TONTO - New Flickr Shot

From Flickr:

"This is the legendary and mythical TONTO modular synth setup, owned by old school synth nerd / producer / tape op Malcolm Cecil. It was featured on alot of Stevie Wonder's best music, including the track, "Superstition". There are ARP, Oberheim, Serge and Moog modules in TONTO, and even some created by Malcolm, himself. If you are a synth geek, and you've never heard of TONTO, consider yourself a synth geek in training, and class is in session. It is rumoured by Malcolm himself that TONTO contains a very large amount of spare wire from an Apollo space shuttle."

Check out the words TONTO in the middle, above the keyboard.

Potential MIDI Controller?

Via Engadget. Now translate the output of that to MIDI and you'd be set. Imagine a handfull of these in different colors, bouncing around in a dark room modulating your sequence. : )

P.S. Click here to see different means of applying the same technique including just using your finger.

Rebirth Museum - Rebirth for Free!!!

Via Create Digital Music.

http://www.rebirthmuseum.com

The original Roland TB303 and Roland TR909 software emulations have finally been put to rest. I remember when Rebirth first became available. Amazing times, then and now.

Update:

"In this tradition, Propellerhead Software offers the full version of ReBirth 2.0.1, and visitors can personally experience the phenomena of ReBirth and the legendary Roland Devices."

Rememberances on Bob Moog - Doug Wyatt

Click here for the post.

Gorgeous Moog Minimoog on the bay

Via AH. Andy Boucher's Minimoog is for sale on the bay.  Posted here are some absolutely gorgeous shots from the auction.

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Cornell Chronicle Reflection on Bob Moog

Click here for an article (2.5M PDF) on Bob Moog's passing, in the Cornell Chronicle.

SK-1 Modular via GetLoFi

Trip. Click here for more shots and info.

Patched up below.

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ElectroKraft Light Theremin MIDI Controller

Via Synthtopia:

"ElectroKraft has introduced the Lunar Module, an alternative controller that uses photocells to enable theremin-like control of MIDI signals. The Lunar Module can be plugged into any synthesizer, keyboard or drum machine with MIDI input to create sounds not before possible."

Man that looks bright on my site. My eyes!!! : )

Moog OSCar

I remember seeing this a few years ago on the 'bay. The claim was that it was the prototype of the Oxford Synthesizer Company's OSCar in the case of a Moog Source.

Via the AH archives:

"it was confirmed in SOS. There's an article on it. you can even see it in
the auction.

I don't think that many peopel want it because it's not working properly.
It's collectible, but that's all, not so overly usable..."

"I also think that this is the one described in a issue of Future Music
some years ago when they did a interview with Lionrock. I don't
remember the issue, though I know that I still have it. Apparently, it
was stolen shortly after the interview was completed. I saw the SOS
article too and, since the owner of the piece at that time had worked
with Lionrock, I assumed that the synth was returned."

I found this article on Sound on Sound, but no mention of the word prototype or moog (I need to read the whole thing). But I did find this information that I've also forgotten over the years. Chris Huggett, was the man behind the EDP Wasp, Oxford Oscar, Akai S1000, and finally the Novation Supernova. Pretty impressive.

From Sound on Sound:

"Chris Huggett? In the same way that I had to go and get a proper job with E&MM and then Sequential to make a living, Chris eventually had to get a more reliable source of income. I put him in touch with Akai, for whom I was doing S900 sound development, and the next thing I knew he was writing the operating system for the new S1000. Chris worked for Akai behind the scenes on most of the sampler operating systems for more than 10 years until he grew frustrated with their refusal to let him work on the hardware design as well (with the Wasp and OSCar, he had of course done both). Having fostered Novation in its early days with help and advice, he eventually joined them full-time a couple of years back and is the guiding light behind the virtual technology of the Supernova. So a very British designer is once more working on a very British synth for a very British company."

Update via Turboskin in the comments: "Found the restoration of this exact Moog OSCar: stereoping.com/"

Update 3/8/12: Bigger pics here: Legendary Moog OSCar Up for Auction

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Synth Wiki

Brandon Daniel has created a new Synth Wiki. What's a Wiki? It's an online site that anyone can edit and keep up to date. For a massive wiki encyclopedia check out wikipedia. For more on wikis in general check out wiki.org. Wiki away!