KVR Audio

elkanah77 · Post by **elkanah77** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:22 am

After 30 years in absentia, I rediscovered my favorite book from 1985 where the author Dean Friedman goes through the available synths, samplers, sequencers and drum machines on the market. In 1985. Pros and cons.
I sweated bullets back then trying to decide what should be my first synth. I was a young teenager and could afford ONE. The book was read from cover to cover trying to pick one. I finally decided upon the ...
I've just made a quick review of this very book and it's so much fun reading this today knowing what we now know about MIDI, VCO vs DCO, samplers and such.
Dean Friedman predicts future classics and he got some right and some not so right. :facepalm:
If you see it for sale, pick it up!

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:47 am

Maybe you already know of Mu:zines. I love reading their archived magazines.

http://www.muzines.co.uk/

elkanah77 · Post by **elkanah77** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:15 am

Aloysius wrote:Maybe you already know of Mu:zines. I love reading their archived magazines.

http://www.muzines.co.uk/

Yes, I know of these scanned magazines and I love it!

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:16 am

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:56 pm

I had a couple of others in that series, back when I had a DX100.

"MIDI For Musicians" (which went into detail about the history of MIDI, which was pretty short at the time, and the 1.0 standard) and "Synthesizer Basics."

Someone is trying to sell a copy of "Complete Guide..." on Amazon for $738.83

elkanah77 · Post by **elkanah77** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:33 pm

foosnark wrote:I had a couple of others in that series, back when I had a DX100. "MIDI For Musicians" (which went into detail about the history of MIDI, which was pretty short at the time, and the 1.0 standard) and "Synthesizer Basics."

Someone is trying to sell a copy of "Complete Guide..." on Amazon for $738.83

I've seen some crazy prices. Can't ever think anyone will pay that. Crazy!

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:24 pm

I actually remember that 'book'.
In 1986 I bought the Yahama drum machine RX11 and my housemates owned a DX7 and an Ensoniq Mirage. I coveted things like the Synclavier then, though.

elkanah77 · Post by **elkanah77** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:50 pm

jancivil wrote:I actually remember that 'book'.
In 1986 I bought the Yahama drum machine RX11 and my housemates owned a DX7 and an Ensoniq Mirage. I coveted things like the Synclavier then, though.

Yeah, the Synclavier was surrounded with awe and still is in many ways. Got the RX11 too.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 8:55 pm

I still have a Roland R-5, which I think is from 1985. Also had a RX-11.

elkanah77 · Post by **elkanah77** » Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:48 am

Bombadil wrote:I still have a Roland R-5, which I think is from 1985. Also had a RX-11.

I think the RX11 is a wonderful drum machine and I still use mine

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:12 pm

I preferred the RX-5. Came across one a few months back on eBay, but passed. Did some great recordings wth that! My RX 11 got Pepsi spilled into it, and died. Best drum machine I ever used was the Roland R-70.

Sparky77 · Post by **Sparky77** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:10 pm

Great magazines guys, keep em coming!

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:11 pm

elkanah77 wrote:
jancivil wrote:I actually remember that 'book'.
In 1986 I bought the Yahama drum machine RX11 and my housemates owned a DX7 and an Ensoniq Mirage. I coveted things like the Synclavier then, though.
Yeah, the Synclavier was surrounded with awe and still is in many ways.

it is, if only because of the unique workflow. some of the sounds are unique as well.
I dearly wish there would be some kind of dedicated computer music machine like that

beely · Post by **beely** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 2:54 pm

elkanah77 wrote:
Aloysius wrote:Maybe you already know of Mu:zines. I love reading their archived magazines.
Yes, I know of these scanned magazines and I love it!

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it!

beely · Post by **beely** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:05 pm

elkanah77 wrote:I rediscovered my favorite book from 1985 where the author Dean Friedman goes through the available synths, samplers, sequencers and drum machines on the market. In 1985. Pros and cons.

My synth bible at a similar time was Keyfax 2:

I realised I formed (ie, copied) a lot of my early synth opinions from there...

The Complete Guide to Synths, Sequencers and Drum Machines - 1985