Check out upcoming Arturia Origin keyboard. It looks fabulous. Not only do you get that amazing control surface and access to Arturia’s wonderful virtual analogue synths, but Arturia have added two STUNNING hardware features that will get you as close to the Yamaha CS80 as you're ever going to get these days - a fabulous ribbon controller (as on the CS80) but which can control a bunch of parameters - and - DUOPHONIC AFTERTOUCH!!

While polyphonic aftertouch can affect parameters on a per-key basis, virtually all keyboards today only apply channel aftertouch; meaning that if you apply pressure to one note than all notes are affected - so for example if you lean in on the melody note for vibrato a held chord in the left hand also receives the vibrato. Of course the beauty and expressive power of the CS80 is that if you lean in on the melody note for vibrato, only that note receives the vibrato and all other chord held notes do not.

Now, with the Origin Keyboard, they've apparently implemented in software a kind of Duophonic aftertouch where if you hold a chord in the left hand and lean in on an upper melody note then only the melody note receives the vibrato (or whatever other parameter responds to aftertouch). While not fully polyphonic, this, IMO, is a huge advance in the performance and expressiveness of this instrument. For anyone with the privilege of having played a polyphonic aftertouch synth, and particularly on the CS80 (or CS50 and 60) then you know the benefit - it makes the instrument as wonderfully expressive as a human voice or a violin, for example - it really does make a difference.

So with Duophonic Aftertouch, a Ribbon Controller and the CS80V engine on board, Arturia are IMO bringing back some of the wondrous features of the amazing CS80 in a 21st century package. I can't wait to get my hands on one.

To top it all, since virtually ALL synths - software and hardware - made since the mid 90's respond to polyphonic aftertouch, that will hopefully mean that the Origin Keyboard will make for an equally expressive Duophonic Aftertouch controller keyboard for all available soft and hard synths. Even the Roland JD990, JV2080 and XV5080 respond to polyphonic aftertouch - so having this duophonic aftertouch control on the likes of a JD990 is a dream come true.

Hats off the Arturia for this amazing blend of software and hardware technology that's bang up to date yet is bravely exploiting the “Crème de la Crème” of the golden era of vintage synthesizers. An extremely exciting synth development in an otherwise quite bleak NAMM expo, synthesizer wise.

Sonicstate video at:
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2010/01/18/wnamm10-new-stuff-for-the-arturi a-origin/


Kevin.

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Kevin Nolan,KNECT.
www.knect.ie

Hmmm - I've got a couple of Arturia plugs which do take the load off my original hardware (Moog, Prophet VS) for jobs where I can get away with not using the full joy of the originals (they are going to die one day if they're on all the time) but the sound really isn't a true match. One comment I saw on a video for the Origin said 'sounds just like my Blofeldt' and I have to agree- it's good, but not that good.

If you're really after true poly aftertouch (duophonic - well, yes, but it's not really 'it') and you can't afford a CS80, try looking for an old Prophet T8. I had one around for a while in the 80s, and though the sound wasn't as punchy as the 5, the poly aftertouch was a joy. Big old beasts and the keyboards are piano-heavy, but at least you can put another synth on top of them.

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http://anotherfineday.bandcamp.com/ http://anotherfineday.co.uk http://apollomusic.co.uk

In the end though, it's just software in a box innit?

And to my ears, the Arturia soft synths all have something of a signature sound?

Quote Kevin Nolan:

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So with Duophonic Aftertouch, a Ribbon Controller and the CS80V engine on board, Arturia are IMO bringing back some of the wondrous features of the amazing CS80 in a 21st century package.

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You've obviously not been in the same room as (or played) a real CS80!!!

A friend of mine had a real CS80 and after all the recommendations being lauded on the Arturia CS80 when it was released, he bought the software as a possible replacement for his beast. He phoned me up weeping...

With laughter! He did a side-by-side test and they are just not comparable.

I had a similar reaction when I tried Arturia's Moog modular. If you've ever sat in front of one of those monsters with patch cords round your neck as you make up sounds, you realise that the software version can't compete. For all its instabilities and foibles, the original should carry a health warning!!

Don't get me wrong, Arturia make great stuff (I really like their MiniMoog emulation) and their UI graphics are absolutely delicious. And they are great synths in their own right and maybe on scopes and paper, the waveforms and filter responses and envelope transients might 'look' the same but they simply don't move air like 'the real thing' ... kinda like looking at an Athena print of a Dali painting compared with experiencing the rich, vibrant and sublime draftsmanship of the original in a gallery.

But to continue that analogy, that's no bad thing - Athena allowed us all to hang Dali pictures on our walls when we could never hope to own the originals; Arturia do much the same with synths, I guess. Just so long as you remember that what you have is a print rather than the original!!

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

At the risk of exposing an obsession, I own three mint condition Kent Spong / RL Music restored CS80s, two mint condition Prophet T8's and a DX1 - so polyphonic aftertouch is central to what I do. I also own Arturia's softsynths, including the CS80V.

Re. the soft versus hardware or vintage versus new synth argument - I don't buy into those arguments and feel all synth types have merit. I should also say that I do not have any vested interested in Arturia - indeed I bollocked Arturia out of it by email a few years ago over crashes in Logic the CPU usage of the CS80V (though I was using a G4 and couldn't fully stand over my claim; and both issues have been well resolved).

All that said I feel the CS80V is among the best softsynths and IMO sounds wonderful. It really can sound like a CS80. In particular, its sawtooth sounds like the sawtooth of the CS80, and its filter and ring modulator are equally convincing. When played from my K2500 with a ribbon controller, channel aftertouch and CS80V performance controls assigned to its 8 faders, the CS80V can be played in an expressive way and really does sound great. Note that the core sound of the CS80 is not particularly special - as we all know its the control panel and performance possibilities that make the CS80 stand out; and when configured well, the CS80V performs and responds very well - and of course it offers all the advantages of softsynths that the original doesn't have. The CS80V GUI, being essentially a map of the original, really kicks in on a good hardware controller in and its an exciting playing experience.

So with the Origin offering duophonic aftertouch where the all-important melody note can be affected alone, along with a ribbon controller, mod wheels and the that Origin hardware assigned to either its onboard CS80V components or an instance of CS80V; I suspect that its going to be an awesome performance setup. I wish it was cheaper - but I cannot wait to get my hands on one (eventually!). And with all the modular synth options, the mixing and matching of various softsynths and so on, I think this is an exciting synth development. I take my hat off to Arturia for embracing the best of old and new; in what will surely be a great sounding and great performance package.

Maybe this is a little easier for me to say because I actually own CS80s (by the way - not acquired easily - spent over 10 years hunting then down and don't own a car as a result of the expense) - but while I understand your 'print versus the original' point; I don't personally subscribe to it. While I'm a vintage synth and CS80 fan, I own them to use them - not to have a claim on originals. There are only a few important factors in all of this to me - the performance experience, sound design possibilities, and how well its sounds - and IMO Arturia is as relevant and real as even the enigmatic CS80 - so I think Arturia are doing a great job,

It really is an uncanny and almost inadvertent evolution of a 'partial yet modern' reincarnation of the CS80 - CS80V soft synth engine, Origin hardware interface to that CS80V engine, controller with aftertouch beyond anything else currently available and ribbon controller - a very potent combination (and you can also apply the ribbon controller, hardware control and duophonic aftertouch to all of their synths including their Virtual Acoustic Brass!).

Kevin.

chaps - while a head to head between Origin and it's forebears maybe difficult to organise (particularly if you're expecting me to lift a CS80..) we will bring one to the UK fairly soon to show it off and I'll try and ensure we give plenty of notice.

I went to France towards the end of last year to visit Arturia and they have a rather nice collection of vintage synths there so you can be sure that their emulations are compared to the originals as much as possible..

It'll be worth checking the Origin keyboard, and when you remember it can give you 4 x 4 voice Minimoogs, it gives you some idea of the power and usefulness it can add to your arsenal. Check the new Drawbar model in the 1.1 release of Origin for some other possibilities too.

More news on the release when we have it

Cheers

Steve Parker
2twenty2

Damn.

Between you guys banging on about CS80s and me listening to late 70s ELO, I've just about sold myself on the CS80v.......

And I was trying to have a quiet month!!

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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

Quote Kevin Nolan:

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At the risk of exposing an obsession, I own three mint condition Kent Spong / RL Music restored CS80s, two mint condition Prophet T8's and a DX1

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Ah... my new best friend...

I don't like Arturia stuff in general...

Before i had any interest in synths at all i saw this big old keyboard 'thing' in a local village auction. It went for just over £300 and i thought 'Hmm, that's a lot to pay for an organ!'. A couple of years later when i was starting to learn about and appreciate synthesizers i saw a picture of a CS80 and nearly coughed up my spleen. 'Oh look' i thought, 'There's that organ again!'.

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Bandcamp
Soundcloud

God bless the DX7 for making analog monster synths of the day uncool and thus affordable to acquire.

And curse the dance music/retro scene for picking up these things cheaply, inventing new genres of music and making those synths desirable and putting the price back up to where they were back in the eighties (and beyond!)