Kurzweil 1000PX | The Proteus Killer?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- The legendary and extremely expensive Kurzweil K250 sported some truly spectacular sounds for its time. Fast forward to 1988 and Kurzweil decided to put many of these sounds into different expanders. The 1000PX is one of them.
I really like this module. Very usable and extremely well sampled sounds.
Not very easy to edit from the from the front panel, but I really have no desire to edit these sounds today. This is the module I'm more than happy to use as a preset module. Much more so than the Proteus.
I use Valhalla VintageVerb only in this video, no other reverb.
The video footage is from the very west of Norway, the bay of Hoddevik, known for its awesome waves and a eldorado for surfers. The tide was very low this day so not anything spectacular in terms of surfing, but the scenery is stunning. Of course I shot all these clips myself.
Some of the clips are from Kråkenes fyr, another spectacular site, even furter west, right into the Atlantic ocean.
Many thanks to Anders Jensen for letting me use this for this video! :)
Support this channel on Patreon:
/ espenkraft
Find my music here:
iTunes Apple music: apple.co/35ZTdfR
Spotify: spoti.fi/38aoWMB
Bandcamp: espenkraft.ban...
Google Play: bit.ly/2NrgXD9
Please join me on social media:
/ espenkraftmu. .
/ espenkraft
/ espenkraft
I use DistroKid for all my releases onto streaming services.
Try out Distrokid yourself and get a 7% discount off your first year by using this link:
distrokid.com/v...
Growing up I listened to so much synth-pop and it's only natural that my own music takes inspiration from many of the acts I loved back then. I still love them and listen to them!
Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Erasure, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, The Human League, Propaganda. FGTH, Ultravox, OMD, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, Alphaville, A-ha as well as loads of artists doing what is now called Italo Disco. And many more great acts like Nik Kershaw, Spandau Ballet, Wham, Dire Straits ++
Kurzweil had great American engineers, even when it was acquired by Young Chang. I think it's really worth to explore these unique American digital instruments from: Kurzweil, E-mu Systems, Ensoniq, Peavey, and Alesis. The resurgence of Moog, Korg's ARP, and Sequential are not the only things American music industry had to offer. They had to offer much more.
Don't forget Oberheim my friend 😊
@@davids.3409 Well, Oberheim is back now. Still, I'd prefer to own an Emulator II or Kurzweil 250 to any Oberheim.
What a beautiful opener, really interesting to see the wonders of Norway. Wow!
Happy you enjoyed it! :)
I agree. I was wondering where that might be. Then I played the video back and at the beginning, there is a sign that says Hoddevik. There is a Hoddevik Beach in Norway.
norway sucks come visit the us
I like the Piano and Strings from Kurzweil too. The Strings sound like the Pet Shop Boys Strings used in the 80s i think. Today i will buy a used Kurzweil K2000R from someone I know and i'm very excited about it.
I used to hear these strings in many songs during the 90s. I remember that Elton John's hit "Sacrifice" from 1990 had them come in about halfway through the song.
Had K2000 in the 90s and 00s. Still sounds great in 2022. They used some serious engineering alchemy in all the Kurz stuff.
Great to see this video, thank you!! I LOVE these and SO many good ideas.
I was UK product manager for the importer so was lucky enough to have a 1000PX, 1000HX, 1000SX and the 1000GX in a rack (and K250 with 4 expansions, K1000 and EGP) - absolute dream job!!
It has a built in MIDI analyser I used to use all the time - displays MIDI message in the display.
Fantastic MIDI versatility for it's time including programme change mapping, all 16 channels available at once and high polyphony with dynamic allocation across channels and sounds with complex rules from the K250. Also the most complrehensive programmable tuning with almost every 'wierd' scale you would want and the ability to 'invert' parts of the keyboard. Also if you change sounds whilst holding notes from a previous sound, the previous sounds will stay - great for layers.
Also inherited from the K1000, it had 'controller check' on start up so wherever controllers were on start, was the default "off" position - so worked with any pedal, both push-to-make and push-to-break.
I bought one second hand about 12 years ago to upgrade an aged Clavinova and found I had an incredibly rare beast. They later launched the PX Plus which had an additional set of sounds (e.g. Drums, Electric Bass and Rhodes) on ROM but there was a very short period when they released retro-fit upgrade boards for a 'normal' PX. I remember us getting an engineer into UK HQ to fit the boards to a few PX's. To my delight that was what I got and now have - although now stored in the attic and unused.
Things I learnt from the Boston engineers: The PX Piano and Strings are the seminal K250 ones but can sound brighter due to the D2A cut-off frequency. The SX has the same string sounds as the legendary K250 but because it has higher bit processing and more crucially, a better D2A converter, the sound is much brighter and therefore got criticised for not being as 'warm'. Many of the sounds on the GX were meant to be used with guitar effects pedals - they never wanted to put such 'dirty' sounds in a Kurzweil module. And it was that thinking that led to one of it's biggest problems vs the competition, it had no in built Signal Processing as Kurzweil thought internal DSPs were poor quality.
Main thing to watch now is the LCD backlight which being so old, becomes dim making the display hard to read.
Thanks for sharing your story! Very interesting. :)
I own a Kurzweil PC3 76 and absolutely adore the quality of the sounds. There is something about Kurzweil sounds that are so rich and warm and they certainly give Roland and Korg a run for their money
I agree 100% and im a huge fan of both roland and korg. I picked up a k2000 a few weeks ago after lusting for one for many years. I'm not dissatisfied at all !! Only problem it has is the backlight is almost completely shot.
HX horn expander is one of my favorite racks ever! Incredibly useful sounds, midi implementation, and cost only me $10 at a flea market. Ray Kurzweil pioneered the highest quality of sampled sounds and is one of the main contributors to modern voice recognition software.
I just procured a K1200 Pro. Absolutely love this thing!
Bought one off CraigsList in Nashville for $70. I kept asking the guy if he was sure that's all he wanted and he just said "I'm selling all my old stuff". I Love that K1200 Pro!
Oh yeeeeeahhh, I got one recently, because I remembered the Kurzweil as having the slickest, smoothest, most buttery piano ever. I remembered correctly. I'm using this on almost every track now.
Whoa! Something about the oscillation and the chord arrangement on those choirs at 6:37 is really beautiful
it's an effect called ensemble. kinda like a vintage chorus/ detune
Kurzweil lived on these multisamples for decades! And why not, since they were excellent. Even today the K250 and its derivative modules are usable sound sources (never mind the usability of the interfaces, which was zero) I'm sure I can find these sounds in my K2600's even. VAST was nothing if not a flexible engine, and when the K2000 hit the shelves I really really wanted one, but I would have not had food for 3 months if I did that. Cheap they were not. In 1988 I did manage to borrow one of these for a production, now lost in time. Mixed with my 2 Yamaha FM synths and a Kawai K3m and a RX15 drum machine and you had instant 80's pop!
That sounds so much better than all the modern stuff.
Thank you Espen for this interesting video about the sounds of this module! And the landscapes of western Norway are almost overwhelmingly beautiful - in contrast to the much more human-made landscape of my country Nederland (The Netherlands).
But for all the viewers here I think this exceptional module could use some clarification.
The Kurzweil 1000PX has the same sounds as the Kurzweil K1000 "keyboard": some 170 different sounds built-in...
So it is a SAMPLE PLAYER - manufactured around 1990 - with real instrument samples that are still of amazing quality.
AND it is a SYNTHESIZER with all the possibilities of shaping a sound - although the tiny display makes that a cumbersome task. The user manual has some 300 pages...
One can use the synthesizer part to modify a true acoustic sample to one's taste. For instance, to make the sound of the dulcimer less Appalachian and more Romanian...
I have used the K1000 (76 keys) and the K1200 (88 hammer action keys) keyboards as well as the 1000AX and the 1000GX modules for years. And I still love them!
The acoustic samples of real instruments are absolutely realistic and beautiful - if you are looking for a natural sounding piano, organ, string sections, brass sections, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, vibraphone, marimba, flute, guitar, harp, double bass & bass guitar etc. look no further. There are also (synthesized) variations of many instruments and fantasy sounds. And of course there are dozens of drum sounds and percussion sounds as well. An arrangement of say 10 different instruments in your sequencer coupled over MIDI to just one 1000PX module sounds amazing with just a small amount of reverb and compression added in the end mix.
So, if you are looking for the sound of acoustic musical instruments, the Kurzweil 1000PX (the general module) will fulfill many dreams! The other modules 1000HX (wind instruments), 1000SX (string instruments), 1000GX (guitars) are a nice addition.
If you are looking for a synthesizer, there are better (handier) options...
These modules are very cheap nowadays, some € 225 in Europe, half of that in America. There is a Kurzweil users group (k1000.net/index.html) with loads of know-how from insiders ;-)
You are obviously a uber-Kurzweil enthusiast. Cheers :D
I was wondering, what is the difference between the sounds in a PX module and a k1200 keyboard or a Pro I module? Are they the same? Or does the latter also contain the GX and SX modules, or do they have brand new samples altogether?
@@lake4ishikawa To my knowledge the sounds in the PX module, the K1000 and K1200 keyboards and the Pro I module are the same. They have some beautiful string and horn/flute sounds, but not as many as the dedicated SX and HX modules. The sounds of the special GX guitar module are only there.
@@nicowagenaar7884 thanks for the info :)
I did a bit of research and apparently it's possible to upgrade a PX to a Pro I by slotting in some rom upgrades.
Quite amazing tech!
This video made me buy a K1200, which is the super 1000PX. Thanks a lot, Espen! :)
Cheers!
Beautiful! One day those old romplers will be valuable again! Still have some of mine in the closet. :)
Take it out of the closet and use it! ;-)
Beautiful pictures from Norway and music ! Great expander with killer sounds. 👍
Thanks man! :)
Completely forgot about this module. I wonder how much influence this architecture had on VAST. The K2000 completely changed the industry! IMO.
Terribly underrated module.
Mr. Espen Kraft, your land is amazingly beautiful. The Northway, Norge, Norway, Noruega (in the Portuguese, which is my native tongue). Your music is also incredible.
Many thanks! :)
What a really beautiful place and music on the start of the video!! SWEET retro vibes!!
Cheers! :D
You uploaded this video at the time when i have my k2000 in my apartment! Overall this is a great video showcasing the Kurzweil 1000PX and i imagine how expensive these synths were in the day, i hope to see more of late 80s and early 90s era synths like this.
I have lots more where this came from. As I have for the last three years. ;-)
I just did a revision on this unit. Fully worth it. Sounds great.
Mind blowing sounds killer organ sounds. Kurzweil used to make really fabulous products and currently they are struggling. Fantastic review!
Thank you!
Thanks! :)
I wouldn’t say they are struggling, their current forte and pc4 outspec pretty much everything out now, they just need to bring the interface into the modern age.
I was a big Kurzweil guy in the 90's having owned a K2000, a K2500XS, a K2600XS, and a K2600RS. I sure loved my Kurzweils! I remember in the mid 80's annoying the music store near me to go and play the K250 every week. Unfortunately for me though, $12k was just too much money for me since I was only earning $50 a month from my paper route. LOL
Hey can you tell me anything about the k2600xs? I saw one recently and i feel like i should have gotten it, what are that boards strong points? If one “boots up slowly” is that a sign it’s about to break?
@@pinkglow2402 I don't remember any long boot-up time at all actually. Definitely get the XS if you want sampling. There are also a lot of great sample libraries for the 2500/2600 series. I used to use SCSI hard drives such as the Zip Drive and Jazz Drive, but there may be a mod out now that allows faster transferring of files for the Kurzweil...hopefully. I paid nearly $5k for my K2600XS back in the 90's, so they are a steal used now IMO, :)
@@pinkglow2402 tbh you can pick up more modern kurzweils SH for not much more money.
It IS a great, and underrated module indeed. So many impressive sounds for the year it came out. Some say there were 10 modules in total, and the intent was that composers (mainly in the US where this was a famous brand) could pick their type of sound as an expansion (if you were wealthy of course). However, it's only nine and that's only if you count the ROM expansions for the five main modules (AX, GX, HX, SX and PX):
• 1000 AX Plus Acoustic Expander (185 presets - all SX and HX plus more)
• 1000 GX Guitar Expander (100 presets)
• 1000 HX Horn Expander (75 presets)
• 1000 HXA Expansion ROM: Soprano sax, Alto sax, Baritone Sax, Brass stabs
• 1000 SX String Expander (99 presets)
• 1000 SXA Expansion ROM: Clarinet, Flute, Oboe , Bassoon, Fr. Horn, Timpani
• 1000 PX Professional Expander (120 presets)
• 1000 PXA Expansion ROM: Flute, Rhodes, E. bass, Drums, more waveforms
• 1000 PXB Expansion ROM: Steel guitar, Harp, Marimba, Tenor Sax, Percussion
To my knowledge, these were used by such west coast/LA-fusion artists as Chick Corea, David Foster, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and probably a whole bunch of composers for radio, TV etc. :)
Kurzweil gear was so expensive back then. I never really used any of it, until the K2000. ;-)
I have a broken one of these in my loft. I used it a lot through the 90's. My K2500 rack really replaced it...though I do miss that choir sound.👍🏻
Very deep stringsound...thx for the reviews/ discoveries. Crgans were very nice too...everything just sounds right enough. Very warm presence to the sound. LIKE!
Stunning selection of sound wonderfully played
Many thanks Darren! :)
Wow. Those organs!
Beautiful introduction! Total nostalgia with the rest of the content 😌
Sweet. Thanks! :)
I would almost buy this for that beautiful piano alone. Brilliant!
It's really good actually.
@@EspenKraft There are two for sale nearby, but I already spent my money on other gear. Perhaps some other time :)
I remember seeing a demo of the 250 at a music expo and being blown away by the sounds. And the price! So when these ‘affordable’ expanders came out I was optimistic I’d be able to own one eventually.
The Micropiano is an awesome little substitute! I don’t have the Microensemble yet but I’m keeping my eye out for it!
Love your videos btw. Thanks for doing them with so much obvious love and care!
Many thanks man! :)
I purchased my 1000PX used at a very good price back in 1992, and I still have it. It's build like a tank!
Some programs are real classics: piano, strings, vibe, and the fretless bass I used a lot.
Also, you have several temperaments - you can create your own - as well as several velocity curves (such as "DX7 Hard" and "DX7 soft": guess for which keyboard...).
Playing the piano with a Balinese temperament is... let's say pretty peculiar!
An application called Object Mover was available for Mac and Atari.
They are really underrated: I've recently saw a Pro1 (which is a 1000PX+PXA+PXB ROMS+23 buttons interface) for sell at 60 $.
NIce intro! Keep it it up like this! Really really special stuff.... I mean this time we got a show... amazing.
Thanks! Happy you liked it! :)
Great demo !!! I have the px1000plus and the PRO 2 both bought at Sweetwater sound in the 80s. I love them ans still use them a lot despite my hardware samplers and my huges vst libraries. They have some kind of echoey unique character.
Cheers! :)
I own this module & it is indeed a joy 😊
The demo at the start is awesome. It has a bit of a Mark Mothersbaugh vibe with the piano and Georgian choir.
Cheers!
This is definitely the best 1000PX demo I've heard Espen! Well done. I need to dust off my old 1000PX now!
Cheers Erik! :D
Sometimes I think I like the sounds reverb better than the sound itself lol :)
My God I wanted this so bad. Had an MMT-8 starring at me hooked to my D-50 just wishing I had this pallette of sounds and polyphony and multitymbrality.. ahh... the "good" old days😉 great vid as usual Espen!
Thanks! :)
What a gorgeous country!!! When the sun is out :)
Thanks! The same place is equally spectacular when it's stormy too. But a lot more wet!
Espen Kraft as a Dutchman I can handle storm and rain but the snow and ice in your winters make me shiver 🥶
I have that unit, with the PX-A064 expansion installed. It's still an amazing-sounding sound module!
surprisingly beautiful sounds !
It's great! :)
Nice vid and thanks for the info. However, I have to add a few extra bits of information. The 1000 series was arguably the first synth built with upgrades in mind, having a common chassis with extra sockets to add more RAM and ROM upgrades. This gives you not only extra sounds but huge improvements to the OS and the capability of storing up to 1000 MIDI locations.
Some of your sounds that you claim are bells are actually vibes. I have 13 1000 modules of all the varieties (PX, SX, HX, GX) going back to my first PX in 1988, and up to the beginning of this year when I got my 4th GX module on Ebay for £40! The seller couldn't test it so was offering it as 'for parts or not working', and it turned out to work just fine. As you say, the sounds are terrific, and that's why I'm hanging on to mine. You may ask why I need 13 of them? Easy, you can chain link them together via MIDI for added polyphony. Even though a PX is nominally 24 voice poly, as soon as you add soundfiles together (up to 4), the poly amount reduces - only 6 voices with a four later patch. So 4 PXs chain linked together give you potentially 96 voice poly or 24 voices with a four layer patch, as on the K2000.
Regarding using the 1000s as presets - you're not limited to that. If you head on over to k1000.net you'll find info and many libraries for the 1000 series. Some of those are mine!
Bells or vibes... they basically fill the same need in a production. ;-)
Thanks for the extra info though, always nice to have users chipping in.
I was referring to the editing of programs when I used the word "preset". I really don't see much point in editing anything on these. Just load in new programs if needed.
The bright piano is so nice sounding. Reverb is super
Cheers! :)
The K250 was like the CS-80 of early romplers (specially in terms of size and weight). Solid state memory was still bulky and expensive back in those days. But the sounds were just fantastic.
I currently have both the K1000SE AND a 1000PX... am not sure I can part with the keyboard version though :/ I bought the rack to sell the keyboard, but it's such a great monster. hard to part with that!
My favorite sound is the new age piano (I believe). Just love that totally warbly, haunted sound.
Yes, the new age piano is amazing, I use mainly the Slow Strings, Fluid Vibes, Trem Vibes, Synth Kalimba and the Grand Strings which I programmed manually because that sound is only included in the PX Plus and the 1200 Pro 1
I love where you live, it's so beautiful.
Many thanks! It's very beautiful in Norway. I don't live where this footage was shot though. ;-)
Very very good piano on the PX, Very Thick , its nearly like a stage piano
I saw a listing for the Digital Music Corp MX-8 on that magazine cover! I have that still to this day and it works FLAWLESSLY. Far better than any Motu unit!
@@michael69040 That is too bad. My unit was bought second hand, for $100 maybe a year ago? It is still working flawlessly. I immediately replaced the battery and it appears to be an earlier unit, with a date of 1986. I admit, the screen is fading, but in reading around, that is VERY common and one of the only real things I found go wrong on these things. If it died, I would probably get an other however, if the price was right. It just works.
We used the 2600 rack modules a lot in college. Their pianos were first class.
Pretty sure some of these samples are still in ROM on the current products (not necessarily with programs onboard, but for legacy purposes--Kurzweils have always been very backwards compatible). And many of them are still very very good. So much on here still sounds fresh and relevant.
Great sounding unit nice tune
Cheers man! :)
Dammit, Now I have to get around to repairing mine in the garage. It’s been sat there for 2 years with a psu issue and I thought it wasn’t a good rack. Now I hear it sounds wonderful. 😬. Cheers Espen 👌
You should get if fixed today! ;-) It's quite good. Cheers :)
Espen Kraft It’s my birthday today so I got the day off 😂. Looks like it will be tomorrow.
Thanks for this, Espen! ✌🏻😎🎹🌴🌞
Very interesting.....
Instant Robert Miles vibes when I hear the Kurz piano.
The vast majority of sounds on the Children came from Kurzweil. I would say 90% of the first album is K2000.
Cant wait for a fully upgraded kurz K2000 review !
Don't have a K2000 anymore.
I have a K2000RS (2 actually...I need to swap some parts between them to make one really good one) and you can really see how hand-built they are (by Young Chang, since they bought Kurzweil after the 250) when you open one up. In a way, it kinda looks cheap because things look kinda sloppy compared to automated factory soldered components on smaller scale PCBs, but on the other hand, it looks like it was lovingly made by someone who cared how it all worked...like it was personally made for you. I'm not sure about the later models. One of the best things about early Kurzweils is that they have tutorial videos made by Jordan Rudess, when he was a geeky long-haired (though thinning) guy before he became badass/edgy bald guy w/ facial hair. ;-)
I have a k2000 with the keyboard and I've been meaning to take apart to try to fix some key velocities by cleaning the contacts but am afraid I wouldn't be able to put it back together, lol! The k2000 training video is fantastic because it really communicates how groundbreaking it was and they had a bunch of the engineers talk about it too.
I remember those videos with Jordan. Priceless.
Good luck findin' one of these things but u got one already so kudos to you indeed. Like u said kinda really just blows away Proteus, pretty much out of the water. Think this instrument was the precursor to what spelled the beginning of the end for EMU.Then when the subsequent merger/acquisition of/with Ensoniq happened, it became a realization when Propellerhead bought'em out & sealed the deal (fate) of both companies. Sorta indirectly caused IMHO by the Kurz effect as they weren't the only synth makers that were affected by this & succumbed to it. thanx dude 😎
Cheers!
Wow, I don't want to get rid of mine now!
When I hear the Strings patch, I always think of Super Mario RPG since Yoko sampled the patch to be used in the game's soundtrack.
I have K-1200 keyboard (88 keys) and it contains all 1000px sounds + more. Negative to all K1000 series is lack of filter (no filter of any kind), no individual audio outs (1x stereo only), no onboard effects and sometimes very noticable aliasing when transposing (especially on strings and choir). K-1200 has sluggish MIDI timing.
I have just bought a Kurzweil K2600xs a few months ago to replace my alesis Qs8.1. The sounds on it are out of this world! the pianos are to die for, But i am not to sure if kurzweil stuff is geared for the dance, techno market. Like Korg etc. I maybe wrong.
Hey what do you like about the k2600xs? There was one for sale locally for about $650 that the girl said “booted up slowly”, and i felt like i should have bought it but wasn’t sure if it was any good cuz id never heard of the 2600 or used kurzweil gear. Im still subliminally kicking myself for not getting it, i feel like i might have missed out? What does it do well? Would i be better getting the k2600xs or one of these racks?
@@pinkglow2402 If you want really realistic sounding pianos, then the K2500/K2600 is the one, also some other sounds are very realistic like the wind, brass and organ sounds too. For the heads up, The beegees used a k2500xs and so did new order, So they are very solid bits of kit and were very expensive too new at the time, if fully loaded with the full spec. Have a google on the k2500 xs and the k2600xs
All you need to do is dirty the sound up a little, sidechain the melody off the kick, reverb and set at 128BPM (BPM based on which dance genre you doing). Now this is with me assuming you using a DAW
Very nice opening video (and tune! More of that please ;) ). As always, nice run though of the sounds with examples and all. I find pretty much all of the sounds (hence that might be the "kurzweil sound"?) to be quite on the fatty and rich side. Very likeable!
Thanks! Yes, this is quite the surprise module for many people. ;-)
Weirdly, I hear a lot of 90s TV theme shows in these sounds, both British, US and Australian (thanks to Amazon Prime, you can hear them all in one day!) ;-)
The 1000 series costed a fortune back then. Great studio quality. People who did film scores bought these.
They sure did.
Also - while it is not terribly easy to edit, I did not find it completely unmanageable. But I guess since I've only made a few patches, that probably speaks a lot about the ease of editing.
I would advise that anyone getting the 1000PX to upgrade to the 1000PX Plus, which had more sounds on board. I believe its equivalent to the K1000SE. You'll notice the difference between the original and the plus version because the Plus has two sets of buttons, which I believe makes navigating easier.
Yes, that's right. The Plus versions adds more sounds. The 1000PX here is the original expander.
I could be mistaken but the unit that Espen uses in the video is expanded either with the PXA or both the PXA and PXB, the 1000PX without the expansions don't have drums and flutes. The PX Plus has a more intuitive layout, those 23 buttons instead of the 8 of the standard PX make patch changes way easier
That’s good sounds, greats 👍🏼
Cheers!
Great Espen! Kurzweil is pure cream. My first synth was a Kurzweil k2600x . Back then I was very lost and I didn’t know very well how to program and edit, always I was using the program presets. Few years later I sold it. Now I regret very much. ;/
Where are you located? I plan to sell a K2600X and an Ensoniq SQ-80.
The 1000 series was supposed to be a more 'affordable' way to have access to the great quality K250 sounds. Even though over $2k, they cost only about 10-15% of what a K250 cost.
It was incredibly expensive.
I wish Kurzweil were just more widely distributed so that sales and support were better, which has been shockingly poor here in the UK. Having repaired a few vintage Kurzweil key actions myself, the acrylic escapements are usually brittle and prone to snapping, so avoid machines with busted keys unless you have spares and expect failures if they don’t.
They have the worst marketing dept in the world
In context it's got that 80s pop sheen that all glues together, but in isolation the patches really remind me of the naff daytime TV soundtracks of the 90s. I wonder if units like these were a cheap way for shoe-string media composers to get a bunch of sounds back then and the dreary wallpaper music has ruined the sounds for me?
On a related note, I've got to know several of the original Kurzweil people as they moved there post ARP. Would be interested to hear that story some time.
Also, Hoddevik looks stunning!
As I don't know how much budget "shoe-string" composers had back then, but these were pretty expensive in the late 80s, as were all Kurzweil products, but I'm sure a lot of movie/tv composers used them. ;-)
I find this (today) a superb "preset" machine for a lot of sounds and having this on loan from Anders has certainly made me want to get one for myself. That bright piano patch is well worth the 100 bucks I'd have to pay for one. I could sample it, and I have, but I like it coming out of THIS box. ;-)
I'd be interested in any story from your new friends in the matter!
Hoddevik is spectacular, and if you visit during a storm, it would stay with you the rest of your life! ;-)
When they came out they had some of the most realistic acoustic samples at least at retail, and I think the strings were used in some bigger budget movies (at least they sound familiar when I play them on mine). The next model k2000 (1991) put some strange processing power on top of those samples. The K2000 also had a kind of modular virtual analog, where you could route generated waveforms (or the samples) through different combinations of filters and envelopes with a pretty advanced modulation matrix but you had to do through the little window. I think Pink Floyd used them on tour for analog sounds. Wendy Carlos liked them for a while for alternate tuning tables. I still have a K2000 unfortunately with a couple bad keys but it's still magical plus Ray Kurzweil now thinks our brains will live forever within computers!
I myself was hitherto unaware of the direct line of connection between Kurzweil and ARP. Wasn’t aware any of those employees had work outside CBS musical instruments, where they were employed manufacturing the Chroma.
@@Shred_The_Weapon I'm fascinated with how designers of old synths approached decisions although cost is always a factor, when I was learning my k2000, I really got the sense that a lot of consideration for a wide variety of users preferences went into the design (of the software at least). Even though it's considered a ROMpler, it's very flexible if you want to dig in and you could start with an emulation of the traditional analog synth signal path.
@@Shred_The_Weapon Mary Lock was a big part of Kurzweil having been at both ARP and CBS.
David Frederick worked there as did Phil Dodds. I think Robert Hartford of ARP also went there. Probably others too.
Even Alan Pearlman did some consulting.
They also hired the services of some guy called Bob Moog, whoever he was. 😉
There's an interesting story there to be told for sure.
Love the license plate! :-D
Cool that you say that. ;-)
EK-007 love it!!
You have a good eye. ;-)
Italian last 80s/90s erotic movies had soundtrack with similar sounds! :D
Hah, nice! ;-)
Those of us in the US may associate that “brite piano” at 3:29 with “Deep thoughts, by Jack Handy” from SNL.
Food for thoughts. After looking at many "sound modules" of the era, at your channel the question, which ones are unique enough, accours. Most of us are on an budget and taste i personal, but it you invest in one synth what synth should you not invest in? Example. if you have the JV1080 what synths can you skip, as they are too close. If you got the Roland Alpha Juno 2, do you need to invest in the Juno 106? (no not really) If you got a Emax do you need to invest in an Akai sampler etc etc. Maybe an aspect to include in you great videos, as you have been through a lot of them over the years? And yes I know - You always need one more... :)
Good ideas Anders. I will take this into consideration. :)
Anders, I know you didn't ask others this but may I offer an opinion? Look at the Korg Wavestation A/D module. That will be unique and not overlap capabilities with any of your other synths. I assume Espen would concur.
Bowman Stringer Thanks for reaching out. Had an WS EX back in the early 90-ies. The WS as I know it is unique 👍🏻
Omg YES absolutely this is a brilliant idea!!!! I have faith that Espen has the skills to do it and is up to the task. I started running into this problem recently, buying e-mu proteus modules(after watching espens vids on them hahaha), i got an e-mu ESI32 as well which has some of the same patches but didn’t know that when i bought it.
Will you please consider doing this Espen? Maybe to keep the videos short you can put in description which modules are similar & can share patches? For example, e-mu Emax 1 patches work on the Emax II(Just bought Emax II btw, im SUPER EXCITED!!!!! I bought one 3 weeks ago but seller canceled :/ so i bought a slightly broken one lol, i need to clean 2 keys i think
Anyways love your videos as always much love for you and the eighties!!!! 😁😁😁💖👾🌺🤩😋😇♊️
I have the JV 880. After that, until you get to a Fantom X, sounds are recycled so much and even then! Check out the Behringer Deepmind 12 as it is a good clone to the Juno 106 if that is your thing? That is a low-cost Synth.
magic sound
I'd love to see you do a review of the Kurzweil PC2R Espen. ❤
Don't have one. ;-)
Too funny. One of these just came up on Craigslist near me and I was wondering if it would be worth it. Thank you for the demo. I will def pick up.
Do it! :)
I used to own every synth modules made by EMU, except maybe for the voices, synth and the B3 where the Vintage keys sounded better (not the OB patch thought this one sounded great), the rest especially the piano really sound better than my Proteus'ss. I still miss my vintage keys passing through my Boss SE70 though, boy that was something.
The strings have a similar character to kawai's strings at the the time (k1/k4)
Good vidéo Espen 👍
Thanks!
8:58 Tak słucham ? tutaj jesteśmy :)
lo amo.fue la mejor compra de emergencia¡¡¡ ( precisaba salir a tocar¡¡) q hice en mi vida.robustoisimo.hard .midi masivo¡¡¡y no va a fallar.contruido
English only if you want me to understand what you're saying. I'm not on a mobile phone and I don't have the time to faff around with Google translate.
@@EspenKraft
I love it, it was the best emergency purchase (I needed to go out to play) that I made in my life. It is excellently built (I am dedicated to repairing electronic equipment)
Even if you didn't run everything through the Strymon, you would still made it all sound like gold. ;)
There's no Strymon here, but thanks anyways. ;-)
I have my PX racked right under the Proteus 1. Found my PX for under a $100 US on eBay 😀
Nice find!
Great video on the Kurzweil but the intro clip and song are just BRILLIANT. You should be Stad's tourism ambassador!!! 🏖
Or maybe you are....🤔
Many thanks for saying M! :)
Ohh, I Used to have the PX1000 about 20yrs ago..unfortunately blew up its fuse (by my misunderstanding/accident) and sent it back to the seller.. How I regret losing the PX even now /: . Love for Kurzweil gear ; I have a K2000 v3 & K2000RS.
Used the K2000 a lot myself. :)
I remember lusting over the ad normally at the back of music tech mags showing a stack of different KW 2u modules. I never did get around to a Proteus 1 or 2000, only the 2xr & 3 world. Eventually I was lucky to find a KW 1000PX plus from Australia I think & the GX 1000 guitar expander. I've never compared the PX with my 2500 RS rack, though the latter of course is handy for its sampling & KDFX boards etc. I'd like to know if any famous artists, especially 80's used the 1000 series? Even regarding the 2500 rack I can only think of Paul Hardcastle. In my previous now sadly dismantled studio I even attempted copying his famous rack of synths starting with the 2500 at top, then my Korg 01RW (ex Gary Barlow btw!) etc. In some cases I had to do nearest substitutes e.g FS1R for the TX802 I don't own. But there you go!
i used this thing to death for its newage piano preset till i sampled it.
Espen I just aquired this free i love the 'iano i hope you use more
Congrats! This PX was never mine so it has returned to its owner some time ago.
Play E1 on the 1000px choir preset, and hold it for 10 seconds.
Much better sound than the K2000
no
i have it, it sounds great. My favourite are the glass sounds, which you didn't show in this video.
it's used a lot in "the big blue", by Eric Serra. " Huacracocha", "second dive" ( piano i think ) , some others ..
Yes, great sounds indeed.
Even in hindsight it explains why people where prepared to pay crazy money for a 250. It still sounds expensive!
AWESOME 🤗🤗🤗💗💗💗👍👍👍!!!!....
Thanks Marius!
Espen you rock
This is a very nice sounding module. Too bad it is rather large in size. I can only fit 1U rack space modules, of this type, in my setup.
It's big and heavy.
Oof, a lot of money back then. But then again, for the time - you really did get some bang for your buck. I'd pick this one up just for "Dreamy sounds".