Rolf's Modules of the Vintage ARP 2500 Series
Rolf of Rofilm Media has posted Part 9 in his "Modules of the Vintage ARP 2500" series, this time giving Voltage Modular users a chance to get "hands on" using the Cherry Audio/MRB VM2500 Collection.
From the Introduction:
The ARP 2500 synthesizer will be best known because of its appearance in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” where this very special modular synthesizer is used to communicate with the aliens. You may not know, though, that it wasn't an actor who played the synth in the film, but an ARP technician (Phil Dodds), because the film crew considered the synth too difficult to operate. With only that few of the installed modules in use? Well, anyway. But which were these modules of the 1970 original ARP 2500 modular synthesizer at all?
Besides different available keyboards, blank panels, and power supplies the synth contained the following modules. And I'm going to introduce them all to you in detail in this series.
From Part 9:
After talking about the individual modules of the ARP 2500 modular synthesizer it is time to see and hear the ARP 2500 modules in action. Let me say it in a poetical style: this is going to be our first ARP 2500 close encounter in real. And we are going to have this encounter even twice: once with the original ARP 2500 vintage synth from 1970 (with switches) and additionally with the software Eurorack version of Cherry Audio's Voltage Modular. The same patch brought to life on two different versions of the same synth. Will the even sound the same? Well, let's go for it.
From Part 10:
In my last article I took a patch from the original ARP 2500 vintage modular synthesizer, analysed it and transferred it to Cherry Audio's Voltage Modular. Today I'm walking the line in the opposite direction. I start with a brass-like patch at Voltage modular, explain the goings on and transfer it to the “switch” version of the original ARP 2500 (the software emulation G2500). Let's go!
It has been estimated that there are roughly 50 functional ARP 2500 instruments remaining in the world, and these currently trade in the six-figure area. With a series like Rolf's, there's no better time to get started with your own explorations of VM2500. The Cherry Audio/MRB VM2500 Collection for Voltage Modular includes all 21 modules, plus hundreds of presets and variations, for just $49, and it’s available now at the Cherry Audio store! A 7-day free trial for the VM2500 Collection is also available.
If you’re not already a Voltage Modular user, the Voltage Modular Nucleus bundle is available free for Windows and macOS, in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and in standalone formats.