Gray Laboratories Basyn Minstrel 4 Voice, Contemporary Keyboard 1982

Gray Laboratories Basyn Minstrel 4 Voice synthesizer 1/6-page advertisement from page 61 in the February 1982  issue of Keyboard magazine.

This ad first looks like it appeared in the February 1982 issue of Keyboard in the bottom left-hand corner of page 81, the third of three small ads in a row along the bottom of the page. 

I've seen this tiny little ad around the Web a bit, but the scan is always a lot darker and you can't really make out the instrument's front panel. The ad itself is only about 5-1/2cm x 12cm (2-1/4in x 4-3/4in), but yet I can't help giving it so much of my attention lately. Okay, not all of that attention is aimed directly at this ad and the synth itself, but more about that in a moment.

If you are a long time reader of the blog, you will remember that this Feb82 issue holds a special place for me. As I pointed out in a Fairlight CMI "Orchestra for sale?" ad, this issue was dated incorrectly as February 1981 on the cover - a rare occurrence in the magazine world.  I'm still a little scared I'll misfile this back on the shelf during my traditional post-blog clean-up while listening to SomaFM's PopTron channel. I really dig that channel, and nope - not getting paid to say that. But I do pay a month donation to help keep the site going... and so should you so I can keep listening to it.   :)

For such a small ad, it does manage to provide some pretty good info on the Basyn Minstrel:

• Fully programmable
• Polyphonic
• Unique waveform generation process
• Transform filter
• Digital envelope
• 32 presets
• Cassette tape storage

But it's that last line in the ad that kinda ticks me off - "1,112,525 possible preset combinations just using waveforms". Sure, full points to some engineer to come up with the right mathematical calculation. But if, like me, you hit the random button repeated on every soft synth with the feature, most of those combos either sound very similar to each other or just sound like @ss. That kinda math leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

And then I just start looking for other things I don't like. For example - the ad says "fully programmable", but the picture of the machine shows a from panel with very few controls. That immediately screams "complicated" to me.

Anyways, if you happened to be a regular reader of Keyboard back in 1982, after seeing this ad in the February issue you might have recalled the Spec Sheet promo for the synth a month earlier and taken the time to go back to read it for more info. It contains some great historical information include a nugget of operational information:

"Digital Synthesizer. The Basyn Minstrel is a 4-voice polyphonic digital synthesizer. It sports a 5-octave keyboard. Its front panel has two modes of operation: a preset mode with 32 presets, and a programming mode with 32 programmable parameters. 32 separate waveforms are available from the internal memory with more available through cassette tape. Other parameters controlled directly through the front panel are a transform filter (a digital approximation of an analog filter), digital envelopes, transform filter mode and texture, and four keyboard modes. The case is hand-finished Honduras mahogany (other woods are available on a factory order basis). Pitch-bend and modulation wheels are standard, with a two-axis joystick also available from the factory. Price is $3,995.00. Gray Laboratories, 1024 Lancer San Jose, CA 95129."

I used to be a big believer in having the Spec Sheet promo come out before the ads (usually a month or two before the ad starts running), but this is a good example of a case where seeing an ad first, and then running in to a more fully-featured Spec Sheet sometime into the ad-run may make more sense. Just thinking out loud here.

Readers today have the luxury of quickly learning a lot more about the Basyn Minstrel. According to Mark Vail, in his book Vintage Synthesizers (page 81 in the chapter "It came from the music industry"), the Basyn Minstrel started production in 1981 and was trying to slide into the same market as the Synclavier and the Fairlight, but with a much more attractive price point. Where I crankily found the sparse front panel to be a disadvantage to convincing people to shell out three grand for the machine, Mark probably more aptly describes it as "uncluttered". :)

You can read the full except from the book on SynthMuseum.com's Basyn Minstrel's page, along with another even more detailed article about the instrument by Joey Swails. It contains some good reference info (example: it also came in an 8 voice version for $5995!), but let's just say he wasn't exactly a fan.

Another write-up from Joey Swails that came up in Google search results for the Basyn Minstrel was actually for the Gleeman Pentaphonic.

"They had wanted to call it the "Gleeman Minstrel", since their family name Gleeman means "minstrel." But there was another machine on the market called Minstrel (the Basyn, by Grey Labs), so they settled on 'Pentaphonic'."

Interesting stuff! I love tidbits of knowledge like that.

Okay, I mentioned that not all of my attention was aimed directly at this ad. The two other ads that appeared in the bottom half of page 61 are both rather unique in their own ways.

The first is an ad for Pi Corp. I've blogged a bit about Pi Corp in connection to the Digi-Atom 4800 Analog-MIDI interface, it's influence on the Cleveland music scene (Pi Corps, not the Digi-Atom), and Trent Reznor. But, most of all I really just like that logo.  :)

The second ad, that appeared in between the rather corporate-looking Pi Corp and Basyn Minstrel ads, was one for Hurdy Gurdy Productions.The company designs musician-related T-shirts images.

I only reference this ad for one thing. The stark contrast between the rather serious first T-shirt design:

"let the music take over your spirit, let it sing out - for all that can hear it. I the musician"

And the second design, which simply reads:

"Keyboardists have big organs"

Tee hee.  :D

MPC Electronics Music Percussion Computer "Play What You Feel..." ad, Keyboard 1983

MPC Electronics Music Percussion Computer "Play What You Feel..." 1-page colour advertisement from the December 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

I've never forgotten this rather rare ad. For some reason it has always stood out from many of the other drum machine ads that appeared around this time period - and you can bet there were a lot of them in all shapes and sizes. In this issue alone there were ads for the Stix Programma, Boss Dr. Rhythm, Oberheim DMX, E-mu Drumulator, and LinnDrum. I even think this ad is more memorable than the popular Roland TR606 and303 ad.

Even one of the Keyboard Reports in this issue was for the MXR Drum Computer.

Did you catch that? Not drum machine... "Computer".

Computers were hot. A big buzz word. And they could be found winding their way into more and more synthesizer and drum machine ads as manufacturers found different ways to integrate both the term, and actual computers. In this issue, Sequential was promoting their Model 64 sequencer for the Commodore 64, both Rhodes Chroma and E-mu Drumulator ads featured Apple computers,  and CMI  - well that thing was basically one big-ass computer.

And then there is this Music Percussion Computer. I'm not sure why, but I'm drawn to it. I get the urge to trawl eBay endlessly for both the instrument AND its partner in crime - a Timex Sinclair 1000 computer.

As much as I loved the look of the MPC, it was the idea of attaching a computer to it that first caught my attention back in the day. And the fact they chose to use the relatively cheap Timex Sinclair makes me absolutely giddy. My friend Bob had a Timex Sinclair when it first came out and we were mesmerized. I decided to catch up with the computer before the instrument itself.

According to the Sinclair ZX81 Wikipedia page, the TS1000 was a Sinclair clone manufactured and distributed in the United States by Timex under a licensing agreement:

"The TS1000 was launched in July 1982 and sparked a massive surge of interest; at one point, the Timex phoneline was receiving over 5,000 calls an hour, 50,000 a week, inquiring about the machine or about microcomputers in general.  It was virtually identical to the ZX81 save for re-branding and the addition of an extra 1 kB of memory, making for a grand total of 2 kB. In the five months following the TS1000's launch, the company sold 550,000 machines, earning Sinclair over $1.2 million in royalties."

Nice chunk of change. I found a bit more info on the Timex Sinclair 1000 on the oldcomputers.net site and ToyNfo.com. And there are a lot more links out there - just Google 'em and see where they take you.  Never enough time. :)

Enough about the computer. Back to the advertisement and the instrument.

The Ad itself is half photo/half ad-copy.  You almost miss the computer in the photo, but the TV monitor sitting beside it is a dead giveaway and probably was the fishing line to hook those musicians that were also computer enthusiasts. I'm not usually a fan of lots of text in ad-copy, but in this case I think it was necessary for the distributor, On-Site Energy Music Corp, to get as much out there as possible. The ad only ran a handful of times, if even that much. I almost read it like an article rather than an ad. 

If you happened to read the magazine cover-to-cover each month, chances are you would have ran into more information on the machine two months before, in the October 1983 issue of Keyboard. The Spec Sheet section had a rather nice little promo for it. Tons of great historical reference information, including operations, enhancements when hooking it up to the computer, and best of all - price!

"MPC Electronic Drums. the MPC (Music Percussion Computer) interfaces with a Timex-Sinclair 1000 computer and links up with any TV set to read out a graphic display of the rhythms programmed. The MPC master module consists of eight touch-sensitive pads of ABS plastic, which you can play with your hands or with sticks. Each pad is spring-based to simulate real drum heads. the pad arrangement has two options - bass drum, snare, open hi-hat, closed hi-hat, and four descending toms, or bass drum, snare, open hi-hat, closed hi-hat, two toms, cymbals, and a handclap. All the voicings have individual level and tone controls, with an over-all mute button for dynamics. there is a 16-key on-board computer processor to record, play back, control tempo, bar length, and time signatures, program sequences, and add accents where needed. The performer may also play along with the sequence as it plays back. All programming is done in real time. Once link-up to the Timex Sinclair has been made, more complex programming and storage is available. While the on-board computer sustains four channels of 2-bar groups with up to 16 beats per bar, access to the T-1000 opens up 26 different bars of rhythm, each containing up to 20 beats. Both systems can arrange their bars into sequences to play back songs with up to 199 variations and infinite repeat capability. A tape sync input/output allows for loading and dumping of programming and synchronization with pre-recorded tracks. Measurements are 25-1/4"x7"x13-1/4", and weight is approximately 20 lbs. Price is $1,299.00. The software interface is $129.00. On-Site Energy Music, 3000 Marcus Ave., Suite 2W7, Lake Success, NY 11042."

 Today, there are a few good information sources on the company and the machine. The initial problem is finding them. Before even thinking about it, I typed "MPC" into Google's search field. Errr.... not so much.

Among other things, MPC just happens to be the name of that other rather well-known Akai series of products, and those Akai links tend to dominate the Google search results. But with a little bit of digging and a few key word changes, I found a few gems.

According to Wikipedia, Micheal Coxhead was the founder of MPC Electronics, and it was when electronics wiz Clive Button came to him with the basic design for their first product, 'The Kit', that the company was formed.

Synthmuseum.com has a good article on the company, MPC Electronics, reprinted from the December 1983 issue of Electronics & Music Maker magazine. Together with Audiotools.com's info on the company and the gear, you get a wack of great historical info.

Designer Clive Button has a Web site with some awesome information on the drum machine as well as many of the other products he has designed - including the "MIDI Humanizer"! Scroll down the home page to the section titled "Other Clive Button created products" and you will find the MPC and Timex Sinclair info. According to the page, later interfaces were also built for the Commodore 64 and Sinclair Spectrum computers. Excellent stuff! He can also be found on Twitter @musichillout to promote his music. 

Oh - and last but not least, you can find the manual online too. In fact, Lazy Blue Octopus has a copy of the manual and schematics online.
 
You will find a few more gems, like auction info and photos, online, but for now I'll end with this: Youtuber snolan1990's overview of the MPC. Great sound!

Oberheim OB-X "Evolution of a classic" colour REBOOT 2-pager, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Oberheim OB-X "Evolution of a classic" REBOOT/2.0 2-page advertisement from page 38 and 39 in the November 1980 issue of Contemporary Keyboard.

Oberheim interactive advertising timeline updated.

Quite fitting, this ad.

No, really... as I write this, it just happens to be Earth Day around these parts. You know how I found out? Google has a lovely image of a dirt bed on it's Canadian search page that slowly animates into a fully bloomed multi-coloured flower garden. That's how I seem to find out about holidays lately. On Google. Last minute.

Heck knows I haven't heard much about Earth Day from traditional media. That is partly my fault since traditional media is playing less and less of a role in my life. Plus, I don't have a dead-give-a-way like a kid that would probably have brought home a sculpture made from used plastic cafeteria dishes and cups around this time.

What would I have done before Google? Actually, even before Google, I would have figured out it was Earth Day by forgetting to by-pass the annual traffic jam that takes place from all the cars trying to get to the festivities that occurs in our centrally-located park.

Ironic, I know. But this is also the city that "clear-cut" parts of our indoor domed plant conservatory (bolded for emphasis) made up of totally awesome exotic plants, to make room for fake gaudy Amazon-like statues for wedding photos. Yup. You heard that right. Clear-cut. Conservatory. No kidding.

IRL, I'm actually a bit of an eco-nut. My undergrad is a joint  Botany/Zoology degree in Ecology - yah, that's what the degree was called *before* there was such a thing as Environmental Sciences (now I'm really dating myself). I'm guess I'm just down on what Earth Day has come to represent. Boo me. But I will enjoy a nice bicycle ride and a free Starbucks coffee today, thank you very much!

Okay, enough complaining by the old guy.  :D

Anyways, what does Earth Day have to do with this ad?

Well, it was pointed out to me by fellow Oberheim fan and blog reader Jean-Marc that I had posted the black and white version of this ad that ran eight months earlier in the March 1980 issue of CK. But then I skipped over this colour version of the ad and mistakenly credited this OB-SX ad as the first colour ad by Oberheim! Gah!

Thank-you Jean-Marc! This OB-X ad now looks to be Oberheim's first colour ad in CK! 

So, then the question becomes - why would Oberheim recycle this ad, but switch from black and white to colour? Usually it is the other way around - run the ad first in colour to make a big splash, and then switched-out to black and white for the remainder of the ad-run.

The extra paragraph at the end of the ad-copy probably explains:

"Now with new patches! As of September 1st, OB-X's are being shipped with a completely new set of dynamic patches. OB-X owners, send your name, address and serial number of your 'X' and we'll send you a cassette of the new patches free. Send for a free catalogue."

 How excellent of 'em! And a good reason to make a big deal with a splash of colour right before Christmas. A very nice gift for current owners.

Then, as I studied the two versions of the ad more closely, there appeared to be even more differences than I originally thought.

One of the first differences I noticed was that the large photo of the opened OB-X is shrunk down a bit and angled differently to make room for the extra paragraph of content. But then I realized - THIS IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PHOTO! The caution sticker and the slightly different ribbon positioning is a dead giveaway.

And then... wait... THAT OTHER PHOTO IS DIFFERENT TOO!  You can tell Oberheim switched it out for an instrument with updated colouring - most notable on the left-side controls. And, this smaller photo is now positioned behind the larger photo, where in the original it was actually positioned on top.

So, as is the case with the marketing of recycled objects, even though something may first appear to made of 100 per cent original materials, in reality it is often necessary to bring in new bits and pieces. In the case of this ad, the original ad-copy, catchy ad-title and awesome 2-page layout were kept. Photos and extra ad-copy added.

And that is a good enough recycling effort for this Ecology major. Time to enjoy my bike ride and a cup of joe.

I know its now a day later, but think about the Earth a little bit more.

Give a hoot. Don't pollute. NOW I'm dating myself.   :D

Moog Opus 3 synthesizer reference sheet, 1980

Moog Opus 3 synthesizer reference sheet from 1980.

Okay - time to give Oberheim a bit of a break. I think my infatuation is becoming unhealthy.

Reader of the blog Morris had written in because he had come across my other 1980 Moog reference sheets and respectfully suggested that it had been over 14 months since I had posted one. Um...er... sorry.  :D

He also suggested that if I had the Moog Opus 3 sheet, that one in particular would be interesting because:
1. He dug the synth.
2. He has been listening to the early 90s electronic band of the same name.

Good taste, Morris. Good taste.

Opus 3 (the band) brings back some good memories. I'm gonna assume the band got it's name from this synthesizer. Just a guess  :)

 This is the fifth Moog reference sheet I've posted. The others so far are the Moog Prodigy, Micromoog, Minimoog (yum) and Polymoog.  I've included the four others below but you can also link to them to see their back-sides.



There is something to be said for consistency. The same layout. Same fonts. The backs of these reference sheets are pretty similar too. Descriptions of all functions, and sometimes if there is room like on the Opus 3 sheet, we are treated to a juicy line diagram on the back.

That Opus 3 photo also really shows off the colourful Moog sliders nicely. They can also be seen in that Polymoog photo, but the Poly is such a large instrument that in order to get the whole keyboard into the shoot, readers don't get such a close-up view of those little gems. 

If my labels have been kept up to date, the Opus 3 has only made one other appearance in the site - in a Moog 1982 Product Catalog. The text that accompanied the Opus 3 photo in that catalog (page 3) includes a bit of info about the machine, most importantly pointing out that the synth included the patented Moog filter, and my favorite - the stereo mixer with panning.

You really gotta hear the Opus 3 live to understand its beauty... but the next best thing might be this 25 minute YouTube video posted by "mee3d" back in January 2009.  Yes that's 2-5 minutes. :)

Looking at all those sheets in a row now, that Moog Prodigy sheet really stands out with the textured background and that spot-light effect. I pointed this variation out in my initial blog post, but lining them up together now in this post (imagine the Opus 3 in that line as well!), really makes that difference stand out. And also, less concerning, is that the title doesn't contain the word "synthesizer" - although the Opus 3 sheet doesn't either.

But they still look like lovely little ducklings all in a row, don't they.  And that line up will be getting larger in the future, as I post others.  Yum.  :D

I just like to sit and enjoy them.

End note: One little quibble about the Opus 3... I really want to put a hyphen in there. Opus-3. Gah.

Oberheim Electronics advertising timeline created

Well, it had to happen sooner or later.  Another great company has been added to the blog's Advertising Timeline Tool page.

Introducing the Oberheim advertising timeline. Hit the link and it should automatically scroll you down to the Oberheim timeilne. If not, scroll down until you see that gorgeous Obie logo! I've included over 30 ads that I've blogged about so far - and there are at least a few more to come in the next while! *wink*.

Also on that advertising timeline page, you will find ARP, Korg, Moog and Sequential Circuits. I've had a bit of trouble finding time to keep those others up to date... and now here we go and throw this one into the mix. Gah!

I just didn't feel like writing much this weekend. But found it almost therapeutic to crunch out this thing. Actually - that makes it sound like it was long and grueling job. Not so much. Just too lazy to write.

Enjoy!  :D