Soulwax and the hunt for the EMS Synthi 100 – Engadget

But the Dewaele brothers didnt want to use it as an abstract effect, modulating other sounds. They wanted to make something musical: An album -- beats, bass, pads and all -- created entirely on the Synthi 100. Which is precisely what they did, Deewee Sessions is the result of their time with #30 and every single sound on the album comes from that machine. Albeit with a little help from modern technology.

I guess sort of the point of the album was to showcase what we think are the characteristics of the machine said Dewaele. The album is made up of six movements, three per side of the vinyl release. Movement 1 starts with a simple pulse tone. Its exactly the first sound you imagine would come out of such a machine, electronic, pure, almost sinister. But it doesnt take long before that tone starts to waver and dissolve into a cacophony of metallic, haunting and then soothing, throbbing sounds. The album is the sonic equivalent of shining light through a prism -- one sound seemingly contains all the sounds.

If youre familiar with Soulwaxs more electronic-led music (Nite Versions, for example), youll soon recognize their trademark earthy-futuristic sound. The first two movements of the album feel like a nod to the Synthi 100s prog-rock legacy, with a more abstract edge to them. Movement 3, however, is when moody, plodding basslines start to emerge, and something resembling a rhythm. Side B starts with another melodic breather for Movements 4 and 5, before the Dewaele brothers return to their higher-energy roots for the last, thumping, head-swirling act.

It would be bold to say that Deewee Sessions will be the last record to showcase the Synthi 100, but it almost certainly will be the last one entirely made with it -- the remaining specimens are dying. Sort of living? We only know of about 14 or 15. Dewaele said. And he should know after having been looking for one for at least the last 25 years. As he tells it, many ended up in similar institutions to IPEM, and for a while were not considered important or valuable and may have found their way into landfill. It's quite surprising that half of them are still around.

Even the one they made the album with, #30, wasnt fully working. Dewaele guessed at it being 75-percent functional when it arrived at their studio. Fortunately, IPEM had a staff member that cared deeply for it, and was overseeing its glacial restoration. A process that would continue during its relocation. He actually has an exact replica of the machine and even slotted the circuit boards in there, and could not get it to work. Dewaele said.

Given that Dewaele estimates there are over 7,000 combinations on the patchbay (that pipes signals between different components), and not everything was working, adopting the experimental spirit of the Synthi 100 wasnt just nostalgic, it was essential to get anything done. [The restoration problem] was actually a blessing in disguise, because what that opened up to us was like okay well knowing that doesn't work, why don't we really do what Peter Zinoviath imagined? Which is why don't we use modern technology.

So thats what they did. David and Stephen paired the Synthi 100 with gear from Expert Sleepers, a company that specializes in hardware and software that allows old synthesizers to be controlled by modern PCs. So you keep the sound and the idiosyncrasies of the machine, but it allows you to do it much more according to Dewaele.

Purists might be aghast that any modern equipment could be allowed in such a project, but Dewaele makes the case that this is actually more inline with the Synthi 100s futurist vision. For all its vintage feel, the Synthi 100 is technically a hybrid analog/digital system. Zinovieff essentially added a computer to it, albeit an incredibly basic one by todays standards. But despite the brothers future-forward approach, it was an anachronism too far for Zinovieff.

The brothers were keen to speak to the synths spiritual father, but it didnt go as planned. I guess, not surprisingly, Peter Zenoviath had no interest in revisiting the synth 100 or anything of the EMS stuff Dewaele said. Because there's so much more we can do with computers right now. He's an 80-something-year-old, still making avant garde computer music.

And here is where the two worlds combine (or compete?). On the one hand, theres a mini revival going on with the Synthi 100. It's cool because since we started making the album, there's been a little bit of a zeitgeist thing where there's one in Melbourne, there's one in Athens, there's one in Belgrade, and they've all had recent restorations. Dewaele added. And they're now in contact with all these people. So it's now become a lot more part of their repertoire, more than it was in 2016.

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Soulwax and the hunt for the EMS Synthi 100 - Engadget