Italian keyboard manufacturing is not completely dead. Aside from Fatar selling keybeds all over the world, there are Crumar and Viscount which focus on digital pianos and Hammond organ clones (I know the main developer of their sound engine, which is Guido Scognamiglio), Studiologic which is a branch of Fatar that makes controller keyboards, pianos and synthesizers, Dexibell which makes digital pianos and organs, Ketron which makes arranger keyboards and some others that now I don't remember. While not being at the grandeur that was in the 60ies/70ies, since some years there is again something going on with Italy at producing keyboard instruments.
Thanks for these important additions! With synthesizers becoming popular again, maybe some former or current Italian brand will get back to their roots and make another analog instrument. I think, many people would buy a new Crumar synthesizer, they still have a good reputation in the synth community, I guess. Maybe You should tell this to signore Scognamiglio :)
@@SynthsandSounds For sure mr. Scognamiglio knows, as he's working in the field since years. I don't know if we'll see some new analog stuff from Italy soon, as they're mainly focusing on digital technologies right now, but as the analog renaissance is a thing nowadays with instruments makers, never say never :-) And perhaps there are some boutique/private projects going on that I'm now aware of.
Yes I own a crumar bit99 and it's a great analogue synth. Crumar it's still in the market. I also own an Orla electronic organ that sounds beautiful, and also Orla it's still producing.
The Solton SM100, SIEL Opera6/DK600, ELKA EK22, and Crumar Bit ONE/99 are 4 of the most under rated polysynths ever made! I own a CS80, all 3 Oberheim OBs and Matrix 12, Prophet 5, Jupiter 6, etc., but I still freaking LOVE my Italian synths!!!! Love your videos too! Keep up the amazing work!
The MRS-49 was my first "synthesizer" as a kid... I was born in '79. It stands against the wall in my room, worn and torn, but still working. It must have been 1985, when we had "Sinterklaas", a tradition from here, and I got the Bontempi... A gift for life, it seemed later on, cause it was my start into music... The first thing I played from the booklet was Holy night. At around 14 BPM... I still remember that moment... And my parents watching me playing it... Later on I sbegan playing by ear, the songs that I liked... Aurora - Nova, Alles wat ademt from Rob de Nijs, etc... It made me fall in love with arpeggio's, to this day, every song I make contains 'em. They're actually based on arpeggio's... I loved how I could manipulate them, even tough the sliders were a bit worn after years... The string sound... It even had an "ensemble" mode, in which they sounded chord-like... It's true, not much to finjd about them on the internet... But I got mine, in 1985. Maybe I will make a video on it... Whiiiii!!! Regards from Belgium!!!
Thanks for the video! I still have the Bontempi MRS 52 my grandmother bought me when I was a kid and it sill have a surprisingly nice piano voice. Cheers from Italy.
Thanks for the video, very interesting. I'm from Italy near the marche region and yes, here the produced a lot of wonderful stuff. Some of them are still in the market with great products.
Thanks! After I made my first videos, I actually started to work as a journalist, it has surely helped me for such videos. And I really enjoyed making a more "journalistic" video like this, even though it was a lot of work.
Loved the Alex Ball video (I'm a massive fan) and loved your video, too. BTW, some of us love you accent! The synth world is very different than the guitar world (I live in both) in many ways, but one huge difference is that the classic electric guitars (Les Paul, SG, Tele, Strat, 335, etc and so on) are all still around, unchanged. But some of the biggest names in keyboarding came and went. I love it when old brands come back with new stuff. It'd be neat to see some of these brands come back.
My dad had an Ekosonic (a branch of Eko I guess) transistor organ in the 70s. He heavily modified it and used it to control a synth he made taking inspiration from designs taken from Nuova Elettronica which is a magazine for DIYers that's still in business today as far as I know. His organ is not working anymore but I've managed to grab an identical one that more or less works and just needs a little restoring. The design and construction of it is really a work of art considering the technology they had in those days.
Hi. I'm an italian lucky owner of an ELKA EH105. It was bought by my father in 1988. I had no documentation. Finally, serching on internet, I found on EBay some documentation, including the Electronic diagrams (very intereting !!) and the operating instructions. Unfortunately for me, the instructions are in German language (no problem, I can translate), but I wonder why I didn't found it in italian language... Anway it works fine and now I can use it in all it's functions.
Dexibell keyboards are still made in that general Marche area of Italy, they are fantastic. I think that they are part of the PROEL group which makes pro audio gear. Anorher brand still making keyboards is Studiologic, I have a Sledge Black which I play regularly. I think that Studiologic is a division of Fatar. Obviously nothing like the glorious past, but not all is lost.
Great video covering the sad demise of much of the Italian keyboard industry. Though we got many legendary Japanese synths as a result, who knows what also could have been produced had Italy survived the Japanese onslaught. I have to say I agree with you that the Elka sounds great, but I do quite like the sound of that little Bontempi! And another famous player of the Elka Rhapsody (the 610 model) was Billy Currie of Ultravox. Pretty much all the synth string sounds on the three John Foxx era Ultravox albums were from the Elka, and possible some on the Midge Ure era Vienna album. By the time of Vienna, the band were also using the Yamaha SS-30 string synthesizer so I'm not sure how much the Elka was used from that point onwards.
Nice to read from You, CCT! The question of good sound is always in the eye (or ear) of the beholder. The Bontempi is very primitive, but for many kinds of sound it might be much more fitting than the ELKA. The EH105 is quite likely too good as a keyboard, if You look for the typical lo-fi-ness that most 80s casios and yamahas (or bontempis) have. But I leave this point for another review :)
I loved your video, thank you for producing it. I remember when the Italians were producing many electronic organs in the 70s and 80s. I still own an X705 portable organ that Michell Jarre used. As you say a very sad demise. Most of the American names had also disappeared by the mid 80s. Don't apologise for your German accent. I am British and I love Germany and the German people. I am a fan of Franz Lambert who at 75 is still doing concerts on his Wersi organ.👍
I think the main reason these companies faded was that their instruments needed constant repair & maintenance. My Crumar trilogy spent more time on the repair bench than my home..
Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy the presentation. They all have a dreamy feel and feel very calming. They make one happy to watch. I really enjoy your dry Swiss German style humour. I live in New Zealand, where we also go in for the dry humour. I must say though that this video did make me cry. It did have a wee bit of a happy ending though. The Italian instruments are a bit harder to come by on this side of the world, but I do have an old '70s italian organ keyboard which I got for maybe $1. It's pretty rough and needs quite a bit of repair. I will have to rebuild all the casings and maybe see if I can hack into the electronics to get a bit more sounds out of it. Thank you, and please keep making more videos. You are one of my favorite producers on youtube, if not my most favorite.
What a kind message, thank You so much, Sam! Messages like this remind me that I really have to keep making regular videos. Greetings to the other side of the globe! You might have a harder time finding some instruments, but You have many advantages! I would love to have the sea nearby, since I am a hobby sailor. I think I would find more folk to share that hobby in New Zealand, and the lake of constance really is getting a bit unexciting for sailing, over time :)
@@SynthsandSounds Yeah the sailing can be quite good here and you can sail for about 9 months of the year. You can’t really sail during the winter as there is generally either no wind or too much wind. I sailed for many years and still have some dinghies, but have small children, and have taken up martial arts in the mean time. Will probably do more sailing when they are a little bigger.
I have some General Music / GEM instruments, which are amazing, after I picked up a used WX2+ in highschool. But I really enjoyed your video, I didn't know these all came from a small region in Italy, it's a pity that era is over. Hopefully the instruments that are left get preserved and enjoyed for years to come.
I accidentally discovered on the WX2+ (this was late 90's, early 2000's) that Filter 1 and Filter 2 which each are part of dual oscillator sounds responded to midi CC events, so i could remotely control the filters. As an arranger it has many normal sounds but also really nice Synthex and ARP2600 sounds built in. Later I bought a GEM Equinox 88 but while flexible it was a bit of a let down in many ways. More recently I found a used WK4+ which is a big upgrade over my WX2+ but has the same sort of sound I love. And that is one of my very favourite instruments. I need to replace all the microswitches. The GEM workstations and synths of the 90's had many sounds and features that the big japanese workstations didn't have. I need to do some videos on these.
I never had an in-depth look at the 90s keyboards. There are way more keyboards, but since each of them uses sampling, they always seemed to be quite similar to me, but that's obviously not a well-founded opinion. My approach to keyboards is from a synthesist's side, when I was younger, I didn't play keyboards. But from what You say about the GEM keyboards, I would surely have fun with them!
I have a Bontempi Europa ES7000 heading my way right now, also seems to be zero information about it. Designed by Giugiaro, as are a few other Bontempis. Same designer as the DeLorean, apparently!
Thanks for the research you made! I was surprised when I got a brand new Roland E-16 out of the box in 1996, the metal plate was stating "Made in Italy" on the bottom)) I was expecting to see something like Japan) Nevertheless, the keyboard was of the highest quality. My second keyboard - G-1000 - was of the same origin as the E-16
At 7:55 there is a small detail: GEM was only defined as 'General Music' after the purchase of Elka and LEM (who made amps and speakers). Originally GEM was the initials of the guy who founded the company - I have it written down somewhere but I couldn't find it right now. On another subject, your EH105 seems to be the keyboard version of C92 which was the last home organ Elka made, and speaking of home organs Elka made a fantastic - though very heavy - organ called C-1000 (furniture) or X-1000 ((somewhat) portable) that has both a programmable drum machine and ditto FM synthesizer build in. th-cam.com/video/DpYpKzVTPSk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=organfairy
I understand Roland had a division in Italy at one time (may still do) and came up with weird instruments like the DJ70 sampler. I wonder if they bought out one of the Italian manufacturers.
As far as I know Korg PA series arranger keyboards are designed in Italy. Do you happen to know if Korg bought a company there in the past or did they just use the opportunity to employ people probably formerly working for those?
@@SynthsandSounds I did the multimedia part of a presentation in Director in 1997 for Synchro, that was a dealer of the Peavey amplifiers and pedals and also was selling form Korg Italia - we had a reception in their R&D lab close to Porto Recanati so i know there is Korg Italia and i know they did develop some models completely there
I found out about glorious Italian keyboards that riveled or beat Jap keyboards in 1993-94 with Wersi and Farfisa Synthesizers, arrangers, and organ style synth-arrangers. Cheetah, and General Music come to mind with the World sounds keyboard and I even got to play a few of them for myself! Wow! Now the issue is in the mainland USA we do not have such keyboards readily available new anymore. Music Industries was the only distributor of such.. err.. GEMs 😛. The FATAR/Studiologic and Novation being the main line of keyboards sold by them. I own several Fatar/Studiologic and Novation keyboards and keybeds today and I LOVE THEM!! The real wood keys used by Rodgers/Roland and Fatar, are my pride n joy for the custom keyboards I am building. It IS sad such great Manufacturers have gone under. Sadly, that is also the trend for USA based manufacturers too.. CHINA is where everything is made now. Not even JAPAN has the market beat anymore. Oh, and those Roland E series keyboards? WOW!!! I was blown away in 1995 with the E15 or E20! I mean wow, realistic sounds and built in speakers and low price for a Roland?! I still have not seen or heard a Wersi or Farfisa modern arranger-synth keyboard YET.. and it is 2023..
Wasn't Orla another Italian company? They used Yamaha FM chips on their DSE line (Böhm 12/24), but sanded the chips' surface so customers don't know... 😂
That's a brand that totally wasn't on my horizon, but it's true, it's another Brand based in Castelfidardo, the Marche hub of instruments! I found this document, apparently they were still going in 2012, but I haven't found any hint that they are still in business: www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/44751645/50-years-of-orla
I have a MRS-49 like at least another two of my musician friends, none of these is broken or developed any problem, so to define the build quality as abysmal may be a bit of an exaggeration. Unlike you, we like the keyboard a lot, a taste for square waves different from the usual Casio / Yamaha, the drums are also very nice, in particular the snare drum. Inside there are several trimmers with which you can adjust various things. However, it is a matter of taste. As for the industry thing, I realize and appreciate the effort but things are a bit more complex than you put them. They do not only concern the music industry, but also those of cars, computers, energy, cultural production etc. summing up I would say that it is the price that Italy has paid for being a protectorate of a foreign power.
TH-cam videos always need to be quite condensed, and I had to cut some corners in some explanations that otherwise would have made the video too long and less interesting for the majority. Maybe, my MRS-49 is in a specially bad condition, but I stand with my point of it having a pretty bad build quality - maybe abysmal was slightly exaggerated. It's just that compared to Yamaha and Casio Keyboards, it feels not as nice. Every switch is rattling, the keys have gained a very uncomfortable feel over the years and are very slack (as I demonstrate in the video). Build quality to me is more about the hardware than the electronics, so even a working keyboard can be bad. You're not the only one who finds the sounds nice. But surely, they are not high quality. They might fit perfectly with some kind of dreamy chiptune or lo-fi track, but that's because it is very lo-fi and primitive itself. Looking at the quality of 80s keyboards, You have to say that the bontempi is worse than Yamaha and Casio in a way that its sound engine is more primitive. And while the snare is nice, the kick totally perishes in the arrangement. Low end generally isn't the strength of 80s keyboards, but I feel a beat where You don't hear the kick is quite useless, unless You will layer it anyway. But maybe, my unit is defective, You'll never know with these old machines. I will further go into the taste discussion in one of my next videos. You're definitely right with the reasons for the decline, but again, I couldn't make a 30 minute video about Italy's economy in the 80s. There are many factors, but the far-east competition definitely was the biggest factor for the decline, so I pointed that out. I hope You still enjoyed my video! Thanks for Your criticism, I appreciate it.
@@SynthsandSounds" I hope You still enjoyed my video! " Of course, I like your takes (generally ;). Maaybe yes, you just were unlucky with your specimen. I have many Bontempi and that belongs to a period where the build quality was not bad, in my opinion. For the rest, more or less, fair enough. No, the decline of the Italian electronic musical instruments industry (and non) was not the fault of the Japanese competition, if marginally, I cannot agree with you on this point. I understand the reasons for making a video on a substantially different topic, but then it would be better not to talk about things you don't know or at least put them as hypotheses. Studying recent history is a rather difficult thing because the implications still strongly affect our daily life. I realize that these are the clichés that revolve around the matter, but I am tired of these and think it would perhaps be better to start putting them aside.
@@Gezira You are right, there was very limited information about these recent events. Whatever the main reason was, the decline must have been a shock for the people of marche region, and I assume many people rather wanted to forget than keep the memory. With my limited knowledge of Italian, this unfortunately was all I could come up with. I was limited on retelling the most common hypothesis, and I should have been more clear on that in the video
@@SynthsandSounds these are very sensitive topics, so much so that I suspect that most people, especially among the younger generations, are not really aware of them. You had to take my rant, it was probably the title that elicited me.😅 However, I take this opportunity to congratulate you for the channel, as I have already told you I like your approach to the subject and I will continue to follow you with interest.🙂
Sadly it's not the same company, but a new one that bought the rights to the name. I have a beautiful Eko bass guitar which was made by a former engineer at the original company. He bought all the remaining stick of guitar parts when Eko were bankrupt, and makes instruments from the original parts in small numbers.
Italian keyboard manufacturing is not completely dead. Aside from Fatar selling keybeds all over the world, there are Crumar and Viscount which focus on digital pianos and Hammond organ clones (I know the main developer of their sound engine, which is Guido Scognamiglio), Studiologic which is a branch of Fatar that makes controller keyboards, pianos and synthesizers, Dexibell which makes digital pianos and organs, Ketron which makes arranger keyboards and some others that now I don't remember. While not being at the grandeur that was in the 60ies/70ies, since some years there is again something going on with Italy at producing keyboard instruments.
Thanks for these important additions! With synthesizers becoming popular again, maybe some former or current Italian brand will get back to their roots and make another analog instrument. I think, many people would buy a new Crumar synthesizer, they still have a good reputation in the synth community, I guess. Maybe You should tell this to signore Scognamiglio :)
@@SynthsandSounds For sure mr. Scognamiglio knows, as he's working in the field since years. I don't know if we'll see some new analog stuff from Italy soon, as they're mainly focusing on digital technologies right now, but as the analog renaissance is a thing nowadays with instruments makers, never say never :-)
And perhaps there are some boutique/private projects going on that I'm now aware of.
There is at least two eurorack module makers, but they don't make entire instruments as far as i know, but they make synthesizer components, at least
Yes I own a crumar bit99 and it's a great analogue synth. Crumar it's still in the market. I also own an Orla electronic organ that sounds beautiful, and also Orla it's still producing.
@@mima85 IK Mulitimedia's Uno synth is analog - developed in Italy (by Italian company) and built in Tunisia.
The Solton SM100, SIEL Opera6/DK600, ELKA EK22, and Crumar Bit ONE/99 are 4 of the most under rated polysynths ever made! I own a CS80, all 3 Oberheim OBs and Matrix 12, Prophet 5, Jupiter 6, etc., but I still freaking LOVE my Italian synths!!!! Love your videos too! Keep up the amazing work!
Personally loving the dip into the synths of Italy of late. Something many of us didn't know anything about. Nice to hear your spin on it.
Thanks for the compliment, Alex! And thank You for providing some video material without me asking. I was quite sure You would be okay with it :)
Please make some more videos love your channel
thanks for the very concise yet informative video!
The MRS-49 was my first "synthesizer" as a kid... I was born in '79. It stands against the wall in my room, worn and torn, but still working. It must have been 1985, when we had "Sinterklaas", a tradition from here, and I got the Bontempi... A gift for life, it seemed later on, cause it was my start into music... The first thing I played from the booklet was Holy night. At around 14 BPM... I still remember that moment... And my parents watching me playing it... Later on I sbegan playing by ear, the songs that I liked... Aurora - Nova, Alles wat ademt from Rob de Nijs, etc... It made me fall in love with arpeggio's, to this day, every song I make contains 'em. They're actually based on arpeggio's... I loved how I could manipulate them, even tough the sliders were a bit worn after years... The string sound... It even had an "ensemble" mode, in which they sounded chord-like... It's true, not much to finjd about them on the internet... But I got mine, in 1985. Maybe I will make a video on it... Whiiiii!!! Regards from Belgium!!!
Thank you! That was really useful information and it was fun to watch :D
Thanks for the video! I still have the Bontempi MRS 52 my grandmother bought me when I was a kid and it sill have a surprisingly nice piano voice. Cheers from Italy.
Thanks for the video, very interesting. I'm from Italy near the marche region and yes, here the produced a lot of wonderful stuff. Some of them are still in the market with great products.
Always a treat to see a video from you. This is your best yet.
Thanks! After I made my first videos, I actually started to work as a journalist, it has surely helped me for such videos. And I really enjoyed making a more "journalistic" video like this, even though it was a lot of work.
Loved the Alex Ball video (I'm a massive fan) and loved your video, too. BTW, some of us love you accent! The synth world is very different than the guitar world (I live in both) in many ways, but one huge difference is that the classic electric guitars (Les Paul, SG, Tele, Strat, 335, etc and so on) are all still around, unchanged. But some of the biggest names in keyboarding came and went. I love it when old brands come back with new stuff. It'd be neat to see some of these brands come back.
My dad had an Ekosonic (a branch of Eko I guess) transistor organ in the 70s. He heavily modified it and used it to control a synth he made taking inspiration from designs taken from Nuova Elettronica which is a magazine for DIYers that's still in business today as far as I know. His organ is not working anymore but I've managed to grab an identical one that more or less works and just needs a little restoring. The design and construction of it is really a work of art considering the technology they had in those days.
Elka, Siel, Crumar all made some wonderful sounding synths. Though my first two keyboards as a very young kid were Bontempi’s 😊
Hi. I'm an italian lucky owner of an ELKA EH105. It was bought by my father in 1988. I had no documentation. Finally, serching on internet, I found on EBay some documentation, including the Electronic diagrams (very intereting !!) and the operating instructions. Unfortunately for me, the instructions are in German language (no problem, I can translate), but I wonder why I didn't found it in italian language... Anway it works fine and now I can use it in all it's functions.
Fantastic video on an interesting topic! Thank you. More please!!!
Dexibell keyboards are still made in that general Marche area of Italy, they are fantastic. I think that they are part of the PROEL group which makes pro audio gear. Anorher brand still making keyboards is Studiologic, I have a Sledge Black which I play regularly. I think that Studiologic is a division of Fatar. Obviously nothing like the glorious past, but not all is lost.
I got the Crumar Multiman S, the beautifulest strings ever !
Great video covering the sad demise of much of the Italian keyboard industry. Though we got many legendary Japanese synths as a result, who knows what also could have been produced had Italy survived the Japanese onslaught. I have to say I agree with you that the Elka sounds great, but I do quite like the sound of that little Bontempi!
And another famous player of the Elka Rhapsody (the 610 model) was Billy Currie of Ultravox. Pretty much all the synth string sounds on the three John Foxx era Ultravox albums were from the Elka, and possible some on the Midge Ure era Vienna album. By the time of Vienna, the band were also using the Yamaha SS-30 string synthesizer so I'm not sure how much the Elka was used from that point onwards.
Nice to read from You, CCT! The question of good sound is always in the eye (or ear) of the beholder. The Bontempi is very primitive, but for many kinds of sound it might be much more fitting than the ELKA. The EH105 is quite likely too good as a keyboard, if You look for the typical lo-fi-ness that most 80s casios and yamahas (or bontempis) have. But I leave this point for another review :)
I loved your video, thank you for producing it. I remember when the Italians were producing many electronic organs in the 70s and 80s. I still own an X705 portable organ that Michell Jarre used. As you say a very sad demise. Most of the American names had also disappeared by the mid 80s. Don't apologise for your German accent. I am British and I love Germany and the German people. I am a fan of Franz Lambert who at 75 is still doing concerts on his Wersi organ.👍
I think the main reason these companies faded was that their instruments needed constant repair & maintenance. My Crumar trilogy spent more time on the repair bench than my home..
Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy the presentation. They all have a dreamy feel and feel very calming. They make one happy to watch. I really enjoy your dry Swiss German style humour. I live in New Zealand, where we also go in for the dry humour.
I must say though that this video did make me cry. It did have a wee bit of a happy ending though.
The Italian instruments are a bit harder to come by on this side of the world, but I do have an old '70s italian organ keyboard which I got for maybe $1. It's pretty rough and needs quite a bit of repair. I will have to rebuild all the casings and maybe see if I can hack into the electronics to get a bit more sounds out of it.
Thank you, and please keep making more videos. You are one of my favorite producers on youtube, if not my most favorite.
What a kind message, thank You so much, Sam! Messages like this remind me that I really have to keep making regular videos.
Greetings to the other side of the globe! You might have a harder time finding some instruments, but You have many advantages! I would love to have the sea nearby, since I am a hobby sailor. I think I would find more folk to share that hobby in New Zealand, and the lake of constance really is getting a bit unexciting for sailing, over time :)
@@SynthsandSounds Yeah the sailing can be quite good here and you can sail for about 9 months of the year. You can’t really sail during the winter as there is generally either no wind or too much wind. I sailed for many years and still have some dinghies, but have small children, and have taken up martial arts in the mean time. Will probably do more sailing when they are a little bigger.
I have some General Music / GEM instruments, which are amazing, after I picked up a used WX2+ in highschool. But I really enjoyed your video, I didn't know these all came from a small region in Italy, it's a pity that era is over. Hopefully the instruments that are left get preserved and enjoyed for years to come.
I accidentally discovered on the WX2+ (this was late 90's, early 2000's) that Filter 1 and Filter 2 which each are part of dual oscillator sounds responded to midi CC events, so i could remotely control the filters. As an arranger it has many normal sounds but also really nice Synthex and ARP2600 sounds built in. Later I bought a GEM Equinox 88 but while flexible it was a bit of a let down in many ways. More recently I found a used WK4+ which is a big upgrade over my WX2+ but has the same sort of sound I love. And that is one of my very favourite instruments. I need to replace all the microswitches. The GEM workstations and synths of the 90's had many sounds and features that the big japanese workstations didn't have. I need to do some videos on these.
I never had an in-depth look at the 90s keyboards. There are way more keyboards, but since each of them uses sampling, they always seemed to be quite similar to me, but that's obviously not a well-founded opinion. My approach to keyboards is from a synthesist's side, when I was younger, I didn't play keyboards. But from what You say about the GEM keyboards, I would surely have fun with them!
@@SynthsandSounds Especially with the older DSK and PX series. 😉
Your videos are great. Thank you!
Another great video!
hi Jochen! you had already won my heart with your review of the HT3000! and now the EH105! can I subscribe twice? :) keep it up, great channel!!
Thank You so much!
I have a Bontempi Europa ES7000 heading my way right now, also seems to be zero information about it. Designed by Giugiaro, as are a few other Bontempis. Same designer as the DeLorean, apparently!
Nice!
I have an EH105 which I'd like to use for its MIDI possibilities, in order to trigger a Behringer Solina. Alas, no manual.
It seems quite similar in sounds & features as Elka OMB-3 & OMB-5. (which I own)
hi. great video, thanks;) I just got an Elka EH105 but it has no PSU. Do you know the specs to the psu adapter? Cheers
Surviving of Bontempi in the Chinese era is little miracle.
Thanks for the research you made! I was surprised when I got a brand new Roland E-16 out of the box in 1996, the metal plate was stating "Made in Italy" on the bottom)) I was expecting to see something like Japan) Nevertheless, the keyboard was of the highest quality. My second keyboard - G-1000 - was of the same origin as the E-16
3:35, that looks like a Philips Philicorda, those are made in Holland.
Well observed! It is my own Philicorda, which I just used as example for the pre integrated circuits era circuitboards
@@SynthsandSounds Nice. Such a nice piece of furniture! Like the minimalist Bauhauesque looks.
At 7:55 there is a small detail: GEM was only defined as 'General Music' after the purchase of Elka and LEM (who made amps and speakers). Originally GEM was the initials of the guy who founded the company - I have it written down somewhere but I couldn't find it right now. On another subject, your EH105 seems to be the keyboard version of C92 which was the last home organ Elka made, and speaking of home organs Elka made a fantastic - though very heavy - organ called C-1000 (furniture) or X-1000 ((somewhat) portable) that has both a programmable drum machine and ditto FM synthesizer build in. th-cam.com/video/DpYpKzVTPSk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=organfairy
I used to have bontempi keyboard at late 80's but I have no idea what model was it. Not a toy, it's for sure.
I understand Roland had a division in Italy at one time (may still do) and came up with weird instruments like the DJ70 sampler. I wonder if they bought out one of the Italian manufacturers.
Yes, it was Keyboard and Synth manufacturer Siel who became Roland Europa spa, the Roland's european branch with its own development department
As far as I know Korg PA series arranger keyboards are designed in Italy. Do you happen to know if Korg bought a company there in the past or did they just use the opportunity to employ people probably formerly working for those?
I have no knowledge about Korg acquiring an Italian company, but that doesn't mean too much. I think both options are well possible
@@SynthsandSounds I did the multimedia part of a presentation in Director in 1997 for Synchro, that was a dealer of the Peavey amplifiers and pedals and also was selling form Korg Italia - we had a reception in their R&D lab close to Porto Recanati so i know there is Korg Italia and i know they did develop some models completely there
I just discovered the mrs49 and had to grab one. €30!
I found out about glorious Italian keyboards that riveled or beat Jap keyboards in 1993-94 with Wersi and Farfisa Synthesizers, arrangers, and organ style synth-arrangers. Cheetah, and General Music come to mind with the World sounds keyboard and I even got to play a few of them for myself! Wow! Now the issue is in the mainland USA we do not have such keyboards readily available new anymore. Music Industries was the only distributor of such.. err.. GEMs 😛. The FATAR/Studiologic and Novation being the main line of keyboards sold by them. I own several Fatar/Studiologic and Novation keyboards and keybeds today and I LOVE THEM!! The real wood keys used by Rodgers/Roland and Fatar, are my pride n joy for the custom keyboards I am building. It IS sad such great Manufacturers have gone under. Sadly, that is also the trend for USA based manufacturers too.. CHINA is where everything is made now. Not even JAPAN has the market beat anymore. Oh, and those Roland E series keyboards? WOW!!! I was blown away in 1995 with the E15 or E20! I mean wow, realistic sounds and built in speakers and low price for a Roland?! I still have not seen or heard a Wersi or Farfisa modern arranger-synth keyboard YET.. and it is 2023..
I owned a Bontempi X-301, bought new in 1986. Pretty crude in comparison to the Casio and Yamaha portables of that era.
This exactly fits my observations :)
Wasn't Orla another Italian company? They used Yamaha FM chips on their DSE line (Böhm 12/24), but sanded the chips' surface so customers don't know... 😂
That's a brand that totally wasn't on my horizon, but it's true, it's another Brand based in Castelfidardo, the Marche hub of instruments! I found this document, apparently they were still going in 2012, but I haven't found any hint that they are still in business: www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/44751645/50-years-of-orla
Maybe you should start your own private museum with your collection of synthesizers.
@@timothyverbist5795 I found some nice old keyboard rarities since the video. I already thought about that... Maybe in a few years :)
@@SynthsandSounds Good to know! ;)
I have a siel. ❤
I have a MRS-49 like at least another two of my musician friends, none of these is broken or developed any problem, so to define the build quality as abysmal may be a bit of an exaggeration.
Unlike you, we like the keyboard a lot, a taste for square waves different from the usual Casio / Yamaha, the drums are also very nice, in particular the snare drum.
Inside there are several trimmers with which you can adjust various things.
However, it is a matter of taste.
As for the industry thing, I realize and appreciate the effort but things are a bit more complex than you put them.
They do not only concern the music industry, but also those of cars, computers, energy, cultural production etc. summing up I would say that it is the price that Italy has paid for being a protectorate of a foreign power.
TH-cam videos always need to be quite condensed, and I had to cut some corners in some explanations that otherwise would have made the video too long and less interesting for the majority. Maybe, my MRS-49 is in a specially bad condition, but I stand with my point of it having a pretty bad build quality - maybe abysmal was slightly exaggerated. It's just that compared to Yamaha and Casio Keyboards, it feels not as nice. Every switch is rattling, the keys have gained a very uncomfortable feel over the years and are very slack (as I demonstrate in the video). Build quality to me is more about the hardware than the electronics, so even a working keyboard can be bad.
You're not the only one who finds the sounds nice. But surely, they are not high quality. They might fit perfectly with some kind of dreamy chiptune or lo-fi track, but that's because it is very lo-fi and primitive itself. Looking at the quality of 80s keyboards, You have to say that the bontempi is worse than Yamaha and Casio in a way that its sound engine is more primitive.
And while the snare is nice, the kick totally perishes in the arrangement. Low end generally isn't the strength of 80s keyboards, but I feel a beat where You don't hear the kick is quite useless, unless You will layer it anyway. But maybe, my unit is defective, You'll never know with these old machines. I will further go into the taste discussion in one of my next videos.
You're definitely right with the reasons for the decline, but again, I couldn't make a 30 minute video about Italy's economy in the 80s. There are many factors, but the far-east competition definitely was the biggest factor for the decline, so I pointed that out. I hope You still enjoyed my video! Thanks for Your criticism, I appreciate it.
@@SynthsandSounds" I hope You still enjoyed my video! "
Of course, I like your takes (generally ;).
Maaybe yes, you just were unlucky with your specimen.
I have many Bontempi and that belongs to a period where the build quality was not bad, in my opinion.
For the rest, more or less, fair enough.
No, the decline of the Italian electronic musical instruments industry (and non) was not the fault of the Japanese competition, if marginally, I cannot agree with you on this point.
I understand the reasons for making a video on a substantially different topic, but then it would be better not to talk about things you don't know or at least put them as hypotheses.
Studying recent history is a rather difficult thing because the implications still strongly affect our daily life.
I realize that these are the clichés that revolve around the matter, but I am tired of these and think it would perhaps be better to start putting them aside.
@@Gezira You are right, there was very limited information about these recent events. Whatever the main reason was, the decline must have been a shock for the people of marche region, and I assume many people rather wanted to forget than keep the memory. With my limited knowledge of Italian, this unfortunately was all I could come up with. I was limited on retelling the most common hypothesis, and I should have been more clear on that in the video
@@SynthsandSounds these are very sensitive topics, so much so that I suspect that most people, especially among the younger generations, are not really aware of them.
You had to take my rant, it was probably the title that elicited me.😅
However, I take this opportunity to congratulate you for the channel, as I have already told you I like your approach to the subject and I will continue to follow you with interest.🙂
Eko still exists too, but they only produce cheap guitars. They manage to stay afloat by being the main Italian distributor for Roland and Korg.
Sadly it's not the same company, but a new one that bought the rights to the name. I have a beautiful Eko bass guitar which was made by a former engineer at the original company. He bought all the remaining stick of guitar parts when Eko were bankrupt, and makes instruments from the original parts in small numbers.
It sounds like the Elka EH-105 is a powered by a cheap Yamaha FM chip.
More German accent please