MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014 Pics

Mouse over the image above for the slideshow controls.

Update: added a few notes below.  I hate picking highlights because I honestly do love it all.  That and I don't like missing anyone or anything.  The focus is on what's new.  More will come with the videos.

This is the full set of 282 NAMM pics including the following sub-sets just posted:
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: WMD et al. Modular Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Moon Modular Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Miselu, Quicco Sound & Audiobus Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Studio Electronics & Pittsburgh Modular Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Schmidt Analog Synthesizer Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Radikal Technologies Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Big City Music Booth & Aerosmith Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Buchla Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Elektron Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Dave Smith Instruments Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Monome ALEPH Looper Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Moog Music Booth Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Dubreq Stylophone Pics
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Bob Moog Foundation Booth Pics

And that's it for my NAMM pics. Videos will follow over the coming days. As you can see I missed a few of the major synth booths including Clavia/Nord Keyboards, Waldorf, Access, Teenage Engineering, Korg, Roland, Novation, Studiologic and Yamaha. This is no slight to them. I would have loved to check them out, specifically the new A1 from Clavia and the new Waldorf 2-Pole filter.  I did see the new full size KORG MS20 kit but the booth was packed and I didn't get any pics. I knew anything AIRA was not going to be shown so I skipped Roland. I typically go to NAMM on Saturday as I'm literally glued to the site posting away all the NAMM news along with everything else that comes in up to then. By Saturday I have a pretty good idea of what has and hasn't gotten plenty of coverage on the site.  Based on that, new product announcements, and prior commitments with those that reached out to me, I go through my list of booths in order.

As for standouts, although I didn't get to try the new A1 from Clavia, I was impressed by the new oscillator and effects section in the demos to date. I like what I hear. I do think they made a mistake with the messaging on it being an entry level synth. Not sure why they chose to go that route as it degrades the synth's capabilities in my opinion and the price does not reflect an entry level synth.

The new Elektron Rytm sounded fantastic. I should have a video of Highsage jamming on it coming up. Hopefully the audio is good.

The Sub 37 is a thing of beauty.

I'm a fan of the Prophet 12 and the new Prophet 12 module. I'm a fan of mixing digital with analog and I think it is capable of timbres you simply can't get out of pure analog.

The Tiptop Audio system at the Big City Music Booth was absolutely insane! Tomio is a Jedi master on that thing. I should have video of it coming up.

The new Make Noise modules were a mind trip. Video coming.

Noise Engineering is new to the scene and their modules sound fantastic. I particularly like the drum module. They also have a vocal formant module. I mentioned the Yamaha FS1R's formant synthesis and they said it was actually based on it to an extent. Video coming.

The STG EMS Oscillator sounded insane. Video coming.

The new Studio Electronics Boomstars sounded pretty incredible. Video coming.

It takes quite a bit to surprise me.  Two things did.  Full on patch memory on a modular synth with the Buchla Music Easel and what's coming for Audiobus. The Miselu iPad keyboard and Quicco Sound controller were pretty cool devices as well. The Future Retro Triadex Muse based sequencer caught my interest. I didn't show it, but it definitely was a geek out moment for me and caught me by surprise. Who would have thought technology based on the obscure Muse would re-appear today.

That's it for now. The videos and pics should speak for themselves. I love it all.

New Make Noise Module Overview Videos at NAMM 1014

Make Noise Control Cell Series and Teleplexer [NAMM 2014]

Published on Jan 30, 2014 Electronic Musician Magazine·49 videos

"Make Noise's Tony Rolando demonstrates the features of the Control Cell Series and Teleplexer analog synth modules at the 2014 NAMM show in Anaheim, California."

Make Noise SoundHack ErbeVerb [NAMM 2014]

Published on Jan 30, 2014

"Make Noise's Tony Rolando demonstrates the features of the Tom Erbe-designed ErbeVerb reverb Eurorack module at the 2014 NAMM show in Anaheim, California."

Tony Rolando of Make Noise at NAMM 2014

Tony Rolando alias Make Noise introduing 1 out of 2 cases on NAMM 2014 from Andreas Schneider on Vimeo.

Tony Rolando alias Make Noise introducing the other case on NAMM 2014 from Andreas Schneider on Vimeo.

"I am sorrry, but this case is seen upside down, still you can hear tony well introducing whats in there. please find extra pictures of the web and .. perhaps I will turn it around once I am back to Berlin next week."

And a pic of the MYSTERON via Killing Toys on Facebook

Make Noise Prototypes at NAMM 2014

Published on Jan 28, 2014 perfectcircuitaudio·44 videos

"Make Noise brought a whole lot to NAMM 2014, including 2 highly anticipated prototypes: the Mysterion and the Erbe Verb!"

NAMM 2014: New Modules from Make Noise

Published on Jan 24, 2014 Amanda Chaudhary·76 videos

"New modules from Make Noise, including (but not limited to) the Teleplexer. Demo by Tony Rolando of Make Noise"

Happy New Year From MATRIXSYNTH! - A Look Back at 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

I want to start by thanking everyone that comes to MATRIXSYNTH and helps make it what it is - the readers, the supporters, and of course all the sponsors on the right.

THANK YOU and have a GREAT 2015!!!

This site is a labor of love and a ton of work. This site is ultimately meant to be an testament to everything synth in the making. We have over nine years of daily synth history captured here, 119,983 published posts. I can't wait to see what the future brings us in 2015!

That said, here are a few interesting bits from 2014 in the longest post of the year. ;)

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MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2014: Make Noise Booth Direct Audio Video

Uploaded on Jan 30, 2014 matrixsynth·288 videos

http://www.makenoisemusic.com

New Make Noise Teleplexer & Rosie modules at Winter NAMM 2013.

Artists of Tokyo Festival of Modular 2014

"featuring artists of Tokyo Festival of Modular 2014 . https://twitter.com/TFOM2014 *not every artists on this list."

Playlist:
TOKYO FESTIVAL OF MODULAR 2014 @ Super deluxe , 六本木
MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2013: Richard Devine on Make Noise Modular at the Analogue Haven Booth
Studio Tour with Richard Devine
Keith Fullerton Whitman - PAN ACT Festival - Goethe Institut - Boston, MA - June 20th 2013
Black Zenith - Live at the Substation
DENSHIKAIMEN_v3_電子海面v3@KIWA_20110709
OMEI "Unyielding Reason" Live at La Sala (@ Cantina Royal) 9.29.12
HATAKEN live @ OZORA festival 2013
Hataken Solo @ Tokyo Festival of Modula 2013

Don't miss my early interview with Hataken posted here on MATRIXSYNTH back in 2007.

See the Tokyo Festival of Modular channel below for more.

Update: Tomio will be there with Tiptop Audio as well.  You can catch many of his videos posted here on MATRIXSYNTH.

What is The Vanilla Synthesizer? It's Ready, That's What

via the STG Soundlabs/muSonics Electronic Newsletter:

Is it The Vanilla Synthesizer or the muSonics TVS?

I started working on this project a year and a half ago.

Originally my thought process was to make a new American format synthesiser that could be sold as modules, kits, and bare boards. I was concerned about the future of the format, and I felt a new line of basic modules and infrastructure at a variety of price points was important. I still do.

STG Soundlabs was a failure because I made things that ultimately the eurorack market simply did not want. Yes, I sold some, and will continue to maintain the line as best as I can, but it's very hard to find photos of eurorack installations with STG Soundlabs modules in them, but rare to find a nice big man-sized synthesiser without my modules in it.

Another thing I wanted to do was teach myself how to do my own engineering. It didn't start that way, but it became that way. I'd been a hardware product developer since 2005 but never actually laid out a circuit board. That is no longer true, and I've done things beyond this project that I haven't even talked about.

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I Dream of Wires to Add Additional Extended Interview

via I Dream of Wires on Facebook:

"It looks like we'll be producing and releasing one more free I Dream Of Wires: Extended Interview piece in 2014. If you could choose just one person, out of all of the people we interviewed in IDOW, who would you like to see featured in a full Extended Interview? [leave your pick on Facebook here]

If you're not familiar with our Extended Interview series, we've released 9 of them so far. See the list below, and check out our Vimeo channel to watch.

I Dream of Wires - Extended Interview Series:"

9. Chris Carter:

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Roland's AIRA Officially Unveiled - Massive Pic Gallery, Details, Videos

AIRA — Artists make first contact with AIRA

Published on Feb 13, 2014 RolandChannel·835 videos

"Groundbreaking artists talk about their experiences with Roland instruments and make first contact with the AIRA gear. Artists appearing are: Arthur Baker, Ricardo Villalobos, A Guy Called Gerald, Rain Man, Netsky, Oscar Burnside, Boys Noize, Dr Meaker, Hardfloor, John Heckle, Hisashi Saito, and Akkord."

This post might take a bit to load. :)

Update3: You can find a write-up on Novamusik here.

Update2: You can find comments and discussion on this post on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge here. I also added a page break for this post on the main site so it doesn't slow the site down for new posts. Click the "Click for more" link to get to the full post.

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Modal Electronics Introduces New Mini Three Octave 001 Synth, 002R Rack & 008 Black Analog Synth

Update: pics of the 002R rack & 008 added below.
Update2: 002 press release added below. 008 should follow soon. These are literally just coming in.
Update3: 008 specs added below.
Update4: additional preliminary US pricing from the distributor:
002R 12 voice retail $2995. shipping in 2 - 4 weeks
002R 8 voice retail $2595. shipping in 2 - 4 weeks
001 retail $1995. shipping in 30 - 60 days
008 retail $5495. shipping summer 2015
Update5: 008 press release added below.
Update6: more pics added.

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