Nervous Greg

YouTube via greggo89. "Nervous Gender cover"

EML Prototype?

via this auction

Details:

"To my knowledge, this is a unique synth. It appears to be an EML prototype. Basic features are - 2 VCOs, multi-mode filter, VCA, AR envelope, sample and hold, and spring reverb.

Given the professional build of the case, the use of some pre-made circuit boards and some breadboards, and the overall sound, it appears to have either been made by EML or made by someone closely associated with EML. I don't have any specific documentation on this synth, but I do have some tech sheets and circuits that seem to closely resemble most of what's in here.

Some paths are pre-patched, and I am including 10 patchcords to make additional connections. I've tested most of the functions, knobs, and jacks and so far, the only thing I need to look at is the LFO LED is not blinking.

The raw oscillators and the multimode filter sound great and the spring reverb is an Accutronics and definitely high quality.

As you can see from the pictures, the VCF board is labelled EML VCF and the VCA board says EML-100 along the edge. Most of the boards have hand-written dates of 1977 on them, so that gives a good idea of when this was assembled.

So, now you know what I know about this. It's a 110v power supply. I didn't see an obvious way to switch it, but it looks like the same power supply as used inside the EML 101, EML 200 and EML 400."

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Robert Moog - news profile from the early 90s

YouTube via postingoldtapes.

Modified Toy Orchestra on Sonic State

Title link takes you to a pretty cool vid on Modified Toy Orchestra and their love for toy instruments. The music they create with this is pretty amazing.

Modified Toy Orchestra
"Modified Toy Orchestra are a collection of abandoned and reconstructed Childrens electronic toys, conducted by a selection of musicians.

As a solo artist Brian Duffy [bottom left] has been performing, lecturing, and demonstrating the Modified Toy Orchestra and the philosophical implications of his experiments for six years."

Lemaril Studio 1989 and studio35d

Remember this awesome video? Here's a shot of the studio. The video was uploaded by studio35d and it turns out studio35d has a pretty cool blog of his own. You can check it out here. You can read more about this shot and the vid in his post here.

via the Matrixsynth forum

Buchla 200e and Haken Audio Continuum

Gorgeous shots sent my way via Richard Lainhart of his Buchla 200e and Haken Audio Continuum. Title link takes you to a couple more.

To see what someone with this gear is working on and with (people and gear), check out Richard's O-Town Media.

And yes, samples of the two will be coming. : )




And a nice Matrixsynth by Richard Lainhart. : )

C64 Vids

Etwas Zeit - Mikron 64

YouTube via kleenefotze.

mikron 64 - was ich weiss

YouTube via ketukaru. Two favorites of convoythecat. Was the C64 capable of speech synthesis?

attackingdrone - Custom Oberheim Modular drone

Remember this shot from this post? Below is a drone of the custom Oberheim SEM modular by Dennis.



download here
Also see this post.

AMAZONA.de and the ELKA Synthex

Title link takes you to AMAZONA.ed's ELKA Synthex Page in German. There are some nice pics and samples. You can find a Google translated version in Enlish here. Be sure to click on the keys link on the left when you get there for more synths, new and vintage.

Live in the studio 1989

YouTube via studio35d. Via the Matrixsynth forum.

"Browsing through my archive of old material, I stumbled upon this interesting video. It was filmed somewhere in 1989 and 1990 by Robbert Schuller. Here you see me improvising with the Sequential Pro-One, Elka Synthex and Korg DSS-1. I have tried to correct the color and lightning digitally, as the Hi8 camera had some problems with low lightning apparently. No further editing has been made to the video. Other instruments that were present, but not used during the take are: Yamaha CS20M, Korg DDD1, Roland TR808, Korg Mono/Poly, Riha Adagio organ :-)"

cv control of boss microrack effects

scan via electro-music.com via synth ollie.

ULTRAVOX - THE THIN WALL - TOTP

YouTube via transceive. via sequencer.de.

Inner Circus - original synth prog rock

YouTube via hamsterdunce.
"Here's a snappy little tune in a not very dance-able 11/8. I stuck a few more solos in there than there really should be. If you like this kind of nefarious note-noodling you'll love my Parallax CDs on umop.com/parallax.htm"

Moog Opus3 Demo

YouTube via legionhwp.
"Demo of Moog Opus3 organ/strings analog synthesizer. From: http://www.HelpWantedProductions.com.

Electronika EM-25

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. The auction appears to be via the great Ruskeys site. If you haven't checked out Ruskeys yet, do it.

Details:
"SOVIET CCCP RARE VINTAGE ANALOG SYNTHESIZER IS LOOKED LIKE ROLAND JUNO! VERY HARD-TO-FIND NOW, IN VERY GOOD CONDITION! EM-25 HAS VERY IMPRESSIVE SOUND - WARM FAT STRINGS, SOLID ORGAN, VINTAGE BRASS, SMOOTH LEADS AND POWER FX SOUNDS...INSTRUMENT CAN BE SYNCHRONIZED FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES (CV MONO/POLY)

DESCRIPTION: EM-25 is 49-note (C-C) polyphonic string / brass / organ keyboard. Control of string and organ envelopes. Brass section has ADSR, LFO with vibrato delay and rate control, filter with awesome resonance. Single or multiple triggering of envelope. Sliders ranged along the panel behind the keyboard, with three integral-LED switches in centre. Roland-like modulation wheel, keyboard splittable. Made in the Moscow electronic factory.

EM-25 HAS 6 MAIN SECTIONS OF CONTROL:

POWER - on/off switch
STRINGS - attack, sustain, global sustain mode on/off; registers 16", 8", 4" - left, 8", 4" - right
ORGAN - registers 16", 8", 4", 2"/ 8", 4", 2"
SELECTOR - strings; organ; brass on/off
BRASS - vibrato; 16", 8", 4"/ 8", 4"; LFO rate, delay; filter ADSR, multi trig on/off, filter LFO deptch, mod, cut off, resonance
TRANSPOSER - detune, slide time, interval, octave, main volume, pitch wheel

CONNECTIONS - phones; stereo out, mono (0dB, -20dB), ext control in - mono, poly; pedal (for volume & pitch shift)

Demos via ruskeys.net:
sound1 - sweep pad
sound2 - layered strings
sound3 - cosmo FX
link to scanned manual/schemes"

EMS VCS3

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Details:
"Beautiful vintage Electronic Music Studios VCS3 synthesizer. This is a pretty early one in amazing condition. Very minimal cosmetic wear and works like a charm. Has a complete sent of pins. I bought replacement silver caps for the knobs that are missing them that will be included in the sale. There is one modifiaction that was done in the 70's by the university that purchased it or by EMS for the University. It is a pitch inverter which I have not played around with."

Plan B Cases and Plan B Goes to College

via the Plan B list:

"Along with the Synthbox Spacecase solution, Plan B will be releasing a desktop system of their own. The yet-unnamed chassis is a desktop unit which consists of three 25 1/4 inch rows and a total capacity of 630 HP (roughly 5 1/2 standard Eurorack rows). An optional top-mounted expander will provide an additional 25 1/4 inches of mounting space. The system will be powered by a single ultra low-noise DC power supply with an external transformer so that VCOs and other temporature-sensitive devices may be mounted anywhere. Further noise-floor safeguards come from a specialized motherboard configured with direct routing of all ground signals (no daisy-chaining).

The top and bottom rows will have an additional 1.75 inches (1 RU) of vertical capacity each, which will be used for mult strips, an extensive I/O patchbay for routing from and to the case itself and in time, touch keyboards for driving the Model 21 Sequencer."

Also:
"We're pleased to announce two Plan B college installations currently in production - one at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. and the second at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. While the Evergreen instrument takes more of a large scale 'frankensynth' configuration, consisting of other manufacture's products along with ours, the installation at CalArts will consist entirely of Plan B goods and the first to be shipped in our new case which will available for purchase in the fall of 2007. More info will be posted on these systems as it is available."