The Unbelievable Story Of The Loumavox, The Synthesizer That Time Forgot

If you watch one video today, make sure that it’s Loumavox : the Forgotten Synthesizer, the story of the synthesizer that time forgot.

The video is a short documentary about how students from an agricultural high school in Courcelles-Chaussy (France) discovered a forgotten synthesizer from the 1960s – the Loumavox.

One of the students found two old suitcases in their barn, one with the Loumavox, and another with the papers and plans of the synth’s creators, Louise and Marc Voksinski.

The Loumavox

The students don’t know what to make of it, so they talk to French synth experts, including Jean-Michel Jarre, to find out more and to learn how to use it. In they end, they stage a concert, recreating some of the lost music of the synth’s creators.

It’s an unbelievable story, told unbelievably well. Watch carefully, and you may find yourself scratching your head about some things – like a synth that works perfectly after being stored in a barn for decades and how the kids find and contact one of the synth’s creators. But even skeptics will be impressed by the creativity, craft and work behind the film.

Check out the story of the Loumavox, embedded above, and share your thoughts on the documentary in the comments!

48 thoughts on “The Unbelievable Story Of The Loumavox, The Synthesizer That Time Forgot

  1. At that time the Shure sm 58 already existed ? and the LEDs so modern and bright, the photo of Louise bleached with software, the mini jacks, the 1 \ volt cv sockets … someone still remembers the two true-false sculptures of Modigliani found in the Arno in Florence?

  2. As ferdinando said… not to mention the knobs look 3D printed. For me what came across as fake was the perfection of the plot line and the old photographs of “Louise” which triggered my BS detector but i’m not sure what it was about them that gave them away as contemporary photos.

    Hainbach looked up the wavesandmind.org website and says it never existed. I agree with someone who commented on Synth Anatomy that this looks like a class project about how disinformation spreads.

  3. This reminds me of that story from a few years ago about a shipping container full of synthesizers that accidentally wound up in São Nicolau after some weather problems in the 1970s… and turned out to be an elaborate hoax designed to promote someone’s new album.

  4. I first thought it was a beautiful story but decided to make a quick search to make sure if it could really be true (the synth looked like something ahead of its time and perhaps a but too clean, especially if it had been found in a barn) Well, people, just stop posting and re-posting this hoax, I even don’t find it funny unless it’s an experiment to prove again that fake news spread like the plague because many if not most people don’t verify anything anymore, even journalists…
    I see I’m not the only one to raise some doubts about this.

    One student tells that they made a Google search but spelled Louise Voksinski Louise Woksinski and found a mention of her on a website called https://wavesandmind.org/ but if you check the video, the so-called website mentions Louise Wokzinski, not Woksinski and if you go to the so-called website it leads you to the website of French touch producer Edouard.
    If you type some phrases you see on that so-called site, like “Voyage into pure white noise” no search engines shows any results.
    Crap… many of you fell in the trap !

    1. it seems like some people did not read the headline or the article, where Synthtopia calls the story ‘unbelievable’ and points out the obvious.

      Enjoy the craftsmanship of this ‘documentary’. It’s would be amazingly well done if it was real, and even more impressive as an alternate history. I’ll be especially impressed if high school kids actually made this.

      1. The word ‘unbelievable’ is regularly used to mean ‘amazing’. It’s appearance in the title does not necessarily indicate that one cannot or should not believe the depiction of events in the video. You have a point about Synthtopia’s description however.

  5. Nice fake – including the name “Voksinski”, which is uncommon for France and seem to not exist anywhere but in this story. And a professional made nameplate for a synth with handwritten front panel….

  6. Aha!!! The game is a foot! Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Dr Who will investigate!! Gosh, who should do the cover music for this evolving story? I can’t wait! Just in time for Christmas!

  7. “Unbelievable” is right on!
    BIG TELL – Nothing at all is shown of the actual guts of this “machine”. This alleged Marc Voksinki is praised for his technical skills, but no one bothers to let us look behind the panels and inside the box to see for ourselves the quality of design and construction that was supposedly his innovative work. For this and other reasons, cited above and certain to follow mine, I CALL BALONEY on this!

  8. the genre is called ‘mockumentary’. pretty boring film but interesting overall commentary on vintage / rarities hype and the ability to manipulate with media.

  9. For the sound it sound like an AS3340. The big numerated Dial plate are actual and you can buy it from China. Really nice video, but a nice fake

  10. Quite surprising that it is all working perfectly, no dusty pots and switch… Can be authentic or fake…just show us the opened box to look inside. It will be easy to date it from there. Most of the potentiometer have dates on them…

  11. I wish someone would do a similar expose on the Wavemakers synthesizer world. Terry Kinkaid was at times well ahead of this time. His modular instruments were great, but finicky. The Wavemaker 4 (a semi-modular) was such a playable instrument. So easy to play live and do more than just set the modules and play the keyboard. The whole instrument was very interactive.

      1. I am not certain how stating that I will post Arturia’s CEO email account is threatening? I thought this was a pathetic marketing campaign and I noted as such. You need to relax Synthheat.

        1. Modern3 – you were threatening to harass someone, based on speculation, so your comment was deleted.

          Synthtopia encourages active criticism of things, but bans personal attacks, harassment, etc.

          Keep comments on topic and constructive.

          1. Dear God man, I never said I would harass him, I simply said I would publish his email address and let the public have at him for this brand of marketing. To your point, as a journalist, I would think you would be offended by this sort of faux documentary in light of what has transpired in your country. Journalism is under constant attack and the truth has been relegated to not merely perspectives, rather the inclinations of any person regardless of facts, science, and ones own eyes and ears.

            Yes, perhaps we can lower the temperature however I do take exception with this sort of marketing.

            Cheers to you nevertheless, I am certain it is not easy to moderate these boards.

  12. The Blair Synth Project, I love it!
    Plot twist: they open up the synth and find a USB port! Louise is actually from the future.

  13. I’ve got to agree with this sentiment.
    This is no longer the time for mockumentaries, as they no longer stand out like they used to!
    It’s as though the Onion has turned into CNN.

  14. Realised something was fishy when I saw 555 in the schematic. The 555 timer IC wasn’t invented until late 1971 and wasn’t available until 1972, two years after Marc supposedly died.

  15. its clearly a product launch video- someone (probably Arturia) is going to launch a “re-issue” of what looks/sounds like a nice synth!

  16. Hate seems to be the only real feelings in America these days. Let’s put all Americans on trial and air on fox and cnn..the jury will be made up of the peers …..give America back to the Buffaloes and Indians….

  17. If, as some speculate, this highly polished too-unbelievable-to-be-true documentary is something Arturia cooked up as a prelude to the introduction of a “new” imaginary vintage VST coming from them, well, I have to say it’s one of the most brilliant marketing ploys I’ve ever seen.

  18. The slow zoom on the black/white Louise photo at the end is Ken Burns focusing on the hole from her [removed minutes earlier] nose piercing.

    This is fun.

    1. Do a whois and look at the registration date on the domain: Dec 17 2021, a couple of days after the video was posted to YouTube.

  19. So, no one has yet determined whether or not this is a hoax? Still merely speculating? I don’t see someone like JMJ being snookered for long. He would have to be in one it. But for what reason? It certainly wouldn’t do his reputation any good.

Leave a Reply to jds Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *