From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 20:53:08 1993
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Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 20:48:33 -0400
From: Nathan F. Janette <nathan@jacobi.biology.YALE.EDU>
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To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
Status: OR

> <inc> Could someone inform me on what exactly the Quadra was?  

> 

> The Quadra (haven't played one for years- so be kind) was basically an
> Oddessy, an Omni, and a mono bass synth in one box with a splittable 5
> octave keyboard.  Lots of knobs (sliders actually) with programmable
> presets.  The synth section was, as I said, similar to an Oddessy- two
> VCOs with crude duo-phonic capability.

You folks have all missed one really cool feature of the Quadra's
2-voice lead section: independent glide rate!  Fat beyond fat, and a
major part of Bank's solo sound on the Quadra.

It's a neat unit, with a built-in phase shifter that sweeps like a
mother. 


---
Nathan Janette	# "As I walk I hear my longing thoughts subsiding.
Dept MB&B	# Upon your cross I bleed the thoughts that I've been hiding.
Yale Univ/HHMI	# I'm all used up; there's not much more for me to give.
New Haven, CT	# Echoes of the life that we all want to live."

nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu		

From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 20:09:45 1993
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From: Romeo Fahl <palefox@u.washington.edu>
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To: eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com, jdisegi@acs.bu.edu, metlay@netcom.com
Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Status: OR

I know this may be a little trivial, but New Order used a Quadra on their 
early releases (Movement and the EP that followed it).

= rf =


From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 18:42:54 1993
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From: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu (Jonathan Disegi)
Message-Id: <9304212242.AA117777@acs.bu.edu>
To: metlay@netcom.com, vick@Dublin.DoCS.UU.SE
Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Status: OR

Unfortunately, I missed the article in Keyboard by Bob Moog that someone on the
net reffered me to concering the demise of Moog.  Being the busy college studednt
I am, I don't always time to pick up Keyboard, so could someone please 
give a brief sypnopsis of the fall of Moog.  I think this must be an interesting
story becasuse for so long 'moog' was synonomous w/ 'synth'.  something crazy
must have happened to make the mighty giant fall.

thanks,

jonathan.

From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 16:52:00 1993
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From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay)
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Subject: Re: the Quadra-- a correction (fwd) Whoops, wasn't posted, I think
To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Synth Mailing List)
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 13:51:59 PDT
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Status: OR

This wasn't posted the first time. Let's try it again.

Forwarded message:
Subject: Re: the Quadra-- a correction
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 12:54:28 PDT


I correct myself....

>The Quadra was "MIDI before MIDI," as Tony Banks of Genesis described
>it.  It was four different synths, each of which had been sold
>separately in its own box by ARP, repackaged under one hood and sold
>as a monster synth-rig. It contained a lead section (an Axxe), a bass
>section (a Little Brother), a polysynth section and a strings section
>(an Omni-2). The five octave keyboard was pressure sensitive and
>splittable, and it sounded GREAT. Almost every keyboard sound you hear
>on the song "Abacab" by Genesis is Quadra; it was Tony Banks's main
>axe for a long time. The problems with the Quadra were not specific,
>that I know of, it just suffered a bit more than other synths from the
>ravages of age. The keys broke, the membrane switches on the front
>panel failed, and so on.
>
>I've only seen one, ever, since the advent of MIDI. It was sold to
>my ARP-collecting friend, who paid $1700 for it and considered it
>a bargain. I could get more data on it from his copy of the manual,
>if people are curious. 

having just spoken to the fellow in question, I amend: the Quadra 
had an Odyssey in it rather than an Axxe (two VCOs), an Omni-2, 
and the bass section used either the Omni-2's bass voicing or
a pair of "electric bass" voicings from (probably) the Pro-DGX.


-- 
mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I bow to the obvious superiority of a culture that coins words like "snog."


-- 
mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I bow to the obvious superiority of a culture that coins words like "snog."

From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 16:14:21 1993
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Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 13:12:40 PDT
From: rogoff@teradyne.com (David Rogoff x4627)
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To: eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com
Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Status: OR


<inc> From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 12:38:57 1993
<inc> Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 15:00:48 -0400
<inc> From: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu (Jonathan Disegi)
<inc> To: eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com, metlay@netcom.com
<inc> Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
<inc> Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
<inc> 
<inc> Could someone inform me on what exactly the Quadra was?  I never saw one but 
<inc> I thought it was ARP's version of the early-80's polyphonic/DCO/programmable
<inc> analogue synth.  Supposedly it was plauged w/ problems: what kind?  Did it
<inc> have any sort of control interface that can be converted to MIDI (ala DCB)?
<inc> Even though I have never heard one, I have always wanted to buy a Quadra 
<inc> because I love the ARP synths and it sounded cool.  Are they easy enough to 
<inc> find, and what is their 'street price'?
<inc> 

The Quadra (haven't played one for years- so be kind) was basically an
Oddessy, an Omni, and a mono bass synth in one box with a splittable
5 octave keyboard.  Lots of knobs (sliders actually) with programmable
presets.  The synth section was, as I said, similar to an Oddessy- two
VCOs with crude duo-phonic capability.  The poly section had the Omni
(= String Ensemble = Solina) sounds, plus some synth effects by running
this through filters (like the Moog/Radio Shack MG-1 or the Moog Opus 3).
You could split the keyboard to do things like bass in the lower two octaves,
lead in the upper 2, and poly in the middle etc..

The keyboard had a form of mono pressure sensing that could be used for
vibrato, filter sweep etc.  It was not velocity sensative.

The coolest thing was the front panel.  In addition to lots of sliders,
the panel was all brightly colored (printed into the faceplate) membrane
switches.  Lots of bright blues and oranges as I remember. Lots of 
LEDs too!

The were many I/O jacks including CV/gate for the lead section.  Don't
remember any more about that.  

I've seen them used for $250 - $1000.  The membrane switches seemed
to flake out on most of them (anyone with a Sinclair ZX-81???).

Nice sound- definately worth it if you want lots of analog sounds and
knobs and don't miss the MIDI stuff.

  David

  David Rogoff,  Teradyne Semiconductor Test Division 
    rogoff@teradyne.com
      818-991-2900 x4627






<inc> Also -- what's up w/ the PRO-DGX, for I can buy one for $99.00.  is it cool?
<inc> 
<inc> once again, thanks for all the VALUBLE info!
<inc> 
<inc> jonathan.
<inc> 

From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 15:57:33 1993
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From: I've been stolen by a gypsy.  21-Apr-1993 1536 <eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com>
To: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu
Cc: analogue@ranger.enet.dec.com, eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com
Apparently-To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu, jdisegi@acs.bu.edu
Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
Status: OR

Jonathon,

     The Pro-DGX is a Pro-Soloist, nee ??? (1500?) , that is to say, a
simple monophonic analog voice, with pressure sensing and a lot of
presets.  Not much variable power.  No inputs.  Might have cv/gate
out....  In 1973/5/5 I wanted one to set on top of an SE-IV String
Ensemble, so that I could play leads over orchestral chords.  Of
course, being a real con-noisy-eur, now I would rather have a Solina,
or an Eminent, if I was going to go the divider-architecture (organ)
route.

     The Quadra was one of those all-in-1 machines of the late '70s
era (it may not have appeared until 1980 or so, but the design...). 
It is of an ilk with the Multivox MX-3000, and it is more
sophisticated than the SLM Spectrum, which had only poly sections as I
recall.  A Spectrum would be a heck of a find, these days, not that I
would vouch for the sound being of any interest.

     What the Quadra actually contained was, a mono bass synth with a
simple analog voice, a duophonic lead synth with a richer analog
voice, and the obligatory string/brass section (fully polyphonic,
based on the Omni, I assume).   As I recall, it had digital patch
memory.  By the way, one of the west coast MIDI-update companies is
working on a MIDI board for the Quadra. No velocity.  Gee, I count
only three sections.  We need a man with a spec sheet....


Eirikur


From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Wed Apr 21 15:21:42 1993
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From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay)
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Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
To: jdisegi@acs.bu.edu (Jonathan Disegi)
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 12:21:23 PDT
Cc: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Analogue Synth Mailing List)
In-Reply-To: <9304211900.AA133427@acs.bu.edu>; from "Jonathan Disegi" at Apr 21, 93 3:00 pm
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Status: OR


>Could someone inform me on what exactly the Quadra was?  I never saw one but 
>I thought it was ARP's version of the early-80's polyphonic/DCO/programmable
>analogue synth.  Supposedly it was plauged w/ problems: what kind?  Did it
>have any sort of control interface that can be converted to MIDI (ala DCB)?
>Even though I have never heard one, I have always wanted to buy a Quadra 
>because I love the ARP synths and it sounded cool.  Are they easy enough to 
>find, and what is their 'street price'?

The Quadra was "MIDI before MIDI," as Tony Banks of Genesis described
it.  It was four different synths, each of which had been sold
separately in its own box by ARP, repackaged under one hood and sold
as a monster synth-rig. It contained a lead section (an Axxe), a bass
section (a Little Brother), a polysynth section and a strings section
(an Omni-2). The five octave keyboard was pressure sensitive and
splittable, and it sounded GREAT. Almost every keyboard sound you hear
on the song "Abacab" by Genesis is Quadra; it was Tony Banks's main
axe for a long time. The problems with the Quadra were not specific,
that I know of, it just suffered a bit more than other synths from the
ravages of age. The keys broke, the membrane switches on the front
panel failed, and so on.

I've only seen one, ever, since the advent of MIDI. It was sold to
my ARP-collecting friend, who paid $1700 for it and considered it
a bargain. I could get more data on it from his copy of the manual,
if people are curious. 

I should mention that the Quadra was by no means unique. There was
a wonderful era right before MIDI when the Prophet model for the 
polyphonic synthesizer was not the only way to go, and a lot of 
bizarre beasties saw the light of day: not only polysynths like
the CS-80 and Polymoog, but also wonderful organ/strings/synth
combo keyboards that weighed a ton and sounded thicker than 
molasses, like the Quadra, the Korg Trident and Trident Mark II,
the Crumar Stratus and Trilogy, and the Yamaha SK30 and SK50D.


-- 
mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I bow to the obvious superiority of a culture that coins words like "snog."

From analogue-request@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Thu Apr 22 14:43:10 1993
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From: Neal Howard <neal@cmptrc.lonestar.org>
Subject: Re: The demise of Moog, ARP, SCI, OBIE, etc.
To: analogue@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 93 10:22:22 CDT
In-Reply-To: <9304210512.AA11284@cmp-rt.music.uiuc.edu>; from "magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!analogue-request" at Apr 21, 93 12:12 (midnight)
Mailer: Elm [revision: 66.25]
Status: OR

> 
> Previously, Jonathan Disegi wrote:
> > 
> > 2) I have always been curious about this, but no one has ever given me a 
> >    straight (accurate) answer:
> > 
> > 	We all know that MOOG, ARP, SCI, and Oberheim are no longer, but
> > 	*WHEN*, and more specifically *WHY* did they go under?  I assume
> > 	It had alot to do with the inability to progress to digital 
> > 	synthesis, but that is too easy.  I want to know the juicy details
> > 	about the demise of these 'classic' synth manufacturers!!!
> 
> In ARPs case, it had nothing to do with progressing to digital synthesis.
> Here's the ugly ARP story...
> 	ARP was fascinated in the early '70s with the concept of developing
> a "performance synth"...sort of what we got with the carry-about controllers
> like the Lynx, or the Roland SH-101, or a few other ideas. ARPs solution,
> however, was very half-baked in the light of the technology of the day.
> This solution? The ARP Avatar.
> 	The Avatar was the first "guitar synthesizer"...something of a 
> misnomer, really. It was more correctly the first synth to track pitch and
> convert this to CV to control a synth. Unlike current-day guitar controllers,
> though (which use hex pickups to get discrete string pickup), the Avatar
> used the straight output of the guitar itself...which, in the light of
Bzzzztttt!!! The AVATAR did have a hex pickup which had to mounted onto the
face of the guitar. It used the output of this hex pickup to feed the pitch-to-
voltage converters.
> pitch->CV technology, was a _bad_idea_. Strings, of course, put out harmonics,
> and considering also that the Avatar could only track one pitch at a time,
> the guitar became a pain to play with this device connected to it. 
It's true the AVATAR could only track one pitch at a time and it's tracking
was terrible. It was a monophonic synth.
> 	Well, simply put, the Avatar was a bold-faced mistake. The synth
> had chronic mistracking problems, no programming improvements over the
> keyboard synths of the day, made the guitar difficult to use...you get the
> point. Stupidly, though, ARP continued to try and push this device _even_
> _though_ the technology to make it work simply wasn't in place in the
> time it was being developed. They poured tons of cash into the Avatar
> project, neglecting development on keyboards, where other companies like
> Yamaha, Korg, and Roland were beginning to make serious US market inroads.
It's pretty hard to believe the AVATAR was the single reason for Arp's demise
and they did not pour tons of cash into the project since it was based on an
already developed mono keyboard synth. The most obvious reasons for their
demise were that their engineering department was basically microprocessor-
illiterate and they also didn't know how to implement polyphony via "voice
allocation" as in the manner of Roland, SCI, Korg, etc. Their technology base
consisted primarily of electronic organ technology (i.e. a top octave divider
driven from a master oscillator, as in the ARP OMNI) for polyphony.


