The Waldorf Edition

Image via Tomman.de.

via La Orange Factory

Minimoog #066

Via Josh

"Mini (#066) with pitch and modwheel modification (color changing pitch ...green to blue to purple and pulsating mod wheel)"

Title link takes you to more shots.

Shadow XTk and Andromeda A6 Prototype

You are looking at only one of two Shadow XTks in the world and an Adromeda A6 prototype. Click here for more shots.

via Josh

Fenix Modular

Title link takes you to some shots of Josh's Fenix Modular. He actually posted this unit for sale on Analog Heaven. Here's a link to the post if you are intersted.

Song For Duets

Title link takes you to a track by Mark of the DSI PEK (Poly Evolver Keyboard) and the Jomox XBase09SE.

Details:

"OK here goes - a little demo (audio only) of the XBase09SE and PEK in action. Three tracks of XBase: kick, with a little analog Ashly SC-66 EQ; swishy snare, with a little LFO and analog EQ (more Ashly); and rim/clap, with analog echo (tube echoplex). Drum sounds were group-compressed with analog comps (Ashly CL50's). Two tracks of PEK: a pad of analog osc's in random VCA mode, sync'd to XBase clock; and a saw/pulse lead with some LFO on a sync'd osc. I'm still just dipping my toes in, so there's not a whole lot that goes on dynamically, but I just thought these were cool sounds and patterns that others might find inspirational as well. Happy noodling..."

My midi tama ts306

"This is an old tama ts306 drum synth brain. Originally intended for use with a set of electronic drum triggers, it had no midi, only trigger inputs. Thanks to the wonder of modern DIY electronic kits (thanks Paul Maddox and Laurie Biddulph!) I have installed a midi conversion kit. This is me playing it from my Korg electribe ER1. Also, some extra squawks from a bird we were birdsitting at the time."

Not actually mine, just the name of the video via Brandon Daniel of fdiskc. YouTube via bdufdiskc.

Anonymous Posting

I have received a number of complaints about anonymous posters slamming others. As any given person can post multiple times under anonymous, it's hard to tell whether the comments are coming from one disgruntled person or many. The one thing I do know is I don't see the complaints come in as often on lists like the Analog Heaven mailing list. Why? Probably because your name/alias is tied to the comment.

Moving forward I will be removing anonymous comments that are blatent slams on others. However, I will leave anonymous comments on for the more constructive stuff that comes in, so if you have something useful to contribute, and wish to anonymously, please do.

Scottish Made Powerhouse Drum Machine

Click here for shots pulled from this auction.

Details:
"Here is something you won't see too often - a vintage SCOTTISH MADE POWERHOUSE DRUM MACHINE, made by a company called Bandmaster L.T.D./G.R. International, it looks to be from the 70's and is covered in what looks like Vox Vinhyde, as used on Vox AC-30 guitar amps, this is the only drum machine I know of that uses 8-track tapes!, it comes with 8 tapes, each of which have about 4 different beats on them, the tapes have labels showing a blond European babe boogieing with a guy playing drums behind her, there is a knob on the unit that controls tempo, i.e. it slows down or speeds up the tape, there are a couple pushbuttons for adjusting the sound and a couple that don't seem to do anything that I'm aware of, there is also a balance control since this is a stereo unit, on the back are a pair of RCA output jacks for left and right to hook-up to a stereo and a 1/4" phone output jack, there is s unmarked slide switch on the front panel that doesn't seem to do anything, on the back are a couple footswitch jacks, the machine comes with a dual pedal board that plugs in back, one pedal is a temporary pause/cut-off of sound and the other advances the tape program from one track to the next, I'm not sure if the footswitched are original equipment or not, I tried all the tapes and noticed some played better than others, might be the machine needs to be used some more, 8-track tapes have always been funky and these are no different, the program lights occasionally don't light, again, the machine may just need some "exercise", the tempo, balance and volume controls all are working, the machine is in nice shape cosmetically."

via Mike Ford

Juno-106 on SoNiCbRaT

Looks like SoNiCbRaT added a Roland Juno-106 to his studio. Title link takes you to his studio gallery were you'll find more shots of the 106 and much more, previously posted here.

Click here for his notes on the 106.

Update via cornutt in the comments:
"You absolutely can use MIDI to change banks and patches. To map the bank and patch numbers to MIDI program change numbers, do this:

1. From the two digits displayed (the bank and patch numbers), subtract 1 from each.

2. Multiply the bank number by 8 and add the patch number.

3. If the patch is from bank group B, add 64.

Make sure the rear panel MIDI function switch is in position II or III, or the 106 won't respond to the program change message.

I've heard some people say the 106 sounds thin compared to the J6 and J60. My response is that people who say that haven't spent enough time working with it. I have noticed that some people tend to use the chorus as a crutch, and don't spend enough time trying to get a good basic sound before they add the chorus.

And yes, the chorus is a bit hissy, but no more so than any other analog BBD delay device. A somewhat more severe problem is that the chorus, when combined with high-resonance filter settings, can sometimes cause rather extreme and unpredictable level excursions. Keep a compressor or limiter on the output and be happy.

I bought a J106 new in 1984. I still have it and use it frequently. And although I've created hundreds of patches on it, I still don't think I've used all of its potential."

PNW06: Jeff Sandys Demos the Paia Gnome

video upload by

More via the 2006 Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting.

Swiss Jam Session

Title link takes you to videos and audio of this years Swiss synth gathering on sequencer.de.

Looks like NASAs control room.

Correction via Moogulator in the comments: "it's actually the ESA ;)" Too funny! : )

Access Matrix 1000 Programmer

You don't see these too often. Before the Virus A, Access used to make hardware knob boxes for the Oberheim Matrix 1000 and the Waldorf Microwave. Guess which one this is? : ) Title link takes you to more shots pulled via this auction.
If anyone gets this thing, post back in the comments with how it works as a real time controller.

via brian comnes.

Update via Till "Qwave" Kopper in the comments:
"The Matrix Controller did also work for the Matrix 6 and the Matrix 6 rack version. I used to own a Matrix 6 and this controller. It was working as fine as editing is possible on non rotary encoders. So be prepared for some parameter jumps when moving a knob.
I remember the filter cutoff knob was transmitted somehow by SysEx. And it took a while for the synth to act to it. So it was impossible to use the controller for real time filter sweeps.
I can't remember what you had to do to tell the Programmer if you are working on a Matrix 6 (keyb. or rack version) or a Matrix 1000. There was a certain bottom combination needed.
You could lock the knobs in order not to change (=jump) a sound into nirvana while playing. This lock modus was also the default when turing the unit on.
I own now the MicroWave version for my MicroWave plus WaveSlave. Works fine !
But it is not better then good new controller boxes. But it does look way better then those plastic ones of today."

"The modulation matrix is not handled at all.

Back in time the company was named Access Midi Tools, they even showed a prototype at Frankfurt of the PG-X in 1996, a universal hardware programmer, at the TSI/Waldorf booth. This never made it into production, to much units to support, look what happened to Polyframe/SoundDiver.

Have a look here for more info (German only).

There is a Review at SOS about both Programmers:

I have them both, just for the cool look ;-) There are some little issues with the Matrix one (not just on mine, it is a generic issue) on the sustain of the filter envelope, I allways planned to check if the programmer is sending stupid data or if the M1000 is causing the fault.

As Till pointed out, there is some steppyness with the Matrix, but this is just the slow reception in the synth.

It is quite fine with the MicroWave, which is able to eat lots of SysEx without any problem.

Georg."

Update via cornutt in the comments:
"I am the author of M1000X, the Matrix 6/6R/1000 patch editor for OSX. So I'm pretty familiar with the MIDI implementations of these boxes. Here's what I have found out about them:

The Matrix-6/6R MIDI implementation was only about half finished, and it has a critical bug. The two biggest problems with it are:

1. Some of the parameters allow both positive and negative numbers, but the M6 won't accept a negative value in a MIDI single parameter message. So, if any paraemter needs to be set to a negative value, the entire patch has to be sent to the box. And the M6 doesn't allow the patch-load message to write to the edit buffer; it has to be written directly to the patch memory. Not only is this slow, but it also means that the edit can't be undone (unless the external editor remembers it).

2. The M6 has no MIDI mesages for updating the routing matrix. As in the case above, the only way to do it is to write the entire patch to patch memory.

They fixed a lot of the MIDI problems on the Matrix-1000. It supports all legal values in MIDI single parameter messages. There is no reason why an M1000 can't do a real-time filter sweep if the external editor handles it properly. The only thing that was botched on the M1000 is that it does not remember patch names. That was probably done because the M1000 itself can't display them, but IHMO it still should have stored them in order to support external editors, and also patch interchange with the M6.

The other thing that strikes me abou the Access box is that it doesn't appear to have nearly enough controls to edit all of the parameters that a Matrix-6 or 1000 patch supports, even leaving out the routing matrix. Where, for example, are the knobs for adjusting the tracking generator break points, or the buttons for setting the zillions of possible envelope modes? Anyway, thanks for publishing this; it was an interesting look back into history. And I hope my comments were helpful."

PNW06: David Skinner Demo's his Synthesizers.com Modular

Ok, here's the first of a few videos I will be putting up on this year's Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting since my first post. I will preface the title of the posts with PNW06 so you know these are from the event. These two are of David Skinner showing his Synthesizers.com modular. P.S. That's not me asking the questions. : ) I'm just filming.

Note (4/19/2011): the following was originally on Google Video. I couldn't find the post here on MATRIXYSNTH, so I am adding it to this pot. See the pnw2006 label for more.

Double Exposure

flickr by davetron5000.

Update: Great story via mikeford in the comments:
"a number of years ago my power supply went out on my etherwave theremin, so I called the big briar company to see about ordering a new one. usually, two really nice ladys answer the phone. However that morning I call up and a mans voice answeres. I proceed to inquire about my replacement and paused.."are the ladies out today?"
No the oldermans voice answers, "they are running alittle late." a silence of about 6 seconds on my end and I realise I am talking to Dr. MOOG HIMSELF! I an trying to think of somthing to ask, and the realistic moog comes up in my mind and the good doc tells me the whole history of the modle, especially the story about the felt around the sliders that turns to goop after so manny years and how to cleen it up. He "says" look, if you have any problems with that, just ship it to me and i will take care of cleaning it upit, no charge." WOW!!May god rest his soul! "