MATRIXSYNTH: Saturday, August 15, 2009

Saturday, August 15, 2009

An Introduction to DCAM Synth Squad

YouTube via FXpansion. www.fxpansion.com follow-up to this post.
"A look at FXpansion's DCAM Synth Squad analog modeling software synthesizers."

DCAM Synth Squad - Common Features

DCAM Synth Squad - An Introduction to Fusor

DCAM Synth Squad - An Introduction to Amber

DCAM Synth Squad - An Introduction to Cypher

DCAM Synth Squad - An Introduction to Strobe

YouTube via bigcitymusic
"Here's a quick loop showcasing the Metasonix r51 and r53, 4ms Noiseswash module for dirt and CV source, Cwejman VCO-6 and INS-2MX and the great sounding super delay module, the Analogue Systems rs290, sequenced by the rs200. The rs290's a digital delay but in this case it's being clocked by the sequencers analog pulse out. Once you sync the clock to an external pulse you can the decide the subdivision of the delay. In this video we're using the 3/8 setting and near the end you can hear it stepping around as we move the delay time knob. Crunchy. Mmmm."

Electronica Fest 2009, September 5, Baltimore

via Richard Lainhart

"Friends: on Saturday, September 5, I'll be giving a workshop and performing at Electronica Fest 2009, sponsored by the National Electronics Museum in Linthicum, MD, dedicated to the History of the Nation's Defense Electronics.

Featuring workshops given by our musicians throughout the day on the technology they use in their on stage performances - learn how they do it and talk to them one-on-one. Experience hands-on workshops about cool musical instruments like the Theremin and Vocoder. Learn how you can create music on your computer at home using software syntheses. Sign up for a hands-on workshop to create a simple electronic music instrument from PAiA Corp. that you can build, play and take home with you when you leave. Learn how to solder and build a Theremin by Harrison Instruments.

Join us for a day of knob-twisting, circuit-bending and free-form sound and music experimentation as performers explore the very edge of electronic music. This will be an event filled with the sounds of electronic keyboards, handmade electronic instruments and exotic modular synthesizer systems.

http://www.nem-electronicafest.com/

http://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org/"

Minimoog Club in Galicia

via Fanny + Alexander

"Hi there, recently a new club opened in Caldas de Reis, a very small town (15.000 habitants) of Galicia, in the nortwest of Spain. It is called MINIMOOG and all of their image is Moog related, pretty surprising for such a small town. I'm sending you a image attached as I thought it would be interested for a post in Matrixsynth. They don't have a web yet but this is the geolocalization in case anyone wants to go to take a drink"

Black Celebration

YouTube via analoguecrazy4
"Here is my version of 'Black Celebration' by Depeche Mode. All sequencing by Roland W-30, all sounds from Yamaha DX7s and DX11 Synths. Drums from Roland R8 and looped sample at begaining and end sampled from 'Black Celebration' CD."

New MIDI BASS Guitar from Industrial Radio

"The Industrial Radio Midi Bass sees the return of the midi bass system designed and developed by Australian engineer Steve Chick. This new Midi Bass design is the culmination of over 25 years of research and development into stringed MIDI instruments and utilises the latest advancements in electronics. The focus of the design has been on developing a high quality instrument with accurate, low latency MIDI tracking which is made possible by the incorporation of electronic sensors throughout the bass. This unique 'split' / 'wired' fret approach to MIDI provides the fastest possible tracking on a stringed MIDI instrument.

With the Industrial Radio Midi Bass, bassists can control synth and sampler technologies direct from the bass in parallel with a great regular bass sound. The Midi Bass offers new sonic dimensions for the cutting edge bass player by enabling them to access the world of synthesis utilising their bass playing skills."

bleep!BOX

YouTube via dwallin33
"This is an overview of my iPhone app, bleep!BOX, soon to be submitted to the app store. It is a drum machine and synth box - all generated in realtime on the iPhone. Make tunes on the go! http://www.bleepboxapp.com/"

Now available on iTunes here:

"bleep!BOX is an electronic drum / synth box for your iPhone. It features NO SAMPLES. All sounds controllable and synthesized in realtime on the iPhone!"

Oberheim OB-Mx 6-voice analog synth

via this auction

"This is the most mis-understood analog synthesizer. While the software may have never reached its full potential, this synth is capable of nearly any sound you can imagine, and the filters sound great despite what you may have read. The key is: TURN THE FILTER INPUTS DOWN! The oscillator outputs are "hot" just like the memorymoog and will clip the filters for a desirable distortion if set at max. I don't even think the original programmers of the OB-Mx quite understood this! If you are looking for that clean "barberpole" filter sweep, it is here and sounds incredible.

Designed by Don Buchla, with fully discrete voltage controlled filters(!) engineered exactly like both the moog "ladder" filter and the SEM abound on every voice, self-resonating moog and SEM too! The original SEM would not self-resonate, however. (again, turn it down!) The encoders are very sensitve and you must dial them in with precision to get what you want. Spend some time with this asynth and you will love it forever.

The versatility of the OBmx ranks up with the best of them: xpander, etc. but actually sounds warmer than the xpander, and the discrete filters are a welcome design versus the CEM3372 which is another story.
If you believe what you may have read online about this amazing synthesizer, you are missing out! Most who bash it probably never had- or even used one! Also one of the rarest polyphonics ever produced. Quantities are said to be fewer than 300. New battery installed and loaded with factory programs."

You can find more posts including video, audio and the controversial history of this synth by searching on OB-Mx on the top left of this site. Here's a link.

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Key Keytar

via this auction
"Wowser! Here we have something very unusual! It's far more than a guitar-style MIDI controller, with "strings" that you can pluck and a fretboard that is a little more like a keyboard, both of which it has. It also has a KORG synthesizer inside. There's also a port in the side that accepts cartridges that allow you to practice along with various songs. One of these cartridges is included.

The six strings are plucked or strummed. The "fretboard" is a series of switches that do various things like select chords, etc. You can also set it up so the switches on the fretboard become "keys" like on a keyboard, so it becomes a portable keyboard as well.

An INTERNAL SPEAKER AND AMPLIFIER is available for monitoring and practicing, but the real quality of the sound of this unit is only apparent when you connect to external amplification.

Underneath the pinkie above is an EXPRESSION CONTROL that whammies, bends, etc. The other white bar, by the thumb, controls various other parameters. The RED READOUT not only reveal patch numbers, but other various modes.

The START STOP SONG controls access the cartridge. Using the cartridge isn't necessary to access anything. As an expressive and unusual instrument, the cartridge is perhaps best turned off anyway.

The STRUMMER and KEYBOARD controls access various modes, presets, voices, etc.

The INTERNAL VOICES are primarily plucked instruments and quite good. There are also some sustained pads, unusual percussion, etc.

The KEY can be played LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED, as the fretboard switches can be activated on either side. If you play it right handed (right hand strumming) then this the view above is what you see.

There is a compartment for several batteries, and it works well this way. The PWR jack accomodates a supplied 9 V 1000mA Power Supply for batterless operation.

The AUDIO OUT is hotter than a guitar output. MIDI output controls other instruments. It may be able to set it up to receive MIDI as well, but I can't assure you of that as I never used it that way.

I don't know what the CD Sync / VBI and COM jacks are for, and since I never used them, I don't know if they work.

you can see the extraordinarily clean condition of this well-maintained instrument. This is the view of the back of the unit. The battery compartment (optional) is viewable, as are the strap pegs.

[below] is the supplied power supply and SONG Cartridge. The Cartridge slips in, if you use it, right about where you see it, so you can see the song titles while you play, if you do it that way.

ABOVE - to the left, you can see the INTERNAL SPEAKER. To the right is the RED LED Display."

KORG MicroKORG by Ivo

flickr by Ivo Riemann

Shots:
Blue-ish - "My room. Turned out very blue. Weird, but nice."
Lightbeam - "Korg in the afternoon."
Random - "I have no Idea why I took this Photo. It makes no sense."

Arash And Wise - Live at Nuit Metisse 26th june 2009

YouTube via DevineMachine
"Arash Khalatbari and Wise Washington performing using CYCLER, the new upcoming looping and remix system from Devine Machine. Flutes, jaw harp and percussion are recorded and mixed live."

DM tutorials

contrOSC software demo

contrOSC software demo from Malte Steiner on Vimeo.

"contrOSC is a middleware to bridge hardware DAW midicontrollers to OSC (Open Sound Control) enabled software like PD, CSound or SuperCollider, so you can easily create patches which communicates with the devices. The first implemented one is the C4 by MACKIE (tm).
The free open source application is created by Malte Steiner and available at Sourceforge under a GPL 3 license:

controsc.sourceforge.net

Demopatches for CSound and PD are included."

CRAZY ASS UPDATE!!!

We have a new auction item for the contest. See the second update in this post.

DCAM Synth Squad

DCAM Synth Squad Overview
"DCAM: Synth Squad finally delivers the satisfaction of playing real analogue instruments in software! Advanced modelling technology carefully reconstructs the soul of dusty vintage circuits within your computer, for the unmatched vibe of hardware at a fraction of the cost.

At the heart of DCAM: Synth Squad are 3 modelled synthesizers - Strobe, Amber and Cypher - bulging with the immense weight and power of old-school analogue. These are no mere emulations stunted by the limitations of the past. Instead, they combine the best features from legendary machines with new and exciting ideas to drag them kicking and screaming into the modern world.

Oscillators ooze immense sound pressure, amp stages can be overloaded for extra grit, and real-world chaos can be dialled into the circuit for delicious instability. These synths don't break with extreme settings, so you can abuse them just like the real thing. Meanwhile, the intuitive TransMod modulation system brings your sounds to life in new and expressive ways.

Fusor, a versatile sound-design environment that can layer and keysplit 3 instances of the DCAM synths, is also included. It provides a variety of ways to add new dimensions to your sounds with high-quality FX, extra modulation and an advanced step-sequencer/arpeggiator."

via Damian who has the following to say on the suite:
"1) The first or one of the first synth packs with proper audio-rate
modulation. You get to use LFOs that are tens of kHz on the VCA or the
filter cutoff and it sounds as it actually should.
2) New SVF model, sounds better than anything out there right now
3) Cypher has awesome oscillator intermodulation
4) Amber is probably the first *true* emulation of a string machine,
with the divide-down circuit emulated etc. And it has a formant filter
5) Strobe has the most amazing filters - an Xpander is a foretaste of
that, but you're not limited by slow 100 hz modulation
6) Fusor allows you to layer them and add all sorts of crazy filters
and modulation
7) They support polyphonic aftertouch - yay!
8) Not that expensive and runs on older hardware
9) More knobs, sliders, XY pads and modulation than you can shake a stick at!"

SEQUENTIAL CIRCUITS PROPHET-5

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

SN 2328

"# *PLEASE NOTE* an IEC (detachable) power coupler has been installed (cable is shown cut)
# Serviced by Greg Montalbano at analogsynthservice.com
# Has the Kenton UK MIDI kit (shown) (retails ~316 British Pounds or ~$522 US Dollars alone!)
# Has the Memory upgrade (shown) (from 40 to 120 programs)
# Has the 9.7 ROMs (shown) effectively making it a Prophet-5 rev3.3
# Has the power supply updates (shown)
# Has been calibrated and tuned - it works great and sounds great
# Due to the fact that this is nearly a 30 year old instrument it must be sold AS-IS, but guaranteed not DOA
# International shipping to a verified address is OK and will be done via EMS (Express Mail) for accountability" more images at the auction while it's up.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Access Virus B Desktop Virtual Analog Synthesizer

via this auction

KORG Z1 6 VOICE POLYPHONY EXPANSION CARD

via this auction

"Immediately after installation Your KORG Z! will Auto-Recognize the Card. The Extra Voices are Available IMMEDIATELY For Use -No Software or OS Update is Needed"

SYB-5 Bass Synthesizer [BOSS Sound Check]

YouTube via BOSSchannel
"Utilizing the latest in DSP technology, the SYB-5 faithfully reproduces the fat and sharp sound characteristic of classic analog synthesizers. The 11 internal synth sounds are based on combinations of three oscillator waves (Saw, Square, Pulse) and filters that fluctuate according to the envelope and LFO changes. The external pedal input means that bassists can put their foot into the performance by connecting an EV-5 Expression Pedal (sold separately) to control the filter and LFO rate."