Plugin Alliance has announced Brainworx Audio’s acquisition of the assets the PPG synthesiser marque.
The Hamburg-based company founded by Wolfgang Palm found success through the 1980s through its application of wavetable synthesis, and impacting the MI industry with its PPG Wave hybrid digital/ analogue synthesiser series and associated advances. These included the unique (unreleased) Realizer – quite possibly the world’s first virtual instrument in 1986), albeit as a proprietary hardware hybrid. Software came calling from 2012 onwards, when Palm returned to prominence with new PPG products.
Use of PPG synthesisers extends to a-Ha, Alphaville, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Thomas Dolby, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Jean-Michel Jarre, Mike & The Mechanics, Gary Numan, Pet Shop Boys, Rush, Talk Talk, Tangerine Dream, Tears For Fears, Ultravox and Stevie Wonder among others. Thanks to Brainworx Audio’s acquisition of the assets of the brand, that legacy is set to continue.
Plans are already in place to update PPG products in close collaboration with Palm himself. Brainworx will advance PPG’s digital products following Palm’s planned retirement at the end of March 2020 – after 50 years in the creative field of sound synthesis. The agreement with Plugin Alliance and Brainworx Audio owner Dirk Ulrich allows Palm put his retirement plan into action, safe in the knowledge that his ‘baby’ is in good hands.
‘I am very glad to have found Brainworx and Plugin Alliance, who appreciate my work from the past and want to continue my legacy,’ Palm says. ‘They have a great team of competent developers, product specialists, marketing, and all that is needed to make a company successful. I support their work to make the transition as smooth as possible, and it will be exciting to see how this evolves. Also, I think that this collaboration will result in a much wider audience than before.’
‘We are proud that Wolfgang Palm put his brand and product into our hands,’ adds Dirk Ulrich. ‘We will make sure to carry on his legacy with the respect it deserves and we are looking forward to evolving the brand and products for years to come.’
