Pellegrino's Instruments Distributed via eBay
Since the mid-1990s people have been contacting me and trying to convince me to sell them one or more of my classic analog synths, the set of instruments that in 1973 became my road system as well as important players in my Electronic Arts Productions studios. My response to them was always the same - “Sorry, not now. All of them are parts of a grand plan.”
For decades one of my daydreams (the grand plan) gradually took a form that blocked me from selling any of my instruments, analog or digital or acoustic. The dream was both simple and awfully complex - put four decades of sonic and visual music systems which had absorbed vast quantities of my attention into one huge integrated composition/performance system and then play it until the juices ran dry.
Since the 1960s one of my favorite games in designing studios was to solve the myriad communication problems that bloomed whenever one networks systems that were neither designed nor inclined to work together. That was the MO for every project that led to the design of my academic, corporate, and artist facilities. In my daydreams I was actually running thought experiments and looking forward to the opportunity to implement those thoughts on the gear I’d been collecting and playing for decades.
In 2005 I finally bought a place that had a space large enough to accommodate the dream - it had a 1,000 sq. ft. great room with 13 foot beamed ceilings surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on several acres of woods with 150-year old pecan trees, redbud, catalpa, azaleas, dogwood, magnolia, and many other flowering plants plus an always fascinating assortment of Texas wildlife moving around and through the woods. But wouldn’t you know it? That old integrative dream was once again pushed aside and then to the back of the to-do list by the dream that has been my driver since the late 1960s - playing with whatever is most attractive in terms of learning potential in the current crop of emerging technology in the arts plus the time it takes to indulge in the always anticipated pleasure of exploring the great American Songbook on my sweet little 6 foot Yamaha grand.
The upshot is that all the conditions were right for me to assume a different attitude about the instrument pals I had been carrying around with me for decades. Since they were no longer being played there was no way their electronic circuits could possibly be happy. Clearly the time had come to pass them along to others in the fields of music and the electronic arts.
It was in August of 2008 that the process of passing my instruments along to others began. After a bit of research it became clear that the idea of eBay, despite its overall clumsiness in implementation, was the best vehicle for communicating my plans to potentially interested parties. It was also difficult to determine the objective value of the instruments so I decided to leave that decision to people in the field and then just accept their collective assessment.
Here on my site I simply plan to link to descriptive copy and photos that I used on eBay for each of the instruments. Initially including that information on my site was not part of my distribution plan, so a few of the earliest files are no longer available; I deleted them to make space on my hard drives. Nevertheless, I figure the materiaI that remains is probably of historical interest to those inclined toward the electronic arts, especially the techheads.
My list begins with the earliest sales and works forward in time up to the latest sales. As is my usual practice in cranking up a project, I just jumped into the eBay business, struggled to understand its communicative logic (?) and used whatever tools I had available in my studios. So the earliest photos (the clarinet and ARP 2600) were shot with a Sony digital video camera and of course, despite my best efforts with Photoshop tools, leave much to be desired in terms of resolution. But by the time I was ready to release the first of my Synthi AKS synths I had acquired a Canon PowerShot digital camera to help eBay bidders get a better view of what I was offering. As one might expect, the difference in resolution is significant.
The first instrument to fly out of my studios in the summer of 2008 was a professional model Buffet clarinet that I acquired in 1977. The clarinet was my first instrument at the age of nine so it was a good choice to open the flood gate to pass along my other instruments. It went to a Russian musician living in the southern part of the USA.
The second to go was my ARP 2600. I passed up on the highest bidder, a well known European keyboard artist, and instead sold the 2600 to the second highest bidder, a Brazilian artist from Rio de Janeiro who was designing a studio around a collection of classic analog synthesizers. I personally felt more in tune with his spirit.
Next to go was one of my Synthi AKS synths to a young artist living in the American South who made a good case for selling him the instrument outside of eBay. I have a tendency to lean toward people who seem to love to care for instruments and to bring them up to their maximum potential; he seemed like that sort of person so it felt good to place it in his hands.
Following that, my Waterphone flew out the door. Yes, it is an acoustic instrument but it can create a sound world that overlaps with the electronic sound world. That instrument also went to the second highest bidder, a next step New Ager in the American Southwest. That felt like a good fit too.
Then my Fairlight Voicetracker, again sold to the second highest bidder, made its way to Vienna, Austria to a man who seemed in love with electronic instruments. He held down a medical day job so electronic music and its instruments might have been his great escape.
Following that, my Buchla 200 Series Box went to a New York City pro who scores films and is involved in other high profile projects. It almost went to the second highest bidder who, during the auction, made a strong effort to communicate his desire for the instrument, but the NYC pro knew how to tie up a deal quickly and cleanly so it’s now in his hands and I’m certain it’s getting the care and attention it deserves.
Months later in May of 2009, after I completed the first two parts of my latest major project, Emergent Music And Visual Music: Inside Studies, my second Synthi AKS and Laser Animator as a combination sonic and visual music synthesizer went to a performance artist in Vancouver, Canada. Part of my eBay offer was one month of email coaching to help the buyer get off to a fast start with the system so I’ve had a fair amount of communication with the buyer and I’m confident my Synthi AKS and Laser Animator have found a loving home.
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