My Favorite Synth is From ...1939(!)

[Keith Phillips]

I ran into this recently and fell completely in love with it. The Hammond Novachord.

(Before and after restoration)

Apparently manufactured for a few years starting in 1938 and hitting the market in '39, it wasn't received very well by musicians. It was a technical nightmare and the parts were hard to come by because of World War II. Only 1,069 were produced, and they had nearly 200 vacuum tubes and over 1,000 capacitors!

A 72-oscillator, 72-note polyphonic synthesizer is pretty damn amazing for 1939! Way ahead of its time back then. They lacked fuses or proper grounding, so I am sure trying to restore one of these or to even attempt to operate an old one for testing is very dangerous.

This guy did an AMAZING job restoring the one above by replacing (literally) tons of components to working factory spec. The restored unit looks fantastic and sounds like a dream. I'm sure it sounds a bit different than an original unit *in* 1939, but, after 70 years probably none of the remaining original units work 100%.

http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/intro.htm (Warning: a bunch of pictures)

I think it has to create some of my favorite sounds ever. Definitely worth a quick listen:

http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/mp3/nova3.mp3 (2:34)
http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/mp3/nova2.mp3 (1:32)
http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/mp3/nova9.mp3 (3:13)

This is another one with the Solovox in it. Really nice.
http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/...3/solovox2.mp3

Enjoy.

[AlexHall74]

Wow. That is really remarkable! I'll check out those audio samples in a bit. This guy should make a sample CD of this synth to preserve it in some capacity that is longer lasting than the physical instrument.

[Keith Phillips]

Originally Posted by AlexHall74

This guy should make a sample CD of this synth

Yeah, on his page he said one is in the works, but it looks like it might have been posted a long time ago. I was planning on emailing him and asking him about it because I would definitely buy that CD ASAP.

[Keith Phillips]

I'm kind of surprised that Eric Persing & Company didn't fly down to see this guy and sample his rebuilt Novachord for use in Omnisphere. After all, they did sample a piano while on fire, so why not be the first to sample a Novachord too. As far as I know, no working Novachord has ever been sampled before.

[Analog Warriors]

AMAZING SOUND ... blows my speakers - very deep and warm !

[Timo]

Wow. Just stumbled upon this thread, and listened to the MP3s. That is pure cinematic soundtrack right there, and then some!! Absolutely beautiful.

[Shambler]

amazing sound, even more amazing is how some of todays offerings pale in comparison to it despite the improvements in technology

[tricky]

Cant believe what i'm hearing this thing has monster Monster pad sounds, all it needs now is a midi interface.

[Hollowcell]

Has a very CS50-Vangelis-Bladerunner kinda feel to many of the sounds there. Very cool!

They really need to get samples taken, as they have many costly parts and seem just a little too hard to get hold of.

Nice find there Keith.

[Monobeat]

Incredible !!!!!!! Those pads make my hair stand on end. Very deep and emotional sound unlike anything I've ever heard.... thanks for sharing that.