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5. ARP 2600

If the Minimoog was designed to simplify modular synthesis for mass consumption, then the ARP 2600 was created to haul the whole kit and caboodle into the hands of performing musicians. Rather than limit the options with a written-in-stone signal path as Moog did, the 2600 presented a fully patchable instrument in a fairly compact package.

Offering three oscillators, noise, filter, ring mod and reverb, the 2600's fixed signal path could be defeated by patching cables into just about any point in the instrument's architecture. This meant that it was as complex as you needed it to be. Respectably complex patches could be created without plugging in a single cable, but once you chose to do so, the sky was the limit. We've heard 2600s producing everything from pseudo sequences to full on drum beats, complete with swing.

The 2600 was given a leg up by its stable oscillators, and early models benefited from a filter that was all-too-similar to Moog's (at least as far as Moog's lawyers were concerned). The 2600 went through a number of revisions over the years, from its initial blue metal incarnation through the more numerous tolex-encased units to the final gaudy black and orange jobs of the early 1980s.

ARP 2600s are trading for silly prices these days. Units that were given away for pennies are selling for many thousands of dollars on the used market. Be careful, though: the earliest models are hard to repair, thanks to ARPs habit of encasing the circuits in epoxy.

4. PPG Wave 2.2/3

PPG was the vision of one man, Wolfgang Palm. It was his contention that the limitations of analogue oscillators could be circumvented with the use of short, digital waveforms stored in a linear 'wavetable'.

His vision came to fruition as the PPG Wave. Early versions suffered from the resolution of the digital waveforms and the lack of analogue filters, but the technology reached maturity in 1982, with the PPG Wave 2.2.

This big blue marvel combined Palm's digitally stored wavetables with a classic resonant low-pass filter, LFO and a handful of envelope generators. Users could modulate through the wavetables using a variety of mod sources, resulting in a lively, exciting sound quite dissimilar from the analogue synths of the day.

Though the PPG contained a few waveforms drawn from sampled instruments, Palm offered no apologies for its distinctly synthetic flavour. The PPG could turn out spiky basses (think Frankie's Relax) and evocative digital atmospheres. PPG owners who bought the associated Waveterm computer could work up their own wavetables and, in the 2.3 version, even do a bit of sampling. The Wave was a lofty dream machine, costing nine grand or more. As such, it was rarely seen outside of the studios of the rich and famous.

The PPG's legacy can be felt even today. German synth wizards Waldorf continue to mine Palm's wavetable technology, having produced a long line of wavetable instruments starting with the Microwave in 1990. It even produced a virtual version of the PPG nearly a decade ago and the company's current Blofeld and Largo instruments are jam-packed with wavetables lifted from the PPG.

NEXT: Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and EMS VCS3

Around the web:

• Craig W. Morrisonyepper
• Whatever synthesier Dream Theater uses. That's the best one.
• Gilberto StrapazonThanks for including the JD-800 in the list. As a proud fan, I, love it! I take the comments to my JD blog, hope this allowed. Also included the back links of course. Thanks for supporting this great synth and all another super machines we have to create music. Best regards