LEM Bit 99The Bit-99 is an Italian synth, made by the venerable organ- and synth manufacturer Crumar (although sold under the LEM name). The 99 was an improved version of the Bit One, and has basically the same parameters and structure (the improvement mainly concerned the MIDI implementation). When the Bit was released, it got a very warm reception, much due to the decent velocity sensitive keyboard (a feature not very common on low-price polys in those days). The sound was also considered warm and rich, and the synth had a couple of innovative extras (such as split and dual modes, and the clever Park function, which made it easy to find a good program location when saving sounds). Today, the Bit-99 may not be all that exciting, but still, it's a perfectly valid analogue polysynth (although with DCOs, which don't really sound as good as real VCOs) with velocity sensitivity and an OK low pass filter. Unusually, there are two LFOs, making some odd modulations possible. A shame there's no knobs on the panel though. As of this writing, the Bit is elsewhere, which is why no detailed parameter descriptions are included here. It's probably enough to say that thisinstrument is suited for polyphonic accompaniment, pads, riffs - and of course the amazing, growly trombone sound that Limberg programmed and played on Tiger Rag! |
|
|