(Smail3.1.28.1 #2) id m0noAp2-000MTzC; Wed, 28 Apr 93 14:01 MET DST id ; Wed, 28 Apr 93 11:13 MET DST From: ricard@axis.se (Ricard Wolf) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 93 11:13:09 MET DST analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Synth Mailing List) Subject: Re: ARP-- a partial listing of products Cc: synth-l@auvm.american.edu (SYNTH-L) > 1972 Odyssey lead synth > ... > 1981 ARP dies > ... > > with later futzing, and a few preset synths. And the Odyssey was made > in many generations from 1972 right up until the company died, a life > span equalled only by the Xpander, which was made by Oberheim from 1984 Anyone have an idea of differences/improvements on the Odessey? I've seen Odessey's with white panels and Odessey's with black panels, with and without CV/gate interfaces etc. Mine has a black panel, CV/gate/trig interface (using mini (3.5mm) jacks), and probably made near the end (I don't recall the serial no. but I seem to recall some IC's being date-stamped at 1981 or something). Speaking of long-term: how about the MiniMoog? Didn't it come out in '71 and continue (with little change: the improved oscillator board being one major issue) until the early eighies or something? /Ricard -- Ricard Wolf / | \ / | /- email: ricard@axis.se Axis Communications AB /__| \/ | \__ uucp: axisab.se!ricard S - 223 70 LUND / | /\ | \ Tel: +46 46 19 18 63 SWEDEN / | / \ | \__/ Fax: +46 46 13 61 30 -- "Tesla Girls, Tesla Girls, testing out feelings" -- From owner-synth-l@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Wed Apr 28 08:01:16 1993 with BSMTP id 2480; Wed, 28 Apr 93 07:58:35 EDT Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 07:58:34 -0400 From: Ricard Wolf Subject: Re: ARP-- a partial listing of products Analogue Synth Mailing List Comments: cc: SYNTH-L > 1972 Odyssey lead synth > ... > 1981 ARP dies > ... > > with later futzing, and a few preset synths. And the Odyssey was made > in many generations from 1972 right up until the company died, a life > span equalled only by the Xpander, which was made by Oberheim from 1984 Anyone have an idea of differences/improvements on the Odessey? I've seen Odessey's with white panels and Odessey's with black panels, with and without CV/gate interfaces etc. Mine has a black panel, CV/gate/trig interface (using mini (3.5mm) jacks), and probably made near the end (I don't recall the serial no. but I seem to recall some IC's being date-stamped at 1981 or something). Speaking of long-term: how about the MiniMoog? Didn't it come out in '71 and continue (with little change: the improved oscillator board being one major issue) until the early eighies or something? /Ricard -- Ricard Wolf / | \ / | /- email: ricard@axis.se Axis Communications AB /__| \/ | \__ uucp: axisab.se!ricard S - 223 70 LUND / | /\ | \ Tel: +46 46 19 18 63 SWEDEN / | / \ | \__/ Fax: +46 46 13 61 30 -- "Tesla Girls, Tesla Girls, testing out feelings" -- From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay) Subject: ARP-- a partial listing of products Date: Tue, 27 Apr 93 9:14:30 PDT Cc: synth-l@auvm.american.edu (SYNTH-L) I recently had a chance to read through several old issues of ARPEGGIO, the newsletter published by ARP from 1973 until their demise. There were all sorts of neat articles, interviews, descriptions of analog synths (back in the old days it wasn't enough to say "it's analog"), in depth articles on the Quadra and other instruments, and so on. What I found interesting was the concerns of musicians at the time; in some ways they parallel ours, and in other ways they seem archaic. The issue of polyphony was a critical one. Everyone wanted it and no one could get it. In this context, the development of an interface between the Axxe and the String Ensemble to provide a quasi-polyphonic "synthesizer" was a very big deal. Even back then, people were looking for patch ideas-- they were sold as overlays with markings on them, so you could put one on your Odyssey or Axxe and set the knobs quickly. The introduction of programmable presets, on the Quadra, was hailed as a miracle of sorts. What was VERY interesting to me was ARP's completely head-in-the-sand attitude towards the polyphonic synths being developed by Sequential at the time; they had no interest in anything like the Prophet, an attitude that probably led to the refusal to back the Chroma. Anyway, for your edification and amusement, here's an almost-complete product list from ARP, broken down by year. (It's worth noting how glacially slow by today's standards the whole process was!) Items marked with (?) are of unsure year, because I wasn't able to get a reference. 1969 Model 2500 modular synthesizer (used sliding patch switches) 1970 Model 2600 quasi-modular synthesizer (the blue meanie) 1972 Odyssey lead synth 1974 Pro-Soloist preset synth String Ensemble (with CV/Gate interface!) 1975 Axxe (first lead synth under $1000) Little Brother voice expander (preset divide-down unit?) Explorer I preset synthesizer 1976 Omni string/brass ensemble ARPSequencer (?) 1977 Avatar guitar synthesizer 1978 Quadra multi-synthesizer keyboard Pro-DGX preset synthesizer (?) 1979 Quartet four-layer ensemble keyboard Solus lead synth (?) Omni 2 string/brass ensemble (?) 1980 the Chroma/Centaur war Four-Voice Electronic Piano 1981 ARP dies I know I've missed some stuff here, but this is a good start. Note the entire lineup is essentially a few mono synths, a few string machines with later futzing, and a few preset synths. And the Odyssey was made in many generations from 1972 right up until the company died, a life span equalled only by the Xpander, which was made by Oberheim from 1984 to 1992 (although construction was minimal after 1988 or so). -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was looking for you. But I couldn't find you. I was looking for you...... Subject: Re: arp oddessy CV + roland MPU-101 <01GXE05I8EPEM29FXC@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 11:14:50 -0600 From: Forrest Cook >>taylor.808 writes: >a friend of mine has an ARP oddessy, that has a CV OUT... we're looking for >a mod to make a CV IN for it... Weird, my Odyssey definitely has a CV IN connector on the back, I use it extensively in my latest project, the Universal Musical Interface, formerly the Universal MIDI Interface. Arp must have made several versions of the synth. I've been having lots of fun with an old trackball that I use to modulate the frequency. There was a previous thread about how well you can do glissando and how to avoid stair-stepping, well folks IT CAN BE DONE! The trackball sounds very much like a Theremin with analog smooth glissando. Anybody remember "Lothar and the HAND PEOPLE"? they were a 60's Theremin band and Lothar was the theremin. Their big song was "Sex and Violence" I'll almost certainly put this new sound onto the "Analog Heaven" tape, so if you want to hear it, send me some of YOUR stuff. I'll probably post one more message to the list with my address and see what comes in. Forrest Cook cook@stout.atd.ucar.edu WB0RIO {husc6|rutgers|ames|gatech}!ncar!stout!cook (Smail3.1.28.1 #2) id m0nnOZy-000MTpC; Mon, 26 Apr 93 10:30 MET DST id ; Mon, 26 Apr 93 08:40 MET DST From: ricard@axis.se (Ricard Wolf) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 08:40:56 MET DST analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Re: arp oddessy CV + roland MPU-101 > > > > > a friend of mine has an ARP oddessy, that has a CV OUT... we're looking for > a mod to make a CV IN for it... we know someone who will do it for $125... > but, i figure if it can be done with $10 of radio shack parts...we'd rather > do that.. This is weird: on my Odessey there are CV/trig/gate in and out, six mini-sized (3.5mm) connectors. They don't seem to be an add-on, but factory mounted. Perhaps this was only on later models? /Ricard -- Ricard Wolf / | \ / | /- email: ricard@axis.se Axis Communications AB /__| \/ | \__ uucp: axisab.se!ricard S - 223 70 LUND / | /\ | \ Tel: +46 46 19 18 63 SWEDEN / | / \ | \__/ Fax: +46 46 13 61 30 -- "Dare to be stupid!" -- From owner-synth-l@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Wed Apr 28 21:51:54 1993 with BSMTP id 5744; Wed, 28 Apr 93 21:49:12 EDT Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1993 18:52:03 PDT From: metlay Subject: Re: your mail 27, 93 4:03 pm >Metlay writes: > >> they had no interest in anything like the Prophet, an >> attitude that probably led to the refusal to back the Chroma. > >My understanding was that Arp ran out of money before they could >bring the Chroma to market. Was there political in-fighting and >"it'll never make it" stuff going on? Oh, yes. The death of ARP was really about Alan R. Pearlman and David Friend, whose rivalry led to the breakup of a coherent vision for the company. Each blames the other for the death of the company. >> 1980 the Chroma/Centaur war > >Oooh, tell us about this one dad. What did *you* do in the war? The Centaur was ARP's idea for a multiple-unit full performance system, with a Quadra, bass pedals, and a bunch of other stuff put in; sort of an analog workstation. It was favored for development over the Chroma, but never saw production. >The Rhodes Chroma: The REAL man's synth (since it weighs as much as most women) How true. |-> -- mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was looking for you. But I couldn't find you. I was looking for you......