Analogue Systems French Connection: First Try

Stexe

"CV is going out to a Moog-32 module. Backup from the Moog Source keyboard in sample+hold mode."

Shellshock Sequence 6-25-20

Stexe

"Four track looper (Electro-Harmonix 45000) loaded with sequences from the moog stack (DFAM and two Mother-32's), percussion, and drum kit. Mixing tracks for the video and adding sound effects (Chimera BC16 synth). No computer required."

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Haven't seen the Chimera BC16 in a video for a while.

3-15-20: Cyberspasm Sequence

Published on Mar 15, 2020 Stexe

"Electro-Harmonix 45000 looper, Moog-32 (2x) and Moog DFAM modules. Line 6 and TC Electronics effect boxes. No computer additives."

Soundlab 1-28-19

Published on Jan 28, 2019 Stexe

"Instruments: Chimera BC16, Moog Source, Roland TR-33 rhythm machine."

Moog Halloween Theremin Video Contest 2017

Moog Halloween Theremin Video Contest 2017 (Circuit Seance)

Published on Oct 23, 2017 Stexe
Update: Re-Published on Oct 25, 2017

"Instruments: Moog Theremini, homemade synth / sequencer, circuit-bent toy"

See the Halloween label for more.

Soundlab 5-31-17

Published on May 31, 2017 Stexe

"Instruments: Moog-32(2X), electronic bagpipes"

The electronic bagpipes appear to be the original style from Ross Technologies.

"The Ross Technologies Original Style Electronic Bagpipes were the first Electronic Bagpipes to feature all-digital circuitry and the ability to play in different keys.

These pipes have a toggle style power switch and a rotary volume control, with built-in speaker.

A standard 3.5mm stereo jack is also fitted to enable the use of headphones for private listening.

These pipes are powered by one 9 Volt battery."


Below is a demo video from Missippi Mike.


Uploaded on Jul 23, 2011 Mississippi Mike

"The video is a review for the product I have bought, the Ross Electronic Bagpipe, by William Ross, of Ross Technologies. William Ross is a great guy and he designed and built the instrument himself. Ross, you got my endorsement. I'm extremely happy with the product, it's simply amazing. The shipping was faster than greased-up lightening, the price was more than affordable and seller communication was outstanding, friendly and professional. Again, I couldn't be happier to share my experience and recommend the product, which can be found right here:

http://www.ebay.com/...

If you're looking for electronic bagpipes, I wouldn't hesitate at all buying this model. And the song, well, you can hear and make your own conclusions, I think it sounds awesome and it actually surprised me and blew me away of how good it is, exceeding all my expectations. Ross Technologies have a fine product for an EXCELLENT PRICE!!! Before anybody asks me I don't get commission, I don't have anything to do with the company, neither any of my views represent that of the company, I'm just an extremely happy customer that felt the need to share the experience with other potential buyers. I hope I did the product some good justice, despite my crappy beginner playing, them good Ross folk take a lot of pride in making those wonderful instruments and they rightfully deserve a good review.

The tune is Scots Wha Ha'e e Wi' Wallace Bled (Scots) or Scots Who Have With Wallace Bled (English), commonly known as Scots Wha Hae.The song was played for Robert the Bruce's troops on their march to Bannockburn, where brave Scots whooped the hell out of invading English troops, securing Scottish Independence then. Robert Burns composed the lyrics and they are said to be Bruce's address to his men before the battle. A beautiful, patriotic and outstanding melody.

It's been about a year since I have made this video (this paragraph is being written in July 2012) and I thought it would be nice to let people that come here know that I'm still at it, this long journey of learning the Highland pipes. I still have my Ross electronic chanter, and use it regularly - usually when I don't have the chance to play the practice chanter, or to memorize notes. I receive tuition here and there, for free by the best piper in town, who happens to be a nice guy as well, and I have played my full set of bagpipes successfully - when he tuned them. I can't tune them for nothing by myself, hardest thing I ever heard! But someday I will learn the sweet spots, or die trying. I have read plenty on the art of tuning, and will just have to train my ears slowly to the sound of the drones, and it will come with time. I am on my fifth tune on the College of Piping tutor and my next movement to learn is the revered birl. Hopefully, I will get it done properly. I am as passionate of the bagpipes as I am of my banjo these days, and recently, I have been playing my chanter, and many times the goose (my drones or drone stocks corked, with the practice chanter on with a PC adapter), to get used to the breathing / squeezing. I have much fun with it and love learning. Someday, when I am good enough, I will upload a video of me playing the full pipes, but for now, getting good and learn how to tune them are my priorities! That's it for my little update. Oh, and since I got tuition after this video, I learned how to correctly do my throw on D, which was done incorrectly in the video there. That's why tuition is so important! Alright, y'all take care, thanks for stopping by.

Video proudly made in Scotland, July 23, 2011.

Tapadh leibh! Mar sin leat an-dràsta."

Toddler Techno

Published on Oct 13, 2016 Stexe

"A three year old can do it."

Ross Electronic Bagpipes Test Drive

Published on Aug 25, 2015 Stexe

"Just got this in the mail last night. 1/8" audio output going to a DAW with added phaser and delay effects, and the Frankensynth (homemade analog modular, in background) providing a low register drone. Oops, almost dropped it!"

Haven't seen one of these since 2009.

Casio KA-2 Circuit Bend

Published on Apr 7, 2014 stexe·88 videos

"No digital sequencing or overdubs in this recording; audio is recorded straight out from the keyboard into the DAW, some effects are added in post (delay, flange, reverb), and there are lots of edits.

The sequences (:00 - 1:33) are all randomly generated by pressing the button on the far right while a ROM pattern is playing. Above the tone selector are two harmonics switches for the keys (heard at 1:33) and there's a pot for feedback (1:57) and glitch, each with on/off toggles above them."

Happy New Year! The Year in Synths 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a busy year it has been in the world of synths.

This is going to be one doozy of a post, so bear with me. This post is a review of the year in synths for 2013. We begin with Tributes to Those We Lost This Year, followed by New Manufacturers & Makers, Older Manufacturers Added to the Site, New Gear Announcements, Top 10 Posts by Traffic,  My Standout Posts for the Year, and finally This Years' Synth Events. I did my best to keep things as short and concise as possible.

Let's begin with the hardest part of the post.

Tributes to Those We Lost This Year

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer
Lou Reed RIP
RIP Dick Raaymakers aka Kid Baltan
RIP George Duke - DreamWeaver
RIP Ralph Dyck, Sept 28, 1941 – May 20, 2013
RIP Ray Manzarek

All missed and never to be forgotten. Take a moment to remember them.

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New Manufacturers & Makers

Starting last January, I decided to keep a running list of every new manufacturer and maker introduced to the site during the year.  This is something I haven't done before and I thought it would be interesting to see how many there were in the year.   It's easy to focus on the big synth announcements throughout the year, but what about all the new makers and brands? I shouln't have to go considerably into the significance of new designers on the scene, so I'll just say two things regarding them.  One, the number of new makers is a direct reflection on the interest in our scene, and two, these are the creators of new gear which directly translate into new designs not previously available to us.  Think about that for a moment.  These are makers and designs that did not exist before.  They are part of our synth history.  So what is the total count of new synth designers for the year? A whopping 113. Think about that a bit. One hundred and thirteen new synth designers and brands this year alone.

Here they are (note a handful date back to 2012, but 2013 marked their momentum and availability):

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Virtual ANS Test Drive

Published on Sep 20, 2013 stexe·82 videos

"Getting comfy with the gradient drawing tool on a bamboo tablet and the newly released Virtual ANS synth."

A Stupid Song for the Casio VL-5

Published on Aug 12, 2013 stexe·79 videos

"Da-Da-Dumb. A stupid song for a stupid instrument, the Casio VL-5.

It has a great rhythm section, and four-note polyphony. But there's a selection of only ten toylike patches. Selecting the patches and rhythm patterns is a convoluted process involving pushbuttons and a two-way toggle switch. There are no indicator lights, just a faint LCD display no larger than a watch face, so it's easily left on, expending the batteries. The chiclet keyboard is nearly unplayable. And despite its tiny size, I weighed it in at six pounds, seven ounces. That's with batteries, but without the pen.

Yes, the optical Scanner Pen, technological wonder of the 80's, destined to change musical creativity forever after. The keyboard includes a "songbook" (pictured), with a handful of tunes you can load into the VL's sequencer by scanning about 20 lines of code (ten each for pitch and note interval). I still can't get it to import an entire song successfully, and why should I bother? Technically it's RAM, but it's no more than a few unmodifiable, auto playing sequences. For this reason above all others, I declare the Casio VL-5 to be the Mostest Stupidest Keyboard that Ever Smelled.

Trio did Use a Casio VL rhythm in "Da Da Da", but it was the VL-1. Same sound, slightly different pattern."

Banshee Box: Quad NAND Gate-Based Synthesizer

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on Apr 12, 2012 stexe·78 videos

"Behold my wrath: the bloodcurdling terror that is The Banshee Box. This uses a single Quad NAND Gate chip (retail cost: 30 cents). Its four oscillators are patched into each other, and controlled by the four knobs on the right. On the left is a volume slider. I built the case from tinted acrylic that was salvaged from a piece of discarded furniture. Most of the other parts were bought surplus, keeping the cost of this synth under four dollars."

via this auction

See the seller's other items for more.

"A synth built around a Quad NAND Gate with four oscillators cascading into each other, and controlled by the four knobs on the right, from top to bottom. So the pitch is set by the top knob, then that goes into the oscillator below it to control filter cutoff, and so on. On the left is a volume slider. Case is built from 3/16" tinted acrylic that glows like mad under a black light. 1/8" audio out. toggle switch for power. Runs on a 9-volt battery (not included)."

Created a new stexe label for these.

Little Buddha (third eye opener)

Published on Jul 9, 2013 stexe·78 videos

"The circuit of a battery-operated prayer box with three different sample loops, fit into the case of a Little Professor (a 1978 teaching calculator).

Eyeballs are wired to add distortion or bend the pitch when touched. His third eye is a volume-sensitive LED, set behind his translucent plastic forehead. Samples are selected by pressing the lower left button (this is the only button on the original keypad that functions). 1/8" audio out, power switch, volume knob, pitch knob. Runs on two AAA batteries.

www.stexe.net"

SoundSplitter: Circuit-Bent Talkbox

Published on Jul 7, 2013 stexe·77 videos

"A circuit board from a Milton Bradley "Mall Madness" board game (first edition) fit into the casing from a handheld electronic game from the late 70's called "Split Second". Uses 4xAA batteries. Along the side are two slide switches (power on/off and speaker mute), and 1/8" audio out. On the faceplate is a sound trigger pushbutton, two scrambler pushbuttons and a volume knob. A red LED is behind the clear red window and responds to sound levels.

As this video demonstrates, it can take a while to coax a satisfying sound from this gizmo. Not so much practical for live performance as for studio work: record it for a couple minutes into a DAW and chop it up to remove all those "HI!"'s. Or, flip a switch to turn on the internal speaker and annoy everyone within earshot when you're on the go.

www.stexe.net"

Milton Bradley "Mall Madness" on eBay

FrankenSpeak

Published on Jul 4, 2013 stexe·76 videos

"three glitch toggles, loop pushbutton with locking toggle switch, pitch dial, two body contacts, reset button.

www.stexe.net"

Motorcyclone

Published on May 22, 2013 stexe·73 videos

"Circuit-bent toy. Uses a rotary switch (top) to select between eight different digital samples of motorcycle sounds. There's a pitch knob (lower right), volume knob (lower left) and two body contacts (bottom) to add modulation and pitch bending. Light-up arcade button closes the circuit and triggers the sounds. 1/8" audio out. Runs on 3 AAA batteries, easily replaceable. Case is custom-made 1/4" and 1/8" acrylic."

Update:

The Coffinator
Published on May 22, 2013

"Scratch-built synthesizer with two oscillators. Each has its own pitch knob (top) and trigger (on either side) The linear slider is for volume. Runs on a 9v battery and has 1/8" audio out. Housed inside a modified Halloween candy box."

Mod-o-Tron Mini, Mod-o-Tron & Frankenribbon

Published on Feb 13, 2013 stexe·65 videos
www.stexe.net

"Starting with a clean sine wave, then at 0:10 adding a short, high feedback delay. At 0:48 I bypass the pressure plate with a slide switch and adjust the volume knob. 1:20 demonstrates the cutoff, then the plate is turned back on for some staccato notes. LFO comes in at 1:43.

half the size of my original Mod-o-Tron: 3 x 17" faceplate, and only 1" high. Case is made from tinted acrylic and MDF. Runs efficiently on two AAA batteries. Uses a Korg Monotron Delay, linear potentiometer and force-sensitive resistor. Cost was about $90 total for all electronics and materials.

My other two ribbon synth designs:"

Mod-o-Tron

Uploaded on Dec 7, 2011
"Analog ribbon synthesizer. Uses the circuit from a Korg Monotron and a customized 18" ribbon with reversible direction. Only 3/4" deep. Runs on rechargeable batteries. Built from MDF and acrylic."

Frankenribbon Solo

Uploaded on Nov 11, 2011

"My ribbon-controlled invention, built from two "pocket" analog synthesizers (Gakken SX-150 and Korg Monotron) with many additional components and hacks."

www.stexe.net

monotrons on eBay
Gakken SX-150s on eBay

FrankenSynth

via Stephen of FUTURECHIMP where you'll find more pics and info.

"I recently finished a modular system. It's basically a Paia 9700S system in a new shell, with a built-in midi keyboard and a homemade 10-step sequencer based on the Baby 10 schematic.

I tried to make the case as small as possible, so I gutted an old midi keyboard that had miniature keys. The red plunger buttons on either side of the keyboard transpose the octave up or down, so it's possible to play all notes in the midi range. The midi cable comes out from the interior of the case and goes into the faceplate, so I can unplug the keyboard to use a different controller (like drum pads).

The case is built out of acrylic, and the lettering is dry-transfer.

19"w x 11"h x 8"d"


Some videos below for the arhives:


YouTube via stexe

"A freshly-built Paia 9700s modular synthesizer draws its first breath. Get your own at: http://www.paia.com/p9700s.asp"

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