MATRIXSYNTH: Monday, April 7, 2008

Monday, April 07, 2008

Lecture Session with Don Buchla

"You all know about the Moog. But what about Don Buchla, the Californian synthesizer designer whose Buchla Series 100 was released mere months after Dr. Bob's first synth? His electronic music equipment company, Buchla and Associates, were commissioned by avantgarde composers Morton Subotnik and Ramon Sender to create something they could use in live performance - and since then he's been creating and designing a whole range of unusual electro-acoustic instruments and deeply desirable modular synths. That includes the intruiging Marimba Lumina, the classic 1970 200 Series Electric Music Box or indeed the hot little analogue cutie, 1972's Music Easel. Buchla's sonic toys combine a colourful aesthetic with supernatural sonic abilities. Genius alert!"
You can find the podcast interview on Red Bull Music Academy. via Ghostdog.
Update: also see Don Buchla - Passing The Acid Test where you can find the transcript and video of this (368K link).
BTW, you can search for some of the instruments Don Buchla mentions, including the Musical Telegraph, the Telharmonium, the Sal Mar, and more here on the top lef of the site.

Update: video is now embeddable:

Korg DSS1

YouTube via ZanBizar. "My favorite synthesizer at work"

Jomox T-Resonator and Moog Little Phatty 2

YouTube via bigcitymusic
"http://www.bigcitymusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/bigcitymusicdo...
http://www.bigcitymusicblog.blogspot.com
Here are some more examples of the Jomox T-Resonator. Unfortunately Youtube is not usually stereo so this is mono. Modes 5 and 6 are reverb algorithms and mode 1 is chorus."

Original Roland DATA DISK BOOK BAG

via this auction. Anyone know what year these were made?
"This is a brand new original Roland data disk book bag from Roland US. This bag can totaly put 32 disks,separape 4 lines,each line put 8 disks."

Roland Juno-60

video and images via this auction

Conn Electric Band

images via this auction

"Rare 1973 Conn Electric Band... It had some real low end on the sub selector. Great cheesy drum beats. Ranges from Waltz to Teen beat. Great preset sounds like Harpsichord, Space Junk, and Blast Off. Also has an adjustable section. This thing was used on the Moog Cookbook and you can find sound clips of it on the internet. It has 2 great reverbs as well. It weighs a ton."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Steiner Parker analog synthesizer module

images via these auctions

"This is an old (1970s) STEINER PARKER synthesizer module. I have seen them used in guitar synthesis back in the 70s, but they could be used for any modular synthesizer purpose. They have 1/8" mini jacks, like ARP or DOEPFER synths but easy to adapt to 1/4" etc. Simple but powerful features.Oscillator, Filter, Envelope Gen, LFO included. There is a 6-way CinchJones jack on it - but I do not know why, as we have no manual for this. It has not been tested. PLEASE read the rest here... It has an AC cord, two prong plug, attached. Check our other auctions for cool stuff - and a SECOND module just like this one!"

Siel DK-70

images via this auction

bottle caps

MOOG Minimoog 1974

images via this auction

"VINTAGE Moog minimoog S/N 6428 Dec 1974"

Oberheim Modular Synthesizer SEM with SUB-OSCs

images via these auctions.
"module is mounted in a 5RU 19" rack case and contains an internal power supply with an IEC AC connector on the rear panel. Each unit has a custom 1/4" patch panel on the right side that brings out the patch points of the SEM signal flow. This allows you to use the synthesizer in a more modular fashion. The patch panel also contains 8vb and 16vb suboscillator circuitry for each oscillator, each with a volume pot for the suboscillator level. There is also a mixer on each panel as well as a 3-jack mult for modular patching. See photos of the panel for full detail. The customs panels are ENGRAVED (not silkscreened) with each function's name in silver. The custom panels use Cosmo knobs for the pots, the same knobs as found on the iconic Moog synthesizers. These modules will interface nicely with a Moog modular system or even the newer Moog Music products that have patch points available. Of course they will also work with any analog modular synthesizer -- new or old -- provided you can get the patch cables to 1/4". There is no MIDI on any of the modules, but of course you can use any suitable MIDI to CV converter if you want to use the modules that way."

GrooveStep Teaser

YouTube via groovestep.
"Teaser video for the GrooveStep Digital Music Studio for the Nintendo DS. Visit www.groovestep.com for more information."

GrooveStep is preloaded with hundreds of sounds and also gives the user the ability to mix existing sounds to create new ones.

Create rich layered grooves with 16 tracks, perfect for Hip-Hop, Techno and other electronic styles.

Song Features:
16 tracks with up to 2 samples per track
Tempo: 30-300 BPM

Pattern Editor features:
Variable pattern length: 1-64 steps
Variable pattern playback speeds: 1x, 2x, 4x

Platform: Nintendo DS
Release Date: TBA"

Optiganally Yours - Mr. Wilson

YouTube via peahix
"song by Optiganally Yours video directed by Dave Sheridan"

That's No Trumpet. That's Nyle Steiner.

"Chances are you've never heard of Nyle Steiner. But you've heard him.

He's some of the ominous drones of 'Apocalypse Now.' He's the peppy melody of the "Knotts Landing" theme.

Steiner is a humble trumpeter and self-taught engineer who invented the horn and clarinet players' version of a synthesizer.

And he's a Fresh Look on Life scheduled to air on Two News at 10 Sunday, April 6." You can find the full article on KUTV. via Rod-MPS.
If anyone finds the video of this, be sure to post back.

In the Presence of Enemies Pt2 Synth Solo Lead in Reason 3.0

YouTube via thiagotecnico
"Another Lead, 1 Subtractor used. I'm starting from 'init patch'. See and comment if u like. i can post more sounds here. This minimoog sound is not a mystery anymore. The modulation is horrible but this example allows you to play this moog sound when you need. It's not *perfect* because its digital, not analogic."

Moog synth Lead

YouTube via WaweLab

OB12 scary sounds & noisy arps III

YouTube via RanKirlian

"Me getting weird and noisy sounds from my Oberheim OB12. All sounds starting from factory and knobbing them over the arpegiator just for fun. I also try to focus on the parameters I play and the screen for more info."

Roland Juno-60 + SCI Prophet VS + Minimoog VCF by RetroSound

YouTube via retrosound72

"vintage synth demo track by RetroSound

bassline: Roland Juno-60 arpeggiator triggered by the TR-707
pads and porta lead sound: SCI Prophet VS
drums: Roland TR-707 through Minimoog VCF with different filter and "LFO" (OSC3) settings"

Roland Jupiter 8 Minimoog ARP Odyssey Korg VC-10 MS-10

YouTube via angelometz
"A more experimental improvisation by Angelo Metz. The Drumtraks feeds the arpeggio clock to the Jup8. The MS-10 filters the rimshot."

ion battle

flickr by breath.sound

full size

beamz Music Performance System

YouTube via SharperImageProducts. Remember beamz. More Cowbell.
"The beamz™ unleashes the musical creativity that's harbored in every soul.

* Extraordinary invention fuses the interaction of your hands with laser beams to create the sounds of hundreds of different instruments.

* Breaking the laser beams with your hands automatically generates pre-authored pulses, streams, riffs or loops of musical notes or sounds from a variety of instruments — all kinds of strings, keyboards, winds, percussion. Sophisticated high-fidelity sounds seem to pour off your fingertips like magic!

* Choose a complementary rhythm track from 30 original songs in 19 music genres, including jazz, bluegrass, classical, hip-hop, reggae, heavy metal and more.

* The beamz system has a "W" shape, with six laser beams spanning the two sections; connect via USB to your PC or laptop, then hook up some speakers and you're ready to perform great-sounding music.

* Includes software CDs and USB cable for connecting directly to USB port of your PC or laptop.

http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/cat..."

MOTM-730 Prototype Module

"This page describes the my Beta evaluation of a prototype MOTM-730 module.

I received the prototype from Paul and set it on my ARP sequencer with a 6 pin power cable into my top cabinet. I am using a PowerOne HCAA-60W-A power supply with a MOTM-990 distribution board. The MOTM-730 had a lot more jacks than I was expecting with a total of 11 for the divider outputs and 3 for inputs. There are also 2 potentiometers, three switches, a jumper strap, and the 3 digit LED display."

via ModularSynthesis where you can find more info on the MOTM-730.

Vintage Synthesizer

YouTube via otakumusicde
"Das Otaku-Studio von Manfred Willms (1995) verfügte über diverse Kultgeräte und klassische Synthesizer wie den Roland JX-3P, JX-8P, JX-10, JD-800, Juno-60, Juno-106, MSQ-60, TR-808, SBX-80 oder Sampler der ersten Generationen wie den Akai S-612 mit externem Drive MD-280. Die Instrumente und Geräte wurden unter anderem für die Projekte THIS DARING SYSTEM, OTAKU, FOREIGN AFFAIRS und KHEELAGO benutzt. (Mehr Bilder dazu auf der Seite www.manfredwillms.com/synthesizer) VIEL SPASS :-)"