Siel Cruise Synthesiser

YouTube Uploaded by nounandnumber on Mar 18, 2011

via this auction
"This is the Siel Cruise I have for sale on eBay. It is from around 1981-1986 and is a combination of the Siel Mono and the Orchestra 2.

The video is an example of the sounds it can make, rather than me playing it, so it is more for information than entertainment.

A Siel Orchestra was the source of the lovely keyboard on The Rip by Portishead, which can be heard on the polysynth piano preset of the Cruise. It may be battered, but it is still capable of some good sounds, especially the strings which sound great.

This video will be removed upon sale of the synth. Hopefully Adrian Utley nor Sonicstate.com mind having their interview footage included, but I will remove it at their request."

Also
"I would like to know though if my comparisons to the Siel Orchestra 2 are valid. I was always under the impression that the Cruise is a Mono & Orchestra in one box, with some extras, such as the EQ, missing. Any opinions would be appreciated."

And some interesting bits from the auction (as always be sure to read the full description at the auction if you intend to bid):
"Siel were an Italian company in the eighties, and from what little information I can find about it, the Cruise appears to be a union of the Siel Mono and the Siel Orchestra II. Plenty of specific information can be found here but some of the interesting features I want to point out are: the full polyphony on the poly section, the mono and poly sections can be played in unison and there is an option for a keyboard split as well, and the outputs include a mono+poly and poly only output. The LFO on the mono section is a little unusual in that it works after a short delay (this is by design, I should add).

I have assembled a little audio slideshow of what it is capable of with a whole host of pictures of the actual synth for sale on You Tube. There should also be a list of suggestions by You Tube of the few other videos demonstrating this synth which may be worth your time...

Now for the modification. At the same time as I bought the synth I was doing a lot of circuit bending and decided to tentatively explore the possibilities on the mono section. This was a bit foolish as a) it was on something running on mains power and b) was on something I could not afford to loose (I broke a Yamaha CS01 circuit bending. It still smarts). Fortunately nothing untoward happened and the result is a simple bypass of the Rd125 resistor that gives an harmonic distortion to the monosynth with no ill effects to the rest. Again, all this can be seen and heard on the video.

What really pleased me though was discovering, in an interview with Adrian Utley from Portishead that some of my favourite sounds from Third (mainly the great arpeggio at the end of The Rip) came from a Siel Orchestra (see above) which can be heard in the piano preset of the Cruise. However the cruise does lack the Orchestra's EQ so it isn't an exact likeness, and I expect the drive in production of the synth was for 'cleaner' sounds, which does give it a richer string sound as it is it a more recent synth. Still it is nice for a relatively obscure synth to get some love, rather than the usual Moog, EMS suspects, but that is probably because I cannot afford them..."

Teenage Engineering Eurorack, POM-400 Matrix Kits & Talking to Aliens with a Steiner Masters Touch

Talking to Aliens video upload by Dave Vondle

This is a bit of a triple post. Dave Vondle of http://matrix.vondle.com wrote in to let me know the final 9 units of the Ghielmetti Pin Matrix Kit for the Teenage Engineering POM-400, previously posted here, have been completed. It's featured in the video above and in a post by Teenage Engineering on converting their Pocket Operator Modules (POM) to eurorack.

That said, first the description for the video above:

"Figured out how to communicate to extraterrestrial organisms.

The Calmset 3 connected to my brain is generating the frequencies - and the Masters Touch is taking breath, bite, and touch into the Teenage Engineering POM-400 (with my matrix kit attached). Breath controls the amplitude and bite/touch modify filter parameters. This all runs through the VOCU tape echo."

See here for some additional posts featuring the Masters Touch including pics. You can also find some info on Patchman Music here.

Second, info on the final batch of Matrix Kits from http://matrix.vondle.com:

"Over a year ago I created a bolt-on kit to turn a Teenage Engineering Pocket Modular 400 into a matrix synth like the EMS Synthi. Instead of using cables to patch outputs from one module into inputs of another, you use the supplied pins to connect a row (output) to the corresponding column (input).

I have completed the final batch of 9 kits, as the manufacturer of the matrices recently went out of business. Teenage engineering just wrote a blog post featuring the kit, so I figured it would be a good time to get these last kits out there.

More info about the kit:

The matrix itself was made in Switzerland by the established patchbay company, Ghielmetti, and the kit simply bolts onto the back of the POM-400 modules with the supplied hardware - there is no soldering required. Once bolted on, it enables you to make 100% of all the patches you could otherwise make using cables, with the added benefit of having virtually no restrictions on the number of available outputs and inputs for each module. Patch cables can still be used in conjunction with the matrix for interfacing the system with external modules and running sound out from the device.

I thought you folks might be interested! For more details and to place an order go to matrix.vondle.com

Bonus Video - Here’s me when I patched a Steiner Master’s Voice into the POM-400, with the kit installed:" [above]

Third: eurorack conversions for Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operator Modules (and euro racking Pocket Operators):

via Teenage Engineering: eurorack is a very common system format when it comes to modular synths. there are tons of modules and manufacturers on the market and the pocket operator modular series is eurorack compatible. this means any POM system can be used together with any other module, from any other brand. while the pocket rack format is slightly smaller than eurorack, you only need some minor tweaks to fit your pocket operator modules in your eurorack system.

here are a few ways to 'eurorackify' your pocket operator modulars and pocket operators, plus a bonus mod to really expand the capabilities of your POM-400.

eurorack front panels for POM
the two companies malm.audio and jklmnt have joined forces and created custom eurorack front panels for the complete range of modules available in the pocket operator modular POM-400 and POM-170. pick your favorite module and mount that in your existing eurorack system, or create a complete replica of an entire system. the various panels range from 6 hp width, up to 18 hp.

power adapters
they've also made a convenient power adapter that easily converts the power connector from pocket rack to eurorack. no soldering is required and everything above is available through the oddvolt webstore.

pokit for POM-16 by grayscale
the company grayscale makes modules and stylish eurorack front panels for a lot of products. their pokit is a eurorack conversion kit for the POM-16 keyboard. the front panel has a matte black finish and is 42 hp wide. the kit even comes with matching gray official knobs. this is a great option for enabling your system with the 4-channel sequencer, arpeggiator and keyboard that is the POM-16.

pocket operators and eurorack
the usually hand-held regular pocket operators can also be used in a eurorack system. this could for instance be a great way to create a portable and powerful grab-and-go live performance instrument, or to have pocket operators tightly and neatly integrated into your studio setup. here are two examples of how to mount pocket operators in a eurorack case.

EURORACK ADAPTER BY LPZW:

POKIT - EURORACK CONVERSION KIT FOR POM-16:

SIEL Opera/Dk600 Expander EX600 - HD Demo (1985)

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

"SOME IMPROVISATIONS...
Testing a Rare SIEL EX 600
It is the Rack version of the Siel Opera 6 / Dk600.

Here with upgraded mod with CC midi controlling.


Fx used:
Oto bam reverb
Oto bim delay"

Siel MIDI Expander SN 212/33 w/ TAUNTEK MIDI Mod + Case via this auction

"Ideal for those who want the amazing sound of Siel Opera 6/Dk600 but need space in studio.
Or for who have already a Siel Opera 6/Dk600 and want to play with a monster doubled voices (12 voices x 4DCOs) turning your Siel Opera in a polytimbric synth with split mode.

Comes with TAUNTEK upgrade installed on it which gives all these new features:
1) all controllers, except for the two wheels, of the expander can be controlled via midi (CC)
2) omniMode
3) all sounds can be loaded in one go via midi."

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SIEL CRUISE String Machine 1979 | HD DEMO

Published on Aug 23, 2015 AnalogAudio1

"(c) 2015 by AnalogAudio1

I played the Siel Cruise along with a Korg SDD-3000 vintage digital delay.

The Siel Cruise is a string machine with a built in monophonic preset synthesizer from Italy. It's basically a Siel Orchestra and Siel Mono in one box. But it can't do everything a Siel Orchestra and a Siel Mono can do - some functions were left out.

The monophonic synth has presets, which can be tweaked in 'free mode'. The monophonic synth sounds really good - although with just a single VCO, it has a powerful sound, resonant VCF with ADSR controls for VCF and VCA. There are the same polyphonic presets as on the ARP Quartet. Every section (mono and poly synth) has its own output, so you can treat the sound individually (what I made in the first half of the video). After all, a great Italo synth!"

Siel Orchestra 2

via this auction

via the seller:
"If you don't know, the Siel Orchestra 2 is basically a second version of the more common Arp Quartet. It has the four presets - piano, strings, organ, brass - but with LOADS more control, including an LFO, phaser/chorus type effects, the ability to combine the presets, lots of knobs and switches, etc. Where the Quartet/Orchestra 1 was not very flexible, this Siel OR-400 is much more flexible. I'd compare it favorably with the Moog Opus 3, but with an added fourth preset (the Opus 3 has only 3 presets; the Siel has a piano preset added)."

Siel Cruise Demo

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated. Siel Cruise Reverb.com sale - ARP Quartet Analog Synthesizer Sequential Circuits Fugue

Published on Mar 25, 2020 StudioSoba

"Available here: dbs-gear-bazaar Reverb"

via this auction

Up for sale is one of the best Siel analog synths. Poly section serviced calibrated and cleaned works perfect, mono section serviced and has only issue with one mono preset not tuned correctly (picollo) you can hear it on the video example from 5:30.

Thanks for looking.

The Siel Cruise is a really interesting instrument. It helped Siel branch out of the Organ building business and into synthesizers. Besides the Sequential Circuits Fugue version, the Cruise’s two sections were also available as separate synthesizers from Siel—the Orchestra and the Mono. The Cruise’s Poly section, the Orchestra, was also released in the USA by ARP as the Quartet. So there is plenty of this synth to go around under various names and forms out there. It is quite capable of some really nice Mellotron-like strings, a fair good piano, though the single-oscillator driven Mono synth is a bit slim due to being a single oscillator, but still quite capable of decent bass and lead sounds.
Polyphony - Monophonic / 49-note Polyphonic"

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SIEL CRUISE vintage analog synthesizer + ORIGINAL PEDAL

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

via this auction

Demo in the listing previously posted here (it's a good one).

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TYCHOMUSIC

Click here for ISO50's TYCHOMUSIC. You will find a few synth shots in the Gallery, but of course, be sure to check out the music. This is really good stuff - great music to chill to. As for synths, it features a bit of SIEL and more.

Pictured
SIEL OR400
SIEL EXPANDER
SIEL DK600
KORG Mono/Poly


You can find more general info on SIEL on the Siel Synthesizer Website.
Update via Ethan Callender in the comments: "Be sure to check out his awesome design work, too."

SIEL MONO Analog Synthesizer 1979 | HD DEMO

Published on Mar 14, 2019 AnalogAudio1

"(c) 2019 by AnalogAudio1

I played the Siel Mono partly with reverb effects from a Lexicon MPX 500 and delay effects from a Korg SDD-3000. But no chorus, phaser or other effects involved.

The Siel Mono is a monophonic analog synth made in Italy. It's the only one mono synth from Siel. It has 10 presets (trumpet, flute, violin, you get the idea), but apart from that it's fully programmable. I has one oscillator, a filter with switchable LOWPASS / BANDPASS / HIGHPASS modes - and the best of all - all modes are combinable! 1 LFO, noise generator (white noise). It has a built in CHORUS effect, called "Animator". Very nice portamento effect, reminiscent of ARP Pro DGX and Minimoog. Surprisingly meaty, powerful basic sound. A clearly cutdown version of the Siel Mono is featured in the Siel Cruise."

SIEL DK80 with Expander in Original Box

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

via this auction

"A RARE SYNTH FROM THE '80'S NEW IN BOX....

JUST UNPACKED FOR PHOTO.

COMPLETE WITH PS80 POWER SUPPLY AND EXPANDER!

ALSO, DK-70 STAGE SET, WHICH CAN BE USED WITH THE DK-80.

ALL NEW IN BOX EXCEPT THE POWER SUPPLY, WHICH IS LIKE NEW!

RARE OPPORTUNITY!!!

You are bidding on a rare and complete DK desktop system by SIEL from 1985! It includes the DK 80, Expander 80, power supply and ultra rare and hard to find RAM Cartridge! This thing sounds unique and incredible. Nice Italo Brass and synth sounds. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity!!

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Siel Orchestra 400 OR-400 Analog String Machine Synthesizer 1982

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

via this auction

"This is a rare SIEL OR-400 String Synthesizer from 1982. It is in perfect working condition, but two of the EQ sliders are scratchy. It features a brass, reed, piano, and string section, and has an LFO and a pitch bend and pitch control knob. I do not have the original volume pedal. It really excels in the strings section, if you are looking for murky ethereal David Lynch-esque sounds. The reed section is very combo organ-esque, and the brass section is very 80s (think along the lines of Beverly Hills Cop)."

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Pocket Operator Modular 400 @ NAMM 2019

Published on Jan 23, 2019 Bedroom Producers Blog

"Teenage Engineering's new Pocket Operator Modular 400 modular synthesizer kit at the 2019 NAMM Show. Tobias gives us a quick rundown of Pocket Operator Modular 400's features, sounds, and future plans for Teenage Engineering's affordable modular system."

1st batch of the 400 sold out. Curious how many units there were.

Pocket Operator Modular 400

Pittsburgh Modular's Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator Modular 400

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

via this auction

"Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator Modular 400 purchased new by Pittsburgh Modular Synthesizers to test with our products. We assembled and used this unit on our test bench for a few weeks before it was packed up to resell.

The sale includes the Modular 400, original teenage engineering patch cables, original manual, original assembly tool, upgraded power supply installed by Pittsburgh Modular(see pic), original battery pack (wires clipped and removed to install upgraded power supply), Pittsburgh Modular power adapter. A new Modular 400 does not ship with a power adapter. We upgraded the power supply and will included the necessary power adapter.

The assembly process requires bending the aluminum panels to form the case. The bending causes the yellow powder coating to flake off at the bends (see pic). This is a byproduct of assembly.

The synthesizer does not include the original packaging. Teenage Engineering designed the packaging to self destruct as it is opened. The Modular 400 will ship fully assembled. This will save you 4 hours.

The synthesizer will be double boxed and shipped from Pittsburgh Modular Synthesizers."

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★ SuperRare! ★ Siel EX8500 (Italy, 1985) Analog Synth Expander Module with 2 SoundCards & Documents!

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

via this auction

You can find a demo of one here.

"super rare and vintage Siel EX8500 (made in Italy in 1985) midi synth expander with original power supply and 2 original sound cards (100 Siel DK70 + Siel DK80 additional sounds!)! It comes also with original printed manual and original documents!

The Siel EX8500 is a polyphonic synthesizer with voice assignement containing 8 complete and individual synth modules (termed voices or channels). The instruments is provided with:

- 8 Oscillators (D.C.O.)

- 1 Pink Noise Generator

- 9 V.C.A.'s (8 for the DCO's and one for the noise generator)

- 1 24db / octave low pass Voltage Controlled filter (V.C.F.)

- 9 digital envelope generators (D.E.G.)

- 2 low frequency oscillators (L.F.O.)

- 1x SSM 2045 resonant low-pass filter (Sequential Circuits type filter)

- Analog Chorus (bbd based)

- Sequencer (polyphonic, 300 note)

- Full MIDI implementation

- Mono and Stereo outputs"

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EML 400/401 - Rare 1970s Sequencer & Synth System

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

via this auction

"Rare EML Electrocomp model 400 / 401 system comprised of a dual 16 stage (or single 32 stage) quantized sequencer paired with a 2 oscillator voice module with a multimode filter. These rarely pop up for sale as few were made but they are powerful systems with sophisticated features especially for the time. This one is in great condition other than some broken latches which could be replaced. Although EML used heavy duty metal latches on their other gear they used plastic ones on the 400 and they tend to be broken. Functionally the system is working great and sounds awesome. Though the sequencer gets all the attention when folks discuss the 400/401, I'm also a big fan of the synth section. Totally unique sound capable of some pretty wild and aggressive sounds you cant get out of a Moog or Arp. It is a basically a EML 500 with fewer mod options on tap though you can patch for them.

More from the designer:
"Following the traditions of , , and other early synth developers, the EML engineers crafted an analog sequencer that bears little resemblance to today's MIDI sequencers. 'The 400 series sequencer was my baby,' [EML designer, John] Borowicz admits. 'I loved that box. It was killer. I'd say that was one of the first hybrids, because it was analog and digital. One of the problems with analog circuits was tuning the bloody things. So we built a voltage quantizer, and then jumped on the bandwagon, since they were the big boys on the block. Our quantizer was basically set up for 12-tone diatonic, but you could tune it to play microtones too, and it would still maintain its quantizing feature, which was pretty hip.

"'It also had voltage-controlled envelope generators, which as far as I know was a first, too. You could patch that thing, load it up in increments of 16 stages, and the control voltages could be either locked in - quantized - or you could set it to be variable, either way. By patching, you could get the thing to do retrograde permutations: It would go through a sequence as you programmed it with all the rhythm, and then you could start to do permutations by jumping around in a very progammatic fashion to different stages. It could go through stages 1-16, and then 1, 15, 2, 14, 3, 12, and so on. You could line up the patterns however you wanted. That was an amazing little box.

"'It also had a voice module with it, the 401, which was basically a scaled-down 500: dual oscillators with switch-selectable waveforms, a multimode filter, and the voltage-controlled envelope generators. At that point, you only had AR (attack/release) envelopes, but you could get multiple stages by gating the voltage correctly.'"

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EML 400 Vintage Analog Sequencer SN 03175

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

via this auction

"This is a weird 1/2-400 sequencer, you can run it either in a 16x3 configuration or with 48 separate stages. Unfortunately we no longer have an EML 400 to test it so we are selling it as is. Also unfortunately we no longer have a multi-pin cable to hook it up to the 400. The multi-pin connector is somewhat degraded so it probably should be replaced anyway. As you can see from the pic the interior is in excellent shape, as is the wood cabinet. My surmise is this either was a one-off project done by EML or somebody very skillfully sawed a full 400 in half, whichever one the workmanship is impeccable..."

Salamander Music Systems SMS Voice 400 Synthesizer ultra rare Boards and Panel

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

This one was spotted and sent in via M Me.

via this auction

"Salamander Music System SMS Voice 400 boards and control panel

This convolute contains

1x Control Panel
2x SMS 400 mother boards with dual VCO , VCF ,dual EG , delay and CV S&H modules
1x SMS 400 mother board with dual VCO , VCF ,dual EG and CV S&H modules
1x SMS 400 mother board with dual VCO ,VCF and CV S&H modules

All parts are untested . Selling it for spares and repair ,
Curtis IC's are not includet .
The MN3005 BBD Chips (2 per Delay as far as i know) are includet"

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Siel DK600 Vintage Analog Synthesizer

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

via this auction

"This synth is fully functional, and with regard to appearance - I would give it a 9.5 score out of 10.0. The previous owner took exceptional care of this instrument, and the only noticeable wear is a small, round paint chip on the back panel.

The Siel DK-600 was made in Italy in the mid 1980’s. It is a classic and even a “sleeper classic” in my opinion. A google search will turn up all of the details including the detailed description from vintagesynth dot com which states… ”The DK-600 is Siel's unique Italian take on the mid-eighties programmable polysynth with MIDI implementation (badged as the Opera-6 in the UK). Just like the Juno-106 and Poly-61 of the time, the Siel was a 6-voice synthesizer with straight forward programming, simple effects and digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCO's). However, the Siel, having dual oscillators per voice sounds thicker than the Juno or Matrix because it's got 12 oscillators! And because they're DCO's, you know they'll always remain stable and in-tune even though they are analog in nature. The DK600 has many other nice features such as complete MIDI implementation. There are 3 LFO's for extreme modulation. Both the filter and amplifier have standard ADSR envelope sections. And like similar synths, all the sliders and buttons are intuitively placed on the front panel for hands-on real-time programming."

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Siel Orchestra 2 Wonky Fuzzy tape Edition

Published on Mar 31, 2015 SPFXsynthesisers

"Having released Siel Orchestra 2 for Kontakt 5, I decided to create a Wonky tape version of it, after buying a shabby, in need of a service reel to reel at a carboot(yard sale).
I found it did wonderful audio degrading things to the sound of the Siel and sort of mellotronised it

This new Wonky Tape edition comes free with the normal Siel Orchestra 2 version.
Existing owners of Siel Orchestra should ahve received this Wonky Tape version - If not then please contact me and llet me know.
www.synthmagic.co.uk"

Siel DK600

Just a shot of the Siel DK600 sent my way via Brian Comnes. I always wanted one of these for some reason. Brian also pulled the following from the sale details. "The DK-600 is Siel's unique Italian take on the mid-eighties programmable polysynth with MIDI implementation (badged as the Opera-6 in the UK). Just like the Juno-106 and Poly-61 of the time, the Siel is a 6 voice synthesizer with straight forward programming, simple effects and digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCO's). However, the Siel, having dual oscillators per voice sounds thicker than the Juno or Matrix because it's got 12 oscillators! And because they're DCO's, you know they'll always remain stable and in-tune even though they are analog in nature.

The DK-600 has many other nice features such as complete MIDI implementation. There are 3 LFO's for extreme modulation. Both the filter and amplifier have standard ADSR envelope sections. And like similar synths, all the sliders and buttons are intuitively placed on the front panel for hands-on real-time programming."

Sounds thicker because it has 12 oscillators? Um... Yeah... It's still only two per voice. The Matrix also has 12, two per voice, and the 106 has a sub osc, although you can't detune the sub osc.