MATRIXSYNTH


Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Spook 2004

One last Halloween post. This one an Alesis Andromeda A6 tune from Dex titled Spook 2004.

Happy Halloween! via Constantine

new from the squarewave parade

the SLOSH BOX - ST
"the SLOSH BOX - ST is a stereo (dual mono) variable resonant analog low pass filter box with a distorting starve function"

the MING MING
"the MING MING is a stereo (dual mono) passive analog ring modulator with an octave up feature"

They will have a batch of TREMBLE parasites available in the next few days as well after they are through testing them

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween folks!

Have a spooky but safe day.

The synth should be easy to ID, but in case you need some help and for fun, you can find some more pics here.

E-Mu E-Drum Modules

images via this auction. via Matthew.

"2 E-MU Systems, Inc. Model 8000 E-Drum Digital Percussion Modules
7 Hard-To-Find Sound Cartridges:

8102 - Rototom2
8107 - Tympani 1
8111 - Grand Piano 1
8113 - Gong
8114 - Bass Drum 1-4
8115 - Rock Ride Cymbal
8117 - Claps

Controls include: Pitch, Sound Selector (for carts with multiple sounds), Pitch Sensitivity, Decay, Bass, Treble.
Features: Trigger Input, Audio Output, DC In, DC Out (allows you to chain the modules with a single power supply), can also be battery powered.
Can be mounted on drum stands"

Yamaha TG33 with Three Voice Cards

images via
this auction. via matthew.

"Yamaha TG33 Tone Generator with Dynamic Vector Synthesis
Original Yamaha Power Supply
3 Hard-To-Find Voice Data Cards:
VC3301 - Stage Selection
VC3302 - Studio Selection
VC2203 - Shofuku (I may be wrong about the number on this one)


The TG-33 sound module is a slightly enhanced key-less version of the SY-22. It is a digital synthesizer that employs frequency modulation (FM) synthesis combined with low-fi (12-bit) ROM samples. However, this machine is not low quality (especially for the electronica-oriented musician). Its preset sounds are a bit thin, however using the joystick controller you can manipulate and combine the 12-bit samples with the any of the 256 FM vector voices. This gives it a range of tone and sound that is as dynamic and mysterious as other vector synths such as the Korg Wavestation and ProphetVS.

Also available is a drum kit, effects, 8 part multitimbrality for layering sounds and 32 note polyphony! Definitely a powerful little beast that can create pretty nice sounds with lots of motion and character. With its wide range of sonic possibility, the TG-33 has what it takes to create unique sounds that will keep you and you're music sounding a little different from the rest!"

i3L v0.2 preview - MIDI for the iPhone

"Based on the forthcoming aka.iphone3, i3L v0.2 will support:
- Multiple screens
- Transition effect
- Accelerometer
- XY slider
- Vertical and horizontal sliders
- Large and small buttons
- OSC port configuration
- Sending and Receiving values
- New protocol (over OSC)
- Multiple iPhone support
- No multi-touch support
- No GUI configuration
Note: No ETA on this. Just a heads-up that it is in the works."




MIDI comes in with i3L MIDI BRIDGE for the iPhone.
"i3L (pronounced "i thrill") is Freeware, and was developed using Max/MSP from Cycling74 and is a support application for aka.remote by Masayuki Akamatsu i3L receives pre-defined UDP messages from aka.remote.app running on the iPhone, scales the values to MIDI, and allows you to configure the sending MIDI channel and control change message number. While this software was developed to work seamlessly with our Real-time 3D VJ software Thrill, ( http://thrill.artificialeyes.tv ) you can use this program with any audio or video software which receives midi messages."

click here for more info and screenshots. via CDM where you can also find a VJ app for the iPhone.

Halloween Modular Track via Drew

Via Drew on the AH list. I asked him if I could put this up here and he gave me the a-OK.

mp3 here

"Happy Halloween -

Last year I set up a big modular patch (Blacet & Metalbox), ran the mess thru some long delays for extra spaciness and left the thing running (at high volume) while we took the kids out trick o' treating. As we walked down the road I could still hear it 8 houses away :)

There are several repeating elements in it, but most everything was clocked by separate LFOs, sequencers, etc. Before I shut it down, I recorded about a half hour of it. Here's an mp3 (36mb):

http://www.ph.k12.in.us/~drew/20061031.mp3

enjoy,
Drew"

tyme sefari

"Voltage-controlled 8-bit sampler/audio buffer.

This circular sample buffer enables digital harvest of external audio, with fine control over loop playback and direction. Perform a sound of thunder with expandable data mutilation options and chaotic buffer addressing, or act as an 8-bit digital delay with flexible source and feedback blending.

I built this thing so I would never have to use buffer~ again.

A prototype has been constructed and efforts now focus on firmware development. Check back later for sound clips and demonstration video.

Expandable with a series of switches for "circuit bending" the behavior of the module, model 1973A "sound of thunder".


specifications
-Voltage-controlled sampling rate/playback frequency.
-Voltage-controlled loop marker positions.
-Manual or trigger-controlled playback direction, loop enable, record/playback
-Input attenuation control
-Feedback amount control, switchable polarity
-Wet/dry mix control
-32kB internal RAM, 2sec _minimum_ sampling time when loop points and sampling rate are at maximum

+/-12V Doepfer-style power connector
-5V power supply encouraged. Onboard regulator available otherwise, 5V power source selectable by jumper.
-Panel size: 15HP" [link]

With the orange and black, I think The Havestman modules win the best Halloween Vibe award. That and the Halloween Thingamagoops of course, and the Microwave XT... and...?

AudioWeevil07 First batch released 31st Oct 2007

"The AudioWeevil has finally undergone an upgrade to 07 version.

The heart of a Weevil is the two lofi squarewave Oscs that get quasi-ringmodded together for crash'n'scream sounds. What we do with the AudioWeevil version is to take an input audio signal and turn it into a squarewave that can then replace one of the internal Weevil Oscs - so your squared input gets ringmodded with one of the internal Oscs for supremely gnarly ringmod and tremolo effects. The effect works best with monophonic sounds - guitar picking or keyboards - the sounds are extreme!

This new version ups the stakes by building in a mixer stage which allows blending of the Dry audio, Squared Audio (a very overdriven version of the dry input) and Ringmod (Weevil) output before it is passed through a powerful resonant LowPass filter. And now there's also a modulation LFO to sweep internal Osc1 and the filter cutoff. This LFO has two speed ranges (right up into audio rates which work great for filter modulation) and three waveforms - ramp, tri and sawtooth. The LFO is one of the nicest features of these new Weevils!

Another fun feature is the internal mini-amp/speaker. This allows you to make noise on the move and the sound is pretty different to what you get from the line-out, so there's possibilities for nice creative recording experiments. And it can chuck out quite a hefty sound - though, be aware that it can chomp through batteries pretty quickly when the amp is driven hard..." click here for more info including more details, images and sound samples.

NASH THE SLASH


YouTube via TheLittleDevil. Sent my way via LDT: "this is from 1978 or so. He plays electric mandolin and violin but also used back then lots of analog goodies and beat boxes. His main keyboard was a Crumar Multiman which he controlled with some sort of pedal arrangement."

Spot the synths. Be sure to check out a bit of each if you can't make it through the full videos. There's a bit of a Halloween vibe going on in Parts 2-4, so enjoy.

Video Descriptions:
NASH THE SLASH & FM live 1985 part 1
The success of Nash The Slash's 1984 album 'American Bandages' (he would receive a CFNY-FM CASBY Award nomination for single of the year) that brought about a reunion of his old band FM -- Martin Deller and Cameron Hawkins make cameos on the album. Slash needed to tour the album but double bills with The Spoons seemed ill-suited for the bandaged one's eclectic noodlings, so FM hit the road doing their old standards and Nash doing his proven solo material.

Nash's label, Quality, were impressed enough to offer FM a reunion album and so 'CON-TEST' was released with a promising single/video "Just Like You" to establish the '80's FM as Canada's answer to The Cars. Alas, as was FM's karma, Quality decided to eliminate its recording division just as 'CON-TEST' was gaining momentum and the album hung in limbo. MCA records jumped in to save the day and re-issued the album without missing a beat but the momentum had been lost. Martin Deller had decided he'd had enough and decided to finally retire and spent more time with his family.

NASH THE SLASH RISES AGAIN 1978 part 2 - 4
This is a rare find!!
NASH THE SLASH didn't even know this still exsisted and I got this copy from an old beta tape loaned to me by his brother.
This was before the bandages so I have obscured Nash's face.
I hope you all enjoy!!!
A TV Ontario special, entitled 'Nash The Slash Rises Again', featuring paintings by Robert Vanderhorst set to the music of Nash The Slash aired in 1978. Live performances by the two artistes soon followed and included a one hour "pulsed, multi-screen audio-visual show" entitled 'Bombardier', (a reworking of a similar project from 1976). Nash would release musical segments of this production on his first two solo records, including the first EP, 'Bedside Companion' (1978). Robert Vanderhorst's cover art may have been instrumental in starting the mystery of Nash The Slash's appearance by deliberating obscuring his face.

Happy Halloween via Lenny the Lemur

Ron West sent this one into the AH list. You gotta love Lenny.

BTW, if you have any Halloween synth content, feel free to send it in. My contact info is on the bottom right of the site.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Quantix8 - 4Mb SRAM Quantizer / Wavetable oscillator demo 1


YouTube via papareil1024. via Nusonica.
"Beta version of the Quantix8 in action. This video show how the ZeroCrossing detector work ...The sound is also made with the quantix8 with but come from a previous audio recording....

Quantix 8 will be available soon ...

To learn more go here [Papareil Synth Labs]."

x0xb0x Vids via matrix12x

No, this is not me and there is no affiliation with Matrixsynth.

Matrix x0xb0x


x0xing


x0xb0xV2

"Playing with my x0xb0x and Electribe and a boss DS-1 distortion box. Music is better and so is sync, recorded using crap little mic on video camera. So you hear me everything I do, like click on the damn Boss.
Hagedorn's "camera"
does not have a line or mic input, so it is what it is."

YouTube via matrix12x. via Nusonica.

Lesser's Craft | San Francisco Electronic Music Festival

flickr by solsken (click for more).

full size

Blacet Modular

keybdwizrd - Avebury (original)


YouTube via keybdwizrd

"Original composition featuring Access Virus TI Polar and Korg Micro X synthesizers."

Metasonix TM-3 Tube Oscillator

images via
this auction.

via brian c.

Mystery Sequencer

Currently up for auction on VEMIA. If you know more about this one, feel free to comment.

"Retroverb on Acid", Modular Synthesizer and Spring Reverb


YouTube via pepemogt.
"Here is an Oscilllator square wave sequenced by the Doepfer MAq-16/3 and analogue systems joystick the output was feed directly into the retroverb (spring reverb)[Vermona]. (no effects, recording directly to sound card) enjoy! (original sequence extracted from Latinsizer live at Mutek.mx CD)"
You might remember Latinsizer from these previous posts (be sure to scroll).

First Person Oxygene Part II


YouTube via rfoshaug.
"As a follow-up to my "First Person Industrial Revolutions" video [previously posted] (thanks for all the kind comments!), I've now created a new part in this series... wow, it's a series now! :-)

This is a cover version of Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene Part II, performed by me and filmed from a first person perspective. Synthesizers used: Korg M3 and Korg Radias.

Everything that looks like it's being played live (wooshing phaser synth strings and lead) is live."

Casio CZ-101

images via
this auction

Yamaha DX7 Voice ROMs/Soundsets

images via two auctions:


VRC 104 Percussion Group

VRC 105 Sound Effect Group

More packaging details. The VRC 105 has the red strip while the VRC 104 has yellow. The geek in me is curious what the others were and what other colors were used. Yep.... I'm going to have to start one of those "you know you are a synth geek if..." threads.

I wonder what "image" sounds like.

For the full set of ROMs see this post.

Yamaha GX1


click here for an amazing flickr set of a Yamaha GX1 up for auction on VEMIA. Yamaha tone board pictured below. In the flickr set, click on any image followed by the All Sizes link to see it full size.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Yamaha AN200 Demo

I finally got around to listening to the Yamaha AN200 demo linked to in this previous post. The demo mp3 is being hosted on a file share site here. It took forever for me to download on a cable connection so I thought I'd put it up on Twango for others to enjoy without the wait. It is probably the most diverse demo of a synth I have heard to date. At first I questioned the auction's claims to the AN1X being designed to emulate the TB-303, Prophet-5 and Minimoog, but you can clearly hear the emulations and more in this demo. Hit play and check out the other posts for the day. This marks number 40! Must... take... a... break...

mp3 demo here

wire to the ear Free TimewARP Soundset

click here for the post with samples.
"My absolute favorite soft synth is a recreation of the ARP 2600 from Way Out Where. It’s called the Timewarp 2600 and it screams, bleeps, grinds and explodes. No other plug-in I own has such detuned madness happening inside it. Today I give you my first free sound set for the Timewarp 2600. If you don’t own this synth you owe it to yourself to head over to Way Out Where’s website and try the demo."

via Oliver Chesler (The Horrorist) of Things to Come Records.

KORG KOASS PAD KP3 OS 2.0

Looks like OS 2.0 is up on the JP KORG site. Nothing on the US site as of this post. via sequencer.de:

- Polyphonic Sample Edit Mode
- New Sample Playback Trigger Gating Options
- New Loop Type Option

Update via Sean in the comments: "english language download at link"

side view

flickr by nakedintruder

full size

"side view of fully assembled 'mystery module'" coming from The Harvestman.

mystery module

Patching Pub

flickr by PatchingPub

click here for the full size shot.

The Electronic Arts Foundation

"The Electronic Arts Foundation was started by Tom Rhea, David VanKoevering, and Les Trubey (my father) to promote electronic music and preserve historical electronic musical instruments.

What follows is the text of an article written by Tom Rhea in 1976 for Contemporary Keyboard magazine. Reprints of this article were included in an info package with each synthesizer sold.

Tom Rhea is the president of the Electronic Arts Foundation, has done extensive work as an electronic music clinician, and has served as a synthesizer consultant to keyboard players such as CK Advisory Board member Keith Emerson. Rhea has a Ph.D. in music from the George Peabody College, in Nashville, Tennessee, with The Evolution Of Electronic Musical Instruments In The United States as his dissertation topic. Tom is also a member of MENC (Music Educators National Conference) and the Audio Engineering Society, and has written instruction manuals for Moog Music's performance oriented synthesizer line."

link to full article

Reissued: Gakken Denshi EX Electronic Experimenter's Kit

"The kit includes instructions for 150 different projects. The text is Japanese only, but there are illustrations of each project to help you put them together, although the final result may come as a complete surprise. The projects include several radios, a lie detector, motorcycle and gun sound effects, wireless microphone and a variety of logic circuits [AND, OR, NOT, NAND and NOR]."

Someone needs to come out with an audio/synth centric version of one of these. regardless, this does look pretty cool. I have a Radio Shack Electronics Learning lab with a bread board and well written project guide. I highly recommend these things if you want to learn the basics and just have a fun toy to play with.

You can find more info on the Gakken on Retro Thing.

Roland SH-5 on Aliens Project

click here for more images on Aliens Project.

via sequencer.de.

Con Brio ADS200... in a van... down by the river...


A little humor in the title for any fans of Chris Farley and his classic Van Down by The River skit on SNL (Saturday Night Live).

Humor aside, Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook sent me some exclusive shots of his Con Brio ADS200. You can check them out here. More will follow after the show mentioned below. If you remember from this previous post, only two of these were made and this one has just been resuscitated. If you are in the area you can see and hear it at "The FAIR and the MUSEUM: Sat/Sun 10-6 pm!! Exhibits from 2-6pm!"

More info on this shots from Brian:
You will see -
1) Con Brio ADS200 - the one I've had for over almost 15 years. This was me driving it up to a "vintage computer warehouse" in Silicon Valley - hoping we could get it running again.
2) Con Brio ADS200-R, which was picked up on the way, where it had been stored in a garage! Or the main part of it - minus the keyboards, which are already taken out. It hadn't worked when it was put away either - and no discs or manual, alas...
3) One of the main boards inside (forget which one), there are about 10 inside, various functions.
4) The wiring BEHIND that very board - now you can see why this stuff was so expensive to make - this is called "wire wrap" construction, and VERY time intensive - and you can't make a mistake!"

genoQs Dev Environment Tutorial

Grabriel of genoQs wrote in to let me know a tutorial on setting up an Octopus OS development environment is now available here as a pdf.

"Credit for this document goes straight to John Kimble, who was brave enough to take a few hints from us and turn them into a perfectly running installation of the Octopus development environment. At the same time, John was kind enough to capture his experience and gained expertise into a written document, which he supplied to us so we can make it available to the rest of the Octopus community.
Thank you, John!"

And thank you Gabriel for making the OS available to the community.

Genoqs Octopus Basic Demonstration 6


YouTube via DayflightTrok. Be sure to check out the previous demonstrations.
"free definition about how notes should be played in a sequence."

Crumar Spirit


YouTube via fututronic. via Nusonica.

"The Crumar Spirit was designed in 1982 by Bob Moog, Jim Scott & Tom Rhea. It was not a commercial success so only fifty to one hundred of these beauties exist!

It has a 37-note keyboard with 2 VCO's. There are saw, triangle, and several square waveforms on both oscillators. You can sync both oscillators. The oscillators have an octave range from 32' to 4'. Ring Modulation, low and high pass filters, 12 DB & 24DB slope, single & multiple triggering, keyboard filter tracking, band pass filtering, loudness envelope, filter envelope, arpeggiator linked to LFO (mod-X) with 4 different arpeggiations, LFO 1 modulated 6 different ways, a second waveshapable LFO called (shaper-y) with 4 fixed waveforms and shape control adjustable from saw to reverse-sawtooth, performance panel to include Auto & preset glide, and 3 performance wheels, pitch, Mod-x, and Shaper -Y. with the latter 2 having 5 different destinations. An audio mixer with ability to mix OSC A & B with Ring Modulator, and Noise. LFO 1 also has a red noise generator as well as a brightness control for overall boost of the high frequencies. A filter envelope with inverted and normal ADSR & a loudness envelope which can be bypassed. Output Jacks: External Gate in, External Pitch in, Keyboard Pitch out, Keyboard Gate out, OSC B Pedal, Filter Pedal, Shaper Audio Out, ADSR Mix Out, External Audio In.

Features * Bob Moog design! * 37-note keyboard * Saw, triangle and several square waveforms on both ocillators" Crumar Spirit video.

Silver Mystery Modular

Currently up for auction on VEMIA. If anyone knows more about this one feel free to comment or email me (contact info is on the bottom right of the site).

Theis TMSS Modular


Currently up for auction on VEMIA.

Variophon and Martinetta Enthusiasts' Page

via Steamy Vicks in the comments of this post.

click here for the website in both German and English.

MOOG Sonic V Brochure

via
this auction. via Bill.

"Extremely rare brochure from the early 1970's. 8 1/2 x 11", 2 pages. I wonder if these ever even made it into production? I've seen lots of old Sonic 6 synths, but never one of these. And what happened to the Sonic 1 through 4 models?"

According to the book Analog Days (p. 254): “In a nine-month period between December 1971 and September 1972 Van Koevering recorded 121 different sales in 107 different cities in 25 different states. In this period he sold 86 Minimoogs and an additional 168 synthesizers (Sonic V, Sonic VI, and Satellites), plus a range of accessories, including Moog T-Shirts.”

You can find the book on the right Synth Books section of this site.

MOOG 902 VCA Brochure

images via this auction. via Bill.

"Extremely rare brochure from 1974. 8 1/2 x 11", 4 pages. Much better graphic design."

Synthesizer-Magazin #5


German Synth mag via seqnuencer.de is out.

Click here for more info.

Synth content featured:
* Cwejman - Wowa tells ..
* Yamaha CS01- underestimated & small
* Moog Modular system today - what bringts and how can such a thing today?
* Native Instruments-solid-solid one in the face, or are they "just software"?
* Theremin Story
* Virsyn Poseidon Resynthese or Rehsynthese? The moose test!

More Circuit Bending Challenge 2007 Coverage

Click here for the post on GetLoFi. You will find tons of videos and images.

Synton Bow Tie and Hankerchiefs!


Too funny. via
this auction

"Great fun - a mint unused unopened Synton promo bow-tie and handkerchief, in blue. Very much from an era when men like Bob Moog and Felix Visser wore suits and had long conversations at trade shows. Sold in celebration of Synton, now that Felix is selling up his own gear and retiring."

Also one in
silver grey. (another of the Syrinx colours!)."

Note these are interesting items Peter Forrest is putting up to promote the VEMIA auction. You will notice a number of posts going up here this week. Peter has been gracious enough to offer me some very nice hi-res shots of items going up. We get the shots for posterity and those that might be interested in picking up any of the items will get the heads up. Do note that not every single synth will get a post, so be sure to check out the auction periodically for updates.

MFB Step64 step sequencer + ARP Odyssey Mk3 by RetroSound


YouTube via retrosound72. Sent my way via Marko.
"ARP Odyssey Mk III + MFB Step64 step sequencer more info: www.retrosound.de
The MFB Step64 is a step sequencer with 64 steps, up to 4-voice polyphony, 15 shuffle settings, MIDI in/out and 4xCV/Gate outs."

ARP Odyssey Mk3 Analog Synthesizer by RetroSound


YouTube via retrosound72. Sent my way via Marko.
"short demo of the ARP Odyssey III with FM, sample & hold and VCF-Modulation
more info: www.retrosound.de"

SONOLUMINESCENCE

"Todd Barton, Terry Longshore, Suzee Grilley, Michael Maag and Bruce Bayard creating improvisational sound, movement and light." [link]

Todd uses a variety of synths in his performances, ranging from the Roland JP-8080 pictured to a moog, serge, buchla and pro-one.

The image in this post is the PR photo for an upcoming sequence of three concerts. Pretty cool when bands use images of synths so prominently in their promotional material.


click here for their website were you will find some performance clips, images and more.

Circuit Bending Challenge Roundup

"Furby and Jesus, keyboards and guitars and laser gun blasters, pre-natal heart monitors, toys and instruments and strange unidentifiable electronics — in one day, all these things evolved from one thing into … something else. Babies and bigger adult people took to their shops, spent huge amounts of money (one dollar! two dollars!), and came up with remarkable designs. Some were beginners trying their first simple bends, some were serious builders, constructing really playable (if glitchable), convincing instruments. If you’ve never considered bending before, this could change/blow your mind. And for bending lovers, we have quite a range. Thanks to our friend Circuit Master at GetLoFi and Mike Una here on CDM, here come pages of results from the Circuit Bending Challenge I… -PK"

Click here for the post on CDM.

Sequential Circuits Remote Prophet

images via
this auction. via Dave.

"The Prophet Remote is an oddity easily stumbled upon in music shops and the like. It was designed as a strap-on remote keyboard for the Prophet-5. That's right, now the keyboardist can join the ranks of the hip-swayin' and hair-tossin' guitarists at the front of the stage! The Remote connects to the Prophet-5 via a 20 foot long cable designed to interface with only the P-5.

The Prophet Remote has controllers in the hand grip for pitch bending, LFO modulation and volume or filter cutoff. There are also program / bank select buttons for loading up different patches."

Analog Heaven Compilation - 2007

" Analogue Heaven is an email list established in 1993 for the discussion of analogue music equipment. This compilation, created in 2007, is a collection of contributions from list members, centered around the theme of "Sputnik" to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the launching of the Russian satellite.

Technologies used include analogue synthsizers and effects. Where possible, a list of tools and a description of the creation process are provided by the author(s) of each piece with accompanying links to MP3 and FLAC files. Individual MP3 are 320kbps."

click here for the site with tracks and descriptions.

Note the compilation is still being created. Some tracks are up but others will surely follow. I was going to hold off on putting up this post, but the AH list has over two thousand members from what I've heard from numerous sources, so anything that goes to the list is pretty much public the second it arrives. Be sure to check back for additional tracks. If a "the compilation is done" email is sent to the list I will do my best to put up another post.

Update: The page is just a placeholder for the time being. I'll put a new post up when it is done. Sorry folks, I jumped the gun on this one.
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