It has been an incredible ride. We created Patchwerks to make a 'third place' away from home and the office that was a safe space for people who wanted to explore making sounds and music with synthesizers.
We started with our meetups in 2016 and grew from there to a little shack off Eastlake Avenue. Then, we outgrew that space and had a shot at a large, beautiful showroom. It was a risk, but we took it. There we had an amazing time building out the store, investing in the community, hosting shows, and more.
We encountered plenty of difficulties in the last few years, and unfortunately now is the time to close the book on our journey.
Having said that, it has been an honor to share our love of synthesizers, music, noise, and community with you all. Keep exploring and keep making sounds. We wish everyone well for what's next."
You can find a ton of content featuring Patchwerks here on MATRIXSYNTH that will live on in the archives. We are going to miss them, and we hope to see them again in the future.
"This week’s track is another favourite Hacienda club track. This time from 1989 by the group 808 State (thanks again to Yves Big City @bigcitymastering for inspiring this series).
The original was actually recorded in January 1988 as a reply to the emerging Chicago House scene ‘Pacific State’ has been released in a number of guises. Sometimes just called ‘Pacific,’ others times being labelled numerically after other Roland machines eg. 707, 202. This version is a bit of an amalgamation of a few versions.
Worth noting too that Gerald Simpson ('A Guy Called Gerald') was originally one of the founding members of 808 State before leaving to start his solo career with 'Voodoo Ray'.
I was inspired to cover this after recently acquiring a copy of the Emulator II library disks (to recreate the Kraftwerk track, 'Tour De France' [posted here]. Among these disks, Disk 22 is entitled ‘Loon Garden’. Cited by many as the original source of the ‘Loon’ bird sample we all know and love, it also features a ‘shakahuchi’ sample familiar to anyone who’s ever heard ‘Sledgehammer’ by Peter Gabriel and is a historic piece of sound design. Once you’ve heard these samples you can’t help but hear them across the whole spectrum of popular music. If anyone knows who originally recorded these original samples (also in the Akai S900 library) please leave a comment?
As I started piecing this together I found this excellent video by @CaptainPikant • Analyzing PACIFIC STATE - How to make clas... [embedded below] which elegantly detailed the rhythm patterns used. I simplified these somewhat to fit the drum tracks into just 2 tracks to allow room for Sax and Sound Effects tracks (see below).
There is a small snatch of sampled 'sax' played on Logic sampler to fill in for the original sax solo played by Graham Massey from the band but otherwise everything was programmed and played on the Circuit Tracks. No extra synths or FX were used and the audio is recorded straight out of the stereo outs.
I hope you enjoy this track as much as I did putting it together and check back soon for more.
More details for synth nerds.
The bass patch was programmed into Synth 1 to serve as both bass and melody line. The pad sound on Synth 2 is yet another detuned sawtooth pad with chorus, but rolled off with a 24dB low pass filter to create a sound a bit more like the original Juno (said to have been sampled as a chord into a Casio FZ1 sampler).
The drum sounds are a mixture of various 909,707 and 727 Roland drum machine samples from the Reverb Drum Machines collection (normalised and filtered where required).
The Sax sound was played using the sampler instrument in Logic (and is just a preset). The 3 edited phrases were placed onto Drum pad slots and triggered using Drum 3 when required.
Another sample was a ‘bell’ patch created on the Tracks but sampled as a ‘glissando’ to double up the glissando played on the pad on Synth 2, as a break between sections of the song.
Finally Drum 4 was reserved for water and ‘Loon’ sound effects (plus additional 727 rhythm). Did you know the Loon is actually a Canadian diving aquatic bird somewhat like a duck and not at all exotic!
The tracks were as follows; 125BPM, Swing 59% Synth 1 – bass and melody Synth 2 – chorused pad chords Drum 1 – 707 bass drum Drum 2 – Hihat, Open Hat, Clap and Ride samples. Drum 3 – Sampled sax lines (and Tracks synth 'bell' glissando sample in break) Drum 4 – Sound effects, alternating with 727 percussion sampled bongo and muted conga sounds."
Analyzing PACIFIC STATE - How to make classic 909 Ambient House beats | Drum Patterns Explained
Imagine a future where music isn’t something you listen to, but something you create—not with instruments, but with sound itself.
Not songs. Not tracks. But pure, raw, living sound.
This is the vision behind Quantum Cloud, a prototype sound installation and device. It’s not about listening to pre-made music. It’s about building your own sonic world—100% personalized, created in real-time, with machines and light.
Quantum Cloud: A New Kind of Sound Machine
Developed by Error Instruments, this is a highly experimental modular synthesizer—part sculpture, part sound lab. Built around four light-controlled oscillators, it responds to light and to itself. The oscillators can motivate, influence, and synchronize with each other. It includes a unique echo effect, adding depth and motion to your sonic exploration.
This is not just an instrument. It’s a sound experience. • Patchable and modular • Fully interactive • Designed to evolve and inspire • Meant for the curious, the creators, and the dreamers
Whether placed in your home as a sound sculpture or built at a DIY workshop, the idea is simple: sound becomes yours.
You don’t play music—you create your sound.
Affordable, Experimental, Accessible
We are developing a Do-It-Yourself kit for under €200. You can build it at home, or join a workshop and dive deep into experimental sound-making.
This is just the beginning.
If you’re interested in being part of this sound revolution, contact: 📧 studiopaultas@hotmail.com 🌐 www.errorinstruments.com"
"An early proof-of-concept test of a potential monome/arc integration with Circa. The integration is built in to Circa, so no Max4Live is necessary. Circa is talking directly to serialosc and driving the monome and arc itself.
"More infos & affiliate links in the description // Support on Patreon to get samples from this session: / stazma
Let's talk Hermod+ and xp32 by @squarpinstruments
These two make one of the most powerfull digital control system for eurorack that you can buy. It's almost as powerful as a DAW but it's in your case and it spit out control voltage.
I'll show you the setup i've built on it (you can make it behave like YOU want it to) and I'll make some riffs and beats to show you some of my favorite features.
"Pittsburgh Modular Voltage Lab 2 in mint condition. Unit never left the store, was used lightly for demonstration. Includes original packaging, powersupply, literature and 4 packs unopened Nazca Noodles(see photos)"
Must have for Juno-60 Owners and collectors; the original and very hard to find Patch Program Data Cassette Tape.
Note: this is a 40 year old tape. Since I dont own a JUNO-60 anymore I am unable to check the tape, is therefor sold as is. It was stored away 12 years ago in perfect working order in a dry and dark closed, that’s what I know."
🌅 Retro Tides is a collection of 64 atmospheric presets for the Behringer UB-Xa analog synthesizer. It includes: 13 Pads, 13 Synths, 17 Keys, 8 Strings, and 13 Textures. Since the UB-Xa is a recreation of a vintage classic, this collection embraces its retro character—highlighting detuning, subtle noise, and analog warmth to evoke the sonic aesthetics of the 70s and 80s.
The presets are infused with nostalgic charm and are perfect for adding that vintage soul to your tracks.
📼 One of the unique features of the UB-Xa is its Atrophy profiles—emulations of various stages of vintage wear and drift. All presets and audio demos were created using the default Profile 1, but you're encouraged to explore them with other profiles to discover variations in brightness, tuning, and stereo width. This adds another layer of expression and depth to the sounds.
💎 Retro Tides offers a wide sonic palette, from dreamy pads and mellow keys to lush strings and expressive textures. Whether you're producing synthwave, ambient, cinematic, downtempo, or retro-inspired electronic music, these presets will help you capture a timeless analog feel.
🎛 Each preset is performance-ready, with velocity sensitivity and ModWheel assignments mapped for expressive control. The ModWheel introduces additional modulations — such as brightness or movement — offering creative flexibility for both studio production and live performance.
"An in-depth walkthrough and demo of Cric, made by Future Sound Systems. Cric is a self-contained synthesizer with fully modular signal routing. It uses a pin matrix for patching between modules, leading to some unusual and exciting workflows and sounds.
In this video we’ll take a look at everything that’s inside of Cric and how it all works, and I’ll share some of my favorite approaches to using Cric as a performance instrument and sound design tool. And of course, I’ll also share lots of sounds and patches along the way."
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
1:23 Overview
2:35 Patching Workflow
4:16 Sound Generation in Cric
6:56 Scissor Oscillator
10:19 DNA Oscillators
23:48 Filter
28:42 Waveshaping & Distortion
35:00 Filter FM
36:28 Filter Self Oscillation
37:19 Modulation in Cric
37:31 Cycling Function Generators
46:24 Sample and Hold
49:10 VCA
51:18 I/O
53:04 Musical Demos
"Learn how to make your own unique music with modular synths and master the fundamentals of sound design inside my step-by-step course & coaching program, Learning Sound and Synthesis®—no experience needed!: https://www.soundandsynthesis.com"
"(c)2007-25 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi
❤️ Support #RetroSound channel: https://retrosound.creator-spring.com
One of my favorite movie themes from the early 80s.
Captain Future Suite by Christian Bruhn (1980)
Featured the Moog Minimoog and the Oberheim OB-Xa Synthesizer
This cover song series contains my own recreations of my favourite songs from the last 50 years. The original music from which I take inspiration belong to their respective owners. I recreate tracks only for personal passion and to pay homage to these tracks.
My intention is not to create covers that sound exactly like the original (if you want to hear identical sounds, please listen the original). It's more of an inspiration with my sounds from the old synthesizers from the past and of course the great appreciation for the original performers and producers."
"Join Kari as she introduces AstroLab 1.5, a powerful update that brings deeper creative control and smoother integration to your performance rig. Explore newly added instrument engines, seamless playlist transfer with Analog Lab, MIDI program change support and more!"
"Step inside Marek Pędziwiatr’s live session as he explores AstroLab 88’s rich sound palette - gliding from expressive organs and pianos to multi-layered synths, punchy basses, soaring leads, and dusty lo-fi textures. Along the way, discover how AstroLab’s intuitive parameter controls bring each preset to life, whether for sculpting classic instrument sounds or adding some experimental flourishes."
"This update delivers new and updated instruments from Arturia’s V Collection 11.
7 new instruments
Support has now been added for MiniBrute V, Augmented YANGTZE, Augmented MALLETS, Synthx V, SEM V3, Jup-8000 V and Pure LoFi.
Requested features
Enjoy quicker preset loads, seamless playlist transfer with Analog Lab, on-the-fly program-changes for external gear, and direct FX & MIDI editing straight from Analog Lab.
Fixes and enhancements
We work continually to improve the performance of AstroLab and the seamlessness of its integration with Analog Lab. Have more confidence on stage and manage your sounds with ease."
"ELTA MUSIC - SOLAR 42F
Erica Synths - PERKONS HD-01
Gamechanger Audio - FX pedal
SOLAR 42 is a unique experimental electro-music instrument, an analogue microtonal ambient drone machine. It will inspire you to find a new and spontaneous approach to composing music.
The instrument is oriented for live performances, creating film soundtracks, theatre soundtracks, atmospheric sounds, microtonal and background music. The instrument was inspired by early electronic musical instruments of the 1920s and 1950s, notably Leo Theremin's «Harmonium» instrument, as well as science fiction film soundtracks."
