Hell Modular Synthesizer

video upload by Cornel Hecht

"Hell Modular Synthesizer - random modulation on 24dB VCF"

Hell Modular, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland Juno 6, Arturia Beatstep Pro V1

Published on Apr 3, 2016 Cornel Hecht

"Short Performance with Hell Modular Synthesizer, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland Juno 6 & Arturia Beatstep Pro"

Hell Modular, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland Juno 6, Arturia Beatstep Pro V2

Published on Apr 3, 2016

"Short Performance with Hell Modular Synthesizer, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland Juno 6 & Arturia Beatstep Pro"

See this post for an image of the Hell Modular synth by Cornel Hecht and the Cornel Hecht label below for more.

PPG Wave & Hell Modular by Cornel Hecht

via Cornel Hecht on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

"Hell Modular, my first GUI Design for Synthesizer" Designed 1997/1998.

Previous posts featuring Cornel Hecht

PPG Wave 2.2 + PPG Wavemapper + FunkBox App + Little MIDI Sequencer App

Published on May 23, 2013 Cornel Hecht·20 videos

"PPG Wave 2.2 + PPG Wavemapper + FunkBox App + Little MIDI Sequencer App:
FunkBox Drummachine = Sync Master (to Little MIDI)
Little MIDI to PPG Wave 2.2 (MIDI)"

iTunes:
WaveMapper - Wolfgang Palm
FunkBox Drum Machine - Synthetic Bits, LLC
Little MIDI Machine - Synthetic Bits, LLC

JP6 & Korg DW8000 Arpeggiators

JP6 Arpeggiator
Published on May 15, 2013 Cornel Hecht·19 videos

"JP6 Arpeggiator & Steinberg Cubasis"

Korg DW8000 Arpeggiator
Published on May 15, 2013

"Korg DW8000 Arpeggiator & Steinberg Cubasis"

PPG Minimapper

Published on May 15, 2013 Cornel Hecht·19 videos

iTunes:
MiniMapper - Wolfgang Palm
iOS Devices on eBay - Daily Tech Deals

PPG Wave 2.2 Random arpeggiator

Published on May 7, 2013 Cornel Hecht·15 videos

There's actually one listed on eBay here.

PPG WaveGenerator Price Announced

via Cornel Hecht on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

"We left the best news until last - there's been a lot of questions about the pricing of an app created and crafted by the Father of the PPG Wave.

We were clear that this was never going to be a toy, but a serious product, as close to a synth that used to cost thousands of dollars, but now on the iPad. However Wolfgang wanted to share his baby with as many people as possible.

So we're not going to do any silly 'buy it for X for 7 days' kind of promos ever, it's simply going to be $19.99! Outstanding value for an amazing pro synth on the iPad."

A full blown synth from the creator of PPG for just $19.99. Truly amazing. I can't help but think of the PPG Realizer (don't miss this post) and how much it would have cost at the time due to the hardware. No, PPG WaveGenerator is not the re-incarnation of the PPG realizer, but it was a hardware device hosting various synthesis engines. With the iPad, the cost of hardware development is gone. The same could be said for soft synths on the PC, but the iPad is hardware synthesis, no different than the PPG Realizer. It really is a new age for digital hardware synthesis as I went into in this post and others, actually starting back in my New World of Synthesis post just before the iPad was announced. If anyone out there still doubts the iPad as a serious piece of musical equipment, I'd love to hear why. Also see my post on Thoughts on the iPad as a Synth and Controller. Note, the device doesn't have to be the iPad of course. It can be any tablet including Android and the upcoming Windows 8 tablets. The key of course is the usability/interface for the app and the apps available for the device. The iPad just currently has the lead. It also supports MIDI. If you pick up a Windows 8 tablet and want MIDI, be sure to pick up one with the Pro version of the OS (see this post).

$19.99 for the next PPG!!! Thank you Wolfgang Palm!

Now here's a crazy thought for hardware manufacturers out there. Imagine a Waldorf AFB16 iPad cradle to add analog filters with full IO like the Alesis iO dock. OK, the price would probably be insane, but.. :) Update: I should note my intent is not to imply analog filters sound any better, the point is the obvious next step for devices like the iPad - integration with external forms of synthesis. I'm thinking along the lines of mixing something like the MiniBrute with the iPad. What sort of things can hardware synthesizer manufacturers create to fully integrate with the iPad as a synthesis engine within their hardware engine. Yes, probably a bit far fetched, but Waldorf did attempt it with the AFB16.

iPads on eBay

PPG WaveGenerator Grid Screenshot

via Cornel Hecht on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

Click the pic for the full size shot.

See the PPG label below for the latest posts on PPG.

PPG WaveGenerator Submitted to Apple & Death of Digital Hardware Synths

Wolfgang Palm posted the following on his website (see my notes below)

"The first time I thought about an iPad project was last autumn. The more I got into it and the more information I collected, it sounded interesting to me.

I first did a pilot project on PC, just to check out the possibilities of a creative wavetable construction system, where you draw your waveforms and spectra and hear the result directly. This is especially challenging with the touch panel on the iPad.

When I had done this and convinced myself that it is a great tool and gives fantastic audio results, I bought a Mac and an iPad, and started programming for the real device. I inducted Cornel Hecht into the project, and he helped with the cool graphics and had many great ideas as well.

Later I invited some very experienced people like Peter Gorges and Jay de Miceli to help me with beta-testing and sound design. We also have 'nachtsmeer' and Kenneth Abildgaard in the team who have also contributed countless ideas.

I am also very thankful for the help of Russ Hughes who runs Sociatech, a specialist marketing and PR company, his expertise in helping get the message out has shown amazing results. If you have any kind of tech product you need to tell people about, then I recommend him to you.

So yesterday the WaveGenerator app was sent to Apple for approval, and we hope that it will be in the Apple App Store soon.

It is good to be back and to be able to share my creative ideas with the world in these new ways – I had a vision and here it is, it has the DNA of my first baby, but this grandchild has a 21st century personality.

Thank you for your support!"

It's great to see him back and it's great to see him embrace the iPad.

------

On the Death of Digital Hardware Synths:
Traditional digital hardware synths that is. The iPad is hardware after all. (see Update2 below)

For a while I've been thinking the iPad will be the death of traditional digital hardware synthesizers for several reasons - lower cost, size, ability to morph into whatever you want it to be, and it acts and feels like real hardware because it is real hardware. It's just as much hardware as any other traditional hardware synth running digital synthesis software. The iPad should not be equated with running software emulations on the PC or Mac, it should be equated with hardware synths with touch interfaces like the Korg Kronos and Jupiter-80, or the PPG Realizer. All digital synths are software based. My lust for digital hardware diminished ever since I picked the first gen iPad and Sunrizer and compared it with my Roland JP-8000. I picked up the JP-8000 new for about $1100 back when it came out. I picked up Sunrizer when it was called Horizon Synth for $4.99. Think about that.  $4.99 for a full blown VA synth with a morphable touch interface and it sounds great. The cost of the iPad and Sunrizer was less than the JP-8000 and you have access to a plethora of other synths, sequencers and controllers. Hook it up to your MIDI keyboard of choice and with the likes of Animoog, NLogSynth Pro, Magellan, Cassini Synth, Peter Vogel CMI (a Fairlight for $50!!!), Korg's iMS20, SynthX, and now the PPG WaveGenerator and Waldorf & Tempo Rubato's upcoming synth, and you have a hardware synth. With the iPad in it's third generation, older models will only continue go down in price, so the ability to have multiple iPads for cheap isn't too far off. There is one concern I had lingering though. Battery life. Eventually I'm guessing the batteries in the iPad will die, but I say had, because with something like the Alesis iO dock this may not be an issue. You can power it and have all your IO available at the same time. I should note my first gen iPad battery is still going strong.

It will be interesting to see what hardware synth manufacturers do next. They will have to offer synthesis methods not available in apps for the iPad, and as time goes on those differences will only shrink. You can't replicate analog, so maybe we will see more of that including hybrid synths. As for full blown digital, I can see manufacture's having a flagship synth for the pro musician on the road, a flagship controller for the iPad, and apps to go along with it. I think there will always be an audience for each, but there is no denying the iPad has become a option for digital hardware synthesis.

Picked up on Synthtopia as well.

Update1 6/30/2014: And it happened with the iconic Akai MPC line.  Via @TomWhiwell of MusicThing modular shared via Twitter:

"The Akai MPC is dead; no more standalone hardware, just iOS apps and controllers: http://www.akaipro.com/category/mpc-series …"


Update2 6/30/2014: I wanted to expand on my initial commentary on the "death of digital hardware" above. If you read it, you might think I prefer the iPad to dedicated hardware synths when it comes to digital only. Far from it.  It was written from the perspective of the potential impact the iPad could have on the world of hardware synthesis.  It was a look into the possible future and not meant to be a look into the present or even the near future.  The thought was that if you had a portable hardware device capable of turning into any digital hardware synth you might need, at a fraction of the price of a full blown hardware equivalent, what would you do?  The answer?  It depends on your needs, preferences and funds.  Personally, I like the convenience and portability of the iPad but I love the feel and tactile relationship dedicated hardware instruments have to offer.  The iPad offers the engine, but lacks the body unless you're Synth-Project.  The new Akai MPC line tries to bridge some of that, but is it enough?

PPG Wavegenerator iPad App From Wolfgang Palm - Sneak Peak.

YouTube Published on Aug 17, 2012 by PPGWavegenerator

"PPG Wavegenerator is a next generation iOS based synth from Wolfgang Palm, the inventor of the classic PPG Wave; from one of history's great synths comes a future classic.

For more info visit our page https://www.facebook.com/PPGWavegenerator"

Also see: PPG Wavegenerator for iPad - First Pics

via Cornel Hecht on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

iPads on eBay

PPG Wavegenerator for iPad - First Pics

via PPG Wavegenerator on Facebook

"PPG Wavegenerator is a next generation iOS based synth from Wolfgang Palm, the inventor of the classic PPG Wave; from one of history's great synths comes a future classic. PPG Wavegenerator is a new generation synth building on the heritage of the PPG Wave synths. The same great sounds, but now with even more creative possibilities."

via Cornel Hecht on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

I can't wait for this one.

iPads on eBay

Not to be confused with Waldorf and TempoRubato's upcoming synth for the iPad. See:

New iPad Synth from Waldorf and TempoRubato In the Works?

Additional Details on New Waldorf/Tempo-Rubatu iPad Synth.

For those not familiar with the PPG, Waldorf connection, Waldorf was formed by Wolfgang Düren, the German distributor of PPG, after PPG folded. The continued the PPG tradition by producing wavetable based synthesizers.

Photos of Wolfgang Palm

via Cornel Hecht on Facebook