POLIVOKS: Uncovering the Mysteries of the Iconic USSR Synthesizer

Описание

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After a BATTLE trying to import this synth from Kyiv, Ukraine, I finally have in the Vulture Culture Studios the legendary Formanta Polivoks. This synth went for half a year's salary for an engineer in the USSR in 1982 and has become the most famous Soviet Vintage Synthesizer. It's known for being similar in architecture to a Moog Minimoog but with the duophonic power of the ARP Odyssey, and loopable ADSR's. I cannot wait to check this out with you glorious SCUM.

From Wikipedia:

The Polivoks (also occasionally referred to as the Polyvox; Russian: Поливокс) is a duophonic, analog synthesizer manufactured and marketed in the Soviet Union between 1982 and 1990. It is arguably the most popular and well-known Soviet synthesizer in the West, likely due to the uniqueness of both its appearance and sound.

The Polivoks was designed at the Urals Vector plant, but actual production was handled at the Formanta Radio Factory in Kachkanar, Russian SFSR.[1] It was intended to appear and sound similar to American and Japanese synthesizers from companies such as Roland, Moog, and Korg. The Polivoks was engineered by circuit designer Vladimir Kuzmin with the appearance of the instrument influenced by his wife Olimpiada,[2] who took inspiration from the design of Soviet military radios. Its retail price upon release was 920 roubles and over its lifetime around 100,000 Polivoks were manufactured - sometimes with a production rate of up to 1,000 units a month.[3] But accordingly to information shared by Vladimir Kuzmin only 200-300 Polvokses were produced per month.[4] It means that total number cannot be more than 32000.

The Polivoks has some features that are either unusual or uncommon on most analog mono synthesizers including a filter that can be switched from low pass to bandpass and two envelopes that can be looped over the AD sections.[5]

Due to its unique history and relative rarity, the Polivoks has become popular as much for its unique sounds as for its aesthetics. It is often used by bands who take inspiration from the Soviet chic movement, as well as the ostalgie phenomenon in the former East Germany.

The Polivoks was used prominently on indie-rock band Franz Ferdinand's 2009 album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, especially in the songs "Ulysses" and "Lucid Dreams" according to music critic Simon Maes.
The Polivoks was used by the Russian indie-metal band KanZer, in song "Pepel" and "Plat'e"
The Polivoks was used by Goldfrapp on their 2003 album Black Cherry.
The Polivoks is also being used in trash-electro project of Kuba Kristo, Crashed Disco Balls, according to Bottomlayer.org
The Polivoks was used to compose music for the 2016 video game Doom.[6]
The Polivoks was also used to compose music for the 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077.

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