"Atlas Obscura, an online "compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities, and esoterica" is hosting our second annual International Obscura Day on April 9, 2011. Last year's Obscura Day saw 4,000 attendees at events in 80 cities in 20 countries all over the world.
The first events for 2011 are up at http://atlasobscura.com/obscura-day, with new ones being planned every day. The event at the Cantos Music Foundation will include a behind-the-scenes tour of their growing collection of over 650 keyboard instruments and electronic equipment, including pipe organs and modern synthesizers. Cantos has the largest collection of synths in Canada, and many of the exhibited instruments can be played by visitors. More information and the chance to RSVP can be found here: http://obscuraday-cantosmusicfoundation.eventbrite.com/"
Click here for some posts featuring the various synths at Cantos including an ARP 2500, EMS SYNTHI 100 Modular System, Buchla 100 with The Flaming Lips, Moog Modular and much, much more. Cantos has one of the most extensive and impressive synthesizer collections in the world.
Cantos Music Foundation is the largest synth museum in Calgary Alberta, Canada. Brandon Smith who works there, sent in the following.
"I work at the Cantos Music Foundation (The largest and as far as I know only keyboard museum in Canada) in Calgary Alberta, and thought I'd send a few Pics of interest., The modular system is a Delta Music Research system which started off as a local Calgary company. That double minimoog belonged to Patrick Moraz (of Yes), The Apollo and Lyra were Keith emmersons at one point, and as far as I know the only ones ever made, and the one that looks like a franken-moog is the prototype of the multimoog. Well, keep up the good work!"
Thanks Brandon! Click here to see the full set of images.
"SYNTHI 100 utilizes a patch board instead of cables. You can see Brandon, the interpreter, pointing to it in this photo. The SYNTHI 100 had the coolest knobs, of which a crop shot of it is my current avatar.
I think I failed to mention I took around a couple hundred photos during this tour, yes?
Visited the Cantos foundation museum of electronic instruments and keyboards in February 2009 and got a lovely tour of the facilities. Took a lot of pictures & videos.
Today is Tuesday! Another tour tonight (I'll be armed with tripod and a clear empty memory card)."
"This is the ARP 2500 found in the last moments of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It is an actual synth however the movie had it housed in a white case at the time.
Got a demo of it; guess what was the patch stored XD
More photos to come...
Visited the Cantos tonight and got a lovely tour of the facilities. Took a lot of pictures & videos. The tour was conducted by Brandon Smith."
This photo was taken on February 12, 2009. This one in via DJ Ivan
Part 1 previously posted here.
"The second of many podcasts to come features The Making of Bolero Electronica and talks about the inspiration for using 75 years of synthesizers; the origins of the instruments; and the challenge of putting it all together, including footage of rare keyboards used at the esteemed Cantos Foundation. Along with composer Amin Bhatia are Interviewed guests including Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Michelle Moog-Koussa as well as producers, engineers and musicians from "Virtuality."
The podcast series was produced by Mark Dwyer and Saul Pincus with contributions from cinematographers and journalists all over the world. Special thanks to the crew at Full Sail University, as well as the Bob Moog Foundation, the Cantos Foundation, and the offices of Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Bhatia Music and Splice Heist.
Please visit aminbhatia.com for more on the album and artist."
According to rick of electricmusicbox, "thats the buchla 406 ( keyboard equipted 400) from Cantos.. i know that instrument well as I spend alot of time at Cantos."
3 new Moog synthesizers coordinated to create the total sound for today's music
Lyra Solo Synthesizer
-Touch Sensitive Keyboard
- Three Stable Oscillators - Advanced Phase-lock Features
-Expandable With Moog Accessories
Apollo Polyphonic Synthesizer
-Fully Polyphonic
-Full Range of Synthesizer Effects
-Four Presets, including Electric Piano Voice
Taurus Bass Synthesizer
-Wide Range of Bass Effects
-Three Octave Rante
Only the Taurus made it to production and only in name. Note the design in the ad differs considerably. One or possibly two Apollos made it to prototype stage. One is now owned by The Bob Moog Foundation as you can see in this video. Note according to the video description it's from 1978, while this add was from 1973 (bottom right of ad). The second or possibly the same Apollo is/was owned by Cantos as you can see here. The prototype Lyra, along with others, is pictured in that post as well. At least one Lyra physically exists.
"10 voice rackmount monster in well loved but functional shape. Has a Rev 3 board that can take the 30 Voice upgrade. Includes original manual and power supply. Plenty of 'character' on the panel - this is not a minty piece. Issues - missing one knob and slippy big red encoder - works but is fiddly. Had it serviced in 2010 by Waldorf certified tech John Leimseider at the Cantos Synth Museum at the National Music Center in Calgary..."
* Two wavetable oscillators plus noise generator and ring modulator.
* Oscillator Sync and FM.
* 10-note polyphonic, 8-part multitimbral.
* 256 User Patches, 128 Multi setups.
* Arpeggiator forms part of patch meaning up to 8 simultaneous arpeggiators can run in multi mode.
* Arpeggiator and LFOs can sync to MIDI clock.
* Two filters with a total of 12 filter types. * DSP effects -- the first three parts in a multi performance can use their full effects settings, the remainder are limited to chorus.
* External signal input to filters/effects.
* 65 wavetables plus 32 user wavetables.
* 44 knobs, 9 switches, 2 x 40 character display, shift key, alpha dial.
* All major parameters have a dedicated MIDI controller numbers.
* Knobs send MIDI controllers.
* Quite large (5 rack units).
* And it's orange"
"We're back with all the regular features including KORG News, Gear Goggles, Downloads & a special Kronology Edition featuring the history of ARP & the Odyssey!! #brew
0:00 Intro
1:50 KORG News
12:34 #brew with ARP Odyssey Module Ad
13:28 KORG Kronology featuring the ARP Odyssey
32:21 #brew with ARP artist video
33:21 1972 facts
41:05 Gear Goggles
46:54 #brew with ARP FS video
48:05 Downloads with Ian
1:01:24 Close with ARP Odyssey Make Worlds video"
Update:
ARP 2500 invoice for Close Encounters of the Third Kind mentioned after 15:00 above. Apparently the system resides at Cantos. See this post for a video of the scenes that featured the ARP 2500.
"The first of many podcasts to come features the Bob Moog legacy and talks about how Amin Bhatia came to dedicate the album to him. Interviewed guests include Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Michelle Moog-Koussa as well as producers, engineers and musicians from 'Virtuality'
The podcast series was written and directed by Saul Pincus with contributions from cinematographers and journalists all over the world. Special thanks to the crew at Full Sail University, as well as the Bob Moog Foundation and the offices of Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Bhatia Music and Splice Heist.
VIRTUALITY Video: Part 2 The Making of Bolero Electronica
Uploaded on Dec 21, 2008
"The second of many podcasts to come features The Making of Bolero Electronica and talks about the inspiration for using 75 years of synthesizers; the origins of the instruments; and the challenge of putting it all together, including footage of rare keyboards used at the esteemed Cantos Foundation. Along with composer Amin Bhatia are Interviewed guests including Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Michelle Moog-Koussa as well as producers, engineers and musicians from 'Virtuality.'"
VIRTUALITY Video: Part 3 Inside the Computer
Uploaded on May 20, 2009
"The third installment of the Virtuality podcasts explores the possibility of making videos using the album as underscore. With the help of Music Academy Online and Second Life we are shown one interpretation of the virtual world - one where people can travel into the album. Interviewed guests include Patrick Moraz, Steve Porcaro, Ari Posner, Michelle Moog-Koussa, and (SL) Benton Wunderlich as well as producers, engineers and musicians from 'Virtuality.' The podcast series was directed and edited by Saul Pincus and Mark Dwyer with contributions from cinematographers and journalists all over the world. Special thanks to the crew at Full Sail University, as well as the Bob Moog Foundation and the offices of Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz, Bhatia Music, Splice Heist and Second Life. Please visit aminbhatia.com for more on the album and artist."
Note the invoice includes instructions on how it is to be built and there is no price. I'm guessing this was the internal build invoice for construction of the ARP 2500 and not the billing invoice to Columbia Pictures.
Amazing bit of synth history.
Apparently the system resides at Cantos. See this post for a video of the scenes that featured the ARP 2500.
"We're proud to annouce the first Modular Synthesizer Meeting in Brazil."
CIRCUITO ELETRÔNICO Saturday, August 18 at 11:00am in UTC-03 at Otto Bristot que fica na rua Pedro Tarques, 129 – Consolação"
"Blips, knobs, sweeps, drones! A música eletrônica vive seus dias de glória com o avanço da tecnologia, que vem democratizando e realizando uma verdadeira inclusão cultural, arregimentando uma nova classe de artistas que contam com um arsenal digital sem precedentes, ferramentas de criação e composição hoje disponíveis até para os smartphones mais convencionais. Mas quando foi que tudo isso começou? Como e quando surgiu essa forma tão particular de expressão musical? Pois é, muitos desses novos artistas fatalmente desconhecem que a música eletrônica contou com o esforço de grandes personagens, heróis que escreveram uma história de dedicação, empenho e criatividade, mentes brilhantes que deixaram um legado através de suas incríveis máquinas sonoras, e tudo isso muito antes da revolução dos computadores pessoais, antes até mesmo da chegada dos DJ’s, que ajudaram a difundir e popularizar o gênero. Fazer música eletrônica além de ser um grande desafio de produção, era um privilégio para poucos artistas. Somente aqueles que dominavam certos equipamentos eram capazes de construir suas composições, uma época dominada pelos sintetizadores analógicos, monstros movidos a sangue, suor e muita eletricidade. Desvendar os mistérios e cultuar essa religiosa relação entre voltagem e som, vem sendo a fissura de muitos artistas, produtores e construtores espalhados pelos quatro cantos do planeta. São rebeldes ativistas que buscam preservar a Belle Epoque da música eletrônica, numa luta criativa contra o fastfood digital. E pela primeira vez aqui no Brasil, no próximo dia 18 de agosto, São Paulo vai sediar um encontro dessa “Resistência Analógica”, que traz ao público a chance de passar um dia inteiro ao lado de quem faz e vive a cultura desses equipamentos. E a primeira edição do CIRCUITO ELETRÔNICO, evento dedicado aos sintetizadores analógicos, instrumentos que marcaram a história da música moderna. Essa edição do evento será aberta ao público, e os visitantes vão conhecer de perto o que os fabricantes nacionais estão aprontando, assistir a performance de artistas, escutar a experiência de produtores, e claro, poderão tocar e aprender um pouco sobre esse universo encantador e misterioso. O CIRCUITO ELETRÔNICO é um evento que marcará a reunião de cabeças pensantes, é o ponto zero de um movimento que está amadurecendo e ganhando atenção dentro e fora do país, colocando o Brasil de uma vez por todas na cena eletrônica mundial."
