From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 14:06:56 1993 Received: by top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA18824; Mon, 19 Apr 93 14:06:04 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu by top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA18792; Mon, 19 Apr 93 14:05:51 -0400 Received: by cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (AIX 2.1 2/4.03) id AA06257; Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:03:53 CDT From: dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (Andrew C. Crowell) Message-Id: <9304191803.AA06257@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu> Subject: Re: Yamaha SK-series To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:03:52 CDT In-Reply-To: <10724.735232185@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU>; from "Yoshiaki_Ohshima@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU" at Apr 19, 93 11:09 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL5] Status: OR Previously, Yoshiaki_Ohshima@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU wrote: > > > i may be wrong, but the target against which sk15 was made was probably > roland's rs202 string ensemble. before that no japanese synth makers had > any answers to solina and krumar(sp?), and roland's rs polyphonic ensemble > made a big hit. it was basically a string keyboard with several preset-tones > and heavy chorus effects. shortly after sk15 came out. (oh, maybe they came > out about the same time, but the sales of sk15 was not phenomenal overshadowed > by roland.) vk series started out to fill in the market of hammond drawbar > organs, which were becoming scare and unaffordable in japan. Hmmm...I dunno. On both the SK-15 and -20 (a friend of mine in TN has one of the latter), the predominant sections are the drawbar-controlled "organ" sections and the "synth" section, which on the 20 has some more programming complexity than on the -15. Both, also, prominently feature an electronic "Leslie" setup, with the -20 having more flexibility in that respect, also. Clearly, these weren't supposed to be string ensemble type devices, but something like the Roland VK or the Korg Delta. The only string controls for both (and these stay the same for both) are two sliders for 8' and 16' string sounds. D.A.C. Crowell Computer Music Project/School of Music University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu) -- From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 13:13:08 1993 Received: by top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA09675; Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:11:20 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu by top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA09667; Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:11:16 -0400 Received: by cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (AIX 2.1 2/4.03) id AA06104; Mon, 19 Apr 93 12:09:17 CDT From: dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (Andrew C. Crowell) Message-Id: <9304191709.AA06104@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu> Subject: Re: Vox Organs To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 12:09:16 CDT In-Reply-To: <9304191547.AA63170@acs.bu.edu>; from "Jonathan Disegi" at Apr 19, 93 11:47 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL5] Status: OR Previously, Jonathan Disegi wrote: > > psych bands, the Vox was popular w/ garage bands like the Standells and the > Count Five etc. All you have to do is listen to 'House of the Rising Sun' by > the Animals to understand how great this organ is. The Doors also used a > Continental. Vox also made a duel-manual Continental, called the 'super- > continental.' They also made a wonderful organ (more psychadelic sounding), > called the Vox Jaguar, and that sounds really cool, and was used by Elvis > Costello, 60's bands that couldn't afford Continentals, and is still used > by Spiritulized, and lots of other British bands. I am also reminded that these organs (Vox, Farfisa, etc...the small compact keyboards) are also the same keyboards that propelled the early Minimalist movement. Both Philip Glass and Steve Reich's ensembles used these instruments. You can hear them in such things as _Einstein_on_the- Beach_, "Four Organs", and Glass's "North Star" album. They may wind up, in all truth, being more important to classical music than pop in that respect. Odd, isn't it? D.A.C. Crowell Computer Music Project/School of Music University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu) -- From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 13:06:40 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA13827; Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:05:11 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from netcom.netcom.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA13822; Mon, 19 Apr 93 13:05:09 -0400 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (5.65/SMI-4.1/Netcom) id AA27954; Mon, 19 Apr 93 10:05:19 -0700 From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay) Message-Id: <9304191705.AA27954@netcom.netcom.com> Subject: Re: Vox Organs To: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu (Jonathan Disegi) Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 10:05:19 PDT Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu In-Reply-To: <9304191547.AA63170@acs.bu.edu>; from "Jonathan Disegi" at Apr 19, 93 11:47 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: OR >Whilst talking about portable organs in the midst of the Analogue rain, I musnt >fail to mention Vox portable organs. My first band was a college group that got set up with some "dusty old music stuff" that the rhythm guitarist's older brother had moldering in the attic after HIS failed attempt at stardom. We went on stage, only vaguely aware of what we had with us, using a Vox Beatle, SuperBeatle, and Westminster amp setup for the guitars and bass, and a Jaguar for our keyboardist. The first song I ever recorded used a Super Continental for a bass drone. I think I'm getting old.... -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can morph clay, but you can't morph Lego. (n. rothwell) From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 11:48:39 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA09410; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:47:27 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from ACS.BU.EDU by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA09405; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:47:25 -0400 Received: by acs.bu.edu (5.61+++/AIX-3.2) id AA63170; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:47:37 -0400 Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:47:37 -0400 From: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu (Jonathan Disegi) Message-Id: <9304191547.AA63170@acs.bu.edu> To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Vox Organs Status: OR Whilst talking about portable organs in the midst of the Analogue rain, I musnt fail to mention Vox portable organs. The Vox Continental was probably the most popular portable organ ever made. It had a more punchy, less psychadelic sound than the Italian (ie: Farfisa) organs. While the Farfisa was popular with psych bands, the Vox was popular w/ garage bands like the Standells and the Count Five etc. All you have to do is listen to 'House of the Rising Sun' by the Animals to understand how great this organ is. The Doors also used a Continental. Vox also made a duel-manual Continental, called the 'super- continental.' They also made a wonderful organ (more psychadelic sounding), called the Vox Jaguar, and that sounds really cool, and was used by Elvis Costello, 60's bands that couldn't afford Continentals, and is still used by Spiritulized, and lots of other British bands. All I have to say is this: everyone swears by the Hammond B-3, but IMHO, I think the portable organs of the mid-60's have much more character than does the B-3. In addition, Farfisas and Voxes are not 400 pounds and they dont cost $3000. These organs need to get the respect they deserve by collectors and musicians. regards, jonathan. From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 11:11:41 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA07240; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:10:33 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA07232; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:10:31 -0400 Received: from SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU by SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU id aa10726; 19 Apr 93 11:09:50 EDT To: "Andrew C. Crowell" Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu, Yoshiaki_Ohshima@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: farfisa In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 18 Apr 93 21:58:42 CDT." <9304190258.AA04261@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:09:45 -0400 Message-Id: <10724.735232185@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU> From: Yoshiaki_Ohshima@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU Status: OR >I own Yamaha's answer to one of the VK-series, the SK-15. Truly interesting, i may be wrong, but the target against which sk15 was made was probably roland's rs202 string ensemble. before that no japanese synth makers had any answers to solina and krumar(sp?), and roland's rs polyphonic ensemble made a big hit. it was basically a string keyboard with several preset-tones and heavy chorus effects. shortly after sk15 came out. (oh, maybe they came out about the same time, but the sales of sk15 was not phenomenal overshadowed by roland.) vk series started out to fill in the market of hammond drawbar organs, which were becoming scare and unaffordable in japan. in the early roland catalogs, solid-state powered, modern leslie speakers were offered as an option item for the vk, whereas rs was roland's--read japan's--first strings ensemble keyboard. ironically, on the other hand, the vk series didn't bring a lot of money to roland for obvious success of bx and cx organs made by korg that had much better hammond tone. --aki From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 11:11:36 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA07214; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:10:24 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from leonardo.davinci.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA07207; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:10:19 -0400 Received: by leonardo.davinci.com (5.67/tas-concert/6-19-91) id AA05484; Mon, 19 Apr 93 11:09:48 -0400 Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1993 11:08:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Jeffrey Gosztyla Subject: Re: farfisa To: metlay Cc: "Andrew C. Crowell" , analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu In-Reply-To: <9304191447.AA13902@netcom.netcom.com> Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: OR On Mon, 19 Apr 1993, metlay wrote: > For shame, dear boy! Ace-Tone, makers of the Rhythm Ace, are NOT Italian; > they're Japanese. A fellow named Kakehashi Ikutaro launched the company > to compete with Farfisa, but the Japanese (anticipating today's music > trends) pronounced the company name "Acid-Tone," which wrecked sales. So he > changed it to another name, that the Japanese STILL couldn't pronounce: > Roland. > Wow, I thought my ace-tone rhythm ace was the king of analog-cheeze... I had no idea it was a ROLAND, and I only paid $10 for it. --- Jeffrey Gosztyla Da Vinci Systems (919) 881-4349 "My brain is bigger than yours" - MBM From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 10:48:35 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA06039; Mon, 19 Apr 93 10:47:07 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from netcom.netcom.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA06028; Mon, 19 Apr 93 10:47:04 -0400 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (5.65/SMI-4.1/Netcom) id AA13902; Mon, 19 Apr 93 07:47:13 -0700 From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay) Message-Id: <9304191447.AA13902@netcom.netcom.com> Subject: Re: farfisa To: dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (Andrew C. Crowell) Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 7:47:12 PDT Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu In-Reply-To: <9304190247.AA04220@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu>; from "Andrew C. Crowell" at Apr 18, 93 9:47 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: OR > Also locally, there's a double manual Ace-tone organ at C-U Music >here in Champaign. Italian make, quasi-portable. This thing has drawbars, For shame, dear boy! Ace-Tone, makers of the Rhythm Ace, are NOT Italian; they're Japanese. A fellow named Kakehashi Ikutaro launched the company to compete with Farfisa, but the Japanese (anticipating today's music trends) pronounced the company name "Acid-Tone," which wrecked sales. So he changed it to another name, that the Japanese STILL couldn't pronounce: Roland. -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rhodes Chroma: The only synthesizer whose front panel buttons hit back. From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Mon Apr 19 01:04:42 1993 Received: by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA23373; Mon, 19 Apr 93 01:02:47 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from inet-gw-2.pa.dec.com by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA23368; Mon, 19 Apr 93 01:02:46 -0400 Received: by inet-gw-2.pa.dec.com; id AA06271; Sun, 18 Apr 93 22:02:38 -0700 Received: by us1rmc.bb.dec.com; id AA12372; Mon, 19 Apr 93 01:00:09 -0400 Message-Id: <9304190500.AA12372@us1rmc.bb.dec.com> Received: from ranger.enet; by us1rmc.enet; Mon, 19 Apr 93 01:00:09 EDT Date: Mon, 19 Apr 93 01:00:09 EDT From: I've been stolen by a gypsy. 19-Apr-1993 0055 To: dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu Cc: analogue@ranger.enet.dec.com, eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com Apparently-To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu, dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu Subject: Re: farfisa Status: OR Farfisas....Great machines. You youngsters should know, though, that you can get real close to that sound with a K1 or almost any polysynth. You just use pulse waves and a minimum of filtering. Back when Hammonds were the only thing to have, pre-new wave, I used and repaired Farfisas. They could get a very nice pipey sound, moreso than any Hammond. I also got a really poor-man's Mellotron, using one rank of strings, and tape echo. Buying a Farfisa...the electronics are simple and reliable. The keyboard and wiring harness are so complex, though, that you probably don't want to try to fix them. Each octave rank has a switch under each key (that's four or five contacts) plus another set if the unit has percussion (Farfisa's percussion wasn't much to speak of). The CC26 Compact Deluxe is a nice model, it has a rank that is a fifth above the 8' pitch, instead of only having octaves. Eirikur From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sun Apr 18 23:02:24 1993 Received: by top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA26289; Sun, 18 Apr 93 23:00:49 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu by top.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA26267; Sun, 18 Apr 93 23:00:42 -0400 Received: by cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (AIX 2.1 2/4.03) id AA04261; Sun, 18 Apr 93 21:58:44 CDT From: dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (Andrew C. Crowell) Message-Id: <9304190258.AA04261@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu> Subject: Re: farfisa To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Date: Sun, 18 Apr 93 21:58:42 CDT In-Reply-To: <9304181927.AA27000@photon.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>; from "s i n e w a v e" at Apr 18, 93 3:27 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL5] Status: OR Previously, s i n e w a v e wrote: > > > and the vk-09! joy! the thing makes the best noisy/gritty string synth sounds.. > really an ENO type of machine. this guy was going to sell me his for $75, but > his was crapping out on him, so he took it back (i had borrowed it..) > > it cut out on me as well. oh well. what i definitely don't like about it is > that there is no CV/gate inputs... maybe if i get the remnants from him i can > try to figure it out... I own Yamaha's answer to one of the VK-series, the SK-15. Truly interesting, makes some very nice organ sounds, weird string sounds, and has a "polyphonic synthesizer" stage on it which has some limited programmability and can be pretty effective when used in conjunction with the other two sections on it (organ and strings). It's not working now, but I do want to get it up and flying again, as I was always pleased with what I could get out of it as a performance device. And no, it doesn't have the CV/gate inputs either...but I'm going to look into having a qualified tech make some modifications to it if they're possible. D.A.C. Crowell Computer Music Project/School of Music University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu) -- From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sun Apr 18 22:50:18 1993 Received: by bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA24375; Sun, 18 Apr 93 22:49:05 -0400 Errors-To: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Sender: analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Received: from cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu by bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA24369; Sun, 18 Apr 93 22:49:03 -0400 Received: by cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (AIX 2.1 2/4.03) id AA04220; Sun, 18 Apr 93 21:47:05 CDT From: dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu (Andrew C. Crowell) Message-Id: <9304190247.AA04220@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu> Subject: Re: farfisa To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Date: Sun, 18 Apr 93 21:47:04 CDT In-Reply-To: <9304182010.AA97809@acs.bu.edu>; from "Jonathan Disegi" at Apr 18, 93 4:10 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL5] Status: OR Previously, Jonathan Disegi wrote: > > sines, > > yeah, that was dumb not to buy the Farfisa -- it is not that they are expensive > but they are rare. And no synth can duplicate that tinny/gritty whiney sound > I bought a Doric portable Organ about 1 yr ago, and it sounds almost exactly > like a glorious farfisa compact. And why shouldn't it, Doric was also an > Italian Organ maker, and I think they were allied w/ Farfisa at one time. > It's got lots of knobs and rocker-switches, and has a really groovy chrome > tubular stand. That baby is from 1968, and when you put the 'oboe' and > 'violin' rockers on, run it through a Vox amp w/ lots of spring reverb, a > little tremolo, and a minute amount of fuzz, you get the most wonderful sound > ever imagineable (perfect for psychadelic techno). Hmmm...again, I reiterate, the glorious klunky synth emporium, Tusculum Music in Nashville, has all sorts of stuff like this. In fact, I think they had a Farfisa Professional Piano last time I was there, and certainly had a couple of Farfisa-organ-like pieces of Crumar gear, which should achieve similar results. Also locally, there's a double manual Ace-tone organ at C-U Music here in Champaign. Italian make, quasi-portable. This thing has drawbars, not presents, though...but given the make it should be interesting enough. Unfortunately, I think there was a largish pricetag on it, but intrepid shoppers can reach C-U Music at 217-351-1828. They also carry a good deal of used synths of more recent vintages. I've used a Farfisa Combo in a band once...it could make the most unearthly din, used properly...and processed _very_ well thru stomp boxes and other devices. One of the more fascinating controls was the "boost" on it, which was activated by a knee-bar, and which could open the little machine up to a horrendous screech if you had it set right and had some of the right keys down. :) Great psychedelic sounding keyboard, though; a real blast right back to 1967. D.A.C. Crowell Computer Music Project/School of Music University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (dacc@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu) -- From jdisegi@acs.bu.edu Sun Apr 18 16:10:35 1993 Received: from ACS.BU.EDU by quark.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (5.65/3.910213) id AA13290; Sun, 18 Apr 93 16:10:32 -0400 Received: by acs.bu.edu (5.61+++/AIX-3.2) id AA97809; Sun, 18 Apr 93 16:10:44 -0400 Date: Sun, 18 Apr 93 16:10:44 -0400 From: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu (Jonathan Disegi) Message-Id: <9304182010.AA97809@acs.bu.edu> To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu, tsines@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Re: farfisa Status: OR sines, yeah, that was dumb not to buy the Farfisa -- it is not that they are expensive but they are rare. And no synth can duplicate that tinny/gritty whiney sound I bought a Doric portable Organ about 1 yr ago, and it sounds almost exactly like a glorious farfisa compact. And why shouldn't it, Doric was also an Italian Organ maker, and I think they were allied w/ Farfisa at one time. It's got lots of knobs and rocker-switches, and has a really groovy chrome tubular stand. That baby is from 1968, and when you put the 'oboe' and 'violin' rockers on, run it through a Vox amp w/ lots of spring reverb, a little tremolo, and a minute amount of fuzz, you get the most wonderful sound ever imagineable (perfect for psychadelic techno). huh, and you can supposedly get a 'farfisa' sound from VK, bah... jonathan.