The annual Analogue Heaven - California (AHCali) gathering took place yesterday (Sunday, November 12, 2006) at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. The name of the event comes from the Analogue Heaven mailing list, which, as you would expect, focuses on analog instruments, new and old.

Although the list has an international membership, regional gatherings are often scheduled around the U.S. so that members can meet face to face as well as get some hands-on time with instruments they may have only read about. The California shows tend to be located in the Bay Area, which is handy because a number of manufacturers and instrument designers are in the general vicinity. However, over the years, we’ve had attendees drive from as far south as Los Angeles and from as far north as Seattle.

AH events are informal, and people tend to bring things they want to share with others. Typically, the gathering attracts a wide variety of musicians, collectors, DIYers, and manufacturers, so you never know what you’ll see and hear. For example, a number of DIY modular synth modules were present, not to mention some prototypes (The Magic Smoke Mankato filter), and various other home-brew creations.

Although a number of exhibitors used speakers to demo their gear, the overall volume level was tame compared to past events. However, the volume rose substantially near the end of the day, especially at the table where the CV output of a vintage Korg was being used to control the image on an old Commodore video monitor. (After an afternoon of keeping levels to a minimum, you just can’t help but crank it up before tearing everything down to go home!)

Modular systems represented this year included new ones (Buchla 200e, Synthesis Technology MOTM, Doepfer, PAiA, Analogue Systems, Analogue Solutions, Blacet), and vintage ones (Delta Music Research and EMS). Vintage keyboard synths (Oberheim OB-1 and Matrix-12, and Roland System 100 and Jupiter-4 Compuphonic) and modern synths (Dave Smith Evolver Keyboard) were also present, as were a few drum machines. Mike Brown of Livewire Electronics brought along his vintage tube-based oscillators and noise generator, a small portion of the system he uses in his music. Although I usually bring something from my own collection, this time I brought some boutique instruments that I’m currently reviewing: a Bleep Labs Thingamagoop, a Monotonic Labs Type-U73 oscillator, and an Eowave Persephone ribbon-controlled synth.



Instrument designers visiting the show included Don Buchla, Dave Smith, Mike Brown, and Eric Barbour of Metasonix. Composer/performer Robert Rich was kind enough to bring along his large MOTM system. And San Francisco-based retailer Robot Speak was also present with plenty of Moog-related hardware and software items on display.

List member Brian Comnes, who coordinated the gathering, set up a raffle to raise money for the Bob Moog Memorial Foundation. The donated prizes included hats and shirts from RobotSpeak, a Metasonix TM-6, a gift certificate to Analogue Haven, and a vintage Korg MonoPoly synth (donated by sound-designer and EM author Nick Peck).

Personally, the most interesting aspect of an AHCali meeting is hearing what people have to say about their instruments, finding out what they like most about them, and hearing how they use them. I was particularly interested in learning more about the Buchla 200e, and Chris Muir was patient enough to explain some its deep feature-set to me.

Images from AHCali 2006 participants can be found here, here, and here.