OBERHEIM FVS (Four Voice)

Full restoration and custom mods by Kevin Lightner.
Signal chain:
Oberheim FVS--Eventide 2016 reverb--Siemens 295b EQ--Prism Sound Orpheus
Please excuse clipping in the recording. I wasn't watching my levels. Whoops. :)

[@DaveMcGarry]

Looks and sounds both vintage and futuristic at the same time!

[@modus9062]

best synth ever built, period.

[@alexprestin1293]

but they made an 8 voice. . . .

[@12bitizthewaytogo92]

ill still take a memorymoog over the 4 voice

[@Isaac-kf1tc]

@@12bitizthewaytogo92 why Memorymoog over this?

[@12bitizthewaytogo92]

@@Isaac-kf1tc more expression and sounds oberheim is dope but not worth the ridiculous prices people want

[@alecjahn]

I continually come back to this video because those oscillators are just... indescribably perfect in my mind. The textures, in combination with that great reverb simply resonate with me perfectly.

[@emulatorband3880]

what a respectable synthesizer.. very powerful, beautiful and frightening at the same time.. it will only be a dream for me

[@kaiherrmann3477]

Behringer will hear from your dreams.. ; )

[@blapo38]

Xcelent camera work and sounds. You make the 4 voice even more desireable!

[@station2station544]

As a TVS owner, this is glorious. I've seen a few with the blue LED mod. Congrats on a great video.

[@geoffsmith8172]

what a beautiful demo

[@komradecharon]

i know this is just a synth demo but i watch this a lot late at night when it's hard to feel anything except an abiding existential loneliness, and it makes me feel something, anything else. i get goosebumps. i know it's so trivial but the sounds you're getting out of this synth are just so completely beautiful. thanks.

[@javiceres]

I play my monophonic version of this sometimes in that sort of nights. Delved into a good dose of reverb this synth provides a kind of depth non easily atainable... helps giving life a bit of deep aesthetic content, if anything, tied to time.

[@julianjulian6405]

+komradecharon Yes, the beauty is otherworldly, I think it's a special kind of people that think this way, most people I know would just shrug their shoulders. Please tell me that you know about early Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze etc.?

[@rot_studios]

I get an existential loneliness in my wallet when I see this video.

[@brayjon9]

Just beautiful. Anyone that says that plugins sound the same is sadly mistaken 👍👍

[@omeismordaunt6224]

I played a 4 voice stack from arturia against the audio in this video, and the results were phenomenally accurate.

[@povkilla]

I'd have to agree with you on Prism. Sooooo worth the cost. Nice demo of the FVS too man! Keep up the great sounds!

[@mindtravelo]

wow! extraordinary sound! the high ends come through extremely clear. nice a/d, btw !

[@LoganMannstrane]

Mods include full CV and Gate to all 4 Voices. Noise Circuit designed by Kevin Lightner for all 4 Voices. Sems 1 + 2 have filter inputs for an Audio Signal to run other synths and drum machines . Blue and White LEDs, also right around the back of the FVS there are CV and Gate Bypass switch for each Voice. If you have Cables plugged in for CV and Gate you have to unplug them if you want to trigger via the front keyboard.

[@carlheinz]

What can I say.Very inspiring and thank you!!!2:53 celloish pulse width mod is just killer with that riff.You know your synths.

[@lancecunningham4152]

It grabs your attention. Massive sound

[@shayeasy]

amazing synth and signal chain. it just doesn't get any better than this.

[@GNeuman]

Absolutely evil sounding, truly frightening........great!

[@JohnLRice]

Sounds great!

[@MarkOphidian]

Brilliant. Love it.

[@burns46824]

I must say...those filters sound really really really good

[@kevinwalker4124]

I hope this one becomes available again. ] What a beautiful sound.

[@javiceres]

Beautyful piece of music. I envy you soooooo much.

[@musictec1]

Great sounds

[@zaphyd]

Thanks man! Now i want one even more.

[@Syntza]

One of the best VCO analog synth outhere and now Tom Oberheim is releasing the new version of the 4 voice :)

[@frozinarosie]

Unbelievable sound,holy shit!!!

[@joeyxl3456]

a beautiful thing

[@dhampex]

@lookingbill1 I remember it on purple rain,BTW there's a few vids on here that shows herbie and zawinul playing the famous brass patch on it. oh and a 78 session with george duke with it too. I remember wendy and lisa mainly using the obxa together. most vid there seen playing on it on prince vid. I'm going for the alesis a6 cause it has the moog and obie sem filters in them. later on will get a 4 or an 8 voice, but there expensive.

[@devmiles]

just insane

[@cyrusworldmusic]

outstanding synth!! (i like SEM!)

[@NinaLarss]

mesmerizing

[@Lyzarock]

I could play with this for hours ^.^

[@juno6]

Ahhhh... nothing sounds as good as a Prism Sound Orpheus clipping... ;) Really nice demo really. THnx.

[@prototek4187]

Worship!!

[@FelixBernhardt]

im in love :)

[@calyx93]

Once read somewhere that Vince Clarke remarked that the sound of a SEM was like "audio chocolate" - and I don't think that's too far from the truth. Amazing and full of buzzing, electric life!

[@tonitsikado]

aaah, filter is so sweet

[@myleftnutts]

thanx 4 for that intel!!!.

[@Bnombe]

Oh, totally! Was mostly goofing that all of us gear nerds to the exact same sort of thing all the time. This is a totally freaking amazing video.

[@Synthfool]

Nice camerawork. You have a good ear, eyes and much potential.Thanks for the kind words. :)

[@antonbriggs5680]

After their done with the OB-X8 would really like a new FVS

[@vincewizz8534]

Indeed… some years ago Tom Oberheim showed a potential “son of 4 voices” synth but unfortunately it was never produced. I guess if they released it today, even at 8k€ it would sell.

[@Hot80s]

Well enjoyed. Tks.

[@joeyxl3456]

that filter at the end is going to take some beating, i wonder will software be ever able to make magic like that.

[@rodsnratfinks]

My word!

[@seanchristophersynthesizer6999]

OMG what I could do with this puppy! :)

[@enno6982]

PFFFF love it

[@home_taping]

Prism Audio is a distributor and manufacturer of boutique top end recording and audio toys. They also distribute Maselec audio toys here in the U.S. The Orpheus is a high end firewire recording box. And yes, it's worth $5k.

[@joeyxl3456]

THAT FILTER at the very end = Delicious!!

[@TryptychUK]

It's not as fat as the classic Moog, but it makes up for it with that awesome HPF/BP mode. No other synth sounds like it.

[@Heavy_Distortion]

trippy.

[@petorupetoru742]

Great!

[@TryptychUK]

My all time second favourite synth ever. (My favourite is the 8 voice) ;)

[@alecjahn]

HUGE.

[@gavincurtis]

Dammit... I like this one too.

[@Iofflight78]

Lord.

[@devmiles]

forget vst's.. now this is a synth ladies and gents!

[@Kkidzz]

Holy Mutha. Opening sequence is so 'Travelogue' era Human League.

[@gavincurtis]

I love all synthesizers!!! Can I sleep with this one? My CS80 is jealous now........

[@TheApnean]

Tom has re-released the 4 voice with some improvements, AND, you will be able to connect 2 of them to recreate the enigmatic 8 Voice Oberheim !!! Prepare to wet yourself.

[@mollyoko]

but will it sound the same? doubt it.

[@jacobbrashears]

mollyoko In fact, the new single SEM model is already in production, and the general consensus is that the oscillators sound identical and the filter sounds extremely close (though slightly different, it isn't worse, and it's hardly noticeable). Tom Oberheim uses the exact same 1970's discrete signal path. Each SEM contains 129 resistors, 26 transistors, and 28 op-amps. For ONE voice. It isn't cheap, but the sound is worth it.

[@TheApnean]

...and now it seems he has shelved the 4 voice,,,,,,,bah.

[@naturecollision]

jacobbrashears I can't resist or can i? ;)

[@Bavinckovic]

Koyaniskatsi!

[@stryker1999]

@TheZombieHolocaust If your Andy isn't sounding all that good to you, I'd turn down the volume of the OSCs in the filters to about 30-40%. The A6 is notorious for having a mixer that overloads way too soon. Of course, Moog, ARP and Oberheim always sounds good. ;-)

[@Moccij]

I like the charachter of the oberheim. "Fullful"

[@joeyxl3456]

oh wow

[@bigfreak58]

The first Oberheim's were monsters in the sound dept. i allways loved them, they werent completely programble only some of the patch cold be loaded into the memory but the sound could not be touched the proice at the tme keep it out of my hands.

[@TheZombieHolocaust]

@CountlovE well any synth has to work for you I dont find the menu diving too too bad but im still learning alot of features....So far for me the sequencer is a pain to really mess with on the fly but otherwise I find the A6 to be great...im classical guitarist and not many synths feel like an 'instrument' to me but the A6 does know what I mean? The FVS and OBX are kind of my dream synths. I really enjoy your demos and want the new TVS bad or even the SOFV that Oberheim is making.

[@UnchainTheNight1]

it's no damn wonder that reverb is $2000, it's more thana reverb box, it's a whole other world of sound to explore

[@jcBurton2094]

It's an interstellar spacecraft reincarnated as a synth

[@TheZombieHolocaust]

@stryker1999 no the A6 sounds great to me but while it can have a very beautiful SEM quality to it thanks to filter one and the BP etc options - it doesnt have that signature Oberhemin FVS thick unison. I want to hear my A6 thru a Prism Orpheus A6 has it's own bass mojo and it's own distinctive sound - i agree about lowering the setting on all the mixing levels and in the envelope stages even - then again overloading that mixer in different ways sometimes can be sooooo much fun

[@LoganMannstrane]

@TheZombieHolocaust I had an Andy at one point but sold it. The oscillators distort too quickly. It's not a distortion that I find nice either. I sold all new synths I had and only kept Vintage ones. The Menu system is really bad with the A6. I just want knobs. No sub menus from a calculator interface display.

[@analogsynthplayer]

Scott Metzger Totally agree, analog, what you see, is what you get. An O scope, analog volt ohm meter, they'll keep running. Best performances, thank you. Love that detuned brass sound you get🎹🎹🎹

[@christopherchang670]

I can only imagine you're not looking to sell this beautiful machine, but I'd love to make an offer.

[@LoganMannstrane]

Southern California. Too bad I wasn't around for the old days.

[@stephenteller]

Very Cool! Love the Blue LEDs..What are you using to sequence SEM 4?

[@ryanfreer77]

Could one link four of Tom Oberheim's new SEMs together to create a similar poly-synth with that kind of sound today?

[@jcBurton2094]

Tom should let us do that

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

@CountlovE Please do the ending synthesizer solo (in 6/8 time) of Styx's "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)."

[@mollyoko]

Scott, its been more than 3 years. Can we get some new videos please :)

[@LoganMannstrane]

So if I have a sequence running on 1 sem and wish to play chords I can't have the first voice being picked up by the keyboard trigger. Hope that makes sense.

[@LoganMannstrane]

I thought that was pretty lame so I asked him to put a system where I can bypass each sem without having to unplug cables.. If I go to sequence on the Sems I want to start from right and go left because of how the front keyboard triggers. If I am in Unison mode it will trigger all. If you set the voices to cycle they will start on the left hand side and move right.

[@LoganMannstrane]

@douro20 Yes, It makes a huge difference. I have tried 5 other interfaces. Prism is worth every penny.

[@dhampex]

@lookingbill1 your right, and to add 2 more,, 77-83 herbie hancock and Joe zawinul from weather report used it!!!

[@matiasmoulin2126]

wetted my pants at about 2:40

[@McSnaggles]

Beautiful work. What delay do you use on this?

[@backindauk]

How long ago was this modified? It sounds great (absolutely fantastic)

[@kerzwhile]

Holy Crap!! That bastard sounds incredible!! What Mods were done to her? Is Oscilator 4 the default for the arp.? A Mod allowing each voice its own arp. Pattern would be extremely cool! Great Vid.!!

[@doyleaudio]

Holt Crap is about right. I would die to hear that through the systems we build. Having wonderful Flash backs to Ric Wakeman and ELP. LOL Where are you located? Cheers. GD

[@aCivilServant]

This synths fatter than a Hippo. Delicious pads and filtering. Wow

[@javiceres]

Oh my Drokk. Like my son SEM would X4 and we'd be a happy family. Just mine Blows the converter of my Eventide (Killers combo), let alone four... Foooour O_____O

[@TheZombieHolocaust]

damn that sounds amazing to me.......ENORMOUS and I own an A6 how would you rank a FVS against an OBX?

[@Alpostol]

Wow! Amazing sound quality. I'm not so familiar with the Four Voice so can you divide one voice for the sequencer and use the rest three separately? Or how did you play the first part of your clip.

[@TryptychUK]

The sequencer is an individual controller, like the keyboard, so you can assign it to whichever modules you wish.

[@LoganMannstrane]

@DAK0MA You can download all audio for my videos onsoundcloud. Just search for: ​logan mannstrane

[@RoyChartier]

You know, you CAN tune the voices.

[@theeltea]

@CountlovE If I may ask, what other 5 interfaces did you try?

[@LoganMannstrane]

@stephenteller Hey Stephen. I am using Logic Pro ==> MIDI IN Doepfer MCV24 CV/GATE OUT ==> CV GATE IN FVS

[@michaelstein1494]

If only the ob6 sounded this good!

[@astroboomboy]

How are you playing this? Is one of the voices on the oberheim receiving signals from a sequencer? And you are playing on the other three?

[@gavincurtis]

WOW... where are my socks?

[@disdannie]

Is this the same Kevin Lightner that used to be on The Pig Sty? Dos Buster wants to know.

[@Chriskkboongg]

Styx and Bee Gees used the OB FVS extensively.

[@Rhythmicons]

SOme of this sounds like the terminator, though I know he used a Prophet 10

[@clarius1973]

Massive, hyper-fat sounds... The "noisy" HP filter is SCARY. C.

[@TheStreetest]

not 4 the noobs!!!word! i roll with GAIA SH-01!

[@AlainHubert]

It would have been even better if the fourth SEM was in tune with the others...

[@SiliconBassist]

I hope the new SO4V is patchable like the Two Voice Pro and (some of) the new SEMs.

[@blueangels5]

I emailed tom, as I wanted to cobble two together to make an 8 voice... he said for now he isn't planning on making the SO4V :c

[@SiliconBassist]

That's unfortunate.

[@TheApnean]

blueangels5 Yeh, exactly what i wanted to do as well. Bugger