MATRIXSYNTH

Toa Mata Band - Episode#6 [Orkestrionicle]

Published on Nov 11, 2017 Opificio Sonico

The latest video featuring the Tao Mata Band. Click here to bring up all posts in the series.

"The musical instruments and robot devices used in this episode are:
Rakit Drum synth (Tone Drumsynth), Boss HC-2 (Clap), Arturia BeatStep pro, Coron Rockaku-kun Drum synth (BD+Noise), DIY Glockenspiel, Sabian cymbals, Electro Harmonix Mini-Synthesizer (Bass Synth), Alesis Mod-Fx, TC-Electronics Hall of Fame, Korg mini Kaosspad, Mackie 1402 VLZ, Arduino UNO, Novation Launchpad, Adafruit motor shield."

"Time for a new episode of Toa Mata Band, this one is called 'Orkestrionicle'.

The Orchestrions were mechanic musical instruments that were developed in Germany in the early XIX century that would automatically play music and were designed to sound like an orchestra.

These music machineries were made of a complex system of gears, pulley and levers which were operated by a large pinned cylinder or by a piano roll*.

Their sound was usually produced by pipes, percussion instruments, but many orchestrions contained a piano player as well.

The 6th episode of Toa Mata Band is inspired by these amazing retro music machines, by adding to the LEGO® Bionicle robotic orchestra some acoustic percussions and a vintage mono synthesizer which creates (with help of a bunch of solenoids, robot arm and a MIDI step sequencer) a fully analogue electroacoustic ensemble.
This piece is the results of a live-robotics set recording, mastered in post production.

Giuseppe Acito (Opificio sonico)

:: Credits:
Making and Music: Giuseppe Acito
Camera: Maryanica
Performed: Toa Mata Band
The performance was recorded in October 2017.

:: Contact:
opificiosonico@libero.it
https://www.facebook.com/ToaMataBand
https://www.instagram.com/toamataband/
https://soundcloud.com/opificio-sonico
https://www.flickr.com/photos/opifici...
https://twitter.com/toamataband

*The PIANO ROLL is a punched paper roll that contains the note sequence arranged in length, height and time along the duration of the song.
It can be replaced and swapped for another roll with a different song."

Rakit Drum Synth

Published on May 11, 2017 Rakit

"Rakit Drum Synth Kit based on the Amdek PCK-100 & Boss PC-2.

A DIY drum synth that is made almost entirely from PCBs and has only 2 wires making for a tidy build. Nicely interfaces with sequencers and other trigger/CV sources."

via www.rakits.co.uk:

"Available as a kit or a fully made unit, the Rakit Drum Synth is based on the (now rare) Boss PC-2/AMDEK PCK-100 percussion synthesizer. The sounds produced by the synth are not limited to what you would expect to associate with drum sounds and can vary from big bass drums to tapping on glass to UFO space drum-wobbly things! Not only does this Drum Synth do sonic justice to the original but we have also put our own spin on it with extra modifications including:

* Attack on/off
* VCO & LFO wave shape selection
* Pitch CV input

CLICK FOR MORE »

Rakit Disintigrated Cracklebox

Published on Nov 2, 2017 Rakit

"A fun little noisemaker kit based on the famous cracklebox synth."

via Rakit

"Our disintegrated cracklebox kit is inspired by Michel Waisvisz’s Cracklebox and his use (and abuse) of one of the earliest examples of an integrated operational amplifier. The original used the LM709, an old (and obsolete) chip by today’s standards. So in our kit we have effectively taken the integrated circuit of the operational amplifier and dis-integrated it, allowing it to live on forever in kit form.

What Is A Cracklebox?

The disintegrated cracklebox is a noise maker type instrument where the player becomes part of the circuit by interacting with the touchpads. Experimentation really is key to getting the most out of it, using fingers spread over multiple touchpads to get new, interesting sounds."

CLICK FOR MORE »

MFB Dominion X Desktop Analog Synthesize

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

CLICK FOR MORE »

Waldorf Microwave XT - Sounds 3

Published on Nov 13, 2017 waterdropmusic

"It's actually one bass sound that I play around with and another bass sound at the end. First bass sound has effects over it but even without effects it sounds very thick.This synth is lots of fun !!"

All parts here.

KORG Volcas & Novation Circuit Electronica Session 3

Published on Nov 13, 2017 014london70

"Volca Bass playing the chords being sequenced by Circuit. Volca Dample and Keys complete the set up. Recorded in AudioShare via a Behringer Xenyx mixer and mastered in Final Touch."

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight With the Prophet-6 and Tom Darom

You can find the full interview with Tom Darom here.

"Tom Darom is an Israeli producer, composer and keyboardist based in Tel Aviv, Israel. She tours and records with the Balkan Beat Box as keyboardist and programmer, is A&R/creative director for APE Records, and is also a composer for TV, film, and media. Her recent work, Shadow of Truth, is a 4-part documentary on Netflix. She received the DocAviv Best Original Music award in 2016 for the documentary Death in the Terminal. The movie also won the Best Israeli Film award.

“I live in an environment that is a melting pot of cultures, rhythms, religions, languages, and conflict. This obviously filters into the art that’s produced here. Many of my scores cover these issues. Much of the music I produce, and artists I work with are an intricate weave of eastern and western influences. Our generation is fortunate to be able to search for what defines our complex identity. From this a new, hybrid middle-eastern sound has been born.

We chatted with Tom about how she’s using the Prophet-6."

---
You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith OB-6 Tarekith Review

Published on Nov 13, 2017 tarekith

"Brief overview of the synth's functionality and my thoughts on it after a few weeks of heavy use."

Music Thing Modular’s Spring Reverb MK2 and Some Reverb History

As you know, Music Thing introduced the Mk2 version of their Spring Reverb module and DIY kit, currently available at Thonk.

Music Thing has a great post up featuring some history on the spring reverb and what went into theirs.

"Spring reverb is a strange, unpredictable thing. It’s a real electromechanical effect; boingy metal springs being jiggled by a little coil, with the jiggling captured by another coil at the far end. Compared with smooth, reliable software, it can sometimes be frustrating and fiddly to use, but nothing else sounds the same.

In 1935, Laurens Hammond was developing and selling his Hammond Organ. He’d brought the church organ into the living room, but found they sounded a bit underwhelming without the reverberation of the hall. He discovered that Bell Labs had created an artificial delay device to simulate long-distance calls, using wire and springs. He re-purposed and tweaked the technology to create the first artificial reverberation unit. At first, they were huge."

Read the full post here.

CLICK FOR MORE »