RMI Keyboard Computer (KC1) combo organ

[@LeValsedeMarienbad]

This is how all organ/synth demoes should be, the most informative video i've seen

[@audiodood]

This thing was mindblowingly ahead of its time

[@rot_studios]

"toot toot" haha, what a great demo! Great choice of songs too to show it all off. Thank you for this.

[@9KznfiS87f7]

That part was actually a homage to RMI's earlier "Band Organ" (1966) and "Calliope" (1968) that both include a small round "TOOT" button to the right of the keyboard that plays those three notes.

[@marcbrasse747]

Great demo with lots of good humor. I was especially impressed by the french horn preset untill it became apparant that it was not a solo performance! :-)

[@psandvik]

That bell sound is awesome.

[@9KznfiS87f7]

Part of its claim to fame. That's the only fixed voice bell sound, titled CHRYSOGLOTT on the tone card. It's included in both the KC 1 and 2. Allen certainly didn't skimp on their bell sounds, I have several other tone cards with names like CHIMES, CRYSTAL BELL, FLEMISH BELLS, GONG, MECHANICAL BELL, MULTI BELL, RING MODULATOR BELL, TIERCE BELL, and TUBULAR CHIMES.

[@replayloud7045]

Thanks for the great info - love it

[@TheJstewart2010]

Thanks so much for this demo. I'm blown away.

[@jsteed10]

I'm digging that "funky rock beat"😂

[@RossTotino]

Great demo! It's great to hear an RMI keyboard in detail.

[@adamziolkowski2549]

Trippy instrument. I dig it 👍

[@0ldenn]

I can hear you also liked the farfisa combo demo from pdmilar :p Thanks for the video !

[@9KznfiS87f7]

Thanks for that recommendation, looks like he's a real kindred spirit. Although I'm sure at least one generation younger than me.

[@rot_studios]

Love the punch card reader too, not something you usually see

[@ivanmay7890]

Rick Wakeman of Yes used an RMI electra piano on their Fragile album, notably on Cans and Brahms.

[@lundsweden]

Sounds really good for a 50 year old digital synth!

[@FernandoOnGuitar]

Todd Rundgren and Utopia used a Kc-1 alot and it was part of Roger Powell’s rig untill 1981

[@MultiPetercool]

They actually had two. The KC-1 I believe was destroyed in a fire and the KC-II was stolen at gunpoint from Todd during a home invasion robbery.

[@BlackMan614]

Roger Powell had both. He used the KC-1 in early Utopia, KC-2 around Oops time-frame. There's YT video of him playing a modded KC-1 from like 1982. I don't know if it's just a shell for his prototype DataBoy project or what. I can't imagine him using a stock KC-1 in 1982. The sounds coming from it are digital but don't sound like an RMI at all.

[@leapest]

cool demo! nice job!

[@iLikeTheUDK]

What's the tune you played at 6:50, with the jazz flute? It sounds familiar

[@9KznfiS87f7]

A very simplified excerpt from "Neptune, the Mystic", the 7th movement from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst.

[@jbarnes2288]

Still really great!

[@tihinter]

Wonderful detailed demo, thank you a lot! What a great machine. And great examples! I would be highly interested if the Allen Company organs of the same age shared the exact tone generation circuitry of the KC. And about knowing some backgrounds about the technical side of the sound generators inside the KC. Walsh functions oscillators paired with analog filters like on the RMI Harmonic?

[@9KznfiS87f7]

The Keyboard Computers are literally portable Allen organs. None of them had filters of any kind, they just generated digital waveforms with some rudimentary control over the amplitude such as percussion & sustain, and a little variation on the beginning & end of the note. I assume they're still keeping their technology secret.

[@tihinter]

@@9KznfiS87f7 thanx for your answer. If they had US patents about that technology, there might be a realistic chance that those have expired nowadays. trying to investigate further…

[@unclesticky3201]

Does someone have an AM radio on in the background?

[@9KznfiS87f7]

I believe it's FM and it was about a half mile away.

[@daniandrews2099]

goat

[@9KznfiS87f7]

As it turns out I am indeed a Capricorn.

[@MrPedal88]

Pretty cool. I believe this is the keyboard Rick Wakeman used on the beginning of The Ancient from the Tales album. It was the bell sound.

[@BLBurns2000]

Could I have the punch codes for that one you created??? I have the punch machine for it. 🙂

[@9KznfiS87f7]

Sure. It was really just an experiment to see if it would end up anything like I expected. The numbers in the first Allen digital format are 63,63,32,32,32,32,0,0,32,32,0,0,0,0,-32,-32. Any chance for a video?

[@spitfire31f11]

Great demo, thank you! I wonder when somebody is going to make a VST software or Kontakt instrument of the RMI Keyboar Computer. I'd be right there, first in line, with my card in hand. ;-)

[@9KznfiS87f7]

Wonderful idea, should be relatively easy to implement. Although now that I think about it it might not be as easy as it first appears. I'm having a hard time imagining these software creaters getting their hands on one of these instruments. A 100 pound giant like this is difficult and expensive to ship. Another thing that comes to mind is the literally hundreds of extra waveforms available on those paper cards, I suppose they'd have to pick out a few of their favorites. I've made several custom waveforms, I'd want to see an emulation have that ability as well (wishful thinking). Then there's all those other completely different sounds from channel 3 that I think of as a defining feature. But if they do just the KC2 in stead, they wouldn't have to worry about that.

[@tihinter]

Working in this filed: The problem with most emulations is accuracy. If you really want to sound like KC2, you’d have to model not only those features but also the typical problems, that were part of the instruments’ character. Speaking of distortion inside the analog output section, phase between channel 1 and 3 and a lot more. Traditional sampling wouldn’t get you far either, since the volume stacking of depressed keys wouldn’t be right, most probably…

[@michael69040]

Get thee to a skating rink immediately or a darkened silent movie orchestra pit. Kidding- very nice presentation. Questions: What is the weight of the one you own? Looks to be pretty hefty,

[@9KznfiS87f7]

Well, this is modeled after the kind of organ originally developed for silent movie theaters. I see the KC2 is specified at 99 pounds, this one should be the same. Certainly feels like it. But the KC2 pedalboard weighs a bit more with its three big switches and two additional pedals. It's no accident that they have two very sturdy handles. When I want to see what famous people used one I have to look at these comments.

[@H71BCD]

What does that selector knob located to the left of the card reader do ?

[@9KznfiS87f7]

You can have up to 4 loaded waveforms active at one time. They disappear when the power is turned off. When you insert a paper punch card, that knob selects which of the 4 positions the waveform loads into. 1 & 2 show up in the Ensemble section, 3 & 4 go the Solo section. Then they can be activated by those black pushbuttons.

[@nikcampos3550]

4:50 Incense and Peppermints

[@9KznfiS87f7]

You have good sense and innocence.

[@ingoodmusic]

So, did JMJ used one of these?

[@keymbord]

I remember seeing a picture of one in his studio.

[@tihinter]

Please tell us how exactly you made your own cartridge! I would be highly interested in the possibilities and procedure.

[@9KznfiS87f7]

I'm assuming that by "cartridge" you mean paper punch card. All that info would be too lenghty for a KZbin comment, but I figured out how to make a waveform with four octaves of square waves at equal amplitude. There used to be a computer program available on eBay that lets you enter what harmonics you want then tells you which holes to punch out on the card. That had to be pretty close if not the same as what Allen used.

[@tihinter]

interesting! do you know the name of that program by any chance?

[@9KznfiS87f7]

@@tihinterIt's been many years and I'm not certain if this is the same one I saw on eBay: "Allen Digital Card designer VII.xls". It turns out I have a copy but it's encrypted and I don't have the password. I never wanted to use it bad enough to find out how to get past that. I already have around 267 voice cards. Plus it's quite an impressive instrument even without those in my opinion.

[@tihinter]

I found this: www.scribd.com/document_downloads/direct/183384326?extension=pdf&ft=1664064396&lt=1664068006&user_id=632398979&uahk=ETqvTiJSbW6rSyep8x6XwapycfE

[@9KznfiS87f7]

@@tihinter "This link is not valid." comes up every time I try this link, even when I copy & paste it in the URL line.

[@maikleroggon4595]

I really love this sound. Just in case you might be interested in selling the keyboard, i would be pretty much interested to be hearing from you!

[@9KznfiS87f7]

I'm definitely keeping mine. I see them appear on eBay from time to time, but at outrageous prices and they don't sell. They went for almost $5,000.00 in 1974 (over $29,000.00 in 2022 dollars), but are only worth a few hundred on today's market.

[@_-_Michael_-_]

7:51 please, what is that song?

[@9KznfiS87f7]

"Last Night", made famous by the Mar-Keys in 1961.

[@_-_Michael_-_]

Thanks!

[@curtis8516]

Sounds like the theme tune to Bottom

[@9KznfiS87f7]

@@curtis8516 For our friends on this side of the pond, that was a BBC2 TV series from 1991 to 1995 starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, who were also in one of my all time faves "The Young Ones". Compare kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpDWpH2EeNKbe9k to the original kzbin.info/www/bejne/goiupYGmbaZpfsk

[@RAPTRx-xm7zb]

Didn’t Eloy use one?

[@rbhall7ice]

Disney's haunted mansion - classic

[@naneek2]

what's with the barely audible distorted voices constantly playing in the background? it's very distracting. maybe just radio interference? it's weird.

[@9KznfiS87f7]

Yes, it's a radio station about half mile away. It's worst on laptop or smart phone speakers, and no picnic through headphones. Some of my previous videos had the same problem, and it's one of the most popular subjects of comments below. But fortunately I figured out how to fix it and it's not in my more recent vids. Never again!

[@deanevangelista6359]

I live a few miles from a powerful AM radio transmitter. It’s not far from DC, but can be picked up in Florida at night. Every guitarist in the area has picked up WTOP on their amps, from time to time.

[@frankmarsh1159]

Couldn't you at least turn off the TV playing in the background?

[@9KznfiS87f7]

I hate it when people have their TV on in a video, that's interference from a nearby radio station. Interesting thing about that - I once tried playing this through a laptop and I could hear it clearly, but when I play it from my main computer with a good stereo system I couldn't.

[@frankmarsh1159]

​@@9KznfiS87f7 I hear it through my headphones. I was wondering if this is the keyboard that Todd Rundgren used on this song? kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYHQc4uGaJirebM

[@MarkSomosoMusic]

Nice awesome instrument... I play piano also on my channel

[@jbarnes2288]

You are picking up major crosstalk like a radio or something. .

[@9KznfiS87f7]

You guessed correctly, I'm about half a mile from a radio station. It seems be the worst through headphones or laptop speakers.