I don't know why, but I bought an "Optigan"
ROWESKI 77
Hyperreal
web site (or perhaps Analog Heaven). Http://www.hyperreal.com
Ben McCullar
Andrea Daniels) wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about these things? Anyone *have* one? I would
> like to know more about its history and mechanics, also what to do to
> keep it functioning for the longest time. thanks.
Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo called the Optigon one of his "favorite
keyboards" in the August 1981 issue of Keyboard magazine. He doesn't
elaborate on which Devo songs --if any--the Optigon makes it's appearance.
He does talk about putting two disks in at once to achieve "perverted"
sounds which aren't even in tune with each other; or putting the disks in
upside down to make banjos play "sucking sounds."
Have fun!
Ben McCullar
Fil...@teleport.com
Brian Rost
>
> Anyone ever heard of this thing? Looks like something one might have
> ordered out of a Sears catalogue during the mid-70s, almost like a kids
> too. It's really the most retarded instrument, but I love it!
Actually, it WAS in the Sears catlaog, back around 1968 or so.
--
Brian Rost
Ascom Nexion
ro...@nexen.com
********************************************************
The creator has a master plan, peace and harmony for every man!
********************************************************
Karla Andrea Daniels
Anyone ever heard of this thing? Looks like something one might have
ordered out of a Sears catalogue during the mid-70s, almost like a kids
me explain it:
Looks like a miniature organ, it has 3 octaves, white and tan keys, and
an expression pedeal; now comes the peculiar stuff. On the left panel the
first oddity you notice is a layout of buttons marked with chord names,
these work much like an accordion, you pick the note(Bb through E) and
the chord quality(major, minor, dim7) and it plays it. You also have reverb,
balance, 5 unspecified keys and a "tempo" control, both of which I am going
to elaborate on. When I first tried playing this instrument the buttons
would give me drum beat loops, which was quite baffling to me, and the
tempo control would speed the beat up, or slow it down, but it also changes
the "tempo" of the notes that come from the keypad!! Crazy. Then finally
I noticed that the front panel just beneath the keys opens up, and lo
and behold inside there is a compartment where i found a cardboard box
with these curious disks and a music book, then upon further inspection
i found one of the plastic discs already in the machine on something
that is vaguely reminiscent of a CD player; the discs are like floppy records
as far as I can figure they are read by a light(And I'm assuming it must
work something like the exciter box on video projectors that provide sound
at movie theaters) that spins aroudn the disk at varying speeds depending
on your tempo. It's quite ingenious, really.
Anyway, the reason it seems like it must have been designed as a toy, rather
than a serious instrument is A) I have several books on the history of
Electronic music/musical instruments and there is no mention, and B) I
don't think it is possible for it to stay in tune. Though I'm not trying
to say that I don't think it *could* be taken seriously, it just might
be difficult in an ensemble project, maybe with a trombone player with
a really good ear, or voice, i don't know. I *love* this instrument,
I don't know what to compare the tone to, I guess it really just playss
something close to a sine wave, but it just sounds so unstable.
Does anyone know anything about these things? Anyone *have* one? I would
like to know more about its history and mechanics, also what to do to
keep it functioning for the longest time. thanks.
-p
JHelmnj
In addition, it is major F*CKIN' COOL!!! You probably
have seen something written about it, but you just didn't
know it. Look up "VAKO Orchestron". I'm certain about
Vako and pretty sure about Orchestron. The unit uses
clear plastic disks with REAL SAMPLES on it !!! But it
is not digital. It is optical, much like that strip of optical
sound on the outside track of the 16mm films you used
to watch in high school health class. No kidding. It is
the exact same technology. Mattel used it on the Optigan
as a toy. VAKO engineering saw this and said 'that's
cool' and licensed the technology. They created an
unbelievable unit called the orchestron which used these
same style disks. It basically went head to head with
the mellotron in the feild of early sample playback.
I know this because when I was like 12,
I went to a serious music store on the east coast
(the first one with RACKS of Arps and Moogs) and
heard a head to head comparison of the VAKO and
a Mellotron. The VAKO (except for attack transients)
absolutely smoked the mellotron. It made the Mellotron
sound like a noisy, bad tape machine ( which it sorta
was). I love the Mellotron, but the Vako knocked my
socks off. I always wanted one, and even saw some
guy schlepping one into a music store some 8 years
later and selling it for $100. See, the problem is, these
little plastic disks, while not as easily abused as a
mellotron tape rack, did get scuffed, old, and lose
their sound. It took a real long time, but once they
were worn, there simply was nowhere to get new
ones. Vako went out of business I think after they
shipped 100 unit (exaggeration), and the disks were
expensive and difficult to fabricate, unlike a mellotron
which was tape and you could find some way to
make your own. So no replacement disks available.
The unit, while amazing, sunk in value faster than
a peso. Hope this helps. Have a great day.
Jerry
Karla Andrea Daniels
In <433228...@ssurreal.demon.co.uk> Paul Ward <Pa...@ssurreal.demon.co.uk> writes:
>I remember Steve Hackett playing one of these at the Reading Festival in
>the late seventies. Gloriously dreadful! :)
>Don't collect 'em - play 'em...
Absolutely! In fact, I'm trying to incorporate it into my current band,
though I'm going to have to work on matching pitch better with the tuner.
I mean, I could find the root note and just stick with it, but it seems
like the instrument has a greater expressive ability, what with the tempo
control; it's just hard not to get completely lost!
Anyway, you said don't collect them? Does this mean the Optigan is a
collectors item? I'll probably wind up selling it owing to space
issues sometime, so I'd really hate to sell it to someone who is going to
just "collect" it, rather than USE it.
Also, it came with 3 discs, I wonder if anyone knows where I might find
additional ones, or am I just pipe dreaming?
John Ladasky
>
O.K., Nick, I'll bite. I know who Rolf Harris is. But what's a
Stylophone? And is it really more retarded than some of Peter Schickele's
creations? Or a krummhorn? Or the mouth trombinet?
If anyone can think of a more appropriate newsgroup in which to
continue this ridiculously deviated thread, let me know and we'll move it
there.
--
Unique ID : Ladasky, John Joseph Jr.
Title : BA Biochemistry, U.C. Berkeley, 1989 (Ph.D. perhaps 1998???)
Location : Stanford University, Dept. of Structural Biology, Fairchild D-105
Keywords : immunology, music, running, Green
Nick Rothwell
> O.K., Nick, I'll bite. I know who Rolf Harris is. But what's a
>Stylophone? And is it really more retarded than some of Peter Schickele's
>creations? Or a krummhorn? Or the mouth trombinet?
Er, maybe. The Stylophone is a tiny little plastic instrument with a contact
pad for the keyboard, played using a stylus wired into the body of the
instrument, so that notes were played by closing the circuit. It had a tiny
transistor-radio speaker on top, and the sound was much as you can probably
imagine, only worse.
> If anyone can think of a more appropriate newsgroup in which to
>continue this ridiculously deviated thread, let me know and we'll move it
>there.
Sure as hell beats the usual FOR SALE and WANTED and HELP WHAT SHOULD I BUY
threads around here.
--
Nick Rothwell CASSIEL Contemporary Music/Dance ni...@cassiel.com
"Success can be measured by only one thing:
the hairs on the back of your neck." -- Twyla Tharp