Sequential Circuits Prophet-600

images at this auction

Yeasayer with Chairlift (5 of 13)

flickr by chris.peplin


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Clavia Nord Lead 3

AHBA 2008 Pics via synchro1

you can find the images here.

via synchro1 on AH:
"Also pictures from prior years:

Oakland - 9/9/2007
Marin - 11/12/2006
Oakland 10/16/2005

some day I'll find and post the old ones from the first gatherings, if only to see John Mitchell again.
oh yeah, and my new puppy"

One up for the pups!

MPS Studio

via MPS

"I just took some pictures of the studio after squeezing the Philicorda GM760 in. It now joins the 6 Trak, DSI MEK and Alesis Fusion. The Elka Panther has moved to the far corner, behind the Roland v-drums."

Be sure to click on these for the full size shots.

AH 2008 Jon's Buchla 200e

AH 2008 Jon's Buchla 200e from synthdood on Vimeo.

Vocoder - What Is It?

YouTube via AnalogVocoder1. Update: Roland SVC-350 with Korg Poly-800 as the carrier.

found in da uncle's garret

flickr by polaranta

"couple of old shaggy keyboards found alongside with some dildoes and toys"

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from the man who found a Polivoks in the potato cellar and brought us these videos.

Robots in dread

flickr by Equaliser
(click for more)

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Reaktor KIT #1 Samples for the Akai S900

You can find the samples on the AKAI S900 blog.

Simple Alesis Micron Improv

YouTube via Chandlerbcliburn
"I got this two days ago. its not very good im still learing. leave comments if you like it."

Posnormal @Universo Experimental

YouTube via etonepan. "posnormal live eletronics at Universo Experimental"

Another simple theme

YouTube via attorks.

That's the Kawai 100f on top and Akai AX80 on bottom.
"Another simple theme; still no keyboard wizardry here. The first sequenced sound is a MFM VCO through an Ian Fritz 5Pulser through an Oakley Equinoxe Phaser. The second sound is a MFM VCO through a CGS Steiner Filter. The bassline is done by the Synthesizers.com modular. The MAQ16/3 is not visible in this video but is on top of the cabinets."

Synthesizer Swami

YouTube via Swamibamisalami
"it is no longer necessary to spend time on violin practice or piano lessons. With todays advanced technologies, no one has to suffer to make music. Divine extacy is now within reach for all beings under the Sun, all who are able to spend their earnings wisely. The machines used are a Fantom F6 and an RS5, all from the brand whose name ends with the same letters as the home country of Krysztoff Kieslowski. This is the Exhibition of the D Beam, and it is performed by a swami of the Uranian-Scorpian order of Sex, Electricity and Death - Sau Epsilon Delta - SED - All is one, One is three, six is seven, eight is nine, ten is Mine, mine is thine, let it shine. Don't miss the D Beam Action Bonanza 2012 at Wembley Stadium."

Korg EM-1 + novation K-station

YouTube via GaEbBo

AnalogSuicide Visits Future Music,Pt. 2- 360 Systems Synth!

YouTube via tarabusch
"http://analogsuicide.com
http://myspace.com/futuremusicstore

Filmed in july, 2008 by Maf Lewis - Tara Busch of AnalogSuicide.com & Jack Waterson of the LA music shop, Future Music discuss the Oberheim Prommer and the 360 Systems Digital Synth."

Casio MT-500 Electronic Keyboard Synth w/Drum Pads

images at this auction


casio.MOV

Live7DaftTrack

via PierreM

"I made this track in 2 hours trying to reproduce that typical daftpunk sound we can hear in the human After All Album.

Sequencer: Ableton Live 7
"Daftpunk style" loop: Nord Modular Digitech Bass Synth Wah
Bass: Ableton Operator
Kick: Jomox MBase01
Snare and HiHats: Ableton Impulse
Break lead: Nord G2
Arpeggio at the end: DSI Mono Evolver Key
All sounds recorded using Focusrite Saffire Pro 10.
All sounds processed thru EHX LPB 2ube and Ableton Effects."

MP3

Vintage EKO Synth P15

via these auctions where you will also find a Roland OP-8 CV/GATE > DCB, SH-2000, SIMMONS MTM+PAD and more.

"Analog with digital control."

CLICK FOR MORE »

faux theremin using walkie-talkie feedback

YouTube via GordonCharlton. via Gordon in the comments of this post.
"two binatone latitude 150 walkie-talkies"

New Serge Modular Musician's CD

via simulacreant on the AH list:

"There's a new Serge Modular Musician's album planned and the deadline for submissions is Dec. 1st. All submissions should be 100% Serge Modular (FX ok). You can join the Serge Modular Owner's Group (SMOG) for further information. This will be a professional CD-R release on a label with original artwork and may end up as a double disc."

electric stimulus to face -test3 ( Daito Manabe )

video upload by daito

sent my way via HarriL.

"Daito Manabe:Direction,programming and compose
supported by
Masaki Teruoka and Katsuhiko Harada: device
Taeji Sawai: sound design"

Update via benny in the comments:
"this guy has a ton of awesome videos!!!

mainly this one:
Command line wave ver 2.(Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi)

video upload by daito

"Lighting pattern is controlled by audio signal from speakers. Not only react sounds but change how to light."

Casio VL-Tone Makes Greg Curvey Feel Like A Kid Again

YouTube via gearwire
"Nowadays, the Casio VL-Tone may be desired more for its kitsch value than anything else, but as Greg Curvey from Luck of Eden Hall tells us, this little guy offered some practical performance options when it first made the scene. It also cannot be denied that the VL-Tone sounds like nothing else -- especially those wicked fat beats.
See more on Gearwire.com."

Noise.io Simple Demo - Chi Mai

YouTube via AmidioInc
"Ennio Morricone's theme played on Noise.io - the iPhone synthesizer"
You can get Noise.io here:

Old Country on Nord C1

YouTube via captainkeys
"In addition to my previous "try-out", this is yet another jazzstandard on the Clavia. Unfortunately the backing-track on the Sonic Cell is not loud enough, but then again it's all about the Hammond right?"

Vintage Synthesizer Minimoog

YouTube via kennykeyboard
"Imagine "We wish you a Merry Christmas" only repeated with increasingly horrid detuned triads. I played with the tuning of the oscillators. Later I play some riffs with mod wheel punctuation and filter sweep. A bit of 'Are you weepin' in there."

DIY analog delay pedal based on MODboard delay circuit

DIY analog delay pedal based on MODboard delay circuit from Tom Whitwell on Vimeo.
"Very quick demo of my just finished analog delay pedal. It's a MODboard [MODboards] delay PCB with a couple of knobs and a couple of momentary switches. The middle one just short-circuits the delay time pot, the right hand one shorts a couple of points on the main delay chip, creating extreme lo-fi feedback.
The clip starts with no sound going into the pedal - the feedback works on noise in the circuit. Then there are a few rather doomy tones from the MFB Synth II. Then, just as I'm getting into it, the camera cuts out..." via Music Thing.

EMS Synthi AKS 80

via Aliens Project (Googlish)

Anyone know what the 80 refers to? Serial number? Model number? Other?

Update via Alka in the comments: "As far as I know, the AKS 80 is Ludwig Rehberg's "new" Synthis. Pretty sure the only real differences would be minor compared to the originals, however the likelihood of ordering one would be great.. I did manage to order a very nice refurbished KS unit from him recently though... you can see it listed as such (synth aks 80) here on his pricelist."

Robot

flickr by Equaliser

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KORG MS20

PNW2008: sidecars demos his gear

YouTube via matrixsynth.

"sidecars demos the Haken Continuum, Yamaha Tenori-On, Digital Trumpet, and C-Thru Axis controller at the Pacific Northwest Synth Gathering 2008."

Note more videos will follow. I have over an hours worth, so they will go up between posts. Remember, you can click on the pnw2008 label below for all posts on this year's event. Also, I unfortunately ran out of space midway through the talks and had to switch to my digital camera for images and video. That ran out about three quarters of the way through, so apologies to those I missed.

Ace Tone Rhythm Ace with MIDI

YouTube via rolandsh1000

"This is a short demo of an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace Drum Machine to which I added MIDI trigger capability.

It's being triggered by an Oberheim DX'a' (the 'a' was the last DX model made by Oberheim and featured stock MIDI), running a few simple patterns.

The Rhythm Ace has about 9-10 drum sounds, most of them are made using resonant transistor oscillator circuits - all the transistors are Germanium - with inductors. There are no IC's anywhere within the Rhythm Ace (well, now there is with the MIDI board). Ace Tone ultimately became Roland, and while the classic TR-808 typically uses a different type of drum oscillator circuit, it's interesting to me that the Rhythm Ace seems to have a Roland quality to the sound.

The MIDI board is made by Highly Liquid and is actually intended for use in the Atari 2600. I added some interface circuitry that inverts and creates brief decaying-exponential triggers from the pulses of the Highly Liquid board.

One limitation here is that the Ace Tone COULD respond dynamically to the triggers, as the sound varies depending upon the shape and size of the trigger pulse. I didn't optimize for that, and that's pretty much why you don't here any open hats or low congas. And you CAN get the bass to boom a la 808 by tweaking a trimpot in the Rhythm Ace, but I held it back a bit here.

I do apologize for the lack of bass here - it's due to the lousy mic on my video camera. Someday I'll get my act together and record these videos with a mixed line-in to the camera."

PNW Synth Gathering 2008 via George Mattson

flickr set via George Mattson of MMM (click the set link for more)

You'll find some shots of people presenting their gear.

JH String Filter Mods

JH String Filter Mods

"1. Level Control and Patch Point For All 40 Channels

This modification turns the JH String Filter into a 40 channel filter bank. The changes are quite simple for each channel. But due to there being 40 channels in total, the amount of extra wiring is quite substantial. Before beginning this modification, make sure you have lots of coax cable on hand and prepare to spend a lot of time planning how to route all the wires so you don't end up with a rat's nest. I probably spent just as many hours long planning how to construct this module as actually building it."

Digital DJ "Controllerism" Rig with Percussa audio cubes

YouTube via kipptumor
"Me demonstrating some main features of DIV's digital DJ system. It is capable of playing up to eight stereo elements at one time, be they whole songs, clips, or loops. I loop everything that goes into it - even 9-minute tracks! I put this together when Mike (running camera) asked me to come up with a system that did not use turntables, CDJ decks, or headphones. We can render a three-day-long seamless show with this stuff. I e-mailed Ableton at one point and asked if there was a way to cherry-pick through the on-screen clips externally, and they told me there was not. I proved them wrong with that $30.00 Logitech joystick there. Oh yeah - We live in Iowa, but we don't raise pigs."

The Makers at PNW2008

Some of the makers at this years PNW 2008. If I missed anyone, please let me know. In order:

flight of flight of harmony

CLICK FOR MORE »

Pacific Northwest Synth Meet Photos by John L Rice

click here for more

When you get there, click on next or the image link on the left for the next shot. If a small placeholder gif shows up instead of the image, click on the "Full size: 1203x800" link to see the full size shot and continue on. Two steps instead of one, but you'll get through the album that way. I found it easiest to start with the last image and use the previous link on the top left to go through the album - no horizontal scrolling.

PNW-Synth 2008 photos by David Skinner

more images here

Roland Studio Systems System 700

via an anonymous reader.

YAMAHA DD-7 (MECHANOID) by S-CAT.

YouTube via PHONICPOTION.

"CIRCUIT BENT WITH 21 MODIFICATIONS."

Univox Mini-Korg Demo

YouTube via jabberwalky
"A sunday morning dick around with the Univox Mini-Korg aka MiniKorg700"

MAC 1 MONO SYNTH 9 OSCILLATORS

via this auction. Not the best shots but you don't see these often.

"Mac1 (Macbeth) modular mono synthesizer, custom built by Ken Macbeth in Edinburgh, 1997 - see photos for signature. Featuring the best components available, built to an uncompromising standard utilising many Moog components and grade 'A' devices...

This synth sounds absolutely incredible. The bandwidth is huge. The highs are are incredibly smooth, and the bass is thunderous. Truly amazing. I'm selling to finance a big mixing project. Easily controllable over CV gate - we use a channel via the Novation bassstation. Very cool!

CLICK FOR MORE »

VOYETRA 8 REV 4 and VPK-5 Keyboard

images at this auction

PAiA Oz As seen in DEVO's "Come Back Jonee" video

via this auction

"In 1982, a friend owed me money but I got this synth and a story instead... After high school I thumbed my nose at the regular life and moved myself to Austin, Texas which was then as it is now: the live music capitol of the world. Everybody was in a band and if you weren't in a band then someone in a band owed you money. Or both. I was both.

My friend Ryan was in a Devo/Kraftwerk ripoff band called "Light Switch" or some vaugely stupid electrical term. The band wasn't that good but they had a pretty impressive collection of synthesizers - especially for 1982 - including the first electronic drums I'd ever seen. One item in particular that I always admired in Ryan's aresenal was a lovely little Paia Oz. I liked the woopy little pitch bending pad, the teeny keyboard and the alien beep the little machine made.

Anyway, at some point I loaned Ryan and the guys of "Light Switch" nearly one-hundred dollars to pay for rehearsal space, food, electricity and probably weed, knowing them. Of course they had no intention of ever paying me back and, predicably, push came to shove (including actual shoving) in an attempt to recover my money. So I said we could call it even if Ryan gave me his PAIA Oz. I really loved that keyboard and I'd probably been subsconsciouly angling for this outcome in the first place.

And he said, "No way - Mark gave that to me." "Wait, " I said, "Mark? Like Mothersbaugh? Like Devo? That Mark?"

Yes, that Mark.
The story goes that in high school Ryan worked at a music shop in Houston around 1977 and who should walk into thier shop with a sweat-ruined Minimoog was none other than Mark Mothersbaugh himself. They had a show at the Texas Opry House, a Houston punk club, and Mark had ruined his Moog with sweat and possibly beer. So, Ryan cleaned up the Moog's contacts, replaced a few pots and had her booping again. Ryan was so flabbergasted that Mark was in his shop that he didn't charge Mark for the repairs and, in turn, Mark was so surprised that this kid could fix synths that he invited him to the next Devo show in San Antonio - including after-party passes. Wow - girls, booze and everything!

Ryan made the five-hour drive to the show, which was super-awesome, and the after-party, which was also super-awesome. Mark, possibly made jolly and generous by the various substances at the party kept introducing Ryan to partygoers as "the guy that saved the show." Before Ryan left for Houston, Mark gave him his PAIA Oz as a thank-you.

Well, it was a nice story and I wasn't sure if it was true. If it were in fact true, then it only made me all the more determined to let the Oz stand as repayment. And if it weren't true I wanted it anyway bacause I thought the Oz was way neato. But Ryan wouldn't budge. He wouldn't part with the synth.

Well, then...
I moved back to Austin a few years ago and who should I meet again but my old friend Ryan. We exchanged phone numbers and emails - and it turned out that our wives already knew each other - and bid farewell. He called me that night and said, "Hey - you still want Mark's keyboard?"

There you are. I have no idea if the lineage of this keyboard can be traced back to Devo or what. It's probably total BS, but you never know. There WAS a PAIA OZ in the Devo video "Come Back Jonee." I like the story more than I like the Oz, so bid early and often."


Update via BirdFLU in the comments: "That's a great story. But if you look at the little keyboard in the Come Back Jonee video it's the same orange/yellow color as an EML Polybox. The OZ may have been Mark's but I don't think it's what's in the video. "

OBERHEIM OB-1

images at this auction
"# 2 VCOs with sub-oscillator each (!). Like on the SEM you've got Saw and Pulse. But there's one interesting new feature: there's a smooth running control knob that moves either from sawtooth to sine or from narrow to broad pulse.. This is quite unusual, and even voltage control of the oscillator waveform is possible... quite good, really! Especially those nice sound between saw and sine are very interesting and not to be found on too many other synths (except multimoog, kobol and some other unusual instruments)
# 1 VCF... very powerful. Sadly it's not the multimode-filter of the SEM... what a shame...
# 2 fully equipped ENVs... without any extraordinary feature, but: just simple and easy to use, and sonically perfect...
# 1 LFO with sine, pulse and S/H
# noise
# very useful controls to the left of the keyboard
# 8 memories"

ROLAND TB-303 with Midi Sync Box

images at this auction
"Also including in this auction is a custom made 1 MIDI in to 2 SYNC out (1X2) Sync Box (with power adapter). This tiny little magic box let's you Sync not just one classic Sync instrument.. BUT TWO AT ONCE! Meaning you can Sync both a TB-303 and TR-606 (or MC-202, SH-101 and many other vintage pre-MIDI pieces) to any modern MIDI device. From a Groovebox to a ProTools or Reason rig, you will be able to use this amazing classic with any and ALL of your present gear."

Roland SH-101 with Mods

via this auction

"It has 2 awesome cutom mods, courtesy of world famous Mark Verbose. Please watch these 2 short videos for demonstration. This is one of a few SH101s used live by my group Prototype 909 in our recent tour of the US."