Posted on 06/11/1983

Jesper Ranum 0 comments

Amdek CMU-800 CompuMusic

After having used – and loved – the Roland MC-4B Microcomposer for quite a few years, I was looking for something similar, but with better editing facilities and file system. The arcane cassette interface for the MC-4B was slow and unreliable unless you had the dedicated hardware cassette unit, which was quite expensive. So when […]

Posted on 01/01/1983

Jesper Ranum 0 comments

EMS Synthi-100 Modular Synthesizer

EMS (Electronic Music Systems) is a somewhat less known manufacturer of synthesizers than the more household names, such as Moog, ARP, Roland, Korg etc. But nevertheless the company has produced some very influential and powerful synths. The best known model is probably the VCS-3 synthesizer, which appeared in a few variations, such the "Putney", "Synthi [...]

Posted on 01/01/1981

Jesper Ranum 0 comments

Roland MC-4B Microcomposer

A big - and more expensive - step up from the standard monophonic digital sequencers of the days were the multichannel MicroComposers from Roland. THE BIGGER BROTHER First launched was the MC-8 MicroComposer, which was big, bulky and very expensive. Prominently used by e.g. Kraftwerk, Human League, Giorgio Moroder, Isao Tomita and other heavyweight electronic [...]

Posted on 10/05/1980

Jesper Ranum 0 comments

PPG Wave 2 Synthesizers

A sound innovator Wolfgang Palm is a leading synthesizer hardware designer from Germany, who started out building custom accessories and modular synthesizers under the name “PPG”. The product were originally custom made for  professional users, like the German “Berlin-school” electronic band Tangerine Dream . The wavetable synths But Palms real innovation was probably his work with Wavetables – […]