Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro-One Spec Sheet, 1981

Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro-One 4-page Spec Sheet from early 1981.

Update: Added to the Sequential Circuits advertising timeline tool.

Well - we are headed into the August long weekend. And you know what that means... shorter blog posts! It's just too nice out to be blogging much. Gah!

Not sure if I've made this clear or not, but I consider Sequential Circuits Inc. kind of a big deal. Some people out there may agree... :D

This makes it tough for me to not only keep the blog post short, but to say anything bad about the company, or any of SCI's gear - in particular the Pro-One. Luckily, its very rare that I find something to complain about when it comes to SCI. And its usually something very trivial. This brochure is a perfect example of that.

Putting the interesting choice of front cover images aside for a second, the only thing I can really fault this brochure for is that there is no date stamp anywhere. And really, how would SCI know I would be looking for it 30 years later?

Other companies like Roland are great for date stamps on their brochures and other printed material. They often included the year as well as the MONTH (!) - as can be found on the back of these brochures for the TL-12, this 808/606/303 rhythm machines and SH-101.

But SCI... not so good. Luckily, SCI has some pretty distinct and consistent advertising periods, so spec sheets like this one are usually easy to date without resorting to carbon dating or some other costly scientific method that might destroy the test material.

Just look at the advertising for the Pro-One over time and I'm sure you can pick out when this brochure was probably designed.

March 1981	July 1981	February 1982	October 1982

Yeah, I'm probably thinking what you are thinking. Based on these ads, this brochure was no doubt created relatively early on in the Pro-One's life cycle - ie: early 1981. And that would make sense, since a spec sheet would usually be created when a new synth was first introduced, or after a significant update to the design.

So, back to the spec sheet itself. One word - gorgeous. Kick's the butts of the reference sheets of most other companies. In fact, the design of the piece actually makes it feel more like a brochure, so I've included that label for this post as well.

About that front page for a sec. Somehow it just doesn't look that balanced. I can see why they've chosen those three view points for the photos of the Pro-One. Front view, angled view, and kind of a side view. But, that last photo doesn't really provide much more visual info that can't be found in the angled view.

But all is forgiven when you turn the page to view that gorgeous full two-page spread of the Pro-One's control panel. Honestly - how beautiful is that. And below readers find all the juicy specs. You just can't beat it.

And, what I find best of all - in the top right corner of the inside pages, SCI mentions the digital interface. I've always been fascinated with this addition to the Pro-One. Excellent! You can find out more about this feature in most online manuals.

The back page doesn't disappoint either. You can see all back panel connections clearly, and the logo on the back with the quarter notes in the trees and the keyboard key's wrapping around the hilly cropland, also help date the spec sheet to the same period as that early 1980's advertisement that also sports that same logo.

Also, note that only the top half of the back page contains technical information. The only info on the bottom half is the return address - meaning that this piece was obviously meant to be folded in half for easy mailing. Efficient.

Like I said - gonna keep 'er short. And almost did!

Time to enjoy the outdoors. Doesn't last long here.

Curtis Electromusic Specialties "What a Difference a Chip Makes" ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Curtis Electromusic Specialties "What a Difference a Chip Makes" 1/4-page advertisement on page 71 in Contemporary Keyboard February 1980.

This rare advertisement only seems to have found its way into CK a couple of times. But ain't it the truth: what a difference a chip *does* make.

Curtis chips have reached epic status in the vintage synthesizer world. Most electronic musicians with a soft spot for retro hardware have heard of the chips, although I bet very few knew the full name of the manufacturer "Curtis Electromusic Specialties". I sure didn't know it before coming across this ad later in life.

Curtis' line of "consistent performers" in this advertisement includes what I believe is the original line up:

• 3310 voltage controlled envelope generator
• 3320 voltage controlled 4-pole filter
• 3330 dual voltage controlled amplifier
• 3340 voltage controlled oscillator.

That's one sexy line-up.

And the ad itself is kinda sexy too. That CES logo is awesome - retro and futuristic at the same time. And for some reason seeing that Oberheim logo on the keyboard in the bottom right hand corner of the ad makes me happy. I like it when I come across an ad from one company that includes a product from another. (*claps hands like a child*)

But, as much as I love this ad, the real question is - how effective can it be for a chip maker to advertise in Contemporary Keyboard, or any other electronic musician-based magazine?

There are really only two audiences that CES could be targeting in CK:

1. Marketing the Curtis brand to synthesizer companies. Contemporary Keyboard was probably read by both small and large synthesizer manufacturers - so it could have been one way for CES to reach this audience. But I would think there had to have been better ways to get your message into engineers' offices.

2. Marketing the Curtis brand to synth buyers. By raising electronic musicians' awareness of, and the quality of, Curtis chips in gear, Curtis could potentially raise consumer demand for synthesizers with Curtis chips, so synth manufacturers would then design and build more synthesizers with Curtis chips. Kinda like Columbian coffee growers' Juan Valdez promotions, or probably a better example is Nutrisweet promoting its sweetener in consumer food magazines. I would assume to raise awareness of the brand so that in the end consumers will buy more products from manufacturers that contain Nutrisweet or Columbian coffee. Hmmm - maybe those aren't perfect examples... I'll keep thinking. But you get the idea.

But based on the ad-copy alone, it looks like Curtis decided to take aim directly at synth companies and those brainiac engineers. I consider myself a 7-out-of-10 when it comes to the innards of vintage synthesizers, but I have no idea what "C.V. rejection" is. And I doubt most other readers of CK would either.

"Class A and Class B operation"?

"No more Q81's"?

"On chip summer"?

No clue on those either.

In the end, history has shown that it took more than a few ads to give CES and Doug Curtis the profile rightly deserved. In fact, its taken decades of legendary synths, vast word-of-mouth, kind words from other synth visionaries like Dave Smith, and a large active world-wide vintage synth community.

I'd say we are almost there... :)

The company Curtis Electromusic Specialties was founded in 1979 by Doug Curtis and continued operations until 1988, when it became OnChip Systems. You can find the full history of the company on the awesome Curtis Electromusic Web site. The site looks to have been created around 2007 by his wife Mary (mcurtis@ is listed as the email address in the contact section).

The site includes some great reference information, including company history, datasheet PDFs, and a growing list of synthesizers that used the chips. The site also includes a great page on Doug Curtis himself. And as soon as I read the last paragraph concerning his battle with cancer, I was immediately taken back to 2007. I distinctly remember reading about it in Keyboard.

I hadn't picked up Keyboard Magazine for a while, and recall flipping through a friend's April 2007 issue when I came across a tribute article on Doug written by Marcus Ryle. It also included two paragraphs written by Dave Smith, where he recalls starting his working relationship with Doug while redesigning the Prophet-5. That one-page tribute alone is a great reason to pick up a copy off eBay if you can find it.

There are a number of other CES resources on the Web as well - especially those with datasheet PDFs. Google away.

Two that stand out for me are Synthtech.com, which has a CEM page including datasheets, and where you can also purchase chips on the site. The Curtis CEM Wikipedia page also has a bit of info, and gives Doug the title "Father of the Analog Synthesis Chips".

Nice.

And a great name for a band.

End note: Remember all those engineering terms in the ad. I just couldn't leave well enough along and had to Google 'em:

Class A and Class B amplifiers: It sounds like Class A amplifiers are simple, but inefficient amplifiers, while Class B amplifiers create a large amount of distortion but efficiency is greatly improved. See Wikipedia page for more info.

Q81: Resistor used to compensate for scale drift in VCAs. CEM3340 VCO didn't need 'em.

On chip summer: Sum-of-2-products computation for all controlling parameters done on the chip. Almost understand this. I think two or three years of engineering school would help.

C.V. rejection: Even after reading the 3310 datasheet PDF on the curtiselectromusic.com Web site, I still don't have a clue :)

Moog Liberation "Is coming..." pre-launch ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Moog Liberation pre-launch 1/2-page advertisement from page 52 in Contemporary Keyboard June 1980.

Update: added to the Moog interactive advertising timeline.

I've come to love pre-launch advertisements. The Sequential Circuits Pro-One series of pre-launch ads were simple but fun, and the Korg Sigma pre-launch ad was just gorgeous looking. Pre-launch ads usually just run in one issue, and I'll never think one month of advertising is enough for a magazine audience in the 70s or 80s, but I can't deny their appeal.

I love them so much I've created a new blog label called "pre-launch".

And the Liberation's simple but effective pre-launch advertisement doesn't disappoint either. I can't help but compare it to Moog's earlier Minimoog "KISS" (Keep It Simple, Stupid) ads - this September 1979 "When you've got the sound" colour ad, and this July 1979 "You know what this is" black and white ad (it doesn't even include a logo!). Simple. Effective.

This time, its the outline of the Liberation that is the focus of the ad. And any keyboardist even remotely (no pun intended) familiar with some of the more recognizable custom "keytar" instruments that had already been developed and played by Powell and others, would know what type of instrument Moog was about to launch. But, I wonder how good Moog was at keeping the actual specs of the Liberation a secret. I would have to think that prior to the Internet... pretty good.

I didn't cover any of the specs in my first Liberation ad blog post because the stats are pretty well documented on the Web. A simple Google search will bring up the familiar results:

• Vintage Synth Explorer Liberation page
• SynthMuseum.com Liberation page
  
• Moog Liberation Wikipedia page

And of course, if you want photos, look no further than a Google Images Search. And, really, all you need is this rather recent June 2011 MATRIXSYNTH auction post. It includes a wack of great close-up colour photos of the instrument, front panel and back. Just look at the shiny flashes of color on those controls!

Beautiful. Drool.

Lots more photos of other Liberations on MATRIXSYNTH too.

Wait a tick! I just noticed something that I had never clued into before... the logo-type font on the back of the Liberation in that MATRIXSYNTH auction post looks *nothing* like the Liberation logo-type font used for the word "Liberation" in this pre-launch ad or the Tom Schuman "Treat Yourself to FREEDOM" ad.

Here's a good photo of the back on the Liberation from that MATRIXSYNTH post.

Gah! I crave consistency!

But, even more interesting - Tom's Liberation definitely has that 60's style logo-type on the back panel - not that typical Moogy-looking font.

I did a quick scan through Google Images, and can't find a photo of a Liberation with the 60's style logo. Either Tom is playing a pre-production model or there are a few rare production Liberations with the old 60's style logo-type floating around out there.

Either way - Boo to the change! The Liberation was meant to be a fun instrument. And a fun instrument should have a fun 60's style logo! They should have kept it.

If you've seen one of these special Liberations (or own one!), please let me know.

End note: I just realized why exactly I get a little confused by Tom Schuman's photo in that other Liberation ad. He really does remind me of that guy from one of my favorite early 80's shows when I was a kid "The Greatest American Hero" - William Kat. I think Tom just needs to trade in the feathered hair for a perm.

And, if you look at the T.V. show's intro, six seconds in you get to a familiar shot:

Look familiar? Remember that Syntar brochure cover...?

Hmmm. I'm starting to see connections everywhere.

Enough blogging for today :D

Moog Liberation, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Moog Liberation 1-page advertisement from page 43 in Contemporary Keyboard July 1980.

Update: added to the Moog interactive advertising timeline.

Let's face it - 1980 was the year of the Keytar. Sure, independent designs and ideas started popping up years earlier, but it was around 1980 when the gates really opened in respect to advertising and promotion.

Just how popular? Flip the page this ad appears on and you see a large photo of Roger Powell playing his custom-designed Probe (which, I still maintain is an awful name for a car, keyboard or anything for that matter). And earlier is this issue is another keytar manufacturer's ad.

Two keytars are top-of-mind for me, and probably for most keytar history buffs, when 1980 is mentioned: George Mattson's (of Mattson Mini Modular fame) wicked looking Syntar, and of course, Moog's very... er... Moogy-looking... Liberation.

Jump forward more than thirty years later, and we somehow get to a point where this advertisement has become almost as iconic as the Liberation itself. You see it everywhere. e-Bay auctions. Scans online. It's probably safety-pinned on to the back of someone's satin jacket somewhere in the world.

For me, this ad has both a lil' bit o' good and bad in it. No, seriously - since first coming across this advertisement, that open-mouthed look on Tom Shuman's face has been permanently burned into my cranium. And the chest hair doesn't help either. What was it with Moog and body hair back in the day?!?!

I personally would rather have seen an up-close photo of the front-panel controls, although marketing gurus would probably argue that because a user can control other synths with the Liberation, a control shot isn't as important as trying to communicate the unique performance aspects of the machine - ie: standing along side a guitarist at the front of the stage. And they would probably be right. :)

But, there is one aspect of this ad that is unquestionably spot-on: the 60's-psychedelia-inspired "Liberation" logo-type. In fact, the whole "Freedom" campaign theme (including ad-copy!) fits so well with what the Liberation is all about, that the photo of Tom in a sweater, collar and slacks comes across as a little out of place for me. Where are the flowers and rainbows :D

With regards to the Liberation, Moog really did use every vehicle possible to promote it. Magazine advertisements and promotional literature, NAMM promotions with the Liberation strapped around a mannequin (page 36 in Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail), and of course, their Moog Interface newsletter.

In the September 1980 newsletter (fresh back from Chicago's NAMM show), The Liberation makes multiple appearances, including the big front page article that introduces readers to the technical aspects of the keyboard, including a nice line drawing of the front panel. Interestingly, Moog also mentions that "the Liberation is definitely a performance oriented instrument although it will lay flat on top of other keyboards". What? Why dirty the waters? This thing is meant to play over the shoulder. Stay on message! Stay on message!

In addition, page 2 has a photo of DEVO playing Liberations, as well as a mention for "Moog Mobile Wizard" Tom Schuman (star of this ad) and another mention of Liberation user Ronnie Foster. And page 3 has a photo of The Motel's keyboardist Marty Jourard in the Moog factory with a Liberation leaning against a Moog Modular.

Moog keeps the promos going in the December 1980 newsletter with a photo of Ronnie Milsap and a mention that he is on tour with the Liberation on page one. Page two has a question asking which Bob in DEVO is playing the Liberation on their appearance on Midnight Special (answer: Bob 2). Page 3 has a photo of two member's of Kenny Roger's group playing Liberations.

With a lot of this promotion occurring within a three month period, it's safe to say that awareness of the Liberation was a success.

Nice work, Moog!

Part 2: Keynote Musical Instruments Ltd. Scorpion Stage Synthesizer ad: Technical synth info!

Part 2: Keynote Musical Instruments Ltd. Scorpion Stage Synthesizer 1-page advertisement - technical specs!

I got a little sidetracked in my original Scorpion Stage Synthesizer blog post, so I thought I would try this again. And this time I promise to try and stay focused on the ad and the synth's technical information (and it almost works!).

The ad itself isn't anything out of the ordinary. Between the verbal diarrhea, the size of the font, and the curved shape of the ad-copy itself, the ad is a little hard to read. But I'll let that slide since they were such a small company and yet still managed to come up with such a cool logo. Check out the full logo with the scorpion image on the photo of the synth itself.

Unlike the Thunderchild synth which I recently blogged about, I had actually heard a little bit about the Scorpion Stage Synthesizer years before, probably through rec.music.makers.synth or Analogue Heaven or some other discussion list, most of which could also be found in this ad.

• Two oscillators
• Programmable with eight presets
• Keyboard pressure bend
• Delayed modulation

But, outside of what is found in this ad, I hadn't come across very much technical information about this synthesizer online. So, you can understand just how excited I became when I came to the realization that the same issue of the magazine that introduced this ad, also included a "Synthcheck" on the Scorpion Stage Synthesizer.

For those not familiar with IMRW, "Synthcheck" is the equivalent of Keyboard Magazine's Keyboard Review.

Jack.

Pot.

This 1-page overview was written by Dave Simmons and does a decent job at providing all the basic technical details of the Scorpion synth - something I haven't found online. I was a little scared after reading the first paragraph of the introduction, because it almost seemed like Dave was backtracking after that first sentence. Luckily, the article didn't disappoint... :)

"The Scorpion is being advertised as the first British lead line synthesizer. It is not the first British synthesizer by any means but, as far as I know, it is the only one that has been introduced to compete with the smaller stage synthesizers like the Micro Moog, Arp Axxe, etc.

It is simple to understand, easy to operate synth, aimed at the person who has been frightened off using a variable synthesizer because of his/her lack of understanding of synth jargon and technical terms (the owner's manual contains information on not only how to operate the synthesizer, but also how the different parts of the synthesizer affect the final sound.)"

The rest of the article deals with the meat of the synthesizer - all that juicy technical information that, until this article, had left a giant hole in my soul. To summarize:

Oscillators:

• Two voltage-controlled oscillators that produce triangle, sawtooth, square, and pulse waveforms, routed to the filter via a four-position switch
• Tuning controls: VCO 1: 32', 16', 8', 4' - VCO 2: 16', 8', 4', 2'
• Fine pitch from minus 1 tone to plus a seventh from concert pitch

Filter:

• Low-pass with variable cut-off and resonance
• Dedicated 2-step envelope: option of Attack/Decay or Attack/Release (max 6 seconds on decay/release)
• VCO 2 signal can be switched into the control input of the filter producing "interesting distortion and ring modulation effects"
• Output of filter feeds to VCA
  

VCA:

• Dedicated 2-step envelope: option of Attack/Decay or Attack/Release (max 6 seconds on decay/release)

LFO:

• Sine wave output
• Route to filter, VCA or Oscillators
• Adjustable speed and delay time
• Continuous (after delay period) or triggered when keyboard is pressed hard

Touch sensitive keyboard:

• Triggers LFO
  
• Bend the pitch of the Oscillator sharp by an interval set by bend sensitivity control

Pre-sets:

• Eight pre-sets including Synth 1, 2 and 3, Trumpet, Clarinet, Flute, Oboe, and Violin
• Oscillator footage NOT remembered - for example the flute pre-set will sound too low if pressed while playing oscillators at 32"

Prior to the conclusion, Dave Simmons summarizes it's sound, where he makes the ultimate comparison (emphasis is mine):

"The synthesizer I was given to review performed well with no evidence of drift. I was particularly impressed by the sound of the instrument. It sounded a lot like a Mini-Moog (which can't be bad). the pre-set sounds were full and rich and reasonably realistic, and the sounds chosen seem to be the most useful when you are limited to eight."

Sounded like a Minimoog? Really? Huh. Anyone confirm this? Anyone...? Anyone...? Bueller...?

Dave concludes the review by adding that the synth should appeal to first-time buyers, and although he didn't think its general appearance was up to the American and Japanese competition, the recommended retail price of 595 pounds made up for its lack of charisma :)

Now there's some nice info that would look good on Vintage Synth Explorer! I'll have to write up something and submit it. :D

So, who is this Dave Simmons that had the balls to compare the Scorpion to the Minimoog - even back in 1978? I thought I would do a little search to see if I could find anything.

General name searches didn't help much and results for "Dave Simmons" + [insert selected musical/synth terms] was also rather unsuccessful. But, then I remembered that at the end of the review article, there was a short bio for Dave which included the fact that he played "the massive synthesizer part in Dave Bedford's 'Odyssey'."

Most of the search results for Dave Bedford's Odyssey link to online music resource pages like this one at proarchives.com. And most list Dave Bedford as playing most of the keyboards (check out the other artists listed!).

But I then found this reference to a live performance of the Odyssey that lists Dave Simmons as playing string synthesizer. Also, a post on the guitars101.com forum lists the musicians that played on a live rendition of the Odyssey at the Royal Albert Hall in 1977, which includes:

"Dave Simmonds (Fad Gadget?) - string synthesizer"

And, later in the discussion, the name is corrected to Dave Simmons.

So, does the poster mean it was corrected to be Dave Simmons from Fad Gadget? Or corrected to be a totally different Dave Simmons that has nothing to do with Fad Gadget?

I figured I could simply Google Fad Gadget and look up the list of band members, but quickly ran into problems.

Most notable Fad Gadget reference sites list a David Simmonds as playing synthesizer:

• Discogs.com - Best of Fad Gadget
• CDuniverse.com - Best of Fad Gadget
• Blog post: Fad Gadget part 6
• Facebook Fadget page
• Fad Gadget Wikipedia page
  

But a few sites list David Simmons as playing synth:

• Rateyourmusic.com Fad Gadget artist page
• Rockmine.com Fad Gadget Line up 2
• Music.us Fad Gadget page

So, based on this, I'm doubting it is the same Dave Simmons, and that the guy in Fad Gadget was in fact David Simmonds. But I just really really really wanted the guy that reviewed the Scorpion synth to be the keyboard player in Fad Gadget. Just because I like discovering those kinds of connections. :)

Oh well.

Always end on a high note - so here's Fad Gadget's Collapsing New People vid. Enjoy!