I bought an LP of wasp field recordings once. Took it back to the shop as I thought it didn't really sound right. Imagine my embarrassment when the shop owner pointed out I'd been listening to the Bee side!
No, like every synth it's a Behringer. Soon the textbooks will be rewritten and Behringer Cooperation will be the creator of all synth as well the universe at large.
Certainly not a filthy Scottish synth as none exist. My mate went to uni up their and all he heard was bagpipes or the occasional pisshead busking with a banjo. Yuck ! No culture.
Many synth users don't know it, and it seems Alex may not, but "Q" (for Quality) is in fact the standard unit of measure for resonance in a filter in the electrical engineering world. --- Wait, there's no special discussion at *all* of the Wasp's famous dirty filter? It's *the thing* that makes this synth famous. The filter has been cloned many times (see for example Doepfer module A-124).
Thanks for the information. "Q" is the standard term on most EQs I've used, so I assumed it meant the equivalent thing on a filter (which is obviously very closely related to EQ). I demonstrated filter modulation and all three filter modes, I think that speaks for itself but I probably could have made more of it, fair enough. Doepfer - yep, seen those. Along with the Jasper clone and of course the Behringer. Shows how impressive the filter was on such a cheap instrument.
@@AlexBallMusic Right. EQs are basically banks of bandpass filters, so yes, Q in fact means the same thing there too. As to the filter: it's not normal sounding, as you can hear. It is weird and aggressive and dirty, and this unique sound has made it rather famous.
We still use these in our band. Thanks Chris Hugget and RIP for EDP, your genius lives on... You can’t beat the original EDP WASPS... We are lucky to own two original WASPS
All I can think about when I hear this synth is Robert Rental and the Normal, and Thomas Leer. Such a classic and groundbreaking board in the post punk world.
Stinger VSTi plugin from Krakli/IanWebster is based on the Wasp www.krakliplugins.co.uk/Plugins.aspx It's 32bit so depending on your DAW/Host you May need to use a Bridger to Wrap it for 64bit. I do cos I'm using Presonus Studio One. ymmv
@@CS-sf1rz JBridge is the app I use to run 32bit plugins in Studio One. It works very well, almost perfect. Just rarely a plugin won't work with it. One or two plugins I found to be unstable. For the most part I get rock solid stability. Four or five dogs out of over a thousand isn't bad ...
Wow. I never expected them to sound this Good. Reminds me of an ARP synth. Loving your vids and humor Rumour has it, Kim Wildes 'Kids in America was written on one. Wish I had bought one when I could. Prices have skyrocketed..
It's like the synthesizer equivalent of a Sinclair ZX81...except it produces something you don't HAVE to own British rose-tinted glasses to enjoy. Unbelievable sound. I want one!!
Mmmm, such a tasty filter! So many of my heroes have played this badboy. It was their first synthesizer for many of them. I remember Alan Wilder saying that he used it for the bassline on Never Let Me Down Again(aggro mix).🔊🎶
I got mine new from a music shop actually in Oxford, still have it now. The keyboard as Alex describes was the issue despite the powerful oscillators. I remember doing a few outdoor gigs where the humidity affected it to the extent where the proximity of your finger sounded a note if it got to within an inch or so of the control surface. Trouble was it wouldn't necessarily be the note you were trying to play. We used to cover 'Hymn' by Ultravox and one particular outdoors night that became rather evident in the big solo section. I still wince. But a remarkable little machine and genuinely innovative. In fact I once played it in a folk club resting on my lap using its batteries and the internal speaker. That ruffled a few feathers. Never saw a Caterpillar but nearly bought a Special. Story of my life. Yet another great review from the genius that is Mr Ball.
Thanks for the demo Alex, really like the sound of the Wasp as it has its own "gnatty" retro tone I haven't heard from other synths. :) Have never seen one pop up locally in all my years, seems pretty rare these days. If you have a chance to compare it to the Behringer Wasp, would be interested to hear your thoughts!
Think they're quite rare outside of the UK. A curious bit of Brit synth history really. Same with the OSCar that my US friends say they never see. Yep, would definitely be interested to compare with the Behringer clone, particularly the filter.
Very intresting mini beast. I didn't realise it was so small. Seems to have enough functionality to keep you busy. Nice one Alex, look forward to more vids.
Hi Adamski. I have a Jasper ( kit build of wasp ) unmade would you like it as you are a budding electronics synth fellow :-) theres 2 boards and a few hard to get components but the rest of components have to be sourced yourself, I think they are easily available. Theres a list of parts and build instructions with it to complete it. I got it years ago and never found time to start it. yours free just message me through my website markusfuller.com if you want it and I will post it to you.
The 'cheap build, great functionality' business model is echoed in other companies Sinclair and Amstrad. British indeed!!! You made the WASP shine like a fire-fly, like you always do. Great video!!
I remember there being an Interview with Devo on were Jerry Casale tried to use one live in the 1981 tour, but the stage lights kept overheating the touch pad and making it glitch out so he had to switch to a different keyboard for the rest of the tour
@@AlexBallMusic you'd still have to find a way to keep the actual unit's ribbon touch pad cooled down though right??? Just because its midi'd, dosnt mean the touchpad is still active
@@joshwizinsky1979 when you connect via the original DIN interface, the keyboard is disengaged. Can sometimes disengage permanently if you control externally for an extended period (have experienced this with two different Wasps that were being controlled via a Kenton converter).
Played one in a shop in Rochdale in about 1980! I was out with my dad…we’d just early been to Oldham and played on an MS20 (which was perched on top of a Fender Rhodes). The WASP is brutal. It kind of scared me back then, so in your face. Makes me think that this should be the sound of Judge Dredd…don’t know if that makes sense, but it does to me! 😂 Sounds great.
Thank you Alex, your demos are the best of all of them (I really mean it !) I love the architecture and design of this synth, didn't knew it sounded so great and unique...plus the english humor surrounding this synth is a very nice touch :p
‘The oscillators are digitally controlled’ while technically correct they are as digitally controlled as the ARP Odyssey’s ring mod (or the MS-20’s, for that matter) are digital. It is all CMOS but there is no code or software.
Yes, it uses NE-555s which have a digital output. My understanding was that was digitally controlled. The description I found said: _The VCOs are analog designed around a pair of 555 timers. The analog VCOs allow voltage controlled modulation. These VCOs are then converted to digital to divide down to note frequencies as controlled by the keyboard. The note frequencies are then run through a phase lock loop so that glide can be added. The output of the phase lock loop is then waveshaped for the final oscillator output. What a lot of work but it kept the circuitry very inexpensive._
@@AlexBallMusic Interesting, the Paia Fatman used 555s as well, but sounded very different. Clearly implementation is everything. There was a simple way to sync them together just by adding a switch wired to the same pin on both chips.
@@AlexBallMusic Now that I'd like to hear. It's a real character synth. A mate of mine lent me his while travelled around Asia for a few months, back in the day. That beast ended up on just about everything I did during that period. Also made hundreds of samples of it just playing sequences.
@@AlexBallMusic Need to mention that mine (OSCar this time) probably is one of the first 50. It has no serial but has a Huggett designed add-on in the form of a waveform multiplier (one for each oscillator) which is accessible via two switches on the back. The accompanying manual also differs from the production run and has Chris' address at the time on the front in biro. :D (EDP fan boy - yezzz... :D )
@gmarquisuk mentioned the Jen SX1000 below. Which really brought back memories. And also sounds like some kind of NPC / bot these days. I wonder if they are still £100 and I should not mention Jennifer S. x1000, until I get one first. Fight me at Reverb y'all. Oh, someone is asking for 1495 eur for one, _after_ discouting by 7% nvm. Jam was amazing, think it reminded me of some tracks that Eat Static used a Roland SH-5 dripping with resonance on.
FUN FACT: Did you know that in 2019, Behringer released a remake of the WASP synth called the WASP DELUXE! This has created quite a "BUZZ" in the synthesizer scene and a re-discovery and interest in the synth. Hence people making documentaries about it like this one! WOWEEE YAY BEHRINGER!
😂🤦🏼♂️ "Handy if you want a third oscillator" *very* nearly got tea coming out my nose, and I'm an American, so, I feel like that should be some sort of win for the English lol/smh [It was chai, tho, 'cause English Breakfast is garbage, let's not get TOO carried away 😉]
I remember this little/big dude!!!Was very agressive!!!Good for the ELECTRONIC-WAVE about the Beginning of the 80's!KRISMA were playing that in CATHODE MAMA album!The real analogic power about those great good-times!Those were the days!
If you are a Genesis fan, then you might be interested in the rumour that Tony Banks used a WASP synth on the solo to Dodo/Lurker on the Abacab album in 1981.If anyone can confirm that, that would be great?
Robert Calvert used one after he left Hawkwind, I'm pretty sure he did Lord of the Hornets with it... ... Anyway does anyone know if the Behringer clone stands up to this?
Amazingly well-produced content, Alex! Been following your stuff ever since seeing the EPIC "Land of the Rising Sound" documentary. Looking forward to educating myself further through your content :)
I’ve noticed before that he mentions Sting and thought why doesn’t he make fun of that? Until I today, after seeing this for the 20th time, got the whole joke sentence Sting/buzz/hives… I feel so zzzilly!
Funky sound Alex can contemplate a follow-up video like an extended part and play some really funk style keyboarding on the WASP. You can hear it wants more.
I have had one for more than 20 years, it the fattest smallest beast ever!! I have owned a lot of synths but will never part with my wasp! It is so quirky yet huge sounding! Here it is featured heavily in a track of mine at 14:03 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LSIs2qrZ3ck.html
@@AlexBallMusic Thanks Alex, yes it has been a while...It is getting fixed right now and I intend to put it to some more use soon. Your channel is awesome! Congratulations!
A friend, who was in the junior army, bought one of this off another guy in his section for £15 in ‘82. He didn’t get on with it so sold it for the same amount to our keyboard player (the great Darren Tansley of Moonhare Studio) for what he paid for it. As Darren already had a Mini Moog and a Roland SH2 the wasp was put on the floor and played barefoot for white noise swooshing sounds. Darren also used a set of wooden salad servers to wedge down chords.
