In internet time, this is ancient—from the last days of the bubble, when I was reaching for a ‘HTML for Lazy Do-nothings’ at my local bookstore—but it’s an absolute gem: A guy by the name of ‘Elhardt’ created the ‘Bahn Sage,’ an amazing analog keyboard with tons of knobs and controls, and begin to show off prototype images on the web describing the product. The synth community went wild, curious for more information about the Sage, was soon treated to sound clips, magazine scans, and more (I’m taking a few liberties with the timeline, but you get the idea).
Here’s the punchline: the Sage never existed. It was all a scam by a 3D artist who wanted to rile up the synth community. Even years later, it’s still a great story, if not just for the 3D work (which is still excellent), but as a cautionary tale for all us who see pictures on the internet and become convinced a mythical product has to be real.
Elhardt is a funny guy. [Pessagen.se via MusicThing]
