MATRIXSYNTH: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The Beatles Got Synth

Of course the synths take care of themselves. Via the comments of this post. Too funny.

New XPander Sides by James R. Coplin

Via James R. Coplin on AH:
"I have been annoyed that my Xpander has to sit flat and takes up a bunch of
valuable horizontal surface in my studio. I do have extra vertical space so
I though it would be great to make some new sides for the Xpander so that it
could "stand up".

You can see the results here:

http://www.ticalun.net/Music/Xpander_up.jpg

Works perfectly! I made mine out of 1/4 sawn white oak and finished with a
Mission style / Stickley finish. The color is pretty much exact to my
original sides. The stainless screws are just temporary until the black
hardware arrives!

http://www.ticalun.net/Music/Xpander_side.jpg

Since I know people are going to ask, yes I will make these for folks and
they are super easy to install. The price is $75 plus shipping for standard
hardwood (oak, maple, etc.). If you want some funky colors, it's not a
problem but will run an additional $16 for the dye. You can see the
available color options at:

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

The color on mine is the Dark Mission Brown. The red desk you see in the
picture is the Bright Red dye.

This is not a chump finish either, it is a traditional oil finish with hand
cut shellac and a hand oil rub out. The look and feel is silky and perfect.

I can make these out of more exotic or highly figured wood as pretty much
anything is available to me but expect about a $25 additional charge
depending on the wood you are interested in. I can also make standard
Xpander sides if you just want to spice up your Xpander or replace a beat
set on your current. The price is the same as there isn't much less wood
and most of the cost is in the labor. I can also make sides for any other
synth you would want, just get in touch with me. Thanks!

James R. Coplin"

Gameboy Advance MIDI Interface

Title link takes you to the post on hackaday. Via underface.

Apple II Synth Editors

"For some screen shots of Apple II editors for the Chroma see:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=apple"

Dave Smith Instruments Factory Tour

Click image to launch video or title link to get to same on YouTube.
Also worth checking out: Is Dave Smith a Performing Musician.

Roland TR-505 Bends

Title link takes you there.
Via GetLoFi.

The ERWIK Matrix 12 Filtermodule

Features:

2 Audio inputs
2 VCA´s adjusting the input signals (manual or with CV)
Filter "cutoff" and "Q" controllable manual or with CV
1 VCA controlling the output signal (manual or with CV)
Filtertype can be selected manual or with trigger at input "UP" & "DOWN"

Very limited edition (12 )

Software:

Switching on your system you can choose between 4 different modes.

1. No button pressed - normal function.
2. Downbutton pressed - rotating filtertable.
3. Uppbutton pressed - faster triggering/swithing filtermode.
4. Both buttons pressed- rotating filtertable as well as faster triggering/swithing filtermode.

The display gives an indication of 'r' or 't' as well as both.

Filters:

1 pole Low
2 pole Low
3 pole Low
4 pole Low
1 pole High
2 pole High
3 pole High
2 pole Band
4 pole Band
2 pole Notch
3 pole Phase
2 pole High + 1 pole Low
3 pole High + 1 pole Low
2 pole Notch + 1 pole Low
3 pole Phase + 1 pole Low

Siel Brochures

Title link takes you there.

Anthony Pateras

Title link takes you to audio.
That looks like a Synthi to me.

Yamaha Electone "Synths"

Video of the Yamaha D-80 by Mattias. I always seem to forget that some of the Yamaha Electone home organs had synth sections and with the D-80, an arpeggiator as well.

Frank who is an Electone enthusiast posted the following on AH and gave me the ok to put it up here:

"I've got the 415: image

which is probably the last of their analogue spinet organs.

Very cool machine. The solo synth on mine sounds very SY-1 or SY-2'ish. You can have pitch and/or filter mod with left-to-right wiggling of the solo section keys too. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it can be pretty expressive.

The strings, with soft attack and longer release, through the synphonic ensemble (BBD ensemble) or the rotary speaker (!) can be very pleasant.

Jeff Koepper tried mine a couple of weeks ago and got all sorts of cool un-home-organ-like things out of it.

Yamaha made a whole bunch of these kinds of miniature three manual organs with solo synths in them. Earliest is probably the DK-40, then at least there was the D-80, D-85 and 415. The D-85 and 415 seem to be nearly identical, feature wise.

The DK-40 is technologically not too distant from the earliest group of Yamaha analogue organs, and I suspect it shares similar circuitry to the YC series of organs.

Also, the DK-40 has a 'fourth' manual, in the form of a separate 'portamento' synth, which is played from a ribbon controller to the left of the solo synth keys. You can just barely see it in this image the green tabs control the portamento ribbon, which extends right in front of them.

I kid myself that the 415 is sorta like a cut down EX-1. It isn't really, but it's fun to pretend, and I don't anticipate ever owning an EX-1, for a number of reasons! :-)

Frank
Electone enthusiast"

Update via buckystoppz in the comments:
"I also have the 415 and use it to death! People are sleeping on these, I got it for $120 on eBay locally. They were about $8000 new in the early eighties."

DBX Subharmonic Synthesizer

"THE BASS IS BACK. The disco boom of the 70's was fueled by the throbbing bass beat of dbx® Subharmonic Synthesizers in discos around the world. During the 80's, patented dbx Subharmonic Synthesis was the secret weapon used by mobile DJ's and film and sound professionals to produce an impact unavailable from any other device-unique because the dbx process actually produces a new, Waveform Modeled bass note, exactly an octave below the bass in the original audio.

THE PROFESSIONAL SOLUTION. The dbx 120XP Subharmonic Synthesizer has been specially optimized by dbx engineers for the needs of audio professionals. Its two separate bands of bass synthesis provide the best combination of smoothness and control, and the independent Low Frequency Boost circuit is designed to get the most out of high-performance low frequency speaker systems.

Flexible system interfacing is achieved by providing main outputs which can be full range (including synthesis) or high frequency only, along with a separate subwoofer output with its own level control.

PUT THE BEAT BACK INTO THE MUSIC. The 120XP's patented subharmonic synthesis process actually builds the synthesized waveform using the waveshape of the original bass material. Unlike other attempts at bass synthesis, the dbx process produces smooth, musical low frequencies that don't interfere with mid and high-band information, even when maximum synthesis and boost are applied. The result is a low-end punch that people really feel, even at system levels that won't destroy sound equipment or damage hearing."

Title link takes you to the DBX page on the 120XP. These are discontinued.

Arturia Releases Analog Factory

Looks like Arturia is coming out with a preset bundle featuring it's line of soft synths. What's interesting is that you will be able to tweak common paramaters. You can see cutoff, resonance, LFO, Chorus, Delay, ENV and four "Key Paramaters" in the screen shot. There is also 8 buttons that correspond to patch memories for your tweaks. Via Sonic State News. I didn't see anything on Arturia's site as of this post.

Details:
-2000 analog synthesizers sounds that have defined the sound of modern music.
-Presets all carefully selected from the Arturia Classic Synths (minimoog V, Moog Modular V, CS-80V, ARP 2600 V, Prophet V and Prophet VS). These TAE® powered sounds offer unparalleled audio quality.
-Smart Preset Manager: fast filter the presets by Instrument, by Type (Bass, Pads, Leads…) and/or by Characteristics (hard, soft, complex, simple, short, long…).
Organize Presets view by Name, Instrument, Type, CPU usage, Favorites, or User Presets.
-Straightforward Editing, with the most essential parameters for personalizing presets: (Filter and LFO sections, 4 Key Parameters differing for each preset, Chorus & Delay mix, ADSR envelope)
-8 SNAPSHOTS buttons (quickly store up to 8 snapshots for sound comparisons, variations…)
-Integrates as a plug-in within your sequencer, on Mac and PC, or plays as a standalone software synthesizer.
-Optimization of the screen space: possibility to view the Preset Manager only, the Keyboard only, or both at the same time.
-Set to Control with the external MIDI keyboard in just a few clicks.
Up to 32 voices of polyphony, depending on the preset loaded.