Persephone by Carbon111

Persephone is the latest release from Carbon111. Long time readers of the site will know Carbon111 from his awesome synth (and more) resource site Carbon111.com. If you are not familiar with the site, do check it out. You will find in-depth resources on Serge, Mattson Mini Modular, Waldorf's Microwave series (including wavetable charts!), and much more.

But this post is about his latest release, Persephone. The official release date is tomorrow, however, the Bandcamp release is up now (embedded above). CD preorders are currently live and will ship by early December. The CDs will be a limited edition of 300, with custom handcrafted packaging, liner notes, and track list, all signed and numbered. They are professionally replicated CDs, not burned CDRs, and will come in a lovely handcrafted black case. The gorgeous cover painting is by Mike Dubisch.


"The music on this album was created with love and the following instruments:

John Bowen Solaris
Waldorf Microwave mk1
Waldorf Microwave XT
Vermona '14
Vermona Perfourmer
Vermona Mono Lancet
Serge Modular
Sequential Circuits Prophet 600
Sequential Circuits Six-Trak
Analogue Solutions Leipzig SK
Kawai K3 and K3m
Industrial Music Electronics "Azathoth"
Ensoniq VFX
Yamaha VL1 and VL1-m
Yamaha TG33
Nord Stage 76
Korg MS20
Korg Electribe ES-1
Korg Electribe ER-1
Acidlab Miami
Native Instruments Absynth
Native Instruments Kinetic Metal
Bowed Dulcimer
Critter & Guitari Kaleidoloop

All music written, produced and recorded by James Maier
Mastered by Hermetech Mastering

Copyright (c) 2017 James D. Maier

Public Domain animal sounds on 'Spring' courtesy of the US National Park Service

released November 9, 2017"

Carbon111 Goes Soft?

Title link takes you to a post by Carbon111 on Synthwire that features a very nice shot of the Moog Little Phatty on top of a DSI PolyEvolver Keyboard. I was about to put that shot up, when I scrolled down and found the following on Massive:

"Its a 3-oscillator wavetable synthesizer with one of the broadest palletes of sound I have ever heard. I know I've only come to softsynths lately but, right now, I would have to say its my favorite synth ever! Previously the MicrowaveXT held that honor...don't fret though, I'll never get rid of my beautiful orange beastie but for a realtime scanning-wavetable synth, nothing else can touch Massive right now. The interpolation between waves is smooth as silk. It can be brutal or caress your ear like a butterfly's wing."

Now I know this probably isn't that big of a deal to anyone out there, but, a few of you know how much Carbon111 loves his XT. Crazy. Carbon111 knows his synths. He's gone through quite a few including a Yamaha CS60 he recently parted with and he has a Serge Modular. Nothing has dethroned the XT until now. Crazy... Apologies for any images the title might infer. Apologies Carbon111. : )

Studio and Modular P*rn Fest

No title link; all links below. People are posting their modular and studio shots on AH. Definitely drool worthy. I'll add to the list as they come in so be sure to check back. Below is a fantastic shot of the Waldorf Wave by Rikard. Make sure to check out this specific shot of the back of the Wave next. I didn't realize how thin their control panels were. Amazing.



Rikard Latvala: http://www.itsahit.com/rikard/studio2/
AH Bay Area Gathering: http://www.cubanpetemusic.com/gallery/AH-Bay-Area-Gathering
James R. Coplin: http://www.ticalun.net/music/Studio.aspx
Jason Proctor: http://www.redfish.net/red_fish_modular.jpg
daddio: http://www.tapewarm.com/pix
Cyndustries Gallery: http://www.cyndustries.com/gallery.cfm
Doug Terrebonne: http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/dougt55/mymodulars02-06.jpg
bbob: http://www.fluxmonkey.com/fluxinfo.htm
Scott Pfifer: http://www.bigsynth.com
Also linked by Scott Pfifer:
http://www.synthesizers.com/gallery.html
http://www.synthesizers.com/artists.html
Four Serge shots from Carbon111:
http://carbon111.com/serge.jpg
http://carbon111.com/rusty4.jpg
http://carbon111.com/photos/serge_close2.jpg
http://carbon111.com/photos/serge_close1.jpg

Update:
Jason Proctor: http://www.redfish.net/red_fish_modular_new.jpg

"the rack is a Middle Atlantic RL10-38 with accompanying cantilever
base extension and i can't recommend it enough. it solved all my
ergonomic issues and is damn stable and quality to boot (and there's
about 8U left over!). i got mine from Sacramento Audio Supplies and
the combo was $180 plus tax & ship. after selling all the puny little
racks it replaced, i should come out ahead!"

Daddio:
www.tapewarm.com/pix/doepfer.jpg
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/id14.html
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/id13.html
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/fripper.html

Rusty Insects

Title link takes you to Carbon111's Rusty Insects studio page. Rusty insects, get it? I didn't at first. : ) Very cool name for a synth studio. Also, make sure to track back to the root of Carbon111's site for more, including some music composed with these synths. His latest track uses the Yamaha VL-1 and is pretty impressive to say the least. An interesting note on the VL-1: until I was fortunate enough to see Carbon111 play his, I had no idea that the included breath controller actually triggered the voicing - some patches do not play when playing notes unless you actually apply the breath controller. For some reason I thought the breath controller was simply a modulation source. It's much. much more than that. You can hear how expressive it is in Carbon111's track, Long Shadows. Enjoy.


BTW, knowing Carbon111, that is a reflection on that Moog Prodigy's wood side panel, and NOT dust like I mistook on this poor synth. That Prodigy is immaculate.

Shadow - Carbon111

Carbon111 has a new album out titled "Shadow." You can find more info including a few tracks and the synths used for each on Carbon111's blog. Really beautiful music.
Update:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/carbon1112

Synths include the Clavia Nord Wave, Nord Modular, and Stage, the Roland Juno-60, SCI Six-Track, the Korg Oasys, DSI Prophet'08 and Native Instruments' Massive and Absynth 4.

An interesting side note is that is was mastered by George Mattson of http://mattsonminimodular.com/.
Note the credits.

Carbon11 also hosts http://carbon111.com/, an excellent synth resource including some of the most extensive pages on the Serge modular as well as the Waldorf XT. Do check out the site for more.

Carbon111 Shadow

via Synthwire. Gear list so you can hear how each individual synth fits in the mix, per part, per track below.
http://carbon111.com/
http://carbon111.blogspot.com/
GEARLIST FOR "SHADOWS" by CARBON111 (2009)

ARRIVAL
-------
E-piano - Nord Stage
Lead - Nord Wave
Rhythmic Arp - Roland Juno 60
Ambience - NI Reaktor, NI Absynth 4

AZATHOTH DREAMS
---------------
Everything - Nord Wave

DEAD LEAVES
-----------
Lead - Yamaha VL1
Bass - DSI Prophet '08
FM Bell - OASYS
Ambience - Waldorf Microwave XT
Drums - Korg Electribes ER-1, ES-1

BICYCLE
-------
Bass Sequence - SCI 6-Trak
Mellow Piano - Nord Stage
Bright Piano - NI Massive
FM Pad - OASYS
Seagulls - Waldorf Microwave XT
Ambience - NI Absynth 4

PERMANENT SUNRISE
-----------------
All Synth Sounds - John Bowen Solaris Prototype
Drums - Korg Electribe ES-1

RED TOWERS
----------
E-Piano - Nord Stage
FM Bell - Nord Stage
Electric Grand - Nord Wave
Voxy Lead - Nord Wave
FM Whistle - OASYS
Bass1 - OASYS
Bass2 - Roland Juno 60
Bright Arp - OASYS
Drums - OASYS

LONG SHADOWS
------------
Synth Sax - Yamaha VL1
Woodwind - Yamaha VL1
Growl Pad - Roland V-Synth
Smooth Pad - DSI Polyevolver Keyboard
Drums - Korg Electribe ES-1

CROWS FOR MARIE
---------------
Piano - Marie (Baldwin "Acrosonic" Spinet)
Percussion - Nord Modular
FM Pad - Nord Modular
Triangle Pad - DSI Prophet '08
Insects - Nord Modular

INLAND SEA
----------
Piano - Marie (Baldwin "Acrosonic" Spinet)
Pad1 - Korg Lambda
Pad2 - Korg Lambda
Syn Choir - Korg Lambda
Ambience - Waldorf Microwave XT
Drums - Korg Electribe ER-1

SOLSTICE ON MARS
----------------
E-Piano - Kurzweil K2600
Percussion - Nord Modular
Ambience - Nord Modular

Carbon111 and the Yamaha VL-1 at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010 http://carbon111.com "Brief demo of the Yamaha VL1 by Carbon111. Note the Yamaha VL1 is a physical modeling synth and with this particular demo, Carbon111 is using a breath controller to "trigger" the sounds while he plays pitch on the keyboard."

Carbon111 07 - Long Shadows Featuring Yamaha VL1 Physical Modelling Synth

07 - Long shadows by Carbon111

"Shadow is a "chill" album released by Carbon111(James Maier) in 2009. Downloads and CDs are available at CD Baby. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/carbon1112"

via James Maier aka Carbon111 on Facebook

"Song of the day: 'Long Shadows' off my chill album 'Shadow'.
Synth Sax - Yamaha VL1
Woodwind - Yamaha VL1
Growl Pad - Roland V-Synth
Smooth Pad - DSI Polyevolver Keyboard
Drums - Korg Electribe ES-1"

Ashes by Carbon111

Instruments used:

Yamaha VL1, Vermona '14, Dreadbox Abyss, Dreadbox Nyx, Acidlab Miami

released June 26, 2018


More from Carbon111:

https://carbon111.bandcamp.com

The Initiation - Carbon111

On Carbon111

"Lead Drones are from the SCI Prophet 600, Piano is Nord Stage, Pads are provided by Nord Wave, and Metallic Stabs and Drums are Korg Oasys."

Also on MATRIXSYNTH-C

Carbon111 also runs Carbon111.com, an excellent synthesizer resource site.

PNW2008: Carbon111 Demos the MMM, Creature and Six-Trak

YouTube via matrixsynth.

http://carbon111.com

"Carbon111 demos the Mattson Mini Modular, Serge Creature and Six-Trak at the Pacific Northwest Synth Gathering 2008."

Synthesis Technology E560 Deflector Shield - The Lost Demos

video upload by John L Rice

"Index:
0:00 Year 2010 - First test of the new E560 featuring music by Carbon111
2:42 Year 2013 - Subtle demo of the E560 in frequency shifter mode
5:24 End

This video happened because I was digging through some old hard drives and found a few things I had lost track of for years!

The first part of this is a video I had posted to YouTube back in 2010, but out of frustration dealing with YT copyright claims and trying to keep my channel commercial free, I deleted it. The main problem came because I used part of a track by my friend James Maier, AKA Carbon111, and he was totally fine with my use (thanks James! :-), but dealing with YouTube check bots at the time wasn't so easy. This was my first test of the new at the time E560 module and it is also my very first eurorack video! Check out James's site for lots of interesting synthesizer info and links where you can buy his music! 👌
http://carbon111.com/

Modules used in part 1:
Synth Tech E560 Deflector Shield
Doepfer A-147 VCLFO and A-174 Voltage Inverter
Malekko 8NU8R

Part two came about because around three years later there was a discussion on the MuffWigger synth forum (now renamed as ModWiggler) about frequency shifters and how most demos tended to be of the more extreme effects they can create but not many show the subtle uses. I was asked about my missing demo from part 1 here and I couldn't find it at the time so I did a new audio only demo and posted it to my Soundcloud page. I just have a free Soundcloud account and my storage space is limited so I occasionally delete old tracks to make room for new ones. Since I decided to repost the original video, I decided to include the later noodles demo as a "bonus track".

Modules used in part 2:
Synth Tech E560 Deflector Shield and E355 Morphing Dual LFO

Thanks for watching, rating, and commenting, I appreciate you all! 🤗"

Mattson Mini Modular Perched on a Synthesizers.com Modular

The MMM Phoenix series on top of a Synthesizers.com modular at this year's PNW Synth Gathering. Image via Carbon111 in this VSE thread. Be sure to check out Carbon111's updated Syntar page now with the MMM. The modules on the MMM are all the same size whereas the synthesizers.com varies based on the modules. The dotcom uses 1/4" jacks and is based on the MOOG modular. The MMM uses 1/8" jacks and is based on the Syntar (more info on Carbon111's site).

click the image for the full size shot.

Note the MMM pictured is the base system at 12 modules. You can add an aditional 12 modules on the right for 24 modules total. The PSU and MIDI to CV take up two spaces in the default system and are used for the additional 12 modules. You can latch on additional cabinets and each system can be folded into a closed and protected modular suitcase for on the go.

You can find more info on the Mattson Mini Modular here and synthesizers.com here.

Rusty Insects

via Carbon111's Photos

"In this photo: Serge Modular, Serge TKB, Korg OASYS, Electric Uke, Dan McPharlin, Laphroaig, Korg ER-1, Mattson Mini Modular and patch cords, Lomo/Oktava hybrid, Nord Stage, Nord Wave, Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Waldorf Microwave XT, Roland Juno 60, Waldorf Q, Yamaha VL-1, Sequential Circuits Pro-8, Ensoniq Fizmo, Marie (Baldwin Spinet)"

http://carbon111.com/

Don't miss Carbon111's Stealing the Sun made in this studio. You'll find the synths used for each track.

Alphabet Soup #1: The Dual Universal Slope Generator

via Carbon111 on SYNTHWIRE

"This is first in a series of introductory articles, each focusing on a specific Function Block of the Serge Modular synthesizer."

"The Page can be reached directly:

http://www.carbon111.com/alphabet1.html

...or through my Index of Serge Pages:

http://www.carbon111.com/serge_index.html"

New Tracks via Carbon111

There are a couple of new tracks featuring the KORG OASYS, Yamaha VL1, DSI Prophet '08, Nord Modular, and Waldorf XT amongst other synths up on Carbon111's music page, specifically Dead Leaves and Crows for Marie. There are a number of older tracks on the page as well. What's great about the track listing is that each has the list of instruments used so you can get a general idea of what the instruments sound like. Definitely worth checking out. When done be sure to check out the root of Carbon111 for more synth resources including some of the best pages dedicated to individual synthesizers.

Texture - Carbon111

A book of images of textures including synths. I saw a few pages of Carbon111's Texture and it's actually a very interesting concept. When you see images of textures, both nature and man made, you tend to pause, reflect and take the image in. When walking through the book, your reference point becomes that of viewing and appreciating textures. When you come across an image of a synth you can't help but look at it from that perspective. You see the physical textures of the synth much like you see the physical textures in nature. You then make the obvious connection that not only do these devices communicate physical textures, but the texture of sound. You can find more info on the book here on Carbon111's blog.

04 - Bicycle

via James Maier, aka Carbon111 on Facebook:

"Often maligned and despite its simplicity, there's just *something* about the SCI Six-Trak that keeps me from ever getting rid of it. Stack mode is lush and there's just something wonderful about the musical non-linearity of the Curtis CEM3394 filter! The incessant looping bassline in my song "Bicycle" from my album "Shadow" is testament to my love for this weird beastie"

04 - Bicycle by Carbon111
"04-bicycle

Shadow is a "chill" album released by Carbon111 in 2009. Downloads and CDs are available at CD Baby.
Release date: Jan 1, 2009"

Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting 2008 via Carbon111

You can find pics and notes via Carbon111 on SYNTHWIRE

BTW, you will notice the event referenced with PNW abbreviated and spelled out, the word meeting vs gathering, and so on. Same for the AH Bay Area event. I've created labels for each, PNW2008 and AHBA2008, so just click on them to see all posts for the events. The events label will bring up all event posts.

Pictured here: the group and some scrumptious cookies from Carbon111's wife, Laura. Thanks Laura! It was a fun event this year.

Carbon111 Bathes

Title link takes you to Carbon111's site. : )

Carbon111 takes a bath.

Tali