Members tjwett Posted May 4, 2004 Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 After years of a number of digital synths, samplers, and VST instruments I've finally got my hands on a real analog machine. Yup, I just got an ARP Odyssey...for FREE!!! It's pretty beat up and could use some work but damn, it is AMAZING. I can't believe what I've been missing out on all this time. My attitude has always been kind of "eh, i can't tell the difference. plus, i already have the software version." etc. Man was I wrong. This thing is blowing me away. First thing I did, naturally, was hit the internet and find the patch settings for Herbie Hancock's bass line on Chameleon from the Headhunters album. Of course I can't play it like Herbie but it sure felt good to get that sound. For a while now I've been using the Oddity VST instrument from G-Media, which is a software recreation of the original Odyssey. And it's kept me impressed since I got it. Tonight as a personal test I fired up the VST alongside the real thing for a side-by-side comparison. I simply loaded up presets on the software version and duplicated the settings on the real deal. The results floored me. You just can't mess with the real thing. I was actually pretty surprised since I've always considered the Oddity to be great, and from the raving reviews it's gotten I always assumed it was on par with it's analog grandpa. Close, but no cigar. I also found some patch settings for the original on the web and attempted to recreate them on the VST. Again, the sounds were similar. Similar tone and feel but no where near the original. I've always kind of rolled my eyes at people going on and on about analog "warmth". Wrong again. The presence and size of the sound coming from this beast left the VST version in the dust. I actually found the Oddity in the middle of the night, crying on the toilet and writing poetry about it's humiliating asswhooping by a 30 year old hunk of metal. Don't get me wrong, the Oddity is an awesome VST, one of the best out there. It's just impossible to totally capture the purity in software. One thing the VST does have over the original is stability. Maybe it's just mine, but my Odyssey seems to have a mind of it's own sometimes. I have to manually tune it every time I power up and sometimes it just spits out some of the craziest jibberish I ever heard. Yesterday it even gave me the finger. Oh yeah, and I was NOT able to get the Herbie Chameleon bass sound from the VST. Not even close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scubyfan Posted May 4, 2004 Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 Now you owe us some clips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tjwett Posted May 4, 2004 Author Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 i'd be happy to post some example files of the two machines if anyone wants to hear them. watch this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ski Posted May 4, 2004 Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 tjwett - Congrats on your new/old synth. I still have a couple of Odysseys too, a Mark II and a Mark III. They're fantastic synths, and capable of a few things that no other synth can do - or at least, no other non-modular synth! If you haven't already done so, make sure to visit the "Ultimate ARP Odyssey" website at the following address: http://www.overacker.com/ody/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members air cut light Posted May 4, 2004 Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 You need to tell us the story of how in the world you got this thing for FREE! "Now, I don't want to do anything illegal, but I would kill someone, in front of their own grandma, for a ten speed."-Meatwad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tjwett Posted May 4, 2004 Author Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 Originally posted by air cut light You need to tell us the story of how in the world you got this thing for FREE!... pretty amazing actually. a friend of mine who's dad is really into synths just mentioned to me one day that his father was throwing away on of his old synths. he said he saw it sitting on the side of his house in the rain. i was like "dude, grab it, i want it." honestly i was expecting an old Casio or some old Korg junker. when he showed up with an Odyssey Mk I my jaw hit the floor. but of course there is always a gray cloud to my silver lining. later that evening someone smashed in my car window and ripped my radio out. story of my life. guess i'll just drive around with my ARP to compensate for the lack of tunes in my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members air cut light Posted May 4, 2004 Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 Originally posted by tjwett pretty amazing actually. a friend of mine who's dad is really into synths just mentioned to me one day that his father was throwing away on of his old synths. he said he saw it sitting on the side of his house in the rain. i was like "dude, grab it, i want it." honestly i was expecting an old Casio or some old Korg junker. when he showed up with an Odyssey Mk I my jaw hit the floor. but of course there is always a gray cloud to my silver lining. later that evening someone smashed in my car window and ripped my radio out. story of my life. guess i'll just drive around with my ARP to compensate for the lack of tunes in my car. THROWING AWAY an Odyssey MK1?! wow. Congrats man, you averted a rip in the space time continuum or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members orangefunk Posted May 4, 2004 Members Share Posted May 4, 2004 I'm actually more the other way these days, I prefer virtual synths to the real thing... I actually had a great electronic jazz jam at the weekend (rehearsal for a big outdoor gig I've got in July) with my laptop and some old synths... everybody commented on the virtual stuff sounding really good... most of the time I was using the Subtractor in Reason!! We did a great version of Chameleon too, where I was playing the bass line... sure it might not have sounded the same but I don't want it to (whats the point?) I mean great that you can do patches from 1973 or whatever but now what are you really going to do with it? I'm interested in the Oddity too (and its polyphonic too!), remember a lot of what comes out of a PC is dependent on a number of factors esp fan noise and sound card quality I generally think analogues are really great but the novelty wears off pretty soon once you discover the limitations and the maintenance... we spent hours at the weekend fighting a nasty earthing cycle hum that was emanating from all things a new Novation KS4... damn weird... I also get a lot of nasty artefacts from my Roland SH09... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tjwett Posted May 5, 2004 Author Members Share Posted May 5, 2004 totally good points orangefunk. this is definitely a novelty for me right now. i'm real excited to finally have an analog synth. having said that, i won't be throwing my computer away anytime soon. it's definitely easy, cheap, portable, and high quality. i'm pretty married to it as a recording tool. i am getting interested in unique hardware though for sounds. i think my next purchases will be a Machinedrum and a Monomachine. i like oddball stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WhinyLittleRunt Posted May 5, 2004 Members Share Posted May 5, 2004 Originally posted by tjwett Yup, I just got an ARP Odyssey...for FREE!!! Vafanculo:p You rule, dude. That just doesn't happen around here. I made off with a Fender P Bass and an ancient Epiphone that I had to steal from my high school at the time. I still have the bass and use it regularly, and like idiots my friend and I traded the epiphone for a CB Percussion drumset. It turned out to be the same guitar John Lennon used when recording with the Beatles. What dumbasses we were!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spaceman72 Posted May 5, 2004 Members Share Posted May 5, 2004 I have a white Oddyssey, and it has been patched like the 2600's were. Check it out here:http://www.freewebs.com/cad-1/arpoddmod.htmIt sounds great, and the added flexability is outstanding!!! Great that you got one for free!!! I wish someone would spot a Synthi System 100, preferribly not sitting in the rain..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toorglick Posted May 5, 2004 Members Share Posted May 5, 2004 Real analogs a novelty? You don't see the irony in that statement, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members air cut light Posted May 5, 2004 Members Share Posted May 5, 2004 Originally posted by Spaceman72 I have a white Oddyssey, and it has been patched like the 2600's were. Check it out here:http://www.freewebs.com/cad-1/arpoddmod.htmIt sounds great, and the added flexability is outstanding!!! Great that you got one for free!!! I wish someone would spot a Synth System 100, preferribly not sitting in the rain..... I would give my left nut for that synth. Dayam. Also, Orangefunk, if you're tired of the SH09 dragging you down, well, I could take it off your hands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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