Matrixsynth by Reed

How do you one up The Sage? Buchla. That's a 200e. Yowsa!

Matrixsynth has officially graced the inner electronics of a Buchla. : ) That's probably the closest I'll ever get to one in a long, long time. Thank you Reed!

Title link takes you to a much bigger shot.
Click image for a medium sized shot.

Matrixsynth by underface

Nice! Click image for a bigger shot.
Original image via sequencer.de.

The Parker Steam Synthesizer

Yep. A steam powered synthesizer. Title link takes you to the post on Music Thing. Make sure to check out the video.

RednoiZ - New Flickr Set

RednoiZ has an amazing flickr set up. Title link takes you there.

Pictured: DIY modular synth.

Links in the comments below.

Cat on a Synth

This one in via Michael.

"Attached photo: Rico the cat playing a solo lead line while accompanying self on Rhodes. He hasn't yet got the hang of the (unfinished) modular, but my other cat has opposable thumbs and is a fast learner. Putney and Minimoog on loan from Reed."

Dutch Synthmeeting 2006

Via Dennis Verschoor.

"I organised a meeting with a friend this sunday in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Here are some pics."

set 1
set 2
set 3

and some samples

Pictured:
2 Epro Minisynths
1 DGS Scorpion

Nervous Gender - Live 1983 on YouTube

synth punk featuring an ARP Odyssey. Not sure what the other synth is. If you know feel free to comment.

via Greg Toumassian

Update: Looks there are actually a couple of other synths. Greggo in the comments is pretty sure one is a Moog satellite. You can see the Moog logo towards the end. There is also a silver Steiner-Parker Synthacon! If you are seeing what I'm seeing for the image in the post, that's it. Trip. Don't see those often.

Update via Tommy DOG in the comments:
"Yep. My friend Paul Roessler is the one playing the Synthacon and then there's a Satallite."

Moog Rogue and Vox Jaguar - New Flickr Shot

flickr by jacksonpe.

Triton Valve Extreme - 2 - New Flickr Shot

flickr by o2ma.

TONTO Rides Again - Updates

Title link takes you to updates in the original post. Putting this up just in case you missed it and would be interested. Good news is TONTO's Expanding Head Band will be playing live August 5th for those of you in Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire. Bad news is TONTO won't be there as it is too big to travel. The post has also been updated with Malcolm Cecil's comments on the unauthorized recording.

Nature - New Flickr Shot

flickr by starpause kid.

Elektron Machinedrum

Doctor Bombay is Taking Requests

Update: So I did a little search on Stephen Teller of Doctor Bombay. I found his official site. Damn...
---------------------
Remember Doctor Bombay? He's looking at making a new video that will feature plenty of vintage synths and he's looking for feedback as well as taking requests.

"I've got a fairly large collection of vintage synths- probably around fifty or so. My partner in the Doctor Bombay project is currently the keyboard player in a well known classic rock band. Once I know it's cool I'll let you know his name.

We are planning to do another video. That's why I want to get as much feedback as possible on this one and see what people might be interested in seeing. We're looking at some Blood,Sweat and Tears remakes-anything cool from the late 60's and 70's. We will feature many more synths on the next one also. I wonder if you posted a question as to what song your readers would like to hear next if we would get any response?"

Feel free to post in the comments.

Synths spotted in the last video: Yamaha CS60, Moog Polymoog, ARP Quadra, Oberheim Four Voice, ARP Odyssey and ARP Pro DGX.

4 sinus-audio-generators

Title link takes you to a post on Suble Noise Maker with a link to samples.

via sascha

"4 old tube-sinus-tone generators processed in realtime with max/msp and hipno."

Matrixsynth by....

Matrixsynth by Des



Matrixsynth by Failed Muso



Matrixsynth by Mike


Matrixsynth by [F] for Feraillus


Matrixsynth by Anonymous #2


Matrixsynth by Andrew Foster


Matrixsynth by Anonymous #3


Matrixsynth by phloemlabs on Synthwire.

Yamaha CS60 and Wasp Demos

On synthwire. Title link takes you there.

Synth DIY 2006

Paul Maddox's Defender Synth

Title link takes you to the set.

via F-Masseti

More on Synth DIY

Formant Pro 2000

Title link takes you to a post on synthesizerforum.de with more shots and info in German. Shots mirrored here for posterity. Via sequencer.de.

1x Mixer
1x Output
3x VCO
1x VCF 24dB
1x VCF 12dB
1x Dual LFO
2x ADSR
1x Ringmodulator
1x VCA Exp
1x VCA Lin

Kraftwerk 1973 tanzmusic on YouTube

via sequencer.de

Update via frederic gerchambeau in the comments:
"Ralf Hütter said that Kraftwerk will give someday all their sounds and programs, so that Kraftwerk will continue for ever through every kind of musicians interested by being a part of post-Hutter/Schneider Kraftwerk...

Music Non Stop...
Music Non Stop...
Music Non Stop...
Endless...
Endless...
Endless...

My Kraftwerk biography (in french) : link"

Herbie Hancock Live at Comedy Central 1984 on YouTube

Some Rhodes Chroma and Keytar action.

Matrixsynth by League of james

"Kawai Sx210 says good night europa"

I'll sleep to that. Night all... : )

Matrixsynth by Audio Damage

This one in via Christopher Randall of Analog Industries and Audio Damage.

"Yes, it's a real VST. No, it doesn't do anything."

Reminds me of this blog at times.

; )

Thanks Chris!

my korg ms-20 - New Flickr Shot

flickr by frederic_gerchambeau.

Teisco SX210 with Bottom Panel of Buttons

The SX210 was released by both Teisco and Kawai. I've never seen one with buttons along the bottom like that. Click here for more shots pulled via this auction. Anyone know more about this?

From the auction:
"One other significant feature which makes this particular SX-210 even rarer than other SX-210s is the extra row of buttons and controls below the keyboard. I have seen a few SX-210s but this is the first one I have seen with this feature. The buttons and controls mirror the main panel controls."

CLICK FOR MORE »

miniMusic MixPad

"MixPad is a full featured MIDI file player/recorder/editor. It will let you take any raw MIDI file with you on your Palm and play on any connected MIDI hardware. MixPad differs from any other Palm MIDI file applications with powerful graphic support for simple viewing and quick editing." Think about that for a sec.

BTW, I love miniMusic. I'm still waiting for someone to come out with something like BeatPad for the PC. If you know of any software like this, please comment.

via Palm Sounds.

8 Bit Weapon on YouTube

8BitWeapon.com
via C64Music!

SID Buffer Mod

Probably the biggest issue with the Commodore64 SID is the background noise. This mod addresses that. Title link takes you to more info on C64Music!

"The mod involves adding two 74x245 buffer chips to isolate the SID from the C64 address and databuses. The main reason for the background noise is that a common ground is used for both analog and digital parts inside the chip."

Real or Photoshopped?

Nord Lead 2x. I want one. Title link takes you to the post on Music Thing.

Stupid Cat

Cat on a Roland Promars.

Via Analog Crazy in this VSE Post.

"My other cat found a stupid place to sleep."

Yep... My cat likes to rub his cheek juice on my synths.

KeyToSound Remedy and NextSyn

Remedy is free. Title link takes you to the download and more info.

via Synthtopia.

Matrixsynth by...

Matrixsynth by bringmeup


Matrixsynth by gamagoblin.

One Two Three Sesame Street - On YouTube

Steview Wonder. via Tim Peters.

Matrixsynth by Anonymous

via the comments of this post.

TONTO Rides Again

Update via the comments:
TONTO's Expanding Head Band
Updates via AH: Malcolm Cecil says:
"TONTO's Expanding Head Band will be performing live at the Big Chill Festival on Saturday, August 5th at 9:30 PM the Sanctuary stage. The festival is a 3 day affair held at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, about 2 1/2 hrs drive north west of London. The closest big town is Gloucester. They are expecting 33,000 people to show up - 5,000 will spend the whole 3 days camping there. More detailed info on how to get there is on www.eastnorcastle.com and the full festival info is available at: link.

TONTO will not actually be there - way too big and expensive to ship for a one hour performance - I am creating a "Virtual TONTO" and will play live over pre recorded backing tracks with a specially prepared visual show with hundreds of pics of TONTO and Poli Cecil's art pieces.

The TONTO CD with an additional never before released track will be available at the festival. Those who can't attend but want the CD can email me mcecil[]hvc.rr.com"

Malcolm Cecil in regards to this recording:
"It is unauthorized.

I have mixed emotions about it. Its like seeing your mother in law drive over the edge of a cliff :-) in your brand new uninsured Rolls Royce :-( I am gratified that more than 1100 people have downloaded it in 9 months and that half of the people who found it download it. On the other hand I am just about to re-release the CD with an additional never before released track to coincide with TONTO's live performance at the Big Chill in England on August 5th. TONTO will not actually be there - way too big and expensive to ship for a one hour performance - but I am creating a "Virtual TONTO" and will play live over pre recorded backing tracks with a specially prepared visual show with hundreds of pics of TONTO and Poli's (Mrs. Cecil's) art pieces."

Original Post:
"If you are too young to remember those halcyon days, back when all computers were water cooled, and the Future was Now, then you probably do not even know what a multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer is.

TONTO is an acronym for "The Original New Timbral Orchestra": the world's first (and still the largest) multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer, designed and constructed by Malcolm Cecil. As an analog synthesizer, TONTO was capable of creating virtually any sound. Its warm, fat bass sounds were particularly noteworthy and still cannot be recreated by the current breed of MIDI digital synthesizers and samplers. (See more at link)

With Robert Margoleff, Malcolm produced two LPs - "Zero Time" and "It's About Time" - as "TONTO's Expanding Head Band". I think that "Zero Time" is the best. While I have had the vinyl since forever, the CD is out of print.

I was lucky and persistent enough to find a chap with a copy of the remastered compilation CD, "TONTO Rides Again", and he burned me a copy. I took this and ripped it to WAV with Winamp Pro. Then, I converted to FLAC with dBpowerAMP."

Title link takes you there.

Matrixsynth by Inverseroom

: ) Too funny. Thanks Inverseroom! via the comments of this post

Matrixsynth by Desmond Huffy

This one in via Desmond Huffy. Click image for bigger shot.

"Ok, so I was just going to send in a pic and see if we could start a little fun thing where people take a pic of "matrixsynth" on their synth displays, but then it kinda went a bit logo-ish.

In any case, I was bored, so I hope you like it ;)

Thanks for past and future weird synth blog entries..."

I am absolutely speechless. I *love* it! THANK YOU Desmond!!!

The Exotic Birds and the "Musical Computer"

Warning: click on the play button to launch. If you click on the title link or on the image around the play button you will end up on YouTube with a title to the video that will spoil the surprise. What's the surprise? Check out who the lead singer of the Exotic Birds is while you watch it. There is a bit on Thomas Dolby in the biginning as well. Funny how they continuosly refer to the synthesizer as a "musical computer."

via Tim Peters.

This Guy's In Love With You on YouTube

Doctor Bombay. "An electronic pop version of the 1968 Herb Albert classic done with vintage synths"

Synths spotted: Yamaha CS60, Moog Polymoog, ARP Quadra, Oberheim Four Voice, ARP Odyssey. I definitely missed a couple so if you spot something I missed post it in the comments. Anyone know what that second keyboard is and the one that looks a bit like a Moog Minitmoog but not quite?

Big warm hug to Stephen Teller, Doctor Bombay himself, for sending this one in.

Update via Stephen: "The second one is the Quadra. It's just reversed-like a negative. The lead sound flutey patch is an Arp Pro DGX. Maybe that's the one that looks like the minitmoog. I think you've got all the others."

Sherman Banner Cat

Trip. Sherman.be has a cat in their banner. Title link takes you there.

via David Vanderborn of DVDBorn.

Ralph Lundsten - Worlds First Polyphonic Sequencer and the Sexophone?

This one in via Magnus.

"Ralph Lundsten, 70 years old, started his electronic music studio in 1959. He lives in a pink house,a very pink house, in the Stockholm archipelago where he has his studio Andromeda. In the mid sixties he collaborated with a Finnish engineer, Erkki Kuriniemi, and built what probably was the worlds first polyhonic synthesizer with a sequencer. The Andromatic [pictured below]. It had 10 tone generators, some filters, and modulators. All analog. Erkki also built the Dimi-O in 1970 or 71. A synth with a tv camera where you played the music in the air,so to speak. This instruments made it possible to experiment vith interactive video techniques, e.g. allowing a dancer to create sound by his/her movements. He also built the Dimi-S. Dimi-S or "Sexophone" (Ralph Lundsten refers to this as the "Lovemachine") was a fun instrument for four players. Handcuffs and wires connected the players to the electronic unit, which measured the electrical resistance between all six pairs. When two people touched each other repeatedly, a sequence of musical tones were heard. With increasing skin moisture and contact area, the intensity of the music increased. All about the Andromatic and Dimi series here (pdf). Ralph Lundsten's site with pictures and VR panoramas of his house and studio here. Unfortunatley it is in Swedish but check the third and fourth link, Frankenburg, and Ralphs hus Andromeda studio. He still has the Andromatic in there as far as i can tell. Lower left in the left rack [pictured above]."


The Andromatic

Via the Andromatic and Demi Series pdf:

"In 1961 or 1962 I was invited by prof. Erik Tawaststjerna to develop the electronic music studio for the Institute of Musicology, University of Helsinki. Erik Tawaststjerna, the late professor of musicology, is perhaps best known for his extensive and definite biography of Jean Sibelius."

"I began to construct a modular synthesizer, after Moog brochures and transistor circuit manuals. It was to consist of a Generator Unit, a Filter Unit, and a Mixer, all built into a sound studio console. In it, I tried to experiment with every possible analog and digital sound processing circuit. Integrated circuits were not yet available (all early production went into military and space applications). But Philips made a set of epoxy encapsulated logic circuits, gates and flip-flops. These were used in the Generator Unit [pictured below], both in the audio range (square wave) and as digital control signals, all freely programmable with a 500-point pin crossbar matrix."

The Generator Unit