Resynator - Hexsynator - Lost 1980s Polyphonic Analog Guitar Synthesizer

Started by drjoness2001, November 01, 2017, 07:40:02 PM

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drjoness2001

You might find this interesting, I just put up a page on the Resynator/Hexsynator, a vintage 1980s analog guitar synth with a vintage Roland 24-pin input:

http://www.joness.com/gr300/Resynator_Hexsynator_vintage_analog_synth_musico.htm


admin





http://resynator.com/



Wayne Joness wrote>
Over the past three years I have worked to resurrect a synthesizer that my late father created in the '70s called the Resynator. It was buried in my grandmother's attic for 25 years after my father died in an unfortunate car crash the same year I was born. What started out as a simple tech project has evolved into an indepth documentary project about connecting with my father, his invention and continuing his legacy.

While I am close to wrapping production I still have a long way to go and needing financial support to continue. The support from this campaign will go towards finishing the production of the film. Further funds will be needed when post-production begins but this will be a great start to get to that point!

Short teaser and password link below:
vimeo.com/resynator/trailer
password: synth

https://www.gofundme.com/resynator

Vintage Roland Guitar Synthesizers

November 2017: The Musico Resynator / Hexsynator - Long Lost 24-pin Roland Vintage Guitar Synth
Synthesizer Profile: Musico Resynator 1980s Pitch and Envelope Tracking Synthesizer With Roland 24-pin Guitar Synthesizer Input A few years ago I was contacted by Alison Tavel regarding the Resynator, a Pitch and Envelope tracking synthesizer her father Don Tavel had invented in the 1980s.

The Resynator had quite a pedigree from the start, Don Tavel had a Masters degree in Music from the Indiana University Center for Electronic and Computer Music. The difficult engineering design work was done by the legendary Mike Beigel, founder of Musitronics.

Where things get really interesting for the vintage Roland guitar synth player, though, is with the Hexsynator, which looks to be a fully polyphonic six-voice extension of the original unit, complete with a cool vintage Roland 24-pin guitar input!

Read more about this forgotten synth, and support Alison Tavel and her Go Fund Me campaign!
https://www.gofundme.com/resynator

http://www.joness.com/gr300/Resynator_Hexsynator_vintage_analog_synth_musico.htm


vimeo.com/resynator/trailer
password: synth



A short cut of the documentary and the Resynator will be at Sound City Studios on November 2, 2017
RSVP here: resynatorRSVP@gmail.com


--


http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=7670

16 THOUGHTS ON "THE RESYNATOR PITCH-TRACKING SYNTH C. 1980"
Doug McIntosh
01/07/2014 AT 12:12 AM
Yeah. That's the 2nd generation ReSynator. What Don Tavel simply called the "Rack Mount" version.

I worked with Don in Indianapolis as an engineer on the ReSynator project. As the review article stated, the legendary Mike Beigel did all the heavy-duty engineering on the Project at that point, but I provided engi engineering support and worked on Production setup for the ReSynator, created some custom hardware and wrote some specialized custom software to run Musico's sophisticated "demo line", and to help Don demo the ReSynator at NAMM and other trade shows and similar events.

The ReSynator was a WONDERFUL device, and I would LOVE to have one; but JUST as we were setting up for the first pilot production run of 100 units, Korg brought out the X-911 guitar synth,


https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=11351.msg82642#msg82642

While the Korg unit was inferior in almost every way (was really built around the guitar's note-range (didn't work for bass at ALL), hideous synthesizer section, cheap construction, etc.), it was "out" first, and it was $500, rather than the ReSynator's $2k.

So, almost overnight, the wind went out of the sails at Musico, and the Pilot production run never got built, much less sold. I think there might be around 10 Rack Mount ReSynators around, plus Don's 3 or so Prototypes, an unknown number of various generation prototypes at Beigel Sound Labs, and at least two of the Generation I "suitcase" version prototypes.

Interestingly enough, we used one of the suitcase versions as a "Bass Player" accompanist for Don (he was actually a very good guitarist) at trade shows. The "Bass Player" system used custom software written by yours truly for an Apple II, that drove a little digital oscillator, also of my design (woohoo) (that the ReSynator would then "track"). The software allowed Don to quickly put together songs from "Riffs" and "Progressions", which was basically unheard of at the time. And in its spare time, the software also ran a big-screen TV with a "sales pitch" scrolling in big text. It really worked a treat!!! Wish I knew what happened to that software. I don't have a copy of it that I know of, but today, there are a zillion things that will run in your iPhone that can do better...

Anyway, I can answer limited questions about the ReSynator, if anyone's interested. Or, if anyone HAS a ReSynator they'd like to sell, by all means, let me know!


chrish

That's pretty damn Wild. If that thing tracks guitar like a GR300, then yea put that hex retro through some modern processing.

Rhcole

It speaks to what I consider to be the next righteous evolution of hex: partial waveforms that can be combined to make simple or complex sounds. The "chuff" of a flute, the "blat" of a sax, the "zing" of a violin, these have been available on synths for more than twenty years. But with a guitar they would be reborn.

THAT'S what Roland should release.

Brak(E)man

that demo makes me want one if it tracks like GR300 and works fully polyphonic
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

chrish

Quote from: Rhcole on November 03, 2017, 12:32:52 AM
It speaks to what I consider to be the next righteous evolution of hex: partial waveforms that can be combined to make simple or complex sounds. The "chuff" of a flute, the "blat" of a sax, the "zing" of a violin, these have been available on synths for more than twenty years. But with a guitar they would be reborn.

THAT'S what Roland should release.
yes the Roland GR300 was capable of turning  the guitar pick attack into a kind of trumpet spit sound.

That was the beauty of that analog synthesizer that allowed the expressiveness of the guitar as a synth controller to shine through. The string as an oscillator became part of the synthesis process with all its modulation capabilities inherent to guitar technique.

But then digital samples became the rage and lots of us got sucked into the inherent flaws of pitch to MIDI triggering, which still can be useful, but the natural expressiveness just isn't there when trying to mimic an acoustic instrument.


When digital samples came out that added the attack transients of various acoustic instruments it did make for a more realistic acoustic instrument sound, however there is that same boring sameness to the sound every time the sample is triggered.

That resynater does not sound boring at all.

It's kind of amazing what an electrical engineer can create.





Brak(E)man

Quote from: chrish on November 03, 2017, 08:30:10 AM
yes the Roland GR300 was capable of turning  the guitar pick attack into a kind of trumpet spit sound.

That was the beauty of that analog synthesizer that allowed the expressiveness of the guitar as a synth controller to shine through. The string as an oscillator became part of the synthesis process with all its modulation capabilities inherent to guitar technique.

But then digital samples became the rage and lots of us got sucked into the inherent flaws of pitch to MIDI triggering, which still can be useful, but the natural expressiveness just isn't there when trying to mimic an acoustic instrument.


When digital samples came out that added the attack transients of various acoustic instruments it did make for a more realistic acoustic instrument sound, however there is that same boring sameness to the sound every time the sample is triggered.

That resynater does not sound boring at all.

It's kind of amazing what an electrical engineer can create.

Slightly OT
But IMO the digital realm of the SY300 follows the guitar's expressiveness
It's the midi that muddles things up and the conformity of some synths , retriggering the same samples etc
not analogue / digital in my view.

And I fully agree
QuoteThat resynater does not sound boring at all.
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

Elantric

Quote from: Brak(E)man on November 03, 2017, 09:00:55 AM
Slightly OT
But IMO the digital realm of the SY300 follows the guitar's expressiveness
It's the midi that muddles things up and the conformity of some synths , retriggering the same samples etc
not analogue / digital in my view.

And I fully agree


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Boss-SY300-Multi-Effects-Synth-Guitar-Effect-Pedal/302498741523?epid=215747385&hash=item466e547d13:g:MpIAAOSwbwJZ7jPr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Boss-SY300-Multi-Effects-Synth-Guitar-Effect-Pedal/302498741523?epid=215747385&hash=item466e547d13:g:MpIAAOSwbwJZ7jPr


I figure in 5 years (or less) used SY-300's will be $300  - then we can use our  GK 13 breakout box to drive six SY-300's for $1800
http://www.separate-strings.co.uk/

Brak(E)man

Quote from: Elantric on November 03, 2017, 09:48:52 AM

I figure in 5 years (or less) used SY-300's will be $300  - then we can use our  GK 13 breakout box to drive six SY-300's for $1800


If I can get someone to cram them into one box , I will certainly consider that as a most viable option!
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

Rhcole

You can almost do it without Hex using the pitch range adjustments. Six SYs would give you enough of a spread so that you would have few overlapping notes.
If you bought 24 of them, I'm sure it would be flawless!  ;D

Brak(E)man



I hope the hexsynator will come into production , and I'd like to hear more demos pref
a polyphonic approach.
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

Rhcole

I think his daughter is just making a movie, not trying to get it built. The engineering to retro-produce this, especially in hex would be daunting. It's a shoulda woulda coulda view in the rear view mirror.

Elantric





Biggest hurdle for mass production and making exact reproductions  - sourcing the  obsolete  / long discontinued CEM SSM DBX EXAR Analog ICs that were commonly employed as VCO, VCA analog Synth building blocks in the 1970's 1980's
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEM_and_SSM_chips_in_synthesizers
http://curtiselectromusic.com/Home_Page.html



 

Brak(E)man

Quote from: Rhcole on November 04, 2017, 09:41:30 AM
I think his daughter is just making a movie, not trying to get it built. The engineering to retro-produce this, especially in hex would be daunting. It's a shoulda woulda coulda view in the rear view mirror.

I interpreted it differently from the forums and The Joness page

QuoteCurrently, Alison is working to resurrect the original synth and is looking for funding to cover the costs in developing the Resynator into a commercially available synth, and is working on a documentary film as well.
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

Rhcole

It would require a pretty substantial budget to reverse engineer and upgrade to modern specs, and a pretty good design engineer.

Hmmm, but I might know just the guy to do it. We'll see...   8)


chrish


http://micronetsol.net/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwyvXPBRD-ARIsAIeQeoFwavoS6vlTJ9eAu1Q2wIPTvVVxKepdmHNpynQ4m66Wy89E1FL1N6MaAlUREALw_wcB

We have over 25 years of experience in rapid, state-of-the-art reverse engineering of complex integrated circuits and printed circuit boards (PCB)

Rhcole

Thing is it needs to be poly or what's the point. I get decent quasi-poly performance from the SY-300.

chrish

Quote from: Rhcole on November 04, 2017, 11:35:53 PM
Thing is it needs to be poly or what's the point. I get decent quasi-poly performance from the SY-300.
from this quote from above section of the thread it looks to be polyphonic.

"Where things get really interesting for the vintage Roland guitar synth player, though, is with the Hexsynator, which looks to be a fully polyphonic six-voice extension of the original unit, complete with a cool vintage Roland 24-pin guitar input!"

I was curious about the pitch tracking because it says on the ad that it used two "microcomputers" for the pitch tracking.

" that's because two micro computers dynamically follow what note you're playing and how hard you're playing your instrument"


resynator

Hey guys, this is Alison who is working on the Resynator/Hexsynator project. I've been working on this for 4 years and I now have 2 fully functional Resynator units, but the Hexsynator is still not working. I'm hoping with more time and funding we can make that happen though, and I am considering new possible prototypes, software versions and maybe one day reproducing a small run of original units (talking Resynator here). I need to focus and finish my documentary first, as I'm still learning things about the history behind the Resynator (and trying to track down a couple people who i think bought them!) and then hopefully get support to launch a product one day that would be Don Tavel approved. While the Resynator is only monophonic, it's incredible. I'm very encouraged to see such great responses to when I have people demo or record with it. here's an updated teaser video if anyone is interested (the last 2 songs in the video use the Resynator)

and hopefully one day soon i'll have some good updates about a product.

admin

Welcome to the forum Alison!

Wishing you Best of  luck with all your projects!




aliensporebomb

Subscribed - this is a side of the early guitar synth world that I saw ads for and wondered about but never saw one and never heard but always wondered.  Those mid to late 1970s guitar synthesizer ads had me so excited I couldn't stand myself even though at the time I was just barely playing guitar. 

I'll be extremely curious to hear how this turns out and I sure hope the film comes to fruition.  I think your dad is smiling down on you, what's interesting is this has stoked interest years later which means that perhaps of all things "retro nostalgia" this could be the "next big thing from the past".

All I know is, I sure want to play one!
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

chrish

A eurorack version with CV in and outputs would extend the market for this synth. Good luck.

kevorkian


resynator

I hope it's ok to post my Resynator kickstarter link on this forum... Just thought some of you might like to see updates about the project. If this violates any rules, I can take it down!

The page has a video that I put together that shows how the resynator works and how it sounds, and the history behind it. It is scored entirely by Resynator sounds from a demo session I did with the wonderful Fred Armisen, of all people!! He did drums, vocals, guitar and bass through it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/resynator/resynator?ref=ere6sf

Output is a music software company who used the Resynator to create loops in their plugin called Arcade, and it's available as a reward tier. There are some other "Resynator" interactive rewards too that I came up with that I'm hoping people will be into!

Just really trying to get this story out there so that it does well and I can figure out how to proceed with the next step - putting the Resynator back on the market!