Synergy Family Owners List
Wendy Carlos. Needs no introduction.
At last count, has two Synergies,
three Slave 32s, and one GDS.
(See her page for her e-mail address; she has it set up as a image to
avoid spam harvesters.)
Aaron Lanterman. That’s me.
I own a Synergy II+ and Kaypro 10,
which I purchased from Mark Glinsky in September 2004.
I have the Carlos 1, 2, and 3 cartridges, as well as VCART 6. I’d be interested
in buying the others to complete my collection, and would also
be interested in
picking up a Slave 32. I paid $850 for the cartridges, Synergy, and Kaypro.
lanterma@ece.gatech.edu
Mark Glinsky. Sold me one of his
Synergies, but he has another one he’s trying to get working. Contact
him if you’d be interested in buying it. He also managed
to get a hold of a Slave 32, which is pretty impressive. (If I recall
correctly, he sold that for around $2,000). Mark has enough
classic gear to open his own museum.
glinskym@sbcglobal.net
(added 6/7/09) Wayne Abravanel (wabravanel_at_dc_dot_rr_dot_com) writes:
“I bought a Synergy via Stony (he should need no introduction)
in 1982.
I had the midi retrofit done and have a stack of cartridges.” (UPDATE, 7/14/10:
Wayne has sold his Synergy and Synergy stuff)
(added 6/7/09) Matt Luney (matt_at_mattybeats_dot_com) writes:
“I bought a Synergy DK about 5 years ago fully working
and in pretty good shape for, get this, $200.
Since then I have NEVER seen the refill cartridges for this,
rumor has it that Wendy released some
to users but these are so rare to find.
I live in Saint Paul Minnesota and do film
score work for independent film and am also an ‘on call’
sound designer/engineer for the Target corporate media center.
The Synergy has yet to make it to the ‘Bullseye’.”
(added 6/7/09) Tony Mori (sharkonwheels_at_gmail_dot_com) writes:
“If you have folks who need the Synergy software on kaypro disks, I can providethem. Also, I can convert those text files for you if you need it.
Those are not control characters – well, they might be, what it is,
is that they are in old-school mid-80’s WordStar for CP/M format.
I have full capabilities to create/transfer CP/M programs and disks.
It would probably be VERY difficult to run it under anything but a Kaypro,
and have serial communication work,
because back in that era, computers were not standard.
If you look through the file in your zip with the .Z80 files, you will
see there is a file specifically telling the program
how to communicate with the serial port.
Back then, EVERY machine was pretty much different!”
(added 6/7/09) Giuseppe Orlandi (umi4m_at_yahoo_dot_com) writes:
“I am the proud new owner of a Synergy I synthesizer serial
number 01595. Just picked it up last night and am very impressed
with its unique sound. It’s definitely a keeper. Unfortunaly
it did not come with any cartriges or editing sub computer.
I’ll try my luck with those DOS programs and an old 386 I guess.
I do have an EPROM programmer and am
handy at circuit board design might take a stab at making my
own cartriges.”
Joel Chamberlin (jwchamb_at_comcast_dot_net) writes:
“I’ve got two Synergy II+’s purchased in the last 2 years. One is
supposedly from the factory going-out-of-business sale. Looks like
somebody’s pet project. The other I got from a guy in Canada through
Harmony Central. It’s definitely a production model. Much sloppier
guts than the first. Got an entire (?) non-II+ Synergy in pieces
also in the Canadian deal.
The serial board died on one and the midi board died on the other.
I swapped ’em around so I have one working. Would love to get
those boards fixed.” Anyone wanna tackle fixing those boards? Get in
touch with Joel!
Rob Crowell (atomic_jefferson_at_earthlink_dot_net)
tells the most amazing story: “I was out walking
my dogs one day and I ran across a rather bizarre looking keyboard that
was thrown out in the trash. Along with it was a Kaypro (which I
was unaware of at the time) and all the
manuals some cartridges and cords. So I
picked up to a trot in order to get home, so I could come back and get it.
When I got it home it didn’t work at all. I build my own guitar effects etc.
and am somewhat of a home electronics hobbyist so I managed to get it working
again. I play in a somewhat novelty band (i.e. Dr. Demento and such) called
Atomic Jefferson.
It’s a very well designed and surprisingly musical
instrument. It is well featured on many tracks of an upcoming CD I’m
producing.” What a story, and what a lucky find! Here’s a photo of
Rob’s Synergy.
Enrico Dibennardo (endiendi_at_tin.it)
lives in Sicily, Italy. He bought Synergy II+ (SN 01330)
in 1990 from another Italian owner who had bought it new in Italy. He had
the daughterboard bad connection problem when he first got it,
and a technician fixed it, but now it’s not working again; he plans to
reopen it and get it working at some point.
Erik Mikael Karlsson (erik_mikael_karlsson_at_telia_com,
www.emk.nu)
writes: “I own
a Synergy – mint condition – and 7 catridges. The last time I used my
Synergy in a production was in a electronic piece commissioned by the WDR
(Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne) called ‘One Dreamer; One Murder’
(45 minutes). I’m planning to use the Synergy for some new upcoming projects
along with my Synclavier 3200.”
Benjy King (benky_king_at_hotmail_com,
www.benjyking.com)
bought a new Synergy in 1980.
He writes: “I recorded
the Synergy on the first Scandal album in 1982. I am also playing
it in the video of the song Goodbye To You, where the Synergy provided a
second synth bass line. I had it midi’d a few years later and toured with it
for a Fiona Flanagan tour, opening for Bryan Adams.
I have a studio in New York city and use it all of the time. There is nothing
like it!”
Alberto Massari (simalb_at_aliceposta_dot_it),
from Italy, has Synergy II+ (SN 01145).
Very interestingly, he has a version of SYNHCS that was created
for the Digital Rainbow computer by the previous owner, a software
engineer from Switzerland. So if you have a Rainbow and a Synergy
(I wonder how many people have that combination?),
contact Alberto, he might be able to provide you some software!
“Cuban” Pete (pete_at_cubanpetemusic_com,
www.cubanpetemusic.com) writes:
“I just picked up a DK Synergy the other day. It had very minor
mechanical probs which I fixed. It is now working very well. It’s
practically mint. It has a very nice sound for being digital. It
actually sounds very warm and analog. The vibes are very nice…
How much do these go for? I’m thinking of selling it.”
Here’s a photo of
Cuban Pete’s Synergy.
Ramiro Turin (synram_yahoo_com_ar), a classical organist from
Argentina, owns SN 01323 (all black, with MIDI). His Synergy
has the VRAM/MIDI daughterboard, but not the SIA board, so alas he
can’t connect through RS-232. He writes:
“For the moment I’m playing its 24 internal voices (I
love the violin/cello sound…..it blended very well
with my TS12 violin sounds, having in mind that I use
the TS12 mainly in Werckmeister “good temperament”
– not very deviated from equal temperament – and the
Synergy in equal temperament, but detuned near 7 cents
flat (to a descendent second), so it creates a very
natural baroque string ensemble chorusing effect…..”
David Vandenberg (dragonslair_at_telus_dot_net) of Revelstoke, BC, Canada
writes:
“I used to have 2 Synergies, an original Synergy and a Synergy II Plus.
In the years I had them, I did a lot of repairs to them and also built a
few custom modifications for them,
some of which are on my website
www.dragonslair.ca
I still have a few spare parts for them, and I also have copies of the
operating system and the voice data files
that I can burn to eproms (I also have about 200 2764 eproms)
I built a 10 eprom board for the Synergy II, it worked fine, but I could
only mount it internally,
what I would like to do, is make it an external board that would plug
into the cartrdge slot, but I need a
cartridge that uses the 2764 eprom, or a schematic of one, in order to
figure out how to interface it.
The 2 cartridges I had both used 2-2732 eproms.
The original board had 10 eproms that you had to cycle though
sequentially, but I have redesigned it to use a
microcontroller for eprom selection, so now it can only have 6- 8
eproms, but they can be selected at random
As of now, these projects are on hold until I get another Synergy II to
experiment with.
But if anyone wants to send me thier Synergy, I’ll be more than happy to
try fixing it for them.”
Karl-Paul Vorderwinkler (karl_dot_vorderwinkler_at_meduniwien_dot_ac_dot_at)
has
a Synergy II+ and a Kaypro 2. He’s currently trying to get his Synergy
and Kaypro to talk to each other.
Cave Studio boasts
a Synergy II+/Kaypro setup.
The Synergy with serial number 1 is part of
Martin Newcomb’s studio, described in this
Sound
on Sound article.
(added 3/28/12) Brad Wendzel (brad_at_colomafrozen_dot_com)
has a Synergy and a Slave 32.
Last modified 3/28/12
Maintained by Aaron
Lanterman
lanterma@ece.gatech.edu