Enjoy ✨ (Arp2600m + H9 + Pill Pedal // Arturia Keystep Pro v2.5 // Moog Minitaur // MFB Tanzbar)

video upload by 2-Minute Warning

"This is my first video featuring the Korg ARP 2600 M, one of my dream synth! (might surely be because of the heavy use of this synth by artists from the Mute label 😄)

For this first jam, I used the ARP in paraphonic mode: Track 3 of the Keystep Pro is sequencing the main riff played by the ARP, and Track 4 is sending CV to the ARP's oscillator 3, thus playing a melody other the main riff.
At the beginning you hear the ARP nearly dry, and I quickly fade in its beautiful integrated spring reverb and the Eventide's H9 Vintage Delay.
I also found a cool trick to temporarily mimic a reverse effect on the sequence played by the ARP, by switching from the ADSR envelope to the AR envelope (where I added more Attack). I used this a couple of times to make some real time breaks 😉

The drums are being played by my mighty analog drum machine: the MFB Tanzbar, however sequenced by the Keystep Pro's Track 1 (Drum track) for this time. The Tanzbar's kick is triggering the Pill Pedal, which is ducking the ARP!

The bass is from the Moog Minitaur (sequenced by the KSP's Track 2).

I also updated my KSP to v2.5 which adds some handy new features, like the "Transpose Latch", which I've been waiting for a long time 🥰 Hence, I can use my left hand to transpose the sequences and my right hand to move faders etc. 🤘

* Hardware used *

// SYNTH:
- Korg ARP 2600 M (semi modular analog synth) + Eventide H9 (Vintage delay) + Pill (ducking pedal, triggered by the kick from the Tanzbar)

//BASS
- Moog Minitaur (analog bass synth)

// DRUMS:
- MFB Tanzbär (analog drum machine)

// SEQUENCER:
- Arturia Keystep Pro, with the latest 2.5 update (introducing "transpose latch", program change etc.)

#arp2600m #minitaur #tanzbar #keysteppro"

The Best of Polivoks

video upload by RetroSound

"(c)2007-23 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

❤️ Support #RetroSound​ channel: https://retrosound.creator-spring.com

The Best of:
Polivoks Synthesizer (USSR 1982)
drums: Simmons SDS-8, LinnDrum, Boss DR-55, Roland TR-808, Roland TR-707, Korg KR-55B

0:06 Erstmal warm werden
0:24 Jetzt aber....
0:40 Mischka hat schlechte Laune
1:09 Radiowellen um uns herum
1:26 Schlechte Verbindung
1:43 Der Tanzbär
2:03 Heute fliegt die Kuh
2:37 Ferner Osten
2:52 Ein besonderer Wunschtitel
3:06 Blutgruppe 0
3:28 Besuch in der Anstalt
3:49 Diagnose: Unheilbar
4:20 Willst du mit mir spielen?
4:33 Ich hab Kopfschmerzen
4:46 Die Party ist in vollem Gange
5:04 Mischka hat gute Laune
5:15 Mischka sagt Danke!

The Polivoks is my favorite analog mono synth.
Here can you find the full Polivoks playlist with a lot single sound demos and one synth demo tracks.
The Polivoks playlist:"

#Jamuary 02 - Ambient Techno improvisation: Monome Norns, Grid + Ableton midi controller by Midique

video upload by Thoow

"My second contribution to this years #Jamuary. This time I based my piece around notes generated by the Fall script on Monomer Norns+Grid. I added a simple baseline in Ableton, recorded some of the incoming Midi notes, reduced tempo and created some Pads with these. The drum section is heavily modulated by LFOs with the Slink Max for Live device. Apart from the filters, effects and start end points of the samples (mostly taken from the Tanzbär), it even modulates the steps and events within the Euclidian sequencer. Have fun. Use headphones, if you can :-)"

Acire 🥉(Erica Synths LXR02 & DB01 // Conductive Labs NDLR turning the LXR02 into a polyphonic synth)

video upload by 2-Minute Warning

"If you've already watched a some of my videos, you might know that I sometimes like to divert a few electronic instruments from their use 😅
So here the challenge was to make the LXR-02 (which is supposed to be mainly a digital drum synth) act as a drum machine & a polyphonic pads synth 😄

For this, I used the Conductive Labs NDLR sequencer with its polychain feature (on its PAD track) which can turn up to 4 mono synths into a 4-voice polyphonic synth. (I used this feature on another video, this time with 4 physical analog mono synths: [below]).

Therefore I used 3 of the tracks of the LXR-02 to play 3-note chords by the NDLR. I used the LXR's individual output, through the Strymon Bigsky reverb for the PADS (through the Pill ducking pedal being triggered by the LXR's drum kick).

I also used 1 track of the LXR-02 to play the ARP part (also sequenced by the NDLR). This time the individual output went through the Strymon Timeline delay.

The Erica Synths DB-01 was used to play the bass riff (still sequenced by the NDLR) through the Eventide - H9 pedal (with some heavy modulated Chorus bringing a Lo-Fi vibe to the sound!).

* Hardware used *

- BASS : Erica Synths DB-01 Bassline + Eventide H9 (Chorus)
- DRUMS : Sonic Potions x Erica Synths LXR-02 (individual output 1+2)
- PADS : Sonic Potions x Erica Synths LXR-02 + Strymon Bigsky + Pill Pedal (individual output 3)
- RIFF : Sonic Potions x Erica Synths LXR-02 + Strymon Timeline (individual output 4)
- LIVE SEQUENCING : Conductive Labs NDLR"

052▶️ Chains (NDLR // Polychain DB01, SE02, 0Coast, Circuit MS // Minitaur // Minibrute // Tanzbar)

video upload by 2-Minute Warning

"I wanted to use a couple of the nice features of the NDLR for this video, so I went to set up 6 analog mono synths all sequenced by the NDLR, a couple of effects and the Tanzbar drum machine for this video!

The first feature used here is poly chaining, where 1 track (PAD track) of the NDLR sent 4-note chords to 4 mono synths (Erica Synths - DB01, Make Noise - 0Coast, Roland - SE02 and Novation - Circuit Mono Station), considering them as a unique 4-voice polyphonic synth!

It reminded me a bit me my wonderful Vermona Perfourmer, where each voice of the synth can have different setting regarding the oscillators, envelopes, filter etc. 🤩

I needed to make some quite complex routing in order to be able to side chain the pads with the kick of the MFB - Tanzbar analog drum machine.

I also used the 'chord sequencer' of the NDLR in order to play the whole track as a song (it's like a song mode, where sequences automatically change the global chords).

Here are some further details on the setup:

* PAD: DB01 to SE02 to Bigsky (Right Input) to The Pill Pedal (Input 1) triggered by Tanzbar's kick
* PAD: 0Coast to Circuit Mono Station to Bigsky (Left Input) to The Pill Pedal (Input 2) triggered by Tanzbar's kick

These 4 analog synths were set up in order to respond to the poly chain function of the NDLR (i.e. With a 4-note chord, the NDLR will send each note to one the 4 synths).

* DRONE (Bass): The Moog - Minitaur was being triggered by the DRONE track for the bass.
* MOTIF (Melody): The Arturia - Minibrute 1, through the ZVEX - Instant Lofi Junky & Strymon - Timeline

I forgot to mention that the Tanzbär's main output was processed by the Eventide - H9 (Reverse Delay) effect, excluding its kick which was outputted on its separate output in order to trigger the side chain for the pads on the Pill Pedal."

Wavocalypse (Waldorf M ; Apocalypse + Julianna ; H9 ; Strymon Timeline ; Bigsky // MFB Tanzbar)

video upload by 2-Minute Warning

"I came up with this simple arpeggio in my previous video (which went rather in an 'indus' direction 😅) and wanted to build another musical arrangement aroung it (with a different bass-line).
So here is the result, where I only used the Waldorf - M (analog/digial hybrid wavetable synth) for all synth parts, in multi-mode with each of the 4 parts going to individual outputs, through different effects chains as seen in the video. The M was sequenced by my DAW.
As for the drums, I used the MFB Tanzbar analog 'drumcomputer', which was synced to my DAW (I used the internal sequencer of the Tanzbar to program the 3 patterns used here).

* Hardware used *
- Waldorf - M with the following effects for the:
- BASS: Death by Audio - Apocalypse (Fuzz) + Walrus Audio Julianna (Chorus/Vibrato)
- PLUCK: Strymon Timeline (dBucket delay)
- LEAD: Strymon Bigsky (Shimmer Reverb)
- CHIMES: Eventide - H9 (Dualverb)
- DRUMS : MFB - Tanzbär"

Layered Drum Machine Snares by Goldbaby

video upload by GoldbabySamples

"Layered Drum Machine Snares. Available now: https://www.goldbaby.co.nz/ldms.html"

"I love layering snares! It's a great way of adding depth and character and giving a more unique flavour to them.

I have used 30 drum machines in different combos and multiplelayering techniques.

These snares are production-ready and will work in lots of different genres.

Drum Machines used: Pulsar-23, Korg 55B, MFB-522, TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, CR-78, TR505, MicroTonic, LinnDrum, Double Drummer, LXR-02, Uno, NordDrum2, Tanzbär, Heartbeat, MR-10, PO-12, KPR-77, PB-300, Axon2, DRM-1, ER-1, R-70, R-100, Olsen, XD-5, Kastle Drum, Ritmo, RX5"

MFB Tanzbär 2 Dancing Bear 2 Demo HQ no talking

video upload by js-sound

MFB's Manfred Fricke Has Passed Away

Left: Manfred Fricke (via Amazona.de) back in the day with his first creations, the MFB-501 drum machine (right), and MFB-601 digital sequencer (left).

2nd image is Manfred Fricke with the MFB SYNTH II at SUPERBOOTH (unknown source).

We lost another legend in the synth world. Sad news in via STROMKULT: "'On June, 17th around 11am Manfred Fricke from Berlin alias MFB sadly passed away after having had a hard time with cancer for a while already. He left his wife Gloria and his son Jean-Marcel behind, we are all very sad having lost this partner, friend and father.'
HerrSchneider

Manfred Fricke was one of Berlins pioneers of analog synth and drum machine makers. He has been the weapon of choice for many (not only) starting musicians. Let’s be honest, who didn’t have one of his creations early in his or hers journey into electronic musical instruments – or at least thought about getting one – and why shouldn’t you? Manfred Fricke's machines always brought something unique to the table, they were mostly analog, affordable, in small plastic housings and just did the job. Manfred always focused on keeping his products affordable for his clients and the instruments quite often made their way to professional use later on, and the musicians often kept their first units as something almost holy, because it were these machines that paved the way into analog electronic music making.

But it would be too short-sighted to associate MFB only with budget entry-level products. Especially the drum machines Tanzbär and Tanzbär II, or the great Dominion 1 show that Manfred Fricke also built machines that met higher demands. The Tanzbär, in particular, is considered by many to be their favorite drum machine of the last few years, especially in terms of its amazing sound.

We hope that MFB will continue to exist and that it will continue to make it easier for many generations of musicians to enter the world of electronic sound production.

We wish Manfred Fricke's son Jean-Marcel continued success for the future of MFB and extend our condolences to him and his family. And lets hope that Manfred will finally meet up with all the other good guys on the other side.

Rest In Peace."

MFB TANZBAR 2 pic via STROMKULT.


video upload by 7V-STUDIO

MFB's Manfred Fricke's first procuct, the Fricke MFB-501 drum machine.

Description via this video:
"This little analog beatbox was developed in 1980 1979 by Manfred Fricke. It was offered at 380 DM. As a low-cost model on the market for analog rhythm generators the small black and white "Switch Box" quickly found a lot of friends, because its configuration could be compared to its expensive far east competitors: 64 patterns and as many fill-ins switchable via micro switches, speed ​​control via potentiometer, 10 analog percussion instruments (activated by means of micro switches), combined mono/stereo outputs (jack), In & Out (5 Vss) and trigger footswitch inputs (jack) for start and fill-in
(retail price for the switch at 16 DM). An external wall power supply provides 12 volts.

Approx. 5000 units of the MFB-501 had been sold. Not so bad for a one-man company. So this drum machine is one of the top-selling devices in the history of the Berlin engineer offices M. Fricke . If you're lucky, this iconic device can still be found on the relevant internet sales platforms.

Today, maintenance of this tiny noise machine is still easily feasible, because Fricke employed only commercially available components. Therefore, 'presumedly dead 501's' can be reanimated without major problems."

MFB 601 Vintage Digital Sequencer, Teardown, Repair and partial analysis


Published on Feb 2, 2015 FPV Electronics

Note this video is FPV Electronics of course, and not Manfred Fricke.
"This device is exclusively built from 7400 and 4000 series basic logic ICs. Making it must have been so much more difficult than just programming a generic µController as we would do today."

Timeline via http://mfberlin.de/en/about-us/:

1976: MFB was founded by engineer Manfred Fricke. So far there were more than some hundred products constructed and distributed. The first developments and products were primarly video games for industrial playmachines.

1979: A lowcost drummachine was introduced in 1979. (98 DM for the self construction kit). The legendary drumcomputer MFB-501 was finished and sold. Although it was not the most prominent drumcomputer of that time it surely was one of the best selling drum units in Germany. Some shops sold ten times more MFB-501s than Roland TR-808s. More products for the musician followed, such as the Digital-Sequencer MFB-601 and the digital drum machine MFB-512. All of these featured rich products were offered at exceptional low prices.

1984: The E-Drum module series 1000 and 2000 followed with corresponding pads.

1986: A new construction period started in 1986 with product launches of the MIDI-CV converter MFB-201 and the MIDI drummer MFB-SYNTH was finished in 1997, although its development dates back to the eighties. The machine never went into production since 2001, the year of the company´s 25th anniversary because of decreased interest in analogue synthesizer technology especially in the sales channels.

From 1986 Manfred Fricke specialized in products for video applications. Alone 20 different framegrabbers for the Apple II, C-64 und IBM compatible PCs were constructed. A very high percentage of these framegrabbers were and are still in use for special industrial purposes. Custom development is still done here, so these specialized tools are not available for other customers.

1994: MFB introduced the world´s first videomixer below 1.000 DM, the MFB-901. Its successor MFB-902 was available in 1995. Another important development in the video section was the model MFB-912, a digital video memory. This 1998 product was highly acclaimed by the press.

1999: The successor MFB-915 added sound and higher picture resolution. It´s available since October 1999. Another successor is the model MFB-920 with an integrated harddrive offering better options for nonlinear cutting and post processing of the recorded material.

2001: During this year, Manfred Fricke also developed another new MIDI drum-module. MFB-KULT, includes most of the famous sounds of the older machines. Both MFB-SYNTH and MFB-KULT are availabale since December 2001. Because of constant requests for the digital sequencer MFB-601 a successor MFB-602. was introduced in May 2002.

2002: Since August 2002 there´s also a little brother of the MFB-SYNTH, the MFB-SYNTH LITE

And of course the MFB DOMINION series and the MFB SYNTH PRO.

There have been 1747 MFB posts on the site prior to this one. MFB has been a mainstay on the site and Manfred Fricke will be greatly missed.

Italian Synth Jam POV - ELKA, Farfisa, Logan

Reuben Jones

"Live jam version of a planned longer track, featuring:

ELKA Synthex
Fafisa Syntorchestra 4
Logan Vocalist
MFB Tanzbär

No MIDI. No overdubs. The Synthex is clocked to the Tanzbär."

MFB Tanzbar Lite Jam

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on May 15, 2017
May 15th 2017

"This is a live jam with the MFB Tanzbär Lite. Recorded through the Behringer ADA 8200 and the Audient id22 into Studio One 3 Pro. The audio is normalized. No effects added."

via this auction

CLICK FOR MORE »

Spectral Voyage : E&MM Spectrum // MFB Tanzbär // TC Electronic AlterEgo // Sennheiser AMBEO

Published on May 24, 2020 Reuben Jones

"This was only meant to be a few minutes long so sorry if it drags, but it's a long journey to where we're going."

MFB Dominion 1 / Tanzbär / Digitone Synthesizer Jam

Published on Dec 21, 2019 VOIDREALM

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // the DIGITAL SOUNDS // 1 by 1 // Part 2

Published on Apr 19, 2019 LESINDES

"MFB TANZBÄR 2 is known and chosen mostly for its analog capabilities but it has also its digital qualities: Here is PART 2 of the internal digital sounds ONE by ONE."

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // the DIGITAL SOUNDS

New MFB 301 PRO

Published on Apr 8, 2019

"MFB-301 Pro drum computer

eight analog instruments, modified and updated from MFB-301 and MFB-401
step-sequencer with 16 steps
108 pattern memory locations, 36 song memory locations
real time and step by step programming
adjustable, programmable level per track
pitches, note lengths and attacks, programmable per step
pitches, note lengths and attacks, controllable by MIDI CC
MIDI-velocity available for all instruments
controllable and programmable from MFB Tanzmaus
MSRP: 149.- EUR

The MFB-301 Pro drum computer is a modern version of our classic MFB-301. It offers eight analog drum- and percussion-instruments which are based upon the original circuits being used in the MFB-301 and the clap-module MFB-401. However, the circuits have been further refined for the Pro-version.

The MFB-301 Pro offers a sequencer with up to 16 steps, capable of storing 108 patterns and 36 songs. By chaining two patterns it allows creating beats with 32 steps. A global shuffle mode with five graduations will make your beats swing.

Programming can be carried out in real time or step by step.

All instruments can be adjusted in three sound parameters and in level. The sound parameters pitch, note length and attack can individually be set per step. In addition, the values may also be controlled by MIDI CC commands and recorded into the sequence in real time.

All instrument levels can be adjusted separately and being programmed per track.
The MFB-301 Pro can be synchronized to a MIDI clock or an analog clock signal. Available are stereo outputs as well an an adjustable headphones output.

Power supply comes from the included USB-power adapter. The unit can be updated via its USB port, but only Windows PC's.

MFB-301 Pro is the ideal expansion for MFB Tanzmaus. Combined, all instruments of the MFB Tanzbär 1 are available. Also, the MFB-301 Pro can be controlled and even be programmed from MFB Tanzmaus via MIDI.

The instruments’ parameters
Bassdrum: Pitch, Decay, Tone, Level
Snare: Pitch, Decay, Noise Level, Level
Claps: Decay, Attack, Level
Tom: Pitch, Decay, Attack, Level
Bongo: Pitch, Decay, Attack, Level
Clave: Pitch, Decay, Attack, Level
Cymbal: Pitch, Decay, Mix Noise/Metal, Level
Hi-hat: Pitch, Decay, Mix Noise/Metal, Level"

CLICK FOR MORE »

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // FACTORY PRESET PATTERNS // 2

Published on Mar 16, 2019 LESINDES

Tweaking FACTORY drum grooves in MFB TANZBÄR 2 -- PART 1.
No sound enhancement. It is the pure machine.
Wrong interface mentioned in the credit list: The sound was recorded with ZOOM H-6.

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // the DIGITAL SOUNDS // 1 by 1 // Part 1

Published on Mar 6, 2019 LESINDES

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // FACTORY PRESET PATTERNS // 1

Published on Feb 16, 2019 LESINDES

"Tweaking FACTORY drum grooves in MFB TANZBÄR 2 -- PART 1.
No sound enhancement. It is the pure machine.
Wrong interface mentioned in the credit list: The sound was recorded with ZOOM H-6."

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // ASSORTED GROOVES // 2

Published on Dec 20, 2018 LESINDES

"Tweaking assorted drum grooves in MFB TANZBÄR 2 -- PART 2.
No sound enhancement. It is the pure machine.
Wrong interface mentioned in the credit list: The sound was recorded with ZOOM H-6."

Part 1 here.

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // ASSORTED GROOVES // 1

Published on Nov 21, 2018 LESINDES

"Tweaking assorted drum grooves in MFB TANZBÄR 2 -- PART 1.
No sound enhancement. It is the pure machine."

MFB TANZBÄR 2 // ANALOG BASS LINE SYNTH // the ANALOG INSTRUMENTS 1 by 1 // Part 3

Published on Nov 7, 2018 LESINDES

"the single analog instruments of the TANZBÄR
1 by 1 and some accents.
Here for the analog BASS and the filtered SAMPLE instrumenets
with add of HH and other drum samples."

previous posts.