Elektron (company)
Encyclopedia
Elektron is an electronic musical instrument company, based in Gothenburg
, Sweden
, founded in 1998.
Its products include the SID
-based SidStation, the Machinedrum percussion synthesizer, the Monomachine synthesizer, and the Octatrack performance sampler.
Elektron turned 10 years old in 2008.
In 1997 a couple of students, who got together during a university course at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg and made a rough prototype of a synthesizer.
The special thing about this sound module was that it was based on the sound chip found in the Commodore 64 home computer. The prototype was further developed and finalized as a sellable product.
The little synthesizer, called the Sidstation
, was initially made in a test run of ten units. The project was deemed commercially viable so in 1998 a company was started to nurture it and Elektron was born.
The newly founded company received funding from the university in-house venture capital investors Chalmers Invest, which made it possible to start manufacturing the Sidstation on a larger scale. The university provided Elektron with an office and thus things started to roll.
The Sidstation sold in respectable quantities, and Elektron was already developing its next product.
It took three years to develop the next product, the Machinedrum, a drumcomputer with several synthesis methods, and a Roland TR-like sequencer, was released in 2001 and became quite successful.
In 2003 Elektron then released the Monomachine
SFX-6 keyboard, a 6 voice Mono Synthesizer, which also included a Roland TR/TB-like sequencer. The Monomachine SFX-6 was soon followed by the SFX-60 tabletop version.
After the release of the Monomachine, Elektron parted with its investors making the company a privately owned corporation.
In 2005 the Machinedrum SPS-1UW was added to the Elektron line up, which added Sampling capabilities to the Machinedrum.
In late 2007 the Machinedrum and the Monomachine were updated to MKII versions. The units got new looks, better hardware specifications and improved functionality. They were 100 percent backwards compatible.
In August 2007 Elektron CEO and co-founder Daniel Hansson died in an auto accident.
The Elektron User community created a tribute for him: http://45tribute.com/
In January 2011, the Octatrack DPS-1 became available.
The SIDstation
The Monomachine
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, founded in 1998.
Its products include the SID
MOS Technology SID
The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
-based SidStation, the Machinedrum percussion synthesizer, the Monomachine synthesizer, and the Octatrack performance sampler.
History
(taken from here: Elektron Homepage ):Elektron turned 10 years old in 2008.
In 1997 a couple of students, who got together during a university course at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg and made a rough prototype of a synthesizer.
The special thing about this sound module was that it was based on the sound chip found in the Commodore 64 home computer. The prototype was further developed and finalized as a sellable product.
The little synthesizer, called the Sidstation
Elektron SidStation
The Elektron SidStation is a musical synthesizer sound module, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and was introduced in 1999...
, was initially made in a test run of ten units. The project was deemed commercially viable so in 1998 a company was started to nurture it and Elektron was born.
The newly founded company received funding from the university in-house venture capital investors Chalmers Invest, which made it possible to start manufacturing the Sidstation on a larger scale. The university provided Elektron with an office and thus things started to roll.
The Sidstation sold in respectable quantities, and Elektron was already developing its next product.
It took three years to develop the next product, the Machinedrum, a drumcomputer with several synthesis methods, and a Roland TR-like sequencer, was released in 2001 and became quite successful.
In 2003 Elektron then released the Monomachine
Elektron Monomachine
The Elektron Monomachine is a synthesizer and music sequencer by Elektron. The Monomachine is available as SFX-60 model, which is a desktop sound module, and was available as the SFX-6 model, which has a keyboard and a joystick controller...
SFX-6 keyboard, a 6 voice Mono Synthesizer, which also included a Roland TR/TB-like sequencer. The Monomachine SFX-6 was soon followed by the SFX-60 tabletop version.
After the release of the Monomachine, Elektron parted with its investors making the company a privately owned corporation.
In 2005 the Machinedrum SPS-1UW was added to the Elektron line up, which added Sampling capabilities to the Machinedrum.
In late 2007 the Machinedrum and the Monomachine were updated to MKII versions. The units got new looks, better hardware specifications and improved functionality. They were 100 percent backwards compatible.
In August 2007 Elektron CEO and co-founder Daniel Hansson died in an auto accident.
The Elektron User community created a tribute for him: http://45tribute.com/
In January 2011, the Octatrack DPS-1 became available.
External links
The SIDstation
Elektron SidStation
The Elektron SidStation is a musical synthesizer sound module, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and was introduced in 1999...
The Monomachine
Elektron Monomachine
The Elektron Monomachine is a synthesizer and music sequencer by Elektron. The Monomachine is available as SFX-60 model, which is a desktop sound module, and was available as the SFX-6 model, which has a keyboard and a joystick controller...