Buchla Electronic Music System
February 2, 1970
Martin Carthy - Palaces of Gold
Crown of Horn, 1976
Recorded at Old Sawmills Srtudio, Cornwall ~ Produced by Ashley Hutchings.
Original song composed by Leon Rosselson.
A captivating folk track with very tasteful synthesizer. The back cover credits the synthesizer to Tony Cox. Sadly this is the only track on the record with electronics.
Sister Irene O'connor – Fire Of God’s Love
1976
“In the 60s Singapore was a hub for sisters traveling on missions throughout South East Asia and Sister Marimil Lobregat was passing through, on her way to Indonesia, when she met Sister Irene O'Connor.
They only spent a short time together but a friendship blossomed that was rekindled more than a decade later when they both found themselves staying in a convent in Sydney’s Point Piper.
Sister Irene had already made a number of records while stationed in Singapore, and had also contributed music to several educational albums for the Sydney Catechist Centre. She had an albums worth of new songs and was looking to record them.
Sister Marimil was working in Homebush at the Catholic Audiovisual Centre as a recording technician and, across a series of Sunday afternoons, the two made use of a small soundproof room at the convent and the studios in Homebush to record the album which was released both in Australia and the U.S but only sold in small numbers.
The two moved on to new projects not long after and never recorded together again.
At 79 Sister Irene is still making beautiful music geared for enriching the soul.
She has written a musical about the life of Francis of Assisi and is currently working on “meditation music”.
Sister Marimil is now 84 and working harder than ever.
She develops and runs massage therapy for the terminally ill, teaches Tai Chi as well as running weekend retreats on spirituality of the body.”
An interesting combination of ethereal religious music with transistor organ, synthesizers and rhythm machines in an almost psych-folk style (!)
Saw this record was sold for $750 on discogs..
A truly relaxing and cleansing listen here, a nice one for rainy days.
I recommend this for everyone.
Roland System 100 Advertisement
“The Roland System 100 was an analog semi-modular synthesizer manufactured by Japan’s Roland Corporation, released in 1975 and manufactured until 1979.The modules - the 101 synthesizer, 102 expander, 104 sequencer and 103 four-channel mixer with built-in spring reverb and mono fx send/return & the 109 speakers could be used independently, but there was no true modular flexibility, as with the later Roland System-100M and the Roland System 700. The component parts gave an expandable two-oscillator monosynth with sequencing, monitoring and effects capabilities. Each unit was independently powered so that there was no weakening of oscillator power due to complex patching. The 101 and 102 are internally normalised so they can be used without patching at all. Also, uniquely for the time, the 100 didn’t have the oscillators “locked in” to fixed footages or pitches, which allows maximum flexibility for sound design. It can also be used with a MIDI-to-CV[disambiguation needed] converter, as it supports the 1v/oct standard. More modules were apparently planned, but none were ever produced.The System 100 is still sought-after due to its filter, sequencer and patching capabilities, though the oscillators can be unstable at the lower frequencies, the keyboard is prone to mis-triggering and double-triggering if not used regularly, but generally these are very robust and reliable systems. The Roland SH-5 and SH-7 are very similar in styling, but both are hardwired keyboards with fixed signal paths, as opposed to the modular System 100.Notable use of the system was by Mute Records label head Daniel Miller who helped produce Depeche Mode’s A Broken Frame and by Human League (MK1 incarnation) - the albums Reproduction and Travelogue used a large system 100 (1 x 101, 2 x 102, 2 x 104, 1 x 103) multitracked to provide nearly all the arrangements including drums and percussion. Vince Clarke is also a user: it can be heard on many of Erasure’s albums including the “all analog” works post-1991. The K2 Plan (Shekhar Raj Dhain) has also used it extensively in a similar vein, multitracked and with the sequencer providing odd syncopations and effects. Joy Electric’s The White Songbook album (2001) was created by using a System 100 exclusively.”
Salvatore Martirano seated at The SalMar Construction
“In 1969, Salvatore Martirano along with a group of engineers and musicians at the University of Illinois began work on the design and construction of a musical electronic instrument. The instrument, named the SAL-MAR CONSTRUCTION, is a hybrid system in which TTL logical curcuits (small and medium scale integration) drive analog modules, such as voltage-controlled oscillators, amplifiers and filters.The performer sits at a horizontal control panel of 291 lightable touch-sensitive switches (no moving parts). The two-state switches are used by a performer to dial sequences of numbers that are characterized by a variety of intervals and lengths. A sequence may then bypass, address, or be added to other sequences forming an interlocked tree of control and data according to a performer’s choice. The unique characteristic of the switch is that it can be driven both manually and logically, which allows human/machine interaction. The most innovative feature of the human/machine interface is that it allows the user to switch from control of macro to micro parameters of the information output. This is analogous to a zoom lens on a camera.”
Patrice Sciortino - Natcos
Percupulsions
197(?)
Recorded At – Pathé-Marconi Studios
Printed By – Imprimerie Jean Colombet
Composed By, Directed By – Patrice Sciortino
Percussion – Guy Cipriani, Gérard Pérotin
Recorded By – Alain Butet
Recorded By [Assistant] – Claude Wagner
A great record, very imaginative and abstract compositions, driving rhythm, although discordant can be quite tasteful in texture and colour.
Original advert for the Hillwood ‘Blue Comets 73’ Synthesizer
1973
“This is a single oscillator monophonic synth, made in 1973. It has a 12db filter. The oscillator has both sawtooth and square wave that can be selected individually or combined with the four rocker switches simply labeled "Wave 1”, “Wave 2”, “Wave 3” or “Wave 4”. It can be modified with 7 presets assignable with rocker tabs labeled “Effect 1”, “Effect 2”, etc. There are no descriptions to the tabs as to what they actually sound like. Luckily there is a tab labeled “Control” that allow you to tweak the sounds with the control panel to the left of the keyboard. Select all four “Wave” tabs and it will randomly distort. Add in “noise” and “Growl” and it can get downright nasty. It has a retro white heavy-metal casing.“
Piero Umiliani - Synthi Boogie
Synthi Time
Omicron, 1971
Composed By, Programmed By, Arranged By [Elaborate Da], Performer [Eseguite Da], Synthesizer – Piero Umiliani
Engineer [Tecnico Del Suono] – Claudio Budassi
Organ [Hammond] – Piero Umiliani (tracks: B1, B4)
Recorded By – Francesco Melloni
Spinet [Spinetta] – Piero Umiliani (tracks: A3, A5, B1 to B5)
Recorded at Sound Work-Shop studios, Rome. Lit. R. Pioda.
Made in Italy.
10/71
Ruth White - Lovers / World
Seven Trumps From The Tarot Card And Pinions
1968
“Ruth White (b. 1925 Pittsburgh) is an American electronic music pioneer, most notably for her early explorations of sound using the moog synthesizer. According to the back cover of her 1971 release Short Circuits, “Ruth White is considered among today’s most gifted arbiters of what is termed ‘the new music’.” With a string of recordings in the mid 1960’s/early 1970’s - most notably “Seven Trumps From The Tarot Card And Pinions” (1968), “Flowers of Evil” (1969), and “Short Circuits” (1970) - featured surprising and new uses of the Moog Synthesizer as well as other pieces of electronic musical equipment. While her use of technology was the focal point in the late 1960’s, most of her career was dedicated to educational recordings.”
EMS - Synthi KB1
Designed by David Cockerel, who started the EMS company along with Peter Zinovieff and Tristram Caryl.
The Synthi KB1 never went into production. It featured the same synthesis modules and circuit boards as the VCS3, but housed in a horizontal box casing, with a 29-note mini-keyboard controller and two small built in speakers.
Only one prototype unit was built and this was subsequently sold to the progressive rock group Yes
Herbie Flowers - Cactus
Herbie’s Stuff LP 1984
Music De Wolfe – DWS/LP 3526
Vinyl, LP
UK
Design – Nick Bantock
“Flowers began his musical training in 1956 when conscripted into the Royal Air Force: electing at first to serve for nine years as a bandsman playing tuba. He took up double bass as a second instrument to secure his “junior technician” stripe, and later moved to electric bass. After completing his military service he passed through the line-ups of several Dixieland jazz bands in the early 1960s, then discovered modern jazz. In 1965 he was engaged as a bandsman on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth. In New York, after hearing a jazz electric bass in a night club, he acquired his own solid-body electric instrument, a Lake Placid Blue 1960 Fender Jazz Bass that he purchased from Manny’s in New York City for $79. Later in the 1960s Flowers began to acquire his reputation as a session player, working for record producers such as Shel Talmy, Mickie Most, Steve Rowland, Richard Perry, Gus Dudgeon, and Tony Visconti.In 1969 Flowers was a founding member of the group Blue Mink and played on their song “Melting Pot”, which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. He was a member of CCS, and later featured in a mid-1970s line-up of T. Rex. In 1979, shortly after taking part in the annual A Song For Europe contest, performing “Mr Moonlight” with his group, “The Daisies”, he became a co-founder of the band Sky, which had success in the United Kingdom and Australia.”
A quirky synthesizer melody doubled with wah guitar, a very jazzy feel, similar to library music of the 70′s (KPM Library, Alan Hawkshaw, Brian Bennett). Overall a nice track with some beautiful monophonic synth lines, probably a Moog or Arp.
Edit: Wikipedia says this LP was actually issued as a KPM library record in 1981..
Wikipedia