ELKA SYNTHEX - Rosen Sound Demo

There are a few ELKA SYNTHEX demos on YouTube, but none featuring the venerable Benny Bock, and we’re happy to change that!

The ELKA SYNTHEX, or the Italian Stallion as I call it, was Italy’s first and only major polyphonic programmable synthesizer from the early 1980’s. Created by Mario Maggi under the ELKA brand, the SYNTHEX combined various technologies that resulted in a truly unique poly synth that can’t quite be compared to.

The SYNTHEX is an eight voice bi/dual timbral synthesizer that uses two digital oscillators to generate its pallet of waveforms before hitting a CEM based multimode filter and inevitably its famous analog BBD chorus. The chorus offers 3 settings: subtle chorusing, Juno type chorus, and full monty ARP Solina style chorus.

Besides it’s awesome sound sculpting capabilities, the SYNTHEX also offers a sequencer, ROM presets alongside user patch storage, split/layer modes with solo functions, a joystick with capable routings, a stereo mode, and MIDI through it’s computer interface!

This SYNTHEX, along with countless other synthesizers of all types, is available for rent locally in the Los Angeles area through our rental business.

Note: The SYNTHEX features a unique stereo mode. Unlike other stereo synthesizers which pan voices logically or in a ping pong (LRLRLRLR) fashion, the SYNTHEX pans them in groups of 4… so LLLL RRRR Therefor, there may be moments that the audio is only in one stereo channel. This may be disorienting for some, and we recommend watching this video in mono if that’s the case.

Cameras by Henry Glover & Rob Rosen
Editing by Rob Rosen
Music by Benny Bock

With help from:
Stereo set of Roland RE-301 chorus echos (chorus disengaged, echo on subtlety)
Eli Epstein - Emotional support