Published
Mon, Mar 13, 2017, 12:00
- Korg currently owns the naming rights to the American synth company.
Uli Behringer has again declared his intention to clone more vintage synthesisers on the Gearslutz forum.
The owner of the budget music equipment company is using the forum to publicise plans to clone highly coveted synthesisers before the proposed design has been prototyped. In this latest case, Behringer said that the ARP 2600 is "high on our priority list" despite the company not yet having an original model to copy. The 2600 was a semi-modular, three-oscillator design with a separated sound generator and keyboard manufactured throughout the '70s.
Korg currently owns the rights to the ARP brand and has released its own remake of the company's Odyssey synth. (Unverified rumours of Korg creating an official remake of the 2600 have previously circulated online.) But the 2600, like the Minimoog, has entered the public domain, which means it's eligible to be directly copied without copyright infringement. Behringer also mentioned plans to clone the OSC OSCar, a quirky English analogue-digital hybrid built in the mid-'80s.
The announcements are parts of Behringer's ongoing plan to develop a complete line of synthesisers. The pivot to synths began with the release of the DeepMind 12. As yet unconfirmed plans include a $400 remake of the Minimoog, an analogue drum machine and a desktop version of the DeepMind 12.