The ARP 2500 at Willem Twee Studios - an introduction
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- In which Hans Kulk of Willem Twee Studios in s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands gives me an introduction to one of the rarest and most impressive sounding synths around - the ARP 2500. In the end, we even make a track with it and an original VCS3. Thanks Rikkert and Hans, hope to see you again next year!
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What's fantastic about this is that I don't think anybody has done a "from scratch" kind of video with the 2500 on TH-cam to date. It's also the 50th anniversary of the launch of the 2500 (or "Series 2000 Modular Studio Synthesizer") this Autumn too, so your timing is very fitting.
I was eagerly chuckling with joy whilst watching because I had the exact same reactions you did when I got the unforgettable experience of a day with a 2500 last year. "They're sliders and not pins?!", "The sequencer clock runs into the audio range?" Etc.
Sounds like nothing else doesn't it. Incredible synth.
Also didn't know the influence of computer science on Dennis P Colin's 1047 multimode filter. I've got the paper too, so I feel embarrassed. He also designed the SEM filter for Tom Oberheim in case you didn't know.
Anyway, I'm rambling but this was a beautiful video.
Dude, this means a lot to me! You ARP documentary showed me what is possible in our corner of TH-cam. Hopefully we can do something fun together in the future!
@@Hainbach Yes, the ARP documentary was a portal to another world thanks to the access I was so kindly granted. That period from 1964 - 1972 where a very small group of innovators defined the following decades is truly magical. Those synths feel like they have no rules or preconceptions.
Moog and ARP are obviously major players there, but there's a bit less about Buchla and EMS out there. Apparently a Synthi 100 is being restored in the north of England with lottery funding. Hopefully that will happen.
And yes, would love to do a collaboration at some point on some topic or piece of equipment.
@@AlexBallMusic you seem to be friends with everyone i follow on youtube.. lol
You do realize that you've cursed my watching of this video... Every time I hear Hans speak I hear Geert von Schlänger...
@@odinmp5 It's actually you I'm following. I'm in a hedge outside your house right now.
any synth that needs two people to operate is a great synth.
Chris Coreline I couldn’t agree more.
I would just hate to have to move the damn thing! 🤣🤣😜
Is just noise ...I do not see talent using those sounds actually playing tickling the keys ....Damn !!!
I couldn't disagree more.
@@fernandoruiz2719 It seems that you don't recognize talent and perhaps do not possess any talent, yourself. Why did you even log in to watch this video? It's clearly out of your realm.
I was having an absolutely garbage night at work with every press and computer breaking and giving me fits. Then I sat down with some tea and watched this video. Now I'm re-centered and calm. Thank you as always.
Éliane Radigue dedicated her career to performing on the 2500. Her work is worth exploring!
Yeah amazing stuff, would love to hear it in-room
thx for the recommendation.
Any links?
@@professortrog7742 Too much content out there to point to one place. A simple search will do the job.
@@professortrog7742 So much content with out there.Simplest to just do a search
What a treat to have an in-depth ARP 2500 demo. I've been dreaming of this instrument since the '70s. I've never laid eyes on one, but I do have a manual for one which I special ordered back in the day. Thanks so much for producing this high quality detailed demo!!!
19:57 This is the dream of anyone who has ever played with an modular analog synth.
The ARP 2500 was the synth that was used to communicate with the aliens in "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind".
I saw the Canadian group Syninx in 1971. They had a fantastic 2500 with 2 wing cabinets. The sound was quadraphonic and the 2500 was the most amazing thing I had ever heard. Mesmerizing and fluid sound from all directions. A trip into timelessness. John Mills-Cockell was an extraordinary mad scientist making evocative sounds and soundscapes. A truly remarkable concert I will never forget. Since then the 2500 has been an even more important icon. Thank you so much for letting us into the inner sanctum once more. Cheers
i never imagined the sliders would make such nice mechanical sounds
What a delight this video is. I'm so glad you had that experience, and I'm so grateful that I got to see and hear it. Thank you.
I didn't realize just how signature the sound of this machine is. As soon as sound started playing, it just immediately sounds like old sci-fi movies.
Thank you for this demo. The 2500 is my holy grail synth. This was like having a chance to go through the features my self. Awesome!!! Now I just need to book time at Willem Twee Studio for a month. :)
This was fantastic, thank you so much for this glimpse into the 2500! Priceless!
"For all my life I thought they were pins!"
Same!
Same hear
Yeah me to.
Yea
Until very recently, I assumed they were banks of slider pots.
Now i realize they're nothing but a tragedy
So nice to really get some depth on working with this amazing machine. What stands out to me are the filter sounds and the patching, which is actually identical to breadboard patching. This type of patching is directly understood by, and appeals to any electrical engineer. Very nice.
I learned the basics of synthesis on a 1970 ARP 2500 when I studied Composition & Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the time I thought it was cool because it was old and I knew Pete Townshend used one but I didn't grasp how special an experience that was until I was about to graduate.
Just beautiful, I'm really speechless...thank you for sharing this Hainbach
I also had the opportunity in January to visit the Twee studio and play with the 2500 for a while, along with a number of other amazing instruments. It is a truly magical place and Hans and the rest of the crew are as welcoming as they are knowledgeable.
Such an absorbing video, beautiful work. Many thanks for making it.
Absolutely loved this! beautiful work as always!
Back in the late 1980's i had a Roland TR-808 drum machine and my best friend had an Alesis sampling keyboard. But I've always been impressed by how it was done old school in the 1970's. Very cool.
I got to spend a day recording with one in Calgary. The 2500 used in the filming of Close Encounters.
Where is it? I would love to play it.
@@SRV2013 It is part of the Cantos collection at the NMC (National Music Centre). They offer tours of the collection but you can also inquire about using gear from the collection for recording / sampling. Not sure of their current policy but the gear is all kept in working condition and playing is encouraged. I was able to do a residency there for a week a few years back. T.O.N.T.O is housed there as well, plus a gorgeous Synthi 100.
@@Poppaneedsanap Thank you.
Pretty sure David Friend of ARP said that synth was destroyed. But who knows....
@@atarkus8 I believe a special case was made for it for the movie and the synth itself was put back in it's original casing after the shoot. That collection (Cantos Collection) is pretty well documented if you google it. (I could also be wrong though, just going by what the curators at Cantos/NMC have claimed)
Wow, I got goosebumps watching as this brought back some sweet memories of my time at the CEM studio in Arnhem in the mid nineties. Spend many of my lunch breaks (extended long breaks, ha!) playing with their ARP 2500.
I got really impressed by your works and am enjoying your channel from South Korea. They are good for morning meditation.
I've been waiting 30 years to see a video like this
One of the most beautiful sounding synths I have ever heard, I am completely in awe. It has so much character!
Yeah, I like how small knob movements can take it from mild to chaos.
3:55 hainbach I too thought they were pins until right now! I can’t believe they are sliders that makes so much more sense.
15:34 The way he sits back down and relaxed into the chair, it's like the Hainbach version of "stank face"; when you hear sounds you love so much that it pauses the world around you.
Not only does it make some amazing music, but it is absolutely the most beautiful, era-commanding, cold war chic of anything ever made for music
Yes! Thanks for posting this. Amazing stuff
Truly one of the greatest synths ever made. And seeing Hainbach in a video with one makes this the greatest day of the week!
I don't think I would want to ever leave that room. I'm hoping in the future a good vst recreation will come out (please Arturia!).
If not sadly the closest I'll get to one is my Elaine Radigue records. Great video as always
I also believe Behringer are remaking a hardware clone of this synthesizer.
A vst recreation of this machine would be profanation.
@@KonisAdonis how so? arturia have been doing great vst recreations for a while
@@maydaygoingdown5602 I found out about this right after the video! I wonder if they will get the filter sounding close
@@silasward7316 I would imagine so, it's pretty basic.
They did an excellent job on the Odyssey so can't think why they couldn't do this one.
Everyone should have something like this in their living room. No need for Social Media, video games, opinions, guns, churches, ... it would be the end of human suffering.
If only... 💫
Behringer takes care of it :-D
All beautiful sounds and your smile always we love !!!! Thanks !!!!
Bought a huge smile to my face!
This thing sounds phenomenal! Slightly jealous you got a hands on experience to say the least :)
Thank you for bringing us with you to studio 1 and studio 2!!!!
"Some ... uuuhm ... Fingerspitzengefühl."
Yeah, that's always useful!
This took me into a wikipedia rabbit hole... nice term
Google Translate interprets that as "Sure instinct." Sounds about right. Yep, always useful!
Bob Conway As a German native speaker, it is more evocative of “delicate touch”. It literally means “finger tip feeling”.
@@germansnowman But even if "sure instinct" sounds strange to us, it is the correct translation of Fingerspitzengefühl.
If you look into this, there are mentions of sure instinct where it makes perfect sense in terms of the meaning of Fingerspitzengefühl.
Andreas Wehrmann I can see your point. I suppose these are two nuances of this lovely word :)
Fantastic! At around 6:00 it sounds like you are trying to balance the throttles, fuel-air mixture, and propellor pitches for the four engines of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber. It must have felt that way too.
shut up nerd
@@andrewaronson3364 :D
Bob I think i shut down the engine that WASNT on fire you're gonna have to put her down in that field over there. WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN IM THE BALL TURRET GUNNER?
The way it seems to lose control at 8:39 and 15:00 WOW I love how much of a wall of sound old synths can really be when you push them
any slight movement of a knob and this takes you to another galaxy. incredible.
Thank you for making this video! I think it’s the next best thing then being in the presence of that beauty!
Amazing video and learning experience. The sound is unmistakably "the real deal".
Wonderful video, incredible studio collection and such synth wizardry!
I was always fascinated by synthesizers! First one I touched was in 1975. Analogue is amazing! Soon I will retire and my dream (as many I am sure hold) is melding analogue sound with mixed reality!
“analogue sound with mixed reality” would be a cool name for whatever album/project you hopefully end up working on !
Great video and a great explanation Hans Kulk!
thank you very much for sharing this . there is not soo much info on this unit around the web .
i really like the idea of the patching system and it has never really reoccured ( even partially ) in other synthesizers
Thanks for posting this video this synth is amazing
Thank you for sharing this experience with us. My AKG k240s and I loved it. I can’t wait for Behringer Synthi to be built...
Fantastic! Great sounds, a great demo! Not much more to say really :) Great video as usual :)
What a fantastic instrument thanks for sharing. 👍
best arp2500 demo on the net
This is by far the coolest video I have ever seen!!!
I now understand why so much of the old synth music has weird noises and lots of looping. It's easy to loop and making weird noises on these synths is loads of fun.
this is amazing to watch. best lunch break ever.
Now I know, I need a Seagull synth! Great to see you back at W2 studios. 🎶
The twenty minute video just flew by! What a great sounding instrument!
magnifique! thank you for this trip
Amazing!
Thanks for sharing this precious video👍
Wow what an experience! 😊
Ultracool Sound
Damn this synth sounds so good...you guys are having so much fun, this is being human...joyfully creating something out of nothing
Thank you for this! A real treat!
We had a VCS3 in our theatre design department at art school in the mid 70s. At the weekend, a friend and I would get the keys and go and play with it.
Unrelated to this activity, my tutor Jeffrey Camp had also been Brian Eno's tutor, and I met him just the one time. Looking back I wish we'd told him that another department had the same synth he'd used in Roxy Music's early days - perhaps he'd have given us a few tips!
Monster synth! Impressive machine!
I bought a new Arp 2600 and Arp sequencer in the 70s, even though the is a 2500 it still brings back a lot of memories.
I don't believe that I have ever seen a video like this before. There are wonderful programs and songs that are featured by various artists but never have I seen a breakdown of this instrument.
One of the things I learned is how amazing the Sony DT-100 is.
My university had one of these and I feel like I had a special relationship with it. Everything little thing in this video from the fiddly oscillator tuning, the feel and click of resetting all the sliders to start a new patch, the shapes that I would memorize in the sliders to start a voice, discovering the crosstalk between lines, and even sitting with a friend and blowing their mind teaching them about this amazing instrument gave me such nostalgia. Romantic I know, but this instrument makes me very happy. Thank you so much for sharing this!
so amazing! thank you so much!
What a beast of a synth
Sounds lovely, but SLIDERS! I always thought it had a pin matrix too! 😳
blew. my. mind.
Always new it had sliders still blows my mind that’s why they are notoriously prone to problems but so amazing. The wiring inside for these sliders is pretty silly.
Can you imagine what the inside of that panel with the sliders looks? Probably a jungle of wire beyond belief.
C / T / B Also me
me too
I'm a guitar player and although I don't understand half of the routing and effects going on this makes me wanna get started doing electronic stuff.
Sweet! Now that's a machine! Very nice!!
Good memories! In the '80s and early '90s this beast was standing in the CEM studio in Arnhem. I spend a lot of nights trying to understand all the funky functions.
But I liked the Serge modular (sometimes in view on the left of them) even better. And the "Putney" is just sweet!
Serge is truly special, wish it had more of an audience
Arp 2500 was the first Euro rack. I still have the 2500 catalog bought around 1970!!!
Wow, this is what heaven should look like.
What a real blessing to watch this, Hainbach...same thoughts: no pins, but slides!
One day, hopefully, you'll enter the studios of Jean Michel Jarre and let yourself being informed by him than and give it all to us, the distant admirers!
Sehr gut gemacht und danke sehr!
Definitely ! Besides Hainbach should get a full "day-pass" in JMJ's studio, the two should also collaborate together in a form of an album.
@@jmjarw Let us hope and 🙏
I wish I had an ARP 2500 :-) Awesome synth!
I bet using the Syntrx made you feel more comfortable on the VCS. Nice work, Herr Hainbach.
Oh yes! The patch I played on the VCS has the ring modulator engaged, which made it hard at first for me to join the fun. Now I know the architecture of that synth.
nice used to play one as a kid as my dad is in HAWKWIND
Well, really, your dad IS Hawkwind. :/
That is a cool first synth! Say hi to your old man, much respect!
ARP misbehaves with heavy distortion.
Hainbach: "OH, make it do more of THAT!"
So marvelous!! A conjuring instrument, for the invocation of classic _Doctor Who_* villains! Thank you, 1950s-1970s, a million times thank you!
(*…and _Blake’s 7,_ and _The Tomorrow People,_ and so many more!)
I was hit by memories so hard too!
Blake's 7 and Dr Who were mostly brought to us via the Synthi 100.... a behemoth that dwarfs even the 2500.... I'm not sure if the tomorrow people was synths or test equipment ... it all depends when Derbyshire, Hodgson and Vorhaus recorded VSL 104. ;)
Did they try using this to communicate with the aliens in the 70’s? This is so awesome!
What is the gray modular on the bottom at 0:39? Never saw it before
It's a modular analog computer from Siemens, used as a classroom-trainer for PID control problems (like feedback controllers for industrial processes).
Has banana I/O and combines great with the Serge.
Wait, is this hainbach hanging out with his future self?
Wow, I always assumed those patch panels were pins - never realised they're actually sliders! Amazing machine, and I hope to have Behringer's clone of its simplified successor the 2600 one day.
Man, that thing sounds as big as it is!
Is there anything to speak of in the architecture of current duplications of the 2600 and the Odyssey which has survived from the 2500? Additionally, is there a schedule for repairing this 2500?
I can recall watching the China Syndrome and imagining the equipment in the control center of the nuclear plant being used to make music. That’s what comes to my mind when I look at this front panel.
Awesome stuff thanks
I imagine this is what the control room of the large hadron collider looks like
Which one is the AZ-5 button?
Here's Dorit Chrysler playing the theremin at CERN's Synchrocyclotron.
th-cam.com/video/coXi-e7kLLE/w-d-xo.html
Amazing..what a 'beast' !!
and three years later, they finished the patch
11:00 "let's rock out"
Rather quite astonishing.
you are a very good active listener. "mm-hmm" .... "mm-hmmm"
Instant flashback to almost every cheesy 70's SciFi movie...wonderful!
what a dream to use this synth!
Oohh. Bloody lovely
Proper!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!
Probably the only guy that can impress Hainbach
I love learning from Hans, such a wealth of knowledge.
It’s great to see you guys having fun 😁 i have to visit that studio sometimes . It’s just 1 hour by car from where i live 👍🏼
I'm just getting into synthesis. I've never even heard of this machine before now. But in reading this comment thread, I know how I must react if I ever see one IRL: "OMG! Sliders?!? I thought they were pins!" Then shit my pants and have a seizure.
:D