Vako Orchestron – Vocal Choir

June 15, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Vako Orchestron – Vocal Choir 

This is the “Vocal Choir” sound on a Vako Orchestron model C, with hi-cut, lo-cut and pitch altering.
Sometimes I have a small pitch stability problem, this is due to a worn out belt in the motor part.

Background information:

The Optigan was a kind of home organ made by the Optigan Corporation (a subsidiary of Mattel) in the early 70′s. It was set up like most home organs of the period- a small keyboard with buttons on the left for various chords, accompaniments and rhythms. At the time, all organs produced their sounds electrically or electronically with tubes or transistors. The Optigan was different in that its sounds were read off of LP sized celluloid discs which contained the graphic waveforms of real instruments. These recordings were encoded in concentric looping rings using the same technology as film soundtracks. (Remember that sequence in Fantasia where the Soundtrack makes a cameo? Those squiggly lines are actually pretty close to what the real thing looks like.) As the film runs, a light is projected through the soundtrack and is picked up on the other side by a photoreceptor. The voltage is varied depending on how much light reaches the receptor, and after being amplified this voltage is converted into audible sound by the speakers. The word “Optigan” stands for “Optical Organ.”

Optigan Console

Optigan discs have 57 rings of soundtrack- these provide recordings of real musicians playing riffs, chord patterns and other effects. (37 of the tracks are reserved for the keyboard sound itself- a different recording for each note.) So when you want to play a bossa nova, you don’t get those wimpy little pop-pop-chink-chink electronic sounds- you actually hear a live combo backing you up! The problem is that you only have a limited number of chords to choose from- C, D, E, F, G, A and Bb major, plus their parallel minor and diminished counterparts. (Actually, E and A major don’t really count, because for economic reasons (or maybe avant-garde musical reasons, depending on how optimistic you are) they decided to recycle the D diminished chord for E major and the G diminished chord for A major. I guess they felt that most of the notes matched anyway, so why waste the extra disc space? Consequently, playing anything in A or E major sounds really questionable at best.)

Playing back recorded instruments was a pretty unique concept for the early 70′s. Technically speaking, the Optigan was a primitive sampler. Sort of. I tend to think of it more like a poor-man’s Mellotron or Chamberlin. These are two famous keyboards from the sixties which played back recordings of instruments on lengths of magnetic tape. They became very popular despite some huge drawbacks. For one thing, the tapes only lasted a few seconds and, in the case of the Mellotron, could not loop. If you wanted your flute to keep playing, you would have to re-press the key after eight seconds. This also involved waiting for the tape to rewind, so up-tempo playing was generally not possible. Also, the racks of tapes themselves were pretty huge and unwieldy- changing from a choir to an oboe could take quite some time. Not surprisingly, these instruments were quite expensive to buy and maintain. But the sounds they made were worth it- and apparently still are, seeing as the current street value can easily exceed $2000.

Mattel marketed the Optigan as something of an adult toy- the sound quality was simply not good enough for professional use. They sold mostly through stores like Sears and JC Penny and were relatively inexpensive- about $200 to $400 depending on which model you chose. They came with a “Starter Set” of four discs, and extra discs were marketed like record albums. Official Optigan music books were also available to help you make the most out of the minimal talent you probably had if you had bought an Optigan in the first place. One of these books even has a spiffy arrangement of “Spanish Flea” (“for advanced players only”) that includes all of the lyrics!

destrOrgan – breakable anti-stress organ for the iPhone

June 13, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on destrOrgan – breakable anti-stress organ for the iPhone 

DestrOrgan, the destructible anti-stress organ!!

If you don’t like the sweet sound of piano, cats, dogs and flatulence… DESTROY IT!

Features 13 playable keys, 4 Instruments and over 70 Breakable parts!!!

Pricing and Availability

DestrOrgan is available in the App Store for $.99.

Link:

Virtual tonewheel organ

March 12, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Virtual tonewheel organ 

Wildnoise has released WildOrgan, a virtual tonewheel organ instrument plugin for Windows.

The WildOrgan is a virtual Organ-simulation, which can emulate various organ types. An extensive set of controls is available and 50 presets are included already.

The plugin can be used with VST hosts and is suitable for use wit hthe OpenArt-System. In addition to the regular user interface all functions can be controller via a MIDI controller. The controller layout can be configured for optimal usage.

WildOrgan for Windows (VST) is available to purchase for 58 EUR.

More information: Wildnoise / WildOrgan

Tubular Bells by the Brooklyn Organ Synth Orchestra

March 12, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Tubular Bells by the Brooklyn Organ Synth Orchestra 

Lots of goodies in this one…you know what I mean when you watch it :-)

Filmed and Directed by Amy Hobby.
Edited by Tony Zajkowski.

Over 20 different NYC female keyboardists playing vintage keyboards at Joe McGinty’s Carousel Studio in Brooklyn, NY.

Available on iTunes!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tubular-bells/id398862997

Featuring:
Kaia Wong (Mixel Pixel)
Kelly Rae Kerwin (Private Income)
Natasha Bartolf
Joanna Choy (Spray Paint Star)
Amy Merril (Mia Riddle)
Greta Gertler (The Universal Thump)
Supercute!
Anna Copa Cabanna
Rolyn Hu (True Primes)
Sondra Sun-Odeon (Silver Summit)
Michi Turner (Crash Diet Crew)
Katia Floreska (The Tall Pines)
Natalie Weiss (Unicornicopia, Camp Wanatachi)
Wendy Ip
Alice Cohen
Yvette Perez
Kelly Vaughn-Kauffman (Winstron Troy)
Yvette Perez (H*E*R)
Hula Hoop Harlot Melissa-Anne
Alix Brown (Golden Triangle)
Leah Cary (Girl Crisis)
Caitlin Jemison (Queen Of Sibyls)

Instruments featured:
Hammond M3 Organ
Fender Rhodes
Oberheim Xpander
Dave Smith Instruments Poly Evolver Keyboard
Steinway Upright Grand Piano
RMI Keyboard Computer
Jenco Celeste
Baldwin Electric Harpsichord
Bebot
Magical Musical Thing
Thingamagoop
Hohner Clavinet D6
Casio CZ-101
Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Conn Electric Band
ARP 2600
ARP Omni
Suzuki Omnichord
Yamaha CS-01
Yamaha TX802
Vox Continental
Fender Starmaster
Farfisa Combo Compact
Buzzing Bee
Optigan
Stylophone
Toy Piano
360 Systems Digital Keyboard
Hammond Synthesizer
Gibson Clavioline
Moog Little Phatty
MiniMoog
Mellotron
Mass-Rowe Vibrachime

Iliadis sets Organ instrument plug-ins free

February 16, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Iliadis sets Organ instrument plug-ins free 

Iliadis plug-ins

  • iVF Combo Organ, two manual transistor organ simulation.
  • iBX Organ, tonewheel organ simulation.
  • Euthymia Electronic Organ V2, Hammond clone simulation.
  • VH-1 & VH-2, two great organ simulations.
  • iSPINNER, simple rotary speaker simulation.

The Iliadis plug-ins are available to download as freeware for Windows (VST). Donations are appreciated.

More information: Iliadis

Studiologic Ships the Numa Organ Joey DeFrancesco Model

January 11, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Studiologic Ships the Numa Organ Joey DeFrancesco Model 

Studiologic Ships the Numa Organ Joey DeFrancesco Model. Studiologic is proudly shipping the Numa Organ Joey DeFrancesco Model, an integrated organ and high definition keyboard controller, including Fatar’s finest TP/80 Premium Waterfall Action keyboard, the Numa Organ offers a spectacular physical model of the classic electro-mechanical organ complete with rotary and scanner emulation.

The Numa Organ was developed in conjunction with Joey DeFrancesco making sure that every detail and nuance is properly produced with stunning results. 9 classic drawbars control upper, lower, and pedalboard sounds. Features include 12 presets on the first reversed octave, keyboard split with lower or pedal to the left, chorus and vibrato on upper and lower, rotary with on-off-brake and slow-fast (with mod wheel), transpose, and a complete percussion section with soft/normal, slow/fast, and 2nd/3rd options.

An Effects section offers variable Reverb, Drive, Keyclick, and Leakage levels,and an on-board Equalizer provides the final tailoring of the organ’s magnificent tone. Velocity action can be switched between normal organ or Fatar Dynamic Touch modes. USB and MIDI in, out, and through connections open the Numa Organ up as a master keyboard controller for standalone and plug-in software instruments. Despite the rugged metal housing and real wood side walls, the Numa Organ at 22lbs. is lightweight, portable, and gig ready. For more info please visit http://www.americanmusicands…

Behold of this monster of an organ

January 8, 2011 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Behold of this monster of an organ 

Imperial A6000 Limited Edition Organ

A modest name with that enormous color LCD screen. A massive arsenal of back-lit colored buttons. Even the bench is a sight to behold with built in speaker and amplification system.

Connections
Stereo Headphone Output
Microphone Input
Video Output
Stereo Output Jacks
Stereo Input Jacks
MIDI In-Out-Thru

Keyboards
61 Note Upper Manual
61 Note Lower Manual
25 Note Console Pedal Board
Touch Sense Virtuoso

Sound System
Seven Amplifiers
Four Audio Segments:
Main, Bass, Chorus, Monitor
Console=15 Speakers:
Six Mid Range Four Mid Range Four High Range One Bass in a Tuned/Ported Enclosure
Includes Monitor Speakers With
Independent Volume Control
Bench=7Speakers:
Two High Range Four Mid Range One Bass

Dimensions
54.25″ Wide
29.50″ Deep
47.00″ High (Rack Removed)
55.00″ (Rack Installed)
Uncrated Weight: 487 lbs.
Console-360 lbs.
Bench-93 lbs.
Pedals-34 lbs.

Optical organs manufactured in 1970s

December 14, 2010 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Optical organs manufactured in 1970s 

Optigan and Orchestron organs are hard to get by so gajeanalog decided to construct his own:

Optigan and Orchestron are optical organs manufactured in 1970s. One day I heard the sound and liked them, and thought I wanted to play them. However their manufacturing were terminated long time ago and nearly impossible for me to obtain. But the discs are still available, so I have a chance if I build the player by myself.

This is my DIY optical organ built from analog record turntable. It supports both Optigan and Orchestron discs.

Halloween organ treat

October 30, 2010 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Halloween organ treat 

Organ Fairy has created this synth treat in true honor of Halloween, enjoy

I thought about what to do this year for a Halloween video. I found a pile of electric candles (!) that I bought a while ago but never used.

Then I remembered a melody I made in 2003. The idea was to use a rhythm on my then favourit drum machine – the Roland CR-1000 – that I had never used before: Charleston. And a weird preset on the Roland JX-8P that I had never used either. I modified it a bit to make it more “alien-like” and added the accordeon preset to the arrangement and a piano arpeggio from the Yamaha organ.

I played the melody on the Kawai MS-20 and Yamaha VSS-30. Added some organ chords from the Viscount organ. And that was it.

Introducing the Mouse Organ

September 30, 2010 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comments Off on Introducing the Mouse Organ 

Mouse or Mice Organ – are a very simple but cool sounding pair of instruments, made using “only the power of pure electromagnetical trickery.”

No rodents were injured during the making of this instrument.

Available in all the usual formats ( except EXS, but you can easily import the SoundFont version )
…works best in Kontakt 4.

Download for free at the SoundDust site.

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