The Digital Keyboards Inc Synergy II+ is a digital additive/FM synthesizer that sounds like no other. Somewhat similar to the extremely popular Japanese Yamaha DX7, its tone is mellower and warmer. The Synergy appealed to many performers and composers in that it was, like the Synclavier (one of Michael Jackson’s famous early synthesizers) , made in USA.
It’s estimated that only 700-800 Synergy keyboards were made and that less than 100 are in operation today.
Due to it’s rarity and lack of many working examples, it is not easy to garner modern day opinions and user experiences and so it makes sense to paste some stuff from wiki:
“Analog synths of the same era (the late 1970s and early 1980s when the Z-80 computer chip ruled the electronic world) were subject to environmental changes in the input controls that meant every performance, even after a short delay, would be different. The tuning capacitors would drift due to performance venue temperature changes or recording studio humidity and temperature changes making it very difficult to stay in tune with other instruments and especially other electronic instruments.
One way around this was to spend huge sums of money on the latest high end digital synthesizers that held their tunings digitally. Famous electronic artist Wendy Carlos (her originally soundtrack for The Shining remains unused to this day and I have yet to hear it. If you have a link please share in the comments below) owned a Crumar General Development System, or GDS, that was released in 1980 and sold at that time for $30,000USD / $41,544 CAD or $114,300 USD / $158,271 CAD in today’s prices after adjusting for inflation . “
The GDS was used famously on the Tron soundtrack.[9] She was also one of the instrument’s most devoted users, and still uses it to this day.
Digital Keyboards Synergy
The GDS Leads to the Synergy
With microchip prices falling including the Z-80 and with further work on the same basic concept of the GDS (additive synthesis, a system microcomputer, programmable sound generators, and a number of different input devices) the lower-cost Synergy was released in 1981.[10] More affordable and more powerful computer chips meant that The Synergy was able to remove earlier expensive design parameters that would have required a separate stand alone computer component, and re-packaged the entire system into a case with a 77-key keyboard.
Due to it’s high price, the GDS did not sell well, allowing the Synergy to find some market share. However, when the famous Yamaha DX7 was released in 1983, it quickly took over the market. The DX7’s FM synthesis offered the same basic control over output sound as an additive synth, but could duplicate the effects of many ganged oscillators in as few as two.[11] Its $2,000 usd/ or around $7,000 usd in today’s money when adjusted for inflation. This price point eliminated any competition from the additive synths and production of the Synergy ended in 1985.
Mulogix Slave 32
A final version of the original Synergy machine was produced after Digital Keyboards was shut down in early 1985. More on this below. Digital Keyboards’ chief designer, Mercer “Stoney” Stockell, decamped and formed Mulogix with Jim Wright and Jerry Ptascynski. The Mulogix Slave 32 was a Synergy re-packaged into a 2U rack-mount module with a MIDI interface. The Slave 32 could read and write EPROM cartridges from the Synergy.[12]
Final Version
Later models of the Synergy, known as the Synergy II+, feature MIDI implementation, 24 user voice RAM, and an RS-232 computer port. This allowed support for Kaypro II portable computer systems running Synergy voicing software to open up the possibility to finally edit the sounds of the Synergy as well as to save patch and sequence data on to floppy disk. (via vintagesynth.com)
If you are searching for one of the most desirable synthesizers ever, fear not, because our friends at ToneTweakers just fully serviced a unit and it’s working great and its a desirable II+ model. Check out the video below to hear the preset sounds. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.
He listened to Mike Oldfield. He saw the pictures on the albums and he read about ‘this thing called a Fairlight’. Which raised Klaus’ curiosity about this ‘Computer Instrument’. Fellow keyboardists told him it was a mission impossible, getting your hands on one. But Klaus managed to find the holy grail…
‘To me, It’s still fresh. I can use the Fairlight to create sounds no one’s ever heard before.’
”I was lucky enough to find a Series II, back in 2010. It’s quite a historical piece, for it used to belong to Synthesizer Studio Bonn, one of the only two Fairlight retailers in Germany. They bought it in 1982. It was their demo machine and It was kept in their shop until 1999. They went bankrupt, and the Fairlight was sold to a synth collector, who went bankrupt as well. He had to sell a lot of his equipment, including the Series II. I got it for a good price. But I do hope I won’t be the third one to go bankrupt.”
Klaus Himmelstein has been a music and science teacher on several German international schools for about twenty years now. He developed a special interest in electronic music, but originally he is a classically trained violin player. ”That’s how I started, at the age of 8. My parents took me to violin lessons, because they discovered I have perfect pitch hearing. I really love to play the violin and I still play it. Through the years, I got more and more interested in electronic instruments.”
Green screen, big box
”I remember getting my hands on a Yamaha DX7 for the first time, when I was about 12 years old. That was in 1986. I didn’t know what any of these knobs were for. I tried out the presets and I tried to tweak them, to get some other sounds out of it. Around that time period, I also heard about the Fairlight for the first time. I listened to Mike Oldfields’ albums and I read he was using a ‘Fairlight computer’. So I thought: ’What the hell is a Fairlight computer?’ And then, I figured out it was this funny machine with this keyboard and this green screen and a big box, pictured on some of his albums.”
He bought his first synth in 1991. ”A Roland D-5. Not to be confused with the famous D-50. The reason I bought it was because it is multitimbral. I already had an Atari ST computer. I used this set-up for making my first compositions. And, around that time, I started asking other keyboard players about the Fairlight. Some people didn’t know anything about it. But the people who knew about it, they’d be saying things like: ’Oh boy, that’s the holy grail…’, ’15.000 Deutsche Mark’, ’You won’t get your hands on one’ or ’That’s only for the big studios’. By the end of the nineties, Klaus had built himself quite a studio with a decent amount of vintage synthesizers. ”I started looking on eBay, checking for Fairlights. I’ve learned there are two types of Fairlight-ads: either the refurbished machines which cost a fortune, or just crap.”
Closing the deal
In 2010, an acquaintance of his – the guy from RetroSound, who publishes videos of pretty much every vintage synthesizer you can think of – notified Klaus there was a Fairlight for sale. “He knew I was looking for one, through my posts on forums. So one day, he sent me an e-mail. He knew there was one for sale, somewhere in the Eiffel area. A Series II, not in perfect condition, but good enough. He offered to put me in touch with the seller.
So, in the end, I went to this guy, checked it out, talked about the price and closed the deal. It was pretty easy going. I picked it up myself, for I don’t trust companies like UPS and DHL too much handling valuable packages. I had a huge car back in the day, a station wagon. I put lots of cushions and blankets in the back of the car. I wrapped it all up and drove back to my studio, which was located in the city of Münster. I set it all up and after that, people didn’t see me for quite some time, for I was in the studio all of the time.
I went through all the floppy disks. They contained a large collection of samples from Synthesizer Studio Bonn. They made their own samples, their own sounds. It was used for demo sessions. I checked out all the sounds; quite some unique stuff in there.”
Nothing like the real thing
”I was always fascinated by its sound. That was one of the reasons I wanted to have one. Not just for collecting purposes. I’m not treating it like some piece of history that sits in my studio, like some precious artefact, being polished every day. I really want to use it for making music.” Of course, it took some getting-used-to. Klaus: ”When you start to work with it, you’ll probably find out it’s quite difficult. For instance, the light pen isn’t as accurate as you think it might be; no drag ’n drop, no pull-down menu’s. But in the end, after a couple of days, I’ve found my way around it.
I also figured out, and this is a thing I learned from other users as well: after two or three hours working with the light pen, your arm gets really tired. And that CRT monitor, that green screen compared to todays monitors.… It isn’t too comfortable. But that sound, it makes it all worth while. I think the percussive sounds are the best in the world. And it’s that 8-bit sound… I don’t know why exactly, but I think it’s just the best. It’s unique. You don’t get that particular sound out of todays software. For instance, Arturia’s CMI V, it’s really nice, it’s a good reproduction. But if you want that original particular sound, there’s nothing like the original Fairlight CMI.”
Warm community
”I bought it back in 2010 and I have been using it ever since. It’s still in quite good condition, except for the CRT-monitor. It’s a little bubbly and not quite clear around the edges. But furthermore, the light pen is still working, one of the floppy drives still works, as well as the 8 voice cards. At the age of almost 40 years, it’s still a good machine. Together with Jean-Bernard Emond from France, I’ve made some modifications. For instance, we’ve replaced on of the floppy drives with an SSD-drive. Peter Wielk helped me out with one of the voice cards. I had a dead one. He had one in Australia, so he sent it to me.
I have two Emulators, and one of them just serves as a box of spare parts. I figured out there aren’t too many people familiair with repairing an Emulator. And it’s very, very difficult to get spare parts for it. With the Fairlight on the other hand, there’s a well grown community, pretty much world wide. You can get parts from France, from Australia, from the UK… There’s always someone somewhere in the world, with a great love for the instrument and lots of knowledge, who can help you out with any issue you might have.”
Inspirators
“In my studio, there are at least 25 keyboards and a whole lot of modules and other stuff. The Fairlight is a part of ’the orchestra.
I’m a big fan of Tangerine Dream, that is to say: their early work. Everything after about 1989 began to sound like pretty much everything else. They used cutting edge technology. But the funny thing is: they never used a Fairlight. According to Edgar Froese, they used a Synclavier, and Emulators. Their music comes close to what inspires me. Some people are comparing some of my work to Tangerine Dream. Others are saying it reminds them of Jean-Michel Jarre. The perception is quite different. I’m totally happy when people like my tracks. If they don’t? That’s fine with me. I’m working on my ideas and I’m enjoying the proces. That’s it. Sometimes, I get involved in some recordings, I made a couple of jingles for radio commercials and I once made a small movie score. Sometimes, I play keyboards and violin in bands. I’d prefer doing a little less teaching and a little more music production. The good thing about being a teacher: it’s a steady job. The bad thing about being a musician on the free market: you’re never sure of income. I prefer the more secure way. Teaching music actually is a lot of fun. Recently, we performed a few pieces with some students. I love teaching music to kids. But, I don’t take many of my synthesizers to school. My Moog Rogue is the only one I bring from time to time. They can tweak on pretty much every knob or slider; it doesn’t go out of order. But I’m not bringing the Fairlight to school. I don’t want to transport it too often.”
Final thoughts
“The Fairlight CMI, it’s a particular part of history. It has integrated sampling into modern music. Without the Fairlight, things would have happened totally differently. Back in the early 80’s, it was the latest thing to go on, the latest way to produce new kinds of music. I love that particular sound. For me, it’s still up to date. It’s not old-fashioned, it’s not vintage. For me, it is still fresh. In my opinion, I can use the Fairlight – as well as the Emulator – to create new and fresh sounds that have never been heard before. I’m convinced of that.” For the Silo, Mirjam van Kerkwijk. Read more about the Fairlight via For The Love Of The Fairlight . Have a fun Fairlight story to tell? Contact Mirjam at mirjam@fortheloveofthefairlight.com.
