‘Electromotive – The Story of ARP Instruments’ Documentary Premiere April 11

The nascent Alan R. Pearlman Foundation is hosting the world premiere of the Alex Ball documentary, Electromotive: The Story of ARP Instruments, today (April 11).

The documentary will be streaming from the foundation’s Facebook page at 2:30 pm Eastern(US)/ 18:30 UTC.

Alan R. Pearlman Foundation Executive Director, Dina Pearlman, tells the story of the documentary’s beginnings:

“[This Saturday is] the long-awaited premier of Alex Ball’s documentary: Electromotive:The Story of ARP Instruments.

“Last May, Alex Ball contacted me, asking me very politely (no obligation) if I would “if it would be possible to ask you some questions about your father and about the ARP story in general?”

“Little did I know would lead me to this place; that nearly a year later, after an “odyssey” of explorations, introductions and reconnections with people I hadn’t seen or spoken to in 4 decades I’d be able to announce the world premiere of a documentary that completes one of personal goals I had when I started the Foundation. I had wanted to tell the story of ARP in a way that displayed the successes, skills, talent and vision that my father had, and that was emulated by a group of passionate engineers, technicians, employees and musicians.

“[Director] Alex Ball himself is a rare person, kind, intelligent, funny as hell, tireless in his pursuit of a story and talented to boot.

He has put together an amazing documentary, and in the midst, connected people across the globe in a creative collaboration.

Let’s watch together!”

The documentary’s premiere coincides with the Alan R. Pearlman Foundation being granted the non-profit (501(c)(3) status they’ve been working on over the past year. The official nonprofit status means that donations are fully tax-deductible (retroactive back to June 14, 2019).

The Alan R. Pearlman Foundation is also now able to apply for government and foundation grants, which will further broaden its access to resources and strengthen its ability to serve students that are seeking a degree in synthesizers, electronic music and electronic engineering.

The ‘Electromotive‘ documentary will be available for free viewing on the following websites April 11 at 2:30 pm EST, and we’ve embedded it above:

11 thoughts on “‘Electromotive – The Story of ARP Instruments’ Documentary Premiere April 11

    1. I was always more of an ARP man instead of Moog back in the day. I had both, but I preferred ARP.
      People idolize Bob Moog, but Alan R. Pearlman is equally (if not more) important, IMO.
      Excellent doc, BTW.

  1. Alex Ball is one of the best things that happened on the synth community in the last 2 years.
    Both educative and experimental content is amazing the quality of this free content.
    This documentary sure is an accomplishment for one person to put together.
    Well done Mr Ball, thank you for this.

  2. After I had a live interview session with Alex Ball at NEEMFest 2019 (due to his docu on Roland and his other pieces), we had a brief conversation and it turned out I lived just a stone’s throw from Dina Pearlman, and Alex was on the middle of working on this docu, but wanted a more direct interview with her about the events recalled about her father and ARP during her childhood.

    I had the honor of doing the audio/video interview portions in the Hudson Valley area of New York with Dina, along with some video and stills of some rare ARP gear she had available with her at the time in her home; then sent all of this unedited over the internets to Alex afterwards. Quite a bit of this content made it to the final cut.

    Very honored to be a part of this.

  3. I watched the ARP documentary this morning. It is well done, very interesting. Thank you very much for putting it on YouTube.

  4. What a masterpiece! A must see for any synth lover, and especially ARP aficionado (which I am). Thanks Alex for this amazing work.

  5. Really great documentary! I didn’t know there were more than a few variations of the 2600. From using the Korg-ARP 2600FS, the synthesizer design overall is no slouch, and I wish that my Korg Prologue had some of the 2600’s features. Three oscillators with a load of modulation, and a keyboard with some really neat features. It is just such a different instrument, and I wish that its UI design characteristics had carried into other synthesizers.

  6. I owned just about everything they made at some point. My first great synth was an Odyssey, followed by a 2600, Omni, Sequencer, Little brother, etc. Hell, I even had the ARP mixer and stand. Even their stands were fantastic. My first instrument was alto saxophone as I was always drawn to woodwinds. This, to me, is what drew me to ARP rather than Moog. ARP sounded like reeds, Moog was brass. It all boiled down to that. That and ARP had S&H circuits!!

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