The arrival of my rare and quirky Polyvoks synth was the result of several months of negotiation. After a journey from Russia to Poland, it had to travel with a man as luggage by coach to the U.K. where I met him. I had to trust that it was in good condition.

I gave the synth a complete overhaul before it was even switched on - which was lucky because there were some metal parts floating freely on two of the circuit boards. It is now a shining example of Russian synth technology from the 1980s.

Like some other Russian monosynths, the Polyvoks is loosely based on the Minimoog although the sound bears no comparison. All labeling on the synth is in Cyrylic. The internal circuitry is very basic by western standards and the synth certainly has absolutely no finesse - but surprisingly, it can produce some great raw sounds that most other synths are too smooth to easily produce.

Below is a rare picture of production at the Formanta factory showing the mixer console bay.