THE RIVER Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer & More Handmade Miniature Synths

Published on Mar 30, 2019 Ronaldo Lopes Teixeira ROLT

And more: (I believe I've posted some of these in the past - here's the full set - see the miniature label at the bottom of this post for others)



Update: the list:
MINI KORG 2 - HANDMADE MINIATURE
HANDMADE CLASSIC KEYBOARDS COLLECTION MINIATURES by Rolt
Making a Mellotron M400 Miniature
MINI MOOG MODEL D - HANDMADE MINIATURE
ARP ODYSSEY HANDMADE MINIATURE
HAMMOND B3 ORGAN HANDMADE MINIATURE
FENDER RHODES SUITCASE PIANO - HANDMADE MINIATURE
PROPHET 5 - HANDMADE MINIATURE
WURLITZER ELECTRA PIANO (BEIGE) - HANDMADE MINIATURE
HOHNER CLAVINET D6 - HANDMADE MINIATURE
MOOG LIBERATION - HANDMADE MINIATURE
Celeste - CLASSIC HANDMADE PROG KEYBOARDS

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Happy Birthday Keith Emerson!

Today is Keith Emerson's birthday!

He, along with Wendy Carlos, are two of the most important musicians in the world of synthesizers. They are both credited with introducing the use of synthesizers in mainstream music. Wendy brought synthesizers to classical music, and Keith brought synthesizers to band based Rock 'n' Roll. They were the first to bring synthesizers from the realm of the experimental, musique concrete, and educational applications to the main stream.

Keith Emerson's Moog modular is iconic. Not only does Keith still perform with it, but it inspired Moog Music to re-issue the awe inspiring monolith.

Thank you Keith, and Happy Birthday!!!

Left: Keith in St. Petersburg, Russia 2008 via wikipedia.

Below: Keith back in the day via @moogfest.

via wikipedia: "Emerson first heard a Moog when a record shop owner played Switched-On Bach for him. Emerson said: 'My God that's incredible, what is that played on?' The owner then showed him the album cover. So I said, 'What is that?' And he said, 'That's the Moog synthesizer.' My first impression was that it looked a bit like electronic skiffle.'[8]

Without one of his own, Emerson borrowed Mike Vickers' Moog for an upcoming The Nice concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London with the Royal Philharmonic. Mike helped patch the Moog and the concert was a great success. Emerson's performance of Also sprach Zarathustra from the recently released 2001: A Space Odyssey was a show stopper. Emerson: 'I thought this was great. I've got to have one of these.'[8]

With ELP's record deal with Atlantic came funds to buy the Moog. Keith: 'It cost a lot of money and it arrived and I excitedly got it out of the box stuck it on the table and thought, 'Wow That's Great! a Moog synthesizer [pause] How do you switch it on?...There were all these leads and stuff, there was no instruction manual.' Mike Vickers came through by patching it to produce six sounds and those six sounds became the foundation of ELP's sound.[8]

In 1969, Emerson incorporated the Moog modular synthesiser into his battery of keyboards. While other artists such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had used the Moog in studio recordings, Emerson was the first artist to tour with one. Emerson's use of the Moog was so important to the development of new models that he was given prototypes, such as the Constellation he took on one tour[8] and the Apollo, which had its debut on the opening track of Brain Salad Surgery, 'Jerusalem.'"

MOOG CONSTELLATION: Moog Lyra/Moog Apollo/Moog Taurus Pedal

video upload by Ronaldo Lopes Teixeira ROLT

You can find additional posts mentioning the MOOG CONSTELLATION here.

Vintage Synthesizer Brochures Including Rare Vako Orchestron, Moog Constellation, and Electronium

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"A nice set of very rare synthesizer brochure / catalog paperwork. Raymond Scott ELECTRONIUM May 70, MOOG Syn Amp, VAKO Orchestron for YES, MOOG Sonic Six, Moog Constellation 1973 Taurus Apollo Lyra - for Keith Emerson of ELP. These documents are used but in good condition. Will not separate, sold as-is, thank you."

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Vintage 1973 Moog Constellation Synthesizer Ensemble Promo Featuring Prototype Moog Synths

via @moogmusicinc

Lyra, Apollo, Taurus...

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.

Rare 1973 Moog Constellation Vintage Polymoog Advertising Brochure

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Original 1973 brochure for the Moog Constellation which was the Apollo Lyra and Taurus. Later came the Polymoog. Has three holes for binder, as this page was kept at the factory. Keith Emerson toured this unit in 1973 and 1974."

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ELP - Karn Evil 9 3rd Impression

YouTube via windhoek35.

Update: Skinny Puppy makes their first appearance ever at 2:11.

"Emerson, Lake & Palmer at the California Jam in 1974."
via steveo on the-gas-station
"Ooooo this footage is rare for several reasons - First it is extremely good quality footage from the legendary Cal Jam 74 festival.. Headlining were ELP (support acts included The Eagles , Black Sabbath and Deep Purple)....anyway for synth anoraks it is THE ONLY FOOTAGE of the Moog Constellation System being used. There was I believe only one system ever made and it was the forerunner to the polymoog...It was only ever recorded on ELP's Brain Salad Surgery Album...(the footage is a live performance of part of that album) - Of course also of note is Emmo giant Moog Modular which doubles as "the computer" ....lol...you see Emmo play the constellation right at the start then at about 2'50 ...theres more parts of this concert with better shots of the constellation (but not it being played)... Fabulous!"

The Moog Constellation

via the Moog Archives. 

As you can see, the Constellation consisted of the Taurus Bass pedals, the LYRA 3 OSC solo synth, and the Apollo Polyphonic synth. 

Don't mis Page 2. 

This one is in via frederic.

mini moog style synthesizer prototype project

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"mini moog style synthesizer constellation like mini moog with an added percussion module on left side . its very well build prototype or was a tech project ? the percussion module on the side doesnt seem to do anything and the first 5 keys might be connected ? as intended . also the output is very low hence some background humming when you turn it up loud . the rest of the synth is working it definitely has a moog sound and seems to be very flexible .
reminds me of a sonic six have a listen to the audio examples. the synth is obviously sold as seen and might need a little bit more work but its totally special and worth the extra effort . sounds great like a real monster analog classic not sure how to price this could be worth lots so make some offers. oh pic is at an angle synths is perfectly even build"

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Moog Multimoog Vintage Analog Synthesizer SN 1473

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"The Multimoog was Moog's response to the ARP Pro Soloist, although a bit late to the game. It was part of a trio of synths that were known as the "Constellation", which included the Apollo (Polymoog), Lyra (Multimoog), and Taurus bass pedal synth. The Lyra eventually morphed into the Multimoog and was designed to sit nicely on top of the Polymoog case, matching the look of it, and interface with it through multiple jacks in the back. It was basically an expanded Micromoog, with an additional daughterboard for the second VCO and amazing touch sensitive keyboard effects that could be routed to sync, LFO, etc. It was the last Moog synth before Bob left the company. It is sort of like a Minimoog with aftertouch capabilities, but has a very unique sound. Check it out on Saga's Heads or Tails "Pitchman" (the bass sound), Telex (lots of tracks), Spyro Gyra (Access All Areas), as well as Kraftwerk's Model off of Man Machine (actually a Micromoog, but same sound)."

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Custom Micromoog Synthesizer with Extra Oscillator in Moog Lyra Concept Housing

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

Curious how many of those cases exist.

You can find a mini Lyra in this post. The Lyra was part of the Constellation system which was to consist of the Lyra Solo Synthesizr, Apollo Polyphonic Synthesizer, and Taurus Bass Synthesizer. This case is rare.

Some notes from the listing:

"Hasn't been powered up in 20+ years.

Will require a thorough cleaning, calibration and repair (Broken 'Release' slide switch - see pics).

Additional MicroMoog Oscillator circuit is built on Vero Board.

Housing was purchased from Moog Music.

The Synth housing is an early Engineering design concept of the Moog Lyra

modified and adapted to house the MicroMoog main pc assembly,

extra MicroMoog Oscillator Circuit, Sonic VI [49 key] keyboard Subassembly and Power Supply."

Pic of the back inside below.

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Mystery Moog Polymoog Keyboard with Buttons

via Christopher Winkels on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

"A friend who knows I'm into synths sent me this from a garage sale. Any idea what model it is? I'm thinking they Polymoog keyboard, but I could be wrong. And the pedals look like a Taurus II."

Update via David: "Hard to see with the tiny pictures. Wild guess (especially with the pedals) that it a version of the Moog Apollo from the Constellation as it turned into the Polymoog?

http://www.brain-salad-surgery.de/moog_constellation.html" There is some discussion on the Facebook thread above as well.

Instill //Subharmonicon/DFAM/Mother 32/Tides/Rings/Plaits//

video upload by Aleatoric Machine

"An ambient eurorack modular synthesizer patch featuring:
Moog Subharmonicon, DFAM, Mother 32 x 2
Mutable Instruments Marbles, Rings, Plaits, Tides, Stages
Make Noise Maths, Function, Mimeophon
Doepfer VCF, VC Stereo Mixer
Strymon Magneto
2hp MMF, VCA, Verb
Ornament and Crime
ALM Pamela's New Workout, Pexp-1
Expert Sleepers Disting mk4
Acid Rain Maestro, Constellation
Malekko Voltage Block
Intellijel Mixup, lots of 1u tiles
Chase Bliss Mood, Wombtone, Dark World"

Muster //XPO/QPAS/Mimeophon/STO/Mother32/Tides/Magneto//

video upload by Aleatoric Machine

"An ambient eurorack modular synth patch featuring:
Make Noise XPO, QPAS, Mimeophon, STO, Rene 2, Maths, Contour, Mod Demix
Moog Mother 32
Mutable Instruments Tides, Stages
Mosaic 1u drum tiles
Strymon Magneto
Acid Rain Constellation, Maestro
Malekko Voltage Block Doepfer Dual ADSR, Stereo Mixer 2hp Verb Chase Bliss Mood, Generation Loss ALM Pamela's New Workout Intellijel 1u utility tiles

Cherry Audio Memorymode - Sound Bank '79

video upload by Polydata

"Drawing from the earliest days of polyphonic synthesizers, Sound Bank ‘79 for the Cherry Audio Memorymode finds its inspiration in synthesizer music found in documentaries and library music from the late 70’s and early 80’s.

A bank comprising 40 patches for instant inspiration. The goal was to squeeze as much vintage analog juice out of this plug-in as possible, primarily working within the constraints of the original Moog Memorymoog analog poly synth. There's a unique richness to the sound of a Memorymoog, along with it's expanded feature set, and Cherry Audio have definitely captured that.

Sound Bank '79 is a series of vintage tones for different synths and plug-ins, so look out for future releases. Recorded completely dry with no external effects or processing.

Link:
polydata.bigcartel.com"

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Final Set of A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers

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via this auction

The listing is from the author Peter Forrest who states this is likely the last set.  These are great books and imo the most comprehensive.  Click on the pics to get an idea of what they are like.  Peter also has other items listed including The Museum of Synthesizer Technology and Synthesizer von Gestern II.

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