IMPORTANT: This is a downloadable product. Upon payment, you will be sent a download link and code via email. If you don’t receive this email within a few minutes of ordering, please check your spam folder. If you still don’t get the email, let us know, and we’ll get you sorted out manually. Also, please note that this set DOES NOT include any material from any of the brand new Optigan/Orchestron discs we’ve created in recent years. Only material from the original/vintage 1970s discs is included here.

Please note that there are two options for purchasing this set. You can purchase it by itself from this page, but you can also purchase it in a discount bundle with my original Optigan/Orchestron/Talentmaker set.

The Optigan® Archives Vol. 1 is an exclusive set of loops and keyboard samples culled from the original Optigan/Orchestron studio master reels. This is the ONLY authorized product featuring material from the Optigan® Master Tapes. These samples are provided in .wav format, along with associated Native Instruments Kontakt programs.

While the Optigan® itself always sounded very lo-fi due to the limitations of its optical-soundtrack technology, the original master tapes retain their hi-fi sound quality.

The Optigan® master reels are a vast archive of early 1970s era musical building blocks, covering a wide range of popular styles from the period. Ultimately, only a small portion of this material ever made it onto production Optigan® discs. For this initial collection of samples, I’m focusing on that small portion and related out-takes. Future volumes in this series will comprise entirely unfamiliar material- out-takes which never saw the light of day on any Optigan® disc.

To answer an obvious question right off the bat: does this sample set make the original Optigan/Orchestron/Talentmaker sample collection obsolete? Well, I suppose that depends on your musical needs, but in my opinion, both sets complement each other. For one thing, as far as we know, the Talentmaker master tapes are lost forever, so if you’re after that material, the original sample set is your only option. But as far as sound quality is concerned, the main thing that makes the original instruments attractive in the first place IS their hauntingly lo-fi sound. While it’s true that you could approximate this sound by filtering samples from the master tapes, in reality it’s simply never going to sound the same. There are just too many quirks about the instruments that make them sound special. So, if you’re looking for quirky/haunting sounds, stick with the original sample set. But if you’re looking for sounds that have a much wider range of possibilities, this new set may interest you.

In addition to the sounds themselves and their related Kontakt programs, I’ve also included a folder of scans of all the tracking sheets from the master reels. These sheets are the sole remaining reference material for these tapes. By studying them, you can find out more about the sounds themselves, and also whet your appetite for all the out-takes that will appear on future volumes of this series.

Our dear friend Mike Le Doux, who was Optigan’s music director and the source of these tapes, lost his 2-year struggle with cancer shortly after I began editing the material for this collection. In honor of Mike’s work and in the spirit of his generosity, 10% of the proceeds from the sale of this disc will be donated to cancer research.

It should be noted that, if you’re used to modern sample loop libraries, where rhythmic and tuning precision are prioritized at every stage of the production, these sounds may take a bit of getting used to in terms of their quirks and imperfections. Everything’s in mono, and some of the early sessions in particular have a degree of tape hiss, mild distortion or other audible flaws. While click tracks were used for every session, it seems that studio musicians in the early 70s weren’t quite used to the concept, and very often things were played quite loosely in defiance of the click. I’ve chosen to present these sounds as-is: I did not attempt to correct any of these deficiencies; only to listen carefully and select the best-sounding iteration of each given loop.

LEGAL STUFF: You may use the Optigan® Archives Vol. 1 audio content (“Audio Content”), on a royalty-free basis, to create your own original soundtracks (ie derivative works) for your video and audio projects. You may broadcast and/or distribute your own soundtracks that were created using the Audio Content, however, individual samples, sound sets or audio loops may not be commercially or otherwise distributed on a standalone basis, nor may they be repackaged in whole or in part as audio samples, sound libraries, sound effects or music beds.

Included Sounds:

CHORD SETS:

001 – Big Organ & Drums

  • Original chord set plus three complete alternate chord sets
  • Fully chromatic maj/min chords in all chord sets
  • 13 drum/perc loops

002 – Classic Guitar In 4-4

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 2 endings
  • 6 drum/perc loops

006 – The Blues Sweet & Low

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 6 riffs
  • 20 drum loops

009 – Bossa Nova Style

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 17 perc loops

012 – Folk & Other Moods Guitar

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 2 endings
  • 18 drum/perc loops

015 – Guitar In 3-4

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj &Emaj chords
  • 2 endings
  • 22 drum/perc loops

016 – Majestic Pipe Organ

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • Fully chromatic chimes scale

102 – Rock And Rhythm

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 3 riffs
  • 2 endings
  • 29 drum/perc loops

111 – Pop Piano Plus Guitar

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 4 riffs
  • 4 endings
  • 45 drum/perc loops
  • Alternate “Pop Piano Plus Brasses” chord set

112 – Easy Does It With Vibes

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 5 riffs
  • 6 endings
  • 19 drum/perc loops

116 – Waltz Time

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 6 riffs
  • 3 endings
  • 18 drum/perc loops

122 – Organ Sing Along

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 3 riffs
  • 3 endings
  • 20 drum/perc loops

124 – Banjo Sing Along

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 2 intros
  • 2 riffs
  • 1 ending
  • 14 drum/perc loops

127 – Nashville Country

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 3 riffs
  • 2 endings
  • 18 drum/perc loops

135 – Latin Fever

  • Original chord set plus fully chromatic maj/min chords
  • 4 aug chords
  • 2 endings
  • 38 drum/perc loops

150 – Gay 90s Waltz

  • Original chord set
  • 4 riffs
  • 8 drum/perc loops

152 – Polynesian Village

  • Original chord set
  • 13 drum/perc loops

156 – Cha Cha Cha

  • Original chord set
  • 1 riff
  • 27 drum/perc loops

163 – Big Top Marching Band

  • Original chord set
  • 1 intro
  • 1 riff
  • 10 drum/perc loops

167 – Romantic Strings 3-4

  • Original chord set
  • 2 intros
  • 3 riffs
  • 2 endings
  • 5 drum/perc loops

173 – Sleigh Ride

  • Original chord set
  • 1 riff
  • 1 end
  • 4 drum/perc loops

177 – Rollin Easy

  • Original chord set
  • 7 riffs
  • 8 drum/perc loops

180 – Movin

  • Original chord set
  • 2 riffs
  • 14 drum/perc loops

182 – Singing Rhythm

  • Original chord set
  • 3 riffs
  • 9 drum/perc loops

201 – Bluegrass Banjo

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords & Bmaj/min
  • 10 riffs
  • 1 ending
  • 5 drum/perc loops

206 – Dixieland Strut

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 11 riffs
  • 9 drum loops

207 – New Orleans Blues

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 7 riffs
  • 5 drum/perc loops

209 – Hear & Now

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 8 riffs
  • 2 drum loops

210 – Gospel Rock

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 6 riffs
  • 9 drum/perc loops

218 – Guitar Boogie

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 4 riffs
  • 10 drum/perc loops

219 – Swing It

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 9 riffs
  • 2 drum/perc loops

220 – Big Band Beat

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 7 riffs

221 – Champagne Music

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 5 riffs
  • 4 drum/perc loops

223 – Mazurka

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 6 riffs
  • 5 drum loops

225 – Polka

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 10 riffs
  • 7 drum loops
  • 9 vocal sound fx

226 – Down Home

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 10 riffs
  • 3 drum loops

227 – Country Waltz

  • Original chord set plus true Amaj/Emaj chords
  • 7 riffs
  • 4 drum/perc loops

229 – Country Sunshine

  • Original chord set
  • 10 riffs
  • 2 drum/perc loops

509 – Vox Humana

  • Original chord set

511 – Cathedral Organ

  • Original chord set
  • 5 drum/perc loops

KEYBOARD SCALES:

  • 10 – Hammond B3 – 4 octaves
  • 11 – Hammond B3 – 4 octaves
  • 12 – Hammond B3 – 4 octaves
  • 15 – Lowery Marimba – 3.5 octaves
  • 27 – Cordovox – 3 octaves
  • 29 – Hammond B3 – 3 octaves
  • 31 – Hammond B3 – 4 octaves
  • 33 – Hammond B3 – 4 octaves
  • 34 – Hammond B3 – 4 octaves
  • 40 – Vox Continental – 3 octaves
  • 43 – Estey Cottage Organ ~ 5 octaves
  • 44 – Yamaha YC-30 – 4 octaves
  • 45 – Yamaha YC-30 – 3 octaves
  • 48 – Sax Alto – 2 octaves
  • 49 – Sax Tenor – 1.5 octaves
  • 50 – Sax Baritone – 1 octave
  • 51 – Yamaha YC-30 – 3 octaves
  • 53 – Whitney Pipe Organ – 4 octaves
  • 60 – Cello – 3 octaves
  • 62 – Flute – 3 octaves
  • 64 – Violins – 3 octaves
  • 66 – Vocal Choir ~ 3 octaves
  • 67 – French Horn – 3 octaves
  • Sax Composite – 3 octaves

 

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