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Wavetable Synthesis Is Inextricably Linked to PPG and Waldorf’S Lengthy Lineage of Wave Free Samples from PPG and Waldorf Wave Synths Past and Present

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Wavetable Synthesis Is Inextricably Linked to PPG and Waldorf’S Lengthy Lineage of Wave Free Samples from PPG and Waldorf Wave Synths Past and Present FM107.retro 9/2/01 4:59 pm Page 1 RETRO FAMILY TREE Retro Family Tree o CD TRACKS 6-11 A selection of copyright- > Wavetable synthesis is inextricably linked to PPG and Waldorf’s lengthy lineage of Wave free samples from PPG and Waldorf Wave synths past and present. synths. Jonathan Miller says hello, waves goodbye and says hello again.… IS IT REALLY 19 years since Depeche Unable to compete against an influx Mode stormed the charts with their lat- of cheaper, mass-produced Japanese est slice of bubblegum synth pop See and American instruments, the com- You? This song’s catchy bell-like motif pany finally bit the dust in 1987, but and unusual middle-eight tones repre- not before selling around 700 Wave sented my initiation into the world of 2.3s, 300 2.2s and 300 Waveterms and wavetable synthesis, courtesy of a PPG coming up with some quite remarkable Wave 2. But what’s the Wave’s history? innovations like 1986’s unreleased The PPG (Palm Productions GmbH) Realizer (quite possibly the world’s first name dates back to 1975 when German virtual instrument). However, the Wave electronics wizard Wolfgang Palm began story doesn’t stop there. > The Wave 2.3 and Waveterm B,the heart manufacturing little-known analogue and brain of PPG’s Music Computer System Palm’s next development was a cus- synths. For Palm, the future was digital tom wavetable chip, first utilised on the and it wasn’t long before legendary looked the business. The five-octave key- Waldorf Microwave spectral wavetable German electronic trailblazers Tangerine board is housed in a large black metal synthesizer in 1988, a cost-effective, 2U Dream came knocking on his door case with a blue sloping control panel rackmount with real-time parameter looking for new sounds.With the Tangs split into self-explanatory halves: the access via MIDI. The Microwave was a financial assistance, Palm began experi- 17-knob ‘multiple-function analogue resounding success and its offspring still menting with all-digital synthesizer control panel’ and ‘multiple-function forms the cornerstone of Waldorf’s prod- designs, culminating in late1978 with the digital control panel’ with its LCD screen. uct line today. 1997’s 10-voice (expand- FAMOUS USERS PPG Wave Computer 360. With two oscillators per voice, the able to 30) all-digital Microwave II has Tangerine Dream founder Wave 2.2 could simultaneously play two only recently been discontinued. Edgar Froese put the PPG Wave Computer 360 Think different through its musical paces The 360 certainly sounded different. on his 1979 solo album Instead of relying on VCOs (Voltage Con- < “The Microwave was a resounding success; its offspring Stuntman while the PPG trolled Oscillators) with a few static Wave 340/380’s most still forms the cornerstone of Waldorf’s product line today”> famous advocate was waveforms, Palm created digital ‘oscilla- Thomas Dolby. tors’ using 64 short, eight-bit sampled Here’s a brief rundown waveforms, groups of which could be different sounds.When combined with New waves of those who rode the swept from one to the next (a wavetable the newly launched Waveterm A it In 1998 Waldorf transplanted the Waves: Art Of Noise, Depeche Mode, Trevor in PPG-speak). And 32 such wavetables became the heart of PPG’s Music Com- Microwave II’s guts into the Microwave Horn, Jean-Michel Jarre, on the 360 equalled 2,048 waveforms so puter System (with the 8U rackmount- XT (FM77, 78%), a bright orange desk- Gary Numan, Propaganda, a filter was deemed unnecessary. able Waveterm offering eight-bit user top/5U rackmountable unit sporting 44 Rush, Stock Aitken & The 360 Wave Computer soon sampling, DIY wavetable creation and knobs. And the Microwave XTk, released Waterman, Tangerine Dream and Ultravox. mutated into the eight-voice 340/380 more extensive sequencing capabilities). last year, brought a four-octave, velocity- Waldorf’s upmarket System, comprising three weighty 4U MIDI’s arrival, later in 1982, revolu- sensitive keyboard into the equation; Wave has found favour rackmountable units (the 340 Wave tionised the electronic musical instru- proof that longevity does indeed exist in with the likes of Tori Computer’s processor and generator, and ment world; gear from rival companies the cut-throat synth world. Amos, Eat Static, The Orb, Underworld and Hans 380 Event Generator) plus a computer could now be connected.Yet PPG’s And if proof were needed of the big- Zimmer while Nine Inch terminal and five-octave keyboard for proprietary eight-bit parallel communica- ger is better maxim then look no further Nails’ Trent Reznor has sequencing. But something was amiss. tion buss connecting its Music Computer than Waldorf’s mighty Wave, the used all the Microwaves The technical limitations of the time System was already much faster than ‘advanced modular wavetable synth’. It at one time or another. And Depeche Mode are prohibited incorporating a digital filter MIDI! In 1983 PPG beefed up this system had more voices (16, expandable to 32 or also using the PPG Wave into the Wave Computers so they to include the EVU (Expansion Voice 48), more patches (512) and a mon- 2.V soft synth. sounded somewhat brittle and harsh, not Unit), a new 12-bit, eight-part multitim- strous front panel (and asking price). a popular trait in an age of analogue bral Wave squeezed into a 4U rack- If finances are tight, anyone craving a warmth.What to do? Quite simply, Palm mountable casing. taste of the infamous PPG sound at backtracked a little, feeding his beloved roughly a 50th of the cost of the original digital wavetables into a VCF (voltage- Turning tides Wave 2.3 could always grab a copy of controlled filter) and VCA (voltage- PPG finally joined the MIDI masses in Steinberg/Waldorf’s PPG Wave 2.V soft- controlled amplifier) and thus, in 1981, 1984 with the Wave 2.3, effectively a ware. Unlike its hardware forefather, this the PPG Wave 2 was born. repackaged EVU in the now familiar key- VST Instrument plug-in’s polyphony board casing. 1985’s updated Waveterm depends solely on the host computer’s Rhapsody in blue B boasted 16-bit sampling and 24-track, CPU power (up to eight 64-voice instru- This time the music industry sat up and multitimbral sequencing (by connecting ments, each with eight-part multitim- took note, for the eight-voice, single- a 2.3 and a couple of EVUs).Yet the tech- brality, can be simultaneously opened). > Tangerine Dream oscillator PPG Wave 2 sounded and nological tide was turning on PPG. And so, the Wave lives on… FM 88 FutureMusic FM107.retro 9/2/01 4:59 pm Page 2 GEAR No. 3: PPG and Waldorf Wave series PPGWAVECOMPUTER 360 PPG 340/380 SYSTEM A rare 1978-vintage all-digital synth, available as Hot the heels of the Wave Computer 360 (and look- either four-voice (360A) or eight-voice (360B), ing more like an industrial computer than a musical with one oscillator per voice, 32 wavetables and instrument), this multi-component, eight-voice digital 70 patch memories. wavetable synth featured a bewildering array of con- nections and didn’t sell well. >> > >> PPGWAVE 2 PPGEVU PPGWAVETERMA 1981’s first incarnation 1983’s 12-bit, eight- A dedicated (Motorola 6809 of the classic Wave, an voice, eight-part multi- microprocessor-based) music eight-voice, 32- timbral ‘Wave-in-a-box’ computer offering Wave 2.2 wavetable hybrid synth (MIDI was added later). users eight-bit user sampling, with 24dB/octave low- wavetable creation and fancy pass filter and onboard real-time digital sequencer. (by 1982 standards) sequencing options, all for $10,650 (approximately £7,500). Just look at those eight-inch floppy disk drives! >> >> >> PPGWAVETERM B The last PPG product to be PPG WAVE 2.2 commercially released (in 1985) at a cost of $11,995 (approximately £8,000). 5.25-inch disk drives, 16- bit sampling courtesy of an improved Motorola 68000 microprocessor (transfer- able to the Wave 2.3 in compressed 12-bit) and even fancier 24-track sequencing was the order of the day. An updated Wave 2 with two oscillators per voice. Its original 1982 list price was $8,800. Today you could be looking at between £200 and £1,000 second-hand. > > WALDORF MICROWAVE WALDORF WAVE The first Wave for the Launched for £4,995 masses, this neat 2U, back in 1992, the Wave eight-voice, eight- includes a 76-note key- part multitimbral, 32- board and ‘pick-your- wavetable rackmount own’ colour schemes. arrived in 1988 at a Quite literally an über- PPG WAVE 2.3 respectable retail price of £999. An £80-odd upgrade wave plaything for the rich and famous, if you have to in 1995 doubled that onboard wavetable count to 64. ask the price then you probably can’t afford one. > WALDORF MICROWAVEII While physically identical to the Wave 2.2, under the In 1997 the long run- bonnet is essentially a MIDI keyboard version of the ning Microwave was EVU. At $10,000 on its 1984 release, it was later dis- finally redesigned and counted to around £4,500 as PPG struggled against reborn with 10- the mass-produced competition. Current second- voices, 64 ROM hand asking prices could be anywhere up to £1,300. Wavetables, 32 RAM Wavetables and a digital filter. Its price? Still £999. > > > STEINBERG PPG WAVE 2.V WALDORFMICROWAVEXT WALDORFMICROWAVEXTk This soft synth The bright The keyboard is essentially a orange version of the PPG Wave 2.3 Microwave II XT, came out recreated in rack was last year and software form released in costs £1,449.
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