Formanta Polivoks - Soviet Synth Sensation
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- Опубліковано 22 чер 2020
- In which I play and demo the vintage Formanta Polivoks, a two voice paraphonic analog synth from 1980s Soviet Union. I love this wild and strange instrument, it has been on my wishlist for ages. It sounds nothing the synths available in the "west" at the time and follows its own unique ideas.
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Thank you for this presentation! However I wonder why are you take audio signal from the headphones output? The signal here is a liitle bit distorted because it passes through headphones amlifier which itself is not hi fi amp. It's better to take audio from the main output. And other thing. No need to press and hold any key to demonstrate or use looping envelopes of VCF and VCA. It's enough to switch on the switch ON in VCA section. It only imitates pressing the key or in other words it sends GATE signal to EGs.
I feel honoured to see you here! Honestly, I did not have the adapter to go from the regular out, so I used the headphone. Will mind that in the future. Thank you for making these utterly unique Synthesizers.
@@Hainbach Thanks a lot!
WOW- the ACTUAL Vladimir Kuzmin!!! What great, incredible work you did w/ this vintage beauty. One of a kind!
Thanks to you, and Hainbach for having this exchange in public, and in English. I feel like I've snuck a peek behind a door which I was not supposed to open.
@@vladimirkuzminpolivoks Looking forward to your upcoming new version with Behringer ! I’ve wanted this synth since Jexus’s demo 13 years ago !
This thing sounds as if every single parameter is modulated by a tiny amount of white noise at all times. It is so fantastic.
Sounds like an MS-20 that smoked five cigars and smashed a bottle of whiskey every day for 30 years.
Bottle of vodka*
@@gayfrogs4206*five papiroses.
Fun Fact: The Polivoks is the synth that was used in the soundtrack for Doom 2016
I knew I recognised it!
*a synth
eurorack modular synths were used for sound design
Да! 👍🎹🔊
Any video showing that?
That’s why I’m here
One of my fav synth. I have a Polivoks for ten years now (even used to have two of them!) and several other vintage Soviet machines. Truly amazing and really built like tanks, even the toy ones like the 'Pif' little organ. Once you got over the generally crappy keyboard, the definitely weird connections (sound signal or power) and batteries plus, with the Polivoks, the quite tricky calibration process, the soundscapes you can generate are always... powerful and surprising. A tip for those who prefer a more conventional setting for signal path: the Altair 231 is a real carbon copy of the mini Moog, but, owning both, I have to admit that the Polivoks is definitely 'more fun to compute' - to tell it the Ralf & Florian way. Another very interesting synth, more on the Roland/Yamaha style is the Aelita...
Bonus fact: with all those machines, due to the vast room inside and the dedicated 5 pin Din connectors used for absolutely everything (signal in and out, headphones and pedals), installing a midi kit is generally a piece of cake...
2:37 Analog Worms Attack
9:28 Moustache (half a scissor)
14:00 Lambs Anger
Oizo!! Lambs Anger is one of my favorite albums!!
4:20 suddenly doom
The Polivoks deserves so much more recognition!
This synth really sounds like Hainbach! Rich and complicated and warm and not ordinary!
I don't know if it's my age or what, but you could show me any old junk with "Soviet" written on it and I'd be all "oooh.... nice..... interesting"...... and the Polivoks being decidedly "not junk" and a synth to boot is just terrific!
U.S.S.Arrghhh!
@@T.H.W.O.T.H Я не понимаю
I'm totally with you! 😅
Synth music and sounds sound oddly familiar and I feel like I'm recalling music from a time prior to my birth.
@@T.H.W.O.T.H the sec ok nd that I saw this he said it. Wtf
Been looking forward to this. Fantastic and nasty sounding synth and _that_ design!
Great talk through / play through Hainbach, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you! This was one of those fast and fun videos, which is nice to do from time to time.
I really miss the times (the late 2000s) when you could get a working unit in exchange of a bottle of vodka because nobody knew how to use it musically... and thanks to guys like Mick Gordon it's now expensive as hell
I remember just before Acid House my local second-hand shop had 3 303s a 101 and 2 808s in the window for very low prices (but I had no money) later , I got a good job (and acid house got invented) and I had the money but cheap 303s were a thing of the past.
Ahhh.... so Mick Gordon used one... makes a lot of sense! I really enjoyed his work on the Doom OSTs. And I've loved anything to do with the Polivoks since first hearing it.
Prices will come down, when the B-brand comes with a clone....
and now even more so, thanks to guys like Hainbach
I was first introduced to this instrument by a band I enjoy called collide, amongst their strange instruments is a warr bass, the formanta polivoks, and a few others.
I saw a blip of the voks' in one of their music videos [look around the 1.56 mark ua-cam.com/video/mRh1aT5xNRI/v-deo.html ], and By the time i figured out what it was, they were prohibitively expensive.
Nice synth, love the style of it, very industrial hardcore 80's no nonsense. Who needs colours when you sound this good. I also love the white noise as a modulator, that's just crazy.
Wow!!! Congratulations dude! It's sound is breathtaking... I can't wait to hear you use it in compositions.
You 2 are made for each other! What a great track at the end. Make more please!👌
If I remember correctly, this synth is the inspiration for image-Line's Sawer VST :)
I’m happy that you have it! Hainbach + Polivoks = new sound magic.
HAINBACH, "Привет!" from Russia. Polivoks is a cool synth, the filter of this synthesizer is truly amazing. There is not a single capacitor in it, which is unique for VCF design!
No capacitors! Woah! I want a schematic now.
Privet, Nikolai!)
@@edgeeffect google "polivoks vcf schematic" and look for images. Moreover, this vcf has a small count of components which costs almost nothing. Pretty easy diy toy.
@@edgeeffect the author exploited internal frequency response of programmable opamps, so they alone became integrators, without any external capacitor. As far as I remember, the cutoff frequency is controlled by the current you apply to program the opamps. Besides this, it is an SVF design.
Probably the design is the result of not having certain components or them being too expensive.
This thing makes some interesting sounds, thanks for sharing!
Even the pads sound angry ^_^
That jam at the end was absolutely incredible!
My school had one back in 1989. We had no freaking idea what to do with it!
You should check out the Formanta guitars & basses they made. Loads of crazy switches & knobs, so plenty of tone options. Some have even got their own built-in fuzz circuits, which I find legit cool. It's fair to say they weren't afraid to experiment 🤣
Awesome demotrack you made there Mr. Hainbach
I have this synthesizer . I have been using it for many years. Great sound. The filter is alive. It is a great synth.
When you were switching the generator waveform controls I was loving that deep bass thump every time you switched it and was going to comment on it then I hear you say how great the switching noise is at 6:33! I guess great minds, or ears, do think alike! Cheers from Louisiana! P[>
uuuuh! I live in Kachkanar where all Polyvox synths are from and my grannys life was dedicated to the Formanta factory))))
Such amazing sounds you got out of that beast! I'd love a whole record of songs like the jam at 12:34, great work!
Great video. I bought one, as well. Love it.
The Polivoks has a unique capacitorless filter design, no other synth (at least not the western ones) has the same. I also own one of these and it really reminds me of a Korg MS-20 colliding with a Minimoog, having the good characters of both of those synths. It's (the Polivoks I mean) also remarkably low noise and the output is even balanced, which is not the norm even on modern mono synths. Other than that, it's a super simple synth actually, and if you take it apart you can see how crude and simple the architechture is... But that sound is something probably never be done again... Modern components don't sound as good for one reason or another (debatable), old components are noiser, less linear but for the ear they just create better tones. The Polivoks for me is my favorite monosynth along with my MS-20. Both have that unmistakable "vintage" character, but the MS-20 is actually noiser but of course a much more flexible synth thanks to the patchbay. But the Polivoks can do a lot from bells to fx to screaming leads to super pretty leads to super raw basses to even pads. There is nothing like it.
The drums and synth sound fantastic!
Very enjoyable, thank you.
Yes Hainbach! Yes! What a great sounding machine! 😁👍🤘👊
Any synth called Formanta had better have some interesting filter. My friend has 2 of these, and neither one is working, so he told me I could have a look inside to see whether I can get it singing. I suspect that there’s something going wonky when we try to power it here in Ye New World. Those instructions for calibration that you’ve mentioned are probably very valuable for this instrument. It’s VCA is really something I’ve not ever seen the likes of. AWESOME! THANKS AGAIN, never a dull moment!!
im not really that into synths I am a guitar player but I love listening to the audio on these videos so much with my headphones
Самовозбуждающийся фильтр Поливокса, после прогрева синтезатора начинает жить своей жизнью.
Бгг)
i had one for a while with MIDI implementation and it was sooooooo cooooool! love it
Super gnarly! Would love to play one
My first run-in with the Polivoks was synth guru Jexus' demo over this unit.. You really do get such a raw Industrial sound out of it!
Nice jam at the end!!!
Wow, i love the sound.
Sounds beautiful, unique design. Very “hardbody” as we say in the States.
This is soooooo good!
Oh my, I've wanted one of these for about 15 or 20 years, I think
first time wating for a premiere, hope its interesting, freundschaft
Of course I have one. One of the best synths ever made. Hainbach get a Alisa 1377 a soviet miracle too. Sounds like nothing else as well!
The Harvestman/Industrial Music Electronics sells their IME1982 Polivoks VCF for Eurorack. One of my favorite modules because of the gritty character. IME claim they designed and built their version in consultation with Kuzmin, using NOS Russian electronic components. You get low-pass and Band-pass outputs, but no high pass. On the other hand, it has 2 audio inputs with attenuators so you can use it as a mixer too.
One of my favorite! And very underestimated I think.
This beast sounds more "electric" than any other synth in the world, a real character! Congrats on getting one! The Erica synths Polivoks VCF was my first DIY eurorack module and I love it, but got to say it sounds nowhere near as decadent and nasty as this. Whats with the capless potentiometers on the logo plate, oscillator tuners?
I love my Harvestman Polivoks VCF (and Geiger Counter, Doepfer filters, etc.), I can't wait to get my Eurorack set up and running again.
Chiptune will be fun with the Noise Engineering Ataraxic Translatron and Mutable Instruments Edges, I've been extremely moved by Mega Man music in particular lately! Mixing that with analogue gear may be interesting. Plus, I should finally have a guitar amp again at the end of the week (finally, plus, I got a 15" bass cab to run it through, so I can send bass, synths, even my TipTop BD808 through my guitar pedals!), it's been too long (I gave my Fender Frontman 15 bass amp to my son when he started playing guitar a few months ago).
Cool it sounds pretty intuitive
Privet from Russia! Spasibo for this video =)
Совэцки синтезатоr ест очен харощи.
blyat! i love this synth so much i built my eurorack around the erica polivoks filter; the character is just as powerful imo (not gonna get into A/B nitpick comparisons because they just 'got' it imo. this synth does have a lot of added value with the additional parts (compared to a modular system like mine). so cool you have one now!!!
Yeah.... a sequence with those looped envelopes and an LFO would be marvelous.... extra marvelous if you can also clock them REALLY slow.
HAINBACH #1 video, as always!!! I bought an Infradeep PVX 800 on the strength of your video. Something impossible in Soviet communist times? They processed my credit card payment and everything, and it comes in a military style solid wood Ammo box. It's a joy, with both CV and MIDI, plus audio input (with its own level knob), to process external sound through filter, amp and delay/flange effect. Imagine: Polyvox with third wavetable oscillator from Waldorf NW-1.
sounds so good...
Nice vidéo!! Thanx Man!!🤪👍
12:35 sounds amazing!!!
For those who want more flexibility there is Harvestman modules and of course Erika synths modules. I have the Erika Synths diy Kit and it has the remade can transistors in it and sounds damn good. Loads of flexibility inherent with a modular.
Cheers, Hainbach for doing a review on my fav synth from my childhood.
helpful, is it could you make a video about which cables are which and how to connect them to a music software, please?
Hi Hainbach, really like the video. If you have Reaktor there is a virtual synth called Monovoks that sounds really good. It's free to download but with the player, you can use it only for a limited amount of minutes. Have a great day and stay safe.
Filter resonance distortion is scary and distinctive.
It absolutely sings of doom
A very cool synth. I'd love one but it's outside of my price range.
Привет, Хайнбах! My respect from Russia.
Hi Hainbach, great video, love those unique synth sounds!!! Will you be doing a sample of Soviet instruments for Patreon? That would be great. Thanks
Samples are coming tonight, just taking kids to bed
There really is an interesting comparison between synths from different nations/cultures due to the sounds they can create. This synth can be clean & digital 80's sounding yet in a second and meddling with the filter and resonance it's in dirty alley mode and spewing mess and grit out. There is a slight overlap in the way synths were made, with logical signal processing patterns, but this really does have a nice sound covering the full spectrum of bright sounds and some seriously dark sounds.
Very interesting synth indeed.
Not sure if you have set it up particularly for this purpose or this is the natural characteristics of the synth itself, but some of the sounds remind me of the test equipment you were using Hainbach! I think you have the voodoo and magic to make anything sound like as you wanted ...
Ah, so this is the synth that inspired FL Studios Sawer softsynth....
sawer is the best
This is a good presentation. Thanks! What did you say at 7:03? Something about the "??? density" This is an amazing synth. I saw one on eBay, but the price was $$$.
I have the Polivox samples by Hideaway Studio. That guy has lots of old stuff including a Novachord and Eminent 310.
So punk 😎sounds incredible!
Those filter sweeps sound like something from the Chernobyl soundtrack.
В 80х играл на таком. Хорошая машинка.😊
Did you ever put out a sample / loops pack for this? I'm a drummer and would love to work with some. I can't afford the whole synth.
Pew pew pew! Vintage Lazers!! :D , I'd love an eurorack module based on this synth. Fun.
ELTA polyvox-m pm-02 is the way to go :)
Sergio Kalynychenko really any video?
Привет, Хайнбах!
You should get your hands on an OSCar, always thought that would be a great companion to the Polivoks.
Hainbach what are your thoughts on the MINI-Polivox? It is a desktop module.There is also a new euro rack version as well!
Maybe you have already been asked this is so my apologies.
I heard this was the synth used to create the bass line in Goldfrapp's Train.
What's the closest VST for this? I've seen a couple around but all the comments I read said they sound nothing like the original hardware (and after watching this demo, I have to agree...)
Funny to see you turn knobs and nothing happens. I have that too with the polivoks from time to time :) enjoy. And beware. Ears might get more then they like
Легендарный синт.Я его хорошо знаю.Его называли Поливокс Калашникова.Мог автоматную очередь сделать.Лично пробовал.Очень похоже.
hello...what synth would you reccommend for strings, something esoteric but not mad expensive?
I don't have the front panel to, somebody have an idea were I can find one?
I had one of those back in the days. Pretty nasty sounding machine. Lots if industrial sounds. I also had Estradin, Aelita and Ritm2. Now those last two were fantastic. Absolutely amazing magic sound.like out of this world. There is an old soviet cartoon where they have been used. It's called "The secret of the third planet". I totally recommend to watch it for visual and sound". Amazing instruments! And the filters get better with time. They age like wine, nothing like modern stuff. Interesting video none the less! Cheers from Russia!
Really loved this video. Is your Fundamental VST advertised at the end only a demo at the moment?
No, you can buy it on the sonic lab store.
а я играл на таком в школьном ансамбле, жалею, что тогда не знал о техно, спасибо за видео
It’s like it slid down a wormhole and into our universe
I would like to see you do a video on the "virtual ANS" app. I have it on my Android phone, It's also on "iOS" but really have no clue how to go about using it?
Me neither, have the same app. Kids love it though
Hello
At the university where i studied was a little electronic music studio. One of us had build a "raw" synthesizer. I would say, about the filter, this was not a Voltage controlled filter, but a "devil controlled filter". While hearing you presenting the Polyvoks i found again, about the filter, the same "grunge" sound. Surprising. If i can find a mail address i will send to you one or two pieces recorded with this "crashing" crazy machine.
NEKO
UA-cam has started recommending me soviet synth videos. I’m not complaining.
Hi Stefan, thank you for your video ! I love how the sequence is processing at 12:36. Are these rythmic noises are from self modulated filtered from the polivoks itself ? Or something else processing into the vcf ? Huge thank
That is it iself!
@@Hainbach that’s insane, I guess it’s not possible to achieve this with the mini version or something like acidbox ? Because you seems to use multiple envelopes plus the lfo ;I love it, I would kill to have a tutorial for this kind of rythmics mods generated noise. :)
Hello, Hainbach! May I ask, what was the string synth you used on the ambient texturing in this video? These sounded so lovely together
That is a Wersi String Orchestra
Привет! Im too plays on the Polyvoks! It that real cool synth! 💜🔥🎹🔊
Have you tried out the Monovoks Reaktor 6 synth?
Subtlety and ergonomics were certainly wasteful conveniences to the proletariat.
Are you also interested in the eurorack version of the polivoks?
Mister Hainbach what is the white panel on top of your Polivoks ?
I had a little giggle at the disappointment apparent in the phrase "It's a rather musical effect, not one designed for crazy sound effects, I feel." That speaks to me.
Privet Gainbach! xD
I really enjoyed the track at 12:35 what did you used for the percussion?
Metasonix D1000 into PAR 220 and CR4A