OH-BER-HEIMs yes OH-BER-HEIMs yes OH-BER-HEIMs yes OH-BER-HEIMs yes…
Two Oberheim OB series recently in the shop for repair/modification at The Analog Lab in NYC.
The OB-Xa had our new Analog Lab Tuning Stability Mod installed. This is a service we offer for OB-X and OB-Xa models that bring the tuning stability into the 21st century-Good enough for even the most demanding musician of today.
In the video, the OB-Xa plays the role of Westeros-providing all the instrumentation in the beginning of the video. For the second part, we fly over to Essos where the OB-8 takes over. In the grand finale, both OBs join together to make a HUGE SOUND.
Oberheims are coming…
Do you wish you were able to fix and maintain your own gear? Ever wanted to know what an oscilloscope does and how to use it?
The Analog Lab offers a complete technical hands-on mentoring program for those individuals who have an interest in being a professional gear tech or gear designer. The classes are usually held twice a week during the evenings and are around 2 hours each and covers subjects such as electronic safety, components, circuit design (using examples from classic analog synths), etc. The actual class time will be determined once everyone’s schedules have been compared.
No prior knowledge of circuitry, tools, or any other electronics is requiredand each student chooses their own final repair or build project so you come away with a new or restored piece of gear!
Jeff Blenkinsopp, The Sonic Wizard, administers classes and has been involved with analog synthesizers and their design and repair for more than 30 years. You can read more of Jeff’s bio here: http://www.earsnyc.com/blenkinsopp.html
You will leave the course with a “real world” education that you can’t get anywhere else!
There are no more than 6 students to a class so don’t delay in signing up!
2 Voyetra 8s were recently in for repair and Jeff had flashbacks of his days at Octave Plateau in the 1980s, when the Voyetra was being developed and produced. Jeff was part of the production team for the Voyetra, along with Carmine Bonanno, Fred Romano, Bruce Frazier, and Frank Levi. Octave Plateau Electronics also created the Octave Cat, Kitten, and Cat Stick, and is also one of the few synthesizer companies from that era that is still in existence (Turtle Beach).
The Voyetra 8 was the first rackmount synthesizer, and one of the first to incorporate MIDI. It also sounds AMAZING. We have a special love for this synth here at the shop and wanted to share some of its history with the world.
Film/Music: Harlan Muir
Dr. Jack Valentijn was with The Analog Lab
for a month investigating characteristics of different analog synths.
As a resident technician, he analyzed and was immersed in the hands on technical workings of various models by manufacturers such as
Arp, Moog, SCI, Yamaha, Korg, and many more.
www.theanaloglab.com
Film and Music: Harlan Muir
Marc Smith, a former student of our Tech Mentoring Program, recently checked in with us to show us what he’s been up to:
“Thought you’d enjoy seeing my latest tech build (if you recall a couple years ago I built the 1176 kit in your class). I’ve since built a neve eq, a bunch of pedals and just finished a tweed amp. Here are two photo albums of the electronics build and the cab.”
Check them out on The Facebox.
Album 1
Album 2
Moog muSonics Sonic V that was recently repaired by The Analog Lab in NYC.
From Matrixsynth:
It has 2 osc’s (saw, tri, square/pulse) 2 lfo’s (saw,ramp,tri square) a ring modulator, a noise generator (white or pink), an external input, 2 outputs and 2 built in speakers. The speakers can be bypassed by using the second output. It is monophonic (plays one note at a time) and/or duophonic (plays two notes at a time). It even has a ‘scale’ knob on the front panel so it can play microtones.
The Sonic V has a 24db diode filter which is very expressive. It has that Moog sound when you want it, but you can also have it sound quite different. It can sound more gritty or aggressive then other synths containing the traditional Moog 24db transistor ladder filter thanks to the diode filter design and also to the addition of the ring modulator.
An extremely rare PPG 1020 Synthesizer recently repaired by The Analog Lab in NYC. This little beast was released in 1976 and was very ahead of its time by having 2 DCOs! You would almost think its an 8-bit machine at times if you have the square waves set just right. It also has a Ring Modulator.
We thought Bach would be appropriate for a quick little demo. Enjoy!
www.theanaloglab.com
The Analog Lab’s next Tech Mentoring Course is set to begin on 13, January 2013.
The Analog Lab offers a complete technical hands-on mentoring program for those individuals who have an interest in being a professional gear tech or gear designer. Classes meet twice a week for 10 weeks and cover subjects such as electronic safety, components, circuit design (using examples from classic analog synths), etc. Each student chooses their own final repair or build project so you come away with a new or restored piece of gear! Four classes will be combined into one day-long class to be held on a TBD Saturday to provide an “in depth” repair experience. Jeff Blenkinsopp, The Sonic Wizard, administers classes and has been involved with analog synthesizers and their design and repair for more than 30 years. You can read more of Jeff’s bio here: http://www.earsnyc.com/blenkinsopp.html
No prior knowledge of circuitry, tools, or any other electronics is required. The course is designed to teach anyone to be a tech. That being said, people that do have a grasp of these subjects are able to take the course to learn new techniques, sharpen their skills, and have a source of advice for questions they may have.
You will leave the course with a “real world” education that you can’t get anywhere else!
Check out the Tech Mentoring page or Email us for more info at:
theanaloglab@gmail.com
A Yamaha SY20 that was recently repaired by The Analog Lab in NYC.
The Yamaha SY20 is an analog mono synth that came out in 1982 AFTER Yamaha released the DX7. It is a surprisingly complex and expressive synth. The SY20 is incredibly rare. It was originally intended to be an “educational” synth for use in learning synthesis. It even has a transposition knob with all 12 notes in the chromatic scale that allows you to transpose up to one octave. This allows you to play the same thing in a different key and not worry about transposing. And the filter sounds awesome. Features include:
LFO Routing to:
VCO
VCF
VCA
Aftertouch:
Volume
Brilliance
Vibrato
VCA EG
VCF EG
VCF:
Lowpass
Bandpass 1
Bandpass 2
VCO:
Saw or Square (or a mix) Waveforms
PW
Noise
VCO Footage:
2′
4′
8′
16′
32′
Portamento
Sustain
Transpose
Brilliance
Presets:
Group A: Flute-Oboe-Clarinet-Sax-Fagot-Violin-Viola-Cello-Contrabass-FX
Group B: Trumpet-Muted Trumpet-Horn-Trombone-Tuba-Pizz Violin-Pizz Viola-Pizz Cello-Pizz Bass-Harpsichord
Btw, it’s for sale…
An EMS VCS mkII was recently in for service at The Analog Lab in NYC. The joystick was repaired, VCO2 was brought back into cal, and the unit had a general cleaning/tuneup.
Now listen to the dronez.
Whats going on this week at The Analog Lab? Watch this video and wonder NO MORE!
Thanks to Matrixsynth:
http://m.matrixsynth.com/2012/09/korg-ps-3300-modular-polyphonic.html#more
A brief, stereotypical vocoder demo featuring the amazing Sennheiser VSM 201 Vocoder with an EML POLYBOX.
These were both units that were in for repair at The Analog Lab in NYC.
The tone generator is routed through the EML where it is divided into user selected pitches/chords. The chords remain static, but the pitch shifts with the change of the frequency of the tone generator.
-Also featured- One of Harlan’s favorite screwdrivers…it snuck in and I didn’t notice until afterward.
And an Oscilloscope for awesomeness.
Here is a Russian Formanta Polivoks Duophonic Synthesizer that was recently in for repair at The Analog Lab in NYC. It is a harsh sounding nasty beasty. Its basically impossible to get a sweet sound out of this thing, so we decided to go with a brash piece by Modest Mussorgsky…Hooray Russia!
The guts of this thing are also pretty solid. Soviet era parts all over the place with plug-in circuit boards. The schematics for this synth are actually pretty decent. Strange grounding system and output connectors. The Polivoks just feels cheap, like you might break it by playing it, but damn, it can get in your face!
