Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 910
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In 1995, Technics came out with the WSA1, a high-tech workstation that had a powerful physical modelling/sample-based synth engine.
It was a major flop, partly because it was too costly and partly because its interface was somewhat daunting, though the main reason appeared to be the rather uncool Technics name.
But at the time, it was one of the most sophisticated keyboard synthesizers of its kind (Rick Wakeman can vouch for that), offering advanced synthesis that rivalled the best efforts from the likes of Roland, Korg and Yamaha.
I managed to get hold of one of the first units shipped out here, and it has been one of my favourite keyboards for strings, pianos, brasses and percussion sounds.
'Happy Birthday Up There Mr. Zappa' was done entirely on the WSA1, with a combination of programming and real-time playing:
http://www.i-bands.net/audiovault/play.php?band_id=1027&song_id=2344&mode=song_hifi
http://www.i-bands.net/audiovault/play.php?band_id=1027&song_id=2344&mode=song_lofi
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