MATRIXSYNTH Swag & Hall of Fame!!!

MATRISYNTH Ts are $20 in the US and $25 outside the US. This includes the shipping cost, three MATRIXSYNTH cards and one magnet.  A set of three cards and one magnet, minus the T, is $5.

The T-Shirts are from Gorilla Screen Printing - highly recommended. If you get Ts done by them, let them know you found out about them here.

Paypal any amount to matrixsynth *at* gmail.com. Be sure to include the shipping address, size and whether you'd like long or short sleeves.

Below are some MATRIXSYNTH Ts and cards spotted in the wild. If you have them, send them in!

CLICK FOR MORE »

Dana Countryman at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010 Pt1

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 28, 2010

http://danacountryman.com/

"Dana goes over the Ondioline and his DIY controller based on the Ondes Martenot."

Dana Countryman at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010 Pt2


Note this is the last video in the PNW Synth Gathering 2010 series. Click here for all posts.

PNW Synth Gathering 2010 Pics

flickr set by matrixsynth (click here for a full screen slideshow - 127 photos)

It was a great event this year. Speakers included John Bowen with the Solaris, Dougcl with a Buchla 200e, Aaron of Analog Bytes with the Atari Pokey module, Carbon111 with the Yamaha VL1, David Skinner with new modules from Synthesizers.com and the Korg MicroSampler, Scott Jaeger of The Harvestman, Scott Rise of Division 6, John L Rice and his massive modular, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular, Sonja of flight of harmony, James Husted of Synthwerks, Computer Controlled with the Bitchen Sync and other gear, Jeff Sanys with the OLPC, Lorne with various noise makers, and Dana Countryman with the Ondioline and his DIY pitch controller based on the Ondes Martenot.

This was also the last PNW Gathering to be hosted at the Renton Technical College by our gracious host John Marshall. Carbon111 and Laura picked up the cake below for him.

Videos of each talk will follow through the week. I took 23.7 G of pics and video. Big thanks to John L Rice for his 16 G memory card! And Jarett for loaning me his PC to move pics and vids off my memory card.

John L Rice at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnLRice

"John L Rice Goes Over his 5U Modular System at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010. Note this is a module overview, not a music demo. There is some brief modular audio at the end of Part 2 and in Part 3. See John's YouTube channel for what he creates with his modular systems. BTW, I spoke to John at the gathering and he only had one and a half hours of sleep prepping his system before the event. Crazy man! LOVE THE T! :)"

PNW Synth Gathering this Saturday

Just a reminder. See this post for details. See the PNW Synth Gathering label below for videos and pics from previous years' events.

John Bowen and the Solaris at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 26, 2010

http://johnbowen.com/

"John Bowen goes over his Solaris synth at the Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Gathering 2010."



Note: I unfortunately arrived late and missed some of John's presentation. These and the upcoming videos for the event are meant to give those that could not make it, a sense of what the Pacific Northwest Synth Gathering was like. None of the presentations are scripted, at least I don't think they are. :) Just a group of like-minded individuals getting together to appreciate everything synth. More videos will follow. Many will be edited. Be sure to see the pnw2010 label below for more including pics of the event.

David Skinner with Synthesizers.com Q171 and Q172 at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010

http://synthesizers.com/
"David Skinner with Q171 Quantizer and Q172 Quantizer Aid at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010. The Q171 provides three quantization channels. The Q172 adds a fourth channel with expanded features including CV to MIDI conversion."

Note the audio on this one is pretty low. Be sure to turn your volume back down after this one. I had to switch to my iPhone 4 as I ran out of space on my Canon T2i at this point. Unfortunately I missed the KORG MicroSample demo which was pretty fun. Remember these videos are meant to give you a feel for the event if you couldn't make it. Nothing is scripted. Just a bunch of people getting together to talk about and appreciate synths. See the pnw2010 label for all posts in the series.

PNW Synth DIY 2008

flickr set by matrixsynth. Click the pic to bring up the controls and flip through the pics. I actually ran out of space on my video camera, which led to me switching to my camera for video, which let to me running out of space. I took a ton of images and video, but not as much as I would have liked to. The turn out was big this year with MMM, flight of harmony, harvestman and John Bowen as far as manufacturers. Tons of cool gear and tons of cool people. Be sure to check out the images in this set. Jim Patchell was there with his DSM1, FPGA synth with a whopping 512 oscillators. Big thanks goes out to John Marshall for being a more than gracious host this year as usual. P.S. It looks like I reached the limit for labels (20) for Blogger.

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Lorne at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 28, 2010

"Lorne (http://www.youtube.com/kidtronic) goes over his various noisemakers including a modified Roland Compuphonic Jupiter-4 at the Pacific Northwest Synth Gathering.

via Lorne: "The Compuphonic Jupiter 4 is custom modified with four banks of eight user memories. On top are space rockets gristleisms, fm3s, original buddha boxes, a postcard weevil and the jackson pollock-ish item is a Dearraindrop videoscope [video below] by critter & guitari for audio to video synthesis."

Other noisemakers include the Shruti-1, Casper Electronics Drone Lab, Eric Archer, 4ms, and Where's the Party At 8-bit sampler. Click here for all PNW 2010 posts. Another MATRIXSYNTH T :) I added this and John's video to the MATRIXSYNTH Ts post.

AH Bay Area and PNW Synth Gatherings This Saturday

AH Bay Area Gathering Info
"There *will* be a raffle with the proceeds going to the Moog Foundation, and they have some goodies that they're sending out as raffle prizes. If you have anything you'd like to donate to a good cause, please bring it, I [Brandon] will have Moog Foundation thank you notes that can be filled out if you need proof of donation. Bring some cash for raffle tickets!

There will be a few new modules making their debut at this event, so don't miss it!"

It will be at:
TechShop
120 Independence Dr
Menlo Park, CA 94025
10AM-7PM

PNW Synth Gathering (Pacific Northwest in the Seattle Area)
"This year the meeting will be in the K-Quad, K203 and K204. Original post updated."

The Mattson Mini Modular (MMM) will make an appearance - a few systems will be there.

Pacific Northwest Synth Gathering

via David W. Skinner on AH:

PNW Synth 2008

I just heard from John Marshall. The date and time are: October 25th, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

As before, it will be at Renton Technical College, 3000 NE 4th St., Renton, WA. But, it will no longer be in building "C". This year the meeting will be in the K-Quad, K203 and K204..

Great people, great synths, great pizza. Be there!

David W. Skinner"

click here to see some images and video of prior years' events.
Search tip: if you search on events plus a location, posts for events in that location should come up. In this case "PNW events", not "Seattle events", so if the first search doesn't work, try an alternative.

PNW Synthesizer Meeting Reminder

The next Annual PNW Synthesizer Meeting:

Saturday, October 31st
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, doors open at 9:00 AM

Renton Technical College
Building C, Room 110
3000 NE 4th St
Renton, WA 98056

Theme this year: Halloween Sounds/Music

click on the PNW Synth Gathering label below for images and video from prior years' events.

Sonja of flight of harmony at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010

http://flightofharmony.com/

Quick demo by Sonja. Back on iPhone 4 video from this point on.
See last years's post for the gas mask reference.

Update: This video should now play. I missed setting it from private to public. It should be good to go.

Note: new posts are coming up followed by more of the presentations. Remember you can get to the all PNW posts by clicking on the pnw2010 label below. Book mark it or just search for PNW on the site and then click on the label in one of the posts. You should also be able to find a post or more in the Featured Sites link above for a bit.

Also you can find this one at the top of Jul 27 in the archives section. Click it followed by the label.

Introducing the Mattson MAXI Modular!

Today marks the six year anniversary of George Mattson deciding to get back into the synth business with the Mattson Mini Modular.   The first public teaser actually went up here on MATRIXSYNTH back on September 15, 2007.  Pictured to the left is a white prototype sitting on top of a Synthesizers.com system from the 2007 PNW Synth Gathering.

As you can guess, people were astounded by the small form factor. Not satisfied with having the smallest format in the modular world, George Mattson has decided it's time to have the largest.  We are talking hardcore BIG with THE FATTEST knobs and jacks you will find on any system.

I had the honor to announce the original Mattson Mini Modular to the world.  I am now proud to present to you his next format, the Mattson MAXI Modular.  Pictured below are the first two modules in the series, the SQ3/6 MONDO Sequencer and the Jet Engine Noise module.  Each module in the series will come in it's own powered cabinet - one module per cabinet. The Noise module can be set to blow dryer modeo for those live hair in the wind moments.  Don't forget the spandex!  Update: George tells me there is a hidden "Popcorn" mode in this dual system.  It plays Gershon Kingsley's synth classic "Popcorn" and doubles as a popcorn maker. The popcorn shoots out of the noise jacks.  You set the fluff, rate, salt, and butter settings with the SQ3/6 sequencer.

Cowboy and the Vocoder by Redmartian

The track is now available here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/redmartian9

"The song was recording using the MMM for bass and vocoder carrier. The lead is a jupiter-6 and the drums were done using a Sequential DrumTraks. The lead and vocoder (Roland SVC-350) parts were played manually along with the bass/drums which were sequenced using midi via Logic."

Some of you might remember Cowboy and the Vocoder from these previous posts.  The story behind this track has a somewhat intersting and quirky history.  Cowboy was VoiceEncoder's dog.  VoiceEncoder is known for his vocoder videos and demos that became somewhat of an obscure synth meme.  His demos actually came up in a recent conversation I had with someone.  VoiceEncoder would often feature his dog Cowboy in his videos.  Cowboy would just be lying on a bed somewhere while VoiceEncoder talked to him through a vocoder.  Sadly Cowboy passed away on Monday, March 23, 2009 (click through for a tribute post).

The second half of what makes this track special is that it is one of the first tracks predominantly featuring the Mattson Mini Modular (it might actually be the first) [Update: according to Redmartian, "it was the first 'song' on the MMM. I did a few musical demos and orchestrated lute pieces, but this was the first 'pop song'."] It was composed by Redmartian as a tribute to Cowboy.  The lyrics are a dedication to Cowboy and the videos he was featured in.  Below are two videos for the track.  The bottom video was taken at the 2009 PNW Synth Gathering and features the Performance Music Systems Syntar in place of the Jupiter-6 for leads.   The Syntar was the first fully contained keytar synthesizer created by George Mattson, the man behind Mattson Mini Modular.

Cowboy and the Vocoder and the MMM

Uploaded on Nov 5, 2008 redmartian·73 videos

"A song written for a dog who likes to listen to the sound the Roland SVC-350 vocoder. This song features the MMM as well as a Sequential Circuits Drum Traks and a Roland Jupiter-6. (I don't have a Poly-800 .. sorry cowboy).

Here are the lyrics:

Do you know Cowboy
and the SVC-350?
Do you know Cowboy
and the Roland Vocoder?

Hey there Cowboy
I see you there
Lazy gazing
Gazing lazy
Whos my sweet boy?
You know its you.
I like to vocode and you do too.

No Poly-800 to drive the SVC
So I use an MMM as my carrier wave
No Poly-800 but Cowboy doesn't mind.
We all know its the Roland SVC-350 vocoder time.

Audio version can be found here:
http://redmartian.com/napster/Red_Mar...

Don't hate the dog or the vocoder."

Pacific Northwest Synth 2009 - Red Martian

YouTube via matrixsynth.

This is my video of Red Martian's performance. More details here.
http://redmartian.com
http://mattsonminimodular.com - MMM and Syntar
http://www.division-6.com - Midified Skulls
http://acidlab.de - Miami

Note this is the last of my videos from the PNW Synth Gathering this year.
click here to see all posts in the series.

Cowboy and the Vocoder and the MMM

A tribute to the dog Cowboy who passed away.

YouTube via redmartian. Note this is via redmartian and not AnalogVocoder1 (click for the reference).

"A song written for a dog who likes to listen to the sound the Roland SVC-350 vocoder. This song features the MMM as well as a Sequential Circuits Drum Traks and a Roland Jupiter-6.

Here are the lyrics:

Do you know Cowboy
and the SVC-350?
Do you know Cowboy
and the Roland Vocoder?

Hey there Cowboy
I see you there
Lazy gazing
Gazing lazy
Whos my sweet boy?
You know its you.
I like to vocode and you do too.

No Poly-800 to drive the SVC
So I use an MMM as my carrier wave
No Poly-800 but Cowboy doesn't mind.
We all know its the Roland SVC-350 vocoder time.

Audio version can be found here:
http://redmartian.com/napster/Red_Mar..."

And the first track from this post:


FIRST PRODUCTION MATTSON MINI MODULAR DEMO NUMBER FOUR from RED MARTIAN on Vimeo.

"Here is a fourth demo which features a LP and HP triangle wave arpeggiation nearly through out and a quick EG three oscillator bass. The drum kit is the same as in the other demos with no pitch changes or other processing, just dry sounds out of the VCA. There are two leads one is just two oscillators (saw) and the second has a square and a saw with the saw slight modulated by an LFO with high resonance on the filter.

The bass and arpeggiation were played and quantized in logic. The leads were recorded as played."

PNW SYNTHFEST 2011

The Pacific Northwest Synthfest will be held on October 29 at Shoreline Community College near Seattle Washington. Click on the image for the full size shot. Details will be updated on the MMTA (Mostly Modular Trade Association) website here. Save the date!

Note this replaces the PNW Synth Gathering of previous years. If you attended that event you know it is a pretty casual affair. Bring your gear and share with like-minded individuals. There will be three rooms this time around. See the flyer for details.

Dougcl and the Buchla 200e at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 26, 2010

http://buchla.com/

Note Doug is setting up the upcoming PDX Synth meet posted here. Remember, you can click on the pnw2010 label below for all posts in the series.

Update: another video after the presentations.

Back From the PNW SynthFest 2011

Hi everyone, I just got back from the PNW SynthFest (Facebook page here). It was amazing. It was like a mini NAMM meets synth gathering. Three rooms of goodness. I met lots of great people and saw tons of great gear. The MMTA, Shoreline Community College, AES, and the Recording Academy PNW Chapter did a fantastic job hosting and organizing the event. I'll have plenty of video and pics that will go up over the coming days. Bookmark the PNW Synthfest label so you don't miss a thing. Also, I updated the link for the SynthFest banner on the right to point to the label now that the event is over. My goal is to bring a little bit of it to those that couldn't make it. With that in mind and because there is only so much time to post, work, and process, much of what I put up will be raw and unedited, giving you the experience of someone actually at the event. First posts should start going up tomorrow. As for now, it's time for me to catch up on posting! BTW, if you made the event and took pics and/or video, feel free to send it in.

The OLPC at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

Jeff Sandys brought the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) laptop this year. I recording his presentation but the audio did not come through. I recorded the presentation on my iPhone and I'm guessing I somehow covered the mike. :( Apologies to Jeff for this. You can see his presentation last year here. See the following link for more info on the OLPC. He did mention a link to where you can download the synth software on a USB. If anyone knows the link, let me know and I will update the post.

http://laptop.org/en/