MATRIXSYNTH: Monday, October 17, 2005


Monday, October 17, 2005

My Favorite Retro Synth - The ConBrio ADS 200


"THE ADS (Advanced Digital Synthesizer) 100 was a high end (there was no given price when the 100 system was introduced) analogue synthesiser, probably most well known for providing the sound effects for 'Star Trek' TV series. The first model 100 system was a dual manual splittable keyboard (microtonally tuneable) ,a video display for envelopes, 'control cube' disk drive with computer hardware, and a multi-coloured buttoned front panel for 64-oscillator additive synthesis and real-time sequencing."

Title link takes you to more on the ADS 200 on Synthmuseum.com. Both the ADS 100 and ADS 200 were digital. Only two of the ADS 200 were ever made and one sold for $30,000.

Update: I remember hearing how the ConBrio ADS 200 would look home on the original Star Trek series. Well, according to 120 Years, it's bigger predecessor, the 1978 ADS 100 was actually used in Star Trek the TV series.

Update: I should change the tagline of this blog to "The Snopes of the synth world, debunking Urban Synth Legend." See the comments for much more. The ADS 100 was not around when Star Trek the TV series was aired. I'm going to shoot 120 years an email on this to see if they know something we don't. Thanks all.

Update: Looks like Retro Synth found the answer to our little mystery. The ADS 100 was used in Star Trek, The Motion Picture. Now that sounds more familiar to me, but who knows, it's all a blur. Too many synths, too little time... : ) As for my favorite digital synth, why it would also be the Wave... But, it would be the Crimson Wave with matte finish. The ConBrio is my favorite Retro Synth, focus on Retro. I had a TV that looked just like it when I was a kid. Warm memories... : ) image via wikipedia.


The Crimson Waldorf Wave

Update on the original Star Trek via the comments: ""Star Trek burst upon T.V. screens in the summer of 1966. The guiding genius behind this massive effort was Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry recruited a hand-picked technical crew to create the incredible series which became a legen in its own time. The challenge of finding and creating the multitude of sound effects was of particular interest since no television series of this magnitude had ever been attempted before. Virtually all the sound effects were created exclusively for the television series, i.e.: the pneumatic doors of the Enterprise were actually the sound of an airgun played in reverse. Spock's viewing machine was in reality the thump of a torpedo firing pin played backwards.

The final result is a unique library of brilliantly futuristic sound effects that were created principally by Jack Finlay, Douglas Grindstaff and Joseph Sorokin. Grindstaff is one of Hollywood's finest sound editors and the recipient of many awards and is currently the department head of Lorimar Post-Production. Sorokin also works at Lorimar and is the sound editor of "Knots Landing." Jack is now retired.

Just imagine what they could have created for Star Trek if they had access to today's high-tech electronic equipment!""

Win the Prodigy's Prodigy

Interesting. Makes you wonder...


Via Music Thing.

Korg MR16 Midi Rhythm Sound Unit

Trip, I've never seen one of these before. It's digital PCM/sample based. The knobs are for controlling the pan and volume of each sample. Looks like a fun little unit.

Receptor Muse Video

Receptor Muse Video on Sonic State.

Synthesizers.com for sale

Huge system for sale. Title link takes you there. Some great shots.

Molecular Bytes Membrane - Audio Sequencer

Haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Title link takes you to more on Sonic State including links to audio demos.



"Membrane analyzes and separates the most diverse physical characteristics out from the audio material, so it becomes freely variable and changable by the user. Aferwards Membrane resamples the audio material with the use of the changed characteristics. By this method you can assign completely new characteristics to the material, which are played in real time and without destruction of the original input data."

The Melloman - DIY Mellotron built from Walkmans

Nice.

Via Boing Boing.

New Modcan B Series Analog Sequencer



"Inspired by the excellent Milton Sequencer designed by Peter Grenader at Buzzclick music. The VC SEQUENCER 54B retains the core ADC voltage controlled step selection circuitry of the Milton while contributing a few new features and variations to Peter's design."

Click through title link for more details.

1975 Mutron Bi-Phase

Nice shot sent to me from Andre Vezina. Thanks Andre!

Shalmaneser: Feature Wars & SuperCollider

Tim Walters on SynthSights announced that all tracks on his Feature Wars album is now available for download. 90% of the album was done with SuperCollider a real time audio synthesis programming language. Title link takes you to Tim Walters site where you can hear it for yourself. For more on SuperCollider, check out Wikipedia and the SuperCollider homepage.

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