http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rtWbBvDyKc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjqN0N1JG6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xda-i4To2LQ

…….in between thousands of badly-drawn furry and anime comic characters.

BTW, I don’t think Matrix or Music Thing have featured this guy yet. Good panel artwork, esp. for a 16-year old kid from Chicago. Looks like a FatMan board inside. Wonder if he ever finished it.

Zorgitron’s homemade synth

A friend mentioned seeing an ARP Quadra in a pawnshop yesterday. He asked the pawnbroker to plug it in, and sure enough–it was totally non-functional.

In case you were not aware of it, the Quadra was ARP’s 1978 attempt to make a “super keyboard” by tossing together a pile of assorted stuff they already had. So, it’s basically a “sandwich” containing an Omni string synth, an Axxe (or Solus? some disagreement) lead synth, a simple one-VCO bass synth, and a really nice phaser, all stuffed into a very large box with a cheap keyboard assembly (which was easily ruined if you dropped the Quadra, as it protruded from the case) and a very primitive preset capability. I seem to recall that it sold for more than $4000 when it came out.

Should you be tempted to buy one, be aware that it is guaranteed that the membrane buttons will be unusable and very difficult to replace or substitute. And the electronics will have a long list of issues. Synth-collector snobs don’t like to talk about the Quadra…….Oh well, at least it had a nice phaser. Long ago I was tempted to buy a used Quadra because it could do fascinating, warped things…but then I heard the horror stories about it…..

Sonic State’s Quadra info

Emulator Archive’s info on the Quadra

A brave soul repairs his Quadra’s buttons, by building a subpanel with regular pushbuttons–BIG job

(If you want just the phaser, you could maybe DIY your own from Juergen Haible’s design)

Ondes-Martenot

“ Unfortunately, the recent generations of highly versatile, polyphonic keyboard synthesizers and digital samplers have resulted in a diminished interest in the ondes Martenot today. In the years following Maurice Martenot’s death in 1980, manufacture of the ondes (which had always been a family business) ceased altogether. Perhaps with renewed interest in these wonderful devices, which are most unlike synthesizers, manufacture will start up once again.”

Well-known thereminist Mr. Pringle predicted the arrival of the French Connection.
(now if he’d just update his website–this looks to have been put up around 1998.)

I like this photo.

If you want weird synth music made with weird synths you want Holy Fuck. Yes, that is the name of the band.

A four piece improv synth-rock band from Toronto, Canada, their instruments include a drum set, bass guitar, and two tables of broken synths, wires, and weird electronic crap. And I assure you, they can rock a party. Witness the insanity herein. Listen to some of their “songs”. See them on tour through Europe. Buy their second album out in a few weeks. Holy crap!

(Images by amadeeeep)

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