Product Description
Bid in the auction for this set of Mica-Sonic (here branded CBS Masterworks) Electronic Bongos / Percussion. We've now got them working and will complete the service after the sale.
This isn't the first time we've seen these... when we originally picked up a set out of pure curiosity and with no preconceptions we were intrigued by what we found and did some serious digging. The only information we found was their alleged use on Anne Peebles' version of "I Can't Stand the Rain", and there's certainly a strong sonic similarity.
However, since then their profile has increased somewhat since the astonishing Freddie Gibbs & Madlib NPR Tiny Desk Concert (which is essential viewing!). We also found this lovely footage of Madlib in El Michel Affair's studio... - rehearsing in preparation for that show.
So what you have is an instrument dating from the late 60s/early 70s, produced in Japan by a drum manufacturer, at a time when they were all embracing the rise of electronics (see also Pearl and the Syncussion, Toyo Gakki with the Ult Sound DS-4 etc).
The unit is battery powered with has two congas, two bongos and a woodblock. The on/off "mute" control for each just takes the basic reverb off the sound, plus a master volume control. Each pad just has a simple piezo pick up but there is a a reasonable amount of sensitivity that allows a range of volume - it needs to be played with sticks, ideally rubber ended.
Sound? Yes, it is basic, but like a lot of these odd, quirky pieces it has a certain "something", and quite different to other electronic drums of the period. The congas have a pleasing boom to them, the woodblock is snappy, electronic and sharp, and if you hit pads together something overloads and you get a great electronic stab of sound.
This isn't the first time we've seen these... when we originally picked up a set out of pure curiosity and with no preconceptions we were intrigued by what we found and did some serious digging. The only information we found was their alleged use on Anne Peebles' version of "I Can't Stand the Rain", and there's certainly a strong sonic similarity.
However, since then their profile has increased somewhat since the astonishing Freddie Gibbs & Madlib NPR Tiny Desk Concert (which is essential viewing!). We also found this lovely footage of Madlib in El Michel Affair's studio... - rehearsing in preparation for that show.
So what you have is an instrument dating from the late 60s/early 70s, produced in Japan by a drum manufacturer, at a time when they were all embracing the rise of electronics (see also Pearl and the Syncussion, Toyo Gakki with the Ult Sound DS-4 etc).
The unit is battery powered with has two congas, two bongos and a woodblock. The on/off "mute" control for each just takes the basic reverb off the sound, plus a master volume control. Each pad just has a simple piezo pick up but there is a a reasonable amount of sensitivity that allows a range of volume - it needs to be played with sticks, ideally rubber ended.
Sound? Yes, it is basic, but like a lot of these odd, quirky pieces it has a certain "something", and quite different to other electronic drums of the period. The congas have a pleasing boom to them, the woodblock is snappy, electronic and sharp, and if you hit pads together something overloads and you get a great electronic stab of sound.