This video, via Davide Micheli, is an exploration of the sound of the Crumar Bit 99 synthesizer, a 6-voice polysynth from 1985.
The rare analog synth features 2 VCO’s per voice, dual LFOs, ADSR envelopes and the ability to split or layer sounds.
The demo features custom patches on the Bit 99, with echo and delay added.
Good demo, Davide. You gave the synth a quality showing. This is one of my lost synths of antiquity and high on the list of items I’d only play via MIDI. The build was a cheaptastic mess I found very uninviting at the time, but as you can hear, it has a great voice and snappy envelopes. Too bad it isn’t a current tabletop synth.
What is he playing at 17:00 ? i know the tune from when i was a kid but i cant remember what it is and its bugging the hell out of me. Synth sounds pretty sweet too.
From “Merry Christmas. Mr. Lawrence” maybe?
Does anyone out there know of a UK based company that can repair the BIT99? I own one that needs some work doing on it but have had no success in finding anyone who can repair it .
VCO’s or actually DCO’s?
The immediate predecessor the Bit 1 was appallingly badly tuned – higher the pitch the worse the digitally approximated temperament got! I couldn’t live with it – a drifting VCO is one thing but this sounded nasty.
Hey Crumar! Come out with a recreation. Maybe a Bit 100?