alphaSyntauri Synthesizer Information

Apple II on Audio Improv
ref. http://www.audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Apple_II/Apple_II.html

The alphaSyntauri Synthesizer System
http://www.audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Apple_II/Entries/2012/4/28_Reflections_on_the_lake.html

One of the earliest peripheral cards for the Apple II was the ALF music card. The ALF provided three hardware oscillators coupled through 16-bit multiplying DACs on each card, and the software could handle up to three cards, yielding 9 voices. The software consisted of a step entry music editor, a player, and a jukebox player.

One of Apple’s engineers, Charlie Kellner, wanted to play music more directly, so he took a Pratt & Reed keyboard of the kind common in home organs, designed an interface card for the Apple II buss, and wrote some software to play the ALF cards. Thus was born the alphaSyntauri. As the software became more sophisticated and gained features, a company was formed to sell the system commercially. Charlie was known as “The Dragon” to Syntauri users, but he remained at Apple, contributing to Syntauri part-time.

Billed as the first affordable digital synth (starting around $1,500, Apple II not included), the alphaSyntauri competed feature-wise against the very expensive Synclavier and Fairlight systems based on minicomputers like the VAX. Syntauri was popular in academic settings, where Apple II systems were already commonplace, and eventually made its way into a handful of recordings. Computers in the arts were rare and experimental in the early 1980s and only a few bleeding-edge artists like Herbie Hancock were interested in learning about them.

One of the early changes to the system was changing to the more expensive, but versatile Mountain Computer Music System cards as sound generators, which brought 16 digital oscillators, 8-note stereo polyphony and 8-part multitimbrality. The waves were generated from a 256 byte table in RAM by DMA, allowing for any arbitrary wave shape. The rest came courtesy of an Apple II Plus and lots of custom-written software. My MCMS cards will only run in an Apple II or Plus. Apparently some of the later ones will also run in a //e, DMA in the Apple II family being a bit dicey. Keyboards were available in 4 or 5 octave sizes, the big one velocity-sensitive. The primary performance software, "alphaPlus" provided 10 presets at once, control over a handful of parameters and could manage a keyboard split of two sounds as well. The "alphaPlus" interface also included an odd visual feedback effect of bars displayed on the monitor corresponding to the keys being played. The result was not unlike the light show in the finale of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". It serves no actual purpose but it looks neat. A 16-track sequencer called "MetaTrak" was also available that was multitimbral and quite flexible. You could play live over a recorded MetaTrak sequence. Third party software included many music education titles, as well as some pretty impressive visual wave editing programs.

The sound is lo-fi gritty digital, a premonition of the first Ensoniq instruments to come a half-dozen years later, thanks to its 8-bit waveforms and utter lack of any analog processing. The upside was that you could actually draw your own waveforms, create them by additive synthesis, or sample them with a DX-1 (not part of the Syntauri system), making it something akin to a simple sample-playback unit. The included instruments and presets are mostly soupy pads, but with practice you can get some cutting lead tones, basses, pianos, and organs out of it.

A lot of the user interface elements for MIDI workstations and DAWs first appeared here. The last version of MetaTrak had a rudimentary MIDI output add-on, but as the MIDI standard didn’t yet exist, it’s not 100% compatible, and there’s no way to play the system from a MIDI keyboard. The keyboards appear at auction occasionally, but usually don’t include the interface card or software. Software can be found online in Apple II archives.

The company, Syntauri Corporation, folded in 1984. It failed to advance the system or lower price to reach beyond the nerdy musician niche. Management seemed more interested in acting like rock stars than their product. Mimetics Corporation picked up support for Syntauri until they disappeared in 1988, by which time the Apple II was obsolete, and MIDI and the very first computer based digital recorders were appearing.

What does it sound like? Samples and more photos here.
http://www.audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Apple_II_Music/Apple_II_Music.html

Links
http://www.hammond.co.uk/The%20Musician%20And%20The%20Micro.pdf
proximaSyntauri: Information and support for the alphaSyntauri synthesizer
http://retiary.org/ls/writings/aes_alphasyntauri.pdf

Henry Spragens, proprietor
Audio Improv
http://www.audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Welcome.html

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ALF Music Card
http://www.audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Apple_II/Entries/2012/9/24_The_ALF_Music_Synthesizer_System.html

One of the earliest add-on cards for the Apple ][ was the ALF Music System card. Consisting of a crystal oscillator, an Intel triple timer chip used to generate the three tones, and three 16-bit multiplying DACs to control volume and create the Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release envelope of each note, it produced square waves at 65532 pitches and volume levels. That resolution is good enough that the ear can’t hear individual steps. 

Music is composed in the ENTRY program which puts a grand staff on screen and you use the game paddles. One paddle selects what’s being entered, rest, note, sharp, flat, step forward or back, etc. from the row below the staff. The other paddle places the note vertically on the staff, and pressing a firing button drops the note into the score. Sounds complicated, but with a little practice, it goes pretty quickly. Matters are helped with features such as subroutines, and since music is filled with repeats, those come in very handy.

The PLAY program puts a blue bar across the screen for each voice in the score with a yellow dot to mark middle C. The note being played moves left (bass) to right (treble) and changes color with loudness. The first game paddle is used to adjust playback speed or tempo, and pushing the firing button starts playback.

A program called DISCO creates sets or playlists.

The original ALF system used up to three of the three-voice cards. Later when the Texas Instruments sound chip became available, a 9-voice ALF card was developed which was less expensive than the original and produced white noise as well as square wave tones. The T.I. chip was less refined, having less resolution in both pitch and volume, but was so much cheaper that it accounted for most sales.

Henry Spragens, proprietor
Audio Improv
http://www.audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Welcome.html
Monday, September 24, 2012

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Syntauri alphaSyntauri
http://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/alphasyntauri.php

    alphaSyntauri Specifications
    Polyphony - 16 voices (8 stereo)
    Multitimbral - 8-part
    Sampler - None, although sampled waveforms can be used in synthesis
    Oscillators - 16 digital
    LFO - None
    Filter - None
    Envelope - ADSR
    Effects - None
    Sequencer - MetaTrak software provides 16 tracks and 2 timbres and stores up to 7000 notes
    Arpeggiator - None
    Keyboard - 49 keys (non-velocity sensing) or 61 keys (velocity sensing)
    Memory - Based on host system (64 kb)
    Control - None
    Controls - Apple II paddle controllers, Light pen
    Date Produced - 1980 - 1986

Alternatively, you can forego the trouble of locating all that ancient equipment and get the alphaSyntauri for your modern computer/DAW for just $59! Phosphor* is a VST instrument from Audio Damage modeled on the alphaSyntauri. “Phosphor's topology closely follows the alphaSyntauri, while adding many modern features such as full velocity control, a much more extensive modulation routing system, tempo synced LFOs, a pair of delays, and two monophonic modes. The noise and oscillators are able to work in the original alphaSyntauri resolutions, and can also be run at modern sample rates. All this results in a much more sophisticated and capable synth than the original, without compromising the ability to recreate the classic sounds of the early days of digital synthesis.”

* http://www.audiodamage.com/instruments/product.php?pid=AD027
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Paul
January 23, 2013 @ 6:27 am
I have a complete Alpha Syntauri, keyboard, cards, software, all of it! I have not fired it up in many years but given my current interest in thinning the herd, I may examine it to see what is working. I used it quite a bit in the 80's in performing live underscores for community theatre. It was thrilling and ahead of its time in that price range to be able to assemble an electronic music studio for cheap. Anyone interested in discussing feel free to email me at paulpop@comcast.net. Is there an electronic music museum that might have interest in a fully working version?

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ALPHA SYNTAURI MusicMaster system
http://www.synthony.com/vintage/alphasyntauri.html

PLEASE NOTE: KEYBOARD IS NOT USEFUL without the Apple II card
and cannot be used as a stand alone keyboard. 

    Alpha Syntauri MusicMaster is a series of interactive, exciting programs designed to meet the need for Effective, Comprehensive, Low Cost training in basic musicianship.

    MusicMaster is a unique teaching assistant which students set their own pace to effectively master ear training and introductory theory topics.

    Combined with the alphaSyntauri intelligent instrument ~keyboard, software, and microcomputer system~, MusicMaster is a versatile:

        -teaching aid
        -performance instrument
        -compositional tool
        -programmable synthesizer 

    Every MusicMaster Module Provides

        -quick interaction and easily followed menus
        -a wide array of problem types for in-depth learning
        -student record-keeping and performance analysis
        -a teacher management system
        -comprehensive manuals and friendly tutorials
        -an effective learning experience 

    Equipment Required for MusicMaster*

        -the alphaSyntauri instrument system (61- or 49-note AGO keyboard, interface, software and two foot pedals)
        -48K Apple ll+ computer, language card, one disk drive, analog controllers, TV or video monitor
        -audio processing hardware (the MusicSystemt)
        -an audio system 

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Articles with Lots more alphaSyntauri information on apple2.org.za/

http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/Apple%20II%20Documentation%20Project/Peripherals/Audio/alphaSyntauri/Documentation/Syntauri%20Articles.pdf

BTW, alphaSyntauri Price: $1500

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alphaSyntauri Video

Vintage Sound Systems - AlphaSyntauri - YouTube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBOqzHQObnw

Rubywand