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. 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! best, derek Mark Knecht wrote: -- derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl ---Oblique Strategy # 111: "Lowest common denominator check -single beat -single note -single riff"

On Wed, Oct 27, 2004 at 03:51:20 +0100, Dave Griffiths wrote: Heh, I've had that bug more times than I care to remember :) The "can't be emulated on a computer" sounds like a challenge to me too. How about seeding something off the CPU temprerature sensor :) Yup, I love the sense of solidity. There was a program on Radio 4 (god I'm old) in the UK about 6 months ago, about russian synths. It ws really good and had some recordings of an ANS where you could draw frequencies on a glass screen that triggered oscilators at different freqencies. Kinda like drawing an FFT by hand from what I could tell. Ever since hearing the program I've wanted to build a software version... so little time :( - Steve