Twenty Systems

by Benge

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Includes 58 page book with Benge's description of the instruments, a history of synthesisers and over 40 photos and illustrations, with a foreword by Robin Rimbaud (Scanner)

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Full Digital Discography

37

releases

Get all 37 Benge releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Forms 16 - Watercolour on Paper, Forms 15 - Dawn, Forms 14 - New Distortions, The Memetune Programme Music Album, Forms 13 - Spirals and Orbits, The Dreamer, Expanding Boxset Sampler Compilation, Syndrones & Syntones, and 29 more. , and , .

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1.	1968 Moog Modular 03:26	buy track
2.	1969 EMS VCS3 05:12	buy track
3.	1970 ARP 2500 03:07	buy track
4.	1971 ARP 2600 01:43	buy track
5.	1972 Serge Modular 04:05	buy track
6.	1973 Roland SH2000 03:44	buy track
7.	1974 Oberheim SEM 01:54	buy track
8.	1975 Moog Polymoog 02:56	buy track
9.	1976 Yamaha CS80 03:49	buy track
10.	1977 Yamaha CS30 02:23	buy track
11.	1978 Roland 100M 04:10	buy track
12.	1979 Korg Lambda 01:42	buy track
13.	1980 Korg Trident 02:03	buy track
14.	1981 Yamaha CS70M 02:09	buy track
15.	1982 PPG Wave 02:04	buy track
16.	1983 Fairlight CMI 03:47	buy track
17.	1984 Oberheim Xpander 01:44	buy track
18.	1985 Yamaha CX5M 02:35	buy track
19.	1986 NED Synclavier 07:28	buy track
20.	1987 Kawai K5M 04:23	buy track

about

20 tracks made on 20 synthesisers spanning 20 years

Benge's seminal 2008 synthesiser concept album, available for the first time in all its glory including the full 58 page booklet (in PDF format - free with the download)

"A brilliant contribution to the archaeology of electronic music" Brian Eno

FROM THE INTRODUCTION TO TO THE BOOKLET

The purpose of the record is to demonstrate the development of the synthesiser from the first commercially available systems in the late 1960s to the introduction of fully digital systems in the late 1980s

Although not intended to be a comprehensive history of synthesisers, the listener will hopefully gain some insight into the character of each instrument, and on a more general level experience the evolving sound of synthesis over the years

Each track is the pure sound of an individual instrument, with no additional processing, sequencing or effects applied to any of the recordings. If a system was equipped with an in-built sequencer, it was used, and there are several examples of sound-on-sound processes, where a track is made up of multiple layers of the same synthesiser recorded in parallel

To put it simply, I let the instruments speak for themselves and influence the way each piece is composed

ORIGINAL PRESS REVIEWS AND ACCOLADES

The original release gained feature articles in The Wire, Future Music, Sound On Sound, Record Collector and The Quietus. It was album of the month in Future Music and Record Collector, and was in the top 40 albums of the year in The Guardian. 'Indicates what a deliriously desirable thing the synthesis of sound has historically been' - The Wire 'Absolutely cast iron irrefutable proof that synthesisers are better than guitars' - Vice Magazine 'An electronic music narrative that you simply cannot miss... as a package this album is almost perfect' Future Music Magazine 'For something so simple its unbelievably deep, hypnotic and incredibly stirring... Fascinating, educational and very musical, Twenty Systems is a magical document of space, time and synthesised sound. This should never be out of print. Full marks' Record Collector

credits

released April 29, 2020

All music written and produced by Benge (c)2008 Expanding Records. Text by Benge. Photos by Paul Merritt and Benge. Design by Paul Merritt. Typography by Daniel Edwards. Foreword by Robin Rimbaud. Recorded at Memetune Studios

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