MATRIXSYNTH


Friday, September 30, 2005

EMS Synthi 100


Interesting thread on the EMS Synthi 100 on Vintage Synth Explorer. Two interesting tidbits that got me to post this. One in the History page of the EMS Site it lists Belgrade in The Users section. Optimus prime on the thread followed up and it turns out they have a Synthi 100. Two, the Synthi 100 is featured on Meat Beat Manifesto's later work including some shots of it in a DVD called "Tino Vision." I will definitely have to check that out.

Ray Kurzweil


Seems like Kurzweil has been making the rounds lately. Aside from Kurweil Music Systems he is one the most prolific inventors of our century. Click here for a CNet article on him.

Fairlight CMI


Retro Thing has a good post up on the Fairlight CMI. Very cool. Enjoy.

Synthesizers.com 44-Space System for Sale


Yowsa! Click here for more including some beautiful shots. I saved the shots here, as I'm guessing they will eventually come down off the site.

"What can one say about .com? It's the modular Bob Moog himself regarded as the contemporary modular "that got it right." I think that appraisal is a bit fairer to .com than to some other makes I also admire, but there it is from the big man. Various owners who are conversant in electronics report amazement at the bomb-proof quality of the circuitry, wiring, and construction. It really is built for the long haul, as John Mitchell used to trumpet on AH."

New Synth Shots and Progsounds Synth Forum from Luca Capozzi


Luca Capoza from Italy sent this my way. Click here for his forum, Progsounds and Zioaxiom will take you to his Flickr set. There is an articles section on Progsounds available to registered users. Thanks Luca!

Alesis MMT8 Sequencer


Two shots of the MMT8 including one of the inside sent my way via Andre Vezina. I remember when these were considered "IT" for sequencing. They were the standard and considered the best; so much so I remember there being classes on how to use them in an audio engineering program. I always wanted one at the time, but couldn't afford one. Amazing how simple it looks. I love this shot without the original face plate. Very industrial, which was appropriate for it's time. Thanks Andre! Click hear for his site including more pictures and music all made with the MMT8. Listening to Quartz now. Good stuff.

"After many years of utilisation, the switch board of the Alesis MMT-8 was in bad condition. I did'nt want to get rid of it simply because in my case, this is the perfect tool and I know it by heart.So I decided to fix real switchs directly on the circuit board. After one day of working, the result became an hideous polymorph thing with all fonctions working perfectly.

Maybe one day I will decide to make a more fashion panel."

I say keep it the way it is! It looks better to me. : )

Synth Shots from Josue Arias


EMS Synthi pic in from Josue Arias. Thanks again, Josue!

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Driscoll Modular


Update: Some comments with additional info from Ken below. Click on comments at the end of this post.

Wow. Josue Arias sent this to me. You can put this on the list of the rarest of the rare. I'm not one to benchmark rarity against, but I've never seen or even heard of one of these before. The only thing that comes up on Google is this site with a brief reference of the Driscoll. The Analog Heaven archives come up dry as well.

Josue refers to the Driscoll as a Driscoll/Serge modular. He states, "the 'serge' part is just because the similar modules in it (Slope generators, Random voltages, cv processors, Analog shift register,...) and because my system even have a serge 5 stage sequencing programmer!, but driscoll designed the same functions than the serge modular using another electronic aproach and design, so is not a clone(!)"

The Driscoll was built in the 70s by Australian composer/designer/engineer Julian Driscoll. Josue, believes the original Driscoll was a 10-12 panel system.

As for the sound?
"The sound for this synth is incredible, its really "organic", it sound like creatures more than electronics : ) I have it next to my 4 panel serge and I really like the driscoll sound a lot more."

http://www.cyndustries.com/bugmusic/17.mp3

"All the water drops/woodblocks/marimba/rithms, comes from the driscoll. I think it show the organic qualities. I`m ataching you a couple of photos but they are from my old studio"

Wow. Thanks for sharing this Josue.

Update:
Josue gave me the ok to post the following thread. Thanks Josue!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I`ve found some of the conversaions I had with australian composer
Warren Burt, He used the Driscoll and even it have a CD now for sale
made with it!:

"Hello Mr. Burt,

I`m Josue Arias, a musician and sound engineer from Madrid(SPAIN)
I just got the old Segemodular tape from 1983, and I`ve found you have
a nice piece there called "You want, maybe, something a little intense
diatonic?"

Korg MS-20 - New Flickr Shots


Awesome shots of the Korg MS-20 via Flickr.

Modded Roland TR-606


Update: More on Analogue Haven. Mod doc here.

On the'bay. Wow. It almost looks photoshopped to me. Hrmmmmm... If it wasn't on auction, I don't know if I'd believe it. Nice though. : )

From the auction:

If you think this is just another TR606 with a couple of tweaks then you are wrong..!! This is the most modded TR606 on the planet and it has to be seen and heard to be believed. It has had the following upgrades and mods:-
All switches have been replaced with new parts (They get unreliable with age, this acts and feels like new)

All Led's have been replaced with blue Leds, and Led's have been added to each voice too, so you can see as well as hear which drum is sounding.

It has a full Analogue Solutions tonal mod (costs £140 inc vat), this adds the following extra controls:-

BD; Tune1, Tune2. SD; Tune, Snappy, Noise Decay. LT/HT; Tune, Sweep. CY; Mix (between 2 sound sources), Decay. HH; Tune (affects CY too), OH Decay.

It has individual trigger outs for each voice and longer gate outs too (with selectable voltage), these were added so that it will drive Analogue Solutions and similar Drum modules.

It has individual outputs for each voice in addition to main output.

It has trigger buttons for each voice added, so that individual sounds can be auditioned without the drum machine running.

It has a fine tempo control added for emmm fine control of tempo..!!

Both the internal clock and accent are available as external triggers so that they can drive envelope gates for filters, VCA's, frequency shifters etc on modular synths.

It has Midi clock input added so it can be slaved to an external sequencer or Cubase, Logic etc.

It has a large capacity Lithium memory backup battery added so that you don't have to worry about loosing patterns if the batterys go flat - this should last about 10 years.

The drum volume controls and the dinsync socket have been moved from the TR606 panel to the expander panel to make them more intuitive.

It has a built in power supply with a 230v IEC connector, mains lead is included.

It has a high quality 12 channel stereo mixer with pan controls added, use this with internal voices via patchcords or use it with external triggered drum modules.

It has an 8 way multiple included too (ideal if using this 606 as part of a Doepfer modular setup).

It is in perfect working order and comes with a bound copy of the TR606 manual. It does NOT include the original vinyl carrying case because it's now too big to fit into it..!!

The panel itself is standard 6U size so it will fit into a rack, however it includes a custom made wooden case with rack rails so it can be free standing too.

EMS Putney Sample


Right click here and save. This came in via chaircrusher aka Kent Williams on AH. I asked him if I could post it and he gave the ok. Thank you Kent! This is an amazing showcase of the EMS Putney.

"I just got an Electribe ES-1 sampling drum machine on Ebay, and this is my first 'test' track with it. I ran the EMS Putney mono into the ES-1, and messed around a bit generating noises and sampling them.

I then recorded a couple of takes of the ES-1 with Putney sounds sequenced, messing a bit with effects, I also recorded the Putney live, and some more conventional drum sounds. Then I did some editing and processing in Acid.

The loop at the beginning is the ER-1 in 'beatslice' mode on a Putney sound.

I need to figure out how to maybe get things a little more varied, and less 'in your face' all the time, but it was a fun exercise, and should give you a really good idea of what a Putney can sound like."

Kurzweil Borg


Via Gizmodo. No VA1 for us, instead...

A Borg

Tokyo Synthesizer Hunt - New Flickr Shots


Wow. Huge set of shots in via bdu on Flickr.

The shot below looks like something from one of my synth dreams.

If I wake up I wonder if this post will be there.... : )

Moog on the Moon


Jonathan Lutz posted this on AH. Looks interesting. If anyone knows more or can actually make this in Philly, please feel free to comment.

"The Franklin Institute presents this spectacular analog synthesizer show featuring an out-of-this-world visual journey on the Fels Planetarium dome. Includes tribute to the late Bob Moog, inventor of the famous Moog Synthesizer."

Update via AH:
"Mark Jenkins is flying in tonight from the UK. 2/3 of my band Xeroid Entity (I'm unavailable Saturday night) will be at the concert. Orbital Decay from Quakertown, who have played many times on my radio program (Galactic Travels, WDIY, Allentown) as well as on Star's End (WXPN, Philadelphia) and at the Soundscapes and the Gatherings concert series, will be there. All three bands played at the fantastic new Electro-music festival last June. (See http://electro-music.com for details.)It's a Moog tribute concert in a planetarium.

1. There will be analog synths.
2. It's being held in a planetarium.
3. The musicians are top shelf.

Conclusion: If that isn't enough to get you to go to this, then you must be living in Timbuktu. ;-)

Cheers,

Bill Fox - http://soundscapes.us"

Miniorgan - Realistic Concertmate Rhythm Box


Trip. Never saw this before. Title pretty much says it all. It's a rhythm box made in 1981. Not sure if it's analog and/or whether it uses any design or components from another manufacturer like the Realistic MG-1 did with Moog. Click here for more on Miniorgan.com, a site worth checking out in its entirety and on it's own.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Hammond 102200 Synthesizer


Haven't seen one of these in a while. Shots pulled from this aution so they are not lost. More info in this Vintage Synth post.

Roland JX-3P - New Flickr Shot


Cool shot via Flickr. I think that is a JX-3P.

INetSynth


Saw this on Music Thing. The weird thing is I swear I saw and read about this synth a while ago somewhere. I remember thinking it was overpriced and odd, but for the life of me I can't remember where. Title link takes you to the auction. Music Thing link takes you to their post on it with more.

"The INetSynth is a true stereo 96kHz digital hardware synthesizer with tons of cool features like multi oscillators, filters, envelopes, LFO's and a programmable matrix. It has 16 layers, each with a programmable arpeggiator and a keymap, finally the synth has 128 tones polyphony and 2 built-in stereo effects, a real "work horse" for music production"

Minimoog Voyager Sequence

Someone on AH posted this track by Mathew Davidson as an example of a Minimoog Voyager being controlled by an external analog sequencer. Thought it was a nice track and a good example of the Voyager. Note that because the Voyager is monophonic, this piece was done by laying down one track at a time. Title link takes you to Mathew Davidson's site with more of his tracks including notes on each. Swimming is the title of this track.

Kurzweil VA1

2004 Kurzweil VA1 Musikmesse Video Demos

Published on Nov 16, 2015 matrixsynth

"A collection of short demos of the Kurzweil VA1 at the 2004 Musikmesse. The synthesizer never made it into production. The engine instead made it into the PC3X."

Original post from 2005:


The synth that wasn't. It was shown by Kurzweil at either NAMM or the Musikmesse. I forget which. Check out the display. It was a working model and people at the show heard it. The thought at the time was that it needed some polishing and the MSRP was going to be a bit pricey, but people were excited. We haven't heard from Kurweil since as far as I Know.

Update: Thought the following in the comments below was worth putting up in the main post. Thanks Mike. I agree that the competition combined with price at the time is what probably shelved it. It's too bad as it looked like it had a bit of potential. I wonder what the inside word at Kurzweil was; what would the engineers and the team working on this have to say. It's an amazing bit of synth history nonetheless.

"I saw and played the prototype on the 2004 Musikmesse in Frankfurt. It was still in Beta as many features were not working, but it sounded ok, though not spectacular as far as i remember.

Maybe they discontinued it, regarding the competetive market of Va's these days.

However, it's a shame that a manufacturer like Kurzweil seems not to be able to release "their statement" of a 21th century synth. Especially considering the undoubtable genius of Mr. Ray Kurzweil. Maybe it just get's overhauled and will find it's way to the market at one point. But guys, you have to throw something more in there to catch interest. The usual 2 OSC, 2Env one DCF isn't enough these days...

Cheers,

Mike"

Octave The Cat


New Octave Cat fansite. Great, now I'm going to be reverring to the synth as Octave the Cat. Cool site including samples. Very Goth.

Clone of the Knobs


I previously posted about Club of the Knobs. Title link takes you to some interesting info on them. Remember ARP cloned the Moog filter and backed off, the Octave CAT was perceived as a clone of the ARP Odyssey, and there are plenty of Minimoog clones out there. The line for me is when you one, give due credit and respect to the original (don't hide anything) and two you get the blessing from the original creator if that creator is still in business or owns the design. A clone should be a compliment or a tribute to the original, not a rip off.

Speak and Roil


Flash based Speak and Spell. Title takes you there. Reminds me of the flash based Drum Machines I posted on earlier. Imagineif you were able to sync these online devices. That would be interesting. I can just see the live performance now. The network is down! The network is down! Hey, can you move over a bit, your blocking my wifi.

Breakaway Vocalizer 1000


Via GetLoFi. Interesting. Like a digital vocoder of sorts. Well, more like vocal processor, but still it does look interesting. Click here for a list of programs and some samples. Title link takes you to GetLoFi with some more shots and a link to one for auction.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Remember to use your synths

That might sound odd, but seriously, how many of you have an extra synth or two that doesn't get much attention; just sitting there waiting for the right mood? Well, make sure to turn them on, dust them and tweak them now and then. A common problem is just plain dust setting on contacts and pots. I sometimes find the best fix for a stuck key or scratchy pot is to just use it a bit. The problem sometimes goes away. The title link takes you to a post on Vintage Synth Explorer, where a tech actually says to try using the gear a bit first. Makes you think twice about that "mint" synth on the 'bay that has been locked in storage for years. : )

Ultravox Gear P*rn


Yowsa! I posted earlier on Ultravox, well looks like the thread has updated and there are some amazing live shots of the band's performance in Live Aid '85 and Top of the Pops. I remember staying up all night to see them perform on Live Aid. It was amazing. I'll never forget when Billie Currie whips out the violin during Vienna. Wow. I remember the thing that bothered me at the time was that Midge Ure was the other half setting up Live Aid with Bob Geldof, but it seemed like he got zero credit. I heard he worked a bit on Live 8 with Bob again, but I heard zilch - just a rumor on a blog somewhere. I still need to look it up and confirm. Anyway, Title link takes you to the thread with more shots. If they go down for whatever reason, post a comment in this thread and I'll put them up here. I saved them just in case.

Howard Jones' Prodigy on the 'bay



Update: Via Synthmatic on AH

"Hi,
The Prodigy differences are as follows:

Serial numbers below 4160 have the single audio output and are difficult to
modify.

Serial numbers from 4161 to 8077 are easier to modify and have a newer
printed circuit board which accommodates the appropriate interfacing pads. They
have the single audio output.

Serial numbers 8078 and above have the S-Trig out, Kybd In/Out, OSC In, VCF
In, Sync In, Audio Out jacks.

Moog Music had two kits for the modifications. One was for serial numbers
below 8078 (9 additional jacks) and the other was for serial numbers 8078 and
above (4 additional jacks).
They both had the same overlay in the kits. you just used half of it for
serial numbers 8078 and above.
I have installed the mod for the additional 4 jacks and found it quite
simple. It looked really good too!
Below is the list of jacks from left to right on the rear panel:

[GATE OUT, GATE IN, AUDIO IN, KYBD IN][S-TRIG IN/OUT, KYBD IN/OUT, OSC IN,
VCF IN, SYNC IN] AUDIO OUT

Hope this helps.

DW"

Update: In this shot http://www.matrixsynth.com/blog/media/Moog/howardjonesprodigy/b1_3.jpg it looks like the updated prodigy with extra jacks. You can see the new faceplate.

Update: Multiple sources say the model in the Howard Jones shots is not the factory model with the extra ins and outs, but rather this is:

More pics below.

Update: via AH, there are two models of the Prodigy. The latter had additional inputs and outputs for pitch, VCF, and sync control.

This is an interesting one. In via Vintage Synth Explorer. Click here for the auction. Title link takes you to the larger auction shots saved for posterity.

So, my question is why are these two Prodigies different in the back? See the update above.

PSP Rhythm Composer Update


I posted about the PSP Rhythm Composer on 8/14. The problem with the Rhythm Composer was that it only works on OS 1.0 and OS 1.50. 1.52 and 2.0 aren't supported. Well, Make just put up a post on how to downgrade from 2.0 to 1.50 for anyone that cares to try. Title link takes you there. I'm going to pass myself and hope the recent OS 2.0 cracks will eventually lead to the PSP Rhythm Composer making it's way to 2.0. BTW, looks like PSP Rhythm Composer also got a new GUI update (pictured below). Compare to the earlier post.

Load of PPGs for sale

You don't see this everyday. Title link takes you to the post.

Analog Playground Items on the 'bay


In via AH. Analog Playground is doing some Fall cleaning. Title link takes you to some goodies including this Roland CR-78.

Bagpipe Synth


Update: Some more shots from Josue Arias. Thanks Josue!

Update: Via the comments, this is real. Very cool. Thanks Josue.

"Yes it real for sure... I trade it for some doepfer modules from the person who posted that photo in AH. Now is here in Spain.
I`ve not used it very much for now, but the thing is real strange, I think its a sort of comunnications encoder, for voice or morse messages, then there must be a similar "decoder" unit to bring back the message.
The thing is not blueish, but grey, its an effect because the ambient light. weight a ton and is fully discrete, no ICs inside. There are 5 diffrent cards inside, similar to those cards inside the EMS synthi.
The mic input is a 3/8 (?) jack like those used in the multimoog so I still not tried the mic input. there are two banana inputs that acept voltages for modulate. The "bagpipe" is a kind of sequence of pitches when you set it at low frequency. Is a good box for strange tone clusters, sequences and fx noises, not for melody ; )"

This came up on AH a while ago. I have no idea if it's real. It looks a wee bit photoshopped to me. Click through title link for a bigger shot. If anyone knows what this is, let us know.

Chromed 808


Chromed Roland TR-808 that came up in my picture collection. Not sure where I got this.

More Circuit Bending from GetLoFi


GetLoFi is on fire. The Circuit Bending world seems to be having a lot of activity lately, I can barely keep up. The cool thing is the majority of it is synth based. Check out this whacky looking sequencer. I couldn't find info on it but I'm guessing that wheel on top is what sets the pattern. Title link takes you to more.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Ultravox Synths

Update: See new post on Ultravox gear p*rn.

Update: Add the Oxford Synthesizer Company's Oscar to the list. Can't beleive I forgot that one.

Ultravox at one point was my favorite band growing up. They defined a pivotal period in my adolescence and had a huge impact on me. They are actually what prompted me into wanting to play synths to begin with. There is an excellent thread going on Vintage Synth Explorer on Ultravox and the synths they used.

Listed so far (the majority of credit goes to Micke:

  • Elka Rhapsody 610 - first three albums (pre Midge Ure)
  • Yamaha SS30 string machines - Vienna up until the mid 80s
  • Yamaha CS80
  • PPG Wave 2.2 - 1982/83 onwards
  • Yamaha DX7/TX816 - TX816 sometime in 1984
  • Oberheim OB-X - on 1981's "Rage in Eden"
  • Emu Emulator I - Sampled Synclavier strings on Hymn
  • ARP Odyssey - Lead on Hymn
  • Emu Emulator II - Strings on Reap the Wild Wind live (the Yamaha SS30 was originally used - I always wanted to know what those beautiful strings were)
  • Moog Minimoog - in Vienna


Amazing. I always wondered what they used. The strings in Ultravox's Reap the Wild Wind and early New Order/Joy Division are my absolute two favorite string sounds. New Order/Joy Division used ARP strings.

Yamaha SS30

Favicon!


No title link. This is a funny post for me, but Fernando Alves just sent me a favicon! I never really thought of having one. Well it's up, so enjoy. : ) Thanks Fernando!

Hillwood SY-1800


Update: From Mikael Lindgren via AH:
"Hi there,

It's a dual-voice synthesizer that dates from 1979 or 1980.
The same synth was also released as the Multivox MX-75 dual-voice synthesizer.
I'd say with 99% certainty that these were made by the Hillwood company in Japan.

here's a couple of pics. Aside from the different logos they look pretty much identical.

This example says Multivox on the front panel but "Pulser" on the backpanel:
(the ID plate reads "Model: MX-75")
http://hem.bredband.net/linmik/multivox-pulser_MX-75.jpg

and the front panel on this says "Pulser":
http://hem.bredband.net/linmik/Pulser_M-75.jpg
"

Update: Via slabman in the comments below. More on Hillwood featured in this Sound on Sound article titled A Tale of Two String Synths.

From the article:
"Flipping the lid on the [Multivox] MX202 provides a bit of a shock. I expected to see either the Roland or Multivox name on the circuit boards -- but I was disappointed. Instead, I found the name Hillwood, a little-known Japanese manufacturer who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was a company founded by a Japanese gentleman called Kazuo Morioka, whose name translates as First Man Wood Hill. Morioka thus gave his name to the Hillwood synths and keyboards released throughout the mid-to-late '70s, as well as the short-lived manufacturer Firstman. Furthermore, Morioka was working in partnership with other manufacturers, rebadging some Hillwood products as Pulsar, and developing yet more for another Italian company, Solton. But where did Roland fit into all of this?"

I checked my image stash for the Hillwood M-75 posted below. I didn't find any, but I did find some shots of the Hillwood SY-1800:

Hillwood Pulsar M-75


Update: It's actually the Hillwood Pulser not Pulsar.

Update: Some shots from Brandon Daniel via the comments of this post: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdu/sets/1036641/. Very cool. Thanks Brandon.

In via Brandon Daniel on AH. Never saw one of these before. Anyone know what it is? The search engines are coming up nill. I'll post back if anyone on AH has more info.

Tim "Love" Lee - Electrocomp EML 100 & Macbeth M3X Musings

In via AH. Some interesting tracks by Tim "Love" Lee featuring an Electrocomp EML 100, Macbeth M3X and Roland TR77.

"While I'm in a posting mood, let me tell you about my new album (which was released last week):

It's called Against Nature (after the novel by JK Huysmans) and was made almost entirely with an Electrocomp EML 100 and a Macbeth M3X. You can check it out on iTunes, Amazon etc and at www.myspace.com/timlovelee. There's a tiny bit of Roland TR77 drum machine and some live kit drum and percussion (recorded by Pere Ubu's Tony Maimone no less !) but mostly it's analog synths.

cheers

Tim Love Lee

www.tummytouch.com"

Jazz Infection


Sent to me by liam cloyd (lu-chu). Some interesting music happening at the Jazz Infection. Title link takes you there. A note from lu-chu on his gear, "the beasts i use in my setup currently are an arp axxe a juno and a mikrokorg (which to me has surprisingly more power than i would have expected) plus all sorts of non synth instruments. all solo stuff. recorded in ableton live" B'Angelo has some interesting tunes there as well. Good luck guys, I definitely like what I hear. : )

Worm Synth and More Oddities


Create Digital Music has a post up on an Analog Synth Jacket. I clicked through and found the Worm Synth. I remember seeing the wonderful Worm Synth a while back. It basically works by literally placing a worm or two on the surface of the synth and let it do it's thing. When worms touch the different pegs, different effects occur. Click through title link for more. I don't believe the worms feel anything based on his other designs. My first thought was that would suck to be the worm. Also do they even have nerves? : )

http://www.ciat-lonbarde.net/crowns/index.html

3rd Annual Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting


In via AH. In Renton, Washington, near Seattle. It's from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. I missed last year's meeting as I was out of town, but I'm hoping to be at this year's from 10:00 - 12:00; then I head out to my 2 year old daughter's, b-day party. : )

Image from last years meeting. Not sure what this is but it shure looks perty. : )

3rd Annual Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting

Saturday, October 1, 2005

Renton Technical College
Building C, Room 111

Additional information at www.sound-photo.com

Take care,
John
http://www.sound-photo.com/
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