More from Dave Wright via Carrionsound

More DIY synths from Dave Wright including some samples. I love his design. Click through title for a whole lot more including modular synths. Really, really amazing stuff. Really... Click through already. : )

Sedona Custom Synth

Sent to me from Eric of Metasonix. This is a DIY synth from Dave Wright. Title link takes you to more info and pictures. Love the cats. : )



"Dave Wright of Not Breathing took a dead Crumar Stratus and did this to
it, using various modules, mostly devised by Synth-DIY list regulars.

In fact, Dave is one of the most prolific DIYers I've ever seen. Look at
the galleries at carrionsound.com for more."

Eric Barbour
owner, METASONIX
senior editor, VACUUM TUBE VALLEY


the guts:

ray wilson 1v/oct single bus keyboard pitch/gate extractor - gate/trig/pitch output on back - cv/gate inputs bypass - portamemto2 - on breadboard

2 ray wilson VCOs - four layer slider mixer controls vco1/2's saw and pulse outputs - knobs control sine outputs of both

to mixer - knob controls amount of cross modulation from vco2's tri to vco1's cv in - 1v/oct in on/off both, pulse width

modulate VCO1 from VCO2 tri switch

1 noise source using old crow's PIC code for digital noise - to mixer

1 CGS DC Mixer (slider bank/varios pots)

1 PAIA Dual VCF w/ ASR - bandpass/highpass/lowpass for both stages via two rotary switches, cut off and Q knobs for

both, ASR w/ led - attack/decay and depth knobs, LFO/ADSR cycle, Gate IN On/OFF switch

asr is dedicated to both filters cutoff

JOYSTICK controller controlls X= VCF1 Cutoff Y = VCF2 Cutoff - knobs for depth

1 4011 Cmos based RING MODULATOR on breadboard - grabs vco 1 + 2's pulses - to dc mixer

1 CGS Psycho LFO - rate, glide, depth knobs, LED, VCO1 or VCO2 on/off routing switch

1 Rene Schmitz ADSR on breadboard - attack/decay/sustain/release knobs, wired straight to VCA on breadboard

1 Rene Schmitz VCA using 1583 transistor - manual volume pot on breadboard

2 Cats

Exclusively Analogue Sequencer on the 'bay

Never seen or heard of this one before. Title link takes you more shots, saved for posterity. : ) Link to auction.



"Here's something you don't see every day. If you're a fan of Vince Clarke, Octopus-era Human League, love analog(ue) sequencers, or if you're one of the lucky few in the world that owns an Exclusively Analogue Aviator synth, this auction is for you.

Here is a pair of 16 step Exclusively Analogue sequencers. According to the designer/builder (Tony Wride) there were between 11 and 13 of these made. See the accompanying letter for the breakdown of who had them.

I don't ever recall seeing one up for sale/auction before, so this may be your only opportunity to own one (actually a pair of them).

The EA sequencer takes the familiar analogue step sequencer popularized by Moog, ARP, and Roland and adds some unique twists.

The quantizer section gives you a full 5 octave range (0 to 5 volts) and in addition provides 7 other preset quantization schemes such as a pentatonic and C minor quantizations. A further refinement is the two position switch below the scale knob - you can have the new scale switch in immediately, or only when you push the small reset button! Neat for controlling when the change takes place. Best of all - they are stored on an EPROM and you can burn your own unique quantizations.

In addition, there is a clock input divide control. You can set each sequencer to run on it's internal clock, slaved exactly to an external clock, or run at some division of the incoming clock like 1/2 time or 1/4 time.

Other features include 16 steps, each with an on/off/reset switch and LED, gate pulse width knob, manual start/stop, step, and reset buttons, a cv input for transposing the sequence and various clock, cv, and reset jacks.

There are two 16 step sequencers built into one panel. They can run independently or can be tied together via cabling or by adding a jumper wire internally. The power supply can be set for 120 or 240 volts (currently running at 120). The sequencer panel will fit in a standard rack case."

Update:

Interesting bit from Mark Glinsky via AH:
"Tony Wride made these, along with the Exclusively Analog Aviator Synths,
described in Peter Forrest's books.
Good stuff, very few made.

Tony flew for British Airways (I believe) in the late 80's / early 90's.

Scored a lot of analog stuff, took it over to the UK as baggage, kept
some and sold some at very profitable prices.

After the Exclusively Analog pieces were designed and made,
his wife got tired of all the modular and analog synths littering
the kitchen, dining room, etc., and cut him loose.

Hasn't been heard from since...."

Moving Modules

I forget where I found this one, but I love it. It's a take on Rush's Moving Pictures. Full size image, so no title link.

Drumbuddy

Yeah baby... Click through for more and more importantly, to listen. Trust me, it's worth it. : )

Encore Electronics Frequency Shifter

Frequency Shifters came up on AH. A link was posted to the Encore Electronics Frequency Shifter. Interesting module. Title link will take you to more on the Encore site including some sound samples.



"The frequency shifter operates by altering the frequencies of an input signal. The device shifts all frequency components of the input signal by an equal number of Hz. With this kind of shifting the harmonic relationships in the signal are not preserved. This is unlike a standard pitch shifter, which shifts all frequency components of an input signal by the same ratio, thus preserving the signal's harmonic intervals."

The Release - Bob Moog Tribute

This one from Chris Strellis in via AH. Amazing piece with samples of Bob Moog.

"In tribute to the sad death of Bob Moog I have produced a track in
Bob's honour written soley using the only Moog equipment I could
muster - which (unfortunately) is the Moog Modular and Minimoog
softsynths (please don't flame me for this I do have analogue gear!).
Speech samples from a Moog demo disc and from the good
Dr. himself suppliment the raw (virtual) analogue power!"

More from Heath Finnie - Axaxaxas

Update: Fixed title link. Doh. : ) Synths used listed below each track. Song8 will be up tonight.

Thanks Heath! : ) BTW, song8.mp3 wasn't up when I posted it, so if it 404s just click through title link and select away. Need to find out what's on track 61. Sounds like a Yamaha CS synth or an Andromeda.


"This one is kind of Klaus Schulze like. It's long but I
think quite good.

http://www.heathfinnie.com/media/song8.mp3 (Minimoog, Moog Sonic Six, Roland Sh-5, Farfisa Syntorchestra)

Two short songs that are quite eno-ish are here:

http://www.heathfinnie.com/media/song61.mp3 (Andromeda and minimoog doing the bass. Some Prophet 5. The drums are a Roland CR-8000)

http://www.heathfinnie.com/media/song62.mp3 (droning minimoog, Arp 2600, Andromeda and a guitar with an E-bow)

Right now we are going under the name Axaxaxas. I kind of like it
because it's a throwback to the 70's prog and krautrock bands."

Synth Graffiti

An interesting post on custom synth art came up recently on Vintage Synth Explorer. Title link will take you to more and bigger shots. Sorry Carbon111, I know you'll love these. : )

Punk Disco Technosaurus Microcon


Nintendofied Alesis Micron


Yellow Checkered Moog Etherwave Theremin

Tribute to Bob Moog - Moog Prodigy Sample

Via Vintage Synth Explorer. Rawnoiseattack put this together using only his Moog Prodigy, drum machine and and effects stomp box. Interesting piece with some voice samples from Moog the movie.

New free soft synths - d-lusion's Drumstation and Rubberduck

Via Synthtopia.

Roland Vintage Effects

Via Analogue Haven. Click through title link for much larger shot.



Roland Dimension D SDD-320
Dynacord SRS 56
Roland RV-800 Stereo Reverb
Roland PH=830 Stereo Phaser
Roland SRE-555 Chorus Echo

Switched-On Bach - Wendy Carlos

My previous two posts have me reflecting on the use of analog synths in more traditional, musical instrument roles. The quintessential example of this would of course be Wendy Carlos' Switched-On Bach. It is credited for propelling synthesis into rock and roll and the main stream. It's fascinating to wonder how things might be different had it not been released. Title link will take you to more, including this image and comments from Bob Moog:



"Switched-on Bach was released at the end of 1968 and became an immediate success. It was acclaimed as real music by musicians and the listening public alike. As a result, the Moog Synthesizer was suddenly accepted with open arms by the music business community. We witnessed the birth of a new genre of music--classical music, realized with impeccable musicianship on synthesizer and tape recorder.

Now, some three decades later, the electronic music medium has evolved into a mainstream musical tool. Sixteen-track and twenty-four-track recorders came to be widely used after the release of Switched on Bach, and then digital synthesizers, hard disk recorders, and computer-based music production systems. Wendy's contributions to this evolution cannot be overstated.

She has realized a wide range of high quality music, set ever-increasing standards for sound synthesis, developed a significant body of alternate tunings, and generously provided her usual perceptive advice to equipment manufacturers. Her four Bach/Baroque albums, specially remastered for this release, are major milestones in the evolution of electronic music. At the same time, each album stands by itself as an important contribution to our classical music tradition. I'm delighted to witness the re-release of these works, as are countless numbers of music lovers throughout the world.

--Robert A. Moog"