It was back in the fifties when German inventor Ernst Zacharias invented one of the funkiest keyboards of all times. At first the intention was to make a portable version of a cembalo, but it soon turned into one of the most used keyboards in rock and pop music. You will certainly recognize it in the famous pop song “Superstition”, and in many other funky tunes of the seventies. Many police and investigation story movies and TV shows of the 70’s and the early 80’s had music themes based on funky accompaniments made with the D6, a slap bass and drums. This instrument can reproduce the sound of an electric guitar and can be treated with the same effects used by guitarists (wahwah, distortion, phaser, chorus, etc.) for both rhythmic and melodic textures, since it is actually based on a set of 60 strings and two humbucker pickups very similar to those used in electric guitars. 

Plugin Description

Main features:

• Full polyphony (147 notes)
• Virtual 91 modeled tonewheels generator with accurate phase synchronization
• Adjustable leakage noise and cross modulation between tonewheels
• Three sets of waveforms: Set H (American Electromagnetic), Set F (Italian Transistor), Set V (Red Tolex Transistor)
• Three different organ models
• Adjustable global tuning
• Foldback on 16″ deactivable
• Realistic motor wow & flutter
• Busbars and 9 key contacts simulation
• 17 steps drawbars
• Two separate sets of drawbars per manual
• Full “inverted octave” presets
• String Bass with adjustable release time
• Dynamic pickup coil impedance loss
• Adjustable generator filters scaling
• Single triggered percussion with natural capacitor discharge/recharge
• Adjustable global Percussion Level
• Adjustable global Percussion Decay
• Vibrato/Chorus virtual scanner
• Adjustable Vibrato Scanner depth
• Electronic vibrato simulation when Sets F or V are selected
• Separated Upper and Lower V/C tablets with smooth switching
• Dynamic tube overdrive simulation
• Spring reverb derived from Type4
• Smooth action volume pedal with adjustable MIDI response
• Stereo wooden rotary speaker simulation with artificial environment and microphones positioning
• Five different rotary speaker algorithms with adjustable “character”
• Tone Cabinet (stationary speaker) simulation
• Rotors brake position
• Adjustable background hum and noise
• Very low CPU consumption
• Midi controllable, supports VST automation
• Easy MIDI Learn function
• Up to four separated outputs
• Upper and Lower manuals SPLIT with adjustable split point
• Upper and Lower manuals octave transposers
• Selectable output level

Changes in version 1.2.2: 

• VB3 is now available for MAC OSX in VST and AU format
• New Spring Reverb algorithm derived from GSi Type4
• The code has been enormously optimized and the CPU load is amost halved
• Fixed bugs with some hosts (Sonar, Tracktion3, Receptor) that caused a crash when loading VB3
• Added option “Output Level” with 5 different levels. Use this to prevent VB3 from generating audio clips at high dynamics
• Rotary speaker simualtor: improved control over rotors speeds; improved algorithm “Jazz 122″;
• Keyclick: improved and optimized
• Percussion: added the missing high-pass filter that gives it more punch and enforces the attack
• Organ sound: the leakage factor, the whole balance between lows and highs and the background noise have been noticeably improved
• Functionality: no more need to recompute the internal wavetables when the plugin is set in standby by the host; improved the stereo widening algorithm
• Many other things have changed internally that can’t be explained in few words, but your fine ears will be able to notice the difference with previous versions.

MrRay73 Mark II is a digital simulation of the famous american electro-mechanical piano of the seventies, invented during World War II by a music teacher, Harold B. Rhodes (1910 – 2000), and widely used in almost all musical genres ranging from soul/black music to jazz, blues, modern and pop. This instrument has rapidly become a legend, and is still used today, altough samples have replaced the real thing so that very often music producers use huge sample libraries or hardware keyboards / workstations to achieve this kind of sonority, and often the result is a cold and ‘dead’ sound, with no vitality, no warmth, nothing that even compares to the unpredictability and genuineness of the real thing.
In 2007 an enterprising and far-seeing american businessman has started a new Company with the aim to re-manufacture the piano using the same recipe of the old factory, employing the same ingredients and offering the same “taste” of the vintage instrument. The new “Mark 7″ piano was presented at the NAMM show and it was a big success. It’s on the market again, after about 20 years, with the same name, same “soul” but largely improved under many important technical aspects. 

In a similar manner, MrRay73 Mark II is the second version of MrRay73, after two years from its introduction to the public, but with a huge difference in sound and functionality. While the old MrRay73 was one of the first successfull simulations of such an instrument, capable of offering similar vitality, warmth and richness of the real thing, the new “Mark II” version brings many new improvements, first of all for what concerns “THE SOUND”.
As opposite to sample libraries, a real-time reproduction of a certain sound has the ability to interact with the musician, producing different behaviours from time to time. Hardly you will hear exactly the same “waveform” twice. MrRay73 Mark II is a complete digital reproduction of the real instrument, with all the moving parts that, together, generate to the sound. 

Summary of the main features:

• Full Polyphony (73 notes E – E)
• No note-stealing
• Adjustable single sound elements (metal, wood, pedal and damper noises)
• Sympathetic resonance and harp vibration
• Sustain pedal re-pedaling feature
• Six-stage vintage style Phaser effect
• Dual mode Tremolo effect
• Power amp simulation (Suitcase model)
• Adjustable wear of mallets and other elements (Piano Age)
• Stretch tuning or Equal Temperament
• Four velocity curves plus an adjustable “Dynamic range” level
• Fully Midi controllable with MIDI-Learn function
• Very Low CPU and memory usage

- Full Polyphony & No note-stealing: on the real vintage instrument you have a single “generator” (called “tone-bar”) for each single key, so when you hit a key, the corresponding tine is put into vibration thus producing the sound. When you hit it again holding your foot on the sustain pedal, you add further energy to the vibrating tine, but depending on the relationship of the tine and the hammer-tip, you can either add or remove energy with each key press. This causes subtle variations with each note played. 

- Sympathetic resonance and harp vibration: when you hold the sustain pedal, all damper felts leave the tines, so they all are free to vibrate, but if you hit a single note, the surrounding tines also get part of the mallet’s energy and produce a slight vibration. Also, when the sound of a note decays completely but you are still holding the key down, playing other notes may introduce what’s known as “sympathetic resonance”. This is more evident on a classic piano, less audible on the electric piano but still there. Part of the vibrations is spread along the whole harp and captured by all pickups, giving the overall tone a more “alive” sensation. 

- Sustain pedal re-pedaling feature: when you’re playing holding the sustain pedal down, you may release it and depress it again immediately. In this case, the dampers don’t stop the tines completely, but still leave a residual vibration. Sometimes, the dampers can even introduce a further energy as if they were “picking” the tines. 

- Six-stage vintage style Phaser effect: MrRay73 Mark II also includes a phaser effect. It is modeled after a vintage stomp box of the sixties, sold in Europe under the name “Maestro PS-1″. It was a 6-stage phase shifter, one of the first effects of this kind, with a deep and “liquid” tone. 

- Dual mode Tremolo effect: the tremolo effect is an essential element of the classic Electric Piano sound of the seventies. In MrRay73 Mark II you can have the effect of the classical analogue tremolo driven by the photo-coupler element which gives you the smooth passage from one channel to the other. As an alternative, you can have the monophonic vibrato like the one found on the classic “Tweed” guitar amplifiers. 

- Power amp simulation (Suitcase model): MrRay73 Mark II has a built-in FET power amplifier simulation with three degrees of “power”, to bring you the classic tone of the famous “Suitcase” electric piano models. Turning on the simulation, you’ll hear a darker tone with a punchy low-end, a slappy attack and a slight saturation on the high-end. 

Tape echo effects were invented towards the end of the fifties. Presumably the very first tape echo machine was invented by Charlie Watkins of London, England, in 1958. It was based on a small loop of 1/4″ tape onto which audio was recorded by a magnetic head and then read by three separated heads. What was read from the tape was amplified by the internal all-valve circuit and eventually recorded back to the tape, creating the feedback or “sustaining” echo effect. The delay time of the unit was determined by distance of the write head from the read heads, in conjunction with the speed of the tape. Many manufacturers of this era produced their versions of echo machines, mostly based on the magnetic tape system. The famous Binson Echorec was based on a circular drum head with a metallic magnetic stripe. It was used by Pink Floyd at the time of their album “Echoes”. Another famous tape echo machine was the Maestro Echoplex, heavily used by pianist Herbie Hancock. Other notable units were the Selmer TruVoice Echo, the Dynacord Echocord, along one of the most famous and widely used from 1973 to present day: the Roland RE-201. This particular model has a tape loop about 4 meters long which is recorded, read and erased continuously. It consists of one erase head, one write head and three pick-up heads, which when combined with the variable speed DC capstan motor allows many different delay configurations. This machine also offers a reverberation effect based on a spring reverb tank. The combination of echo and reverb gives an “ethereal” ambience effect which eventually inspired the engineers so to name it “Space Echo”. 

Nowadays these machines are very sought after but quite rare to find on the market, and their evaluation increases year after year. There are many aspects that make the tape echo stand out from a modern digital delay. Here are a few of the main features: 
1) the unpredictability. A capstan motor is never perfect like a digital clock signal, resulting in slight variations of the delay times and pitched sound. 
2) the frequency response and dynamic range. A magnetic tape is not as clean and flat as a digital recording. Especially a loop of tape which is cyclically erased and re-recorded many times in a short time lapse. 
3) noise, hum, distortion. Defects that a digital system shouldn’t have, sometimes are wanted and can become “musically acceptable”.

There is one way only to obtain all of this. To get the real thing.

Actually there’s a much affordable and easy alternative: to use an accurate digital simulation. 

GS-201 is an accurate simulation of a japanese Tape Echo machine of the early seventies, featuring:

• Distinctive dynamic range and frequency response
• Realistic response to the panel controls
• Motor “wow and flutter”
• Sound degradation and distortion at high feedback levels
• Very natural hum and background tape noise
• Three different kinds of magnetic tape models
• Ultra-low CPU usage
• Easy “MIDI Learn” feature 

Panel Controls

• Input Left, Input Right: GS-201 is a monoaural effect but it works for either mono or stereo buses or insert slots. With these two knobs you can set the input volume of the two stereo channels separately. 
• Direct Level, on/off: The input audio signal is copied to the output unchanged. With this knob you can set its level. Use the little on/off switch to turn on or off the dry signal. More generally, you should turn off the dry signal when using GS-201 on an effect bus (send/return), and leave it on when you’re using GS-201 as an insert effect. 
• Mode Selector: This 12 way rotary selector lets you choose among various combinations of echoes and reverb.
  Modes 1 to 4 exclude the reverb effect, and include the following combinations:

  
  

  
  

  • 1. First head (shorter delay time)
  • 2. Second head (medium delay time)
  • 3. Third head (longer delay time)
  • 4. Two taps: Second + Third head.

  Modes from 5 to 11 include both the echo and the reverb effect, and are organized as follows:

  • 5. First head (like mode #1)
  • 6. Second head (like mode #2)
  • 7. Third head (like mode #3)
  • 8. Two taps: First + Second head
  • 9. Two taps: Second + Third head (like mode #4)
  • 10. Two taps: First + Third head
  • 11. Three taps: First + Second + Third head

  Mode #12 is “Reverb only” which excludes the echo effect. 

• 
  
• Repeat Rate: This knob lets you vary the speed of the capstan motor which leads the tape, consequently changing the overall delay time. Turn it counterclockwise for longer delay times and clockwise for shorter delay times. When moving this knob, a pop-up window will show the actual delay times in milliseconds for all three heads.
  Please refer to the section Frequently Asked Questions for useful tips about this control. 

  
  

  
  

• Intensity: With this knob you can choose the quantity of signal to be reproduced and recorded back on the tape, thus affecting the delay feedback level. At high feedback levels the tape echo could engage an infinite feedback with drastic signal degradation. 
• Bass, Treble: With these two knobs you can adjust the frequency response of the sound output from the tape. 
• Echo Volume, Reverb Volume: With these two knobs you can adjust the volume of the two effects separately. 
• Power: This switch turns off or on the effect unit. 
• RT, 456, 468: This 3-way selector lets you choose between three different kinds of tape used by the echo machine.
  • RT: this is the original tape model.
  • 456: this is the famous “Grand Master” tape model, mostly used for multitrack recorders and not so suitable for these machines. It has a brighter response, a higher gain and less distortion than the original tape.
  • 468: this is the famous “Low Print” tape model, mostly used for hi-fi tape decks. Its characteristics are half-way between the RT and the 456 tape models.

  You won’t notice huge differences between the three tape models in a normal situation. The difference becomes more noticeable with longer feedback levels, especially when the tape goes into the self-oscillation state. 

  
  

  
  

 In version 1.1, when you move a control on the User Interface, a small display appears on the screen showing the current value of the active control. When you move the “Mode Selector” knob, another display shows the tape heads and reverb arrangement based on the active knob position. Passing your mouse pointer over the controls, a pop-up text describes their function. 

Tips on using the interface: 
– to reset a control to its default value, hold down CTRL and click it;
– for “fine tuning” knob movements, hold down SHIFT while moving the knob;
– all the knobs react to both vertical and horizontal movement;
– hold down the ALT key to activate the circular control of the knobs.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How, a digital delay effect with no tempo synchronization? 
   This has been long discussed before the release of this effect. No, no sync. Sorry. Due to the mechanical nature of the original tape echo, talking about “tempo synchronization” would have gone against a purist and accurate simulation. The delay time is prone to slight changes in time, because the capstan motor somehow “flutters” and is never precise like for a digital delay. Under a certain point of view this should be considered a feature rather than a lack. 

   
   

   
   

2. How can I find the right delay time based on the tempo of the song? 
   There are many ways of finding the right delay time. First of all, imagine to be in 1973 where even the most advanced drum machine then available didn’t have a clear tempo display other than a simple knob labeled “tempo”. In that case, the right delay time had to be found by ear, that is the easiest way. 
   Just to be more precise, it has been measured that the delay times for this particular echo machine were approximately as follows:

   
   

   
   

   • Head 1, shorter delay time: min. 60ms, max. 165ms
   • Head 2, medium delay time: min. 117ms, max. 324ms
   • Head 3, longer delay time: min. 176ms, max 487ms

   As you may have noticed, the three heads are almost equidistant. That said, according to the magnetic head you’re playing, with the “Repeat Rate” knob set at middle you should have a delay time of about 113 ms for Head 1, 220 ms for Head 2 and 331 ms for Head 3. From these values you can move back and forth to find the right delay time you need.

   If you like maths, take your calculator and try this formula for calculating the exact delay time in milliseconds: 
   (60 * 1 / tempo) * (4 / time division) or the simplified equation: 240 / tempo / time division 
   where time division is a coefficient with the following values:

   Normal 1 bar = 1 half bar = 2 1/4 = 4 1/8 = 8 1/16 = 16 1/32 = 32 1/64 = 64

   Triplets 1/2t = 3 1/4t = 6 1/8t = 12 1/16t = 24 1/32t = 48 1/64t = 96

   Dotted 1/2d = 1.333 1/4d = 2.666 1/8d = 5.333 1/16d = 10.666 1/32d = 21.333 1/64d = 42.666

   So if you’re looking for the exact delay time for a quarter note on a tempo of 124 bpm, the formula is:
   240 / 124 / 4 = 483 ms, which is equivalent to Head 3 (mode 3 or 7) with repeat rate at minimum.

   Or if you want to play Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell”, you have a tempo of 115 bpm and one eighth note dotted, so you have:
   240 / 115 / 5.333 = 391 ms, which is equivalent to Head 3 (mode 3 or 7) with repeat rate two notches below the middle… more or less.

   Another important consideration must be done about the narrow limits of this echo machine. As you can see, not all time synchronizations become possible, for example you can’t have a quarter note at 120 bpm which is exactly half second (500 ms) because the maximum delay time possible is about 487 ms. 

3. I hear a background noise, is there something wrong with my configuration? 
   Nothing wrong. Have you ever heard a tape machine completely noise-free? The background noise is part of the simulation, and covers a very important role because it is always mixed with the incoming audio signal, and has a big influence on the dynamic range of the tape sound, especialy when infinite feedback is engaged.