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Average rating:
4.6 out of 5
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if you were born early enough to witness the days when synths like the minimoog and arp odyssey were new and real musicians who could actually PLAY were taking them and making an effort to create new and original voices with these instruments then you would certainly understand the potential of the odyssey.first of all, the picture at the top of this page is of an orange and black model...not black and gold. there were three different versions. i've owned the first two, and played an orange model. all this business about the white one being fatter is crap. the different models responded slightly differently from each other, but all were capable of major fatness. if you're clueless like the twit at the beginning of this review page, i would highly recommend finding some old herbie hancock, brand x, zappa w/george duke, tom coster, to name a few of the great keyboard players who used this instrument in amazingly expressive ways. maybe you'll learn that you can do more with it than throw it against the wall, or hold down one note.
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what a strange time it must have been, that this was considered a musical instrument, I makes you wonder and think of a time when the sounds that all these new 64 voice JV-1080, and JP-80 will sound this useless. Sample and hold was a fantastic innovation. My arp odyssey is the more classic black and gold model, and every time I play it, I hear it tell me to beat the crap out of it. It says "drop me, swing me, throw me around" this synth squeals with delight, and if your ears don't hurt like hell after you turn it off, then chances are you never resonated those filters...ouch! it isn't a keyboard though, the key often do nothing, and if you press the highest one up, it sounds the same as the lowest one. Don't play the keys!!! that's what sample and hold is for. PWM is pretty useless too. Don't buy this synth for any other reason, then to make high pitched noises. and certainly don't ever use the PPC, damn that thing is stupid. Where's the Moog wheels at? Arp too proud to use a bob moog invention? so, in closing. you can stick stuff into the filters but more power to you if you think it sounds good. just kick this synth it's the only way it like to be played. chances are it's been around for 20 years. that's way too long for something this Stupid Put it Out of it's misery, break off it sliders, and throw it against a wall! do something original, and turn it off.
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Along with the MiniMoog this was *the* synth to have in the seventies. A cut-down Arp 2600, it sounds less fat than a MiniMoog but can do an lot more - the oscillator synch sounds (as mentioned below) are stunning, and if you've got some guitar-effects pedals you can make it do almost anything. There were various different cases, as was Arp's wont during those days - the early ones came in a hideous cream (and supposedly sound slightly better although they are less reliable), and the later ones had the Orange/Black livery as sported in the photo. All in all, it's one of *the* classic synths and if you see one buy it.
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Presently I own a model 2800, usually referred to as a MK I, with white panel and no CV or Gate interfaces. In the past I have used an Avatar as an Odyssey expander unit. Sonically the ARP is thiner than a Moog, but fatter than Japanese analogues. It is easy to get those sync locked lead sounds of the seventies. Even though I prefer Moogs, I generally find the Odyssey to be better at imitative synthesis. This is subjective so apologies to Moog users. Like many players I used several Moog and ARP machines side by side to complement each other. I never used a 2600, but think that Paul McLean (USA) would agree that the Odyssey is an excellent poor man's 2600. The Odyssey has the versatility and capabilities associated with modular synths, except that patch cords are replaced with preset switching options. ARP's use of sliders marked in Hertz for pitch instead of friendlier click switches using organ footages is my only real gripe for a classic machine like the Odyssey!!
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WHAT CAN I SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PATCH THE OSCILLATOR SYNC TO THE THE MOD WHEEL AND PREPARE FOR BLAST OFF
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