The ARP 2500 at Willem Twee Studios - an introduction 

What's fantastic about this is that I don't think anybody has done a "from scratch" kind of video with the 2500 on RU-vid to date. It's also the 50th anniversary of the launch of the 2500 (or "Series 2000 Modular Studio Synthesizer") this Autumn too, so your timing is very fitting. I was eagerly chuckling with joy whilst watching because I had the exact same reactions you did when I got the unforgettable experience of a day with a 2500 last year. "They're sliders and not pins?!", "The sequencer clock runs into the audio range?" Etc. Sounds like nothing else doesn't it. Incredible synth. Also didn't know the influence of computer science on Dennis P Colin's 1047 multimode filter. I've got the paper too, so I feel embarrassed. He also designed the SEM filter for Tom Oberheim in case you didn't know. Anyway, I'm rambling but this was a beautiful video.

19:57 This is the dream of anyone who has ever played with an modular analog synth.

any synth that needs two people to operate is a great synth.

The ARP 2500 was the synth that was used to communicate with the aliens in "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind".

Éliane Radigue dedicated her career to performing on the 2500. Her work is worth exploring!

"For all my life I thought they were pins!" Same!

i never imagined the sliders would make such nice mechanical sounds

I was having an absolutely garbage night at work with every press and computer breaking and giving me fits. Then I sat down with some tea and watched this video. Now I'm re-centered and calm. Thank you as always.

I saw the Canadian group Syninx in 1971. They had a fantastic 2500 with 2 wing cabinets. The sound was quadraphonic and the 2500 was the most amazing thing I had ever heard. Mesmerizing and fluid sound from all directions. A trip into timelessness. John Mills-Cockell was an extraordinary mad scientist making evocative sounds and soundscapes. A truly remarkable concert I will never forget. Since then the 2500 has been an even more important icon. Thank you so much for letting us into the inner sanctum once more. Cheers

I didn't realize just how signature the sound of this machine is. As soon as sound started playing, it just immediately sounds like old sci-fi movies.

I learned the basics of synthesis on a 1970 ARP 2500 when I studied Composition & Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the time I thought it was cool because it was old and I knew Pete Townshend used one but I didn't grasp how special an experience that was until I was about to graduate.

I also had the opportunity in January to visit the Twee studio and play with the 2500 for a while, along with a number of other amazing instruments. It is a truly magical place and Hans and the rest of the crew are as welcoming as they are knowledgeable.

Everyone should have something like this in their living room. No need for Social Media, video games, opinions, guns, churches, ... it would be the end of human suffering.

What a treat to have an in-depth ARP 2500 demo. I've been dreaming of this instrument since the '70s. I've never laid eyes on one, but I do have a manual for one which I special ordered back in the day. Thanks so much for producing this high quality detailed demo!!!

Back in the late 1980's i had a Roland TR-808 drum machine and my best friend had an Alesis sampling keyboard. But I've always been impressed by how it was done old school in the 1970's. Very cool.

15:34 The way he sits back down and relaxed into the chair, it's like the Hainbach version of "stank face"; when you hear sounds you love so much that it pauses the world around you.

"Some ... uuuhm ... Fingerspitzengefühl." Yeah, that's always useful!

@ 19:40 That’s what I came for. Only an analogue filter can truly sound like a real and organic life form!!

What a delight this video is. I'm so glad you had that experience, and I'm so grateful that I got to see and hear it. Thank you.

I got to spend a day recording with one in Calgary. The 2500 used in the filming of Close Encounters.

Not only does it make some amazing music, but it is absolutely the most beautiful, era-commanding, cold war chic of anything ever made for music

I now understand why so much of the old synth music has weird noises and lots of looping. It's easy to loop and making weird noises on these synths is loads of fun.

I've been waiting 30 years to see a video like this

Just beautiful, I'm really speechless...thank you for sharing this Hainbach

This was fantastic, thank you so much for this glimpse into the 2500! Priceless!

Absolutely loved this! beautiful work as always!

Thank you for this demo. The 2500 is my holy grail synth. This was like having a chance to go through the features my self. Awesome!!! Now I just need to book time at Willem Twee Studio for a month. :)

Wow, I got goosebumps watching as this brought back some sweet memories of my time at the CEM studio in Arnhem in the mid nineties. Spend many of my lunch breaks (extended long breaks, ha!) playing with their ARP 2500.

Such an absorbing video, beautiful work. Many thanks for making it.

Wonderful video, incredible studio collection and such synth wizardry!

Thank you for bringing us with you to studio 1 and studio 2!!!!

any slight movement of a knob and this takes you to another galaxy. incredible.

Yes! Thanks for posting this. Amazing stuff

So nice to really get some depth on working with this amazing machine. What stands out to me are the filter sounds and the patching, which is actually identical to breadboard patching. This type of patching is directly understood by, and appeals to any electrical engineer. Very nice.

Thank you for making this video! I think it’s the next best thing then being in the presence of that beauty!

This thing sounds phenomenal! Slightly jealous you got a hands on experience to say the least :)

I was always fascinated by synthesizers! First one I touched was in 1975. Analogue is amazing! Soon I will retire and my dream (as many I am sure hold) is melding analogue sound with mixed reality!

I got really impressed by your works and am enjoying your channel from South Korea. They are good for morning meditation.

Amazing video and learning experience. The sound is unmistakably "the real deal".

One of the most beautiful sounding synths I have ever heard, I am completely in awe. It has so much character!

Bought a huge smile to my face!

All beautiful sounds and your smile always we love !!!! Thanks !!!!

Radigue’s machine! Her music is one of the most profound artistic experiences I’ve had.

3:55 hainbach I too thought they were pins until right now! I can’t believe they are sliders that makes so much more sense.

"there's nothing worse than not snappy envelopes" Exactly!

Thank you for sharing this experience with us. My AKG k240s and I loved it. I can’t wait for Behringer Synthi to be built...

Great video and a great explanation Hans Kulk!

One of the things I learned is how amazing the Sony DT-100 is.

The way it seems to lose control at 8:39 and 15:00 WOW I love how much of a wall of sound old synths can really be when you push them

Thank you for this! A real treat!

This is by far the coolest video I have ever seen!!!

Amazing! Thanks for sharing this precious video👍

Damn this synth sounds so good...you guys are having so much fun, this is being human...joyfully creating something out of nothing

this is amazing to watch. best lunch break ever.

Thanks for posting this video this synth is amazing

Now I know, I need a Seagull synth! Great to see you back at W2 studios. 🎶

Fantastic! Great sounds, a great demo! Not much more to say really :) Great video as usual :)

The twenty minute video just flew by! What a great sounding instrument!

Wow, this is what heaven should look like.

Fantastic! At around 6:00 it sounds like you are trying to balance the throttles, fuel-air mixture, and propellor pitches for the four engines of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber. It must have felt that way too.

What a fantastic instrument thanks for sharing. 👍

magnifique! thank you for this trip

so amazing! thank you so much!

Wow what an experience! 😊

Wait, is this hainbach hanging out with his future self?

I don't believe that I have ever seen a video like this before. There are wonderful programs and songs that are featured by various artists but never have I seen a breakdown of this instrument.

best arp2500 demo on the net

thank you very much for sharing this . there is not soo much info on this unit around the web . i really like the idea of the patching system and it has never really reoccured ( even partially ) in other synthesizers

ARP misbehaves with heavy distortion. Hainbach: "OH, make it do more of THAT!"

Man, that thing sounds as big as it is!

you are a very good active listener. "mm-hmm" .... "mm-hmmm"

Awesome stuff thanks

What a beast of a synth

I'm a guitar player and although I don't understand half of the routing and effects going on this makes me wanna get started doing electronic stuff.

Monster synth! Impressive machine!

I bought a new Arp 2600 and Arp sequencer in the 70s, even though the is a 2500 it still brings back a lot of memories.

great guys and great gear. very interesting!

So lovely

Sounds lovely, but SLIDERS! I always thought it had a pin matrix too! 😳

Truly one of the greatest synths ever made. And seeing Hainbach in a video with one makes this the greatest day of the week! I don't think I would want to ever leave that room. I'm hoping in the future a good vst recreation will come out (please Arturia!). If not sadly the closest I'll get to one is my Elaine Radigue records. Great video as always

Oohh. Bloody lovely

You could go to the moon using that machine.

Good memories! In the '80s and early '90s this beast was standing in the CEM studio in Arnhem. I spend a lot of nights trying to understand all the funky functions. But I liked the Serge modular (sometimes in view on the left of them) even better. And the "Putney" is just sweet!

and three years later, they finished the patch

Wow, I always assumed those patch panels were pins - never realised they're actually sliders! Amazing machine, and I hope to have Behringer's clone of its simplified successor the 2600 one day.

Amazing!!!

Proper!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!

Incredible

11:00 "let's rock out" Rather quite astonishing.

Amazing.

what a dream to use this synth!

Amazing..what a 'beast' !!

Sweet! Now that's a machine! Very nice!!

Instant flashback to almost every cheesy 70's SciFi movie...wonderful!

I'm just getting into synthesis. I've never even heard of this machine before now. But in reading this comment thread, I know how I must react if I ever see one IRL: "OMG! Sliders?!? I thought they were pins!" Then shit my pants and have a seizure.

13:05 the exact point when my coffee mug fell off my speaker

I love it.

I imagine this is what the control room of the large hadron collider looks like

Arp 2500 was the first Euro rack. I still have the 2500 catalog bought around 1970!!!

I wish I had an ARP 2500 :-) Awesome synth!