Post #1079051

2026-04-11 17:40 UTC

Okay, here's a long shot for the #Fedi hive mind. If you are in the intersection of "#musician or musician-adjacent in the 1980s" and "keyboard / #synthesizer aficionado", this one is for you. In the mid- to late-80s, I used to spend a lot of time in music / #instrument stores (not selling CDs, selling guitars and amps and drums and whatnot). Synthesizer tech was advancing rapidly at this point, with digital starting to overtake analog by leaps and bounds. At some point, one of the stores got a new #keyboard model in. I can't swear to it, but I think it was either a #Roland or a #Korg. This one had a floppy drive built in, on the side of the #synth. And they had a demo on a floppy disk that was incredible at the time. It wasn't an official #demo disk. It was a normal consumer floppy, presumably copied far and wide. Hand-Sharpied on it was the name/title "Amin Phone". It was a musical, bright and upbeat piece, rock/pop, maybe 30s long, and included digital samples of a person's voice. The entire thing was a ridiculous #answering machine outgoing #message. I think there was even a sampled voice at the end taken from someone leaving a message, commenting on it being over-the-top or something. "Amin phone" is unsearchable on the 'net. Everyone has a phone, and there are millions of people named Amin or el-Amin. Anyone else remember this? Anyone actually able to point to a recording of it? #KeyboardDemo #SynthDemo #AminPhone #Amin #AnsweringMachine #FloppyDisk

Replies (6)

@liquid_clear@mastodon.social 2026-04-11 20:15

@cazabon I wonder if Amin is referring to the key of A minor

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@vixil@infosec.exchange 2026-04-11 20:37

@cazabon Perhaps Ensoniq Mirage or ESQ-1? I too have a half remembered dream of this…

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@aczuppa@tribe.net 2026-04-11 20:40

@cazabon don't hate me be here are the results from an AI search - The phrase "synthesizer floppy amin phone" most likely refers to the Amin Phone, a specific preset sound often found on vintage synthesizers The "Amin Phone" (or "Amin-Phone") is a well-known sample or preset that typically combines a synthesized choir or vocal pad (the "Amin" part, often referencing an "Aah" or "Mmm" vocal sound) with a percussive, bell-like, or electronic telephone-style tone (the "Phone" part).

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@bitsgalore@digipres.club 2026-04-11 21:10

@cazabon Not sure if this helps, but the Roland W30 sampling workstation from 1989 (which had a floppy drive) had a demo song called "THE OFFICE" which included some phone and voice samples. A quick search turned up this MP3: https://www.synthmania.com/Roland%20W-30/Audio/Factory%20Demo%20Disk%20songs/Data%20Disk%202%20-%20THE%20OFFICE%20.1.mp3 Not really an answering machine message though.

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@catmisgivings@stranger.social 2026-04-11 23:47

@cazabon paging @headfirstonly ... on the off chance?

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@Moss@beige.party 2026-04-12 13:49

@cazabon FWIW I was also a keyboard sales kid in the late 80s, and I never ran into the demo you’re looking for. There were lots of demos around, there was a whole cottage industry of people trying to sell samples, patches, and demo tracks in the back of Keyboard Magazine. One that made the rounds was a sample pack of sex noises and whips cracking, that sold some keyboards!

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