An Avant-Garde Synthesizer From 1960s East Germany

video upload by HAINBACH

"The Subharchord is a very rare electronic instrument from East Germany, made in the early sixties. At that time, the international music world was excited by the new electronic music coming from places like the WDR Studio in Cologne. As the GDR sought to lead over the West in all aspects, they established the „Labor für Akustisch-Musikalische Grenzprobleme“ (English: Laboratory for Problems at the Acoustics/Music Interface) to develop advanced electronic sound production. There the Subharchord was created by Ernst Schreiber as the lead engineer, while the striking look was designed by Gunter Wächtler. From the beginning it faced ideological concerns, which should later spell its doom. Thanks to the Elektro-Akustische Studio at ADK Berlin I got to explore it."

VERMONA Analog Synthesizer - Made in GDR (1982) - Ten sounds from east germany

video by RetroSound

"(c)2007-21 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

From my video archive. I have made this video in 2011 so is the video quality not the best. Sorry.

VERMONA Analog Synthesizer from the year 1982
Made by VEB Klingenthaler Harmonikawerke, east germany

2-VCO monophonic analog synthesizer with a 24dB VCF, two ADSR envelopes with envelope presets, LFO, glide and more.

500 synths produced. Many of them were exported to the Soviet Union.
Also called as Zonen-Moog ;)

RetroSound synthesizer demo videos since january 2007.
All is for free. If you like my work, so can you support me with a donation or a purchase of my synth shirts or music albums. Thank you!

RetroSound Home: https://retrosound72.wixsite.com/home"

A Documentary on The Subharchord

Biosphere and The Pitch - The Subharchord concert (excerpt), at CTM February 2nd 2013 from Atelier Nord on Vimeo.


Biosphere plays on the Subharchord from Ina Pillat on Vimeo.

"During the 'Only connect' Festival in Oslo, june 2013, the Norwegian musician Biosphere played on the Subharchord. Before it had to be restored with the help of Bjørn Roar Svensson, who was responsible for the Norwegian instrument from 1970 until 1991.

produced by Ny Musikk / Norsk Teknisk Museum

Photography: Ina Pillat
Sound: Biosphere, Archive material"

Two videos from an upcoming documentary on The Subharchord sent my way via Atomic Shadow. There's a Facebook Page on the documentary here, which links to an Atelier Nord site here. The following is from the site in Googlish:


"Research, project development and filming for documentaries and pilot

Ina Pillat (2010-2013).

In the early 60s there was built an instrument in East Berlin that was far ahead of its time. Subharchord was an electronic sound generator, constructed by the foremost audio experts in the country. Today there are only a few who know the instrument history.

The protagonist of the film is Gerhard Steinke, an energetic, curious and spirited 85-year-old. Steinke was 1956 head of "Labor für Musikalisch-akustische Grenzprobleme" in East Berlin - where Subharchord was developed and built.

Early in 1968, three employees from the Norwegian Broadcasting on visits to East Berlin. Shortly later became a Subharchord secretly sent to Oslo. Since this meeting, Gerhard Steinke not know anything about what happened to the instrument.

Of the six instruments that were built in the former GDR, there exists today only three - one in Vienna, one in Berlin and one in Trondheim. The documentary makes a deep dive in Subharchord story based on the copy was purchased by NRK and uncovers a story that has parallels to the Cold War, Norwegian experimental music and culture.

Director Ina Pillat is originally from East Germany, but is now living in Oslo.

She was educated at Burg Giebichenstein in Halle and Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Pillat has directed and produced several documentaries and has worked at several German TV stations."

Starring: Gerhard Steinke, Klaus Bechstein, Georg Geike, Bjørn Roar Svensson, Biosphere

Genre: Documentary

Directed By: Ina Pillat

http://ateliernord.no/prosjektarkiv/subharchord/

Vermona Synthesizer

via this auction

"Vermona synth made in West Germany."

West Germany or East Germany?

VERMONA - VINTAGE SOVIET GDR ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

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via this auction

Soviet GDR was East Germany

"Up for sale is VERY RARE powerful vintage East German (GDR) analog synthesizer
"VERMONA SYNTHESIZER".
One of the only analog synthesizers produced by German music company Vermona throughout the 1980's. It is a classic 2-VCO monophonic analog system (each saw, 2 square waveforms, noise - all cen be used simultaneously) designed for broad range of sound production & musical compositions of any genre. It can be used both in studio & on live concerts. Endless possibilities & experimentation.
Being a true analog synth with Moog-type filter it can also do sounds beginning from modern electronic basses & leads up to simulating the classical instruments (strings, reed e.t.c.). It can also create some specific sounds (wind, noise of surf, train, gun and whine). Using this instrument one can play some compositions with a random pitch and a timbre.

• It has 24 dB/oct analog VCF filter with 4 knobs (Brilliance, CutOff, Resonance, Contour) - exact copy of Moog filter
LFO to modulate the VCO or VCF sections
ADSR VCA envelope.
Preset VCF and VCA settings as well as a Manual mode

• Output knobs are output volume knob, phones volume knob.

Main Audio Outputs (Line out & Phones) are standard 1\4 TRS "Jacks".

On the front : 3,5 octave keyboard, to the left of keyboard there are pitch bend slider & modulation wheel."

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Vermona Digital Rhythm Machine

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
video upload by ohm_studi_ohm

"First i demo a few patterns I programmed along some of the functionalities like "flam" (which affects either toms or snares depending on the state of the dedicated switch), "solo", "fill", "bass only", "second rhythm". Then I program a pattern on the fly to show how straightforward it is to do (either in "TR" recording or in realtime). After that I demo the presets of the unit and finally I hooked the Vermona to a Roland TR8S to use the latter as a MIDI pad and sequencer to play the DRM's sound."

via this listing

"Analog drum machine from East Germany, often tagged as the "east block TR-808". I think it deserves better than this comparision, since it's a very nice sounding drum machine on its own, with many features for the time (MIDI, optional trigger input and individual outputs etc)

Unit was serviced, calibrated and is in fully working order. You could argue some switches sometimes mis trigger or double trigger but nothing major, and quite normal for a 40 years old technology.

Cosmetic is in very good condition with some wear of course."

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Weltmeister Basset

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via this auction

Some pics of the inside below.

"The Weltmeister Basset , sometimes referred to as the Weltmeister Combo Bass, was the first keytar! This rare "Cold War" electro-mechanical keyboard instrument was made from 1963 to 1969 by accordion manufacturer, Weltmeister, in East Germany. It was practically impossible to get one in the US.

The battery-powered Basset was popular in the 1960s and early 1970s with East German dance bands. Its mechanical piano action was derived from its big brother, the Weltmeister Claviset. Pressing a key causes the lip of a rubber disc to pluck the tine. When the key is released, the sound is stopped by a foam damper. A warning label in German, Cyrillic Russian, and English warns of "danger of life" if you connect it to a radio or an amplifier with AC-DC!"

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Original WALDORF Microwave I SN 900600

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via this auction
technoempire

Update: A Campbell Payne in the comments noticed something interesting I never paid attention to before on the original Microwave.  The back reads "Made in West Germany".   East Germany opened its borders on November 9, 1989 and the Berlin wall came down in 1990.  The Microwave I was released in 1989.  That's an interesting bit of synth history and a reflection of the times, forever engraved on a synth. It's interesting to wonder what it might have been like at Waldorf at that moment in time.  The celebration of their first Microwave and the end of the Berlin wall.

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Cottbus/ Vermona Tiracon 6V GDR Synthesizer

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via this auction

"East Germany, 6 voice analog synth, one VCO per voice, 3 LFO, 2 EG, 24dB LPF with resonance, 12dB HPF with resonance.

Working, but 2nd and 6th voices has a noise."

You can find demos of one in previous posts here.

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Vintage Synthesizers I Vermona Synthesizer

Published on Nov 6, 2012 by MusicMarketingTV

"A voyage into the heart of the Vermona Analog Synthesizer from the year 1982.
Exploration by Marko Ettlich (RetroSound)

very rare analog synthesizer made in east-germany (GDR)
also called "Zonen-Moog" ;)
monophonic
2 VCO with Pulse, Saw, Square and Noise waveforms
24 dB/Oct VCF with Brilliance, Cut-Off and Resonance
10 presets for VCF and VCA envelope
44 keys"

Vermona DRM1 MKIII

YouTube via wiretotheear
"About two weeks ago I purchased a brand new Vermona DRM1 MKIII from Schnieders Buero in Berlin. I've had some time to play with it and am ready to report to you. These things are in demand and back ordered. It took almost three weeks for Vermona to deliver my DRM1 to Herr Schnieder. There is a good reason why: these sound smashing!

There is nothing like the Vermona DRM1. It is a fully analog drum machine done right. The super fast attack time on the kick and snare make them snap and crack in a way that will make you say "YES THIS IS IT!". The hi hats are so smooth, bright and shimmer without any EQ needed. The DRM1 has a real spring reverb built into it and when turned up on the clap and snare channels the clock turns back to 1980. There's are also multiple extra drum channels for lazer zaps or toms which can be manipulated to the extreme with FM. If I had to describe it's overall tone in one word I would say: chrome!

It uses standard midi but you can not record knob changes into your DAW. You will need to put your hands on the controls, start recording it as audio and capture your movements in real time. You can't save presets. Thank god for that. The main point of all those knobs is to focus in on each song your doing and tune each sound, the hi hat decay level, the snap of the kick. There is a pan control for each sound and individual outputs for each channel.

The unit is metal and feels very well built. Vermona is from East Germany. The reason you buy something like this is the sound.

http://www.wiretotheear.com/"

POLIVOKS VINTAGE DUOPHONIC USSR SOVIET ANALOG LEGENDARY SYNTHESIZER

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via this auction

"The Polivoks (also occasionally referred to as the Polyvox; Russian: Поливокс) is a duophonic, analog synthesizer manufactured and marketed in the Soviet Union between 1982 and 1990. It is arguably the most popular and well-known Soviet synthesizer in the West, likely due to the uniqueness of both its appearance and sound.

The Polivoks was designed at the Urals Vector plant, but actual production was handled at the Formanta Radio Factory in Kachkanar, Russian SFSR. It was intended to appear and sound similar to American and Japanese synthesizers from companies such as Roland, Moog, and Korg. The Polivoks was engineered by circuit designer Vladimir Kuzmin with the appearance of the instrument influenced by his wife Olimpiada,[2] who took inspiration from the design of Soviet military radios. Its retail price upon release was 920 rubles and over its lifetime around 100,000 Polivoks were manufactured - sometimes with a production rate of up to 1,000 units a month. But accordingly to information shared by Vladimir Kuzmin only 200-300 Polvokses were produced per month. It means that total number cannot be more than 32000.

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Sorbian Storytelling: Theremin Tale #4

Published on Dec 21, 2016 Carolina Eyck

"Some people don't know, but besides being German, I'm also half Sorb. The Sorbs are a Slavic minority in East Germany, to which belongs a part of my family.

Today I'm proud to share with you a bit of my own roots, telling a Sorbian tale. It was first written down by Michał Hórnik in 1858 and it's rather funny. Hope you like it too!"

Eigengrau by Soviet Space Child Featuring STS Serge System

"The bass and background squeeks are from my STS Serge system, the strings and the vibes are from a mellotron sample pack, heavily processed through several passes of my Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo"

"Finally had time to finish and upload my new song today. Continuing on with the theme of creating music and soundscapes for films which don't yet exist, this piece is for a film noir spy thriller which takes place in 1980's East Germany. A huge thanks to everyone who gave me feedback during the making of this track. Cheers!"

VAI 38 - Two Farfisa Syntorchestras

Vintage Audio Institute Italia

"While we had two of the Farfisa Syntorchestras in the studio we thought it would make sense to make track using both of them.
We're using the transcribe/pitch knob to create the monphonic lead melody harmonies, a surprisingly effective little trick for us amateur players to come off as skilled :).
The Vermona ER9 is an East Germany-made drum machine with individual volumes for each sound.
Here we ran it through a phaser and spring reverb.

We make these videos as a showcase for our studio, for other curious vintage heads - and for fun.
We don't dilly-dally too much with production and mixing but it can sound pretty good with headphones on."

Polivox Vintage Soviet Synthesiser

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via this auction

"The Polivoks has some features that are either unusual or uncommon on most analog synthesizers including a filter that can be switched from low pass to bandpass and two envelopes that can be looped over the AD sections.

Due to its unique history and relative rarity, the Polivoks has become popular as much for its unique sounds as for its aesthetics. It is often used by bands who take inspiration from the Soviet chic movement, as well as the ostalgie phenomenon in the former East Germany..."

Vermona ET 6-1 Rare 70s Analog Combo Electric Organ

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via this auction

"Made in East Germany in the early 70s! A lovely organ with some classic sounds that you may be looking for. Its transistor organ, halfway between the continental Vox and the Farfisa Compact. A look "Eastern Europe" dressed in faux wood plastic, a very typical rock garage sound and a beautiful integrated reverb. A small feature that I really like the "repeat" function that allows you to play the notes in eighth notes.

Unfortunately for spares and repairs. Wont power up and needs service repair. All buttons, keys, sliders switches are in place."

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VERMONA PIANO-STRINGS SN 300102

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via this auction

""1970s-1980s built in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the former east Germany. And although all the lables are in english, it was sold to the USSR mainly, sounds very much like well-known SOLINA! There was also a version in the same look, but without the string section. Named Vermona Piano..."

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VERMONA Synthesizer - vintage analog monophonic vs Darth NoiseLab

Published on Dec 25, 2015 NoiselabCH

"VERMONA Synthesizer, the only analog mono-synth from former East Germany built during 1983 - 1990 in the 'VEB Klingenthaler Harmoniewerke'.

Classic 2-VCOs - VCF - VCA system with it's own character, good for leads, atmos, spooky sounds. In opposite to most russian synths from that time, the 24db/oct filter is smooth and warm, less harsh and agressive. A synth that create that somewhat strange mellow atmosphere I associate with that particular era...

VERMONA Synthesizer recorded directly into DAW, partly thru a delay (BOSS GT-6B) and added a little reverb from the DAW. No other dynamics or effects used.

In my view, you can get some really good spooky sounds and atmos out of this synth, but its real strength are lead sounds, simply wonderful!

There are some Midi-retrofits available for the VERMONA Synthesizer and I guess it shouldn't be too difficult to add a CV/Gate in with little soldering skills (nothing for Darth NoiseLab for sure :-)

A unique rare synth (1000 units were produced), underrated probably because it's not a bass monster. But it's a warm atmospheric sounding piece of synthesizer history with great lead capabilities.

Be the synthforce with you...

More Vermona Synthesizer infos:
http://vermona.de/synthesizer.htm"

Vermona E-Piano Vintage Analog DDR Electronic Piano

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via this auction

"Electric piano made in East Germany in the late 70s. It's the brother of the Vermona Piano Strings. They share the same body and layout but sound is a bit different. The piano sounds fuller on this one. Harpsichord and Spinet sounds are quite similar. This one has a very nice and deep tremolo buit in, but no triple chorus like its string machine sibling. Also has the same overall and seperate instruments volume control as well as a sustain switch that either make the sound to its longuest sustain or have the pedal control it. A previous owner added a pot (in a not very nice place on the keyboard) that controls the length of the sustain. It's a nice added feature. The unit was serviced. Caps in the power supply were replaced and original DIN sockets were replaced by jack ones for both output and sustain pedal input. It's perfectly working. Condition is fair, there are signs of wear and time but overall still looks good."

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