Remembering Bob Moog

Amos wrote into AH letting us all know Bob Moog would have been 73 today. Happy birthday Bob, wherever you are.

Image via Robotspeak, where you will find an interview with Bob from 10/29/04.

Update: I just received the following from the Bob Moog Memorial Foundation:
"Remembering Dad:
"The Best Birthday Present Ever"
I own a gift store in downtown Asheville. About five years ago, I happen to be working on my birthday. About an hour after I opened, I was in the back of store setting up a display. It was a quiet spring day and the doors were wide open. I was quietly working away.

My solitude was suddenly and wonderfully interrupted by Dad, who was standing at my front doors singing “Happy Birthday” to me at the top of his lungs. He was so into it. He was waving his arms up and down with the beat, bending his knees and singing so loudly that they heard it half way down the block. I’ve never smiled so much, nor have I ever been more touched.

Dad never really liked celebrating birthdays in the conventional sense because the idea of giving a gift just because you were supposed to troubled him on a deep intellectual level. But hell, who needs a gift when you’ve got your Dad at your door, bellowing out the birthday theme?

Today is Dad’s birthday. He would have been 73. I’m taking the day off to remember him……and to sing to him.

Send Bob a Birthday note--share your Moog Stories at our website.
Take a moment out today to reflect on how Dad touched your life, how he inspired your creativity, how he changed the face of music.

May Moog be with you,
Michelle Moog-Koussa
Executive Director, The Bob Moog Memorial Foundation for Electronic Music
Make Waves. Support Bob's Legacy."

And of course, via MOOG Music:
Happy Birthday Bob - May 23, 1934
Ileana Grams-Moog, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Moog Music President Mike Adams and the Moog Music family gathered today to celebrate Bob's birthday and legacy.

The Top 100 Synths According to the A-Z of Analog Synths

via Ethan Callendar in the comments of this post. Thank you Ethan! Click the image to shoot Peter an email on the availability of the A-Z Books. I have them and they are very, very good - an absolute must have for synth enthusiasts.

"Here are the top 100 according to Peter Forrest's "A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers:

1. Moog Memorymoog (LAM)
2. Roland MKS-80 (w/MPG-80 + MKB-1000)
3. Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 (Rev 3)
4. Moog Memorymoog Plus
5. Sequential Circuits Prophet-10
6. Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 (Rev 2)
7. Oberheim Matrix-12
8. Sequential Circuits Prophet-T8
9. Moog Original Prototype
10. Oberheim Xpander

CLICK FOR MORE »

ARP Axxe and Little Brother

via this auction. Cool advert. I actually put this one up on Matrixsynth-b first, but thought it looked pretty cool, so I put it up here as well.

RMI Harmonic Synthesizer

via this auction

Click here for more pics.

Details: "You are bidding on a keyboard from a estate, this keyboard was played in the 70s and was stored away for the past 20 years. We plugged in the keyboard and all keys work nice including all the lighted buttons and the left and right equalizers, we did try to test most functions however we are not totally familiar with this equipment so we cannot guarantee every function works perfect. The keyboard looks to be well taken care of. It has a case and 4 steel legs that fold up. We would rather this be a local pick up however we can ship this item.

HISTORY

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland 80017a

The dreaded chip that takes the Juno-106 out. Title link takes you to shots via this auction. Docs with mp3s and shots also saved here. See this post for an alternative replacement chip.

Details:
Roland 80017a Replacement VCA/VCF chip for Juno-106/ MKS-30/ GR-700/ HS60
Problems Typically Solved by Replacing the Failed 80017a Chip Include:
* Erratic or sudden loud noise from synthesizer output, particularly after 10 minutes of powering up.
* Note hang-ups or long sustain.
* One synth voice will not respond to filter or amplifier changes.
* Unstable operation.
* Juno-106 or MKS-30: Notes will not play, most typically every 6th note will not play due to failed 80017a chip.
* GR-700: One particular voice or string will not sound, "D" string, "A" string etc.

About the 80017a VCA/VCF chip:

The 80017a chip was a real workhorse for Roland synthesizer engineers in the early 1980s. This one chip contained both the classic, driving -24 dB voltage controlled low-pass filter with a smooth voltage controlled amplifier. By placing all the components on one chip, Roland was able to keep the classic sound of their analog synthesizers across various products, with low production costs. Almost immediately Roland knew they had a problem on their hands, and changed production methods.

When these chips fail, sometimes voice will stop working completely. On a keyboard synth, this shows up as every sixth voice not working. On a GR-700 guitar synthesizer, this shows up as one string’s synthesizer voice failing. But the chips may not fail completely, resulting in a lack of control over the filter quality for one voice, or by sudden, loud erratic sounds from the synthesizer. The only solution to these problems is to replace the existing 80017a with a new chip.

This chip is from lot 44, produced after Roland solved the manufacturing problems. Probably 20 years after the original production date, this chip is still working well without failure."

Demos:
Failed Chip
Good Chip

"There are four audio samples of the open string "D." The first audio sample has both resonance and filter cutoff tracking the envelope generator. The VCA is set to "gate," no VCA modulation. This sample highlights the resonance effect. The next sample has the resonance turned off, and only the filter cutoff is modulated. Again the VCA is set to "gate," no VCA modulation. The third sample has the filter wide open, with the VCA being modulated by the envelope. This is to highlight VCA modulation. The last patch is a complex modulation patch of the filter with sample and hold qualities. The mp3 file is a little over one minute in length. There is silence at the beginning, and the sample was normalized to make it as loud as possible."

Update via the comments:
"The statement that there are good lots (date codes) for these chips is completely untrue. I've seen all date codes from 40A to 61A fail."

Update: Looks like there is another one up for auction.

Yamaha QY300

Click here for shots via this auction.

Details:
Professional Sequencer
A large 53,000- note memory with S-RAM back up for maximum of ten user songs. 16 sequencing tracks and 8 pattern tracks. Chord track and a tempo track. The QY300 allows you to quantize, clock shift and create customized swing, gate and velocity values in real time. Editing features include copy and paste jobs for specified phrase and passage between a sequencer track and phrases as well as between songs.

Innovative Data Base
3093-phrase data-base enables you to select just the right musical passage. This large data-base includes drum, percussion, bass, guitar and keyboard phrases you use to create your own accompaniment. Create, edit and store 100 personalized phrases. The floppy disk supplied patterns consist of 100 programmed style variations from Rave to Rock, Rumba to Reggae and much more. Each style offers eight options including Intro., Normal, Variation, four Fills, and Ending phrases for custom accompaniment production. You can make a maximum of 100 personalized styles, with eight sections each. These original styles can be stored on a floppy disk for future use.

Harmonious Music
Twenty-seven chord types from major to minor and diminished to augmented and more are available. The QY300 can re-harmonize phrases and patterns according to any chords you select in the pattern track.

Easy Access Interface
Easy access interface and large LCD graphic display allow accurate procedures to be done quickly and easily. Menu buttons, Data and Shuttle dials, cursor buttons and numeric computer style keys are included for fast location, selection and edit procedures.

Tone Generator
Top quality GM compatible 128 voice AWM tone generator with 8 drum kits plus an integrated effects processor based on Yamaha's proven DSP technology. The built-in mini-keyboard to produce up to 28-note polyphony with Dynamic Voice Allocation.

Data Storage and Compatibility
Equipped with a 2DD 3.5" floppy disk drive so that you can store, retrieve and organize large amounts of musical data. It loads and saves in Standard MIDI File and ESEQ formats including Yamaha's Clavinova.


Sequencer/ No. of Tracks Song mode: 19 tracks (TR1...TR16, Pattern, Chord, Tempo) Pattern mode: 8 tracks (TR1...TR8) Phrase mode: 1 track
Sequencer/ Data Capacity Approximately 53,000 notes (battery-backed) 10 songs. 800 user patterns (100 styles x 8 sections) 100 user phrases.
Sequencer/ Preset Phrases 3093 phrases
Sequencer/ Record Modes Realtime, Step, Punch-in
Sequencer/ Preset Chords 28 types (including "thru")
Sequencer/ Note Resolution 96 clocks per quarter note
Sequencer/ Polyphony 32 notes
Sequencer/ Play effect Quantize, Swing, Transpose, Clock Shift, Gate Time Modify, Velocity Modify
Finger Chord Chord Root, Chord Type, On Bass, Original Bass
Sequence File Format QY3000 Original Format, ESEQ, SMF
Tone Generator/ Type AWM (Advanced Wave Memory)
Tone Generator/ Max. Polyphony 28 notes (with dynamic voice allocation)
Tone Generator/Multi-timbre Parts Song mode:24 (sequence track 16 + pattern 8) Pattern mode:8 Phrase mode:single
Tone Generator/ Voices 128 normal voices (GM Level 1) and 8 drum kits
Tone Generator/ Effect Parameters Hall 1, Hall 2 , Room 1, Room 2, Plate 1, Plate 2, Delay 1, Delay 2
Display 64 x 240 dot graphic liquid crystal display
External Memory 3.5" 2DD- type floppy disk drive
Connectors Phones Output x 2 (L/Mono, R) DC In MIDI In, Out
Power Supply PA-1207 or equivalent AC adaptor
Dimensions 343 (W) x 238.2 (D) x 64.7 (H) mm (13-1/2" (W) x 9-3/8" (D) x 2-1/2" (H))
Weight 2.1 kg (4 lbs 10 oz)

[Prt23.net] Drumatix modification

Title link takes you to another Roland TR-606 mod site. Also check out NumberOfTheBeast (previous posts).

via Rogo in the comments of this post.

Maker Faire via CDM

Title link takes you there.

"Homebrewed Theremin by Barney the Theremin Wizard at the Chips + Music + Fish "after party" organized by Make Magazine and blog/ community Create Digital Music. The image in the background comes from a vintage training film for electricians, which just happened to be running at the venue for a later performance."

Coldcut - Atomic moog video (2000)

YouTube via vonoben.

Recording an MPC500 to PC

YouTube via Lovesign. via Failed Muso.

MaoMakMaa Tique Tone : 555 Timer Experimental Drum Synth

YouTube via maomakmaa.
"This wicked circuit experiment gives hours and hours of different bleeps and klonckcz, bassdrum-like sounds and rhythms. I created this on a breadboard with 2x 555 Timer and 1x 556 Timer.
I`ll work on this circuit and release the pcb layout,schematic and more.
I added a MS-20 Filter Clone from FolkUrbanMusic: link, and an amplifier from runoffgroove.com, Little Gem v.3.0 12 Potis,4 Switches,5 nice flickering LEDs"
via sendling

Heaven for Chris

flickr by quasarsglow.

"Surrounded by things he loves. The place had about 250 individual musical instrument stores."

Reminds me of FiveG. Anyone know where this is?

Update via QuasarsGlow in the comments:
"It is in Seoul, South Korea. The place is huge. Its called Nagwon or Nangwon. I forget which, but yes, about 2-300 shops full of musical kit. Loads of pianos, guitars, brass, woodwinds, synths, effects pedals. Chris in the photo ended up buying a Mu-tron biphase effects pedal and a left-handed cutaway acoustic guitar for about $700US all told."

Top 20 Greatest Synths - Episode 8

The final episode is in.

KORG Poly-61

Title link takes you to more shots of Gabor's first synth.

Imagine seeing that on a hike.

confusedmachines

http://www.confusedmachines.com/

"This site will one day detail modifications (mods) to all sorts of electronic instruments. For now however, it documents mods of my Roland TR-606, turning it into a Roland TR-666. The TR-666 is a beast that is part 606, part 808 and part devil.

Basically, as you can see from my pictures, I've added 19 new knobs (one is internal), and a switch to a Roland TR-606 to allow for some pretty smooth or freaky sound control. The new controls are:

BD. Tune, Tone, Decay, Pitch. (also internal max. decay limit)
SD. Tune, Snappy, Decay
HT. Tune
LT. Tune, Pitch
HH (common). LPF, BPF
OHH. Decay
CHH. Decay
CY. BPF (common to HH also), BPF (separate), Decay
System Noise Amount.
Tempo Fine Tune"

Title link takes you to more info including samples and a close-up of the knob box.
via mc in the comments of this post.

Access Virus Classic

via this auction.

Oberheim FVS-1 Synth Programmer Panel

via this auction.
Details:
"This is the front panel from an Oberheim FVS-1 or EVS-1 Polyphonic Synth Programmer. This is one of the very rare ones with reversed graphics, and is black with white lettering. Completely original and very rare Oberheim part. I have been told that they only built 2 of each model in black to take to the trade shows, and made 1 small batch of these blackface panels. This one appears to have been installed in a Programmer, but is in excellent condition and is a really neat piece of Oberheim history."

Roland SH-3

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

ARP Odyssey and Patch Book

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Doepfer A-100

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

2x Standard VCO A-110
1x Ring Modulator A-114
1x Noise/Random A-118
1x VCF1 A-120 (24dB low pass 1)
1 x logarithmic VCA A-131
1 x logarithmi Mixer A-138b
1 x ADSR A-140
1 x LFO A-145
1 x MIDI-to-CV/Gate/Sync Interface A-190

Roland GR-33B Bass Guitar Synthesizer and G-88 Bass

Title link takes you to a page dedicated to the Roland GR-33B and G-88 with more images, samples, videos and general info.

via this auction.

Poly Evolver Keyboard!!

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Anyone know of any other synths with an "!?"