IDOW & MATRIXSYNTH Modular Pic of the Week - Week 2 Contest Winner!

"Our second winner of the Modular Pic of the Week contest goes to Ben Edwards for his 'Buchla and Friends.'

Ben Edwards runs an electronic music studio in London which houses a large collection of vintage synths and recording equipment. He composes and records music as Benge, and has released 10 albums on his own Expanding Records label. He also writes and produces with other artists, the latest project being with John Foxx under the name The Maths.

Studio blog: http://myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com

We'd like to give a big thanks and congratulations to Ben Edwards for his submission! This is the 2nd week of a 30-week contest, and we are looking forward to many more modular photo submissions, so please keep 'em coming! For details on how to submit and what you can win, see this post.

For more info on the upcoming 'I Dream of Wires' documentary, be sure to see the trailer and IndieGoGo fund raising campaign here."


See the IDOW label for all posts pertaining to the film including the weekly contest winners.

Korg M3R demo parte 1 by S4K

YouTube Uploaded by Space4Keys on Nov 6, 2011


Uploaded by Space4Keys on Nov 6, 2011

"Korg M3R demo parte 2 by S4K ( synth workstation expander)

performed by Covy

http://www.space4keys.com
http://www.keyboardsolo.com"

Octatrack + Sylenth1 = Minimal Sunday

YouTube Uploaded by n3bsvid on Nov 6, 2011

"A little minimal techno jam with the octatrack sequencing sylenth1. All synth sounds are from sylenth1. Drum sounds are from the octatrack.

Hardware:
Elektron Octatrack

Software:
Lennar Digital Sylenth1"

Follow-up to:
Octatrack + Sylenth1 + Collision + Revolution = Minimal Saturday

Ipad, Iphone Music App Scribble Synth

YouTube Uploaded by musicgearvideos909 on Nov 6, 2011

"Demo of the Scribble Synth by Brady, Brady, & Brady. A great little app for children to doodle around making sounds as they draw on the screen. As you can see I got my 2 year old to test the app out. I recorded the demo using the Ipad but the Iphone version is just as great. I also tested out the low light capabilities of the Iphone 4S to film the demo. The audio is recorded live into the Iphone microphone."

Scribble Synth - Brady, Brady, & Brady
iPads on eBay
iPod Touch on eBay

"Introducing My First Studio Scribble Synth.

Teach your kids the joy of noodling around on a synth by doodling around on a synth.

Created in conjunction with Music Vs Physics, this waveform synthesizer is controlled by scribbling and converts your child's drawn line to a synth line in real-time.

Each colour represents a different waveform and they can select from six different arpeggiated scales."

Saving a Novation UltraNova

YouTube Uploaded by PhilipClevberger on Nov 4, 2011

"This UltraNova was almost thrown out. It was taped inside a broken midi controller case, and everyone thought it was just a midi controller in a very poor state."

Inside a Novation UltraNova.

Battered Novation UltraNova, X0XB0X, MFB 522

Uploaded by PhilipClevberger on Nov 4, 2011

"Down at the London Hack Space, resurrecting a neglected Novation UltraNova striped down to the circuit board. Jamming along with X0XBox and MFB 522"

Ambitron

"Ambitron is an experimental electronic synthesizer that employs granular synthesis in two separate and programmable layers each with extensive FX and Modulation Matrix modules which provide the user with maximum control over unique sound creation.

Ambitron comes with scores of samples built in but can also support the import of user samples in .wav format for sound creation that can be customized to user preferences and musical styles. As an experimental synthesizer it radically departs from standard "bread and butter" type instruments and is meant to be used as a laboratory for the exploration of new sonic and timbral creations that would be difficult to achieve any other way.

The nature of Ambitron is that it allows for sonic evolution over time and with the use of the various granular controls allows the user to create sounds that have a life of their own and do not repeat in any kind of expected or predictable manner. It is ideal for ambient soundscapes or virtually any type of experimental genres. When used with a midi controller or host these various controls can be manipulated in real time thus further enhancing the sonic possibilities.

Ambitron is meant to be played with and as the user becomes more familiar with its various controls and parameters the possibilities for sounds that are surprising and unexpected are greatly enhanced.

The sonic permutations possible with Ambitron are limited only to the user's imagination and creativity."

Two demos via brian comnes:



via brian comnes: "The second shorter MP3 has the same sample played against itself. It's a dry verbal sample but it gives you a feel for what the instrument does. If you plug in nicer audio samples, well you get even better results. It ships with 212 presets so you can go all week and never get bored."

Sequencing Animoog with Fruity Loops over Wifi

iPad app Animoog as a MIDI output device from a PC over WIFI using Fruity Loops

YouTube Uploaded by HarfordHackerspace on Nov 5, 2011

"A video showing Animoog on the iPad running as a midi output device in fruity loops studio so that it can be sequenced" Details here.

iPads on eBay
Animoog - Moog Music Inc.

Mutable Instruments Shruthi 1 Synthesizer

via this auction

via the seller:
"I professionally built this myself and it has a rare and nice looking black on white display. It does not include a case, but I never used one with it. Has never been gigged, only played a couple times. It has the SMR4 filter installed, which sounds a lot like the SSM2044 (korg polysix etc). Real smooth and sweet with a good amount of resonance!"

Full specs:
Digital/analog hybrid monosynth.
2 digital oscillators

band-limited sawtooth with adjustable phase
band-limited square wave with adjustable pulse-width
band-limited triangle wave with adjustable waveshaping
phase-distortion emulation of a low-pass filtered sawtooth (casio CZ-101)
phase-distortion emulation of a low-pass filtered sawtooth with high resonance (casio CZ-101)
phase-distortion emulation of a low-pass filtered sawtooth in the Rocker Launcher’s world in which sine waves are turned into triangles (casio CZ-101)
mysterious phase-distortion thing (could have been in the CZ-101 if the engineers at casio dared…)
phase-distortion emulation of a Jew’s harp / Morsing (could have been in the casio CZ-101)
stack of 4 detuned sawtooth waves (with aliasing)
simplistic FM (1>2 configuration), with adjustable modulation index and frequency ratio
wavetables, wavetables, wavetables!
sweepable table of basic waveforms
tampura transwave
PPG harsh creature
single cycle waveforms taken from D50 patches
cello transwave
slap bass transwave
organ/drawbars single cycle waveforms
male voice
user wavetable, can be edited by SysEx messages
harsh, aliasing-full waveforms obtained by bit-toggling
sine wave with variable amount of bitcrushing
poor man’s square with pulse-width modulation (plenty of aliasing but fat for basses)
colored noise (sweep from low-pass filtered white noise -> white noise -> high-pass filtered white noise)
lo-fi vowel synthesis (think “speak and spell”) with vowel morphing

CLICK FOR MORE »

"Mint" Roland JX-8P

via this auction

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"Mint" Roland JX-3P

via this auction

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Moog Minimoog D Analog Synthesizer

via this auction

Pic of the inside below.

Waldorf Q Virtual Analog Synthesizer Yellow

via this auction

CLICK FOR MORE »

Novation Bass Station

via this auction

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MFB kraftzwerg semi modular synth

via this auction

MOOG Rogue Analog Synthesizer

via this auction

CLICK FOR MORE »

1980 KORG X-911 GUITAR SYNTHESIZER PRINT AD

via this auction

See the seller's other items for more.

"Ad measures approx. 8"X 10.5" inches."

Buchla 222e

YouTube Uploaded by Oxix52 on Nov 6, 2011

"This is an early attempt at using the 222e musically. Unfortunately, the 222e was acting up and it took a few takes to get a good one. It is now being serviced and will hopefully be returned in good working order soon."

An Update on Labels & New Eurorack Label

Prior to today if a particular brand of synth was seen in a post, it was given a label. For images and audio this will roughly stay unchanged. For videos, however, labels will now focus on what is actually being showcased. For example, if a new Tempest video goes up and you see other synths in the background that are not being used, only the DSI label will go up. There will be exceptions of course. For example if you see a rare synth in the background like a Synton Syrinx, it will get a label as you don't see them often and people checking the label will want to see it.

This change will obviously impact modular videos, and most notably Eurorack videos. If you've been following this site, you know how popular the format is becoming and you know the sheer number of manufacturers that can be present in any given post. Moving forward, these posts will now get a eurorack label along with labels for the brands specifically being showcased. In cases where no clear module is dominating, brand labels included in the video labels on YouTube or Vimeo will go up with the eurorack label.

StringStation | Laboratory Demo

YouTube Uploaded by stringstation on Nov 6, 2011

"A 'fly on the wall' video of a personal StringStation demonstration and talk about the 3D instrument by musician/inventor Jim Bartz."

VE111028001

YouTube Uploaded by capougello on Nov 6, 2011

The dark modular with color knob caps is a Formant modular. Not sure what the white modular is based on.

BTW, I'm finally creating a new eurorack label for posts that feature a number of eurorack modules but do not necessarily focus on one or two brands. There was no description for this video on YouTube, if anyone has more info, feel free to comment or send me email. The email link is on the bottom right of the site.

Sync-Lock Synth Spotting with Flo/Switzerland

via Innerclock Systems where you'll find the full post including more pics.

"Hi David - I used your Original Sync-Lock mainly with the GenoQs Octopus sequencer. There was no way I could slave the Octopus to Cubase before. Too wobbly. But I wanted to be able to program sequences on the hardware and record straight to correctly lined up audio for further manipulation in the computer and later I would add new sequences on top of this – still lined up to the grid, naturally! With your new Sync-Gen II software and Sync-Gen II PRO interface this has become a VERY smooth process..."

Korg Monotron Eurorack Template

YouTube Uploaded by FSK1138 on Nov 6, 2011

"korg monotron 3x5 eurorack templates

did some test printouts for size
-- theses units were made to rack

needs ...better knobs, rack power,
front access to vol, line in/out ,
and cv in mod for each unit

ff to ~ 01:54 min"

Vintage 80's E & MM / Maplin Analogue Drum Synth

via this auction

Syntom II, Synbal & Synclap
"80s modular analogue drum synth with 5 x Syntom II modules for toms, bass drum and snares and 2 x Synbal module for cymbal and gong and generally metallic noises. Also comes with a Synclap module ( for clap sounds presumably), this is not installed but there is an empty panel on the unit that is drilled out and marked up for it.

These modules were offered as a kit by Maplin in the mid 80s and build instructions were featured in Maplin's magazine Electronics & Music Maker. Supplied with print outs of the magazine articles which explain how they work, have circuit diagrams, PCB layouts and suggested settings...

Synbal modules have controls for volume, resonance, sweep, frequency, noise metallic, tone and decay. As well as a 3 way switch that selects lowpass, bandpass or highpass filters. It produces a huge variety of metallic sounds - crash and ride cymbals, gongs, cowbell and lot of strange noises too...

Each unit has 2 1/4" jack sockets on the front panel. One for a trigger input that should work with any type of piezo drum pad etc and the other to connect a pedal. With the Syntom II modules pressing the pedal produces a drum roll at a speed set by the roll rate control. With the Synbal modules, pressing the pedal shortens the decay so you can produce open and closed hi hat sounds etc. Outputs are via individual 1/4" jacks on the back panel.

There is a mains power supply built in to the aluminium case. The case has no top or bottom panels. It looks like it never had."

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TouchAble version 1.3 - Control Ableton Live 8 with iPad - What's new?

YouTube Uploaded by touchAbleapp on Nov 3, 2011

"TouchAble App for iPad is available worldwide exclusively through the iTunes App Store touchAble - AppBC

touchAble is an unique iPad app is the first application to give Ableton Live users full control over their digital audio workstation, without the tiresome process of manual midi-mapping. touchAble allows live users to walk away from their computer and perform live from anywhere within Wi-Fi range (using ad-hoc connection or router) while keeping latency at a minimum.

TouchAble App includes 6 advanced modules, Clip grid, Mixer, Devices, Pads, Keys, XY Pad, and 2 commands menu : clips and transport.

TouchAble provides a powerful, intuitive and reliable multitouch control solution for professional use.

TouchAble includes templates for lives plugins and is fully compatible with vsts, audiounits and instruments.

The new update, touchAble 1.3 contains over 30 new features and changes, such as a loop and beatjump section, enabling anything from CDJ style mixes to creative loop manipulation, a completely rebuilt mixer that allows users to modularly choose the controls they need - complemented by the long awaited crossfader. 3 new native templates have been added: Auto Filter, Ping Pong Delay & the very first Instrument - Impulse - and are waiting to be tweaked. The new Settings Menu not only offers a cascade of new control-options - but also simplifies the connection process by adding Bonjour support.


changes / new features:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Maschine and Reaktor

YouTube Uploaded by DaveZnoise on Nov 5, 2011

"A simple groove along with some realtime manipulation with Reaktor"

Circuit Bent Casio SA-1 Keyboard Synth by freeform delusion

YouTube Uploaded by eecouk on Nov 6, 2011

freeform delusion on eBay

"Casio SA-1
Blue on LED
Sequencer trigger mini jack (I will do another video for this)
Pitch down control
switchable LFO with Rate control and blue LED
switch to choose LFO shape
Two way glitch switch
switchable noise with control knob
distortion/feedback control"

MATRIXSYNTH-C on Hiatus

Hi everyone. I've decided to put MATRIXSYNTH-C on hiatus for the time being. My focus has always been on the gear here on MATRIXSYNTH and submissions for C have only been trickling in as focus has moved to The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge. If you'd like to share your music and check out what others are doing be sure to check out the lounge.

old vs new

YouTube Uploaded by vlaris on Nov 6, 2011

"monotribe meets polysix"

Roland Jupiter-8 with MD-8 MIDI DCB Interface SN 413260

via this auction

SN 413260

"'Throughout the production of the JP-8 there were several changes. Starting at serial #171700 the D/A converter on the Interface board was changed from 12-bit to 14-bit. This change was made mainly to improve tuning stability. The problem with the 12-bit digital-to-analog converter on the original JP-8 is that it could cause the autotune to be inaccurate in some instances. Some say to avoid these early JP-8's while others say they haven't experienced tuning problems. Starting at serial #242750 the LEDs of the display were changed to brighter ones. Starting at serial #282880 the JP-8 came standard with a DCB port. These newer JP-8's may be referred to as JP-8A's. DCB, or Digital Control Bus, was Roland's pre-MIDI interface that allowed the JP-8 to talk to other DCB enabled hardware, such as the Roland MC4 and MC8 microcomposers. Previous JP-8's had the option of having the OC-8 retrofit installed to give it DCB capability.' Check out more info from Wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Jupiter-8"

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Roland Compurhythm CR-68 Analog Drum Machine

via this auction

Roland SVC-350 Vocoder

via this auction

SN 660354

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland MC 202 with Original Box & Kenton CV Upgrade Kit

via this auction
"his auction includes :

the MC 202 unit- everything works great.
Original box (including Styrofoam padding)
Original power supply
Original Operators Manual
Original Patch Book
Kenton 4 socket upgrade (not installed) - I ordered this, but never installed it. If you are handy with soldering it's an easy install, or you could get your tech to install it.

More info on the cv/gate upgrade (from Kenton)-

The MC-202 does have CV and Gate input sockets already fitted, which can be used with a CV converter, however these input sockets are not satisfactory in most cases. Firstly they are designed so that you can enter information into its internal sequencer using an external keyboard (or indeed, the CV converter), the significance of this is that it quantises the notes into discrete steps, in other words if you try and do a pitchbend, you will end up with the notes going up in semitones only, not smoothly. This isn`t a fault with the CV converter, but the action of the quantising process in the MC-202. Secondly, the fact that the note is quantised, sent to the internal sequencer & then played by the sequencer circuitry, means that the response is fairly slow doing it this way. Thirdly, you are limited to the note range that the sequencer can play. For the above reasons, we recommend that you have your MC–202 fitted with additional CV, Gate, filter & portamento sockets. We can supply a kit to fit your MC–202 with proper CV Gate and, filter and portamento input sockets which do not suffer from the above limitations."

CLICK FOR MORE »

CASIO SK-1 with Case & Disney Books

via this auction

"VINTAGE CASIO MODEL SK-1 ELECTRONIC SAMPLING KEYBOARD/SYNTHESIZER WITH PROTECTIVE CARRY CASE AND 4 DIFFERENT WALT DISNEY SONG/INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKS."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Slow-Scan TV meets Monotribe

"By matching the Monotribe's LFO speed to the sync speed of an SSTV capture program, I am able to generate abstract imagery, and by controlling the pitch, LFO speed and filter cutoff / resonance, I have rudimentary control over the colors and shapes generated.

Wikipedia - Slow-Scan Television:
en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/​Slow-scan_television"

via The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

typosynth - vintage typewriter synthesizer

flickr by By bricolage universel
(click for video)

Teisco S60F and Roland SH09: last of the mohicans, sort of ...

YouTube Uploaded by JingleJoe on Nov 6, 2011

"This is my interpretation of the last of the mohicans song, not sure of it's proper title but thats what I've allways known it as. I probably play too fast for your liking but I don't care, I just wanted to get this recorded while my synthesizers still work!
I learnt this by ear so I know most of it isn't right , I used my artistic license."

Octatrack + Sylenth1 + Collision + Revolution = Minimal Saturday

YouTube Uploaded by n3bsvid on Nov 5, 2011

"Octatrack sequencing the revolution, sylenth1 and collision while providing the drum sounds. Minimal techno/acid jam.

Hardware:
Elektron Octatrack
Future Retro Revolution

Software:
Lennar Digital Sylenth1
Ableton Collision"

Circuit Bent High Frequency Keyboard by freeform delusion

YouTube Uploaded by eecouk on Nov 6, 2011

freeform delusion on eBay

"High Frequency Keyboard - battery cover missing, I've been leaving it because of this. So today I had to give it a couple of good bends otherwise it would be stuck here for a long time.

switched mono 1/4inch output

pitch up/down control

distortion switch

switchable start up tune loop with control knob to create some crazy noises which can be played on the keyboard"

circuit bent Yamaha PSS-100 by ::vtol::

YouTube Uploaded by Vtolus on Nov 6, 2011

"http://samoletuvvp.narod.ru/vto/diy/pss.html"

Beak Box(iPad APP) house music of chickens?

YouTube Uploaded by perfumepod on Nov 6, 2011

"house music of chickens? (BPM 120)

----
Beak Box
These beat boxing baby chickens are a fun, yet fully functional, drum machine.

http://www.myfirststudio.com/beak-box/"

Beak Box - Brady, Brady, & Brady
iPads on eBay
iPod Touch on eBay

"These beat boxing baby chickens are a fun, yet fully functional, drum machine.
Peck out your own beats live or sequence the chics to create cute animated rhythms.

Created in conjunction with Music Vs Physics, Beak Box teaches children the basics of writing their own drum beats in a playful environment."