Introduce Yourself

[Alan Replica]

Just discovered this forum, and popping in to follow whenever possible..
I have started music back in the early 80's, mostly songwriting and gigging, and recently reorganized to start releasing albums (2004!). I have actually started music with a guitar (old second hand gibson lespaul custom!) and my first synth, must have been the cheapest Casio VL Tone (yes the micro toy), then i have completed my set up through the years by more professional synths, always second hand (I heard the ones I wanted back in the 80's most of the time and preferred waiting for the beast at second hand price than buying the short lived phenomenons people would get rid of the beasts for..). Actually I bought each synth from second hand shops and studios, around 10% of sale price, because these were 'out of fashion'. There was a new technology people were going for (ex.: digital age with DX7 and stuff, then Computer & softs..) ! What I mean to state here is, if you hold on to the quality of sound and not the wizard capacities, you can actually build a musician's rig and escape the office-techno hell.. Although I work as a IS consultant, I have no computer in my rig, i still work on my MC500 sequencer. (Speaking of this, the fact that operations are far more time consuming than on a computer - forgetting the crashes.., the hardware is reliable and you actually use this time between operations to do some thorough thinking on the next steps.)

So I'm now set up with the current gear : E-mu - Emulator IV, E6400 Ultra (factory demo unit), MPS
.Emulator III / SCI - Prophet 5, Pro-One / Roland - Jupiter 6, MC500MKII (my sequencer) / Yamaha - AW2816 / Sure - SM57 (mic) / Boss (pedals on mic) - DD2 (Delay), Compression, OD1 (Overdrive) / Inkel - 8 voices Mix.

I once owned a PolyMoog Synthesizer, and think with the Prophet 5 and the EIII, these are the synths with most 'soul'.. Maybe because these have no levelled amplitude in sound, and the sound just evolves in space as you play..

I reckon the only problem with the EIII is all the tatty technical problems you get with it (its real fragile, I wouldn't use it for gigging !), but what a sound and source of inspiration (would it be only the synth module and the arpeggiator).
I actually transfer my EIII sounds to the E6400 for gigging, and after some ajustments fall back to the original atmosphere of the EIII sound, BUT without the depth.. The 'evolution of sound in space' effect..

I would be glad to find
. some CD drive that actually works with the EIII
. a more practical saving system tip, maybe on computer (I can bear a computer for saves or audio recording)
 recording..

My current major issue is on my MPS keyboard (chips keybed) gradually losing keys action..

[Elmbeatz]

...
I would be glad to find
. some CD drive that actually works with the EIII
...

Apple CD 300 (with caddy). Welcome here!

[djscratchd]

David Noller from the electro act Dynamix II.

Been in the game since the mid 80's

www.myspace.com/dynamixii

Still own my old vintage beasts

Roland TR808 (signed by the egyptian lover), SH101, JV1080 w/Expansion Cards), MC202, SVC350 Vocoder, TB303 w/ cv in mod, sync

Novation Bass Station Rack

Electro Harmonix Vocoder

EMU EIII Keyboard

Sequential Circuits Pro 1

Clavia Nord Modular rev 1 Keyboard (signed by Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk)

Korg EA1, ER1

Moog Multimoog

Waldorf Microwave Rack

Akai mpc 1000,2000,2000xl

Korg Mikro Kontroller

Sonic Core - Scope System

UAD

3ghz Quad Core PC still running xp  

[rokuez]

nice gear man!!

check out DA BEAST


http://wellwornworkshops.com/stu808.htm a modified tr 808

[midipuppies]

No one ever welcomed me.
You guys suck!

[djscratchd]

Thanks!

[mgronroos]

Hi Everyone, My name is Michael Grönroos, and I live in Stockholm, Sweden.

I have been checking out the forum for years, but today I thought I'd register to be able to communicate with you all!

I had my first Emulator III encounter in Stockholm late 1987, and was blown away. I have never looked elsewhere since.
I bought my first EIII 8MB keyboard around 1989, over which my friend Daniel then took care about 1993. He still has it..
Somewhere between 1991 and 1993 I bought my other two EIII KB's, which I still use today. I love them to death.

I had an EIII rack for a few years, but always liked the keyboard better for some reason.
I think I sold it to buy the EIII XP when it came. It was very expensive at the time..
In my opinion the EIII XP is the cleanest sounding sampler ever made, due to its open, crisp sound. (I still have three of them today..)
Sad that E-mu never made a black EIIIXP keyboard version. I would still buy it today.

The emulator three keyboard is simply majestic.
It has warmth, caracter, fatness and, above all, deep bass!
If I had to choose one instrument, it would be the EIII keyboard.

Interesting that you can still feel a mix of anticipation, excitement and pure respect each time you power on an electronic instrument.
And this is after 20 years. It its truly a work of art.
The Emulator III is for E-mu what a 356 Speedster or a -73 911 RS is to Porsche.
Sad only that E-mu have not understood this yet.

Imagine if we all would get 1st class premium support from E-mu?
Imagine if they would help us all with memory upgrades and replacement chips?
Imagine if they understood that we are the ones upholding their heritage, that keeps the E-mu myth alive?

Just like the MiniMoog Voyager, the EIII could rightfully be developed ad re-released today.
Firewire, DSP, more RAM, extra voice boards, new A/D-D/A:s..
The technology of the EIII may be old by today's standards, but the sound is not.
The EIII still sounds warmer, fatter and has more soul than any new software synthesizer.

So let us all keep our machines running, and hope that the message to E-mu finally gets through!
Looking forward to talk to you all.

Yours truly,

Michael. 

[midipuppies]

Very well said.

[Elmbeatz]

...
The EIII still sounds warmer, fatter and has more soul than any new software synthesizer
...

Have you ever tried out the EII?

Concerning E-Mu: I think E-Mu is a totally different company than back in the days, forget about them. I don't even think anybody from the old days is still working there.

[mgronroos]

Hi Elmbeatz,

Yes, I actually had an Emulator II a few years. I REALLY like the looks of it, but I really never worked that much with it.
I used the strings on a couple of songs, but that was really all. I lacked the HD too much..

I did some A/B testing, and found the aliasing to be far more useful on the EII than the EIII.
But in terms of warmth and fatness, the EIII is my personal choice.

My friend Jonas still has the EII (and EIIIs) and likes them a lot, so perhaps I should give the EII a new listen?
Who knows, my 15 year old opinion might perhaps be reevaluated..  :=)

Regards,

Michael

[Elmbeatz]

The II's Just my preference..

It's soo intuitive... and warm...
IF you use it like I do - Plug, play, record on the fly (and twist the finetune slider for that detune flavor )

The III is a drum and sequencer beast to me. And - yes you're right - a bass mONSTer..

[Drone]

hi

Im eII, EIII, E4xt, SP12 turbo and EMAX owner  

My EIII worx flowless 8MB, recaped and with 2 HD drives and CD rom

love it  ; )

Damir

That's an awesome emu collection !!! 
Only the E2 & E4XT ultra for me, but I'd love to add an E3.

[potscrubber]

Hi I'm Simon from New Zealand.

Last week I acquired two NOT functioning EIII keyboards.  Very rare to find in this country!  From careful reading of posts on this forum I have managed to get them both working.  Thanks to all the genius's who post their advice and experience here.  You know who you are!

Years ago I used to have an Emax and made some great sounds with it, and played in a few bands.  Now thanks to esynthesist & his EMXP I can see if I still want to use any of those sounds.  Later on I had an ESI2000 but I didn't like the sound so much.  But hey it was probably my sound design!  I have a K2000 for a few years, looking for a new sampling experience.  I love it as a digital synth but sampler is PITA for me to use!  I also have a friends E4 and MS20 here.  He lives in Australia but we jam over the net with ninjam.  It kind of works!  I also have an SU700 for some things it's good.  But sometimes I live in a kind of scsi hell, instead of making samples and tunes!

The EIII - I am liking the bottom end, the Emax never had that so much.  The filter resonance is different from the Emax, and maybe I prefer Emax more (sorry EIII's!) but it's still early days!.   Some sounds really jump out strong from the EIII - I like that!  Mine needs to be calibrated / trimmed I think.  I like the non linear voice behaviors though, I think I might not trim it!

I really like the sequencer.  Just the right amount of simplicity / flexibility for me.

I have backlights on the way from Germany, and service manual on the way from USA.  I will look at getting it scanned and uploaded somewhere.

bye

[Elmbeatz]

Welcome Buddy!
If you like the Emax, go get an EII 

[PFM]

Hi all,

I'm PFM from the UK. This is a great resource and it's interesting that we're still use this stuff after all these years.
First started using an Emax II back in 1993. Bought my first EII in 1998 (for £800!!!), and my second a year later. Bought a second Emax II about 2 years ago. Managed to get two Mac Classics running Sound Designer with both EII (had to mod one of them to work with the RS interface, but it was a Rev 1 board, phew!). Working on getting Alchemy up and running with both Emax II's (got my hands on 2 x Mac 9600's). Done a few tests building cables.

Gigged one of the Emax IIs and both EII a while back. The Emaxes are fantastic to set up live (ignoring their MIDI issues) but the EII's were a pain. It was worth it though - the EII sound through a 4,000 Watt PA rig is pretty nice! Although the Pet Shop Boys references from people got a bit tired after a while!

Have changed all the EL backlights but am planning to replace them with LCD screens and built-in LED backlights. Am running the EII's with 3.5" drives too. Also have two Oberheim DPX-1's, but haven't gigged these. Having big problems changing the Emaxes to CF card though... patience. Really want an EIII - and work with the on-board sequencer.

Glad to see so many enthusiastic users - and some good music / sound.