Seiko DS-250

Last updated
DS-250
Manufacturer Seiko
Dates1985
Technical specifications
Polyphony 8 voice
Timbrality 1 part
Oscillator Sine
LFO 1
Synthesis type Digital Additive
Filter No
Storage memory4 user memory [1]
Effects Chorus
Input/output
Keyboard 61 keys
Left-hand controlPitch bend wheel [2]
External control MIDI In, out, thru

The DS-250 was an electronic keyboard manufactured in 1985 [3] by Seiko and was considered a commercial failure. [4] It was capable of generating both digital and additive sounds. [5] It is expandable with two expander units DS-310 and DS-320. [6]

Contents

Features

The unit used additive synthesis for sound generation, chorus and ports included MIDI [2] In, Out and Through, RCA outputs (stereo), Headphones and level controls for both channels. It also has on board speakers. [2] It is capable of running either a single sound or two sounds at once, either layered or split, and each of these can be used on its own MIDI channel (there are small dials on the end of the keyboard to set each channel).

There are 16 preset sounds and these are all editable within a very limited context of volume, sustain (3 levels) and a variable vibrato (with vibrato delay switch). You can change the detune and pitch intervals between the two layered sounds.

DS1000 sequencer

A MIDI 1000 note sequencer called the DS1000 was also produced for use with the DS-250 (and other MIDI devices) in 1986. [1] It had four buttons Record, play, stop and pause, a tempo slider. [2]

Famous Users

Sounds

Mostly known for its pad and bell type sounds.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Michel Jarre</span> French composer, performer and record producer (born 1948)

Jean-Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanied by vast laser displays, large projections and fireworks.

<i>AERO</i> 2004 compilation album / Remix album by Jean-Michel Jarre

AERO is a 2004 compilation album by electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, recorded in 5.1 surround sound and released by Warner Music on 20 September 2004. The album contains three new tracks, and a bonus live track. All tracks are sewn together through surround-sound "Scenes".

<i>Rendez-vous Houston</i>

Rendez-vous Houston: A City in Concert was a live performance by musician Jean Michel Jarre amidst the skyscrapers of downtown Houston on the evening of April 5, 1986, coinciding with the release of the Rendez-Vous album. The concert celebrated the 150th anniversary of Houston, Texas and NASA's 25th anniversary. For a period of time, it held a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest outdoor "rock concert" in history, with a estimated of 1.5 million in attendance is the second entry of Jarre in the book. Rendez-vous Houston also celebrated the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which had happened only two and a half months earlier. One of Jarre's friends, astronaut Ron McNair, had been killed in the disaster. Ron was originally going to play the saxophone from space during the track "Last Rendez-Vous"; his substitute for the concert was Houston native Kirk Whalum.

<i>Rendez-Vous</i> (Jean-Michel Jarre album) 1986 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Rendez-vous is the eighth studio album by electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor, in 1986. The album art was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger.

<i>Métamorphoses</i> (album) 2000 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Métamorphoses is the thirteenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released by Sony Music in 1999, Epic Records on January 24, 2000 and by Disques Dreyfus on May 25, 2004 in the U.S. The album was followed by two singles: "C'est la Vie" and "Tout Est Bleu".

<i>Geometry of Love</i> 2003 studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Geometry of Love is the fifteenth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released by Warner Music in October 2003.

Michel Geiss is a French sound engineer, instrument designer and musician who was a long-time collaborator of Jean Michel Jarre. He has also collaborated with other famous French artists such as Marc Lavoine, Patrick Bruel or Laurent Voulzy. In 1978 during the recording of Équinoxe he designed the Matrisequencer 250, an instrument that later was used in Rendez-Vous (1986). The instrument was succeeded by the Geiss Digisequencer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space of Freedom</span> 2005 concert by Jean Michel Jarre in Poland

Space of Freedom was a concert performed by French musician Jean Michel Jarre in Poland, at the Gdańsk Shipyard, on August 26, 2005, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity trade union's foundation. Jarre was invited by Lech Wałęsa to hold this concert, which was watched by an audience of more than 170,000 people who bought tickets, as well as many others who observed the event from outside the shipyard, in high buildings such as Zieleniak and the hills of Góra Gradowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laser harp</span>

A laser harp is an electronic musical user interface and laser lighting display. It projects several laser beams played by the musician by blocking them to produce sounds, visually reminiscent of a harp. It was popularised by Jean-Michel Jarre, and has been a high-profile feature of almost all his concerts since 1981.

<i>Hong Kong</i> (album) 1994 live album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Hong Kong is a live album by Jean-Michel Jarre, and released in 1994 on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor. Even though the album is called Hong Kong and has pictures of the event on its booklet, most of the tracks are from the Europe in Concert venues, except for "Souvenir of China" which is a special mix consisting of the Paris la Defense version and the actual track played in Hong Kong. Also, "Fishing Junks at Sunset" was recorded from the Hong Kong concert rehearsals. Some of the tracks already featured on the VHS release of the Barcelona concert the year before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elka Synthex</span>

The Elka Synthex is a polyphonic analog synthesizer produced by Italian music instrument manufacturer Elka from 1981 to 1985.

<i>Odyssey Through O2</i> 1998 remix album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Odyssey Through O2 is an album by Jean-Michel Jarre, released in 1998. It contains remixes of tracks from Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygène 7–13 album, as well as the "Rendez-Vous 98" single. It also contains a computer program, JArKaos, a scaled down version of the ArKaos software used by Jarre to produce visual accompaniment to his music at concerts. JArKaos allows users to manipulate visuals using their computer keyboard while listening to the album.

"Water for Life" was a concert given by French electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre on the night of December 16, 2006 amidst the dunes of the Sahara desert at Merzouga, Morocco. The concert was held under the auspice of UNESCO as 2006 had been designated the International Year of Deserts and Desertification by the United Nations General Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Michel Jarre discography</span>

Jean-Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, synthpop, ambient and new-age genres, and an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.

<i>Live from Gdańsk</i> (Koncert w Stoczni) 2005 live album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Live From Gdańsk is a live album by Jean-Michel Jarre, released in 2005, exclusively in Poland. It contains selected songs performed during Jarre's Space of Freedom concert in Gdańsk, Poland, on 26 August 2005, commemorating twenty-five years of the Solidarity movement.

Jarre Live, later re-released as Destination Docklands: The London Concert, is a live album by Jean-Michel Jarre, released on 2 October 1989 on Disques Dreyfus. It was recorded during Jarre's Destination Docklands concerts of 1988, which consisted of two London concerts in England; this was the first time the docklands district of London and the river Thames became the scenery for a concert.

The Yamaha KX-5 is a MIDI controller and has no actual sounds on board. It was created by Yamaha in 1984. It also featured a ribbon controller which could be used for pitch bend. It is powered by 6 AA batteries which has a run time for up to 7 hours.

The LAG Insecte is a portable keyboard which allows an artist to move around on stage while playing stationary electronic instruments. It was specially made in France for Jean-Michel Jarre in 1988 by LAG. Jarre used the keyboard in 1988 at the Docklands concert and in 1990 at La Défense concert. He also used it for the Industrial Revolution (overture) on the album Revolutions.

<i>Planet Jarre: 50 Years of Music</i> 2018 compilation album by Jean-Michel Jarre

Planet Jarre: 50 Years of Music is a compilation album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released on 14 September 2018 to commemorate Jarre's 50 years in the music business.

References

  1. 1 2 "Seiko DS250 / DS 310 (1984) | Aerozone JMJ". aerozonejmj.fr (in French). 27 March 2014. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Dave's Seiko crapola". www.umop.com. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  3. "Seiko DS-250". www.matrixsynth.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  4. "Jean-Michel Jarre's Time Machine". KeyboardMag. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  5. "Seiko DS-250". www.matrixsynth.com. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  6. "Seiko DS-250". www.99musik.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  7. "You searched for seiko - Synthwatchers.com". Synthwatchers.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  8. "Jean Michel Jarre's Seiko DS 250". Equipboard. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  9. "SEIKO DS 250". www.jarrography.free.fr. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  10. "Jean Michel JARRE: Rendez-Vous". Disques Dreyfus (in French). Retrieved 2018-08-20.