MATRIXSYNTH: Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Schematics via Mike Peake

Title link takes you to them. Be sure to click on the "All Sizes" link for each.

GX1 Ring Modulator
CS80 Ring Mod (pictured)
Tau VCA 5
Tau VCA 7
Tau VCA Layout
Tau VCA PCB
Polyfusion Octave Divider
MS20 Ring Modulator

Korg Electribe MX-1

flickr by Cron-Z.

click here for the full size shot.

Moogfest 2007 in NYC -- featuring the first annual Moogfest Symposium

"Featuring an all-star lineup from the world of Moog
Greetings from the Bob Moog Foundation!

We have been hard at work all summer as we work towards our mission to document, celebrate & teach innovative thinking. On September 22, 2007 we will be traveling to Moogfest, an annual NYC event celebrating the musical legacy that continues through the instruments that Bob created. Check out Moogfest at moogfest.com and if you live in the NYC area, please join us for this very special tribute!

The Bob Moog Foundation has partnered with Moogfest to create the first annual Moogfest Symposium. At the Symposium, which takes place at 8pm on Thursday September 20, 2007 at Columbia University, luminaries in the field of electronic music will gather to discuss Bob’s legacy as it pertains to their own work and they will be taking questions from the audience. Symposium panel members include:

Herbert Deutsch – collaborator on the development of the first Moog synthesizer; composer, musician and performer; twice Chair of the Music Department at Hofstra University and former Director of Sales and Marketing at Moog Music, Inc.

Gershon Kingsley – musician and composer who led the Moog Quartet, which performed around the country and at Carnegie Hall. Best known for his catchy melody “Popcorn”, which is part of his “Music to Moog By” album, Mr. Kinglsey has recorded many Moog Albums, including “The In Sound From Way Out” with Jean-Jaques Perry and his most recent addition “God is a Moog”.
Joel Chadabe – composer, performer and pioneer in the development of interactive music systems. Mr. Chadabe has had a lifelong career in academia and has lectured, performed and recorded extensively. He is currently Professor Emeritus at State University of New York at Albany; Director of the Computer Music Studio at Manhattan School of Music Visiting Faculty at New York University. Joel is the President of the Electronic Music Foundation and the author of “Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music.”

John Eaton – Avant garde opera composer and performer and Professor Emeritus of Music Composition at the University of Chicago, where he taught for 10 years. He also taught at Indiana University (Bloomington) for 20. Mr. Eaton is a McArthur Fellow who, over a 20 year collaboration with Dr. Moog, created the Eaton-Moog Multi-Touch Sensitive Keyboard. He currently serves as the Composer and Artistic Director for the Pocket Opera Players, based in New York City.

David Borden – musician, composer and performer; played and tested early Moog Modulars in Bob Moog’s studio in Trumansburg, NY. Founder of Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece, the first Moog synthesizer ensemble. Retired Director of the Digital Music Program at Cornell University, where he taught for 37 years.

Trevor Pinch – Author of “Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Syntheziser” and professor and Chairperson of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell Univeristy.

Moogfest and the Bob Moog Foundation are proud and honored to be
sponsoring an event that pulls together Bob’s lifelong friends and colleagues and the vast amount of experiences and knowledge that they share. This promises to be a very special evening.

Please join us at:

Center Room
3rd Floor, Prentis Hall
632 West 125th Street
Columbia University

For directions online, please see:
http://music.columbia.edu/cmc/contact/index.html

For those of you who live in the New York City area, we hope to see you at the Symposium and at Moogfest. We’ll be checking in with the rest of you to let you know how it all went.

Until then-
The Bob Moog Foundation"

Yamaha TENORI-ON via Making Sound

Title link takes you to a review in French, on Making Sound. Here's a link to a Google translated version.

"The random mode:

This mode makes it possible to spice its services with a little chance. While pressing on a button a note is played in a repetitive way. While pressing on a second, a light travels between the two by generating a sound with each time it meets one of them. While pressing on a third the light modifies its way again. In this manner it is possible this to create a musical “continuation” which it is even possible to make swivel on itself. Very interesting."

Sept 07

Ems synthi aks
serge modular
waldorf pulse
alesis andromeda a6
roland tr 606
xoxbox
elektron machinedrum
eurorack ( Plan b, livewire,cgs,doepfer)

flickr via cray5656
aka ghostdog.

John Bowen Solaris Pre-order information

"Pre-ordering is now available. The pre-order deposit amount is $1,000, which is roughly one-third of the final introductory price (expected to be $3,199). Pre-order deposits can be spread over 2 consecutive months with two $500 checks if needed. (Serial number list will be entered on the second payment.) A full refund of your deposit will be offered up to 3 weeks prior to shipping of your unit. Current plans for initial shipment of pre-orders is now mid-December."

Title link takes you there. via Davide.

MOTM behind the scenes

Title link takes you to more shots and details on My Synthesis Technology MOTM Analog Modular Synth.

Update via emeb in the comments:
"Hi - Thanks for posting that. Actually, it's not the lab at Synth Tech, but the MOTM demo table at AH Cali in Oakland on 9/9/07. In the front is the MOTM 520 Cloud Generator prototype. The 8x8 LED display in the back is part of an eval for the upcoming Lite Engine."

RIP Joe Zawinul

"VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Joe Zawinul, who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz fusion and performed and recorded with Miles Davis, died early Tuesday, a hospital official said. He was 75.

Zawinul had been hospitalized since last month. A spokeswoman for Vienna's Wilhelmina Clinic confirmed his death without giving details. His manager, Risa Zincke, said Zawinul suffered from a rare form of skin cancer, according to the Austria Press Agency.

Zawinul won widespread acclaim for his keyboard work on chart-topping Davis albums such as "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew," and was a leading force behind the so-called "Electric Jazz" movement.

In 1970, Zawinul founded the band Weather Report and produced a series of albums including "Heavy Weather," "Black Market" and "I Sing the Body Electric." After that band's breakup, he founded the Zawinul Syndicate in 1987."

Title link takes you to the full report via the Associated Press. It's a sad day.

side view

flickr by nakedintruder.

click here for the full size shot. One more here.

the harvestman Malgorithm

The Juno Brothers

image via marko of retrosound.de.

Roland Juno-106
Roland Juno-60

Be sure to check out the site for more.

Moog trilogy

image sent my way via marko of retrosound.de.

MOOG Minimoog
MOOG Prodigy
MOOG Taurus Synthesizer

Be sure to check out the site for more.

Vp-330 Vocoder Plus mk2

Image sent my way via marko of retrosound.de. Be sure to check out the site for more.

AH Bay Area 2007 via Peter

Title link takes you to shots of this years AH Bay Area 2007 sent in via Peter.

G-Red Grime Music Mix Live Mashup

YouTube via shotmillions.
"Novation A Station Ensoniq ASR X PRO Computer... Live grime music..."

KORG Radias

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Kawai K3

via this auction

Click the image for the full size shot.

"The K3 is a wavetable synthesizer [not exactly - it's a digital additive synth with analog filters]. It has 32 waveforms, some of which are samples of acoustic instruments like piano and percussion as well as some unique waveforms. By combining two of these waveforms you can create unique new sounds or add a twist to a traditional sound. Since there are only 32 of these waveforms, the K3 also features a programmable digital waveform where you can tweak the harmonic content of a waveform allowing for added flexibility and range of sounds.

What's really neat about the K3 is that (unlike the K1) it has analog filters and envelopes! So although the sound may be digital at first, it sure does get warmed going through the filter. The low pass resonant filter even has its own envelope generator. There's also a hi pass filter and a highly flexible LFO. The K3 is an interesting synth, nicely bridging the gap between the analog and digital domain of vintage synthesizers.

Here's a video of this synth in action"

Yamaha CS01

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

"It's monophonic 1 VCO synth with extra sub VCO, both of them make sounds very fat for this little keyabord, especially if You put right wave type and make little detune. She has 5 wave forms and pretty good range 32-16-8-4."

Note: there is no extra sub osc.

Yamaha SK30

via this auction.

"Its strength is its drawbar hammond sound. It has 7-note polyphony and, like a real Hammond organ, nine variable drawbars (16, 8, 5 1/3, 4, 2 2/3, 2, 1 3/5, 1 1/3, 1). It also has variable percussive 2nd, 3rd, and 5th, with variable delay and sustain. The tremolo effect imitates a leslie rotary, with slow and fast speeds, and slow

acceleration between the speeds. The ensemble effect is a rich chorus that makes the harmonics full, round, and rich.

I hastily and sloppily recorded some short audio demo snippets tonight which you can hear at:
gliss_ensemble.mp3
adding_16_8_5_4_2_1_with_tremolo.mp3
removing_8_5_4_2_2.mp3

It also has a monophonic solo section with a 3-octave keyboard range, but switchable to cover a total of 8 octaves with waveforms varying from sawtooth to square with modulateable pulse width and single lowpass filter with variable resonance and EG and/or LFO modulation.

An equally as hasty and sloppy and inadequate-to-fully-demonstrate audio snippet exists: boppling_solo_section.mp3

It also has a string section and poly synth section but they are not that impressive compared to its hammond sound. There are independent mono audio outputs for organ, polysynth, and solo sections, as well as a single mono output for a mixed output (all three)."