The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard instrument made in the 1970s, that produces its sound through electronic amplification of sounds pre-recorded on an optical disc. It is the professional version of the Mattel Optigan, an earlier and lower-priced model intended for amateur musicians.
Vako Synthesizers Incorporated, founded by electronic instrument pioneer and former Moog technician and salesperson David Van Koevering, started to build improved versions of the Optigan under the name Orchestron in 1975. Intended for professional use as an alternative to the Mellotron (hence the name Orchestron), it featured improved recorded sounds over the Optigan.[1] The Optigan was an organ that played its sounds from light-scanned graphic waveforms encoded on film discs. The sounds with the highest fidelity were on the outer rings of these discs, and these outer rings were used for the Orchestron sounds to improve the sound. Although the Model A Orchestron is identical to the Optigan, the models B, C, and D follow the designs of the Chilton Talentmaker. The Talentmaker was taken out of the market after Optigan's manufacturer – Optigan Corporation, a subsidiary of toy company Mattel – threatened to sue Chilton because of patent infringements.
Some Orchestron models included sequencers and synthesizers. These were the larger Model X and Phase 4 units, though very few of these made it past the prototype stage. While the same fidelity limitations of the Optigan applied to the Orchestron, these instruments were built to be more reliable and were used successfully in commercial recordings.[1]
The band Kraftwerk made heavy use of the Orchestron on their albums Radio-Activity (1975), Trans Europe Express (1977) and The Man-Machine (1978).[2] It is a common misconception that the band Yes used the Orchestron on their Relayer (1974) album. In fact, keyboardist Patrick Moraz did not acquire his until 1975.[3] Yes's USA Summer 1975 Tour programme (June-July 1975) is the first Yes tour programme to list the keyboard (specifically, '1 triple Orchestron', said to be the three-manual Model X designed for him), in Moraz's equipment list.[4] However, the Orchestron was not a commercial success. An estimated total of 70-100 units were built before production ceased after a couple of years. Its rarity and popularity amongst low fidelity enthusiasts makes the Orchestron highly sought after.[5]
The Orchestron uses basically the same principle as the Optigan: each note of the keyboard is recorded onto a short, looped track on a pre-recorded, interchangeable optical disc. A beam of light is sent through the disc; variations in the light intensity are detected and amplified.
Originally, there were only eight sounds available for the Orchestron:
New discs have been made available by Pea Hicks and his team from Optigan.com, as well as remastered versions of the original discs.These new sounds are:
The violin sound is the most commonly heard, being used by several bands as a type of Mellotron substitute. The choir sound follows, then the "Cello" sound.
Like the Mellotron, the Orchestron experienced a revival or sorts in the early 1990s, and many musicians embraced using the instrument for the first time since the late 1970s. The Orchestron, however, had much less widespread use as there were very few surviving examples. And like the Chamberlin, most Orchestron sounds heard after the year 1999 will be from digital samples and not the actual instrument. Exceptions are from noted Orchestron owners and users.
The improvement of the Orchestron over the Mellotron was overcoming the eight-second limitation inherent in the Mellotron and Chamberlin designs. Although the sound was of lower fidelity, this was made up for in reliability as there were no tapes to potentially foul as in the Mellotron and Chamberlin. Although scratches on the disk could be audible, one could hold notes for as long as a key was pressed, and not worry about running out of sound when holding a note or chord. The downside of this was that the attack transient was lost and occasionally an audible thump could be heard on the discs when the loop point came around. This is usually hidden or masked in recordings through effects. The audible loop thumps were addressed in another Mellotron related instrument called a Birotron.
An estimated 40 Orchestrons still exist today, and replacement discs and new discs are being produced for the instrument. While not as popular or well known as the Mellotron, the Orchestron is still revered and sought after by musicians for the low fidelity and murky atmospheres it provides.