JS Clayden

Used for www.pitchshifter.com, as stated in a news post on Pitchshifter's website announcing its auction.

The latest of the Pitchshifter online silent auctions is not a guitar, but it is the piece of musical equipment that defined the Pitchshifter sound, and also helped to usher in the "Rocktronica Era" of British music in the 90s. It is the synthesizer, affectionately named "Genie" by the band, on which they created the lead line for the song "Genius" (along with many parts for other tracks on the "www.pitchshifter.com" album).

This is a physically synthesizer, not a virtual synth (i.e. it has a keyboard and a power supply and you can actually touch it--it won't work on your iPod).

When asked about the synth, JS said: "The Korg Prophecy Solo Synth was revolutionary in it's time. It had a very forward-facing control surface in the form of a ribbon, and some great 303 sounds to go with it.

The sound for the song "Genius" came from cranking a 303 patch to the point of harmonic distortion and then playing the filter across the ribbon to keep the tone rising after the initial note-hit.

Although we have many fond memories of this synth, as with some of the previous guitar auctions, there's only so much equipment we can physically house in PSI Studios and still close the doors. The time has come for Genie to take the long walk."

This silent auction contains:

• Pitchshifter's very own Korg Prophecy (including original Pitchshifter-programmed "Genius" patch!)
• 512 Memory Card
• Original Korg Prohpecy Manual
• Signed letter of authenticity confirming that the song "Genius," and the "www.pitchshifter.com" album, was written and performed on this exact machine

As in our prior auctions, you can bid by sending an email with the words "Silent Auction" in the subject line, also containing your bid amount, full legal name, and mailing address in the body of the email to: music [at] psirecords.com.

Bidding in this auction will close on February 22nd, 2010 unless the auction is ended early.