**update 07.09.21 – audio clip added! see below! you can now HEAR this monstrosity!**
Download a 4PP article (+advert) from the June 1951 RADIO ELECTRONICS on the subject of a novel (+fairly creepy) electro-mechanical speech-synthesizer designed by Bell Labs.
This has got to be one of the wildest electro-mechanical synths every created. I wonder what New Jersey basement it ended up in. I’m preeeeetty sure that this abomination provided the historical-basis for the device that Tony Shaloub’s character was developing in the first season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Anyhow. It’s weird and far-out and I think you will enjoy reading about it.
T.F. provided us with this audio clip so that you can hear this device in action. it’s pretty remarkable TBH…
This is pretty interesting. I’ve seen plenty of CP80s and CP70s; we even had a CP70 at our studio Gold Coast Recorders for years, until we eventually ran out of space (with two Baldwin pianos, Rhodes, Wurli 200, Pianet, two hammonds, and a full size marimba, something had to give…).
But. A CP with midi? Amazing. I was also unaware of the CP60, which seems v similar in format to the Kawai stage upright of the same era.
I’ve literally never seen one of these MIDI CPs, not even online. Anyone using one? Drop us a line…
TABLES s/t debut LP is available NOW as 12″ LP and digital download on Safety Meeting Records; you can purchase and/or stream all ten cuts at this link.
If you dig this blog, you will like this record. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out. Also makes a great gift for all the other weirdos in yr life. LPs are limited to 250 in this pressing.
Suzanne Ciani is a name that should be familiar to many of you. Considered to be one of the true innovators of electronic music, Ciani found great success as a sound-designer for television and radio commercials in New York in the 70s and 80s. After a very lucurative career, she returned to California and began a 2nd career as a recording artist; her music is often generalized as ‘new age,’ not surprisingly.
There is just a ton of information online regarding Ciani and her work; I suggest you start here and here. Also if there is anyone out there who wants to redesign her website HOLY SHIT it’s like 1997 up in there. Jesus. Anyhow, I was at an estate sale recently, some real eccentric types; in the LPs were such gems at the United States Of America, Holy Modal Rounders, and The Remains.Not your typical 60s rock albums. The piles of musty old magazines included graphic-designer fav U&lc, an old issue of Viva, and something called TECHNOLOGY, which was on its 2nd edition, 2nd issue by March of ’82. Sorta like OMNI minus the fiction, TECHNOLOGY featured this profile with Ciani, which I think may have been lost to time… until now. I offer it to you here:
Author is one Stephen Kindel. The focus is very much on the economics of being an in-demand synthesist, which may have just been some 80s yuppie zeitgeist shit, or maybe some part of the magazine’s editorial mission. Either way, it’s Karl Marx’s fucking nightmare. Enjoy! Oh, and here she is around the same time on Letterman, doing some sorta wacky proto Liz Lemon-meets-Kate Bush schtick. Love it.
In ’06 or ’07 I found a Farfisa VIP 233 organ at the flea market. It languished at the market for a few weeks, but even I was surprised when the seller accepted my offer of $120 for the thing. I was taking a pretty big risk buying it, as these things are insanely complex and therefore not-really-worth-fixing if they have voice problems. As it turned out, the big heavy beast worked perfectly. I recently came across the original 1972 advert for the VIP-233 and it reminded me that I once owned one of these things:
It’s a versatile unit, and it sounded great… that being said, despite all its attempts to encroach on Hammond territory, it always sounds very Farfisa-y and can’t really do the Hammond thing very well.
I came across these photos of my actual unit, taken back in 2007: I shot some images of the thing so that I could sell it on Craigslist. At the time, we wanted more of a Hammond sound and the VIP-233 just was not getting used much. The piece sold in a matter of days for… i think… $650? A kid came up from Brooklyn and was thrilled at the deal he got. OK so gonna get nostalgic for a minute: in this series of photos, you see the 233 in the piano booth at my old studio on Bridgeport’s far east side – the American Fabrics Building – the same bldg that is now the home of the Preservation Sound shop. Subtle index of time-passing? Check out the ashtray and lighter on the little end table. I don’t think I know anyone who smokes anymore… and a mere seven years ago, pretty much everyone I knew, myself included, did. I suppose we have Mayor Bloomberg to thank for that?
The space depicted above was completely gutted and transformed into an art studio years ago; while my new studio has certainly been a major upgrade, it’s great to see the old spot. I don’t think I had the VIP 233 for very long; I could only find one production that features it. Check out the track below. This is the band Stylofone; you may know these guys from their later work with MGMT and The Acrylics. At about :30 in, you can hear a little moog-esque glissando; this is the unique ‘Slalom’ portamento effect the the VIP 233 offers.
We’ve covered the Lyricon earlier on PS dot com (click here), but this thing is just too wacky and awesome to ignore. Any wind-controller users out there? DS and i were at a fkkn crazy studio-liquidation sale this weekend and some dude walked out with one of those Akai wind controllers for $10… seems like a good deal. Mkkn fusion-flute y’all!!!! Herbie Mann electro!
Today: some Moog-bits circa the mid seventies. Above: the Polymoog. And below: one of my fav recently-unearthed period-tracks featuring a Polymoog.
Above: The Sonic Six of 1973. Sure I know ELP, but Paintings? The Mike Quatro Jam Band? Anyone?
Above: The same bros. Now with MiniMoog.
The Micromoog of ’77. Not a ton of control options on this lil’ guy, but they are still affordable at around $700usd. I should probably pick one of these up before they become as unaffordable as the most of the other vintage Moog models…
I came across a few more EML (Electronic Music Laboratories) bits that I will share with you. I’ve written a little about EML before, as they were based in Connecticut and lets face it, I am never getting out of this state. Anyhow, click here for our first EML article, and click here for coverage of the 1976 EML SynthKey, which was likely the first synth with aftertouch.
I’ve yet to be contacted by anyone who worked at EML in the 70s. Folks, if yr out there, drop a line… the world needs to know…
The EML model 101 synth
The EML Model 100 synth
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Bonus 70’s CT synth-times: The 1976 Synare PS by Star Systems of Stafford Springs CT. Looks pretty righteous… anyone?
How are y’all doing on this snowy day… listening to some mid-seventies Tangerine Dream LPs and flippin thru a giant pile of old DOWNBEAT mags that I picked up at an estate sale this past wknd along with an enormous radio. Here’s a few ARP bits+bobs that caught my eye. Anyone have the above-depicted demo record?
The ARP Odyssey c. 1977
The ARP Minus Noise Mixer c.1976. Anyone know exactly what is the gimmick here?
I know that this will be a polarizing thing to say, but I can’t stand Frank Zappa’s music. I have tried. Oh brother I have tried. Also he seems like a total fkkn prick in every interview I have ever read with him. Like one of those a-holes who acts like he’s having a bad time at the party, but rather than leave the party, dude just hovers around radiating bad vibes.
Now, on the plus side, total prickishness can sometimes turn into comedy gold. As-in this 1977 interview in Downbeat mag. Faced with a fairly straightforward question about the role of electronics in music, Zappa delivers a diatribe which ends in the condemnation of summer-homes. Enjoy…
