MATRIXSYNTH

Star Trek: The Crier In Emptiness

video upload by powerrecordsproject

"Motion comic adaptation of the Power Records Book and Record set Star Trek: The Crier In Emptiness PR26"

I just listenend to this on a 1975 copy on vinyl. It's essentially about a UFO synth. I was curious what synth might have been used for the audio.

Someone on discogs commented:

"It's easy to laugh at the hokey premise ("the crew of the Enterprise explore never-before-visited space, and encounter... a Moog synthesizer"

Quite a bit of it actually sounds digital. In 1975 digital synths were pretty limited. Remember, the Yamaha DX7 would not come out until 1983. Back then you would have had the RMI Keyboard Computer (Model 300), released in 1974 by Rocky Mount Instruments (RMI). The Synclavier would not come out until 1977 and the DKS synergy in 1982. The Bell Labs Programmable Synthesizer as played by Laurie Spiegal (also known as the Alles Machine or "Alice") was developed in 1976 by engineer Hal Alles, a year later.

If anyone knows what was used for this Star Trek release, feel free to leave a comment.

Interesting side note: they communicate with it by playing music. Note this was before Close Encounters of the Third Kind, released in 1977.

Oberheim TEO-5 does Tangerine Dream style sequences

video upload by Vykaar Tones

"Oberheim TEO-5 being sequenced from a Behringer 960 sequential controller with ratchets added using a Doepfer A-160-5 and the CV/Gate converted to Midi using Tubbutec uTune module. Eventide Timefactor Delay added in mixer output."

Oberheim OBX8 and eventide H3000 on synth

video upload by P wizard

Oberheim OB-6 Band-Pass Pad + Strymon BigSky Cloud

video upload by Chris Richardson

"The OB-6 keeps surprising me. This patch uses the band-pass filter to create an airy, orchestral-style pad with a very unique character

To finish it off, I'm running the OB-6 through a Strymon BigSky using the Cloud algorithm, adding depth."

ART FXR Multi-Effect + Serdaco QWave Wavetable card

video upload by General Midi Guy ⚡

This appears to be the first post to feature the Serdaco QWave. There was one previous post from 2012 to feature the ART FXR.

"Serdaco QWave Waveblaster Daughterboard (QS1000 chipset, 4Mbit ROM) insida a Korg NX5r sound expander module going through an ART FXR Stereo Multi-Effects Processor.

So open your ears and dance to these magical general midi sounds all night, if you want the same sounds u can buy the Qwave from the Serdaco webshop 😎

Many of the sounds is very similar to the Windows 98 midi soundfont (Roland) so that's also an option.

#generalmidi #waveblaster #wavetable"

Peak Town: Novation Peak and Elektron Digitakt

video upload by Hugh the Musical Engineer

"I had developed some drum rhythms on the Digitakt, and hadn't taken the Peak out for a while.
Found a nice FM sound with lots of filter control, and it matched the drum beats, so we have a techno track using sounds from Peak and Digitakt.
This one was 138bpm, so didn't get a chance for a sip of beer while recording this.
Trying to get back into the routine of creating and recording music, and when I go to the pub, I usually book the table for 4 hours, so that's how much time I have to try and get something done.
Created, arranged and recorded at Indigo Yard, Edinburgh on Friday 24th July 2026.
Wow, almost into August already. Festival time soon.
I felt I should have been wearing a cowboy hat last night. Lots of people dressed up for a show."

XpandrLink, a native Mac/Windows editor and DAW plugin for Xpander/Matrix-12 (beta)

This one came in on the xpantastic Oberheim Matrix-12 and Xpander list. Details from the creator follow:

"I'm Jake, a Matrix-12 & Xpander owner and synth repair tech. For the past few months I've been building something that has gotten a lot of use in my studio: XpandrLink, a from-scratch C++/JUCE editor for these synths built using XplorerEditor's protocol and design as reference, with standalone, AU, and VST3 builds for both macOS and Windows. I've been really enjoying having this tool for my own purposes and wanted to share it with the community if anyone else might also find it useful.

First, the part that matters most to me. Like many of you, I've used XplorerEditor for years. It's a big reason these synths are still practical to own and play, and this project only exists because of the groundwork it laid. I started down this road after reading a note more than a year ago in the XplorerEditor README: the developer had no time to add new features but welcomed forks and PRs, and recommended a long-term JUCE port for a more modern cross-platform foundation.

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Meet OBSIDIAN by Vannes Devices

video upload by VannesDevices

"Jamming with the 303 sequencer and OBSIDIAN, just having fun!
#synthesizer #303 #roland #sequencer #obsidian"

OBSIDIAN - Short Demo's

Via Vannes Devices

OBSIDIAN.

Forged from fast-cooling lava, this volcanic stone becomes a black mirror that, when used with purpose, awakens and channels your creative energy.

OBSIDIAN is a unique semi-modular analog synthesizer with its own characteristic sound. Its analog circuitry combines different worlds of synthesis techniques, opening space for creative sound design and composition.

Inside OBSIDIAN.

Oscillators
West-coast style oscillator section.
Waveshaper, wavefolder and cross-modulation.
1V/oct tracking across eight octaves.
Sub-oscillator for thick foundations.

Voltage Controlled Filter
Two-channel mixer with optional external inputs.
Multi-mode: low-pass, high-pass and band-pass.
Continuous modulation between filter modes.
Voltage controlled mode, cutoff and resonance (peak).
Bipolar envelope modulation.
Voltage controlled amplifier with CV inputs.

Voltage Controlled Envelope Generators
ADSR envelope.
AD(R) envelope.
Gate and velocity input per envelope.
Voltage controlled slew rates and levels.
Inverted output.

LFO · Delay
LFO
Saw, ramp, sine, pulse and random outputs.
Frequency range from 0.01 Hz up to 100 Hz.
Clock syncable to tap tempo, external (eurorack) clock and MIDI clock.
Rhythmical clock divisions (¼, ⅓, ½, ¾, 1/16).
TAPE-STYLE DIGITAL DELAY
Voltage controlled time and feedback.
Clock syncable to tap tempo, external (eurorack) clock and MIDI clock.
Rhythmical clock divisions (¼, ⅓, ½, ¾, 1/16).

Sequencer
West-coast style five-step sequencer.
Selectable 4 or 5 step sequence.
External and manual sequence reset.
Clock syncable to tap tempo, external (eurorack) clock and MIDI clock.
Patchable to oscillators, filter and any CV destination.