Korg Traveller (1972)

Roland RE-201 Space Echo (1973-1988)

The Roland RE-201 Space Echo is truly a Vintage piece of music technology with lots of appeal even today. It's not a synth, but a Tape-Echo machine for creating true analog echo effects. The RE-201 is a simple system in which a small loop of tape records an incoming signal and immediately plays the recorded sound back over a couple playback heads before being erased over by new incoming audio. A real analog system with warm, gritty and almost noiseless operation, the Space Echo can provide warm, unpredictable and highly tweakable echo effects.

There are twelve settings to adjust various tape loop speeds, number of repeats, levels, intensity, etc... It can even generate some of its own feedback loops for instant sci-fi effects. It features a built in spring reverb for even more classic analog effects. The RE-201 not only has Vintage appeal but is still widely used to get those dubby, slightly unpredictable, musically analog echo effects. It's a definite must for the TripHop and dub genres.

Here's the Arp Avatar working with the legendary Roland Space Echo (by 123 Synthland)

Yamaha CS-80 (1976)

A very old and very huge classic synthesizer. Considered Japans first great synthesizer. It had some pretty amazing features for its time such as eight voice polyphony, patch memory storage and polyphonic aftertouch. It can generate great analog strings, brass, drones and pads with that instantly recognizable classic polysynth sound. No synth sounds greater. Some examples of its extremely fat sound can be heard in "Blade Runner" and "Mutiny on the Bounty" by Vangelis as well as "Dune" by Toto. The thing that really made this synth sound so powerful was its "natural" detuning....thus its brass and string sounds were unparalleled not only for authenticity, but for pure width! Unfortunately for the CS-80, it was released the same year as the more programmable and cheaper Prophet 5. 

With two analog oscillators per voice, the CS-80 has the potential for some really thick sounds. A great VCF filter with independent hi pass and low pass resonant filters, a powerful ring modulator and plenty of modulation controls further enhance the CS-80's sonic potential. There are 22 preset sounds (6 user) selected from bright and ugly colored buttons above the keyboard. The keyboard is weighted and has a full 61 keys with performance controllers for vibrato, pitch, brightness and volume. Surprisingly there's also a long ribbon controller for the pitch-bending, located above the keyboard. There is no MIDI or CV/Gate control. The only way to MIDI it is via a rather complex retrofit receive-only kit from Kenton. 

It's a Cosmic world (Artwork by Bene Rohlmann)

Conrad Schnitzler

Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1937, Conrad Schnitzler is an essential name in the history of electronic music music during the 60′s and 70′s.

Having been pupil of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and being inspired by the likes of Pierre Schaeffer and John Cage, Schnitzler was co-founder of the Zodiak Club in Berlin in 1968, where the pioneering psychedelic band Agitation Free used to play. Conrad Schnitzler became a member of Tangerine Dream in 1969 recording their first and legendary album “Electronic Meditation”.
Conrad Schnitzler left the band in 1970 to form the project that would became a master key of the krautrock and experimental vanguard in Germany: the band Kluster, which was formed along with the early electronica masters Hans-Jaochim Roedelius Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. Schnitzler left the band after a couple of albums to develop a solo career oriented to the electronic and analogue synthesis experimentation.
In 1971, Schnitzler started a trilogy of albums (“Schwartz”, “Blau”, and “Rot”) in an almost extreme attitude of melodic, tonal, rhythmic, and structural minimalismism, setting the foundations of modern electronic minimalism music.

During the first half of the 70′s, Schnitzler produced numerous experiments, but this hardly saw the light until 1978 when Peter Baumann from Tangerine Dream instigated the release of his works.
By the early 80′s, Conrad Schnitzler started series of numerous releases, most of them synth pop oriented, and he finally moved back to his most experimental side in the 90′s with a series of releases in the Plate Lunch label.




Electrocon (1980/CD2006) Recorded at Paragon Studio, Berlin in 1980-81. Digital remastered at Peace Music, Tokyo, Japan 2006.

BOSS DR-110 Dr. Rhythm Graphic (1983)

The Boss Doctor Rhythm DR-110 Graphic is a drum machine, produced by the Boss product division of the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1983.

Boss were better known for producing electric guitar accessories such as effects pedals, and the DR-110 is similarly small and lightweight in size (190×110×30mm, and only 450g), and like most Boss equipment, could be run from a 9V d.c. supply or batteries. In 1980, Roland introduced their first simple and affordable drum machine to bear the BOSS Dr. Rhythm brand, the DR-55, offering four sounds, an Accent and a limited number of programmable patterns. It was followed by the Dr. Rhythm Graphic (DR-110) in 1983, which offers a wider selection of sounds, preset patterns, an increased number of programmable patterns and the ability to chain patterns together to form songs. The simple step programming of the first Dr. Rhythm, with alternating button presses for notes and rests, is augmented by an LCD with a grid showing the individual notes in the current pattern. In addition to step programming there is also a "tap write" programming mode, albeit without a metronome click for timekeeping.

The sounds are Kick, Snare, Closed Hi-Hat, Open Hi-Hat, Cymbal and Clap. The sounds are totally analog, and sound crisp and punchy, thanks to tone generation circuitry that is more sophisticated than the Roland TR-606 Drumatix. A balance knob alters the level of the Kick, Snare and Clap relative to the other sounds, while an accent knob controls the amount of emphasis applied to accented steps. There is also a volume knob, which controls the overall level of both the main and headphone outputs. The main output is mono, but has an unusual feature whereby plugging in a suitable wired lead with a stereo jack plug allows for the feeding in of another signal to be mixed with the drum sounds. Another socket provides for a trigger signal, emitting a pulse for every accented step in a pattern.

The patterns are organized into four banks of eight patterns each. Banks C and D are the presets, while banks A and B are programmable. Each pattern can be switched between 12 or 16 steps, for a 3/4 or 4/4 time signature. Two songs can be programmed, each containing a maximum of 128 bars.

At the time of writing, the Dr. Rhythm Graphic is relatively affordable compared to similar machines such as the  Roland TR-606 Drumatix, and are usually found in good condition thanks to the padded carry case that they came with. On the downside, there are no outputs or tone controls for the individual sounds, but a number of well documented modifications can be found on the Internet that add these features.