^ £ 2 . 5 0 ELECTRONICS-MUSIC-HOME RECORDING December, 1983 SUILD: x A DUAL CUSTOMIZE YOUR DRUM MACHINE TRIGGER DELAY CENTER CHANNEL REVERB AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN FOXX ISSN: 0163-4534 O berhelm THE OBERHEIM SYSTEM has Purchase SYSTEM from par­ consistently proven its worth as a ticipating authorized Oberheim compositional and performance dealer between December 1, $ ° ° tool as well as an invaluable pre- 1983 and February 29,1984. 500 production recording aid. But as we all know, the best tools are Provide proof of purchase CASH never cheap. S o .. .from Decem­ (Dated sales receipt with serial ber 1,1983 to February 29, numbers and warranty cards). 1984, Oberheim will help you get OR into a SYSTEM (or help you com­ Complete claim form; plete the one you've started). See your authorized Oberheim Simply purchase the SYSTEM dealer for Rebate claim forms. (OB-8, DSX, DMX) during this 5 0 9 5 ° ° time period and choose either a Proportionate rebate available: check directly from Oberheim for Where one has purchased a por­ $ 5 0 0 .0 0 or the Oberheim Model tion of The System prior to the 700 Professional Stereo Power rebate program, that unit or units Amplifier ($ 8 9 5 .0 0 suggested will not be eligible for rebate. POWER retail). This extremely reliable However, if one completes The amplifier, rated at 35 0 watts per System by purchasing a unit or side into 4 ohms, will assist in units during this program, they AMP making your keyboards sound will receive a proportionate rebate the way you've always envi­ as follows; $ 2 3 5 .0 0 for OB-8, sioned; full, clear, responsive $155.00 for DMX, $110.00 and POWERFUL. A SYSTEM in­ for DSX, $ 5 5 .0 0 for DX. cluding a DX in place of a DMX is eligible for a $ 4 0 0 .0 0 rebate. Offer void where prohibited by law. This rebate can be applied to a Please allow 45 days to process claim. Model 700 Power Amplifier if a certified check or money order for $100.00 is included with your OBERHEIM claim form. Either way you ELECTRONICS, INC. choose, you get the versatility, Some things are better than others. quality, sound, and performance 2 2 5 0 So. Barrington Ave. of the best professional musical Los Angeles, CA 9 0 0 6 4 instruments available. -------S T A F F --------- PUBLISHER ISSN: 0163-4534 John S. Simonton, Jr. EDITOR Craig Anderton VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1 EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Vanessa Else DECEMBER, 1983 MANAGING EDITOR Linda Kay Brumfield TECHNICAL ILLLUSTRATOR Caroline Wood An Interview with John Foxx By: John K. Diliberto .................... 8 CIRCULATION Ramona French Build A Dual Trigger Delay Peggy Walker By: John Mitchell ........................ 16 BOOKEEPING Cathi Boggs Center Channel Reverb: The electronic concert Hall PRINT PRODUCTION By: Ralph D. Sherman..................... 26 Phuong Nguyen Customize Your Drum Machine: SEMCO Color Press Modifications for Roland TR606 Drumatix POLYPHONY (ISSN 0163-4534) is published By: Perry C o o k ........................... 28 bimonthly at 1020 W. Wilshire Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73116, by Polyphony PAIA Programmable Drum Set Modification Publishing Co. Entire contents copyright By: Jeff Wheeler .................... 30 (c) 1982 by Polyphony Publishing Co. All E-Mu Drumulator Tuning Modification rights reserved. No portion of^ this publication may be reproduced in any By: Steve Davies ......................... 31 manner without written permission from the publisher. Second Class postage is Polyphonic Keyboard Reviews paid at Oklahoma City, OK 73125. By: Eric Meyer ............................ 6 ADVERTISING rate card and deadline schedule is available upon request. White Noise Is Not A Cliche Contact Linda Brumfield at (405) 842-5480. By: Chris Meyer .......................... 40 DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS bulk prices are available upon request. Contact Linda Brumfield at (405) 842-5480. SUBSCRIPTION rates: American 1 year $12.00 2 years $22.00 Applied Synthesis: Voicing Techniques Foreign 1 year $14.00 By: Bill Rhodes .......................... 20 2 years §26.00 We now accept MasterCharge and Visa payment for subscriptions, back issues, Practical Circuitry: Modifying the PAIA EKx-40 VCO ana PolyMart items. Foreign payments By: Thomas Henry ......................... 32 must be by charge card, money order, or certified check in US funds drawn on a US bank. Re-View By: Robert Carlberg ..................... 4 BACK ISSUES are available at $2.50 each ppd. Send SASE and request 9 ur 'Back Issue List' for a complete index of issues and their features, or see the back issue ad in this issue. CHANGE OF ADDRESS notifications must include your former address and zip Ad Index...................................... 34 code, and any numbers from the mailing label, as well as your new address. When you move, be sure to notify your Current Events ............................... 35 post office that you DO want second class and controlled circulation publications forwarded. This will save Editor's Notes ............................... 5 lost or returned issues. Polyphony is not responsible for replacement of lost Equipment Exchange ........................... 42 or returned issues when we have not been supplied with change of address information. TO POSTMASTER, send address changes to: POLYPHONY PO Box 20305 Oklahoma City, OK 73156 COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY: Linda Kay Brumfield Ph. (405) 842-5480 PoJyphor^ December 1983 3 Robert Carlberg’s WIND PLAYERS VO CA. |Jp| LISTS11||1 You can use your own instrument or voice to control any standard synthesizer, re -v ie w with more expressiveness than ____________________________________________ I a keyboard. : J m In order to summarize and cele­ sant enough not to disturb the brate the past year, I hereby descent into nappytime. H ' *»' t» establish the FIRST ANNUAL POLY­ BEST ALBUM TITLE: Brute Reason by PHONY AWARDS. Not all of these Bernard SzaJner (Oct). Runner-up: releases were recorded in 1983, m m Music to Wash Dishes By by Tom THE GENTLE ELECTRICv\ but all have been reviewed this Cameron (Aug). year, as indicated in parenthesis. PITCH AND ENVELOPE5 BEST SONG TITLE: "TMIU-ATGA" by FOLLOWER ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Peter Gabriel Brand X from I_s There Anything m f — Security (February). Beauti­ About? (Feb). It stands for rite for our free detailed fully recorded, fully developed, "They're Making It Up As They Go accessible yet challenging. This Along". brochure, patch diagrams, album's got it all -- even a hit and application notes. BEST ALBUM COVER: Inquietude by single, which wasn't even one of the Electronic art Ensemble ft*\ \JHSr I the strongest tracks. The produc­ (April). Sorry I can't show it to Also available 0s modules for Aries and tion work and synthesis are simply you. Se'ge synthesizers, or as circuit boards gorgeous. for custom systems. Dealers inquiries BEST ENGINEERING: Thomas Dolby — w e lco m e . SONG OF THE YEAR: Peter Gabriel — "Lay Your Hands On Me" (from The Golden Age of Wireless (Aug). Security). The best of the best. Engineered by Wally Brill, Chris gentle electric Interesting construction, great Birkett, Tim Hunt, Chris Stone, Dept P P .0 Box 132, Delta, CO 81416 synthesis, thought-provoking lyr­ Mike Hedges, Graham Carmichael, (303j 874-7171 ics . and Martin Levan. No wonder There's so much variety. ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Kit Watkins (album Frames of Mind reviewed DEBUT OF THE YEAR: Ricky Star- EXPERIMENT WITH June). This year's award goes not buster — Starburst (cassette, to Mr. Gabriel (who had plenty of Aug). Good programming, good per­ help on his album), but to this EKx Series formance, and good composing -- Virginia native who plays key­ with high hopes for the future. EXPONENTIAL boards, flute, pan pipes, autoharp and digital drum unit on his al­ COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Peter Bau­ MODULE CARDS bum. He did the cover and pro­ mann — Strangers In The Night duced and engineered too. All of EKx 10 ADSR (Oct). After last year's Repeat these are done extremely well. envelope generator with exponential control Repeat, it's good to see Baumann of Attack, Decay and Release times over a guaranteed .002 to 20 second range. No control BEST POPULAR SYNTHESIZER ALBUM: back on Quality Street. Runner voltage feed-throuqh.. $24.95 plus $2 postage Bill Nelson: The Love That Whirls up: Mychael Danna -- A Gradual EKx 20 VCF (Diary of a Thinking Heart) Awakening (cassette, Oct). He with exponential control of pole frequency (April). A warm electrobeat al­ wasn't ever really "gone", but over a 10 octave range. Jumper programmable bum, something I never thought I'd it's good to see him doing ori­ for 24 dB/Oct. LP, HP, BP or All Pass response. see. Runner-up: The View — In a Voltage controlled resonance. Low noise, 86 dB ginal stuff now. below max. output. $26 .95 1S2.001 Strange Land (e.p., April). Three tasteful, catchy tunes which Just MISTAKE OF THE YEAR: Blade Runner EKx 30 DUAL VCA happen to be by an independent. Soundtrack by the New American low noise, low distortion, wide bandwidth, low Orchestra (Feb). If they couldn't control voltage feedthrough. Both exponential Lost out to Nelson only because and linear control voltage Inputs simultaneously the Prophet 10 isn't featured more release Vangelis' original synthe­ available..... $ 2 4 .9 5 1 $2.00] prominently. sizer score, whose bright idea was it to release an "orchestral adap­ EKx 40 FULL FEATURE VCO BEST JAZZ SYNTHESIZER ALBUM: No tation"? What could have been the Full feature VCO with ramp, triangle and winner. If there was one, I voltage controlled pulse. Exponential control motivation? of frequency.over accurate and stable missed it. 100,000:1 range. Linear FM Input and hard and soft sync..... $29.95 l$2,OOI BEST AVANT-GARDE ELECTRONIC ALBUM: IRONY OF THE YEAR: 50's-style Heliograms (September). Manages rock-a-billy is now being played Each kit features the Curtis Electromusic to be both maJestic and beautiful on all the New Wave stations.