ARP Arpeggio newsletter, June 1980

 

ARP Arpeggio newsletter from June 1980.

I've been posting ARP's newsletters a little too infrequently since late 2009. This is only my forth one after these three (click to go to the blog posts and see all the pages).

      

Usually I scan them over time, and then save them for when I don't have time to really blog. Figure all those pages make up for a small word count.  And that is exactly the case this time too.

But, before I sign off I just wanted to point out a few interesting things.

First, I gotta say - dang I love that Arpeggio logo. In black and white and in colour.  Both are gorgeous. Almost as good as the ARP logo itself.

The second thing is the fact that there is no Volume/# label like on the others earlier newsletters I've posted. This is only distinguished as "June 1980".  That's it.  This leads me to believe that over time these newsletters became less and less frequent. Although my Arpeggio newsletter collection isn't complete, so I can't say for sure.

Another interesting thing is the page on the Chroma. According to Wikipedia and other sources, the Chroma was developed by ARP just before the company tanked in 1981. So, its cool from a historical perspective to see the machine promoted back in mid-1980 by ARP itself. Yeah. Totally cool.

Finally - on that last page is something most awesome. Sure, ARP at NAMM '80 is some kind of awesome, but the one thing in particular on this page that raises this whole newsletter to a totally new level of awesomeness...

Yup. At NAMM '80, Mike Post and Pete Carpenter played the Theme from the Rockford Files.

Jackpot!

ARP Arpeggio newsletter, April 1977, Volume 6, #1

[PDF version]

ARP Arpeggio newsletter from April 1977, Volume 6, #1.

I love these newsletters. I've scanned two others (you can view the Arpeggio Newsletter label to bring them all up on the screen), and although this newsletter doesn't contain as many pages as the last one, there is still so much historical information in it that it makes me want to puke (in a good way). Eight pages of juicy synth goodness.

Hmmm - now that I look at it, I wonder if maybe I'm missing a few pages since there doesn't seem to be a bulk postage/mail section where an address can go. But, then again, it would have been on the last page, which due to the folding process, is printed next to the first page. Which I do have. Also, the "Special Notice" at the bottom of page one may indicate that they changed their mailing practices as well. This newsletter may have been one of the free copies "distributed through authorized ARP Dealers throughout the United States and Canada".

Anyways, I've scanned the eight pages as images as well as packaged them up in a handy-dandy PDF.

For me, you just have to turn to page two and read through the ASK ARP section to start digging up great ARP historical reference info. For example, in the second answer, ARP teases readers with a now-well-known movie fact:

"ARP recently supplied a complete ARP 2500 system and a skilled operator to appear in the upcoming Columbia Pictures film, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The film deals with UFOs, and the ARP plays a significant role as a communications tool."

Does it ever.

And how about this for a great ARP/Stevie Wonder fact:

"Stevie first visited ARP in early 1972 and had his first 2600 outfitted with the control function descriptions written in braille. "

Flip to page four and we get a eyeful of their new PRO/DGX synth, along with a big helping of good ol' ARP name dropping at the end. And underneath that, an article called "The Captain & Tenille & ARP", with a photo of the Captain posing with his mostly-ARP gear. Did he really wear a captain's hat? Seriously? Seems a little too... I dunno... something or other.

Page five gives us another crazy movie/ARP fact that I had never heard about King Kong:

"Clark Spangler, Los Angeles' best known session synthesist and master of the ARP 2500 and 2600, interfaced both units to produce the sound of the big hairy gorilla's footsteps. He carefully mixed the heavy, resonant thud of the foot with the crackle-smash noise of vegetation being crushed, and, in some cases, people being crushed."

I think that ARP plug coming out of the back of the image of King Kong is supposed to be a tail. But, um... gorillas don't have long tails, do they? Looks a little creepy.

Page six has a great article on external audio processing, as well as one of my favorites - Patchworks! I dig that outline of a synth panel. Yum.

Wait here... I'm going to see if it sounds like a sax...

I'm back... Pretty good for an Odyssey. Although it sounds better as a tuba when you pitch it down an octave or two. :o)

But for me, the most exciting bit of info in this newsletter is on page seven in the reader contest section called "The Music Well". The prize is a free ARP belt buckle! I posted a few photos of my brass ARP belt buckle just a few weeks ago. It has a date of 1977 stamped onto the back - the same year as this newsletter - so I'm betting the contest prize has to be the same model. And this is the first time I've seen a reference to the ARP belt buckle in print.

Excellent!

ARP Arpeggio newsletter, October 1976, Volume 5, #2

[PDF version]

ARP Arpeggio newsletter from October 1976, Volume 5, #2.

This is kind of an experiment for me. Scan a lot, blog a little. In this case very little, since I'm kinda in a time crunch at work at the moment. So I thought this twelve-page newsletter from ARP would be a good candidate for this experiment.

I will however, point out a few things about this particular newsletter that I find interesting.

First, and most importantly to me, is the gobs of historical information that can be found within these pages. I did scan one smaller 1974 ARP Arpeggio newsletter late last year that was about half the size, but it just doesn't compare to the amount of information in this one.

No matter if you are looking for technical/reference information, the synthesizers different bands used, interesting stories, or images from this time period - it's all there. Sure, it's all from ARP's perspective, but I would argue (and most would hopefully agree :o) its all valuable historical information.

Second. the Patchworks section on page 10. It contains "...Josef Zawinul's lead solo patch from the title cut of the group's latest album, BLACK MARKET". Maybe I don't look around the
InterWebz hard enough, but I think it would be cool if more musicians/bands included patches of some of their signature sounds on their Web sites - both hardware and software.

Third, and finally, it wouldn't be an ARP post if I didn't point out two of ARP's main marketing strategies. The awesomely fantastic amount of name-dropping that can be found in this newsletter is like machine-gun fire the way it's spread across the pages. And, of course, ARP's continued use of the term 'Human Engineering'. Both strategies were used effectively to sell a lot of ARP instruments for a number of years.

So, with that.... enjoy!

ARP Arpeggio Newsletter, April 1974, Volume 3, #1

PDF version

ARP Arpeggio Newsletter from April 1974, Volume 3, #1.

I have a few of these ARP newsletters in my collection, and when MATRIXSYNTH recently posted an eBay auction that included some, I just had to dig 'em up and read through them again (and maybe bid on the ones on eBay... :o)

And so, this is one of 'em!

I've provided the images of each page above - in the order you would read them in. So, if you received the newsletter in the mail, you would have unfolded it, then read the front cover first, then opened the cover to reveal the three pages on the reverse side (the last of which is a three-quarter page!), and then you would flip back to the first side and read the last two pages (the other side of the three-quarter page and then the last page).

Confused? I've also supplied the PDF where I've stitched the images together as if they were the two sides of the newsletter - so, not in order, but if you printed it out on two sides of the same piece of paper, you could fold it up like the original newsletter. A fun project during a slow day at the office.

Anyways, there is some fantastic history within these pages that just shouldn't get lost. From the article "The Making of an ARP" to "ARPs Around the World" - there is just a wack of great info here. For example:

You didn't know that Phillips Corp. bought ARP 2500s for all it's major studios? Now you do!

Or...

You didn't know that there were 38 ARPs on order for Iran in 1974? Now you do!

Or...

You didn't know that famous photo of Peter Townshend laying in front of his ARP 2600 was a self-portrait taken around 1972. Now you do!

Sure, the newsletter is basically one big ad for ARP instruments, but I don't care. And as you know from my blog posts, all ARP ads have one, two, or all three of these characteristics:

1. Name dropping
2. Great photos
3. Somehow, somewhere, they mention the term 'Human Engineering'.

As you can see, this newsletter is dripping with name-drops and photos of famous musicians and organizations that were using ARP synthesizers at the time. And to cover off the 'Human Engineering' side of things, they even slipped in a 'Human Engineering' question in the 'Ask ARP' section:

"What is this "human engineering" jazz that you are always pushing in your literature? - Jack Dunn, San Diego, California"

And the answer to the question explains "Human Engineering" pretty well.

"Hey Jack, did you ever think why a light switch is shaped a certain way, or why a keyboard has black keys and white keys, or why this ARPPEGGIO is folded instead of rolled up like a scroll? All these devices have to be handled by Human Beings and somewhere along the line, somebody designed them to fit the human hand. That is "Human Engineering." Human Engineering is why ARP synthesizers feel good to play, and really let you wail."

I wonder if Jack Dunn still uses the word 'jazz' a lot?