Re: [AH] Boehm & BOHM mix-ups (?)

From Stephen Parsick
Sent Fri, Nov 13th 1998, 12:15

Hi Jason, hi all,

thanks for your reply to my posting on AH. Even though I=B4m=20
reluctant to say so, I=B4m afraid you=B4re wrong : BOEHM and BOHM=20
actually are the same company, it=B4s just a different spelling.=20
Some people use "OE" to replace the German umlaut "=D6"  as it=20
originally occurs in B=D6HM (or Dr. B=F6hm, to be correct), others=20
don=B4t care for the umlaut at all and just write BOHM. I have the=20
original 1984/85 folders by Dr. B=F6hm complete with price lists (I=20
think the prices quoted in Peter Forrest=B4s book were from my price=20
lists actually) and they announce the SoundLab as a complement to=20
their organ line, the modular synthesizers were actually demoed by=20
some of these organ entertainers like the late Mark Shakespeare. I=20
even checked out a SoundLab at Dr. B=F6hm=B4s store in Switzerland in=20
1984 and -- even though I was twelve years old then -- I was=20
pretty much impressed.=20

As for the developement of the instrument=20
itself, you=B4re right, it clearly shows that people like Dieter=20
Doepfer (here we go again with that umlaut), Bernd Enders or=20
Andreas Kellog were involved in it rather than the organ people=20
who made digital junk like the 4x9 or 1224. Dieter Doepfer, by the=20
way, was trying to sell an own small modular synth at that time=20
called the PMS (a lot later this became the A-100 series) which=20
also incorporated an eight-bit sound sampler. Exactly the same=20
module can be found in the SoundLab (sometimes, at least).=20
But Dr. B=F6hm at the same time had the production means to manufacture=20
the SoundLab cost-efficiently. Did you actually know=20
that PPG (yes, the very) originally used lots of components that=20
were made by (or for) Dr. B=F6hm for their DIY organs ? All the=20
keyboard assemblies of the old PPGs (e. g. 1002/1020, 350/360,=20
Wave 2) were courtesy of B=F6hm, the 350/360 even used LED switches=20
and displays you could also find on Dr. B=F6hm=B4s Orchestra 3003=20
triple-manual organs (around 1978-80).

Hopefully, that helped you further.
=20
BFN, cheers,


Stephen.


On Thu, 12 Nov 1998, Vertical 8 wrote:

> >Mind you, the only ambitious=20
> >synth-project they ever had -- the Soundlab -- never really took off=20
> >because organ-grampas did not want modular synthesizers, and=20
> >synth-fanatics were not too keen on buying something manufactured by an=
=20
> >organ firm. Pretty much the same thing with the Elka Synthex, I would=20
> >say.=20
>=20
> I think this is a mistake. I believe there are tow companies with similar
> names. boEhm did the digital stuff. BOHM did the sound lab.
>=20
> Just thought Id clear this up.
> Jason
>=20