Hands-On With The OSCar Synthesizer

This video, via Novation, takes a look at the rare OSCar synthesizer that they are giving away.

“Before we could let it go,” they note, “we sat down with CALC in his studio to say our goodbyes and have one last jam.”

The OSCar was designed in 1983 by synth designer Chris Huggett for his Oxford Synthesizer Company. It was one of the most advanced programmable monosynths of its time.

Huggett has continued to work as a synth designer, working with Novation on the BassStation and other synths.

Details on the giveaway are available at the Novation site. The contest is limited to owners of Novation synths.

17 thoughts on “Hands-On With The OSCar Synthesizer

      1. I will win this OSCar. I am confident. I am successful. People enjoy my company. I make eye contact and have a firm handshake. I make good financial decisions. I deserve to be happy.

        1. The King of the Monosynths is the Sequential Pro-1 with the number two spot going to the Oberheim OB-1.

          And it randomly stuck this here…..

  1. Sorry to put a dampener on this guys, but I never really could work out what all the fuss was about. I was once offered an OSCar in exchange for a Nord Modular. I turned my friend down because I knew how streets ahead the Nord was, and how unreliable the OSCar was…. Which the OSCar was, and that’s why he was prepared to part with it!

    The finest monosynth known to man? Knowing full well that Huggett (who also designed the Wasp), also designed the BassStation, and you can hear the BassStation in many ways in the OSCar, surely the finest mono synth in the world now has to be the BassStation? Which also has memories, and unlike the OSCar, is *completely reliable*! 🙂

    1. It’s not an Odyssey, it’s certainly not a BassStation and definitely not a middle of the road Nord, it’s an OSCar. Reliable it ain’t but sonically…..

  2. Possibly the coolest looking synth ever made, and I came close to buying one on 3 occasions but the sellers backed out. As much as I’ve lusted after one, on the rare occasion that I hear one I’m not that blown away. I think the new Odyssey sounds a whole lot better, as do many other more affordable classics.

    A lovely synth, but I think it’s rarity, and stunningly bold looks, has elevated it to a price point that isn’t necessarily justified by its sound.

  3. The OSCar never did it as a replacement for Billy Currie’s ARP Odyssey.

    Listen to the OSCar solo on Ultravox’s song Love’s Great Adventure and then compare that with the Odyssey solo on Ultravox’s song Astradyne.

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