General Music
General Music
General Music
Contents
GEM MK-10 electronic organ
First production
RealPiano Expander and RP-X
Further developments
Product 1990–2006
Recent Situation
References
External links
First production
Generalmusic's first successful arranger workstation models were their WX series, which offered a large blue LCD display, a user-
friendly interface and some vintage synth sound presets like Oberheim, ARP 2600, Prophet or Elka Synthex. Although designed as
arranger workstations, WX series had some professional synthesizer capabilities like filter and cutoff (resonance) editing with an
integrated powerful 16-track sequencer. The company also offered more sophisticated versions of the WX series as S series
synthesizers. The S2 was similar to a Kurzweil K2000 for its functionalities such as optional sampling, and layout and patch
manipulation.
The RealPiano Expander was succeeded by the GEM RP-X half-rack module in 2006. The RP-X featured the DRAKE (DSP RISC
Advanced Keyboard Engine) which simulates aFazioli F308 and Steinway & Sons grand piano among other instruments.[5]
Further developments
Next-generation Generalmusic arranger keyboards were the WK series. Again, they offered a more sophisticated SK series as a
synth-arranger alternative and Equinox as a standaloneKurzweil K2500 clone.
Product 1990–2006
Portable Style Keyboards: CD10 / cd754 /CD30/ WK1 / WK2 / WK3 / WK4 / WK6 / WK8 / gk300 / gk320 / gk360 / gk380 /
wk1000 /wk10R / wk2000 OR / ws1 /ws2 / WX2
Professional Keyboards & Sound Modules: SX2 / SX3 / S2 / S2R[6] / S3 (design Marcello Gennari) / Equinox 61, 76, 88PRO /
SK760 / SK880 / Realpiano PRO1 e PRO2 / pRP700 / Promega 2 / Promega 3 / Genesys Pro S (OR) / Genesys S / Genesys XP / RP-
X Piano Expander / GM-X Multi-Sound Expander / ws3
DRAKE Powered Home Digital Pianos: RP700 / RP800 / GRP800 / RP910 / RP710 / RP810
Recent Situation
The last generation of Generalmusic synthesizers is the Genesys series, offering onboard sampling from an integrated CD-ROM,
audio sequencer tracks, and flash ROM. In addition to Genesys, the company offered an entry-level version named GK series and a
simplified WK version named WK-1000/2000.
Generalmusic also produced digital pianos, the Promega series, which attracted more interest than their synthesizer products.
In December 2014 the Finnish group Soundion Oy Ltd (new owner of GEM, LEM and Elka) announced that, in 2015, Generalmusic
will bring to market a product lineup composed of re-issued as well as brand new technology models. The new production is planned
to be set up in Finland.
As of July 2015, there were plans to launch a reissue of the classic Elka Synthex synthesizer, and a crowdfounding campaign was set
[8][9][10]
on Indiegogo. Unfortunately it failed to reach the expected funding and the Synthex project seems to have been cancelled.
References
1. Fogwall, Niclas. "RealPiano Expander" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100323051137/http://www .af.lu.se/~fogwall/pi
ano2.html). Archived from the original (http://www.af.lu.se/~fogwall/piano2.html)on 23 March 2010. Retrieved
4 December 2012.
2. Heinous, Harvey. "RealPiano Expander, Chopin Concerto No. 1, second movement" (https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=8JhDgANvluQ). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
3. "How to replace RealPiano Expander LCD ribbon wire (french)"(http://fr.audiofanzine.com/expandeur/gem-by-gener
almusic/RealPiano-Expander/pedago/astuces/remplacement-lcd-defaillant-2831/) . Retrieved 4 December 2012.
4. "Replace RealPiano Expander LCD"(https://web.archive.org/web/20070818165252/http://www .generalmusic.us/mbb
s22/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=169&posts=71). Archived from the original (https://www.generalmusic.us/mbbs22/for
ums/thread-view.asp?tid=169&posts=71)on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
5. "GEM RP-X SOUNDS DEMO"(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5YuCSaQ8vo). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
6. "GEM S2R" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150606083745/http://www .soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/mar94/
gems2r.html). Sound On Sound. March 1994. Archived fromthe original (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_a
rticles/mar94/gems2r.html) on 6 June 2015.
7. http://www.asterimini.it/vendite-fallimenti-procedure-concorsuali/vendite-complessi-aziendali
8. http://bringelkaback.com
9. http://www.generalmusic.com/
10. http://www.musictrades.com/profile22.html
http://www.asterimini.it/vendite-fallimenti-procedure-concorsuali/vendite-complessi-aziendali
External links
Generalmusic official site
Download resources http://www.gem-generalmusic.com/download.php
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