MATRIXSYNTH: Monday, November 14, 2005

The following is from Stephen, aka WaveComputer360 (appropriate alias with all this knowledge)! : ) This is a great piece on the PPG Wave line of synthesizers, from the Wave Computer 360/260A, Wave 2, up to the Wave 2.2/2.3. WaveComputer360 originally sent this to AH. He gave me the ok to put it up here. Thanks Stephen! Title link goes to Stephen's website. Also check out the official [´ramp] website at www.doombient.com. Now for PPG:

Image via http://www.ppg.synth.net/360/

"Basically, the Wave 2 is the first of the PPG Waves that came with a VCF for each voice. Other than the 360/360A which had no filtering at all, the Wave 2 had CEM-based filters. Also, it had a different output stage than the 360 and no longer was as hot (still hot, but not THAT hot). In the 360, the direct output from the DAs to the output stage also resulted in an extremely brittle and sizzling sound with loads of quantization and aliasing artefacts which added greatly to its grit. Also, the resolution of many parameters was greatly improved on the Wave 2, hence scanning wavetables no longer produced glitches from value to value but you could find values in between, too. This (plus the filters) lead to some sounds on the Wave 2 the 360 wasn´t capable of producing, even though it had exactly the same wavetables. On the other hand, using the Wave 2 with filters wide open did not get near the viciousness of the Wave Computer 360/360A.

A classic example of the 360 in use would be Wolfgang Düren´s "Eyeless Dreams" album or the albums by Rolf Trostel. Thomas Dolby also used the 360 in addition to the 340/380 system he got from Edgar Froese. "Windpower" would be a prime example. Edgar Froese produced a nice showcase for early PPGs with "Stuntman".

Like the Wave Computer 360/360A, the Wave 2 had two ranks of wavetable oscillators, each capable of producing eight voices. The most interesting results were only obtainable when you layered two ranks of WTOs, thus reducing the Wave 2 to four-voice polyphony (like the Wave Computer 360, and please believe ME and not the others who want to tell you rubbish about four- and eight-voice 360s and upgrades and stuff.... this is utter bullshit). The Wave 2 also featured an internal eight-track sequencer (eight times the 350, so to speak, or the more manageable version of the 380 Event Generator), hence there was a lot more controls necessary than on the 360. PPG introduced two keypads which allowed more access to various voice allocation and wave assignment modes, for controlling the sequencer and for entering various panel modes; in order to make it easier to survey, they also introduced an LC display with which they replaced the original LED readouts (two on the Wave Computer 360 prototype, five on the Wave Computer 360A "production" model).

The best-known examples of the Wave 2 in use would be ABCs "The Look of Love" where Anne Dudley played those famous funeral bells, and Depeche Mode´s "See You", plus various Tangerine Dream stuff ("Das Mädchen auf der Treppe", the edited single-hit off the "White Eagle" album).

The 2.2 had 16 voices, organized in two ranks of WTOs again; by coupling/layering them you reduced polyphony to eight voices. The output stage was slightly altered as well, hence the 2.2 sounds nowhere near as raunchy as a 360 or a Wave 2; the overall sound tends to be smoother and more polite. It already featured 8bit DAs, like the Wave 2, but it had an even more refined sound. It also featured more comprehensive panel controls for easier parameter access (not quite successfully, but there you go). I´m not sure about the filters used, but I think they redesigned the 2.2 and 2.3 to go with SSM filters rather than CEMs.

The 2.3 was introduced in 1984, featured a 12bit DA, and instead of 32 wavetables per oscillator it just had 30 plus two sampled waveforms (piano and saxophone, I think). The onboard sequencer was equipped with larger memory, and the interfacing options for the PPG System were reworked also, which lead to the inclusion of MIDI alongside the PPG communication buss (although the 2.2 could be upgraded to 2.3 standard).

Palm inofficially labelled all Waves as "360", the original prototype Wave Computer 360 with just two LED readouts being the " ", the sort-of production model of the Wave Computer became the 360"A", the Wave 2 was the "WC360B", the 2.2 the "WC 360C" and so forth. Don´t believe the talk; most people have never ever seen a 360 alive (unless they snapped up the ones for sale in the VEMIA) thanks to the 45 or 50 units ever produced. As a consequence, a lot of bad information has spread and found its way into the minds of synthesizer enthusiasts. The 360/360A and the Wave 2 had eight
voices per WTO rank, by layering you reduced polyphony to four voices. The 2.2 and 2.3 came with 16 voices per WTO, usually you´d layer to WTOs and hence reduce polyphony to eight voices.

To make things even more confusing, PPG produced Wave Computer 360As even after the introduction of the Wave 2. This lead to some 360As (two that I know of, but maybe more than that) in Wave 2 casing, but with white panel graphics with black lettering.

[image added: White PPG 360 via http://www.ppg.synth.net/360/]

These units no longer had the Dr. Böhm keyboard used in the earlier 360As but Pratt and Read keyboards which were used for all later PPGs. This may also
have lead to some models in between where Palm himself wasn´t really sure how to label them. That may have been the reason for some confusion in the past (most early PPGs had hand-written serial numbers, written with a soft-tip feltpen).

Trust me, I owned several of these rare beauties (and beauties they are indeed), and I´m very well-acquainted with 360s and Wave 2s. Never felt too keen on getting a 2.2 or 2.3 as I found them nice but not challenging. Still very, very characterful instruments, though, and maybe attractive to those who don´t need quirky instruments (especially the Wave 2 tends to be prone to failures as many of the bugs in the new software revision had not been ironed out properly yet). Even the Wave Computer 360s featured different OS revisions which makes it very hard to find proper OS replacements and transplant it from one unit to another.

All PPGs are quirky in their own way, especially the introduction of MIDI did their reputation no good; like one guinea pig... erm, musician from Hamburg, who had embarked on PPG products right from the start, once pointed out, MIDI and Wolfgang didn´t go well together. And the abbreviation "PPG" was interpreted by many German musicians as "Palms Panik-Geräte" ("Palm´s Panic Units") or "Popelige Palm-Geräte" ("cheapo Palm units").

Apologies for having wasted bandwidth,

Stephen.

"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly." (Thom Yorke/Radiohead -- "Paranoid
Android")

"Hoellenengel" -- new album by Stephen Parsick, street date October 1, 2005.

For info and audio, please check www.parsick.com

Visit the official [´ramp] website at www.doombient.com

WTB: "England´s Hidden Reverse" by David Keenan (Coil, Current93, Nurse With
Wound, David Tibet).

Update: See the comments for more info.