In the music equiptment industry, you've got your big guns..... Yamaha, Roland, Korg etc etc...... But below them lies a whole heap of smaller companies often started by enthusiasts to market bits of kit they have lovingly designed and built for themselves where none where previously available to suit their needs.
The Orgon 'Enigiser' is one such unit, designed by Geoff Waterstone, coming out of the North of England, and it addresses a market area where there is very little choice of new product..... Non Midi genuine analog synthesis.
Y'see, there are people out there who want the genuine analog sound....AND the genuine analog operating system, able to hook into their current vintage analog system.... and the 'Energiser' could be just the baby they are looking for.
As you can see, the 'Enigiser' comes packaged in best vintage tradition, as a tabletop unit finished in a beautiful and gig survival steel case....
Take note that this is, as I said, a 100% modern vintage classic design, thus there's no midi, and none of the control knobs on this current Orgon unit will transmit or recieve conrol data at all....
However, I talked to Geoff today (9-9-97) and it seems there has been alot of demand for the 'Enigiser', and they have decided to release a Midi version, which will be coming out before Christmas. This newer model will add even more facilities, amongst which will be External audio inputs, Envelope followers, and midi recieve & send for the control knobs to add to what is already an extremely comprehensive spec'....
Once this new unit reaches the market, there will be a full review, along with some choice RA audio examples of the beastie in action,........But until then this is the current non-midi model.....All these controls and parameters will remain for the new midi model with enhancements added........So, I can't write a review at all, but here's the spec's, which will give you some idea of both this model's capabilities, and those of the upcoming midi'd version 'Enigiser'....After all, there ain't alot of choice in this product area, so I thought you'd like to at least know that this thing exists !!
Here's a line image layout of the controls......Obviously it's probably bloody impossible to read without using a big filesize that is massive to load..... So there's a download added below, where I put a readable image into a .ZIP file for you to grab & view on your PC later.
As you can see, Geoff has had a good think about this, and has expanded the unit outside of the usual dedicated pre-patched buss system used by other synths..... In the old days, you connected the various 'Modules' such as the VCO module, VCF module etc in any order you liked with patch leads such as you'd use on a patchbay....You could literally decide what parts of the synths building blocks went in which order to create a sound.....
Most modern repro analog synths are pre-patched.....That is the descision as to what routes to what is decided and fixed by the manufacturer......
Where the 'Enigiser' is different is that it utilises busses to decide the routing order.....Cool huh?!......Thus the VCA can be assigned to say be modulated by one of the 6 LFO busses or the the Envelope busses......or the filter can also be controlled by the same LFO buss as the VCA or whatever.....D'y get the idea ??.......This makes for alot of sound versatility !!.....
Anyhow.......for all you real synth buffs.....download the ZIP file with the panel layout, check it out, then give ORGON SYSTEMS a call if it looks like your thing .......L8ers
DOWNLOAD ENIGISER LAYOUT MAP (190K) ORGON SYSTEMS
PO BOX 76
WHITLEY BAY
NE26 2YT
ENGLAND
PHONE/FAX +44 191 290 2592
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