Dress To Synth

Crumar DS (1978)

Crumar DS-I & DS-II (Ad from June 1978)

This is a very big and good looking synth with a lot of knobs for instant hands-on control. And you don't need a hardcase, it's built into one.

The Crumar DS-2 is basically a monosynth with an added 44-voice polyphonic strings section. The DS-2 was one of the first synthesizers to use digitally controlled oscillators making it stable in tune but maybe not as fat as VCO synthesizers. 

But it can sound fat. Especially if you use the polyphonic string section and apply some slow LFO modulation to the pitch.

Bruce Haack - Electric To Me Turn (1970)

"The Electric To Me Turn" is the first track from "Electric Lucifer" an early electronic album by Bruce Haack noted for its originality and innovative use of acid rock and electronic sounds. A psychedelic, anti-war song about the battle between heaven and hell. Haack used a Moog synthesizer and his own home-built electronics, including an early prototype vocoder. It was originally released on LP in 1970. The lyrics are highly original, mentioning concepts such as "powerlove" - a force so strong and good that it will not only save mankind but Lucifer himself. It remains Haack's only album to debut on a major label. (Video by Wonder Muddle)

Polyfusion Series 2000 (1976-1982)

Polyfusion was founded in 1975 by ex-Moog employees, Alan Pearce and Ron Folkman who decided to design a system of their own.

The serie 2000 modular came in 1976, it's a very well designed and built instrument, a kind of unbreakable machine (I have never ever seen one faulty). The first modules were using the same format and the knobs as in Moog systems. The sound is close to Moog’s one but the quality and stability of the electronic set it in another range, perhaps the most reliable modular at that time, and may be even today.
It's easily tunable and remains in tune.

The sequencer is available both in stand alone or standard module format. An 8 voices cv-gate polyhonic keyboard is also available. Available format : Main cabinet, Half cabinet. Tier cabinet, Half tier cabinet. Around 150 systems have been made from 1976 to 1982 .

(Thanks to Francois Marcaud)

Alesis SR-16 (1990) Drum Machine

No doubt the SR-16 is a powerful drum machine, but ultimately it also sounds like a drum machine. If you need some drums to accompany your keyboard or guitar playing, for example, the SR-16 has been the go-to drum machine for many years. But all those bumper stickers about drum machines having no soul just might be directed at the SR-16. It may be a great tool for musicians but in the studio its sound just can't beat the real deal - or loops and more modern drum & percussion instruments and software.

For serious programmers and those who want to use it as a sound module, the SR-16 provides comprehensive MIDI programming and MIDI implementation. In addition to more than 200 drum and rhythm samples (both in dry form or with reverb), a Dynamic Articulation feature enables a drum's tone to change, depending on how hard it's hit. Comes with fifty preset rhythm patterns (played in by top studio drummers), each with an A and B variation, plus A and B fill, for a total of four different rhythms in each pattern. Of course, you can create and save your own customized patterns and songs. Also includes four outputs, twelve velocity-sensitive pads, 16-voice polyphony, sample/DAC bit resolution 16/18, sound stacking, step editing and a 20-255BPM tempo range.


Video Manual by Alesis Studio Electronics

Roland G-707 (1984)

Tangerine Dream - Live at Conventry Cathedral (1975)

In December 1974 Tangerine Dream were invited to play in the grand setting of Rheims Cathedral, a move certainly seen at the time as groundbreaking. Because of this, they were then invited to perform in the cathedrals of York, Liverpool and Coventry. The tour attracted unprecedented coverage in the media, especially at Coventry Cathedral, an iconic building rising like a Phoenix on the ruins of the old cathedral bombed to bits by the Germans in 1940 (Tangerine Dream is, after all, a German band) as a celebration of peace and reconciliation, as well as a lasting showcase for great contemporary art. The nave is dominated by a gigantic tapestry by Graham Sutherland, the main door dwarfed by a scuplture of St Michael and The Devil by Jacob Epstein, and the consecration in 1962 heard the first performance of Britten's incomparable 'War Requiem. To their lasting credit, Tangerine Dream contributed to this celebration.

This film released 2007 for the first time on DVD will be welcomed by the massive Tangerine Dream fan base, and also seen for what it is - a meeting of cultures and for a brief moment in time, a time where the past met both the present and the future.

Film Director – Tony Palmer

Performer – Christopher Franke, Edgar Froese, Peter Baumann

Part 1

Part 2