Schmidt Monster Analog Polysynth - Musik Messe 11

[xmlguy]

45 Kilos = 99 lbs.

Forklift sold separately.

[BasariStudios]

Forklift sold separately.

Dont spread missinformation in here, comes free for the first 50 buyers, bundled.

[Sina172]

...

[Sina172]

...

[xmlguy]

Forklift sold separately.

Dont spread missinformation in here, comes free for the first 50 buyers, bundled.

That offer is only available to buyers in the USA. European buyers get black leather nipple straps.

[peter m. mahr]

[Kevin Nolan]

Peter -

Love your review of this on blogasys. Can you tell - does the owner have any serious intentions of putting it into production? I read somewhere it'll cost about $25,000 - $40,000 if it does - can you confirm this?

I have to say, it made the Solaris look so underwhelming by comparison - they must have been furious to be positioned so close to this monster. It looks stunning.

Kevin.

PS - very sad to read you found the Jupiter 80 the disappointment of Musikmesse - I'm very, VERY excited by the Jupiter 80 I have to say.

[peter m. mahr]

Kevin,

thank you for the kind words.

let me start with the Jupiter. The sounds I heard were good, but I expected something completely different. A synthesizer with a new technology, eg you load just one sample and get the sound over a 5 octave range, etc. or a VA with an amazing sound, but at the end it is much closer to a Fantom. I was disappointed mostly about the name and look the choose which made me expect something different. I found it boring as my interest is not getting a trumpet sound as close as the real thing as possible. If I want a trumpet in a song them I would ask a pro to play on the track, if it were a new PM technology in which I could synthesize new, never heard solo instruments this would have made my thumbs up.

They will build the SCHMIDT, there are just some organisational things to do as the feedbeack and interestbwas way more then they expected. You should have read what Eric Persing wrote about it on Facebook. I was there two days and saw quite a lot of people, also some well known. In case you are interested you can comtact either myself or Kurt / medusland. Either of us will kee you updated. But let me tell you, the SCHMIDT is amazing. Concerning the price - my guess is that this will depend on the number they finally will produce. As mentioned before, the interest is much higher then they expected. More about the SCHMIDT will follow in the blog.

I had the same feeling at the beginning, btw, have you been at the booth? But John is not only a great synthesizer designer like Stefan but also a nice person. John is impressed by the design of the SCHMIDT and he is posting this at Facebook and other places. On the other hand as one person spending most of the time at the ec booth, on the other hand has to say, the SCHMIDT brought many peoplemto the booth and quite a lot then looked also at the others. To me this was one of the beswt booths at Musikmesse.

John showed me the Solaris and afterwards I could play one of the three units. Bottom line - I was playing my new synthesizer. It sounds great and covers a llt of instruments and combines them on a very high quality level. Hope to get the chance to work with one more in depth. The more I think about it.... this is one kind of synthesizer I would have expected to be found under the cocer labeled Jupiter.

Peter

[Kevin Nolan]

Hi Peter -

Thanks for your comprehensive reply on the Schmidt and Solaris. That's very interesting that they are contemplating production. Of course the price will surely be prohibitive to most of us. I'll definitely be watching your blog for updates on this.

I agree the Solaris looks very interesting and indeed sound very nice from video demos. I'm afraid it's a little bare for my liking - I'd have liked to see it with slightly more exciting performance capabilities.

We'll have to agree to disagree on the Jupiter - to me it's among the most exciting synthesizer developments in years. I believe Roland know what they are doing, have produced a forward looking synthesizer that's a definitive evolution and sounds stunning to my ears. Mors importantly it's a performance instrument and that, to me, is the most exciting aspect of it. Everybody is criticising Roland for using the name Jupiter but even in this I believe they got it right. I dug out an old review of a J8 and all the reviewer was interested in is how capable it was at pianos, organs, strings and brass and so on. So Roland's explanation of the purpose of the J8 (and indeed all polysynths of the 70s / 80s ) was as a performance keyboard emulating real world instruments. That was the purpose of the J8 in particular - hence less modulation capability than a mono or modular and 8 voices. So Roland are being very accurate in this (though I realise most don't buy into that because they have a different perception of the J8 and it became famous as an analogue synth). But in looking at what can be done with 21st century technology; I believe Boland have rarely been more true to their ethos and indeed legacy. The Jupiter 80 is, in my opinion, by far the most exciting thing to emerge from Misikmesse - Schmidt included.

Standing back from Misikmesse and looking in - I think it is very interesting (and vital) that even with Roland's analogue legacy, that they leave the retro synths to the likes of the smaller companies while they focus on a far more vital aspect to music technology - the future. But I'm equally delighted that the likes of Schmidt are looking to do retro synths in such a jaw-dropping way.


It'll be interesting to watch Korg in the next few years. I beleive they will have to transition the way Roland have - Kronos arguably represents (in physical format at any rate) the end of the line of a rich workstation and OASYS legacy stretching back 20 years or more; but their next flagship instrument will surely have to build toward the next 20 years (a step it looks to me Roland have just taken).


Kevin.

[ozy]

i've never owned or used an analogue synth but i've found [...] what seems [...] to me is [...] i suppose [...] Maybe i'm missing [...] i suppose

Your point???

you have no idea what you're talking about, that's the point

[peter m. mahr]

Hi Kevin,

We'll have to agree to disagree on the Jupiter

to me it's among the most exciting synthesizer developments in years. I believe Roland know what they are doing, have produced a forward looking synthesizer that a definitive evolution and sounds stunning to my ears. Mors importently it's a performance instrument and that, to me, is the most exciting aspect of it. Everybody is criticising Roland for using the name Jupiter but even in this I believe they got it right. I dug out an old review of a J8 and all the reviewer was interested in is how capable it was at pianos, organs, strongs and brass and so on.

But this was in a time when analog synthesizers were mainly thought to mimic mechanic instruments. Today people ask for "Jupiter strings" or "Jupiter pads" as this instrument had a certain character, which I by the way love. Probably this is one of the explanations why I have been so disappointed. I was expecting a synthesizer and always wanted a Jupiter. At the moment I am mainly interested in synthesizer sounds which do not sound like "real" instruments (with exceptions of course). Creating new sounds which can be embedded into an arrangement of mechanic instruments, that is what I like a the moment.

So Roland's explanation of the purpose fo the J8 (and indeed all polysynths of the 70s / 80s ) was as a performance keyboard emulating real world instruments. That was the purpose of the J8 in particular - hence less modulation capability than a mono or modular and 8 voices. SO Roland are being very accurate in this (though Irealise most don't buy into that because they have a different perception of the J8 and it became famous as an analogue synth).

yes.

But in looking at what can be done with 21st century technology; I believe roland have rarely been more true to their ethos and indeed legacy. the Jupiter 80 is, in my opinion, by far the most exciting thing to emerge from Musikmesse - Schmidt included.

ok.

ad SCHMIDT) at first glance the SCHMIDT seems to be orientated into the past, but Stefan invested a lot of time (6 full years!) into the design. But what is it worth if it does not sound good? Nothing. Be assured it does sound good. He proved not only to be one great synthesizer designer, but also great sound deisgner... very nice guy, by the way. I am curious to see what the final price is as the interest was much higher then they expected.

Standing back from Musikmesse and looking in - I think it is very interesting (and vital) that even with Roland's analogue legacy, that they leave the retro synths to the likes of the smaller companies while they focus on a far more vital aspect to music technology - the future. But I'm equally delighted that the likes of Schmidt are looking to do retro synths in such a jaw-dropping way.

It's be interesting to watch Korg in the next few years. I beleive they will have to transition the yar Roland have - Kronos represents the end of the line of a rich workstation and OASYS legacy stretching back 20 years or more; but their next flagship instrument will surely have to build toward the next 20 years (a step it looks to me Roland have just taken).

Let's see what the future will bring. I think Korg did a good job with the Kronos and they will create good sales and we all do not know what the money in the future will be used for... at the end - to me - it is all about how much inspiring is an instrument. At the ec booth there was Markus Resch presenting his digital Mellotron. Prejudiced I thought ... hm, why should I invest in an instrument playing samples. Then I started playing and time passed by, it was the keybed, the fast and easy access, the high quality of sounds and when I left I thought how wrong I was

Peter

[Kevin Nolan]

But this was in a time when analog synthesizers were mainly thought to mimic mechanic instruments. Today people ask for "Jupiter strings" or "Jupiter pads" as this instrument had a certain character

Peter

Yes - but those sounds were not Roland's intention. They were striving for real sounds. I was just getting into music at that time and I remember it. I remember the TR808 being an attempt at real drums and being compared so by reviewers - it was not released for the purpose for which it is now famous. I agree the Roland J8 is remembered as a true 'synth' but one cannot say, as is the charge, that Roland are not being true to their legacy, and in particular when using the Jupiter name. They are doing _exactly_ the same now as they were then - trying to make polyphonic synthesizers (in particular) emulate real world instruments. They are being true to their legacy, it's just everyone wants a rebuild of the J8, not a modern development of it.

A similar example is with the VP330. Roland have been nothing short of obsessed since the 70's - and continusously to the present day - in synthesizing human choral sounds. Hence the recent release of the VP550 and VP770, Vocal Designer, the V-synth GT and so on. To my ears, the analogue human choral sound of the VP330 is the best choral sound there is - just listen to it in Bladerunner for example - it's stunning. So should I expect Roland to stick with that sound (actually I wish they would re-release it but with better capabilities too) but I'm also delighted they kept looking to the future and developed the stunning vocal-designer system. Why aren't people blaming Roland for using the VP name? Only because VP is not as well known probably. But again, the VP770 is true to the legacy of the VP330, even though incarnated in 21st century terms.

I totally get people wanting a new release fo the Jupiter 8 as it was in the 80's - don't get me wrong. I'd love one too. But we cannnot charge Roland as having abandonded their legacy or of misusing the Jupiter name when they are in fact being completely true to their legacy (as distinct to why their instrument accidently became famous) and it is vital that a company looks always to the future - there's no money for old-rope ad the phrase goes. But I have to say, the Jupiter 80 sounds absolutley magnificent to my ears - on this alone it hits the mark for me.

But getting back to the Schmidt - the build quality of this 'one off' is outstanding - it's very surprising how complete it looks. I'm sure any production run will be limited and exclusive to the world's wealthiest keyboard players. But hats off to thim for making it - it's an astrounding achievement. I agree with you on the sound - I could pick up from the videos that this is a very sophosticated and stable sounding synthesizer. My CS80 experience tells me that if you package even analogue circuits in a far-reaching configuration; then the sky is the limit sound wise. I'm sure the Schmidt can be massive or beautifully subtle in sound, and everything in between. It's like he has realised 'the way we all imagine a synthesizer should be'.

cheers,
Keivn.

[tpantano]

Peter -

Love your review of this on blogasys. Can you tell - does the owner have any serious intentions of putting it into production? I read somewhere it'll cost about $25,000 - $40,000 if it does - can you confirm this?

:O

I hope it's not over 14k.... that'd be ridiculous IMHO! You could buy and chain multiple synths for cheaper than $25k and more power...

[master logic]

i've never owned or used an analogue synth but i've found [...] what seems [...] to me is [...] i suppose [...] Maybe i'm missing [...] i suppose

Your point???

you have no idea what you're talking about, that's the point

You're such a tool!

[peter m. mahr]

Hi Kevin,

after our discussion I searched the internet for some demos and honestly beside an accordion and maybe the solo brass I have heard nothing that the OASYS or Kronos is not capable of doing... and in my opinion they both do it better. But probably that's a matter of taste... although the timpani was quite ok.

Cheers,
Peter

ps: eg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ7DDFMOd9U