Bremerton, Washington, USA
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omgwtf chilton talentmaker
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People who enjoyed reading this: Fredo, Zanf, delete, sAMsKi, celibacyclub, jack123, Roshi, mlbot, lowlifi, Fognozzle, mulletballet, sohcahtoa, jogn, Analog, bodo, utofbu, monty
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So, even though I am pretty po-broke right now, I still keep an eye on craigslist for interesting junk that might float through town. Wouldn't you know it, there was a Chilton Talentmaker on the Kitsap musical instruments list. The Talentmaker is a patent infringer on the Optigan and Orchestron, but is said to be more reliable than the Optigan. Thats not saying much- mine is functioning because of electrical tape in two places, and it needs a new rubber drive belt. But the Optigan is rumored to be even worse.
Now, it's really difficult to judge how rare something like this is. So far as I can tell, it extremely rare- enough that it's difficult to discern its value. But I'm pretty sure that it's worth more than the $40 I paid for it. It was owned by a schizo hoarder who died and left no family to claim anything of hers. The people who sold it to me
had just kind of moved in to her mess and were digging through it all.
So I've been a giddy, bouncy ball of energy all day. It came with TONS of discs and song books- not tested it yet, but I think it even has an OUTPUT!'
The instrument is a huge inspiration-especially with the discs in upside down so that the accompaniment plays backward.
So I don't know if I exactly got one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals moneywise- but it is far and away the rarest thing I will probably ever own...
So happy! | |
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07/18/08
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Zanf
I love blogs where people get excited and giddy.
07/18/08
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deltasleep
I love blogs where I get A FREAKING CHILTON TALENTMAKER.
The talent I will make with this will astound.
07/18/08
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deltasleep
Fredo and I are both happy about new instruments this week, btw!
07/18/08
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sAMsKi
never heard of these before. look schweeet! congrats  great name, for sure.
07/18/08
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sAMsKi
07/18/08
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Fredo
hahah, yay new instruments!
07/18/08
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deltasleep
They're essentially a slightly more dependable Optigan. I'll have to take a look at a real Optigan before I can tell you how they are different. Somewhere in the drive mechanism, so I'm told.
I am so stoked, because the thing came with a mountain of disks too- like 10-15.
07/18/08
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jack123
delta you should post some samples. that would be much appreciated.
07/18/08
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sAMsKi
really cool man. stoked for you *raises glass* (well, mouse)
07/18/08
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Roshi
I  optigans
Only got to play one once, but it was magic
07/18/08
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mlbot
i love blogs about instruments I have never heard of and only barely understand even after a lengthy description.
Makes me feel like less of a nerd/goober. In comparison to all you booger-brains out there, at least.
Congrats!
07/18/08
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Tripnik
what, so what exactly is this? You have pics? How does it work?
07/18/08
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lowlifi
OMFG OMFG OMFG
That IS the deal of a lifetime, those things are impossible to get. I am really jealous now.
You should check out the Optiganally Yours album, you would love it.
07/18/08
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jogn
man i'm jealous too.
07/18/08
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deltasleep
Ah, what is the Chilton Talentmaker?
It's an optical organ. Just ponder wtf that means. Cause if I hadn't seen it I totally wouldn't understand it either. I had no idea how an optigan worked until I opened this up- now it's so brilliantly simple I can't believe it didn't get more popular.
The Talentmaker, like the Vako Orchestron and the Optigan, takes all of it's sound from playing back audio that's on a mylar disc. The disc rotates constantly, and a light shines up through it. Photo cells on the other side take in that light an make it sound(by magic). So you don't have to actually stop or start anything mechanical, just turn a switch on or off when you strike a key. Complete polyphony and endless loops. The design is so stupid that even I can see improvements that should have been made. But it's also so simple that it won't be rocket science to fix.
Since it was a mellotron competitor, you can think about it like me buying the mellotron's weirder cousin for $40.
It's so craptastic- you should hear the seagulls track on the 'Hawaii" discs. The organ part is a marimba roll on that disc.
Oh and the output sounds great, so this will definitely be getting recorded SOON!
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