MATRIXSYNTH: Monday, May 12, 2008


Monday, May 12, 2008

History of Braintec / Touched By Sound / MAM



click cykong posted the following history of Braintec, Touched By Sound and MAM taken from the AH archives. As it originally came from the archives I decided to post it in full here as well. Be sure to check out ckong for more images and more synth content in general.

The following was posted on AH in October 2000 by Michael from Touched by Sound:

"I don't really like talking too much about the 'old' days, but also I think some things should be pointed out right, what is said about MAM and TBS.

In 1993 TBS met Stefan Schmidt. I had the idea of making a rackmount TB-303 clone and a nice rack vocoder. My partner (who had the money) founded a company called Braintec that year.

Braintec developed and manufactured the Transistorbass-3, which was a very good clone plus a lot more features. TBS distributed this product, and approx. 400 pieces were made.

I split up with my partner and so did Stefan.

20 miles from here there was a small company called MAM (Music And More) which was making little rack mixers and amps and gadgets like that. Not very well known, but cheap stuff and useful. We put Stefan together with them and they started designing a lot of products with some of our ideas and co-designs. First of all: they made a cheap version of the Transistorbass3, which was of course the MAM MB33 bass synthesizer. Then the VF11 vocoder and so on.

That year I said I would like to do distribution worldwide for the product.

Because of TBS being a retailer and shops probably would not buy from an opponent - we finally decided to call it Music And More distribution, first as a subdivision of TBS, a year later, as independent limited company. We sold more than 5000 MB33 and more than 2000 VF11 worldwide. Not bad, for a small company!

Last year my partner and one of the owners of MAM (manufacturer) didn't get on anymore so they just stopped supplying us. They had big problems with financing the production and lack of quality. Stefan was tied up for 1 year developing the SQ16 sequencer and the market was longing for new products from MAM.

We found a small company near us manufacturing tube-preamps and similar stuff. They were also analog freaks and had an much better quality production. I started designing many products with them and we badged them as MAM. At that time we mad the first run of DRM1's. I think 100 pieces came onto the market as MAM, before we split up.

We redesigned and improved the DRM1 a little and now we make it as TBS. We are currently working on the Mephisto and a Midi-Theremin. I hope I didn=B4t bore you with this excursion. Please feel free to contact me anytime should you require more information.

Best Regards
Michael

on
the PC of
Stefan
TBS"

Synths for Silly Prices?

Posted by Ivan on AH:
"I've seen quite a few comments here regarding people selling synths for silly prices. My mildy warm mini-rant follows:

Regarding high-end dealers like Mini and others - They provide a service selling vintage but good condition product that has been refurbished. I've done this type of work, and it is very time consuming. Their reputation will determine their market value to a large extent. If something is priced ridiculously and doesn't sell, then the price has to come down to a point where it does sell. If the repair work is done poorly, the value will be less. Yes, it might be purchased by someone with more money than brains, but that in itself determines the market value for that product at that time. I have a local guitar dealer that specializes in vintage guitars. They get insanely high prices for guitars but they are known for having quality product. And people are willing to pay for it. Thus a free market system where they price product based on what the customer will pay.

I've found deals on old gear and have fixed it up and sold it in the past. I sold it for top dollar. But considering the time invested I wasn't making a huge profit. I've also recently sold 'fixer uppers' for no profit and because I felt they were going to a good home. But if I can I try to make as much money on a deal as possible. It would be nice to help out people who can't afford vintage gear, but I am in no position to be a benefactor for less fortunate synth lovers. So this idea of profiteering, as some have put it, is pretty silly in my opinion. If and when I sell my house I will be trying to get top dollar for it as well. Is that profiteering? Last time I checked it was known as how to stay afloat and actually afford to keep a roof over my head. I don't want 30 years of mortgage payments, and I don't want bank loans to fund new gear purchases. Unfortunately I don't have time anymore to do much gear fixing up and selling. But when I do have that time again I intend to sell items for what I can get. If someone else wants to start a synth charity business then that is great. If I become independently wealthy I'll consider a home for wayward synthesists and donate vintage synths like some people loan out their Stradivarius. But until then, it is good old fashioned work and the resultant profit for me.

My final point is that nobody is getting rich in this business. I'm VERY glad that people like Paul Schreiber and Ken Macbeth decided to go into business and provide us with great products. Neither of them are likely to hit the Forbes list any time soon. And the same applies to Mini, or Shawn Cleary, or any of the other synth-sellers out there. If they can't sell products then they don't make money, and they don't survive as a business. It's just that simple. So complain if you want, but don't expect for people to give away gear in the name of our art. There are enough people self-righteously ripping off software and getting something for nothing. If you want a deal on vintage synths, learn how to fix gear and then cruise pawn shops, garage sales, and Craigslist. Otherwise be prepared to pay market value just like the rest of us poor afflicted gear addicts.

Ivan"

Nord Lead 3 Demos



Demos via Alan Marcero. Sent my way via Mr. Array. mp3 here

Synthesizers.com Noise generated sef-running patch


YouTube via angelometz
"I'm inputing white noise from a korg ms-10 into the sample and hold. The output from S/H goes to 2 oscilators. Gate from S/H goes to both EGs. One EG controls VCA, the other controls the filter. LF pulse modulates one of the oscilators."

Fulltone GT-500 Processing Minimoog Voyager


YouTube via bigcitymusic. follow-up to this post.
"Distortion Shootout Part 2
Here's is the Fulltone GT-500 Distortion / Boost pedal. The background beat is an Elektron Machinedrum sequenced by a Yamaha Motif.
http://www.bigcitymusic.com"

Yamaha CS15

images via this auction
"2 Genuine VCOs
1 Wicked fast LFO with Sample & Hold (Awesome!)
2 Multi-mode fliters
2 VCA's
2 Envelopes with modular like routing options
Glide (Separate oscillator values)
Brilliance Slider (Opens the filter for expression)
Portamento
CV & Triggers in and out
External input
Includes the original manual and specifications sheet."

Update: this is also listed on VSE. Both in florida. Could be the same person, could not. Potential scam alert via jesbproster in the comments.

Roland JX-3P


images via this auction

"Polyphony - 6 voices Oscillators - 2 DCO's per voice Memory - 32 preset, 32 user Filter - Resonant Low pass Effects - Chorus Arpeg/Seq - Simple Sequencer Keyboard - 61 keys Control - MIDI (no velocity except with a special ROM upgrade). Date Produced - 1983."

Anyone know about the ROM upgrade? There is reference to one for the MKS30 rack version here (via this post), but no mention of the JX-3P and no mention of velocity.

Update via haricots in the comments: "Here's the JX-3P mod"

Update via nebula in the comments: "Actually that's probably not what he's talking about. A firmware upgrade was available from Roland that allows you to power up the JX-3P holding down the "7" button. Its own keyboard doesn't work, but it becomes a velocity sensitive MIDI module. Velocity is only routed to volume.

With the same mod, pressing "1" or "2" during startup gives you Roland's traditional "Poly 1" or "Poly 2" modes, including a little lightshow on the first 6 LEDs (Six-Trak style) to show you which voice is playing."

Deborah Gibson's Oberheim OB-Xa

via this auction

Update: scam alert in the comments of this post.

Happy Knobbing 2008 Modular Meeting Videos

You can find a link to a 170M video of the event on sequencer.de here and a 70M video here. You can find more pics here.

Update: more:
Video: HK2008 Gear II
Video: Jams 08 @ Happy Knobbing

Missing Knob, sound of Fenix




YouTube via FenixModulair. "Fenix modular and sequencer"

Audio Shield - Add music to your Arduino

Audio Shield
"Adding quality audio to an electronic project is surprisingly difficult. People tend to end up either using low-quality ISD chips (you might get 8Khz sampling rate for 30seconds out of these, if you're lucky!) or mucking around with trying to control a CD or MP3 player. Although it's possible to generate audio direct from a microcontroller using a PWM output, the quality is often low and its hard to fit a lot of music in an EEPROM chip. You can buy an embedded MP3 player board, but they're either expensive or difficult to use!" via ladyada's ranting.

Silicon Breakdown Synths Page

link via Oliver Chesler in the comments of this post. The site includes ARP, MOOG, Emu, Oberheim, and EML.

Synths: Cwejman VCO-6 Oscillator

Reviewed by Hexfix93 here. You'll find a sample there as well.

"I have to say that the pwm on this is the best. Better than any of the other units I have used. There is a pwm saw as well that I really like. Kind of like the old alpha juno. This does those wicked animated leads when you use pwm. It can sound really buzzy and alive and thick. The sync sounds it can make are huge and my favorite so far of any of the oscillators I have used. The square waves on this are godly. I have never used the cwejman vco-2rm, so I have no idea how it stacks up against that oscillator."

Korg Poly 800 makes love to the camera


YouTube via deitersmonkey. via metrosonus.
"JAN6: A song I played to showcase my Korg Poly 800 with my groovebox supplying the rhythm."

DiViNCi of SoS breaks down his MPC soloing...


YouTube via TheGlitterWhale. via hahafresh where you can find some SiViNCi inspired samples.
"This is footage from the making of one of the songs off of the new Solillaquists of Sound album, 'As if We Existed'. DiViNCi explains how he turns a snare sample into a "Guitar" sound and plays the take that actually gets used on the final version of the song, 'Berlin'."

synthwood.com pitch/mod wheel colorizer


# Available for the synthwood Pro-One wood case conversion kit
# Comptabile with the DSI Prophet '08 (shown), DSI Poly Evolver, Moog Voyager
# User selectable colors: Red, Green, Blue, White, Violet, Yellow, Turquoise and off
# Colors can be independently set
# synthwood figured maple wood sides shown

on synthwood

On The Lower Frequencies

A couple shots via On The Lower Frequencies

Be sure to click on the images for the full size and check out On The Lower Frequencies for more.

MOOG Voyager with Purple Backlight

Commodore 64 midi interface

via this auction
"Midi interface for use with the C64 PROPHET64 cartridge. This cartridge gives you midi-in, midi-out/thru for your prophet64 software. It converts midi timing to sync24 and the prophet sync24 to midi timing. You can also use program-change messages over midi to change the presets in your prophet software. Let your prophet64 run in sync with your midi setup! this item is rare and no longer in production! download the manual here

*I am also selling a Prophet64 cartridge for the Commodore 64 which gives you roland tb303 / roland tr909 / moog like emulation on your 64! please check my other listings soon for this item!*"

See this previous post for some videos. via FABULOUS 23S.

BugBrand Modular

Just saw these poking around the BugBrand site. You can find more images and info on the BugBrand modular here. Be sure to click on the BugBrand link at the bottom of this post for more posts here on MATRIXSYNTH.

Follow-up BugCrushers and Workshop-noises

via Tom Bugs of BugBrand

"Hiya,

A couple of bits to announce including more-in-the-shop (BugCrushers), a new Crusher-Eye add-on for the BC08 and some chances to build-your-own-noise-machine...
Oh and some shows too!

***
BugCrushers are back in the shop as of now..
There are 5 more of the big BugCrusher08s and a further 12 BugCrusherMicros http://bugbrand.co.uk/pages/shop.htm

(there will be one more follow-up batch before too long too)

Hey, there's also a new CV-modulation add-on -- the Crusher-Eye This is a little light-dependent wand that plugs in to the Foot Control socket and allows you to control the CrushRate or Filter Cutoff by varying the light falling on the Eye.
I'm doing these as an add-on because not everyone will want them (great for desktop noise use, but probably less useful for guitarists) These are £6 on top of the BugCrusher08 purchase I've only got a few of these made up at the moment but should be able to make more later in the week if there is more demand..
http://www.bugbrand.co.uk/pages/sounddevices.htm#bugcrusher08

***
Workshop-noisers::
I've just taken delivery of the circuit boards that'll be used for the
forthcoming workshops in Berlin and Lisbon. These are really fun
board-synths - quite like the PostcardWeevil but with much more going
on- 10 dials, 13 contact points, 7 switches and 1/4" jack output or miniamp.
Over the next few days I'll be putting up more details for them
including schematics / informational building document / sound demos.
But there's already an image and blurb on the BugBlog:
http://bugbrand.blogspot.com/

If you want to build one yourself then be at one of these places:
Pickled Feet / Berlin / Saturday 24th May -
http://pickledfeet.com/workshops.php
UM Festival / Lisbon / sometime around 20th June - more details coming soon!

Or, if you'd like to organise an event locally then get in contact with
me direct - we can plan for summer and onwards.

***
Shows Shows Shows

This coming Saturday (17th May) I'm doing a collaboration with Bristol
percussionist Roger Skerman.
We're supporting the Necks at the Cube Cinema and its a QU Junktions
show costing £10 in advance (from 7.30pm)
www.qujunktions.com // www.cubecinema.com

And then there are two shows in Berlin with bug-modular-machines:
Fri 23rd May at Salon Bruit - http://salonbruit.blogspot.com/
Weds 28th May at ZMF - http://www.myspace.com/happyauarecordings

Oh---- last minute news ---> there will be an additional late-night show
at the Goldmund DVD release-party somewhere in Berlin on Sat 24th May!

***
That brings us up to June....
Weevil08s will be back in production sometime around then.
I'll shout when they're out!

All best for now,
Tom

The Presets Interview with Kim Moyes

read the full interview on Amateur Chemist.

"AC: I have seen you five times in concert and love the fact that you have two Korg MS-20's on stage. What drove this decision to use vintage gear while on tour?

KM: It's been a nerdy passion of ours for quite sometime now and apart from the great sound these synths make they have such a distinctive look about them. We are very familiar with these synths and can get around them quickly so it's just the easiest option for us to use them live."

JM JARRE sound


YouTube via OOQNTOO. via synthzoom.
"This sound is making with a KORG MS20.
When a MS20 takes itself for an ARP 2600..."

Doepfer analog modular and Juno60 triggered by drums


YouTube via analogueak. via synthzoom.

And a couple more

modular synth external input trigger

"using an external input to fire gates routed to a sequencer which triggers juno and analog patches. parts of the patch are controlled with a ribbon and my voice."

doepfer analog modular ribbon & mic percussion with juno-60

"improvisations with a little melody for contrast."

Yamaha An1x + Korg Poly 800 w/ Moog Slayer Mod


YouTube via thugluv887
"Fun with synthesizers... most of the sounds are coming from the an1x"

Sbuzzizzio play synthesizers - part. 1


YouTube via Sbuzzizzio. Note he's playing the Kawai K5000s Additive Synthesizer. It also has PCM samples, so it could be either. Anyone know the device in the background? Feel free to spot the other synths.
Definitely an XT in the background (shadow XT or custom paint job) - via AHC in the comments.

BOEHM SOUNDLAB MODULAR


YouTube via whiteeagle1973made
"A Looped patch, made in the Boehm Soundlab modular. If you set the VCA gain at the maximum, the sound stays always on, no matter what the ADSR settings are. So this is useful for loops and complex effects. This clip is somewhat dark, the sound is captured by the camera's mic, but you get an idea what this little beast is capable for."

Yamaha CS01 New Hybrid Waveforms Modification


YouTube via rolandsh1000
"Inspired by some work by Plutonique9, I opened up my Yamaha CS01 analog monophonic mini-synth and discovered that you can make the tone generator chip generate (at least) 3 new hybrid waveforms.

There are some caveats:
-depending on the waveform you hybridize, the footage switch gets out of wack on one of the settings (but you still get 3 of the 4 footages working correctly and thus the full range of the keyboard).
- on that one wacked out footage setting, any glissando means a drone on one note and a walk-up/walk-down gliss"

Yamaha cs 15d composition


YouTube via gummybits
"A little composition i came up with on the yamaha cs15d can you quess where i maka tha mistaka?"

1st beta-user video with the M563


YouTube via moonmodular. "The M563 controlling DotCom sequencer units."

Wigerdal's World #4


Write-up on Sonic State. Casio VL Tone. You can find all episodes here.

the march of time

flickr by marinavann who also brought us this one.

synthesizers.com and tennis

click here for the set.

Modular Meeting Happy Knobbing 2008 Bilder

click here for another set of images of the event via sequencer.de.

Happy Knobbing 2008 Images by Moondust

click here for more images of the event on sequencer.de.

Happy Knobbing 2008 via joerg-erren.de

You can find more images of the event here.

Pictured: Moogulator of sequencer.de and synthesizermagazin.de. Note the yellow Synthesizer Magazine sticker.
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