Short description : An optical organ using transparent discs as its sound source.
Production period : 1973 - 1976
Made by: The Galanti Corporation in Italy.
Keys: 24 chord keys and 37 organ keys.
Weight: 20 – 30 kg (Not too bad)
Numbers made: Impossible to say…probably not too many.

Used by: Nanook of the North and Optiganally yours.

Description:
It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. I used to play drums in a symphonic progressive rock band and that was just about it. All of a sudden we quit and a couple of months later I buy the bass players Mellotron http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/replay_mellotron400.htm . Very odd indeed. I wasn’t really that into it anyway. I just realized that I sort of wanted it to stay in the Family. I started using it with my bands and fell more and more in love with it. A couple of years later I hear about this odd instrument called an Optigan and is completely mesmerized by the whole idea of it. Real loops played by real musicians! Optical discs!? Gritty organ sounds?! Lo fi drum loops and everything. I never thought I would own one. A couple of months later I stumble across an Orchestron (the Optigans professional older brother) http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/replay_vako_orchestron.html on the internet located in Florida and I buy it immediately. I start to use it extensively with both Optigan and Orchestron discs. Pretty content with the fact that I would probably never actually own a real Optigan http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/replay_optigan.htm as only 200 were shipped to Europe in 1974 (?). Fast forward… Two years ago I found one in Germany. I was a very happy boy. So happy that I recorded an entire albums worth of material on it with AK. I thought it would end there.

When it comes to info on Optigans and Orchestrons there is one place on the net you can’t beat Pea Hixs site www.optigan.com while rummaging around on it. Reading up on Orchestrons I found out that there was an even rarer optical organ that supposedly sounded better still. It can’t be possible. A weird machine called a Chilton Talentmaker. A new dream was born. It looks like an Optigan, works more or less the same way but has less cross talk and the tempo is a lot more reliable. Apparently there are only 3 or four Chilton Talentmaker that we (as in an extremely geeky nerdy community way) know of. One in California, one in Finland and then one in Germany. The reason why there are so few is apparently that they had loads of patent problems with the people at Mattel. It is sort of the same thing so I can’t blame them. There is also talk of the Talentmaker being the missing link between the Optigan and the Orchestron. Please check Peas site for more details.

The one in Germany was owned by a guy who shared a similar interest in drum machines. So I actually found it that way. But I realized he probably knew what it was and how rare it was so I didn’t want to be impolite and ask him if I could buy it.

Little did I know that he had a spare.

Apparently he bought both and wanted one to take parts from et.c So he had a good one and a scruffy one that needed some TLC. Then he realizes that he needs the space and puts up an ad on the net. Optical disc organ Optigan….Chilton Talentmaker sold as is pick up only in Germany. I almost wet myself when I read it. I almost didn’t dare to speak with anyone about it as I felt paranoid and very Gollum-esque. I needed it. I needed it bad. And guess what...Just by coincidence in July 2005 me and a bunch of friends went down to Bordeaux and picked up wines and alcohol for my wedding and on the way up through Germany we stopped outside the Central station in Mannheim and picked up a slightly ragged but in overall decent condition Chilton Talentmaker with four discs.

We put it in the trailer and off we went. When we came to Roth Händle two days later I plugged it in and with a lot of hesitation pressed down the rhythm buttons…and it worked. A loud ground hum but otherwise just fine.

The seller had warned me that some of the buttons didn’t work but after fiddling with it for a while everything seemed to work just fine. In fact it worked better than my Optigan immediately. So how does it sound? I guess you know that you can’t really trust my judgement on these things but I completely love it. Apparently the musicians on the loops are some guys who worked at a nightclub that one of the Galanti people frequented (according to the ever knowledgeable mr.Hix). But who does it and up to the Optigan ? Well the loops have a different edge to them. The cocktail piano disc is very cocktail. The Rumba is oh so very Rumba and the guitar in ¾ is very inspirational. The drums seem to sound louder in a weird way. The looping is a lot worse than the Optigan. Not as bad as the Chamberlin rhythmate but still pretty bad. The chord loops all seem to have their very own “Italian” tempo to them. Let’s call it Rubato.

There were apparently 20 discs made for the Talentmaker. At the moment I have the following four…

Organ
Guitar in ¾
Rumba Rhythm
Cocktail piano

What can I say. It looks like there might be a new AK-momo album on its way. As I am writing this I have had it in the studio for a about a month and it hasn’t sneaked itself in on any recordings yet but trust me it will…

I’d like to just end this long rambling by sending out a big thank you to Jutze (long time friend of Änglagård and Reminder, runs www.anglagard.net) who drove from Stuttgart to Munich and then up to Mannheim to help fulfil this seemingly impossibly dream. It wouldn’t have been possible without his help. Thank you thank you thank you.