Boy, this takes me back. I knew Devarahi when he was writing that book (and
yes, I have a copy on my shelf). He wrote it originally as a textbook for
the class he taught at the local community college in Eugene, OR. I was in
high school at the time and hence couldn't take the class, but my cousin
took it and I managed to drop in occasionally. The original title was "The
Secret Guide to Synthesizers" and its first printing was velo-bound
photocopies for the class. He was a great teacher--one of those rare
individuals driven from his heart to convey knowledge and enthusiasm to
others.
Eventually I visited his home studio a few times. He had a bunch of
now-vintage stuff, including two 2600s and an ARP Sequencer, a Moog vocoder,
an EML Poly Box (I think that's what it was called--funny thing with a
one-octave keyboard in a bright orange box, which somehow generated a
polyphonic signal from an input), a Roland tape delay of some sort, a big
Emu modular tucked away in the basement ("I don't use it much these days"),
a TASCAM eight-channel reel-to-reel deck, a rather new TR-808, and a brand
new wonder called a Prophet 5.
He was great with synthesizers, of course, but he could also play some
wicked rock piano. He used to do gigs playing 50s and 60s standards under
the name Ace Luxo, with nothing but a Rhodes and a mic. I lost touch with
him when he moved away from Eugene and I left for college shortly
thereafter. I made contact briefly with him about five or so years ago but
again lost touch. At that time he was still involved with music education,
this time utilizing tools such as interactive CD-ROMs. He'd sold the modular
by then. :-(
His book is a good text on analog synthesizer technique, to be sure. The
writing is a little uneven and the illustrations are hand drawn, but as an
introductory/intermediate text on analog synthesis, I don't think that
anyone has beat it yet. The other artifact that I have is a cassette dub of
an outdoor concert he played on the Eugene mall one summer day, as one of
his many attempts to introduce electronic music to a wider audience. The set
included covers of songs by Kraftwerk and UK as well as some originals. This
was cutting-edge stuff: imagine two guys doing live electronic music on a
summer day at an outdoor mall, with a Prophet 5 as the most sophisticated
instrument on hand. The rest was all analog; between songs, one guy talked
while the other guy patched. I still have one of the flyers for the show
tucked inside the book.
Obviously he was a big influence on me, since here I am, 25 years later,
building modules and reminiscing.
--AdamShow quoted textHide quoted text
> I've seen the Devarahi book go for $60-80. There's one at an ebay store
> now
> for $59.95. It has the widest selection of vintage photos I've seen,
> including rarities like the SMS Modular System and the Wavemaker 6. FWIW
> the Wavemaker 6 photo is a stock publicity shot that also appeared in
> Polyphony.
>
> John Loffink
> The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
> http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
> The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
> http://www.wavemakers-synth.com
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> >
> > > "The complete guide to synthesizers" by Devarahi (1982 Prentice-Hall)
> >
> > This book is worth over $250 :)
> >
> > Reason: only 500 were made, then all but a few of those destroyed
> because
> > the author/publisher did not get permission for the photographs. The
> > rarest synth book.
> >
> > Paul S.
> >
> >
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> Yahoo! Groups Links
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