Orchestron
Encyclopedia
The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard instrument
, which produces its sound through electronic
amplification
of sound
pre-recorded on an optical
disc. It is the professional version of the Mattel
Optigan
.
technician and salesperson David Van Koevering, started to build improved versions of the Optigan under the name Orchestron in 1975. Intended for professional use as an alternative to the Mellotron
(hence the name Orchestron), it featured improved recorded sounds over the Optigan. The Optigan was an organ that played its sounds from light scanned graphic waveforms encoded on film discs. The sounds with the highest fidelity were on the outer rings of these discs. These outer rings were used for the Orchestron sounds to improve the sound. Although the model A Orchestron is identical to the Optigan, the model B, C, and D models follow the designs of the Chilton Talentmaker. The Talentmaker was taken out of the market after Optigan's manufacturer - Optigan corporation a subsidiary of toy company Mattel, threatened to sue Chilton, because of patent infringements.
Some Orchestron models included sequencer
s and synthesizer
s. These were the larger model X and Phase 4 units, though very few of these made it past the prototype stage. While the same fidelity limitations of the Optigan applied to the Orchestron, these instruments were built to be more reliable and were used successfully in commercial recordings.
The band Kraftwerk made heavy use of the Orchestron on their albums Radioactivity, and Trans Europe Express. In 1974, The band Yes used the Orchestron on their Relayer album. The Orchestron wasn't a commercial success, though. An estimated total of 70-100 units were built before production ceased after a couple of years. Its rarity and popularity amongst lo-fi
enthusiasts makes the Orchestron highly sought after.
There were only 8 sounds available for the Orchestron:
The violin sound is the most common Orchestron sound being used by several bands as a type of Mellotron
substitute.
The choir sound follows in second place and was taken from the Optigan's "Vox Humana" disk, as was the "Cello" sound. The Hammond B3 sound is also taken from an Optigan disk: "Big Organ And Drums".
* Model B - (1974) an updated version of the Talentmaker (used by Patrick Moraz / Yes)
* Model C - (1975)a model B in a new (black) housing
* Double C - (1975) a double model C
* Model D - (1975) a model C in a roadcase (from this model on, Viking Keyboard Systems instead of "Vako" was the name of David Van Koevering's company)
* Double D - (1975) a double model C in a roadcase
* Model X - (1975) a specially built model for Patrick Moraz (prototype)
* Model Phase 4 (1975) a prototype model that blends the disks sounds with built in synthesizers.
's Florian Schneider
bought an Orchestron Model A during their Autobahn tour in the USA in 1975. On the unofficial live album Concert Classics, recorded during their 1975 tour, the instrument can be heard. Kraftwerk
have used the instrument on the albums Radio-Activity
, Trans-Europe Express
and The Man-Machine
.
Patrick Moraz
had a special version of the Orchestron built for him, with three manuals. He used a prototype of it during the recording of Yes
' Relayer
album. Moraz also had an Orchestron Model B which he used on his "Story of I" album. His X model instrument broke and disappeared after being sent for repair.
The Orchestron is also listed as part of the equipment used in the tour of the band Rainbow
that resulted in their 1977 live album Rainbow on Stage. Their keyboard player at the time was Tony Carey
.
Foreigner's keyboardist Al Greenwood played an Orchestron on their hit "Cold As Ice", using the violins sound in the middle vocal break of the song.
Like the Mellotron
, the Orchestron experienced a revival or sorts in the early 90's, and many musicians embraced using the instrument for the first time since the late 1970's. The Orchestron however, had much less widespread use as there were very few surviving examples. And like the Chamberlin
- most Orchestron sounds heard after the year 1999 will be from digital samples and not the actual instrument. Exceptions are from noted Orchestron owners and users.
Semisonic uses a real Orchestron and the violins sound for their song "In Another Life" from their "Across The Great Divide" 1995 album.
Michael Penn features a real Orchestron at the close of his song "Drained".
The Orchestron Model A also features in the soundtrack of the 2010 Canadian Film "Primordial Ties"
AK-Momo
uses an Orchestron Model A prominently on their album Return to N.Y. The album was recorded using only Optigans, Orchestrons and Mellotrons. Swedish
record producer
and progressive rock
musician Mattias Olsson
has since the late 90's recorded several albums that features the Orchestron and Optigan prominently.
The improvement of the Orchestron over the Mellotron was overcoming the 8 second limitation inherent in the Mellotron and Chamberlin designs. Although the sound quality was of lower fidelity, this was made up for in reliability as there were no tapes to potentially foul as in the Mellotron and Chamberlin. Although scratches on the disk could be audible, one could hold notes for as long as a key was pressed, and not worry about running out of sound when holding a note or chord.
The downside of this was that the attack transient was lost and occasionally an audible thump could be heard on the discs when the loop point came around. This is usually hidden or masked in recordings through effects. The problem of audible loop thumps was addressed in another Mellotron related instrument called a Birotron
.
In the Orchestron, the most commonly used sounds were the "violins" and "vocal choir" sounds - the choir being taken from the Optigan's "Vox Humana" disk.
An estimated 40 Orchestrons still exist today and replacement discs and new discs are being produced for the instrument.
While not as popular or well known as the Mellotron, the Orchestron is still revered and sought after by musicians for the low fidelity and murky atmospheres it provides.
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, which produces its sound through electronic
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
amplification
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
of sound
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
pre-recorded on an optical
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
disc. It is the professional version of the Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
Optigan
Optigan
The Optigan was an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound...
.
History
Vako Synthesizers Incorporated, founded by electronic instrument pioneer and former MoogMoog Music
Moog Music is an American company based in Asheville, North Carolina which manufactures electronic musical instruments. The current Moog Music is the second company to trade under that name.-R.A. Moog Co. and the original Moog Music:...
technician and salesperson David Van Koevering, started to build improved versions of the Optigan under the name Orchestron in 1975. Intended for professional use as an alternative to the Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
(hence the name Orchestron), it featured improved recorded sounds over the Optigan. The Optigan was an organ that played its sounds from light scanned graphic waveforms encoded on film discs. The sounds with the highest fidelity were on the outer rings of these discs. These outer rings were used for the Orchestron sounds to improve the sound. Although the model A Orchestron is identical to the Optigan, the model B, C, and D models follow the designs of the Chilton Talentmaker. The Talentmaker was taken out of the market after Optigan's manufacturer - Optigan corporation a subsidiary of toy company Mattel, threatened to sue Chilton, because of patent infringements.
Some Orchestron models included sequencer
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
s and synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s. These were the larger model X and Phase 4 units, though very few of these made it past the prototype stage. While the same fidelity limitations of the Optigan applied to the Orchestron, these instruments were built to be more reliable and were used successfully in commercial recordings.
The band Kraftwerk made heavy use of the Orchestron on their albums Radioactivity, and Trans Europe Express. In 1974, The band Yes used the Orchestron on their Relayer album. The Orchestron wasn't a commercial success, though. An estimated total of 70-100 units were built before production ceased after a couple of years. Its rarity and popularity amongst lo-fi
Low fidelity
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response...
enthusiasts makes the Orchestron highly sought after.
Technical description
The Orchestron uses basically the same principle as the Optigan: each note of the keyboard is recorded in an infinite track on a pre-recorded, interchangeable optical disc. A beam of light is sent through the disc, variations in the light intensity are detected and amplified.There were only 8 sounds available for the Orchestron:
- ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Hammond B3Hammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
- FluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Vocal Choir
- SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Pipe organPipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
- French horn
The violin sound is the most common Orchestron sound being used by several bands as a type of Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
substitute.
The choir sound follows in second place and was taken from the Optigan's "Vox Humana" disk, as was the "Cello" sound. The Hammond B3 sound is also taken from an Optigan disk: "Big Organ And Drums".
Models
* Model A - (1974) an updated version of the Optigan (used by Kraftwerk)* Model B - (1974) an updated version of the Talentmaker (used by Patrick Moraz / Yes)
* Model C - (1975)a model B in a new (black) housing
* Double C - (1975) a double model C
* Model D - (1975) a model C in a roadcase (from this model on, Viking Keyboard Systems instead of "Vako" was the name of David Van Koevering's company)
* Double D - (1975) a double model C in a roadcase
* Model X - (1975) a specially built model for Patrick Moraz (prototype)
* Model Phase 4 (1975) a prototype model that blends the disks sounds with built in synthesizers.
Orchestrons used in professional recordings
KraftwerkKraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
's Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider-Esleben is one of the founding members of electronic music band Kraftwerk. He left the band in November 2008.-Career:...
bought an Orchestron Model A during their Autobahn tour in the USA in 1975. On the unofficial live album Concert Classics, recorded during their 1975 tour, the instrument can be heard. Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
have used the instrument on the albums Radio-Activity
Radio-Activity
Radio-Activity is the fifth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released in October 1975. Unlike Kraftwerk's later albums, which featured language-specific lyrics, only the titles differ between the English and German editions...
, Trans-Europe Express
Trans-Europe Express (album)
Trans-Europe Express is the sixth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. Recorded in mid-1976 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the album was released in March 1977 on Kling Klang Records. The album's themes were influenced by friends who suggested writing songs about the Trans-Europ...
and The Man-Machine
The Man-Machine
The Man-Machine is the seventh studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released in May 1978. It contains the song "The Model" which was a chart-topping single in the UK in 1982....
.
Patrick Moraz
Patrick Moraz
Patrick Philippe Moraz is a progressive rock keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the progressive rock band Yes, from 1974 to 1976, and the Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991...
had a special version of the Orchestron built for him, with three manuals. He used a prototype of it during the recording of Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
' Relayer
Relayer
-Personnel:*Jon Anderson – lead vocals*Steve Howe – acoustic and electric guitars, vocals*Patrick Moraz – keyboards*Chris Squire – bass guitar and vocals*Alan White – drums, percussion-Production:*Produced By Yes & Eddie Offord...
album. Moraz also had an Orchestron Model B which he used on his "Story of I" album. His X model instrument broke and disappeared after being sent for repair.
The Orchestron is also listed as part of the equipment used in the tour of the band Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
that resulted in their 1977 live album Rainbow on Stage. Their keyboard player at the time was Tony Carey
Tony Carey
Antony Laurence Carey is a keyboard player best known for his work with Rainbow.One of his earliest musical experiences was in a band called Blessings, in which he played until 1975 when Ritchie Blackmore discovered and hired him as keyboardist for Rainbow. He played with Rainbow on two world...
.
Foreigner's keyboardist Al Greenwood played an Orchestron on their hit "Cold As Ice", using the violins sound in the middle vocal break of the song.
Like the Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, the Orchestron experienced a revival or sorts in the early 90's, and many musicians embraced using the instrument for the first time since the late 1970's. The Orchestron however, had much less widespread use as there were very few surviving examples. And like the Chamberlin
Chamberlin
The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by Iowa, Wisconsin inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. Various models and versions of these Chamberlin music instruments...
- most Orchestron sounds heard after the year 1999 will be from digital samples and not the actual instrument. Exceptions are from noted Orchestron owners and users.
Semisonic uses a real Orchestron and the violins sound for their song "In Another Life" from their "Across The Great Divide" 1995 album.
Michael Penn features a real Orchestron at the close of his song "Drained".
The Orchestron Model A also features in the soundtrack of the 2010 Canadian Film "Primordial Ties"
AK-Momo
AK-momo
AK-Momo are a musical duo from Stockholm, Sweden. They met through mutual friends at a bar in central Stockholm. Olsson invited Malmborg to his studio for a visit. The group consists of Anna Karin von Malmborg and Mattias Olsson...
uses an Orchestron Model A prominently on their album Return to N.Y. The album was recorded using only Optigans, Orchestrons and Mellotrons. Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
musician Mattias Olsson
Mattias Olsson (musician)
Mattias Olsson started his career as a classical percussionist playing in orchestras and big bands on Ekerö outside of Stockholm. As a sideline to recording and producing bands Mattias Olsson writes articles for several Swedish Magazines.-Early life:He was born in Hong Kong to Swedish parents. In...
has since the late 90's recorded several albums that features the Orchestron and Optigan prominently.
The improvement of the Orchestron over the Mellotron was overcoming the 8 second limitation inherent in the Mellotron and Chamberlin designs. Although the sound quality was of lower fidelity, this was made up for in reliability as there were no tapes to potentially foul as in the Mellotron and Chamberlin. Although scratches on the disk could be audible, one could hold notes for as long as a key was pressed, and not worry about running out of sound when holding a note or chord.
The downside of this was that the attack transient was lost and occasionally an audible thump could be heard on the discs when the loop point came around. This is usually hidden or masked in recordings through effects. The problem of audible loop thumps was addressed in another Mellotron related instrument called a Birotron
Birotron
The Birotron is a tape replay keyboard conceived by Dave Biro of Yalesville, Connecticut, USA, and funded by Rick Wakeman of the progressive-rock group Yes, and Campbell Soup Company-Pepperidge Farm Foods in the mid-late 1970s....
.
In the Orchestron, the most commonly used sounds were the "violins" and "vocal choir" sounds - the choir being taken from the Optigan's "Vox Humana" disk.
An estimated 40 Orchestrons still exist today and replacement discs and new discs are being produced for the instrument.
While not as popular or well known as the Mellotron, the Orchestron is still revered and sought after by musicians for the low fidelity and murky atmospheres it provides.