NOISE.KITCHEN SYNTH FEST - June 12 - 15 Brno, Czech Republic

"NOISE.KITCHEN SYNTH FEST SynthFest = tweak + listen + build + enjoy SYNTHS

Bastl Instruments, Kabinet Múz and Skleněná louka are inviting you to the first year of Synth Fest in Brno, Czech republic. Whole friday in Kabinet Múz will be dedicated to Synth Meeting where you can try and listen to many various synths from all over the world which will be presented by their own makers. In the evening the main hall will turn into a place where dance will be inevitable.

Saturday will host informal moderated brunch with Peter Kirn of Create Digital Music about the present and future of electronic musical instruments. In the afternoon the festival will move to Skleněná Louka where various synth building workshops will take their place. But mainly there will be opening of very unique synth shop NOISE.KITCHEN. The evening will be dedicated to more experimental electronic music in the basement stage. Sunday, Monday and maybe also tuesday will give a chance to build mainly (but not only) Bastl Instruments modules and synths for really crazy cheap prices!

The event is supported by the best deputy major for culture Matěj Hollan.
more info at w​ww.noise.kitchen/synthfest​or h​ttp://www.bastl-instruments.com/modular/

Program

Friday 12.6.
Synth Meet​- 11:00-21:30 - meet the makers, try out and buy crazy instruments !
(Kabinet Múz, Sukova 4, Brno)
Synth Party​- 21:30 - ??:?? - epic music ! dance inevitable ! HRTL(Cz), PROJEKT DATALINE(Se), PETER KIRN DJ SET(Us/De), MASTER CLOCK sharing (Kabinet Múz, Sukova 4, Brno)

Saturday 13.6.
Synth Talk​- 12:?? - 15:?? - talk about the future of music with Peter Kirn of CDM (Kabinet Múz, Sukova 4, Brno)
Synth Workshops​- build synths ! 14:30 - ??:?? (Skleněná louka, Kounicova 23, Brno)
Noise.kitchen grand opening​- 16:30 (Skleněná louka, Kounicova 23, Brno)
Noise.Kitchen Party​- 20:00 - ??:?? - experimental, noise, dance, ambient, electricity, love (Skleněná louka, Kounicova 23, Brno)

Sunday 14.6.
Synth Workshops​-11:00 - ??-?? - (Skleněná louka, Kounicova 23, Brno)
Bastl synth workshops​-11:00 - ??-?? - (Skleněná louka, Kounicova 23, Brno)

Monday - Tuesday 15-16.6.
additional B​astl synth workshops​if needed :) (Skleněná louka, Kounicova 23, Brno)
21.5.2015 vaclav@bastl-instruments.com

Confirmed participants:
E l e k t r o n ​( S E ) , K​ o m a E l e k t r o n i k ​( D E ) , M​ e e b l i p ​( U S / C A N ) , E​ r i c a S y n t h s ​( L V ) , B​ u r n k i t 2 6 0 0 ​( U S ) , Soulsby​(UK), G​inko Synthese​(NL), F​alafular​(NL), E​rror Instruments​(NL),​D​in Sync​(DE), B​R Laser (AT), L​.E.P.​(IT),L​OM Instruments​(SK), Jožka Říhák - E​lektron​(CZ) B​astl Instruments​(CZ), BuranElektrix​(CZ), A​utiolab​(CZ),​S​tanda Filip​(CZ), P​avel Ondračka​(CZ),​P​avel Richtr​(CZ)
Still considering participation:
E n d o r p h i n e s ​( A T ) , A​b s t r a c t D a t a ​( U K ) , X​a o c D e v i c e s ​( P L ) , B​e f a c o ​( E S ) , A​D D A C S y s t e m ​( P T ) , T​e e n a g e E n g i n e e r i n g ​( S E ) , G​i e s G i e s k e s ​( N L ) , A​l w i n W e b e r - C i r c u i t C i r c l e ​( D E ) , P​r a s e S y n t h ​( C Z )"


gieskes.nl Synth Car

Synth Car V1

YouTube via ggijs
http://gieskes.nl/undefined/synth-car/?f=V1

CLICK FOR MORE »

Formant (Part 1) on Synth.nl

Another project by Synth.nl
"I have been planning to build a Formant modular for a long time as well. I found all the documentation on the Internet and was already reading myself into this material. But I also saw that building these projects take a lot of time take keeps me from producing music. So I looked several times to buy a used set. But most of the times they just didn't fit my needs. Until very recently. I found a very nice set on a Dutch website. They guy that sells it even lived very close to me. At first I started bidding, but later I just mailed him what he asked for it and decided to go for it. I will pick it up on Monday if all goes well."
Note: Synth.nl also put up Part 5 of the ASM-2.

Synth Artist Interviews via I♥SYNTHS

You might remember the I♥SYNTHS interview with Richard Devine previously posted here. Jim Smith of I♥SYNTHS has been sharing new interviews on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge.  There are currently a total of nine artist interviews.  The following is a list of each with with one pic, one quote and one link to the full interview.  You'll find some great synth spotting throughout and of course you'll get some insight and perspectives on the synths and more from each artist.  You can also find I♥SYNTHS on Facebook.




009: Shawn Rudiman

"I♥SYNTHS: What was your first synthesizer?

Shawn Rudiman: My first synth was a Yamaha b200 M. That was what started me on this wild ride. It was a Prosumer FM 8 voice / 4 op poly. I got it for Christmas in 1990. I believe I was 18 and It was my first real love. That poor synth has had a lot of flight time hours on it. They keys have started to degrade and melt and the buttons are all in need of serious replacing as well. I still love it and pull it out sometimes. The next day after that Christmas, I went out and picked up an HR16b, with whatever money I had saved. I still have that as well and it’s been modified now with the patch bay-hack that scrambles the 16-bit data lines which makes the sounds totally into something new."




008: Custom Synth

"I♥SYNTHS: You’ve done some custom synths for celebrities and famous musicians. What was your most unique or original project?

Custom Synth: One of the most unique projects was for Tom Rowlands (The Chemical Brothers studio). I built a midi controller keyboard to sit in the bumper rail of a large SSL mixing desk. It has a detachable cover to match the rest of the desk and two modular cabinets. One was for the Serge modular system in a two piece metal arch and the other was a MOTM system to match the Roland 700 system."




007: Kebu

"I♥SYNTHS: What was your first synthesizer?

Kebu: A new Kawai K1 II, which I hated because it didn’t have a decent piano sound and the black keys were harder to press than the white keys. I probably would appreciate it now for what it is, but back then I would have needed a PCM-based workstation, like a Korg M1 that I lusted for, but couldn’t afford back then. Soon after, I found a used Roland SC-155 (Sound Canvas module), which I really liked but realized that I really need the patch storage capability for live use, which the SC-155 lacked. I then realized that synths are VERY different from each other. Not in terms of nuances, like with different types of guitars, but more like apples and oranges. I also realized that by learning and trading on the second hand market I could try many different synths without loosing too much money. So the Kaway K1 was the first and only new synth I ever bought. After that, I’ve had over one hundred different hardware synths."




006: Soft Lighting

"I♥SYNTHS: What’s your go-to piece of gear that defines the Soft Lighting sound?

Soft Lighting: I usually choose a different set of tools for each album because I think it helps give that body of work a uniqueness. The first album, “Slow Motion Silhouettes” was all done on the Juno 60 and the drums where a lot of old Casios so it has a real washed out lo fi vibe. “Portraits” was made with the DX7, Juno 106 and Roland drum machines so it has a cleaner more digital sound. Now I’m working a lot with my Virus TI which is taking the sound out of the realm of vintage 80s and taking it to a more contemporary place."




005: Synth.nl

"I♥SYNTHS: What was your first synthesizer and how old were you when you started collecting?

Synth.nl: I still remember exactly what my first synthesizer was, the Yamaha TX81Z. It is a rack module so I had to buy an extra midi keyboard, that at that time wasn’t even velocity sensitive. It must have been around 1987 when it was just released. So, I was 17 I guess. That adds up, since I bought it from the money I got to buy a moped from my parents, when I didn’t smoke until my 16th birthday. I guess their trick worked since I still don’t smoke. I also still have the TX81Z with my original sounds I made back then. I can also remember well, that FM programming was not easy and still isn’t easy."




004: Richard Devine

"I♥SYNTHS: What is your go-to synthesizer when writing music? Is there one synth that defines the Richard Devine sound?

Richard Devine: My go synth would have to be the Nord G2 modular. This is hands down one of my favorite synthesizers. The concept is that its a virtual modular software environment where you can create basically anything you want. You then can assign multiple pages and knobs over the the synthesizer for all your patches. So ahead of its time, and I wish Clavia would bring it back."




003: Dallas Campbell


"I♥SYNTHS: When did you start collecting gear and what is your prized possession?

Dallas Campbell: This dude I knew in college let my roommate and I borrow a four track cassette recorder. I was pretty much hooked on gear and music after that. I started buying synths about 10 or so years ago. I’m guessing the rarest thing I have is a Yamaha SY20. I don’t think it was ever released outside of Japan. All the writing on the synth is in Japanese! My favorite synth is probably my SCI Pro-One for mono and the Korg Polysix for poly. As for favorite fx units, I would say the Dimension D Chorus, Multivox Multiecho Delay, the Eventide Space Reverb, and the Roland SBF-325 flanger."




002: RetroSound

"I♥SYNTHS: What is your favorite synthesizer that you can’t live without?

RetroSound: My absolute favorite synthesizer ever is the Oberheim OB-X (not the later OB-Xa). The raw sound and the power is pure sex. It’s really the best!"




001: FM Attack

"I♥SYNTHS: If you were stuck on an island with one synth from your collection, what would you bring?

FM Attack: That’s a tough question. I think I would probably go with the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5"

Yusynth on Synth.nl

Synth.nl is documenting his progress on the construction of a Yusynth DIY modular. You might remember his similar posts on the ASM-2 and more previously posted here. The posts are definitely worth checking out if you are curious about one person's experience in creating a DIY modular synth.

The following is a small excerpt from the latest post: "I made quite some progress today. I almost finished the VCO and LFO modules now. I'm still missing 4 resistors and 4 trim potmeters, but I will get them next week. I did correct an error as well. I mounted two 10K resistors on a spot where 18K should have been. I found this out because I had two 18K resistors left ;) So I started looking where they were supposed to be. Always good to do these kind of cross checks in the end. In the picture on the left you see all the modules I have so far. Still a lot to go."

Synth Spotting with 'Keyboard Jeff' aka 'Synthex' on Synth.nl

via Synth.nl where you'll find the full post and more pics.

"Jeffrey is 13 years old and a very talented keyboard player with a unfamiliar musical taste for a boy of his age. He doesn't play dance of whatever, but he likes 80's synthesizer music..."

Synth.nl

Image via synth.nl where you'll find a ton of synth information including shots, music, details on various synths, and more.

Upcoming Sound Labs at Amsterdam Dance Event Oct 14 - 18

Workshops at this years' Amsterdam Dance Event currently include Moog, STEIM, Ginko Synthese, and Falafular Synths. Details follow.

ADE Sound Lab: a modular synth heaven

"The modular synthesizer has always been an integral part of dance music, and ADE Sound Lab will shed a light on its heritage during a three day modular synth bonanza.
If you're planning on visiting ADE Sound Lab make sure to grab the annual ADE Card, which allows you to access MusicTalks and live performances.

Modular synths have been on the rise of late. Their new found popularity boosted the modular market in unforeseen ways. The market has spiked like never before, and there are ever more and more musicians, artists and producers making their own modular set up in search of unique sounds and machinery.

ADE Sound Lab focuses on the history and heritage of synths by inviting sound designers, inventors and even some legends of the modular world to inspire you with talks, workshops, performances and a Modular Market. By exhibiting the latest inventions in (modular) synthesis ADE explores the realm of the development of new electronic instruments, (modules for) modular synthesizer systems and audio installations, as well as innovations in the field of image and visualisations of sound. Amongst other work, ADE Sound Lab introduces the Modular Expo.

Do It Yourself Synth Building Workshops
You can not only play around with existing modules and modular systems, but you can also build your own synthesizer. ADE Sound Lab offers several Do It Yourself workshops, some free of charge, others for a fee. The latter will ensure you can take your brand new, playable synth back to your home studio.

Moog’s Chris Howe will head the workshops on Thursday and Friday. Friday will see a workshop that will be led by STEIM - Hypothetical Instruments, which will focus on the future of electronic music, what instruments will be needed and how we will correspond with those yet-to-be-invented modules. On Saturday, the DIY Workshop will be hosted by Ginko Synthese who will let you build your own synth with their very own DIY kits. They’ll even let you make a case to harness the instruments. Falafular will host on Saturday. If you like to learn more about prices and workshop registration, keep a close eye on our website and the respective event pages.

Workshops
Moog Werkstatt by Chris Howe (Moog Music Inc, US)
Werkstatt Workshop provides a way for synth experts and novices alike to explore subtractive synthesizers. Through hands-on instrument modifications, participants will learn the fundamentals of subtractive analog synthesis and the control voltage paradigm. Analog synthesizers have long had their own maker culture born of curious engineers, physicists and hobbyists who have created and crafted their sounds through electronic experimentation. It is our goal to share our love for learning, music, and electronics by encouraging everyone to create the world they want to hear, one mod at a time.

STEIM - Hypothetical Instruments
In this workshop you can design machines for creative expression. Working with low and no-tech, you’ll build non-functional instruments aimed at inventing the music machine of the future. By taking as a starting point how an individual imagines the experience of playing electronic music, we will spend the afternoon making the perfect machine or instrument for that person. This process is directly informed by the designers and researchers from Native Instruments, Johannes Kepler Universität and STEIM, with the goal of making instruments that are positioned on the bleeding edge of technology.

Ginko Synthese
Ginko Synthese, the braindchild of Jan Willem Hagenbeek, aims to close the gap between the stage and the studio. At ADE Sound Lab they will be presenting easy to build cheap DIY kits. The components are available at a reasonable price. The popularity of these kits is currently spreading across the world fast, meaning that a lot of new user codes are becoming available almost weekly. You can use these modules as granular oscillators, wavetable oscillators, drum synths and even as clock sources just by uploading a different code.

Falafular Synths
Falafular is the SDIY brand that enabled Falafelbiels (Niels Kloet) to build himself a fabulous modular synthesizer. The ’S’ in SDIY stands for soldering, and Niels Kloet will show you the nit and grit of Do It Yourself synth building.

ADE Sound Lab is organised by ADE, in cooperation with Creative Industries Fund NL, the Dutch fund that offers sound pioneers and innovators an opportunity to demonstrate what they are working on, as well as helping them to develop their talents further in a 'hot house' environment.

ADE Sound Lab
Dates: Thursday Oct. 15 - Saturday Oct. 17
Time: program starts at noon
Venue: Compagnietheater
ADE Sound Lab is a free program (except for the ADE MusicTalks series and live performances, free for ADE Card holders, also accessible for 1 & 5 Day conference ticket holders)."

List of Synth Techs by Location

If you are a tech or know of one that should be on the list, email me - it's matrixsynth at gmail.com.
Only submit those you can recommend or know are recommended by others.

Also see:
Syntaur's list of service centers.
https://www.getrecommended.com for user recommended techs.
Mike Overacker's list on arpodyssey.com.
http://www.synfo.nl/pages/synthrepair.html - List of techs around the world

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USA

AZ
Kurt's Amps & Keyboards
MTroniks

CA
Perfect Circuit Audio
Wine Country Productions - everything Sequential Circuits
Analog Synth Service (Greg Montalbano), https://www.getrecommended.com/greg-montalbano/ - Prophet 5 Specialist & more.
This Old Synth (Chris Hewitt)
Audio Design and Service
Rosen Sound

CT
On The Bench

FL
EPR Pro Audio Electronics - via Subtronik: "Been to them a few times to service my K2000 and never was dissatisfied."
SDMachines - "Since 2005 I've been customizing and modifying and repairing 80's, pre-80s drum machines, synthesizers having limited syncing capabilities from their original manufacturers..."

GA
CMS - Cirocco Modular Synthesizers - ARP specialists but Moog and, EMS also listed.

IL
A Sound Education - via ./luther: "Steve is the tech here, formerly of Midwest Music Menders. Very good with synths."

KS
Thesis Audio Service - Mike Metz

MO
vansickle audio - 573.823.4379 - via spunkytoofers: "vansickle is just a little guy in the midwest but he's a really cool dude that will talk shop, does lots of cool custom work and cabinetry, and will be able to work on just about any vintage synth.. he's had some interesting vintage pieces come through his shop that he's sucessfully repaired.. he's a little bit of an anomoly for the middle of missouri which is also middle of nowhere in terms of synthesizers."

OR
Portland Custom Shop - Synapse Audio Systems

OH
SECRET SERVICE - 541-2292 - via spunkytoofers: "i think secret service changed their name due to problems with the name but i have used various equipment that people have sent in to them to get repaired including old wurlys, the old conn electric band, amplifiers, etc."

Analogics

PA
RetroLinear in North Wales

NY
Ears
The Analog Lab
Patch:Work

TX
Switched On in Austin, TX! 512 782 8806



Interwebs
Synthpro

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Mexico

Akira Honda - referenced here.

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Canada
Ramcur in Montreal
Rick Smith in Vancouver - echo7even at yahoo.com
Brian Dekok in Ottawa - brian_dekok at yahoo.ca

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UK
Synth Repair Services
Clacktronics
NORM LEETE

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Europe

GERMANY
Tubbetec
SynthesizerServiceDepartment in German - via Till Kopper: "I can recommend SynthesizerServiceDepartment in Germany close to the home town of Waldorf synths. The name behind this company is Achim Lenzgen. He used to be one of the few technicians here in Germany able to fix a PPG wave in the late eighties. I had to contact him often and we shipped individual boards of my PPG waves back ad forth several time. Before he started his own business, he was the tech behind the Synthesizer Studio Bonn which used to be THE synth shop in Germany for many years."
Studio Repair (Niko Riehm) from near Frankfurt/Main (btw: extremely interesting his picture archive)
SND (Sebastian Niessen) in Munich
Xtended in Berlin (that is, where jomox split off)
http://www.ampology.de in Hannover (the website is in german only). via Florian
http://www.sequencer.de/synth/index.php/Synthesizer_Repair - list of techs on sequencer.de

OTHER COUNTRIES
www.virtual-music.at (Alexander Guelfenburg) in Austria
Elektroakustik Wagner in Austria
gotharman in Denmark
MOS-LAB in France
The Laboratory of Sound in Netherlands (featured in this post)
Saint Eric in Netherlands - Arp Specialist
List of Techs in Norway - via Rune: "I can at least vouch for Service Partner Instrument Workshop, Oslo where I have recently got some gear repaired myself. I see that Locomofon, Oslo may not be accepting new orders at this time, but may be worth mentioning still."
Synthoma in Spain
phono1337 (dinsync) in sweden
www.defekt.ch in Switzerland
Synthorama in Switzerland

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South America

Argentina
Sintetizadores - Hernan Baldi - Buenos Aires

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Australia and New Zealand

AU
Secret Life of Synthesizers

NZ
Kiwitechnics
Dogmatek (Tim Prebble)

The Dark Trilogy & The Dark Quaternity Doepfer Based Systems

YouTube Published on Apr 18, 2012 creativegallerysynth·24 videos

Playlist:
1. Michelle live: controls Custom Doepfer: The Dark Quaternity - "Michelle controlling the Dark Quaternity live for the first time. Background strings from D-70 live by Dad. (6:13) Pictures of the cabinet at http://www.creativegallery.nl"

2. Dark Mission (Transmission 02): The Evolution of The Dark Quaternity..(pictures) - "Slideshow-video with pictures of the first DIY prototype synth's which are based on Doepfer's Dark Energy. It shows The Dark Trilogy (based on 3 DE's) and The Dark Quaternity (based on 4 DE's) as well as the second and third cabinet on The Dark Quaternity. The video shows some pictures of the first time! construction. Following constructions will be different (learning process..) "Transmission" (The Robot voice) comes from the "Flame Talking Synth". With the third cabinet on the Dark Quaternity this project is ended for now.. For more projects or info you can visit: http://www.creativegallery.nl"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Synth.nl Studio Shots

Synths
Workspace
Racks

Synth.nl

ASM-2 on Synth.nl

"Today I also started working on the ASM-2. Most of the components arrived. You can see the stack of components in the picture on the left. Yes this will actually become a synthesizer :) Sorting out all the components was the first task and checking if I had everything. I knew some resistors were missing since they were in backorder. But probably I will find out along the way what I'm really missing. I put all the components in plastic bags, so I can't loose them. But from the amount of resistors only I know that this will be a lot of work to build."

Click here for the full post on Synth.nl. BTW, check out the root of the blog for more that has gone up recently including a post on the Cwejman S1 MkII.

Formant (Part 2) on Synth.nl

You can find the full post on Synth.nl here. Also see Yusynth (Part 6) here.
"When I studied it closer I was surprised about the fact that the PCB's of the modules were not fixed to the front panels. A lot different than the Yusynth modules I'm working on. There is a whole metal construction in the wooden case to hold the modules. Also the whole inside of the case is covered with tin foil. This is done for shielding purposes I guess. Another thing I was a bit surprised about is the stuff that was laying around loose in it. From the loose components and the wooden housing I could tell that there used to be a back panel, but that is missing now. It was probably ripped of by force and took a lot of components with it."

Update: Formant (Part 3),

Synth.nl 'Apollo' Studio 2009

You can find more pics and the list at Synth.nl's Apollo Studio page. Massive.

Click here and scroll to see some prior posts on the making of Apollo Studio. Be sure to click through the links in the posts.

Synth.nl - New Studio Shots

New studio shots are up on synth.nl. Click on the Studio link in the header when you get there.

ASM-2 (Part 4) on Synth.nl

"Yesterday I received another bunch of parts for my ASM-2. With this parts I finished the PCB. I only miss two 120 nF capacitors. The strange thing is that no manufacturer has those values anymore in their assortment. I will ask Elby Designs if they can supply them or maybe I can replace them with 100 nF or 150 nF. I don't know how critical the value is. Two other components are not fitted yet."

You can find the full post on Synth.nl.

Synth.nl Studio & Planetarium Show

via synth.nl where you'll find a couple more shots, info on the upcoming show and link to audio for last year's show.

Click the image for the full size shot. I did not label everything.

Building a SammichSID on Synth.nl

via Synth.nl. You'll find other projects documented from start to finish there as well. If you are new and/or interested in DIY, it will give you a good idea on what goes into them.
"Last week I started another new DIY project. It is a SammichSID synthesizer. Actually I will be building two of them one for my Friend Hans and one for myself. It is a bit like the MB-6582 I build before but a bit simpler. It has only 2 SID chips on board. But it will have that same fat Commodore 64 sound that brings you back to the 80's right away."

The Siel Kiwi on Synth.nl

"The Siel Kiwi. It is an Italian build 6 voice polyphonic analog synthesizer with two DCO's per voice. It has quite good filers with nice resonance. For that Siel used SSM chips. And it also has 3 LFO's. Actually quite a nice machine. It sounds a bit like a Roland JX3P only a bit better even I think. It is quite nice for bass sounds. And it looks quite different from what I have seen before as well."

You can find the full post on Synth.nl.

Synth.nl on the Jupiter-80 - Hands On Impression

"Most people start with comparing it with the Jupiter 8. Well I can tell you it has nothing to do with that classic. So forget that association right away!.. In the GAIA you have 3 one oscillator synths that you can stack all with their own LFO, Filter, VCA, two envelopes and an effects sections. Well you can stack 8 of those in the Jupiter 80 without any polyphonic restrictions. So that gives you 27 one oscillator synthesizers in a stack :P I can tell you the sound power coming from that is amazing."

See Synth.nl for the full impression.