The following is an interview I just wrapped up with hexfix93 of Velvet Acid Christ. As you know, this site is about the gear, namely synths, and the gear that helps drive and enhance synths, but ultimately the focus is on synths.
I was chatting a bit with hexfix93 and asked him if he would be interested in a slightly different take on an interview, one focused on synths and their impact to his world. We all have our story regarding how our obsession with synths first started, how we see and approach synths and what they mean to us. I thought it would be interesting to hear his story. The following is the interview.
Before it begins, I want to thank hexfix93 for taking the time out for this. We all have a different approach and a different story when it comes to our synths. This is his. For more of his music check out VAC and don't miss Toxic Coma. Cheers, matrix.
1. What was your first synthesizer, how old were you when you picked it up, and why did you pick it up?
"It was some kind of old yamaha cheap thing. i got it for my atari st, so when i played games like leisure suit larry that the music wouldn't come from the wimpy fm built in sound, but a general midi synth instead. it really didn't sound all that great. i wasn’t really a keyboard player at this point.
The first synth i got as a keyboard player was a roland w30 sampler workstation. And we made like 3 records with that keyboard. i remember gary slaughter an x vac member, spilled orange vodka drink on it. and i had to take it apart and clean every part of it by hand slowly, it took weeks. it was a pure nightmare.
Tristram Cary passed away this week at the age of 82.
Pictured: In Tristram's studio http://www.tristramcary.com/
"While serving as a wartime naval radar officer in 1945, he independently conceived the idea of electronic and tape music, and is thus a world pioneer in this field. His contribution to concert and entertainment musical repertoire in every genre from pure electronic music to instrumental solos and orchestral and choral works covers the entire second half of the 20th century, and is now moving actively into the 21st."
via wikipedia:
"Cary was educated at Westminster School in London, England and is the son of a pianist and the novelist, Joyce Cary, author of Mister Johnson. While working as a radar engineer for the Royal Navy during World War II, he independently developed his own conception of electronic and tape music, and is regarded as amongst the earliest pioneers of these musical forms. Following the war he created one of the first electronic music studios, later travelling around Europe to meet the small numbers of other early pioneers of electronic music and composition.
His concert works of note include a Sonata for guitar (1959), Continuum for tape (1969), a cantataPeccata Mundi (1972), Contours and Densities at First Hill for orchestra (1972), a Nonet (1979), String Quartet No. 2 (1985) and The Dancing Girls for orchestra (1991).
Cary is also particularly well known for his film and television music. He has written music for the science fiction television series Doctor Who, as well as the score for the Ealing comedyThe Ladykillers (1955). Later film scores included Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), both for Hammer.
Cary was one of the first British composers to work in musique concrète. In 1967 he created the first electronic music studio of the Royal College of Music.
He provided the visual design for the EMS VCS3 synthesizer, the first portable synthesizer, though not the first to be attached to a keyboard, designed by Bob Moog a year later in 1970.
Cary received the 2005 lifetime achievement award from the Adelaide Critics' Circle for his contribution to music in England and Australia."
WHAT THE FUTURE SOUNDED LIKE
YouTube via VCS3DOCO.
"Film teaser for the documentary What The Future Sounded Like - the story of the Electronic Music Studios and their impact on music history. www.myspace.com/whatthefuturesoundedlike"
"Tristram Cary (Director: 1969 - 1973) Pioneer of classical electronic music during 1960s and composer for film and broadcast with musical credits on the first Dr.Who & the Daleks series, later scored the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers as well as a few Hammer films. Pipe smoker, tune writer, gun-for-hire, classical composer, navy man. Role at EMS was as resident composer and artist and as the most musically experienced. Co-designed VCS3. Built wooden cabinet, wrote hand-book. Left to become Professor of Electronic Music at the Royal College of Music. Since became Professor of Music at the University of Adelade. Retirement is not an option." Alos see CDM and Califaudio. This post will remain on top for the rest of the day out of respect. New posts if any will be below.
via Inverse Room, via Muff's:
"You guys will dig this.
Some of you probably know Trevor Pinch from his book Analog Days [Amazon hardcover & paperback, preview on Google books], about the history of the Moog synthesizer. Trevor's a friend of mine--we both teach at Cornell U.--and he recently restored his moribund DIY modular that he built in the seventies. Last night he and our friend James Spitznagel (together they are Electric Golem) played a show here in Ithaca, with Trevor on his synth and Jim using a Mopho, Evolver, Orb, Nintendo DS and various iPhone apps.
Oh BTW sorry these are not better photos. I should have brought a DSLR for this but I had a digital rangefinder camera with me that is not so hot at high ISO. Full set is here (for now): http://inverseroom.creotia.com/golem/"
I contacted Trevor Pinch and he had the following to share:
"Hey Matrix:
I built that synth in London in 1973. I used it til 1975/6 in a collective band/scene in London and then in Manchester - we also had a VCS3 and various gizmos from EMS as one of our band knew Tristram Cary, one of the founders of EMS. By the way anyone interested in EMS should check out the half hour documentary Matt Bates made for Australian TV - 'What the Future Sounded Like'. I was a talking head for that movie. It's got tons of info in it and great clips of Hawkwind, music of early Floyd etc [below].
My synth was kinda in storage before being shipped to the States in 1990. It was smashed up badly in the move and I only started work on it again a few months ago when Park Doing here in Ithaca persuaded me to get it going to jam with Johnny Dowd, Richie Stearns, Brian Wilson, and others for a 'Requiem for Analog TV' show we did at Cornell. Since then I've played out with it a couple of times with Park's band, the Atomic Forces, and once with The Electric Golem with Jim Spitznagel.
The schematics come from the hobby magazine Wireless World August 1973. Tim Orr did the design (he was the same guy who designed the EMS Vocoder). I built it 1973. The Voltage Control filter is online [link]
VCO 1 has square, triangle, sine , and variable mark space (I think in the US they call it duty cycle - adjusting the width of the top of a square wave). It turns out the variable mark space is one of the most musically useful controls I know.
It has three frequency ranges from very low to way up there! There are two VCO inputs with 1 K pots to control the voltage in.
VCO 2 has square, triangle, sine, ramp, and pulse outputs. There are two VCO inputs with 1 K pots ditto.
VCO 3 is a six-step sequencer with an incredible frequency range, with each step selectable and tunable. This is the awesome guts of the beast. There are two VCO inputs with one K pots. You feed the sequencer output as an input into the VCO1 and VCO2 and away you go.
There are also the following modules:
2 voltage control amplifiers
2 exponential converters
A keyboard module for operating a resistor chain monophonic keyboard - I abandoned the keyboard as I could never get it in tune and it sounded better out of tune!
I voltage control filter - band pass or low pass output - band pass only is working
I mixer with three channels and two virtual earth mixers for summing and reversal with three channels each,
White noise source and blue and red noise (variable) outputs
Spring reverb.
Envelope shaper. Not yet working
Two preamps. Buggered.
2 very low frequency outputs. Not yet working.
Sample and hold - Never worked!
Joy stick control and circuits with two pots providing variable X and Y voltages.
The joystick is home built by using three pots (design based on the first one that David Cockerell made for VCS3) my killer control for live performance (think Brian Eno and the way he used the joystick on the VCS3 (Putney)). The joystick was beat up terribly in the move and was the hardest single thing to get working and nicely balanced. Read the story of how the pitch and mod wheel were designed for the minimoog in Analog Days! Having a controller that feels right when you play is for me half the battle.
There is an onboard power supply for 240 volts in and 15v plus and minus and 5 volts plus out. Useless in US! So got new power supply built.
The modules are mainly built on plug in breadboards made by a UK company called Electrokit. So when I blow out transistors - happens all the time - I can unplug for easy access. Also I like to leave it open so shaking the instrument shakes the modules and affects the sound and of course the reverb. Opening the black box is my aesthetic.
Housed in hand machined painted aluminium case (wise choice in hindsight as it is sturdy, light and didn't rust!)
Patch bay is banana plugs, wires and sockets (what we used to call banana plugs or Wonder plugs in the UK). US banana plugs are too big - anyone know where I can get the UK banana plugs from as I need more?
If anyone is interested in my early experiences in playing the synth, they are written up in a chapter in a book by Sherry Turkle, Evocative Objects - the reflection is online at a awesome exhibition, "Remix, Rewind and Replay" at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art which I was on a panel for. http://www.rewindremixreplay.org/pdfs/pinch.pdf
By the way, that essay was written before I got the synth working again. In that essay I said the synth had no name. When I unearthed the old schematics to start soldering work I found I did give it a name, "Stray Capacitance". That's what the synth was like - full of capacitance.
The synth truly has a unique sound : the sonic energy is simply amazing. It can cut through like a chain saw on magic mushrooms - everything sort of feeds back on everything else in various unpredictable ways. Its like a live bucking beast to control. Park Doing says I shouldn't call it a synth and I agree. It's more a sometimes controllable sound and noise maker. John Robert Lennon (aka Inverse Room) on seeing and hearing it in action the other day - said how come it just doesn't explode. It's a miracle that it works at all! Its industrial sound is awesome in a punk band and when playing alongside someone with more varied and sweeter sounds (like Jim Spitznagel can produce) it can cut through and complement and attract attention. With the spring reverb it sends you into space. In the early days we also used to use huge tape loops as well.
That's it!
Trevor"
I'd like to give a huge thanks to Trevor Pinch for taking the time out to share this with us and of course Inverse Room for sending this our way.
YouTube via inverseroom — April 25, 2010 —
"Inverse Room interviews Trevor Pinch, author of "Analog Days" and other books about the history of technology, who demonstrates the DIY modular synth he built in the 1970's.
The thing I find really cool about this design is the step sequencer that can be run at high enough speeds to create, in effect, a new oscillator with primitive custom waveforms. And of course there's the total lack of sides to the case--gotta love that, too!"
Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in. New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process. If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com. This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!
"No other DMX is like this. None. It’s a one of a kind, future proofed beast of a drum machine that has been refurbished and modified FULLY for professional studio work. I know the asking price is high, but by the time you read how much work has gone into it you’ll understand why. First of all here is a bullet point breakdown of every enhancement this machine has been bestowed with by a former Oberheim tech:
A quick note: This review is long. You can jump to sections that interest you vs. reading it straight through if you prefer. This review focuses primarily on the synth engine for one single patch on the Venom. The Venom supports Multi mode with up to four multitimbral parts. Not only can you layer sound programs but you can set global parameters for the set. Be sure to see the Multi mode section of "Tips and Tricks via Taiho Yamada" at the end of this post. Taiho is the Lead Project Manager of the Venom and served as my contact during the review. I want to thank Taiho for his help and enthusiastic generosity. He is a true synthesist and the Venom is his baby.
Synth connections: Taiho previously worked at Alesis on the Andromeda A6. The DSP developer of the Venom worked on Radikal Technologies' Spectralis and the Accelerator. People that contributed to the presets via sound design include Richard Devine, Francis Preve, Mark Ovenden (Avid's AIR Instruments, ProTools VIs), Joerg Huettner (Waldorf, Access, Alesis), and of course Taiho Yamada.
*Don't miss the "Q&A with Taiho" section towards the end of the review. Also keep an eye out for "Taiho's Tips and Tricks" throughout the review in grey. You can find the consolidated list below the Q&A section.
YouTube via VCS3DOCO. "Film teaser for the documentary What The Future Sounded Like - the story of the Electronic Music Studios and their impact on music history." More info and shots Upate: link to the official site.
YouTube via telesynth. Note there are some Not Safe for Work clips in this one. "EMS synthesizers used by Hawkwind, Pink Floyd and Roxy Music. From the documentary 'What the Future Sounded Like'." Prior posts featuring "What the Future Sounded Like" here.
Mouse over the image above for the slideshow controls.
Update: added a few notes below. I hate picking highlights because I honestly do love it all. That and I don't like missing anyone or anything. The focus is on what's new. More will come with the videos.
And that's it for my NAMM pics. Videos will follow over the coming days. As you can see I missed a few of the major synth booths including Clavia/Nord Keyboards, Waldorf, Access, Teenage Engineering, Korg, Roland, Novation, Studiologic and Yamaha. This is no slight to them. I would have loved to check them out, specifically the new A1 from Clavia and the new Waldorf 2-Pole filter. I did see the new full size KORG MS20 kit but the booth was packed and I didn't get any pics. I knew anything AIRA was not going to be shown so I skipped Roland. I typically go to NAMM on Saturday as I'm literally glued to the site posting away all the NAMM news along with everything else that comes in up to then. By Saturday I have a pretty good idea of what has and hasn't gotten plenty of coverage on the site. Based on that, new product announcements, and prior commitments with those that reached out to me, I go through my list of booths in order.
As for standouts, although I didn't get to try the new A1 from Clavia, I was impressed by the new oscillator and effects section in the demos to date. I like what I hear. I do think they made a mistake with the messaging on it being an entry level synth. Not sure why they chose to go that route as it degrades the synth's capabilities in my opinion and the price does not reflect an entry level synth.
The new Elektron Rytm sounded fantastic. I should have a video of Highsage jamming on it coming up. Hopefully the audio is good.
The Sub 37 is a thing of beauty.
I'm a fan of the Prophet 12 and the new Prophet 12 module. I'm a fan of mixing digital with analog and I think it is capable of timbres you simply can't get out of pure analog.
The Tiptop Audio system at the Big City Music Booth was absolutely insane! Tomio is a Jedi master on that thing. I should have video of it coming up.
The new Make Noise modules were a mind trip. Video coming.
Noise Engineering is new to the scene and their modules sound fantastic. I particularly like the drum module. They also have a vocal formant module. I mentioned the Yamaha FS1R's formant synthesis and they said it was actually based on it to an extent. Video coming.
The STG EMS Oscillator sounded insane. Video coming.
The new Studio Electronics Boomstars sounded pretty incredible. Video coming.
It takes quite a bit to surprise me. Two things did. Full on patch memory on a modular synth with the Buchla Music Easel and what's coming for Audiobus. The Miselu iPad keyboard and Quicco Sound controller were pretty cool devices as well. The Future Retro Triadex Muse based sequencer caught my interest. I didn't show it, but it definitely was a geek out moment for me and caught me by surprise. Who would have thought technology based on the obscure Muse would re-appear today.
That's it for now. The videos and pics should speak for themselves. I love it all.
Frankie Knuckles - Your Love Uploaded on Jul 23, 2009 Backintday·196 videos
"The original 1987 best version Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles"
[Tribute cover on a Roland MC-909 uploaded by Lee Mitchell today featured below]
The Godfather of House music has passed away. He was one of, if not the first DJ to incorporate an instrument, in this case the drum machine, into his live performances, as well as working with sound manipulation by splicing tape (musique concrete meets House).
Regarding tape: "That probably started around the late 70s or early 80s. I'd been DJing for the best part of ten years by then, so I knew what worked on the dancefloor. I knew which bits of a song worked. I instinctively knew if the intro needed cutting or extending. My imagination was already doing its thing. I got hold of a quarter-inch Pioneer reel-to-reel machine, and that's what I used to do all my edits.
"And when I say 'edits', I really do mean edits, in the old-fashioned sense: cutting up little bits of tape and sticking them back together to make a new song. Like when I saw the video for Michael Jackson's Thriller on TV, I thought, 'Damn! That's the version I should be playing at the club.' I wanted that whole stripped-down section where the zombies do the dance. So I sat there with my reel-to-reel and started making copies of the relevant bits of music from the original song. I had a rough tape copy of the video version and worked out every bit I needed to recreate that zombie dance backing track.
"In the end, I had a gazillion little bits of tape – some no more than half a second of sound – all stuck together. You know something? It worked! I pieced it all together and I had my two-and-a-half-minute breakdown. And it was perfect – even if I'd been just a few milliseconds out with one of those edits, it would have thrown the whole thing. I was a master of rhythm. A master of editing." [Be sure to see his note regarding the manipulation of sound for effect in The Chicago Tribune quote below]
And on the drum machine: "It wasn't really a drum machine. It was just one of those rhythm boxes that you get on home organs. Y'know… a boom-chikka box. I got the idea because there was always a metronome sitting in the DJ booth at the Warehouse. I never really understood the metronome, but I eventually started messing around with it and used to have it running while I was DJing – it would be tick-tocking just in the periphery of my vision. Eventually I started locking into this thing– locking the tunes and the metronome together, understanding the idea of beats per minute and the number of bars."
"One day my friend gave me this Rhythm Maker box, and I had it plugged into the auxiliary inputs of the mixer. It sounded great. The crowd loved it, and it was very handy if you had a problem with a record or one of the decks. You'd just fade up the Rhythm Maker and people would carry on dancing."
"That was a few years later – I'd say 84 or 85. Derrick May and his friends would come down to my new club, the Power Plant. One night he was carrying a bag, and inside was something wrapped in a towel. I asked him what it was and he just said, 'Oh, I got you something very special – but you got to wait till the end of the night.'
"After I finished my set – which was about 11am the next day – we went into the booth and he pulled out a box with some buttons on it. I said, 'Wow! That looks great, but what the hell is it?' Derricksaid, 'This is a Roland 909 drum machine, and it's going to take us to the future. It will be the foundation of music for the next 10 years.'"
"Knuckles bought his first drum machine from a young Derrick May, one of the founders of techno music, who regularly made the trip from Detroit to see Knuckles at the Warehouse..."
"He would extend mixes of soul and R&B records and turn them into dance tracks, introduce new singles being produced by fledgling house artists and incorporate drum machines to emphasize the beat. In addition to building dynamic ebb-and-flow sets that would keep his dancefloor filled from midnight to noon on weekends, he would create theater-of-the-mind scenarios with inventive sound and lighting. 'Sometimes I’d shut down all the lights and set up a record where it would sound like a speeding train was about to crash into the club. People would lose their minds.'”
And via Wikipedia: "Frankie Knuckles (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014) was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer.[1] He was born Francis Nicholls [2] in the Bronx borough of New York City and later moved to Chicago. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the 1980s when the genre was in its infancy. In 2005, Knuckles was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievements.
Due to his importance in the development of the genre, Knuckles was often known as 'The Godfather of House Music',[3] and as such the city of Chicago named a stretch of street and a day after Knuckles in 2004."
Two day event via Cube Cinema, Saturday April the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd.
"Day one of a weekend of special events, performances, screenings and more - dedicated to the output and legacy of the one and only BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
With their often primitive hand built devices, tape loops and early synth explorations, the workshop brought the sound of electronic weirdness out of the realms of academia and into the home, re-adjusting the ears and minds of an entire generation in the process. As interest in their oddly British, and often somewhat crackpot approach to electronic experimentation grows, and as many of their key instigators finally begin to gain the worldwide recognition their pioneering efforts deserve, we spend a special one-off weekend looking back on some of the characters, stories, sounds and inventions that shaped an era.
On day one (Saturday), we’re delighted to welcome very special guests - Radiophonic boffins, David Cain and Dick Mills - who will be presenting a history of the workshop, discussing their work, and presenting a wealth of material unheard for decades.
Wolfgang Palm posted the following on his website (see my notes below)
"The first time I thought about an iPad project was last autumn. The more I got into it and the more information I collected, it sounded interesting to me.
I first did a pilot project on PC, just to check out the possibilities of a creative wavetable construction system, where you draw your waveforms and spectra and hear the result directly. This is especially challenging with the touch panel on the iPad.
When I had done this and convinced myself that it is a great tool and gives fantastic audio results, I bought a Mac and an iPad, and started programming for the real device. I inducted Cornel Hecht into the project, and he helped with the cool graphics and had many great ideas as well.
Later I invited some very experienced people like Peter Gorges and Jay de Miceli to help me with beta-testing and sound design. We also have 'nachtsmeer' and Kenneth Abildgaard in the team who have also contributed countless ideas.
I am also very thankful for the help of Russ Hughes who runs Sociatech, a specialist marketing and PR company, his expertise in helping get the message out has shown amazing results. If you have any kind of tech product you need to tell people about, then I recommend him to you.
So yesterday the WaveGenerator app was sent to Apple for approval, and we hope that it will be in the Apple App Store soon.
It is good to be back and to be able to share my creative ideas with the world in these new ways – I had a vision and here it is, it has the DNA of my first baby, but this grandchild has a 21st century personality.
Thank you for your support!"
It's great to see him back and it's great to see him embrace the iPad.
------
On the Death of Digital Hardware Synths:
Traditional digital hardware synths that is. The iPad is hardware after all. (see Update2 below)
For a while I've been thinking the iPad will be the death of traditional digital hardware synthesizers for several reasons - lower cost, size, ability to morph into whatever you want it to be, and it acts and feels like real hardware because it is real hardware. It's just as much hardware as any other traditional hardware synth running digital synthesis software. The iPad should not be equated with running software emulations on the PC or Mac, it should be equated with hardware synths with touch interfaces like the Korg Kronos and Jupiter-80, or the PPG Realizer. All digital synths are software based. My lust for digital hardware diminished ever since I picked the first gen iPad and Sunrizer and compared it with my Roland JP-8000. I picked up the JP-8000 new for about $1100 back when it came out. I picked up Sunrizer when it was called Horizon Synth for $4.99. Think about that. $4.99 for a full blown VA synth with a morphable touch interface and it sounds great. The cost of the iPad and Sunrizer was less than the JP-8000 and you have access to a plethora of other synths, sequencers and controllers. Hook it up to your MIDI keyboard of choice and with the likes of Animoog, NLogSynth Pro, Magellan, Cassini Synth, Peter Vogel CMI (a Fairlight for $50!!!), Korg's iMS20, SynthX, and now the PPG WaveGenerator and Waldorf & Tempo Rubato's upcoming synth, and you have a hardware synth. With the iPad in it's third generation, older models will only continue go down in price, so the ability to have multiple iPads for cheap isn't too far off. There is one concern I had lingering though. Battery life. Eventually I'm guessing the batteries in the iPad will die, but I say had, because with something like the Alesis iO dock this may not be an issue. You can power it and have all your IO available at the same time. I should note my first gen iPad battery is still going strong.
It will be interesting to see what hardware synth manufacturers do next. They will have to offer synthesis methods not available in apps for the iPad, and as time goes on those differences will only shrink. You can't replicate analog, so maybe we will see more of that including hybrid synths. As for full blown digital, I can see manufacture's having a flagship synth for the pro musician on the road, a flagship controller for the iPad, and apps to go along with it. I think there will always be an audience for each, but there is no denying the iPad has become a option for digital hardware synthesis.
Update2 6/30/2014: I wanted to expand on my initial commentary on the "death of digital hardware" above. If you read it, you might think I prefer the iPad to dedicated hardware synths when it comes to digital only. Far from it. It was written from the perspective of the potential impact the iPad could have on the world of hardware synthesis. It was a look into the possible future and not meant to be a look into the present or even the near future. The thought was that if you had a portable hardware device capable of turning into any digital hardware synth you might need, at a fraction of the price of a full blown hardware equivalent, what would you do? The answer? It depends on your needs, preferences and funds. Personally, I like the convenience and portability of the iPad but I love the feel and tactile relationship dedicated hardware instruments have to offer. The iPad offers the engine, but lacks the body unless you're Synth-Project. The new Akai MPC line tries to bridge some of that, but is it enough?
This is a little synth jam that i've been planning for a while. All of the synths and effects in this video have been repaired by me over the last few years. Here's what i used:
Korg Poly 800 (far left)
I bought this from a cash generator for £30 and found it had a scrambled memory, missing joystick and a dead oscillator. A previous owner had modded the battery compartment to take a pp3 instead of the usual 6 D cells. I replaced the battery and fitted a knob to the joystick to make it usable. It was years later that my electronic skill were good enough to track the dead oscillator down to a faulty op-amp. With the help of the forum below i was able to replace it and get it up and running.
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t24095/
While i had the thing i bit i decided to add the 'Moog Slayer' and 'Filter FM' mods to it which make it much more fun :D
"For the first time in over 40 years, a legendary analog synth sound returns.
The OB-X8 combines the three different voice architectures of the classic OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 synths into a single incredible instrument. The individual filter types and other unique characteristics of each model have been faithfully reproduced, along with an uncompromising 100% analog signal path, giving you the most authentic and satisfying OB experience possible.
Oberheim is BACK!"
Oberheim OB-X8 INHALT Sound Design Demo No Talking
"My history with Oberheim runs deep. Probably the most important synthesizer for me was the Oberheim OB-8. I connected deeply with its melancholic and midnight music sounding tone which matched very well what I was doing with INHALT at the time. But never to be beguiled by softer emotions, the flick of the unison switch instantly took the OB-8 into an aggressive "body" music. It was the perfect writing tool due to the even tone across all octaves and the fact that its intrinsic musicality was unavoidable. Around the time I got the OB-8 I also got a vintage 2 Voice (thanks for restoring that one Chok) and both were heavily used on many records that I made. Those were my MVP's for many years.
When I received the call from my colleagues at Sequential that not only was a new Oberheim in the works, but that it was to be THE Oberheim, I couldn't wait for the beta testing and sound design to start. And when the prepro unit arrived, I knew that the newly reborn and official Oberheim company, in tandem with the team at Sequential, created something incredible. Something so comprehensive, deep, detailed, featured and yet immediate and simple, with no possibility of making a bad sound. Every sound I made sounded exactly as it should, and they ALL embodied that unmistakable Oberheim sound. That magic that is often imitated but never accomplished. Until now.
I'm not going to get into specs, those have been already covered everywhere, but I will say this: as someone that has used all of the "big" Oberheims, and that has made many records in commercial studios with the OB-8 and a vintage 2 Voice, I can definitively say that this Oberheim does all of those sounds and more. Its charisma changes from filter to filter and it seamlessly traverses from X, Xa to 8 with the Page 2 voice offset and vintage knob, but it ALWAYS sounds like the genuine Oberheim that it is. This incredible team, that I've had the pleasure of working with, has created something that might possibly be the ultimate polyphonic analog synthesizer. And I can't wait to use it on the many upcoming projects at Infinite Power Studios.
This is a recording I made of many of the patches I created for Oberheim and the shipping factory library that will come with the synth.
Please note, the OB-X8 in the video is a prototype unit and I recorded this with a beta firmware. As such, while the synth was largely done there were some changes both to the panel and to the OS that are in the final shipping version (obviously). The OB-X8 was recorded straight into Pro Tools HD and no post processing or fx were added. What you're hearing is the raw synth."
The Sound of the Oberheim OB-X8 - Julian "J3PO" Pollack [custom knobs on this one]
"Oberheim has released a new synthesizer--the first in many decades--the OB-X8. It is a faithful recreation of all three of the classic OB-series synthesizers in one: the OB-X, the OB-Xa, and OB-8. It is an incredible synth.
In this video, you will hear a bunch of presets I created for the OB-X8. Some of my sounds will be included factory with the OB-X8 while most of these presets will appear in a presets pack I will release soon (check www.j3po.net for the release of my official sound bank). This particular unit is an early prototype with non-production knobs. The final production units will look slightly different.
It is important to note that the OB-X8, like the original OB's from back in the day, does NOT contain any onboard effects. In this video, I used some external reverbs and delays to give certain presets the ambience and resonance they deserve. Light compression and limiting was applied for the purpose of uploading to YouTube and balancing the sounds."
"I'm always reluctant to post something in prototype form. When I had this unit it was sonically pretty close. Obvious at a glance are the knobs and 3D printed bender box levers. The synth itself sounds great and such a dream to play with a nice modern key bed."
And the press release:
Oberheim Returns to Operations and Releases Its First New Synth in 35 Years
San Francisco, CA – May 9, 2022 – In a momentous industry development, Oberheim Electronics, one of the most venerated names in synthesizer design, has announced its return to operation to meet the rising global demand for its instruments.
Today, the company is launching its first new product, the OB-X8: an eight-voice polyphonic analog synth that combines all of the key features of the legendary OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 products from the 1980s – including all the original presets that gave them their signature sounds.
“I wanted to come back strong with a new design that brings together the sounds of the greatest instruments from across the OB range, together with the distinctive sound and styling of those synths,” said Tom Oberheim. “But we took it even further. You can now combine the various OB voice architectures in ways that produce unique and interesting new sounds and capabilities.”
Originally founded by Tom Oberheim in 1969, Oberheim Electronics created ground-breaking products that fueled the electronic music revolution throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s. After ceasing operations in 1985, these instruments attained near-mythical status, with highly prized vintage models selling for many times their original price on the secondhand market.
Since that time, Tom Oberheim had created a handful of limited-production instruments and co-designs with various partners under other names. But in a recent significant development, he regained control of the Oberheim trademarks and IP, and now, in partnership with Focusrite PLC, has decided to once again introduce new products under the Oberheim brand name for first time in more than 35 years.
“I’ve always had a very optimistic outlook on our industry and the future in general. I felt that one day, when the time was right, Oberheim would return. A big part of this was the fact that so many musicians have contacted me over the years to ask how to get hold of an original Oberheim. So when I finally reacquired the Oberheim name, it was clear that the time was finally here,” said Oberheim.
The catalog of artists associated with the original products is long, and includes innovators like Prince, Van Halen, and Herbie Hancock. For many, it was much more than just an instrument. A handful of A-list artists such as Trent Reznor, creative force behind Nine Inch Nails, and Golden Globe, Academy Award, and Primetime Emmy-winning composer got pre-release previews. “When I was shown the new OB-X8, I was immediately impressed with the forensic level of detail that went into its design and the respect for its lineage,” remarked Trent. I will be making room in my studio for one and I’m excited more people will be able to experience this classic instrument.”
Creating a new company out of thin air was no small feat. “I’m excited to work with my old friend and audio industry innovator Marcus Ryle, along with some other members of the original Oberheim team again,” said Tom. “And thanks to an exclusive partnership with Focusrite group company Sequential LLC, we have the ability to design, manufacture, distribute, and support new instruments on a global scale.”
For Marcus Ryle, one of the inventors behind the ADAT, the QuadraSynth, and Line 6 guitar amps and effects, this represents closure of sorts: “Synths were my first love and the reason I entered this industry. Tom hired me when I was 19, and I feel lucky to have been a part of the Oberheim design team during its glory days. Now, a whole new chapter in the story of analog synthesizer-based music is about to get written.”
Dave Smith, founder of Sequential and himself a legendary figure in synth history, also collaborated with Marcus (an Oberheim team member from the 1980s) and Tom to create the new product. “We’ve already developed other interesting design ideas with Tom for follow-up products that will allow us to take Oberheim into the future as a synth brand,” commented Smith. “It’s a very exciting time to be a musician.”
The OB-X8 eight-voice analog synthesizer will be available at the end of June with a US MAP of $4,995.
About Oberheim
Oberheim is the 21st century return of the legendary company that helped fuel the electronic music revolution. Now,
just as then, Oberheim is guided by the vision of engineer and inventor, Tom Oberheim. Tom’s genius for innovation introduced the world to the first commercially available poly synth and other groundbreaking electronic instruments that literally changed the sound of music. Today, Oberheim reawakens this legacy by bringing the famed Oberheim sound to a new generation of instruments and artists. The company’s passion remains unchanged by time or technology — to once again provide the world with the finest-sounding analog synthesizers ever made. Oberheim brings its products to market with the help of the Focusrite organization and renowned synth maker, Sequential."
OBERHEIM OB-X8 SPECIFICATIONS
• 8-voice, pure-analog polyphony with saw, square/pulse, triangle, and noise • Two discrete SEM/OB-X-lineage VCOs per voice deliver classic punchy Oberheim tone • Discrete SEM-lineage VCFs deliver authentic OB-X-style tone and presence • Genuine Curtis filters add bold OB-Xa/OB-8 character • Meticulously modeled envelope responses match each OB model: OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 • The 61-key FATAR velocity- and touch-sensitive keyboard allows unparalleled expression and responsiveness • Bi-timbral capability allows two presets simultaneously for splits and doubles • 400-plus factory programs, including the full set of factory sounds for the OB-X, OB-SX, OB-Xa, and OB-8 • Integral, fanless, heatsink-free power supply • Real walnut end cheeks • High-resolution OLED display enables patch management and easy access to advanced features • Classic Oberheim Pitch and Mod levers allow expressive note bending, vibrato, and access to arpeggiator functions
ENHANCEMENTS • Additional SEM filter modes add high-pass, band-pass, and notch functions to the classic OB-X filter • Vintage knob allows variable amounts of voice-to-voice variability to emulate the behavior of vintage instruments • Velocity sensitivity adds expressiveness to volume and filter • Channel Aftertouch adds real-time performance-based modulation • Enhanced unison allows variable voice stacking from 1-8 voices • Variable triangle wave cross-modulation • Over 600 user-programmable preset locations • Programmable per-program pan allows wider stereo presence • Variable oscillator and noise levels
INS & OUTS • Stereo and Mono outputs • Volume, Sustain, and Filter inputs • Arpeggiator clock input • MIDI In, Out, Thru • USB • Dimensions: • Weight: 32.5 lbs • Dimensions: 40.5” L x 16.67” W x 5.87” H
Via Ross: "Adelaide Australia will show a world premier short film about the history of the mighty EMS VCS3 in March 2007."
Title link takes you there.
Synopsis: "Post-war Britain was a period of intense scientific and industrial experimentation where art participated in, and reflected, wider social change. Out of this context came Electronic Music Studios (EMS), a radical group of avant-garde electronic musicians who composed a futuristic soundscape for the New Britain. Comprising of pioneering electronic musicians Tristram Cary (famed for his work on Dr Who) and Peter Zinovieff, EMS was one of the world's most advanced computer-music facilities. Its great legacy is the VCS3, Britain’s first synthesizer and rival of the American Moog. The VCS3 was a uniquely British invention, which changed the sounds of popular musicians including Brian Eno, Hawkwind and Pink Floyd. Almost thirty years on, the VCS3 is still used by electronic artists like Aphex Twin and Chicken Lips. Local filmmakers Matthew Bate and Claire Harris uncover a lost chapter in music history, emphasising a group of composers who used technology to re-think the boundaries of music and sound.
Matthew Bate, Claire Harris and Tristram Cary are Guests of the Festival"
"PHYSYNTH turns your iPad or iPad 2 into a piece of real vintage synth hardware.
Powered by next-generation 3D graphics technologies, it is a stunning, beautiful device that will enable you to weave beautiful, fluid 'Soundscapes'.
PHYSYNTH uses a state-of-the-art physics engine to trigger sounds using four real simulators, you charge physical objects with sound and collide them with other objects to trigger them. It is an entirely new way of creating music, a natural and fluid way to express yourself with a wide range of beautiful, realistic instruments.
• Don't forget to read about updates coming, more information below after the features!
• Introductory sale now on for only a few days.
FEATURES:
• Custom shaders especially designed for iPad2 and the beautiful high definition full-3D interface pushes the limits of what your device can do.
• iPad 1 owners are not left out, Physynth was designed to take full advantage of everything the device has to offer.
• Layer your sounds with Four-track Soundscaping.
• Jam with Realtime melody or rhythm over-dubbing.
• The physics-triggered sample engine with user-adjustable parameters means endless scenarios.
• Enjoy a wide range of beautiful sounding instruments with more coming in regular updates.
• Express yourself with full mixing control including full stereo panning, volume and digital special effects.
• Vintage hardware design with groundbreaking 3D tilt camera, stunning lighting and unbelievable next-gen graphics make Physynth the app to show your friends.
• Melody-mode to allow the user to play Physynth instruments like a traditional keyboard or drum pad.
• Headphones are recommended for full stereo immersion and realtime panning.
FUTURE UPDATES: • Sharing Soundscapes with other Physynth owners. • coreMIDI support. • Regular new instruments!"
"We love Physynth, we love the iOS music scene but some of the criticism we have received has been a little unfair in my opinion. We aren’t Moog and we don’t have a million dollars behind us, we are two people bringing something we love and slaved over into the world and I can’t wait to move forward with it based off of the constructive feedback we have received and no-doubt will continue to receive but I thought I’d communicate what we were trying to achieve.
While designing Physynth I really wanted to create something to come back to time and time again, I wanted a tinker-tool that had a real use to songwriters and performers. There were hundreds of fantastic synthesisers out there doing a great job at synthesising but none of them allowed me to create something outside the box, outside of writing melodies manually. I wanted to create something chaotic.
Functionally, what I wanted to create was something close to that sketchbook you have lying around that you come back to and jot in whenever you’re feeling creative. I didn’t want to make a studio tool, those already are at a point where I get what I want from them. There is nothing really out there that suites me for just having a dabble with something a bit unpredictable. When choosing the sounds that shipped with Physynth I had to balance what people might want with what would actually suite Physynth itself. You can’t really have power synth chugs when you’re triggering these at a such a high rate. It would just sound like a mess of sound, this style of music creation needed something a with a bit more of a ring, a chime.
We planned in the ability to update our sound banks with instruments based on our users’ demand so as time goes on we will be updating with new sounds and many of them are electronic ones, it’s just that some things simply don’t work without sounded overloaded when they’re being triggered multiple times per second at up to 32 times per second.
Going forward, exporting/sharing songs between users and midi support are planned for future updates along with the new instruments.
"Sometimes one seemingly smart idea is enough to kill a whole company: The DeLorean DC-12 looked great on paper (and in Back to Future) but buried DeLorean as a company, Jiucero soon went out of juice, when people realized that DRM juice was actually as bad an idea on paper as it was in reality and the Red Sound Dark Star, well it was probably a tad bit too ambitious for the company that created it.
Sure, Virtual Analog was the next big thing, when the Dark Star was being incepted. and sure, the Virus was another VA synth by a small company that still managed to very well. So at the time, creating their own take on a VA synth most certainly sounded like a sound idea for Red Sound and, again, on paper, it sounded like a great product: Eight voices, five part multitimbrality, very solid built quality, stereo audio ins, built in expandability and, at just below 500€, a price much lower than what others were asking for.
So how could it fail this hard even after the price was lowered to well below 200€? Was it really as bad and laggy as people seemed to agree it was? Or did it just fall victim to a bad reputation? After all, the internet was another ‘product’ on the rise at that time and with it, of course, came people hating on the poor Dark Star in forums all over the net.
Sure, the Dark Star can suck, it can be slow and laggy, but as I think I’ve showed time and again on this channel, ‘bad’ synths can also often rise above their reputation when you use them just right. And of course, thanks to it’s reputation as the ‘worst VA’ it’s still one of those rare cases where you can still find an old synth at very reasonable prices.
Curious? Well then go board the ship, we’re about to take off…"
Tracklist:
0:00 Intro
0:21 Introduction
1:36 Sound Engine
3:34 Demo Song Snippet
4:23 Controls and Connectors
5:58 P35 Fat Saw Bass
6:43 P07 Plank Spank
7:44 P09 Jupitous
8:34 P41 Flower
9:30 P15 Brightly
10:32 Demo Song 1: House Org
11:30 Demo Song 2: Trance Layer
12:47 Conclusion
14:35 Outro
RS053.1 Red Sound Dark Star 'No Talking Edition'
"This is a shorter 'No Talking' edit of my video about the Red Sound Dark Star for those who prefer 'pure' demos without comments."
Tracklist:
0:00 Tracklist
0:08 Factory Demo Snippet
0:42 P52 Fat Saw Bass
1:27 P07 Plank Spanker
2:28 P09 Jupitous
3:18 P41 Flower
4:14 P15 Brightly
5:06 Multi Demo 1: House Org
6:03 Multi Demo 2: Trance Layer
7:22 Outro
RS053.2 Red Sound Dark Star Factory Demo Songs
"Time for some bonus content again, I've created some visuals for the Factory Demo Song(s) of the Dark Star.
These can be accessed by holding Audition and pressing Modulation
"Peter Zinovieff's pioneering work into the fields of electronic music production and research led to many innovative electronic music instrument developments that were outstanding for the time. Peter was fascinated by electronic music and used his financial resources to develop a huge voltage-controlled studio that occupied an entire room in his home premises. There was a time when EMS (Electronic Music Studios) stood as equal to Moog and Arp. In many ways, EMS was more advanced with several pioneering ideas being investigated. Peter used two PDP8 minicomputers in the late 1960s to control the voltage-controlled analogue modules for research into electronic music exploration. Twenty years before affordable computing and sequencing packages, Zinovieff's computers could store and replay compositions, complete with sound shaping parameters even inventing a form of spectral or additive synthesis. Excerpts are edited from the television documentaries "What the Future Sounded Like" and "The New Sound of Music" featuring the first public performance of music by a computer in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1967. The spirit of EMS continues, and Peter's synthesizer innovations like the VCS3 and Synthi 100 have become outstanding analogue classics."
via Ryan: "I've pre-ordered the Alesis Studio Dock for my ipad 2, so it's encouraging to see some retailers now shipping. One is Sweetwater.
Now, alarming to me, is the 1st review at that retail site from someone who claims to have received one of these already...and finds it is not compatible with ipad 2 out of the box:
'The box is huge, and the dock is well packed. Includes power supply, a really skimpy manual...basically a quickstart guide that briefly explains the buttons, knobs, ins and outs, and so on, the I/O dock itself, and sadly enough, for you iPad 2 owners, a slip of paper telling you how to contact Alesis to order an adapter. Luckily for me, I have the iPad 1!'
WTF. Nowhere on the Alesis site does it say there is an adaptor required...or even available!
Consider my pre-order cancelled until I know more about this adaptor and its availability."
Quick note: remember to support the shops that support this site. See the DEALERS section on the right. Sweetwater gets a free ride on this one.
The full review: "Alesis I/O dock arrived on my doorstep today! Sweetwater shipped yesterday. Thanks Matt, you guys rock!
via synthetic in the comments of this post: "Neil Diamond's "The Jazz Singer" was on cable a few days ago and the synth player was rockin' an ARP Quadra. I think I saw a String Ensemble in there too. The last concert scene, "Fahhh, we've been travelin' faaahhh..."
The following is an interview I just wrapped up with hexfix93 of Velvet Acid Christ. As you know, this site is about the gear, namely synths, and the gear that helps drive and enhance synths, but ultimately the focus is on synths.
