Kanye West - Stronger (LIVE Grammys 2008 HD Performance)

YouTube via myarmsarehuge.
This one has been making the rounds. Daft Punk on Jazz Mutant Lemurs.

Reed and his Roland System 700 Modular

Hmm.... Looks familiar.

Photos from Schneiders Buero. Berlin, Germany.

click here for more on wire to the ear.

MFB Wall pictured.

full size

Good Mourning - counting reasons

Good Mourning on MySpace. ARP 2500 and Buchla 200 in the background.
via sequencer.de

Update via d in the comments: "I would like to respond with this video:
The Song of the Count - Lemon Demon Version


So the big question is - would this one technically be safe for work? :)

Bana Nah Nah Nah - The Banana Rap Song

YouTube via PhotoAnimationGuy
via nadafarms on VSE: "I made this with a Jomox xbase-999 and a Moog LP in Ableton. I want to start making videos like these for bands... I use Flash. Yes I'm insane."

Laser Harp Fully Functional

YouTube via shobley. Update: see this post for how he did it an more.
"Finally got the bugs worked out with the sensor. The harp is connected to the impOSCar VSTi software synthesizer, the TAOS sensor array sits on the floor in it's own stand. The array above the harp i is just made up of fs mirrors for added p'zazz. (www.stephenhobley.com)"

Doepfer A-100 Sample set for the Akai S900

Click here for the kit on the Akai S900 blog.

The Redux II

via Cikira

Matrixsynth by fischek

click on the image and look at the patch name.

flickr by fischek (click for more shots of the JD-800)

Roland JD-800

Previous Matrixsynth by posts

LUSTOBJEKT Little Romance

LUSTOBJEKT Little Romance

Add to My Profile | More Videos
http://www.myspace.com/lustobjekt
A rare glimpse at the PPG PRK Processorkeyboard. I'll see if I can find out what it's controlling. If you know feel free to comment.

Update: I should have checked my own forum before putting up this post. No info on what the PRK is driving, but some nice pics of the PPG PRK Processor Keyboard here. Also mirrored here.
Update: Accroding to intercorni on the forum, it is controlling the Wave 2.2.

Smurf Jazz Keyboard XJ500

images via this auction

Dave spotted this one after seeing this post.

"This little PVC Smurfy is just about 2" tall. He is in NEW condition. The pretend keyboard is 1" high by 2 1/4" wide. SCHLEICH, Licensed PEYO product."

Aubergine-Dream

"Recorded 26 Jan 2008 live
Produced on the SNO portable analog modular synthesizer system, comprised (mostly) of Wiard modules and DIY gadgets"

via drmabuse's spurious transmissions

via drmabuce on the Wiard list:
"There are 6 separate voices and i made notes on the patching of all the audio paths.

A few general notes i'd like to share about this piece:

-everything you hear is the synth rig. There is no drum machine in this mix

-the lowest-pitched (non-ostinato) bass voice is produced by the Noise Ring

-i augmented the SNO for that performance with my Omni Filter and a spring reverb (hacked out of a hammond organ and coupled to a VCA) i also brought a DIY dual VC-lag processor. (more on that in a minute)

-No postproduction FX were added nor were any edits made in post. It is a straight-off-the-board mix.

-The legato sections at the beginning, the break, and at the end are created with the following patch: Sample-Hold -mult> VC-lag (exponential)->Paia VCO1->Omni Filter
-mult> VC-lag (linear)-Paia VCO2-----/
The effect is that while traveling from pitch to pitch the VCO's follow different curves that take them in and out of tune along the way. i love this effect. It's use was suggested to me by prof. Richter. The lag processors are DIY, based on Electronotes designs and Grant was kind enough to offer me a lot of advice on implementing the ideas that the venerable Bernie Hutchins published. Thus the legato glides, while containing no direct Wiard content, could be considered Wiard by adoption.

i feel this piece is a little more representative of the actual sound of the SNO in live performance than the piece i posted previously.

-doc"

Partikel Series #2 at the Goethe Institute

"Partikel, a new venue for experimental electronic music and visuals performed in a theatrical setting will have its second installment in Los Angeles on Saturday March 1st from 8 – 11pm. Taking place at the Goethe Institute, 5750 Wilshire Blvd. Suite #100 in the Institute’s recently remodeled theater space. Admission is $15 and parking is free. Performing at this Partikel Series will be Lake of Sleep, Laura Escudé featuring Kathie Talbot, and after a short intermission, an evening with internationally known electronic musician Robert Rich. Visuals will be provided by Optical Light Pipe and Momo the Monster. A reception will follow the performances." You can find more info on the Partikel website. Pictured is Robert Rich and his MOTM modular.

eowave Persephone

flickr by thingstocomerecords

"From the weblog: www.wiretotheear.com/"

full size

semtex

flickr by pac209

full size

Anyware Instruments SEMTEX and Doepfer MAQ 16/3 Sequencer

Mitchell Sigman's Synthesizers.com Modular System!

"http://www.celebusite.com
http://www.analogsuicide.com
http://www.synthesizers.com
Filmed by Maf Lewis in December 2007, Mitchell Sigman takes us for a divine tour of his beloved synthesizers.com modular system from his North Hollywood studio."

The Therevox - et-3 finished

flickr by mikebeauchamp

full size

http://therevox.com/

"NEW model Electro-Theremin, called the ET-3 for now. This will improve on a few aspects of the ET-1 and add a lot of interesting features. The improvements over the ET-1 are that the mock-keyboard will be perfectly spaced, that is each key will be exactly the same size. All previous Electro-Theremins, relied on an internal mechanism that approximated this and came very close but not exact.

The new ET-3 is going to have a feature I've wanted to implement for a long time, Control Voltage output! I'm not lucky enough to own a synthetizer to use this with, but those that are will be able to control another synthesizer with the standard 1v/octave control voltage. There will also be inputs for linear and log frequency modulation and external control voltage input if you wish to control the electro-theremin with something else or modulate the frequency with an LFO or something. The ET-3 will also have 10v p-p square wave output to use to sync other oscillators and the ET-3 will have a sync input as well."

Robert Moog

and other flickr by Neil Vance (click for more). There's more going up daily, so be sure to check it out.

full size

Roland System 100 103 Speakers

images via this auction

These are for the Roland System 100

Color Coding Patch Leads

via Navs:

"thought I'd share this with the modularists...

Lost in a jungle of grey and black patch leads and can't figure out what's modulating what?

Then grab yourself some Post-it notes, sello-tape & scissors for a transparent patching experience!"

brett.seattle

flickr by brett.seattle

full size

spot the synths

StudioShot01

flickr by sm0hm (click for mouse-overs)

full size

Giorgio Moroder - Chase (Midnight Express) German TV

YouTube via matschinsky2. Sent my way via Kris.
"Giorgio Moroder on German TV 1979"
Minimoog comes in at 2:12. The angle makes the panel appear much longer. I didn't realize Morodor spoke German. He is Italian.

Latinsizer live 02:08:2008

YouTube via pepemogt. Anyone been to TJ? I have. Man this would have been a sight to see.
"A live analog synthesizer jam by Latinsizer in Tjuana @ Lobby .
Equipment used at this concert is as follows:
Oberheim 4 voice
EML 200
Korg SQ-10 analog sequencer
Tenori-on
Live6
JLcopper CS-32
Feb 8 2008. (footage by lxuk)
enjoy!
http://www.myspace.com/latinsizer"

Acid House

YouTube via Cubik303
"A quick bit of acid house for the cronies. Filmed with my new Sony Handycam."
Roland TB-303, Creamware ASB Prodyssey, Jazz Mutant Lemur, KORG KP-3

DAFT PUNK "Human After All" with NORD MODULAR G2

YouTube gattobus/ "Nord Modular G2 demo ;-)"

Roland JX-3P

images via this auction

Oberheim MiniGrand

via this auction

x0xb0x 356

images via this auction

"Adafruit x0xb0x TB-303 Replica Acid Analog Synth This synth sounds exactly like a 303!!! No-Joke!!! I put it next to my friend's 303 and I could get them so close you could not tell the difference!!! This was built professionally by an experienced synthesizer tech. The soldering looks perfect!!! He also did quite a few mods on it for a closer 303 sound. Mods: -On/off switch added to rear panel, Rear panel painted with durable black wrinkle paint, Interior connecting wiring done with wires rather than the flimsy ribbon cables supplied, Bass boost mod, and Resonance boost mod."

I love the dog tags these come with. I wonder what the current count is.

JoMoX Xbase 999

images via this auction

"Gritty 8 bit samples with the ability to add your own samples. 4 extra midi sequencer tracks. A built in analog filter for filtering everything"

Roland PG-200 In Original Box

images via this auction

"Roland PG-200 Programmer, for use with Roland synthesizers such as the JX-3P (among others). includes the PG-200 Programmer, cardboard box, black Roland programmer storage case, owner's manual, and DIN (connector) cord (w/storage bag)."

Sequential Circuits Six-Trak

images via this auction

"The Sequential Circuits Six-Trak was released in 1984 at a list price of $1295. It is 28’’ wide, 11 ¾’ deep, 4 ¼ high, weighing in at 18 pounds. It features a 4 octave, non touch sensitive, keyboard with non spring loaded pitch and modulation wheels located on the left hand side above the keyboard. My initial impression of the wheel location was negative but after using the board for about a week, I become accustomed to reaching above the keyboard for the wheels. The pitch wheel’s range is a third and is not adjustable. I prefer a spring loaded pitch wheel but this made up in the fact that the six-trak will send and receive pitch and modulation wheel data via midi. The six-trak is a six voice, multi-timbred unit that features an 800 note sequencer, arpegiator, and 100 patch locations. The back panel features and a single audio out (six would have been great and was later implemented in SCI’s multi-trak), midi in and out ports (where’s the thru?), and a control foot switch which can be used to scroll through programs and advance the arpegiator one step at a time.

Multi-Tambral/Keybord modes/Sequencer/Apregiator
The unit can be used in number of keyboard modes which will alter how the voices are assigned. When powered up, the unit is a six voice, homophonic synthesizer. You can program the patch to operate in unison mode which will play all six voice at once (lowest note priority), or normal which assigns one voice to each key press. Triggering may be single or multiple. What is amazing is something SCI calls stack mode, which allows you to assign six separate patches (SIX separate timbres) to one key. When in stack mode you can turn off voices by simply setting their the ‘trak’ volume to zero for the particular voice. The unit can remember two of these stacks in the units memory. Additionally using its internal sequencer, you can assign six separate monophonic voices to each of the one six sequencer tracks. And you can play along with the sequencer using as many of the remaining voices that aren’t being used by the sequence. Once a sequence is recorded you can go back and change the applicable sequence’s patch and volume.

The unit offers a simple arpegiator which only uses the sixth voice. It can be assigned to play in an up/down mode or in the order the notes are played. The arepgiator may be latched and the remaining five voices may be used to play on top of the arpegiator. Unfortunately to get the unit to realize you want to change the arpegiation you have to take it out of the latch mode. Additionally the sequencer can not be used at the same time as the arepgiator - Probably to much work for the central processor.

The six track has an 800 note sequencer that is divided into two banks. Its a bit on the slim slide and I really don’t use it much. Once a sequence is recorded you can speed up or slow down the sequence from its initial recording speed. You can change the patch it will use to play the sequence but you can insert patch changes in the middle of the sequence. By turning the sequencer’s speed knob all the way to the left, the sequencer will sync to incoming midi clock. (Note: The arpegiator will not sync to incoming midi clock - this should have been implemented in the o/s ver .11 (final release) but wasn’t)

The Voice
Each voice is contained on a single CEM 3394 chip which includes a single VCO, VCA, and VCF. The LFO and three envelopes per voice are software generated. The VCO offers saw, triange, vairable pulse width waveforms, and more than one waveform may be selected at a time. The pulse width may be controlled by the LFO. The VCO may be modulated by its own dedicated ADSR which may be inverted and portmento (glide) is included at the patch level (much better than global i.e. Roland JX8P). The LFO offers either a square or triangle waveforms and can modulate the filter, VCA, and the pulse width. However the amount applied to each of these destinations is set using one LFO parameter and you can only choice if you want this amount to affect each of the three destination. There is no delay for the LFO either. The filter is great it can sound real dirty or pretty clean. The filter offers the cutoff, resonance (self oscillating), three levels of keyboard tracking (on, half, off), LFO on/off, and a dedicated ADSR which may be inverted. Additionally the filter may modulated by the oscillator’s triangle wave which is excellent and offers some really cool sounding effects. Last but not least the filter offers a mixer to mix the level of the oscillator and a dedicated noise source. The VCA has its owned dedicated ADSR and the VCA output level is programmable. Included at the patch level is a parameter to select normal or unison mode (see above).

Editing is done by using a 10 digit (0-9) numeric key pad to dial up the applicable parameter you wish to adjust. Parameter values are adjusted by a single knob. For some reason the evelopes only offer a range of 15 values for each parameter which is to restrictive for my liking. Almost all other parameters offer plenty of values. The two digit LED will display the patch number, or the parameter number or parameter value. Clearly knobs for each parameter would have been great but would have increased costs. This method is reasonably simple and easy to get used to especially once you become familiar with parameter numbers which is listed on the front of the synth for easy reference. The only draw back is that you can't see what parameter you are editing and its value at the same time. On the Multi-trak, Sequential devised a grid for selecting paramters which is quite good.

So how does it sound? Let me first say that is no OBXa or Memory Moog when it comes to obesity and lushness. Having said that though, I still think it sounds great. Its sounds analog and it excels at making synth sounds. While a second osc would have been nice - it was obviously not included to keep the cost down and not to directly compete with the Prophet 600. However having the ability to modulate the filter with the oscillator and having three separate envelopes in tremendous. And the ability to layer six different sounds on one key will provide you with massive fatness at the expense of polyphony.

MIDI
The six trak has a midi in and out ports but no thru port. The unit may operate in onmi, poly, or mono mode. In mono mode each monophonic voice is assigned a midi channel so the unit can be used in a multi-tambral fashion via a midi. It would have been nice if the unit used a voice allocation scheme (preferably dynamic allocation scheme) so you could have played more than one voice on each channel if there were unused voices.-but I dont think any manufacturer had implemented this feature back in 1984. The unit can perform system exclusive dumps of its sequences, stacks, 100 programs, or single programs. The unit will send and receive program changes, pitch and modulation wheel movements. Additionally the unit will respond to parameter changes but not send them. (Does anyone know if the ability to send them was implemented on later operating systems). Local on/off is also provided which allows you to turn off the six trak’s keyboard. The best midi feature of the six track is that each paramter will respond to a specific midi continious controller number (cc#). Paramter 0 will respond to message sent by cc #2, parameter 1 will respond to messages sent by cc#3 and so. Essentially, just add 2 to the parameter # and you have identified the CC# that affects the parameter. One word of caution, the cpu of the six trak is not that fast and if send the unit more than 4 or 5 of these cc commands at one the unit will lock up. However for most practical uses it works fine and realy lets you control the unit via midi."