Korg Sigma, Contemporary Keyboard 1979

Korg Sigma synthesizer introductory advertisement from page 31 of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine July 1979.

This introductory advertisement for the Korg Sigma synthesizer ran only once in Contemporary Keyboard magazine, a month after the synthesizer appeared in the June 'Spec Sheet' section of CK.

I didn't know much about this synthesizer when I first looked at the ad, but after only a bit of research I soon realized why Korg positioned this particular keyboard as a 'performing synthesizer'.

This advertisement doesn't actually give away too much about its performance features (except for what you can see in the photo), but a quick scan of the spec sheet info provides quite a bit of info:

• A touch-sensitive keyboard with routing to pitch-bend, vibrato depth, and the mix of synthesizer/organ effects.
  
• Control inputs that includeVCO control voltage inputs, envelope generator trigger inputs, and VCO cutoff frequency control voltage inputs.
• And most awesome - two joysticks! One for pitch-bending, modulation, and pick noise depth control (!), and the other for lowpass filter and highpass filter cutoff frequency adjustments.

I also didn't realize just how popular this synthesizer is - a MATRIXSYNTH post from 2007 tells us that it is #69 in the top 100 synths according to to Peter Forrest's "A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers". And indeed, Sigma groupies' loving comments can be found on a number of synthesizer sites such as Vintage Synth Explorer and Harmony Central.

A quick search on the InterWebz pulls up a number of Web pages concerning this synthesizer, confirming its popularity both for its oddness and ugliness. And that is *exactly* what Paul Ward calls it in his article that appeared in the June 2001 issue of Sound On Sound. Although he himself found the instrument 'generally nasal' and that he is 'not a great fan', he does admit that he had "heard enthusiastic waxings about the sound of the Sigma from time to time over the years".

Gordon Ried's excellent online write-up pretty much poo-poos much of the Sigma's sound as well.

"... all things considered, Instrument was a disappointment. Neither gutsy like the ARP, nor clean and precise like the Roland, its patches were bland imitations of their orchestral inspirations. Of the eleven voices, only the Electric Bass, Tuba, and Oboe deserved any real credit. The Horn and Fuzz Guitar were just about passable but others, in particular the Clavi and String, were - as solo sounds - to be avoided at all costs."

But he does conclude that that the Sigma's "...design and a handful of its facilities put older preset monosynths to shame" and that it is "...a pity because the range of possibilities contained within its weird architecture was huge".

Listen to an old 1979 audio advertisement posted on Synthtopia and judge for yourself.

Octave Electronics CAT SRM reference sheet, 1978

Octave Electronics CAT SRM fact sheet from around 1978.

This fact sheet isn't in the best condition, but I had to post it for a few reasons.

First, this fact sheet contains A LOT of great reference information - all in one document!

Second, a while back I did a blog post on the Cat and Synth meme that has existed on the Web for quite some time. Well, this definitely has to be one of the earlier photos of a cat posing with a synthesizer. :o)

The third reason I posted this fact sheet is because it contains no date on it, and I'm having a hard time putting a time-stamp on it.

But I think I have narrowed it down a bit. Here's my logic in giving it a 1978 date...

This fact sheet references Octave as a division of Syn-Cordian. Octave also included this line of text in the CAT SRM ad that ran from December 1977 - March 1978. The next CAT SRM ad doesn't show up until August 1979 and that later ad references Octave as a Division of Plateau Electronics. So, it would make sense that this fact sheet was probably created sometime between December 1977 and August 1979.

Also, usually fact sheets will take on a bit of the personality of the rest of the marketing material. This fact sheet definitely doesn't have the look of any of the advertising done by Octave before March 1978. No synth hero or illustrated stylized cat synthesizers here - just a good solid close-up of a CAT SRM (WITH A REAL CAT!). Sure, a fact sheet SHOULD have a close-up the actual synthesizer, but if it was part of any earlier advertising, I would have expected some graphic elements to cross over. So, I can probably narrow down the publication date to sometime between March 1978 and August 1979.

The opening text in the fact sheet also gives us a clue - the first sentence suggests that the synthesizer is relatively new:

"The CAT SRM - the newest addition to the CAT SYNTHESIZER FAMILY from OCTAVE."

If this fact sheet had come out later in the CAT SRM's life cycle, it probably wouldn't have introduced it as the 'newest addition' to the family. So, I'm thinking we have a fact sheet that was created some time earlier in the CAT SRM's life. Probably early- to mid-1978.

One thing is kinda throwing me for a loop though. This fact sheet is part of the Home Demo Kit that appears in the CAT SRM and Kitten ad that ran from August 1979 until February 1980 (you can see it peaking out from behind the record in the bottom left image in the ad). That ad references Octave as a division of Plateau Electronics - so either this fact sheet was re-printed later on with new affiliation information, or they must have had a lot of old stock on hand.

End note: This fact sheet also throws out another term near and dear to my heart - the term 'Human Engineered' in the second sentence of the fact sheet. Octave's major rivals ARP and Moog were using similar buzzwords in advertisements and promotions around this time period. I've blogged about ARP using 'Human Engineering' in a number of ads and newsletters including these ones from 1974 and 1976. Moog used a similar term - 'Musical Engineering', including in this ad from 1977. It would make sense that competitors of ARP and Moog would also try and pepper some of their promotional pieces with similar buzzwords - and it looks like Octave definitely did.

Octave Electronics Kitten and Cat SRM ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Octave Electronics Kitten and Cat "SRM" synthesizer ad from page 67 of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine February 1980.

Octave Electronics took what looks like a 16-month break from advertising in CK before running this ad from August 1979 until February 1980.

The ad itself is quite different from all previous Octave Electronic ads - and it is all good. For the first time in CAT advertising history, you actually get to plant your eyeballs on AN ACTUAL CAT SYNTHESIZER! All past ads (going back more than two years), either used an illustrated representation of a CAT synthesizer or small and blurry synth-hero photos that didn't really give you a good idea of what a CAT synthesizer actually looked like.

This ad not only features a great view of the CAT SRM and Kitten synthesizers, but for the first time also includes a free offer for a 'home demo kit' featuring a demo-record, reference sheet, patch blank and product literature. Oddly, there isn't a cut-away form of any kind to fill in your name and address to actually send in for the offer - but I almost don't mind since it makes more room for that large lovely photo.

A hint to why Octave Electronics may have drastically changed its advertising strategy is visible near the bottom of the ad. If you look closely, you will see that the address of the company has changed to 928 Broadway, New York. More importantly, you will find this text in very fine print - "Division of Plateau Electronics Inc."

That's right! We are witnessing the beginning of the first of the mergers, acquisitions and name changes that eventually turned Octave Electronics into the company known today as Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. And with many mergers often comes shifts in marketing strategies.

The full history of the company is available on their current Web site, but this paragraph in particular sums up the first merger:

"In 1979, Octave merges with Plateau Electronics, a prominent synthesizer repair facility located in downtown Manhattan, the center of NYC’s music district. The company is renamed Octave-Plateau Electronics and, in addition to manufacturing synthesizers, becomes a popular synthesizer maintenance facility for professional musicians and recording studios in the NY metro area."

So, this ad came out after the merger, but before the actual name change to Octave-Plateau.

Almost as interesting is the fact that the current President & CEO, Carmine J. Bonanno, was the founder of Octave Electronics in 1975 - that is 35 years in the biz!

In case you didn't notice - I actually posted this scan back in February 2009 without a write up. But, since becoming obsessed with Octave Electronic ads, I thought it deserved another post so I could include a bit of my latest research :o)

Octave Electronics Inc. CAT SRM advertisement, Contemporary Keyboard 1977

Octave Electronics CAT SRM advertisement from page 41 of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine December 1977.

This ad ran in CK magazine for four months starting in December 1977, introducing a new updated CAT model - the "SRM" (Series Revision Model). After the ad's last appearance in the March 1978 issue, it looks like Octave Electronics took a 16 month break from advertising anything in CK magazine, with a new ad not appearing until August 1979.

The previous CAT ad showed up only once in the November 1977 issue of CK. And if you recall, it wasn't one of my favorites. But, obviously some designer back in 1977 agreed with my reasoning, and solved many of the problems with that previous ad.

1. The tag line is of a reasonable length: The CAT "SRM" Synthesizer - now with 2 note memory. Simple and clear.
   
   
2. The text size has been increased a bit - and I think there is even a bit more room between the paragraphs.
   
   
3. No white-space abuse here. The white space between the title, photos, ad copy and logo footer are spread out creating a more balanced feel. In addition, the designer has incorporated a light gray background to frame the ad better on the page - unlike the previous ad where everything just kind of floated on top of the white page.

The one problem this ad didn't solve, and that NONE of the CAT ads have managed to do so far, is SHOW ME A CLOSE UP OF AN ACTUAL CAT SYNTHESIZER. Come on! Do you really think a real-life CAT synthesizer made it up to the local synthesizer shop in my little Canadian town?

Instead of a close up shot of a CAT SRM, we are treated to some much cleaner action shots of David Burns of 'Burns, Renwick & Rags' - or as PINWIZZ calls them in a comment he left in the last CAT ad post: synth-hero photos. Unfortunately, by the looks of the back panels of the CAT synthesizers, I think he is playing two original CAT synthesizers - not SRMs.

But, do you think the fans of David Burns would have notice something like that back in 1977 when viewing this ad? And does it really matter since the CAT and CAT SRM look almost identical?

Nowadays, it would matter. Many fans are gear-heads and will comb through musician's action shots and videos at a micro level to try and figure out what old and new gear is being used. Often the gear used is as important as the musician using/endorsing it. But are we focusing too much on the good gear and not enough on the good artists?

Just askin'...

Moog Imoogination book advertisement, Contemporary Keyboard 1976

Moog Imoogination Book advertisement from page 34 of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine May/June 1976.

I know I've started more than one post with the line 'I was flipping through old issues of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine when...". Well, this time it starts of eerily similar, but with a 21st century twist:

I was flipping through old posts on MATRIXSYNTH when...

...I came across an old 2007 auction for 'Rare Moog Synthesizer literature' - Imoogination. I recognized that crazy Bob Moog image immediately and looked back over my old issues of CK. Sure enough, I found this ad.

The ad is for the original Imoogination 'book', so the first volume must have come out sometime in late 1975 or early 1976. Since the ad doesn't mention Volume 2, I'm gonna guess it was released sometime after June 1976. The auction states that the first volume of Imoogination was 20 pages and the second volume was 32 pages. Both were done in a newsprint format.

I did a bit more searching to try and find some better photos and sure enough, MATRIXSYNTH had also posted a Flickr set from a 2008 PNW synth gathering that included a few Imoogination literature shots. Here's one image that shows some of the content of the books.

A bit more digging, and I found that GForce Software's Web site had some info on a page devoted to the history of the Minimoog (on which they modeled their softsynth Minimonsta). On that page they include an image of the cover of volume 1 and this description:

"This was one of two newspaper type brochures from 1976, the first of which carries the most wonderful psychedelic front cover asking the eternal question “What is a Synthesizer?”

"Inside are features with Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Milton Babbit, Roger Powell and some fascinating facts about Bob’s background. "

Some more information on the content of these 'books' came from a discussion thread I found on Code404.com:

"The seed of the idea came from the already mentioned 'imoogination' (Moog advertising/propaganda from the 70's) article where some guy was trying to explain why Moog products sounded better than the competition. The accidental phase sync thing just stuck with me for some reason. From memory, some of the other things mentioned included really fast attack times (combined with hopeless vca trim resulting in DC in the output), very high quality filters (yeah right)."

I couldn't find too much more... if anyone knows anything, please send me an email or comment. I definitely have to try hunting those down!