POLIVOKS PRESENTED BY THOMAS P. HECKMANN

Did you know there was a Soviet synth industry? Meet the Polivoks synthesizer from Russia in the sixth episode of Thomas P. Heckmann's Devil's Kitchen. Watch as Thomas gives a detailed demo of the machine and listen to that Mini Moog style phatness! If you have any further information on which artists have used this synth before, Soviet or otherwise, please let us know in the comments.
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[@Lea_Der_777]

Polivoks have unique resonant filter - without capacitors in all. It's not a copy of other synths - own idea of Vladimir Kuzmin (creator of Polivoks).

[@sergejiwachnenko8679]

это копия минимуга 😁 и об этом говорил в интервью сам В.Кузьмин 😁 ...учите ютуб

[@MrSheleh]

@@sergejiwachnenko8679 Это пиздьеж! (pizdets nahoy blyat' (c)) Он лишь был вдохновлен moog'ом. И схемы уникальные во многом.

[@vladimirkuzminpolivoks]

@@sergejiwachnenko8679 Не врите, нигде я не говорил этого. Кроме того, схемы его в общем доступе, в них нет ничего от Муга, учите матчасть.

[@sergejiwachnenko8679]

@@vladimirkuzminpolivoks я в схемах не понимаю, я не электрик. но я "музыкант-синтезаторщик" и отлично вижу и слышу, что это ОЧЕНЬ похоже на муг, но вы правы - это далеко не муг )))

[@vladimirkuzminpolivoks]

@@sergejiwachnenko8679Так все аналоговые синтезаторы сделаны на его принципах, но схемная реализация может быть разной. У меня и не было никакой схемы, пришлось самому выдумывать узлы. А когда появилась схема Moog, Поливокс уже был разработан и запущен в производстве, и повторить его было просто невозможно: он практически весь на транзисторах, тогда как уже вовсю использовались микросхемы. Поэтому Поливокс и имеет свое звучание. Но, где-то на Ютубе есть видео сравнения Поливокс и MiniMOOG, на Поливоксе можно подобрать звучание, как на Муге.

[@Galova]

This shitty plastic keyboard as you said has a secret inside. It never needs cleaning and repair unless you damage it, because it uses magnetic field to trigger the key

[@joeaverage3444]

In soviet Russia, synth plays you.

[@novakattila]

A proud owner of one of these. I gotta say, my favorite monosynth ever, its like Korg MS-20 marries a Moog but also married a Roland before. It has all the good parts of those sounds.

[@beloyaraistov8007]

Crumar ds near by the sound too

[@monke148]

Don't know how many times this has been said here but Mick Gordon used a polivoks when making the soundtrack for DOOM (2016) He did sample and eq for some parts but mainly the synth sounds you hear in the soundtrack are all from the polivoks

[@johnnesch9189]

Всем привет! Я друг Ваганыча! Этой штуке нужно двухполярное питание. Не благодарите. Всем пока.

[@voxertv5057]

о да оу же

[@RemixbySaMP]

Сложно наверно пользоваться?! Он же на русском... (Probably difficult to use?! It's Russian...)

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Built like a Tank. Like everything made in russia. Same as the KMZ Zenit cameras or Vostok watches or the Lada cars. Perfect because of their practical design & function.

[@lefteyereport6354]

I love my Zenit, and honestly I think almost all of the Soviet 35mm cameras are beautiful. My Kiev 60, on the other hand...

[@lred1383]

That's because almost everything in the USSR was built on repurposed truck factories and stuff like that. The guitars were built by furniture factories, and so on. That's why some things from the USSR can feel quite crude, but there's a certain unique charm to them. Soviet products fall into 2 categories - cutting edge precise amazing technology, and someone's school project that got a satisfactory mark, reproduced 5 million times

[@maxlee7977]

first of all, it si not russian, it is Soviet.

[@ТочноТочное]

First time in my life I can see so many clever people in one place. Musician how I can see the most clever, intelligent, smart, wise people.

[@maxlee7977]

@@ТочноТочное looks like someone's ass is on fire...

[@ArtHazard]

si

[@jh7344]

It's both

[@hrgiyzueghe]

And... OUR Polivoks :)

[@MaxiUga]

Бомбический аппарат 👍бомбический звук👊

[@blackbob1576]

Mick Gordon

[@leninonacid2358]

TPH did a lot of great records. From 90s to now, he is one of germany's greatest producers in techno... And I know this synth from before also.... It sounds fucking brutal!!!

[@2025fahaddenseje]

and it was used in DOOM 2016, by mick gordon......Holy fuck

[@greggasiorowski4025]

Yeah but this is still shit demo, I advise sticking to music.

[@bekzodsuyunov4951]

Это настояший советский синтезатор.Лучше всех.

[@russkij-mobik-ljaghet-v-grobik]

Настоящая совковая перделка! Лучше всех - это чего? Лучше Муга? Оберхайма? Вальдорфа? Ты бы свою глупость на показ хоть бы не выставлял!

[@maddimons]

@@russkij-mobik-ljaghet-v-grobik так то весьма самодостаточный инструмент. Он может не лучше, но однозначно уникален.

[@СергКарт]

@@russkij-mobik-ljaghet-v-grobik лучше. Не говоря уже о том, что все синтезаторы имеют русскую родословную: они родом от Теремина (Термена), Муг был его последователем.

[@РоманСвиридов-е6б]

Не хрюкай

[@scottblacklow7855]

I think Andrei Tarkovsky's films used Polivoks, Russian film Director (The Stalker, Solaris), when I heard Polivoks synth for first time it brought back memories. I've wanted one for a while, but its a long way from Russia to Tasmania, if I can find one for under $1000AUD Id risk it.

[@dennisk809]

That is not Polivoks used in that films.Thats unique soviet synthesiser only one copy exists en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANS_synthesizer

[@Ивангай-ф6т2н]

Edward Artemiyev(composer for stalker and solaris) used EMS Synthi 100, not Polivoks

[@dennisk809]

And EMS, yup.

[@sadpepe7937]

If you want a Polivoks, get the Erica Synths black modules.

[@mr8282humble]

Brah, im in Tasmania and want one as well

[@retrosound72]

lowpass and bandpass, not highpass. the keyboard is not more worst as from the Pro-One.

[@AFULimited]

You're right it's bandpass and not highpass ;-) But still the keyboard is worse than at least my Pro-One's...

[@retrosound72]

ja? bei mir ist es genau andersrum. ;) ist dein PV mit CV/Gate oder Midi nachgerüstet worden?

[@AFULimited]

Ich hab den selbst mir Midi nachgerüstet.

[@AndyDufresne86]

Some of my Songs i play live with the proone, but im never gonna give any concert with my polivoks. the sequential synth made me suffer enough.

[@TheChadPad]

This thing sounds amazing

[@timmbrockmann959]

5:07 300-500 €... good luck with that, won´t happen, unless shitty condition ;)

[@ГлебПолищук-с8о]

Made in USSR not Russia.

[@MrMihaelp]

This is awesome ! I feel proud as a Russian ! :)))

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I want a Behringer clone of this Synth soooo bad. Preferably with keys. Not an expander like the cat or wasp.

[@hereps]

In USSR there were 290M people, so 100,000 units sold is not that many ;)

[@Snavels]

Not just sold, but made in general, there could be thousands that were unsold but still manufactured

[@notyerbizniz4456]

That's a really a damn impressive sales figure for an extremely niche product.

[@SomnaAmbula]

Polivoks is a piece of awesomeness. Found some real stuff for the true Polivoks fans: www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/368627-polivoks-space

[@capturejay3079]

Producer/DJ´s like Gesaffelstein or B1980 use it!

[@savasadsrwave5357]

Its true that it has a filter with big guts* duophonic btw* as a soviet, AELITA sounds better n more musical/sciFi ...its all about music taste and ears @:•]

It's my main keyboard-type synth, see my songs Tears of the Exorcist, How could spiritism go wrong and Снимаем on my channel for example songs (these songs also have Lyra8 but Polivoks sounds the backbone).

[@SketchTurnerZero]

Also, here is a channel of the maker of Polyvox. kzbin.info/door/sZy2FKL-zoMfeFr-adYJdgfeed It's in russian language, but maybe you somehow will find it interesting.

[@grossbeet7845]

I'm going to take a big guess and say this thing was used on many soviet pop songs and films/cartoons. 99% sure.

[@MrMockinByrde]

Not too sure about popular synth-pop songs of the USSR, but it's absolutely true that the Polyvox synth was used for creating OST and SFX for many Soviet sci-fi movies and cartoons alike.

[@Tallpaaaul]

HOLY SHIT!!!! THIS THING IS INSANE MAN!!!

[@madman_85]

Красота, ❤️❤️❤️ Будут деньги без раздумий приобрету)

[@hrgiyzueghe]

Soulwax and Goose use it... But they're Belgian :D

[@DANKZI]

DOOM. Just DOOM. :)

[@holotropik]

Is a tank for sure! Even sounds tough :-)

[@mythin]

the main synth line in this goldrapp track is polivoks, they used it on a few tracks: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnnRiphrg89jfJI

[@jamboronite]

Pls play hellwalker by mick gordon

[@agniabarto8896]

У меня такой был

[@VincentPresley]

I recently got one of these and the first thing I noticed was that clackity clack clack shitty keybed and now every time I play it I think of you going "it sounds like this" and slapping your hands on the keys with that goofy look on your face and I laugh like an idiot. Thanks.

[@plays8880]

ACID HOUSE !!!

[@chinmitten]

Managed to get mine with the keyboard lopped off and MIDI. Couldn't be happier.

[@ВиталийПаутов-ч4ф]

О, Поливокс!

[@715highlights7]

Whoa 0:47 Complain this with atomic heart gameplay vids intro. Mick Gordon, also impressive

[@matrixmodulator]

5:10 lol did i heard right 300-500euros... hmmm market has increased i guess lol

[@Insaneloop]

Hahahahah I was going to comment on that! 300-500 doesn't cost even if the studio had been burnt and it was just the half left unburnt!

[@SMGJohn]

Soviet synthesizers were pretty unique. They used all of these including Polivoks extensively in movie soundtracks for Sci fi movies which were EXTREMELY popular in the eastern bloc. The model you have was used a lot for effects and creepy sounds.

[@ТочноТочное]

Awesome synth, "Alisa". Extremely rare.

[@urugulu1656]

@@ТочноТочное if you mean that alisa (алиса) is a rare synth well then i am very suprised that filatov & karas used it in лирика or is there abother synth that has that name.

[@alexanderbraun8742]

Polivoks ist eher mit einem ARP-Synth zu vergleichen und nicht mit einem Moog.

[@Strangesoundful]

TonqiXod plays with Polivoks too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bImuh4OJeaeBi6Mm56s

[@ElectronicBeatsTV]

good spot! thanks

[@mitchellchannel5265]

Motorama uses it but they are kind of an outcast of the russians since they sing in English so they could get a more international audience

[@xeronicus]

The band collide also uses alot of the polivoks in their sound(REALLY GOOD chill music).

[@petrvalkov1017]

Which tracks you can recommend?

[@roadykin]

I think this one is better dialed into some delay + verb effects. I tried using the VST version of this synth. It's a fun toy to play with.

[@zorancalic65]

Zasto se ljudi toliko loze na scream zvuk? Na odvrnutu rezonancu i cvrcanja i zujanja? U kojoj pesmi to moze da se koristi?

[@agniabarto8896]

Отвёрткой его настраивать надо, там кондёры все ленточного типа, - после этого только демонстрировать. Точка

[@_I_Hear_You]

а что он абасрал? клавиатуру? так ана реально как кусок пластмассового говна, что на ощупь что на вид... как и в 99% совковых синтов. А звук заебись, он так и сказал.

[@ТочноТочное]

Видно что ты шаришь. Люблю таких русских людей. Все знают и могут. Жаль их давят сильно. Чтоб была монополия у Англии.

[@jumatatuta2408]

@Jack Russell Пригорело?

[@jazzualdo]

You forgot to mention it's a duophonic synth.

[@timre3]

Нихера не понимаю в электронной музыке. Что он говорит?

I sold Polivoks like this last year for € 500 ;-)

[@Dartagnan65]

And now they are $2000

[@theeltea]

It's Kachkanar as in "Channel" not Kakkanar. :)

[@EttaKamenatios]

TheLT kanal

[@mamermate]

It's not Russia, it's Soviet Union

[@christoroppolo8742]

Were did you find one? How much? Peace Christo 🎶🛸👽👏🏻🐕🕺✌🏻🙏👍🏻

[@Jimbo386000]

That’s a crazy little thing...

[@nicholasmarcilio2284]

Could it just be the Key Bushings are gone? Most Western Mono-Synths of this vintage make the same horrible clacking noises till the bushings get replaced.

[@ReasonUser]

All soviets synths has this shitty keys. But some sound really huge. Try to find Aelita or Ritm or Alisa

[@christoroppolo8742]

Love this demo brother! And the filter is the meat and potatoes for sure! Peace 🛸🎶✌🏻👽Christo

[@PlakToetsBart]

4:30 Did he just recreate the pacman sound?

[@greggasiorowski4025]

Same type of keyboard as the Korg MS-20 except longer.

[@buratino3161]

Crystal method

[@synthanatomy]

Thanks for the video :)

[@iamyourfuture808]

Looks like a FSO sounds like .... nothing else really

[@jupitermarx]

Who created the Russian PolyIvox?

[@h4teher0]

Vladimir Kuzmin, also he personally replied to some messages in one of the threads above :)

[@maxmatson1578]

I heard that nitzer ebb used to use it¿?

[@ElectronicBeatsTV]

Could be, as dirty as this beast sounds

[@maxmatson1578]

EBM for life!¡🎹¡!

[@LilRossco]

Hey Thomas, Thanks for the great video!! I found one of these in my flatmates garage recently. The sound is amazing but no midi. Can you please advise where I might find the midi interface you mentioned? Thanks!

[@ElectronicBeatsTV]

lucky man!

[@DeepIodok]

Hi, I make the Polivoks synth MIDI kit that Thomas mention, selling it on ebay "mr.logich" account. You are welcome, please chek.

[@BlakeFoster050]

do all of these run on Russian Mains? I'd imagine everyone would need a voltage converter?

[@henrythomasino6242]

Ну круто)

[@AdrianSosaok]

con gratulattions

[@СергейАбрамов-л8ж]

У меня есть такой Поливокс.Если надо-могу продать...

[@Grindcorov]

Сколько денег просишь?

[@СергейАбрамов-л8ж]

@@Grindcorov Война у нас началась...Так-что сейчас не до ,,Судьбы Поливокса".

[@moskva-kassiopeya]

Reminds me ms-20 in terms of sound

[@greggasiorowski4025]

Not really this is meatier, I love TPH's music but frankly this is a goofy shit demo of its capacity.

[@andrey6720]

Я уверен, что Kraftwerk его использовали, у них похожие звуки в песнях

[@Алексей-с3о1з]

У них минимуг

[@MrSheleh]

Vodka, Matr'eshka, balalaika(Polyvox). All languages was born from russian. lullaby - balalaika

[@SerErris]

A Polivoks now becoming new attention because of Behringer announcing a clone of it. Very helpful video to understand what it is. IMO not a single sound came out of it in this demo that I would ever want to have. It sounds all broken to me. Nothing I would ever want to have. Thanks .. getting my GAS in shape