MATRIXSYNTH: Sunday, May 18, 2008

Sunday, May 18, 2008

DSerial - MIDI In/Out for the Nintendo DS

via natrum42
"Posted schematics, pictures and brief instructions for connecting MIDI input and output to DS to the DSerial Wiki. MIDI output is very easy, because it requires no components besides wire and a 5-pin DIN connector. MIDI input, on the other hand, requires a 3.3V optocoupler because MIDI uses a current loop to prevent introduction of noise."
via MODD3D:
"There are a few different sequencers out there for it. Here's a couple:soundpunk.com, nitrotracker

There's also a project that lets you do MIDI over WiFi or with DSerial: http://dsmidiwifi.tobw.net/"

giant yuckosaur eats tamale island

YouTube via PHAEDRIDER. "drum time happy place of many funs" ARP Odyssey MK1.

Roland SH-101

images via this auction

"This was and still is a very popular analogue synth. Apparently 'DEVO' were the first group to receive the first two of these ever made from Roland themselves."

Anyone confirm or deny this?

Vintage Arp Manufactured Odyssey Synth Stand

via this auction

"original keyboard stand manufactured by Arp in the late 1970's early 80s. These are always seen in ads for the Odyssey and Omni synths. Made of steel, breaks down into 4 pieces and ships flat. Weighs 20 pounds. This one has standard nuts (not the threaded plastic wheels in the ad)."

Casio SK-1 Sampling Keyboard Synthesizer

images via this auction
Update: And the joke is lost for this one. The auction link went to the auction post for this Simba Lego set but was miss-titled as the Casio SK-1. When I first saw it, I thought someone actually pulled the guts out of an SK-1 and built this as a custom case. I then realized it must have been a mistyped auction. I put the post up with just the link so you could share in the experience, but no the link goes to Vintage Tupperware Popsicle Molds. :) The actual auction for the SK-1 is here.

Roland JX-3P

images via this auction

Hohner Multimonica

images via this auction

"This is an early synth on the top manual and the lower manual is air driven / reed operated."

Polivoks

images via this auction
"Very good for agressive bass, weird modulations, cool FXs & agressive sounds. Impressive fat saw & cool glidings. Killer 2-Voice mode.

2 VCO with classic waveforms, noise oscillator and external source.

Very strong sounding Analog LP/BP filter with ADSR Envelope,
which can play in loop (retrig). You can process external sound through it,
such as guitar, vocal, drums or another synthesizer. Because of FILTER sound of POLIVOKS is so unique and strong/

Amplifier section contain Envelope ADSR with loop function (retrig), modulation & bypass mode.

Modulator section is a low frequency oscillator with multiple waveforms
and changable rate. LFO roots to amplifier, filter, VCO-1, VCO-2.
Polivoks can play like a classic monophonic synth or in 2-voice mode.
And also You can modulate VCO-1 with VCO-2 (ringmodulator).

No pitchbend & modulation wheel.

Cool design. Very solid. Hard aluminium body & case - it's Bulletproof I think. (It's a joke. Do not try this @home ; ))
All words printed in cyrillic - so it's very unique too.

There is a custom made CV/gate modification on the board (1 voice).
Now You can connect analog sequencer (1 volt per octave)
This is very usefull function. Feel free to use it with Your analog sequencer.
I had use it with my Roland TB-303 sequencer.

CV/Gate - is the first step to MIDI . You can find in the web how to do that.

Of course You can play with keyboard.
There is a tumbler.
Choose CV/gate or Keyboard."

VCO 4 BBD

flickr by Loscha
(click for more)
Ideas For Experiments
"Circuit for using a CD4046 PLL to generate a voltage controlled BBD complimentary phase clock! I found this ripped out page on it's own in a stack of magazines I purchased Yesterday; Sunday 18th of May, 2008. The previous owner was interested in the other side (some notes on there in pencil).

Thanks to Hugo Bramall of Canterbury, Victoria who came up with the circuit and sent it ETI magazine in the first place! "

Chimera BC16 Arrives at Music Thing

pics and info on Music Thing.

Korg Pa800 Iraqi beat 2008

YouTube via ashur75. "Korg Pa800 Iraqi beat 2008"

Synthpop's Alive

YouTube via maisonvague. Spot the synths.

"Synthpop's Alive! Can't you hear it?!

Disclaimer: This video response is in no way intended as a personal attack against the maker of the original "Synthpop is Dead" video. On the contrary, I found this video very amusing, actually -- even if disagree with its central message. As for who's case my own efforts end up supporting, well... I'll let you be the judge of that!"

Minimax ASB

YouTube via fystasjoppheng
"This is a short demo of Minimax ASB. It is a very good emulator of the old Minimoog model D synthesizer.
You can also choose between playing monophonic or polyphonic! This is the best emulation I have heard and the knobs are the same as the orginal,but smaller. It has its own delay and chorus onboard.

After listen to it on YouTube the sound is a little bit overdrive.The signal into my videocamera must have been to load and dont give the right impression so I concider to make a new with a better sound quality.

Kjell Gierstae"

Sven Hansen Live in your Youtube.

video upload by M F Lunatic Blo

"Pre order the CD...DROP ME A MAIL in this section of the web,

http://cdbaby.com/all/svenhansen

all rights reserved, copyrights owned by Harmony Sound Design.
Improvisational piece for the upcoming album 'The Earth Mars Connection'
A mix between Jean Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze.
Ore Sven Hansen goes electirc light orchestra.'

Update: new video above. Original had the following:
Korg Polysix, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Yamaha CS6X? What's under the Prophet-5?

Update via Hans Peter in the comments:

"I'm quite sure the keyboard below the Prophet is a Philips Philicorda. I used to have one back in the days, painted mine black and gave it a PPG-blue frontpanel.

You can see a picture of mine here

It's in the top photo, in the middle below the Teisco 110F. "

Hi-Pi Tonal Plexus Now Shipping

"Have you ever considered what kind of music might be possible if your keyboard had more than just twelve keys per octave? If so, you are not alone. In fact, it's been one of the most enduring and puzzling questions in all of music history. The Tonal Plexus is not just a product of years of research and development, but is a result of literally hundreds of years of experimentation with musical tuning, keyboard design and research in human pitch perception. The Tonal Plexus provides no fewer than 211 keys per octave, allowing the finest discrete control of tuning expression ever available on a MIDI keyboard. If you want to make music that truly sounds new and different, then this is the keyboard for you! Take a closer look..."
via Deviant Synth

Music easel

flickr by Ethan Hein

From wikipedia.

Happy's Synthseite

Click here for Happy's Synth Site. via sequencer.de

1980 electronics book synth quote

via alka

"I picked up an electronics book from 1980 at the sale table of my library recently. There is a section in the book entitled "Music Synthesizers" wherein I found this slightly humorous quote:

'Unlike the electric guitar, the electronic organ and the electronic piano, one does not "perform" at the keyboard of a music synthesizer. Instead, one assembles bits and fragments of musical phrases from various sources, and records them on tape. It is almost as laborious as animating a Disney cartoon.'

I guess I could understand if the book had been from 1967, but 1980!? It's like the author disregarded the whole development of synthesizers through the 1970's, let alone all the bands that effectively utilized them up to that point!

Here is the complete citation:
Houglum, R. J. (1980). Electronics: Concepts, applications, and history. Belmont, Ca.: Breton Publishers." on Amazon

HarriL - Sublight (Live)

video upload by HarriL

"MP3 Here: http://www.mikseri.net/music/play.php...

Hello, I'm back once again with a (tech?)house track, featuring; EMX, ESX, 309, Evolver and the Revolution! Everything is live as usual."

The Thomas Henry Mega Percussive Synthesizer (MPS)

Scott Stites put up a new page on The Thomas Henry Mega Percussive Synthesizer (MPS). The following is a short excerpt. Be sure to check out the page for more including a sample.

"The MPS is truly an inspired design. One very important element of the MPS, the impact generator, was derived directly from a modular percussion patch by one of the great synthesizer masters. In fact, the MPS contains three seperate tunable oscillators. In addition to the oscillators, the MPS utilizes a ring modulator, it has a noise generator, a voltage controlled resonant filter with two selectable responses (low pass or band pass), three VCAs, and a mixer section for mixing all of the elements together to fine tune a very realistic percussive sound.

The MPS will deliver anything from a convincing snare to toms, to bass, to a sizzling high hat, to a glorious cowbell. When Christopher Walken demands "more cowbell", the MPS can deliver. Not only can the MPS deliver standard percussive sounds, it can easily be tuned to the "out of this world" percussive sounds. It can easily supply voices ranging from the electronic disco drums used in modern day hospitals to empty stomachs of their contents to the sound of an alien craft taking off with each drum beat. In fact, at the flick of a switch, the MPS will transform from a percussive synthesizer to a full-on sustained..sound..generator capable of fully rendering the Neptunian Planetary Anthem in full four part Neptunian harmony. "

make noise moddemod

Currently available at Analogue Haven.
this circuit was originally utilized in the generation of single side band modulation; a military developed radio communications technology. a program (speech, data) would be mixed with a high frequency carrier waveform using this circuit. after filtering an rf amplifier would be used to broadcast the transmission. at this point the signal could be said to be modulated, sounding unintelligible. at the receiving end, this circuit could again be used to demodulate the radio transmission by re-introducing a carrier waveform of the same shape and frequency used to create the transmission. as you can imagine, some cool distortions happen on account of the inadequacies of this technology, variation in the two carrier waveform generators (both frequency and shape), signal levels and of course, interference. reclaimed for artistic purposes by harold bode (and perhaps others) reclaimed this technology for artistic purposes in the early 1960's (utilizing carrier waveforms in the audio range instead), and bob moog (in collaboration with bode) incorporated it into his modular synthesizer systems in the 70's. by then the design was pretty different and they were calling it a "ring modulator" possibly for the "diode ring" configuration originally utilized or perhaps they knew it was a more appealing name that, to some degree, described the clangorous, bell like sounds a single iteration of the circuit was capable of creating.

the moddemod features 2 identical circuits that may be used together or individually. when using them together there is no need patch the output of circuit 1 to the input of circuit 2 as they are internally patched when nothing is inserted at the output of circuit 1 and the input of circuit 2. i worked very hard to minimize carrier bleed. the amount varies from unit to unit and even circuit to circuit within each unit. however, all units match or better the level of bleed you hear in most ic based ring modulators. for this type of circuit, that is very good!

to use this module you will need a minimum of 2 signal sources. 1 will be the program. this signal is inserted at the program input (sockets 1 or 4). the 2nd is the carrier, and it should be inserted at the carrier input (sockets 2 or 5). the outputs are at sockets 3 and 6. by varying the frequency, shape and level of these signals, many different timbres may be heard.

this module is a 4hp wide euro-rack module that consumes no current.

a fun movie about the moddemod."

YouTube via MAKEN0ISE

audio:
the sound is way out, just listen!
something percussive
something else percussive

FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD::: WENCHUAN and The Sound of Earthquakes

via SoNiCbRaT. See the forum for details. BTW, also see Califaudio's The Sound of Earthquaks.
"Geeks, friends and foes. Let's do our part in lending a hand to help with the recent Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake. This is my little effort to encourage people to donate. I've even set up a fundraiser page so do drop by. The music in this album uses KORG M3-88, though the mix could be improved (by miles) but I wanted to do it in a day so we'll have to live with the little imperfections.
The recent Sichuan Earthquake in China had shocked the world. With more than 28,000 dead and more than 190,000 injured and many homeless; the victims there need our help."

Cremate your soul session 98

YouTube via synthman70
"a video of my old studio in 1998, with some of my massive collection of analog gear, some which i sold ten years later, like my Oberheim Matrix-12, it just expensive to up keep those instruments, I also sold my OB-8, but I still have quiet a few good pieces, and hopefully in time i will be posting a more up to date video of my collection.

PS the songs that you hear is not typical of what i do, I am hugely influenced by Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwek, and the old school guys, but I also like Depeche Mode and some modern stuff.
For some of my work log on to
www.myspace.com/emodmusic
www.itunes.com under artist seach type in emod"

Jon and Vangelis on juno6

YouTube via mik300z. via synthzoom
"sorry if I offend anyone who loves this song as much as me but I had to give it a go! Almost every sound is coming from the juno's, either sampled or sequenced. I am playing the melody live, the juno's freq. is set very high for jon anderson's vocal part so it can be heard above the other instruments. very difficult to get the same sound vangelis used on the melody, I tried for ages using pulse wave mod. but just sounds so hollow compared to the Yamaha CS80 I would imagine he used for it. very intersting to come across the chords and arrangements he used though, a bit tricky near the end. Knowing vanglis he probably composed it first take out of his head. His chord arrangements are beautiful and it's only when you try take them apart you realise the true genius he is."

house of crazy talk

YouTube via PHAEDRIDER. via synthzoom.
"fuzzy video of 10 minutes of messin with my babies, all being babysat by a dr550 and a yamaha sequencer .. a little delay was added to the ody to kinda synch it cause she dont got no inputs whooohah!" arp odyssey juno 106 60 sh-1000

CV Ribbon Controller Demonstration

YouTube via 12T0NE. These appear to be up for auction here.
"This video clip demonstrates some of the capabilities of my ribbon controllers.

During the first portion of the clip, I'm using the ribbon to modulate the VCF in my Yamaha CS-40M. Besides the filter sweeps, the ribbon is great for performing tap-tempo effects.

In the second part of the video, I have the ribbon connected to the synthesizer's CV input, and am using it in place of the keyboard to change pitch. I'm using the keyboard only to trigger the initial note."

destroyed

YouTube via ripe909
"Testing out the virus TI atomizer for the first time on a track. This one is a bit noisy and distorted, repetitive hard techno!"
I forget the name of the controller he is using. I've posted it in the past. If you know, leave a comment.
Update via dewb in the comments: "It's the C-Thru-Music Axis64."

Hybrid patches and demo

via brian:

"Made some patches for Digidesigns Hybrid synth plus a demo, Here is the thread with patches and audio on digidesigns forum. In case that thread ever disapears here is the link with 3 audio files plus zipped folder of patches."

Postcard Weevil Synths

flickr by Chris_Carter_

full size

"A pair of unwrapped Tom Bugs Postcard Weevils. Expect to see and hear the contents at TG shows during 2008."

EMS Synthi A w. Cricklewood Keyboard

Update: the same images were used in this auction. Make of it what you wish. Be sure to see the comments of this post.

images via this CL listing.
"- the EMS Synthi A as shown, with original Spartanite case

- a Cricklewood keyboard with connecting cable. The keyboard is missing the metal tops from several of the knobs and the red plastic is worn on one pin switch (see picture). The Cricklewood (aka the DK1) is a velocity sensitive "dynamic" monophonic keyboard for use with the Synthi A.

- 2 outboard random voltage generators made by EMS, with wooden cases (some small scratches in the cases). The generators are not secured in the wooden cases.

- 1 pitch to voltage converter made by EMS (with wooden case). The Ch II mode pot on the pitch to voltage converter is somewhat stiff and may need lubrication. The converter is not secured in the wooden case.

- a user manual for the similar EMS Putney VCS3 Synth, which is the same as the Synthi A but in a different case. The VCS3 manual was the manual I got when I originally bought this Synthi.

- various electronic schematics

- the book "Playing The Synthi", a tutorial guide by EMS on how to use the Synthi. The binding is not very good on the book and the pages are loose.

- a handful of completed patch cards (5) and approximately 60 blank patch cards

- the patch pins as shown

- 3 control cables for connecting the outboard gear

- all original power cords"
$6900