Novachord 346 - The Worlds 1st Polyphonic Synth from 1939!

[d.a.wilson]

After months of planning and tons of research I've become the very proud owner of a 1939 Hammond Novachord - the worlds first polyphonic synth!

Released in 1939 this beast weighs 500 pounds and contains 163 vacuum tubes - it predates Moogs by 25+ years and yet has separate ADR envelopes on all keys, a full 6 octave divide down subtractive polyphonic architecture a 6 channel vibrato and resonant formant filters!!

One of only 1069 ever built in the US between 1939 & 1942 and only around 200 now existing world wide. It is believed to be the only one in the UK and of less than 20 in the whole of Europe. It was one of few instruments Hammond ever released that wasn't an organ.

It's cost me a fortune to import this beast and will take a couple of years for me to restore it back to full working condition - that said - it was working up till only 5 years ago - not bad for a 70 year old synth!

Here are two demos of a recently restored one:

http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/mp3/nova2.mp3
http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/mp3/nova3.mp3

And a video of the very unit I'm importing demonstrated on Sonic State by Marc Doty - the previous owner:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=7464

And some synth guts if you are interested:

http://www.discretesynthesizers.com/nova/intro.htm

[Doddsy]

Interesting as I've never heard of one before this post. Can see now why the moog was such a breakthrough for musicians with this beast coming in at over 160 tubes! I guess your electric bill is going to be sky high!!!

It does make nice sounds, not organ like surprise Vangelis and Jarre haven't owned one. Should be interesting to hear what sounds you get from it for a C64 remix!

[LMan]

Whoa it sounds beautiful! I was never aware. I thought poly synths came up in the early 60s - I guess I'll have to make my homework and read up on it.

[Makke]

That. Is. Awesome!

You have got to get that running, and use it for C64 remixing!

[LMan]

Interestingly enough, Wikipedia claims

"By 1976, the first true music synthesizers to offer polyphony had begun to appear, most notably in the form of the Yamaha GX1, CS-50, CS-60 and Yamaha CS-80 and the Oberheim Four-Voice. These early instruments were very complex, heavy, and costly."

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesizer

Someone must update this page! *looks at d.a.wilson*

[d.a.wilson]

Interestingly enough, Wikipedia claims

"By 1976, the first true music synthesizers to offer polyphony had begun to appear, most notably in the form of the Yamaha GX1, CS-50, CS-60 and Yamaha CS-80 and the Oberheim Four-Voice. These early instruments were very complex, heavy, and costly."

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesizer

Someone must update this page! *looks at d.a.wilson*

Yes... I have to admit that before I discovered this instrument I had no idea that the roots of the subtractive analog synth went so far back. And there there is the cost... you've got to remember many couldn't afford a decent valve radio in 1938 let alone a $2000 synth - that was as much as a house! No wonder Hollywood film studios were using them - who else could afford one.

It amazes me just how few know about this beast. If you read Laurens Hammond's US Patents from 1936 you realise he developed the same divide down architecture used in the Polymoog some 40 years later, the velocity sensitive keyboard and the envelope generator!!!

[analoq]

Wow, congratulations d.a.wilson! There's vintage synths and then there's owning a piece of synthesiser history:

120 Years of Electronic Music

[d.a.wilson]

Wow, congratulations d.a.wilson! There's vintage synths and then there's owning a piece of synthesiser history:

120 Years of Electronic Music

Thanks.... Absolutely - this is the first vintage instrument I've owned where I actually feel responsible for it's wellbeing!

It's serial number 346 which means it was built in the first 2 years of production somewhere between 1938-39. Bare in mind the Ford Model T was only 11 years old when this beast was released.

[Commie_User]

You b******! And that goes for you too, everyone else in the world!

What a fantastic synth! I wonder what THAT would sound like with a controller hooked up to where a SID would usually go!

Just imagine standing in a large hall with this thing playing. That rich sound enveloping you. Marvellous.

You've got great cause to be smug and imagine the jealousy of others. You're certainly having your day Mr. Dog.

(Though I thought Model T was pre-WW1. But Wikipedia says that it was 1927 when the last one was made.)

[Analog-X64]

This is amazing!!! and I'm very happy for you!!! I'm glad you have acquired a piece of synth history.

[d.a.wilson]

(Though I thought Model T was pre-WW1. But Wikipedia says that it was 1927 when the last one was made.)

Oops!... you are correct - my mistake - but you get my point - It's old!!

[Romeo Knight]

WOW!
I'm pretty amazed about the "device" itself but the sound
examples are fantastic, too.
Do you know if there's any post processing done to
the examples?
(The video is pretty impressive and interesting, too)

[LMan]

I was wondering too. Assuming the beast knew nothing of stereo or panning or other soundscape tricks, I guess there's a reverb on it.

[d.a.wilson]

WOW!
I'm pretty amazed about the "device" itself but the sound
examples are fantastic, too.
Do you know if there's any post processing done to
the examples?
(The video is pretty impressive and interesting, too)

In answer to both RK and LM there were tons of delay, chorus and reverb applied. This is partly because the Novachord was so old that it didn't even have a line output let alone any built in FX (it's years before even the spring reverb). Phil Cirocco added a balanced line output so he could record it directly (I will be making the same mod). It has large built in speakers designed to be used in a big hall etc... Thus recording this thing dry doesn't make much sense. Also Phil was interested in making a modern recording of this beast and so he used the same techniques as you would with any synth.

It's probably best to think of the Novachord as a wonderfully organic (excuse the pun!!) set of 12 non synchronised analog tube oscillators triggering analog tube frequency dividers (monostable) and waveshapers then into tube based analog envelope generators and into a passive multistage LC resonant filter network. The only built in FX is a 6 channel vibrato mechanism which alters the pitch of 6 pairs of adjacent oscillators asynchronously with one another thus adding to the organic nature of the sound.

I agree the Sonic State series is nicely edited; Marc Doty is the guy who has kindly passed this beast onto me and was this instrument that was featured in the video.

[Vosla]

Listening to that samples is like seeing a living damn dinosaur walking around!

Thanks for sharing, Wilson! Really appreciated!