencing, arpeggiation, memories, it has the lot! It will stand 1p against just about any monophonic, and some polyphonics as well. Musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Keith Emerson and Ultravox I used this keyboard after it’s release Formant | 115Wavemakers - Filterbank t {SEER 8 = @eaae S228 Oe o@®,, o® @eaa O° QECce * @@ @@ ces @ dee wee @ see ooo. 1088 Cee, seee - | @@@ 5.5 7 @& 50 FOO 000 S88 Coe Lee See} se0 ee 2e¢¢ GOS 608e- Bese ee aS Russian PolyrockTHE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY @ @ Vox Ampliphonic 117 (anh© THE MUSEUM OF SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY HELPLINE There is a facility whereby any one can write to the Museum with any problems that they may have experienced with understanding the operation of a particular instrument. The people that will be answering your questions are experts in both old and new technology so there is a good chance that your problem will be solved. Initially this service will be by mail, but it is hoped that within a few months the necessary phone lines will be set up so that questions can be dealt with automatically For more details please write to the Museum, the address details are to be found on page two of this book 118 Professor Herbert A. Deutsch writes... ©6 Congratulations on the opening of this museum. Your excellent collection provides the opportunity for examining the world of electronic music. The documentation of this field, which bas changed - and continues to change - the very nature of the world’s music, és extremely important. Sometimes the march of technology és so dynamic that its bistory is lost. Bravo for belping to see that this doesn't happen. 99 Julian Colbeck writes... ©6 80 much of bistory ts viewed through a rosecoloured wash «and the bistory of musical instruments, ancient or relatively ‘modern, acoustic or eleciric frequently edges into the pink. But while most twentieth century classics, from early Gibson and Fender guitars, Gretch drums, the Hammond organ, are still relatively available - they can be played, sen, and even bought ~ the synthesizer industry bas not fared so well. Even the most ‘ impecunious guitarist has probably played a Fender Broadcaster Lat some stage in thei life. How many keyboard players have ever beard of a Gleeman Pentapbonic, or a Modular Formant, ‘much less seen one? By their very nature early synthesizers were experimental, temperamental, and mostly produced in tiny quantities. Instruments like the ARP 2600, or the EMS ‘Synthi 100 should not just be viewed as so much hardcore on which a brighter, all singing, all dancing, all-digital future was built, These are valid, living instruments with a story to tell Now we bave the opportunity to test, not just with our eyes, but with our ears and fingers as well, the value of these pioneer performers. Pink noise indeea QQAMON 3 9016 01161 5698 Ree ULL I wish to thank Don ae for being so patient during Oe a ORL ee By ane ee OL CY a een te cea ai aed participate in the opening an ;