SOUND ON SOUND

[BigRedX]

Did the Thunderchild synth ever go into production?

[desmond]

Nope, I don’t think so.

[Hugh Robjohns]

No, I don't think so either. I think there were wight or ten pre-production prototypes but then the project foundered.

[ManFromGlass]

For a collection of odd synths to replicate I found a site called 120years.net
It’s a fascinating archive of electronic instrument information for more than the past 120 years.

[Dave B]

There is a forum member who has actually owned a Thunderchild many moons ago. I got all excited and asked him about it. He answer could basically be summed up as : meh ...

[The Elf]

Something in my brain tells me I saw a contemporary magazine advert for Thunderchild. Of course it could just be the years playing tricks on me (again)!

[desmond]

RE: There's a lot of complex synthesiser work on the album, and among the credits on the album, apart from the normal synths, there's your Thunderchild machine. What sort of machine is it?

JW: It's a monophonic synthesiser, as opposed to the polys that are now on the market, but it has a very 'thick' sound; it well outperforms other monophonic synths at little over half the price. The Thunderchild will be about £450-£500 as opposed to £1000. It has a tremendous range: a big keyboard, 49 notes C to C, compared with all but the big polys. And it was constructed for a real dummy like me. Really, that was their briefing. 'Cos I regard myself as being like the common Joe on the street; I'm a keyboard player and not an electronics player in the sense that I can pick up any form of synthesiser. I said to build it for the keyboard player who can appreciate sound, and can play electronics, but can't talk 'em. And that's what they've done. We tested it in one shop, and I'm being very honest when I tell you the results. The original design, which we've since changed, was one of the worst. We tested it at Macari's London music store for about a month, and they told us that we had a winner and a loser. A loser in the sense that it was a lousy design and we should start all over — which we did - we've also brought it up to a much more 'space-age' look; but a winner because they said we had the best musical sound of any synthesisers, other than the big polyphonics. So with that, we were very encouraged, because at the end of the day, it's the music that counts. The packaging is just something that makes it attractive to people who come and look at it. So we were originally going to be launching this on May 1st, and because we've completely redesigned since then, it'll probably be in the shops by December. (We will be reviewing the machine in the near future — Ed.)

Sound International, Oct 78
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-war-of-the-worlds/8720

[The Elf]

[desmond]

Yes... that was posted by DGL just on the previous page on this thread.

You really should adjust your content blockers if you want to participate here with the rest of us, Elf!

[DGL.]

Yes... that was posted by DGL just on the previous page on this thread.

You really should adjust your content blockers if you want to participate here with the rest of us, Elf!

Come on, he's only just learnt how to switch the thing on himself, give him a break

Oh and they're asking on FB what poly synth you would like them to do next,

Now that we have developed a scalable control platform for poly synths, we’re able to release complex synths much faster.
Which poly synth do you want us to make next?
Shoot...

[Martin Walker]

For a collection of odd synths to replicate I found a site called 120years.net
It’s a fascinating archive of electronic instrument information for more than the past 120 years.

As I half-expected when typing this in, I'd already got it bookmarked.

I love tracking down sites like this!


Martin

[ManFromGlass]

Any other suggestions appreciated!

[Arpangel]

Not so initially bling, and it’s big brother has already been done, but the Moog Prodigy would be great to have again, it was one of my first synths in the 70's, I loved it, even more than the Mini Moog, it has a different sound, more raw, really deep bass too, much more gritty overall than a Mini.
It would be good to have a keyboard version, along the same format as the Behringer Odyssey.

[baward]

100 units have been produced that are going off to beta testers who have an original OB-Xa to compare with

Behringer have access to ONE HUNDRED OB-Xa's? Wow

[desmond]

Not so initially bling, and it’s big brother has already been done, but the Moog Prodigy would be great to have again, it was one of my first synths in the 70's, I loved it, even more than the Mini Moog, it has a different sound, more raw, really deep bass too, much more gritty overall than a Mini.

The Prodigy was my first "proper" synth. It was a great learning synth, because it's so simple, and sounds decent enough (not as "thick" or vintagey as a Mini, but still a powerful Moogy sound. The keyboard and wheels weren't so great, and the sounds are limited due to the very simple features. My was the later rev that had all the ports, which mean I could MIDI it up etc.

I don't really miss it, though I had fun with it for many of those early years. By far it's best (and unique) sound is the hard sync oscillator sync-bends - there isn't another synth that is that raw and great sounding in the same way.

I think if they made a version of this in the same form factor as the other synths, people would be pretty disappointed how few features they got and how basic the sound potential is.

Better off with the Bro-1, imo... (which is what I would have bought back then instead of the Prodigy, could I afford it and had one been available locally).