Modern & Retro Synthesizers

30/09/2024

Moog Music was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father and was renamed Moog Music in 1972. It made many iconic synthesizer but was eventually declared bankruptcy in 1987 due to markets shifts to more digital oriented synthesizers. In 2002 Bob Moog got the rights on his name back after a legal battle. Moog Music moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and continued its development of products created under Robert Moog's former company Big Briar, such as the Moogerfooger pedals and theremins, as well as introducing numerous new products such as the Minimoog Voyager, Little Phatty, Sub 37, and Mother 32 some of which continue to be produced and sold today. Bob Moog died in 2005 and many products were released and produced after his death still in his name out of his factory. In June 2023, Moog Music was acquired by inMusic and the Moog Muse is one of the first synthesizers that is released since then.
For anyone that is wondering if the Moog Muse is capable of great sounds:

▶ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/limbicbits?sub_confirmation=1MOOG MUSE Presets for Ambient, Electronica and Melodic Techno: LUNA Sound Pack ▶ https://li...

21/08/2023

Something to remember today.

Today we remember the life and legacy that Dr. Robert Moog left behind.

His pioneering spirit drives us to continue our mission of inspiring future generations of innovators through the intersection of science, music, and technology.

14/04/2023

The first publication of Dr. Robert A. Moog aka Bob Moog when he was just 19 years old in the January 1954 issue of the magazine "Radio and Television news". Instead of keeping the design for himself he shared it with the world like he did with so many other ideas.

02/06/2022

A great loss...

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Dave Smith has died.

We’re heartbroken, but take some small solace in knowing he was on the road doing what he loved best in the company of family, friends, and artists.

Please visit our website if you’d like to share your thoughts and memories of Dave.
www.sequential.com

14/06/2021

Elka Synthex

A legend! Who remembers when it first came out? It's still is a beast by todays standards. It's known for many good things like the great sequencer that was user-friendly had lots of options, and most of all the sound. It became famous when Jean-Michel Jarre got one, and even today he owns 3! And he stills uses them on stage. But the Synthex was also known for it's massive amount of IC's on the stacked voiceboards that could make it a bit unreliable if there was a lack of maintenance. Only 1850 were made so it's even more unobtainium as a Jupiter 8!

E&MM called it a "digital instrument" in their march issue of 1982, but actually it's analog hybrid (it does use a form of DCO's):

The Synthex was first introduced to the music public in prototype form at the Frankfurt Musik Messe in 1981. It represented a radical departure for the well established Elka-Orla company in Italy, who are well known for their large range of home and portable organs, rotary speakers, amplifiers, string and preset instruments and drum machines.

The Synthex is an 8-voice digital polyphonic synthesiser - that means it has 8 complete synth 'voice' circuits available, each with 2 oscillators, noise generator selection, multimode filter, filter EG and amplifier EG for individual triggering from each note played in one of 3 different modes.

The conclusion was that the Synthex has all the clarity and feel of a top line digital instrument. It's challenging to use as every parameter offers immediate exploratory synthesis from your chosen sound program. You won't find any touch or pressure sensitivity but you will find that you can go on creating original sounds and effects. At a price of £2,500 including VAT, it's very competitive, considering the memory, extra features, full programming and built-in sequencer.

Sources:
Why Elka Synthex matters by JMJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7GdSMDsZME

Pics
https://reverb.com/p/elka-synthex
https://greatsynthesizers.com/en/review/elka-synthex-polyphonic-classic/
https://greatsynthesizers.com/en/review/elka-synthex-polyphonic-classic/
The rest of the great E&MM article:
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/elka-synthex/4443
https://www.polynominal.com/site/studio/gear/synth/elka_synthex/index.html

30/05/2021

Heinakroon made an concept of the Positron 16 morphing synthesizer. I must say it looks gorgeous, and I hope it will become a reality somehow.

POSITRON 16 is an analog polyphonic synthesizer concept that focus on morphing, with continuously variable waveforms, filter modes, arpeggiator patterns and ...

12/05/2021

The new Fenix IV modular synth. It looks like a lot of fun! And it sounds great!

In this video, we'll take a closer look at This is Not Rocket Science's Fenix IV modular synth!Over the course of 30 minutes, we'll guide you through all the...

07/04/2021

𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗦𝗶𝘅

One of the first programable polysynths synthesizers that did not cost a fortune. At first glance it looks like a scaled-down Mono/Poly, but really it's not! In fact it had a lot of great new features such as 32 memory patches, 6 voices of polyphony, cassette backup of memory, even programmable modulation effects and Chorus, Phase, Ensemble! With upgrades like the KiwiSix it's still a wanted synthesizer today.

Steve Howell said something interresting about people using preset-sounds in the E&MM of August 1982. Before synths had memory to store sounds, people had to make their own sound, but now you could use presets:

"I think the Korg Polysix is a winner. It is capable of producing rich orchestral sounds as well as delicate solo sounds. The programmable section makes it ideal for stage and studio work alike and the edit facilities make it very flexible indeed. I must admit that, although I appreciate the usefulness of memories, I feel that some people don't explore the full potential of a synthesiser equipped with such facilities. Instead they select a memory as an easy way out. I have heard many reports of Prophets, Jupiter 8s, etc. being returned for service with the original factory presets in them, not one original sound anywhere. This probably explains why so much synth music sounds so similar these days. I just hope that people take the time to explore the Polysix and not rely on the factory presets because it is capable of producing a wide range of sounds.

My only criticisms are that I would like to have seen a noise generator and polyphonic portamento included. The Arpeggiator trigger input is not directly compatible with ARP, Roland or Seq. Circuits but may be interfaced using the Korg MS-02 Interface or E&MM Universal Trigger Interface."

Sources:
Read the whole interresting story Steve Howel wrote here:
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/korg-polysix/4332
Other sources:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/korg/poly6.php
http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com/
https://www.kiwitechnics.com/kiwisix.htm

01/04/2021

E-mu Systems Emulator

A really cool looking digital sampling synthesizer that used floppy disk storage. A lot cheaper and much easier to use as the Fairlight, and it produced sounds of stunning quality. Stevie Wonder got the first one with serial 0001 for his glowing review at the NAMM 1981 convention. Approximately 500 units were sold before the unit was discontinued in early 1984.

David Ellis called it " the synth of 1982" in a E&MM magazine review, and the manual joked E-MU was going to make a lot of money:

"It's hard to pick holes in such a well-designed instrument — it must be the keyboard of '82.

"The Emulator can be a very powerful tool for the creative artist. If enough people take advantage of its capabilities, we are going to make one hell of a lot of money."

Read the whole cool article here:
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/e-mu-systems-emulator/1723

Other sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mu_Emulator
https://retrogearshop.com/products/emu-emulator-1

25/03/2021

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐥𝐳𝐞 (𝐞𝐱-𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦) 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟐

In the E&MM of march 1982 i found a really cool interview with Klaus Schulze that is worth reading now since it's such a great time-capsule about what he was doing back then and how he saw the future.

"Klaus Schulze was born in Berlin in 1947 and coming from a non-musical background, his first associations with music were through four years of formal training on classical guitar. During this time he became bored with Bach etc and turned to electric guitar, much to his tutor's annoyance. Together with Alex Conte and Joachim Schumann he formed his first band, Psy Free in 1967; "...just improvising on stage for two hours or so..." says Klaus."

"Klaus's battery of synthesisers and effects has built up over the years. With him on stage at Linz were his old EMS Synthi A, ARP 2600, two Minimoogs, Korg Polysynth, Yamaha CS80 and a PolyMoog. Klaus particularly likes the Yamaha for its rich sound and the PolyMoog for its versatility on stage and its good solo voice. Last, but by no means least, he had with him what he affectionately calls his "Big Moog"."

"In the future Klaus sees himself moving away from the rock/pop type of music and developing a more classical style, the popular side being catered for by "Wahnfried", which will have as its base Klaus & Michael with the other members constantly changing. Also in the pipeline is an album by Klaus and Michael and a new solo album later this year. This will be Klaus' first on I.C. as an independent label."

Read the whole thing here, really worth to read: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/klaus-schulze/4214

24/03/2021

The Spectrum Synthesiser

The DIY synth was featured in the magazine Electronics and Music Maker januari and februari of 1982.

The manual states:
"The Spectrum is a monophonic two oscillator switch-linked synthesiser featuring advanced specification, constructional simplicity and low cost. Modulation, timbre control, and interface facilities not found on any comparable synthesiser make it extremely powerful and versatile for keyboard playing, sound effects and many other home, stage, or studio applications. "
(The full original 1982 article can be read with the link at the bottom)

Electronic component suppliers Maplin produced the kit however it wasn’t complete as you had to fabricate the wooden and aluminium parts of the case yourself, all you got in the kit was the front panel.

Every module is built separately, which makes the synthesizer easy to modify into a modular synthesizer instead, or just take the modules needed.
You also had to obtain the CEM integrated circuits yourself. These were the famous Curtis Electromusic integrated circuits that were specifically made for synthesizer applications and were also used in the Sequential Circuits Pro One and Prophet Five, Roland SH101, MC202 and Jupiter’s and the Oberheim OB8 and OBXA .

See the machine here in a cool video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLDnFIw1vjk

sources:
Original article januari 1981:
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-spectrum-synthesiser/3687

The complete special edition with complete tutorial and schematics
http://www.bigbluewave.co.uk/images/spectrum-notes-04.pdf
Nice pics & info
http://www.colinfraser.com/spectrum/spectrum.htm
https://www.amazona.de/blue-box-emm-spectrum-analog-synthesizer/