Ahead of the 2018 NAMM Show, optigandotcom, shared this sneak preview of the Panoptigon – a new MIDI-controlled Optigan & Orchestron disc player, created by Robert Becker.
The Panoptigon opens up new performance options for Optigan & Orchestron discs, while still retaining the distinctly lo fi audio quality of the originals. In addition, the unit comes with an onboard DSP effects processor, which provides reverb, flange and other effects.
Here’s what they have to say about the Panoptigon:
Those attending Winter NAMM 2018 can see and play this unit for themselves at Quilter Labs – Booth 15120. Note that this unit is a PROTOTYPE / Proof-of-Concept unit, and does not necessarily reflect the design and/or feature set of any future production model. At this time, we cannot provide any estimates on pricing or availability- the unit is still in the R&D phase.
The Panoptigon will play vintage Optigan/Orchestron discs from 1970s as well as the new line of discs made by optigan.com since 2008. Our new line of discs provide additional functionality, as they have strobe lines printed on them which allow for automatic tuning, transpose, pitch bend, and even mechanical vibrato. Vintage discs were never printed with such strobe lines, and thus are not compatible with these extended features, but will otherwise play nicely and sound better than ever. All the lo-fi you love, presented in the hi-fi you need!
The audio heard in this demo is direct from the unit, with no additional post-processing applied.
See the Optigan site for more information.
Is it silly to include digital effects in a product like this? Maybe they’d be nice as a convenience, but I think people (like me) who would love to have an Orchestron player probably already have some effects at our disposal.
I’d love to see this come to market as cheaply as possible!
this is amazing. i can’t imagine what it will cost, but it’s a guarantee it’ll be on the dream machine list.
Arguably THE most niche product in a while! Of all of the left field ways to get those sounds, this is the leftiest so far. Its an admirable technical achievement, but that kind of time suck can lead to divorce, too! I’ll take M-Tron Pro over scratching with a floppy vinyl disc, personally. Next: a cardboard pipe organ.
“Next: a cardboard pipe organ.”
That’s over in booth 1436.