Thursday, June 10, 2010

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!

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