[linux-audio-user] Russian synths ?!

[Dave Griffiths]

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 17:34:32 +0200, derek holzer wrote
> I've made a few recordings with a friend's Formanta EMS-1 in Latvia. 
> He said it was just laying around an old theatre in Liepaja 
> collecting dust when he found it. The synthesized strings on the 
> keys are fairly tame, but the noise-driven, sample-and-hold LFO is 
> an absolute monster!
> 
> http://ruskeys.net/eng/base/formanta.php
> 
> Another bonus feaure is the fact that the Formanta sounds 
> *completely* different about three hours after turning it on than 
> when you start. Let's hear it for non-linearity, which simply can't 
> be emulated on the computer.

we should try :)
I found a bug in my in-development drumsynth last night where the sine
oscillator's ever increasing float time value was causing a very slow
incremental bit reduction effect - presumably because the representation loses
precision and breaks down at high values. Fine when you wrap it properly - but
perhaps it should be left in as a quirk of the instrument...
 
> Another friend from Riga occaisionally sells different 
> Soviet/Russian synths on Ebay. In fact, there seem to be quite a few 
> of them around. Not the Formanta, it's a rare beast, but if you are 
> looking for a Polyvox, for example, the going price seems to run 
> between 500 and 700 Euros. Shipping is what would really kill you, 
> though. A Polyvox isn't too heavy, but the Formanta is approximately 
> the size and bulk of a small fridge!
 
there is definately something special about old soviet technology and the
like. I guess they didn't have planned obsolescence back then :)

dave