Split-8

This electronic keyboard is an 8-voice polyphonic, bi-timbral analogue synthesizer with the ability to split or layer two sounds ("double" mode).

The case is metal with light blue graphics and lettering, red LED indicators, and black painted wooden end pieces.

The back panel has quarter-inch jacks for recording data to cassette tape (one also doubling as a footswitch input), MIDI in and out DIN connectors, separate quarter-inch audio outputs for each of the two sounds and a mix audio out (both sounds combined), a power switch, and a fuse socket.

This allows for one voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) per voice, with on/off toggles for any combination of sawtooth, triangle and variable pulse waveforms.

A "poly mod" parameter allows the audio output of one voice to feed another's voltage-controlled filter (VCF) when they are layered in "double" mode.

This results in a sound with 4-voice polyphony with no audio from the second voice's oscillators, processed through two filters in series.

In this mode, the envelopes are re-triggered only after all keys are released ("legato", with low-note priority), and a delay of four oscillators relative to the other four can be programmed (fixed at 20, 40 or 80 milliseconds).

The footswitch can be programmed to momentarily change patches, or change one of several patch parameters: filter cutoff frequency, ADSR envelope amount or attack; VCA decay or release; voice volume (the momentary value of any of the preceding being user-defined); chorus on/off, or portamento on/off.

Most music software allows the user to insert a short delay between packets of sysex information, circumventing this problem.

The CD was very favourably reviewed in the June 1996 issue of Keyboard magazine, although no explicit mention is made of the Split-8 sounds.

They also have Split-8 owner’s manuals and cassette tapes of the original preset sounds (data that can be uploaded into the instrument).

[5] Original factory presets were written by sound designer John Bowen[6] and are available on cassette from Wine Country Productions.