MATRIXSYNTH: primitive two-oscillator synthesizer


Friday, April 20, 2007

primitive two-oscillator synthesizer

flickr by jgb.

"two WaveTek signal generators connected in series. For crunk jamz. The last one in the chain drives a 1" speaker. It will easily deafen you. The front panel is set in Univers, BTW."

14 comments:

  1. A synth isn't just anything that makes noise like a test generator or some circuit bent toy.
    A synth should have generation, control and modification stages.
    Or at least be designed as a synth if it doesn't have those things.

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  2. The first synthesizers were just oscillators. Look at the early BBC Radiophonic work. They made music with virtually identical devices.
    You can play one of these setups like a viol if you have a mind to.

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  3. What's up with this new hatred for circuit benders?

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  4. The first synthesizers were not just oscillators.
    That's like saying the first cars were wheelbarrows.
    They were just oscillators, not synthesizers.

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  5. I've been using devices like this for basic drone tones and the like for way over a decade now. What the hell's so new and fascinating about this? It's NOT a synthesizer, it's a couple of function generators...test equipment...and the circuit bending crowd needs to get over itself if it thinks it's discovered the latest 'new thing' with these. They were using devices of this sort as far back as the early 1950s (think Stockhausen's Studien).

    Is Matrixsynth going to start turning into the test gear blog? I could send in some sexxxay pics of some Bruel & Kjaer, SKL, Krohn-hite, Rohde & Schwarz and GenRad stuff if things just insist on going that way...

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  6. Hate for circuit benders?
    No, that's too strong a word.
    I don't hate circuit benders.
    I reserve apathy, laughter and also some hope for some.
    Maybe they'll learn more about electronics and do greater things.

    Think- circuit bending is a personal art form. It's not for the masses.
    Since art is one of those things that people may or may not appreciate, not everyone will be impressed.
    An audience might be newbies who think it's great, but also experienced engineers who won't see the point.
    That's art and the artist has to live with such impressions.
    Just because someone doesn't like an art form, doesn't mean they hate the artist.

    If I am a dressmaker, I won't be impressed by someone sewing a patch on a pair of jeans.
    As an MSEE, I personally don't see the point and they have to accept that.
    Simple as that, but no hate.

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  7. but you do see the point, you just aren't "impressed" because you assume that it was easy to accomplish. the function gen's aside, some bending can take days to accomplish and doesn’t just require adding switches or pots to get results. there are some cats out there that are starting to drag the bending name down by selling a couple switches added to a S&S for $300 and i think this is against the nature of the art form, and it turns into “production line profit”, removing the art from it completely. but to each their own.

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  8. So who died and made all yall arbiters of what a synthesizer is? A device like this creates, i.e. synthesizes, signals that can be used to create music or other sounds.

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  9. Well said man. Don't discriminate others for how they generate their electronic buzz. We all are part of the same topic - sound synthesis. And a electric guitar is a synthesizer too!

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  10. These are all synthesizers or effects boxes.

    Anyway, I love my Krohn-hite.

    When it comes to most circuit bent stuff, I do prefer the sound my rice crispies make much more. I also think that in most (not all of course, for that would be a sweeping generalization) ... er where was I, oh ya, in most vids of people making circuit bent stuff people really come across as douches.

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  11. This argument was happening yesterday in the Starkey post comments!

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  12. y0 sircut bendin' iz a art man .. get wid it! piece y0.

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  13. It's not discrimination. It's using a word according to its established definition. "Synthesizer" has a certain meaning.

    If function generators are synthesizers, Moog & Buchla didn't invent the synth.

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  14. Moog and Buchla did not invent the synth. That's a load of crap if you are implying that...look at the Hammond Novachord, for example.

    If you use these things to synthesize natural sounds or unnatural ones, they become synthesizers in the musical sense.

    If you would like to call Buchla and Moog guys that are responsible for simplifying, modernizing and revolutionizing the manufacturing of synthesizers, that works. They certainly were not anywhere near the first people to devise a musical synthesizer.

    ReplyDelete

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