Atekmdp.1067 net.music utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ihnss!vax135!harpo!cbosg!teklabs!tekmdp!jays Thu Feb 4 19:18:59 1982 On synthesizers In responce to Chris Kents letter. I have some experience with synthesizers and thought that I might be able to give you some insight about them. There are several synthesizers on the market today in the price range of $500 - $800 that you may want to look at. Keep in mind that these are all monophonic and have the 2 1/2 or 3 octave keyboards. If you want something that is polyphonic and with a bigger keyboard then that will run you quit a bit more (about $2000 $10000). Here are some synthesizers that you might be interested in looking at. There is the Radio Shack machine that you men- tioned. Yes it does exist. I have played with one once in a store it looked functional and is com- petitive with most the small instruments that are available today. I think that the quality did not look as good as some the other instruments that I have looked at. MOOG: They have a new machine out called The Source. This looks like a nice machine even though I haven't seen one yet. It has 2 osc. filter, 2 env gen, modulation and pitch wheels, noise generator, touch switchs for programming and voice selection, 16 programmable voices, tuning and interface capabilities, 2 88 note sequences, cassette interface and a few more features. It seems to be very versatile and might even be at a reasonable price. MOOG, 2500 Walden Ave, Buffalo New York 14225 KORG: They have the MS 20 (which I own) that costs about $650-$750. This is a 2 osc machine too with patching facilities and a external signal proces- sor that allows running a guitar or some other sound source through it. Comments on the MS 20, well the filters and osc don't generate the really rich sound that some of the other machines do. Also the external signal processor is not the greatest but it works quit well once you figure out how to use it. All in all when I bought it it was a good instrument and I still like it better that most of the machines that are out. KORG/Unicord, 89 Frost Street, Westbury New York 11590. SEQUENTIAL CIRCUITS: There new little synthi is the Pro-One. It is a 2 osc machine with a arpeggi- ator built in. Looks like a good machine. Sequential Circuits, Dept 1, 3051 First St, San Jose Ca 95134 ROLAND: They have several synthesizers that are low cost. SH-09 single osc, SH-2 2 osc and the MRS-2 ProMars 2 osc programmable. I wasn't impressed by these machines they are very basic and lack features that are available in other machines. Roland Corp US, 2401 Saybrook Ave, Los Angeles Ca 90040 PAIA: They have a new synthesizer out the PROTEUS 1. It looks like it is based on the Curtis EM chips which aren't bad chips. It has a computer and external analog interface built into it. It has 2 osc with sync, low pass filter, envelope generators, 16 programmable presets and a low freq osc. This machine comes in kit form and assembled also. PAIA offers a demo tape for $10 using the synthesizer too. PAIA equipment that I've built doesn't have high quality jacks, pot and switchs in it but it has worked well and I've gotten my moneys worth out of the gear (I would recommend replacing all the minature phone jacks and push button switchs that they provide with higher quality ones). They also make a 3 octave polyphonic organ that you might be interested in. PAIA Electronics, 1020 W Wilshire Blvd, Oklahoma City Ok 73116 CASIO: They have there musical instrument line that covers a wide variety of things based on the same chip set. There is the MT10 4 voice 2 1/2 octave mini keyboard, MT30/MT31 22 voice with 3 octave mini keyboard and bigger ones that have full sized keyboards with up to about 50 voices or so. I have the MT31 so I will talk about it. It has a mini keyboard that is about 3/4 or 2/3 the size of a normal keyboard, it doesn't bother me since I have small hands. About 6 of the voices I like and use a lot the others aren't that impres- sive to me. You have a voice select switch that can store 4 voices for immediate recall which is nice for changing voices quickly. The way you nor- mally program a voice is set the select switch to the preset you want to program, but the set switch to set then hit the key that corresponds to the voice you want after that put the set switch back to normal and then you're ready to go. The main disadvantage of the MT31 is the keyboard size, the main advantages are it's voices, its polyphonic and its price (I paid $120 for mine new). As you mentioned Robin Whittle in Australia has some mods face for them, others are 2 octave drop, different vibrato better high freq response, hold and sus- tain of notes. I haven't tried any of these yet so I can't comment on the mods. YAMAHA: They have there version of the Casio MT30 that has auto cords and auto rhythm built in they range in price $150 (4 voice)-$250(8 voice I think). I liked the Casio better because of the price and I don't need all the functions of a cord organ. Well that is about all that I have to say. Take every thing that I said with a grain of salt and try to find as many of the instruments to play with before you make your choice. The Source, Pro One, Proteus and the MT31 all look fairly good. If you have any more questions drop some mail and hopefully I'll get it. Happy sound making. Jay Schwichtenberg ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.