Jump to content

The father of the XW series.


Recommended Posts

No. It was a Wavetable synth that could be expanded with the Waveterm, EVU, and the PRK to make it a serious contender to the Fairlight and Synclavier with sampling and voice slicing and manipulation.

 

It's more of a relative to the Waldorf Wave, the SCI Prophet VS, and the Korg Wavestation with its wavetable design. (And to a lesser extent, the Ensoniq ESQ1.)

 

The basic concept was that the sound architecture was designed to switch waves over time.

 

I got to mess with one (a Wave 2.3) for a bit in the mid-80's. It was indeed a powerful beast, but it fell to the tech explosion of the time, making other synths more powerful at a fraction of the cost, just like Fairlight, N.E.D., E-Mu, and a host of others.

 

..Joe

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, memories...

 

I have always loved the visual appearance of the PPG synths, as well as their sound of course. I remember when I first heard the bass sound on Thomas Dolby's song "Windpower" from the album "The Golden Age of Wireless", which was apparently created on an early PPG prototype (all digital - no analog filters). It was one of the most unique synth sounds I had heard up to that time (and I had listened to a lot of electronic and synth-based music by then). Other sounds on Thomas Dolby's albums were also impressive, to be sure. He was and apparently still is a very talented musician and "synthesist."

 

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/2522

 

Here's a video from 1983 featuring Midge Ure of Ultravox playing and talking about a PPG 2.X (can't see the model no. in the video) and a Minimoog. It's funny now to hear how he describes the Minimoog as an "antique", "basic" model that his digital PPG essentially made obsolete (in his opinion at the time).

 

 

The music of the 80's, especially from "New Wave" bands (however you choose to define that term) was a great mix of analog and digital sounds. I miss that kind of music. (Actually, I don't literally miss it since I still listen to the stuff all the time but I do miss when it was new music. Yup, I'm definitely gettin' old. :D)

 

Regarding creating PPG-like or Waldorf-like sounds on the XW, I don't think there is any way to emulate the way these synths switch or cross-fade between single-cycle waveforms. But of course for a given sound there is often more than one way to skin a cat (ouch! poor kitty) so you might get something real close if you work at it.

But, that said, there might be a way to get Wavestation-like sequences by interpolating between four PCM melody tones using eight tracks of the step sequencer, including all four control tracks. But programming that is probably way more trouble than its worth and it only gives you four cross-faded sounds with essentially monophonic playback.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Poking around here-just caught A-Ha old track "Take On Me" as a good example of that 80s sound. This would be a good song to test the capabilities of the XW-P or G-could probably do the entire song. I wonder what they used originally for this, i can't tell. maybe I'll give it a shot if i ave time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Poking around here-just caught A-Ha old track "Take On Me" as a good example of that 80s sound. This would be a good song to test the capabilities of the XW-P or G-could probably do the entire song. I wonder what they used originally for this, i can't tell. maybe I'll give it a shot if i ave time.

Some of the details for what they used are found here: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar11/articles/classic-tracks-0311.htm

These should help too (I don't know how the guy gets these):

But I can't find the bass guitar stem nor one for the vocals.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I'm  diving deeper into what the SynClavier was then and I've starting to realize it took 25 some years for current workstations to come even close to what that synthesizer beast was, It took Korg even a long time to come with the Oayses.

 

Current status-quo is everything digital and hybrid but the SynClavier where well ahead of its time from an decade where money played hardly a role spending it wasn't an issue neither.

 

Eddie Jobson did some great synthesis with it something I wanted for myself even on the XW series which why I chose the G1 for its sampling capabilities trying

to relive that great time getting great sounds out of a keyboard.

 

This thing is still doing well and getting upgrades  :blink:

 

Are there more sources to learn more about this SynClavier does anyone has links etc.

 

http://www.synclavier.com/

 

http://www.500sound.com/synclavierhistory.html

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alsome post Dave.

You know we have all this high end tec today, we can do this,that,- heck push a few buttons and what not and make any sound we like in a flash but we lost something in the prosses and Keybords that sound,play and demand the music knowledge like this are part of it.

Not to say the XW's are the easyiest to use for the new guy/gal but that's mostly due to the users manual mine came with.  lol

 

On a side note (no pun intended) the XW's just have a diffrent workflow to get use to.

 

Larry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

On a side note (no pun intended) the XW's just have a diffrent workflow to get use to.

 

Larry

Blame the sales guy's for that someone actually though about this isn't a full time keyboard player or synth guy, All they see is knobs and sliders they don't think of it as an interface?.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a bit on the synclavier-Zappa was using it externsively towards the last years of his creative life, I think "Jazz from Hell" was created almost completely with a Synclavier. And Pat Metheny also played around with it way back when. Had to carry around spares on the road with a dedicated Synclavier tech since parts were hard to get and almost no-one knew how to fix it when it (constantly) broke. At a starting price of 25000 smackers only the richest or soon to be bankrupt had them. And I think I saw one on eBay for cheap recently. And add the Yamaha sy35 and tg33 both of which had a type of crude vector synthesis function like the Prophet VS that never really caught on. And the Ensoniq ts10 and 12 can also do this with transwaves but it is brutal to create them! You needed a separate manual just to figure out how to do it. I know, I have it (I'm a masochist fer sure). It makes the XW-P1 look simple believe me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a bit on the synclavier-Zappa was using it externsively towards the last years of his creative life, I think "Jazz from Hell" was created almost completely with a Synclavier. And Pat Metheny also played around with it way back when. Had to carry around spares on the road with a dedicated Synclavier tech since parts were hard to get and almost no-one knew how to fix it when it (constantly) broke. At a starting price of 25000 smackers only the richest or soon to be bankrupt had them. And I think I saw one on eBay for cheap recently. And add the Yamaha sy35 and tg33 both of which had a type of crude vector synthesis function like the Prophet VS that never really caught on. And the Ensoniq ts10 and 12 can also do this with transwaves but it is brutal to create them! You needed a separate manual just to figure out how to do it. I know, I have it (I'm a masochist fer sure). It makes the XW-P1 look simple believe me.

Now that is the stuff I find interesting to hear, Just took a look on ebay those parts still have a whopping price on them. 

 

Transwaves and hyperwaves first time I've heard of these waveforms, Pegs also my interest Ensoniq ts10 doesn't come cheap neither

Its even more expensive then the PX5S , Feeling envious reading upon this synth capabilities and innards.

 

You say it makes the XW-P1 look simple I believe in different perspective Casio tech for blending waves are single cycle, Guess its same on PX5S.

it still doesn't seems easy to picture a sound and create it knowing what waves could do even a manual hardly helps pressing the terms and functions

into the noggin. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you check out Vintage Synth's description you will see that this series had some pretty advanced synth stuff going on although I don't know why the TS10 go for such high prices on eBay while the TS12s are half that price. Casio piano samples are better althought the Ensoniqs hold up pretty well. Electric pianos are very similar. The transwaves can be created with a small software program. Hyperwaves require an advanced degree in mathematics since you must input huge strings of numbers to create a hyperwave which is  a series of any of the sounds resident in the TS morphed together over time as quickly or as slowly as you decide. and you must do this with the TS controls-button pushes etc. Not pretty. I kept my TS12 though since it is still capable of so much-reads samples, big sample library (can use older Ensoniq samplers sound libraries). Only 32-note polyphony but can still work up some very interesting stuff with it. Limited factory sounds though, the XW-P1 definitely has it over this for organs and synth sounds.

 

http://www.vintagesynth.com/ensoniq/ts10_ts12.php

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or here is one to chew on XW-addict! Scare yourself with this one. An actual working Synclavier with all the extras.........pretty frightening stuff. Just look at the manuals! Now you know why the poor souls who travelled with these needed a Synclavier tech to sleep in the same room with them!

 

And if you think it's portable because the keyboard doesn't look too bad-look at what you had to connect it to-a working mainframe computer! Makes one appreciate the Casio gear a little more, considering the XW probably sounds better and has a much larger database of workable sounds built-in.

 

Anybody complaining about yer gear being too heavy, complex or having funky operating systems, wrap yer head around this! Anybody here wanna buy it? I have no coonection to this listing, but I will send you a "get well soon" card if you do. And a free bottle of moonshine. And remember, they're out of business-no tech support, no Mike Martin to explain how to install the internal computer cards you needed to get this to make a weasel-fart let alone operate the sequencer which would not work unless you installed the optional memory cards! Spare parts good luck. Like building an Aston-Martin from parts you might find in a junkyard. It could be done, but not for me!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-England-Digital-Synclavier-II-Digital-Synthesizer-with-Extras-/261877369192?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf91b8968

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

True I forget we're musicians. Furniture moving is nothing. I learned what a handtruck was from lugging Leslies around and I ain't talking groupies named Leslie. Not sure but I think you needed 220v to run this thing with its handy mainframe! Think about that next time you complain about batteries!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.