Well here’s something different. In a sea of Roland Junos and various polysynths from Korg and Yamaha there were some other lesser known contenders from Kawai, Crumar and various other European and Japanese companies with a lot of similarities and a few key differences. I must admit when I hear the name Kawai I think of either entry-level home keyboards or upright pianos. The company was started in 1927, and made guitars and pianos, sometimes under different brand names. In the 80s they started branching more into the “pro – level” market, introducing synthesizers both under the Teisco brand and their own name. I really should give Kawai props for actually making the classic “one knob for all the different functions” concept actually easy to use. You just hit the parameter you want to edit and twist the knob. (Much like the Moog Source) A lot of the others tried to do this, but you usually have to punch some stupid parameter number in and squint at a little chart. Personally I blame Yamaha’s DX 7, which after an industry changing debut in 1983 became the standard against which all other synthesizers were measured. (Actually the SX-210 came out the same year) People started looking at instruments like the Prophet – 5 and the Oberheim OBXa and saying “That thing’s got too many knobs! Why doesn’t it look futuristic like the DX-7?” Also, manufacturers like to save a buck whenever they can, and by eliminating as many knobs off of the front panel as possible they save money. Most people didn’t care anyways, because they would just use the pre – programmed patches. Lazy, lazy, LAZY! Another unique feature of the SX-210 is the large (by 80s standards) LED display. While some other synths just displayed numbers of patches, this is a full alphanumeric display so you can name your patches. So how does it actually sound? Pretty darn good I think. It’s actually a very warm sound; being a former Juno 106 owner I found this one to be darker and mellower sounding. They’re definitely two very different animals. It can’t touch my OB-8’s fatness, but nothing that has DCOs really can. Apparently there is also an SX-240, which is a similar deal but with another DCO, internal sequencer and MIDI. Now THAT would be the one to get! Here are some sound examples. The first is the “Strings 3” preset with the ensemble effect on, next the “Harp” preset while using the parameter dial to tweak the filter cutoff, then the patch named ”B-II-2” (not really sure what that means) and finally a patch called “what?”
And with a mighty THUD I might add! Many thanks to Doug Berquist who made this generous donation to us. The LM-1 is an important milestone in drum machine technology, being the first device of its kind to incorporate samples of real drums, rather than making close approximations using synthesizer techniques, as was the case for the now legendary Roland TR-808. Everyone has heard of the 808, it has even been mentioned in lyrics of pop songs, immortalized on album covers and in music videos, and the sounds are still used today either in the flesh or as samples. In fact the 808 and the LM-1 came out around the same time. Although the 808 had a unique and easy to use programming interface (commonly called XOX style programming), it didn’t really sound like real drums. Roger Linn was a guitar player in California in the late 70s when he decided to build a drum machine that in his words “did more than play preset samba patterns and didn’t sound like crickets” which admittedly most of them did at the time. The home computer boom was just around the corner, and the technology to make his vision of “sampled” drums possible was starting to become more widely available. The heart of the machine (and other machines made by Oberheim and Sequential Circuits in the early 80s) is the EPROM. (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) These have since been rendered almost obsolete by newer technology, but in 1978 were cutting edge. Essentialy it’s a chip that can be semi-permanently programmed with data, in this case a drum sound, and if so desired erased and re-programmed with a different sound. (See the blog about the Prommer and Oberheim DX)
So why is this dinosaur of a drum machine still relevant in this age of massive multi-samples and seemingly unlimited memory? Well, for one thing this revolutionary device showed up on lots of famous recordings by Prince, Michael Jackson (Thriller!), Madonna, The Human League, Mtume and many others. Its sound embodies the early 80s. Personally, I think it has a really unique feel. I own an Oberheim DX, and it sounds very quantized and robotic compared to the “sloppy yet funky” sound the LM-1 has. Check out the drum programming on this track and you’ll see what I mean.
Executive Director Andrew Mosker makes the big announcement
What a night last night. Cantos celebrated a milestone on its journey to creating a national music centre at the King Eddy Hotel yesterday by announcing our choice of Brad Cloepfil’s Allied Works and local partner BKDI as our architects. We made the announcement to a full house of friends and supporters followed by a great party with Matt Masters, The Ramblin’ Ambassadors and the Cantos Blue Mondays All Ages Blues Jam Regulars. Good times! Thanks to Matt Palmer for these pictures! Watch for more as they come in.
CMLC's Chris Ollenberger talks about the new East Village
Friends of the King Eddy's Michelle Goshinnmon seems happy with the choice.
It’s been a busy summer, and during my travels I have accumulated yet more gear. My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and my dad got me the PAIA theremax kit. http://www.paia.com/theremax.asp It looks like a fun build, and I even found a cool old 1920s radio case at a junk store to house it in. I’ll post pictures when it’s done for sure. Another thing I’ve been meaning to get for a long time is a Wurlitzer, and I bought a 200A from a friend who has since acquired a model 206 (the student model) for 30 bucks! Mine’s definitely going to need some work. It all works, but is lacking the sustain pedal, the legs, AND the internal speaker. All workable problems, but the sustain pedal sure would be nice. Some knobs would also be great. Luckily speakeasy vintage music http://www.shopspeakeasy.com/sess/utn;jsessionid=154aae8cb885c92/shopdata/0060_Wurlitzer+EP+Parts/product_overview.shopscript has all the stuff I need.
Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it — and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections.
