Synthecs
This is an attempt to imitate an analog synthesizer
DESCRIPTION
This is an attempt to imitate the polyphonic synthesizer Synthex from the Italian company Elka. It is similar to the Prophet 5 and Oberheim’s OB-Xa but has got some unique features making it worthwhile to remake, I believe. Due to several factors it never sold very well so it is not a very well known synth today. Even if you never hear of it I’m sure you’ve heard the sound it makes – the Elka Synthex is the synthesizer behind Jean-Michel Jarre’s famous laser harp from his Rendez-vous album!
When I build the Syntecs I used the ensemble Super Prophet by C. Heusser as a starting point and added velocity controllers from Uwe G. Hoenig’s Nanowave. In addition to the original design I’v put velocity control the filter, amplitude and the glide. From the original I left out the sequencer and turned the mono/stereo switch into a knob. Apart from that I’v tried to be as true to the design of the Synthex as I could. Also in an effort to be as true as possible is the small amount of random controlling the oscillator pitch (also from Super Prophet). This gives the ensemble a slight "phat" sound especially in combination with the chorus. But as I have never seen or used the real thing I have no idea how close the Synthecs sounds to the original. If you have any suggestions on how to make this imitation more close to the real thing, please tell me.
Read more about the Synthex here:
www.hollowsun.com/donations/synthex
www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/dec99/articles/elka.htm
www.oldschool-sound.com/index.php?rub=3 (user manual)
www.vintagesynth.org/elka/elkasyn.shtml
www.sonicstate.com/synth/synthex.cfm
www.analogue.org/mr/synthex
Ensemble made on PC, Windows XP.
I would like to highlight the following features:
- The pulse width can be modulated by the audio signal in addition to the more common LFO modulation.
- The ring modulation is "digital" meaning it concists of a XOR function instead of the "analog" multiplication.
- The glide function is nice to use in combination with sync.
- The LFO controlled by the "joystick" has a variable speed set by the "initial" and "delta" controllers. Changing the LFO speed with the joystick (the mod wheel in my case)can give some sounds some extra "life".
------ IMPORTANT -------
When you try the snapshots, remember to change the snapshots of the LOWER (bottom) instrument. This will also control the UPPER instrument. Think of the UPPER as the slave of the LOWER instrument, only to be used when you want to have a layered or split sound.
This ensemble doesn't use the Analog Legacy technology.
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