Vaporware Synths: Kurzweil VA1 polyphonic virtual analog Synthesizer (2004)

In the premiere Vaporware Synths feature, we look back at the Kurzweil VA1 polyphonic virtual analog Synthesizer from 2004.

Every year, new synthesizers come onto the market. The hotspot for new releases used to be the NAMM show in Anaheim (CA) or the Musikmesse (Frankfurt). The latter belongs to history. Today, you can do it all year round thanks to social media (YouTube, Facebook, etc.). 

With the crazy amount of new synths per year, some don’t make it onto the market as finished products. This can have various reasons. In this new series of articles we look back at the so-called vaporware synths of the past and present days. I start with the Kurzweil VA1 from 2004.

Vaporware Synths Kurzweil VA1

At the Musikmesse 2004, almost exactly 20 years ago, Kurzweil unveiled the VA1. It was supposed to be Kurzweil’s new flagship virtual analog Synthesizer. with 61 keys, a big user interface packed with 59 knobs and 108 buttons, a screen, and more.

According to information, it was entirely the brainchild of Kurzweil’s stateside think tank, the Young Chang Research and Development Institute (YCRDI).

With an announced price of $2995 retail and $2395 street price, it wasn’t a budget Synthesizer. Some dealers had listings of it right after the show. Check this announcement from 2004. Google doesn’t forget. 

The opinions of the synth press at the time were rather mixed. “It wasn’t a big surprise Synthesizer at the trade fair after fall,” said Synthesizers.de/Sequencer.de. Others were more positive.

The synth, however, offered all the features that a classic virtual analog Synthesizer could offer. 

VA1 Features

Funny to see that synthesizers from back then were already at the feature level of today or even higher. Also, without the DSP power possibilities of today.

According to the official Kurzweil specs, the VA1 was based on a proprietary DSP technology capable of 16-voice polyphony and 4-part multitimbrality. 

2004 was the time of virtual analog synthesizers, including the Access Virus TI, Alesis Micron, and more. This almost forgotten synth should also be based on this synthesis technology. Interestingly, this made a hardware comeback this year with the Korg microKORG 2 and KingKorg Neo.

The virtual analog engine of the VA1 featured 7 simultaneous sound sources with “power-shaped oscillators”, FM/sync capabilities, and various shapers just before the filters (ring mod, shaper, digital distortions).

Talking about filters. The VA1 featured a dual filter architecture (series/parallel) with various filter algorithms, including a Minimoog style 4-pole resonant low-pass with feedback. High-pass, notch, and more were, of course, also onboard.

On the modulation side, it offered three LFOs (1 local, 2 global), two “lightning-fast” ADSRs, and two standard ASR envelopes. All this was managed by an intuitive-to-use modulation matrix with six inputs and 46 possible destinations.

Each of its four parts also offered an effects processor with a varied collection of presets taken from the KDFX and KSP8 processors, said Kurzweil at the time. Plus, it featured four independent simultaneous arpeggiators.

As a nice extra, it also allowed you to process external signals in the VA1’s oscillator and filter section or through its built-in 48-band vocoder. For this, it offered stereo inputs with Neutrik “combo jacks” and a stereo mic pre-amp with phantom power.

Announcement To A Vaporware Synth

After Musikmesse 04, things became turbulent in the Kurzweil offices. In 2004, South Korean piano maker Samik tried to buy Kurzweil’s parent company Young Chang, the team beyond the VA1 Synthesizer. This failed due to the intervention of the South Korean government.

Hyundai Development Company (not the car manufacturer) acquired Young Chang in 2006. From then on, they focused on producing new keyboards, especially workstations. You can read the full story on Modwiggler here. 

After these business decisions, the market for virtual analog synthesizers became saturated, and the new owners decided to cancel the VA1 project. This turned the MESSE 2004 announcement into a vapor synth. The positive, however, is that the VA-1 lives on in the Kurzweil PC3 Synthesizer workstation series. 

According to Insider, a total of 10 units were manufactured as prototypes. An owner of one of these super rare synths from the past is the sound designer company Weiser Sound. They published a sound demo a few years ago.

Future?

Kurzweil continues to make high-quality workstations that are packed with synthesis. The last major release, the K2700 synth workstation was a while ago. It came onto the market in 2021.

2024 would be a perfect year to bring the VA1 onto the market. They could market it as “more than 20 years in the making, we have the synth that took the longest time to develop, the VA1”. Or maybe a VA2.

Korg has shown with the KingKORG Neo that VA is back. And since the Virus TI2 is off the market, we need a new generation of virtual analog synths. The time wouldn’t be bad.

But I have little hope that there will be a comeback. I’m almost certain that the Kurzweil VA1 will remain true to the Vaporware synths series forever.

More information about the brand: Kurzweil 

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