Alesis 1992 "Alesis Product Line" product catalog

                 

Alesis "Product Line" 7-panel two page colour product catalog from 1992.

So, I uploaded these scans as two long pages, and also segmented them out to higher res scans of different panels depending on content flow. Basically an experiment to see what works best. 

Surprisingly, I've only ever posted one other ad from Alesis - a Christmas ad for the HR-16 and MMT-8. But I was recently intrigued by my own MMT-8 and thought I'd share my little experience. I could have posted a number of earlier marketing promo pieces that feature the grey MMT-8, but I kinda love my black MMT-8 so I specifically dug into the vault and chose this brochure because of it.  Besides the MMT-8, it includes a great summary of Alesis' gear from 1992 - drum machine, mixer, effects and their ADAT. All fantastic gear for a great price at the time.

Anyways, about the MMT-8...

A few days ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw this tweet from Peter Kirn:

So did anyone manage to get a working MMT8 and try out those grooves from Shawn Rudiman? Would love to work on a Sysex dump and - that might lead somewhere else (I can explain :) ) pic.twitter.com/mGssBp3fTB

— peterkirn (@peterkirn) May 26, 2019

Well, there's two things I love in one sentence! The Alesis MMT-8 sequencer and Shawn Rudiman.

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Side note for Rudiman fans: Just found out he's releasing a new EP on Tresor Records. From the page:

"The studio is Rudiman’s vehicle, the weapon and the balm. From synthetic wonders to dark-warehouse drum missives, Autonomic Pilot proves once again Rudiman as a master of his craft. Tresor Records is proud to welcome his new work into the world."

Sweeeeet!

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I jumped over to Peter Kirn's article on the CDM Web site called: "Post Album Techno: 9 years of live sequence data, from Shawn Rudiman". As Peter puts it -

"Shawn has taken the plunge and dumped years of live performance practice from his backups, in an irrationally specific media archaeology experiment for techno nerds." 

And specific it was! Each of the 12 live sets on the album called "Finest Quality, Big Time Data" are from the MMT-8's data tape audio back-ups. That's right. Not the audio. The DATA. I you try to listen to the tracks, it's just that screechy 90's dial-up modem-like sound for four or five minutes.

Brilliant! It's like he posted it just for me.  Okay, not just me - it's also for the eight other people that also purchased the "album" so far.

To me, that's one of the most interesting things about this release by Shawn. He knew when he posted it that it had a very narrow audience and hence was obviously a very limited money-maker. But from a promotional standpoint, it's a fun and interesting exercise aimed directly at us "techno nerds".

And exercise I did!

Unfortunately I had just packed up *all* my studio for a temporary move (over 200 synths, drum machines and sequencers into 250+ feet of 4' wide bubble wrap, 20+ cases and 25 carry-totes) so I had to find that MMT-8 first. Luckily, it only took about half an hour to find it and get it out of its bubble-wrapped sleeve. The power supply was somewhat easier to find since I have a healthy addiction to label makers.

So I plugged it in, and hoped for the best. Sure enough that lovely little screen lit up bright!

It turned on!

Next, I needed to figure out how to restore the audio data. One of the great things about the MMT-8 is its ease of use, and the fact that most of the directions on its use can be found on the flip-up lid on the top of the MMT-8.

flip-up instructions

So, with the instructions on how to restore pattern and song data identified, I dug out an audio cable and plugged one end from the headphone output of my laptop and the other end into the "tape in" port on the back of the MMT-8. I then pulled up the Shawn Rudiman's Bandcamp page, entered the correct key combo on the MMT-8 to start the restore process, and hit play on the Bandcamp page to get the first set of audio data playing.

Nothing.

I tried different volume levels.

Still nothing.

I tried downloading and playing the MP3 file from the computer. Nothing. Uncompressed WAV files. Nothing. Stereo cable. Nothing. Mono cable. Nothing. Mono->Stereo cable. Nothing.

Anger sets in.

Then I had an idea. I pulled up the Bandcamp app on my Android tablet, plugged the audio cable into the headphone jack and hit play.

Boom! The screen on the MMT-8 indicated it was restoring the data.

I had forgotten how fussy tape backups/restores could be. And not just fussy. But time-consuming. And so it was four minutes and fifty-seven seconds later the MMT-8's screen returned to normal and I started looking for parts (what Alesis calls patterns).

00. 01. 02..... 16 - jackpot - "Deep Techno-2"!

Success!

But now for problem #2. All my synths were packed up! What do I connect to the sequencer to see what exactly was restored?

I got an idea.

What if I play each track, one by one, from that first pattern on the MMT-8 while sync'd up and recording into Propellerhead Reason?

And that's exactly what I did:

The great thing about this method is that it created a nice visual reference of the MIDI data and I could get a better idea of what might be a percussive, pad or bass-type track. I then created a new instance of Kong, Thor or any of Reason's other great instruments (or VSTs!) and copied over the midi data from the track. Voila!

It also helped that I contacted Shawn to let him know I had managed to pull in one of his sets and he gave me a few more tips and hints about his workflow. Thank you Shawn!

So now I bet you want to hear something. Well, that's gonna have to wait because I have a few more Alesis brochures to post yet!  :)

Korg Wavstation EX and Wavestation A/D brochure, 1992

 

 

 

Korg Wavstation EX and Wavestation A/D 8-page brochure from 1992.

I gotta tell ya. I'm all Wavestation-ed out. It's been a good run of blog posts, but I think my curiosity has reached its limit.

Actually - I thought I was already done with everything "Wavestation" on the blog. I even ended that last blog post with what I thought was a relatively witty Madonna/Britney Spears analogy that I was quite proud of. All wrapped up nice!  :D

But then I came across this brochure. Gah. Maybe it just looked too similar to the 1991 Wavestation/Wavestation A/D brochure I posted back in December, camouflaged, hiding from the world. Well, too bad. Like a crazy-assed Toddlers and Tiaras mother, I'm gonna shove this baby on stage whether it wants it or not.

Again - I'm surprised this brochure didn't get produced until 1992. I always thought the Wavestation EX came out *before* the A/D, as a response to customer feedback that the original Wavestation didn't include drums and other more basic sounds. The last sighting of the Jan Hammer Wavestation ad that appeared in July 1991 included additional EX ad-copy: "Now with expanded memory and more sounds". Also, the ad that followed in August 1991 featured BOTH the EX and A/D, suggesting they may have come out at approximately the same time. The Wikipedia page for the Wavestation includes 1991 production dates for both, and always seems to list the EX before the A/D in tables and such.

But then why did the Wavestation-Wavestation A/D brochure come out in 1991, but this brochure with the EX didn't appear until 1992? Also, why did the Spec Sheet for the A/D appear in March 1991 but the Spec Sheet for the EX didn't appear until November 1991.

Was it just that the additional awesomeness of the A/D, including an extra RAM bank and analog inputs, give it a leg up in getting promoted over the EX? Huh.

Hey - I seriously just noticed something on that Wikipedia page. Near the bottom of the page, it says that Korg's OASYS and Kronos also include wave sequencing and vector synthesis! I quickly jumped over to Ebay to check prices... oh. nevermind. The OASYS, released in 2006 still commands about a $5,000 price tag, and the Kronos is running at about $2,500.

I think I'll stick with my Wavestation A/D.

Okay, *now* my Wavestation curiosity has come to an end. And just in time - been getting a few requests lately - mostly for Oberheim stuff. Time to jump back into the 80s.

I'll end with a summary of my Wavestation posts. A good run.   :)

July 1990: Wavestation 2-page "Make Waves" intro ad
September 1990: Wavestation 1-page "Make Waves" ad
April 1991: Wavestation "Portraits" Jan Hammer ad (July 1991 version includes EX info)
August 1991: Wavestation A/D and EX "Top Ten Reasons" ad
November 1992: Wavestation SR "15 Sounds" ad
November 1993: Wavestation A/D and SR "5 And A Half Amazing Racks" ad

And, don't forget about the brochures!

1990: Original Wavestation brochure
1991: Wavestation and Wavestation A/D brochure
1992: This Wavestation EX and Wavestation A/D brochure

Korg Wavestation SR "15 sounds" ad, Keyboard and Electronic Musician, 1992

Korg Wavestation SR "15 sounds" 1-page advertisement from inside front cover of Keyboard Magazine and page 48 in Electronic Musician, November 1992.

Talk about good timing.

This ran exactly a year after the last Wavestation A/D and EX ad ran in Keyboard, and just in time for the Holiday buying spree! And Korg probably figured out that since the Wavestation SR was a lower-cost rack-mount, it probably had a better chance of getting permission from the spouse for purchase and entry into the house. Plus I'm sure the spouse got something of equal value too...  :)

The ad had a good run. It spent the whole holiday season - November 1992- February 1993 in Electronic Musician (albeit not near the coveted front of the magazine), but Korg opted for a more spread-out approach in Keyboard. After appearing in the November issue, there was a month break before re-appearing in February and March. And then, didn't make another appearance until June. But, if you look a little closer, there often seemed to be a possible reason for its absence. And on purpose or not, it allowed the SR to lengthen its eye-ball run considerably in Keyboard.

In the December 1992 issue, The SR turned up in the Spec Sheet section of Keyboard - a good replacement for an ad in my books - and free! I'm doubt Korg gets a courtesy call before a Spec Sheet blurb their gear appears, but it would have given them good reason to switch out the SR ad and use the Spec Sheet appearance as a substitute:

"Korg rack-mount synth. Korg has introduced the Wavestation SR, a single-space rack-mount synthesizer with 550 sounds (600 performances with optional program card). With three RAM banks and eight ROM banks, the SR contains a collection of performances from the Wavestation library. The unit is also compatible with Wavestation program cards and Korg's 0/1W PCM cards. The SR's multi-sets can play a complex split layered performance on each of 16 MID channels. $1,399.00 Korg, 89 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590. (516) 333-9100. Fax (516) 333-9108."

That December 1992 as well as the January 1993 issues of Keyboard also had two other ads that may also played a role in giving the SR ad the boot. The first was that Korg included a two-page, horizontal ad for the O/1W that appeared on the inside-front cover and page 1 of the mag. You had to turn the magazine sideways to read the ad properly. A great way to grab attention.

The second was an ad for the Korg M1-PlusONE - a board that put "four megabytes of killer new PCM sounds like screaming electric guitar, celestial ebony flute, classic rock organ, and world percussion*" into your M1. The asterisk at the end of that sentence continues the voice list at the bottom of the page: *Also contains new PCM samples of acoustic guitar, electric piano, solo violin, rap percussion, harp, analog synth, marimba, string bass, assorted ethnic percussion, glockenspiel, and more.

Killer glockenspiel? Really? But I respect their attempt at keeping "synth hot-rodding" alive.  :D

Anyways, point being, that ad was "a sound partnership" ad by Korg and InVision Interactive (pun intended I'm sure). And maybe both this ad, and the O1/W two-pager in the mag, resulted in the SR ad getting punted.

The SR ad then got great ad-space in the February and March 1993 issues of Keyboard appearing on the front inside cover and page 3 respectively. .

The ad's April 1993 absence was no doubt due to Keyboard's cover feature that month - the "M1 Monster Sound Round-Up". Korg did the right thing by choosing to run a "lowest price ever" ad for the Korg M1 where the SR ad appeared the month before (page 3). Good work.

The May 1993 absence of the SR ad was easily made up for by its appearance in the "Short Takes" review section of Keyboard. Jim Aikin's review actually clocks in at just under one page if you include the full length photo of the front panel running across the top of the page, and does more than any ad could have making people think "happy thoughts" about the SR:

"The best thing about the Wavestation has always been its distinctive sound. Or sounds, actually. While it's known for rich, swirling pads, ferocious one-finger grooves, and hair-raising special effects, the kind of thing that other synthesizers can only do weak imitations of, it will produce detailed electric pianos, punch basses, crisp clavs, vibrant solo winds, and a wide range of other standard timbres just as easily. It's hard to program a Wavestation sound that doesn't have character."

Can't beat that kind of introduction.

The ad then made one final showing in June 1993, a full four months after it stopped running in Electronic Musician. Eight months long - not a bad run with only January and April missing out on anything SR-related.

The Wavestation brand had now been running close to three years. Hard to believe Korg wasn't done with it yet...