MATRIXSYNTH: Ichabod


Showing posts with label Ichabod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ichabod. Show all posts

Friday, September 18, 2015

RED MARTIAN: RETRAILING (Featuring Ichabod) - Release Event in Seattle Tomorrow!


Published on Sep 18, 2015 Redmartian

Red Martian is having their album release event at the Seattle Living Computer Museum this Saturday. You might remember their recent performance there where they covered Kraftwerk. The track above was composed on Ichabod when Stephen Jones of Red Martian was helping George Mattson test Ichabod during its construction. Note Ichabod will not be at the event as it currently resides with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, but you are sure to see a great live performance with synths.

Video Description:
"A new album of 13 electronic pieces. The first 100 will be given away as gifts at SRGE: Arcade Armageddon September 19th, 2015 at the Living Computer Museum. Red Martian performs at 8:30pm on the main stage.

Track listing:
[Tracks 09 and 10 were composed on Ichabod, 03 on the Syntar, 04 on the MMM, and 07 on the Solaris.]

01 cowboy and the vocoder [see this post - great track with a sad story]
02 nedan omloppsbana
03 närmar snöblandat regn
04 av död (delorean)
05 retrailing
06 flytta hav av is
07 känner mig så låg
08 風の谷のナウシカ
09 utan hjärta *
10 bedövande en översvämning *
11 ひょろり
12 se io m'accorgo
13 ett vykort

improvised live on the custom Mattson Mini Modular named Ichabod."

Thursday, January 09, 2014

TONTO Arrives at the NMC Calgary Alberta, Canada

"National Music Centre acquires TONTO, world’s largest synthesizer. Credit: Chad Schroter-Gillespie."

This one in via Greg on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge.

The National Music Center in Calgary Alberta is the new home of TONTO

"TONTO was the first and the largest, multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer. This means that it was one of the first synthesizers capable of producing many tone colours with different voices simultaneously.

TONTO was created by Malcom Cecil and Robert Margouleff in 1968 and marked the first attempt at creating a universal language for different synthesizers to communicate with each other, which was revolutionary. TONTO remains the largest analog synthesizer in the world."

Check out the full post at the NMC site here.

Is it the world's largest synthesizer considering modular systems can be endless in size?  It depends on how you look at it.  It is interesting to think of it as a single massive synthesizer. As for possible contenders, my first thought was Benge's studio, the old Aliens Project SynxsS studio (interview here) as well has Hans Zimmer's bookshelves of modulars, but their modular systems are effectively separate.  Are there others?  If you focus on sheer number of modules in one exclusive system there's Billy Corgan's Ichabod which consists of all Mattson modules and the recent Siggi's Super Formant Synthesizer.

"Malcom Cecil, co-creator of TONTO. Credit: Chad Schroter-Gillespie."

The following is a track featuring Tonto by Malcom Cecil & Margouleff from 1971.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Billy Corgan's Ichabod on a Bar Napkin


via David Lovelace on Facebook

"Requests like this command a very large price, but George C Mattson, inventor of the keytar (a.k.a. SYNTAR! look it up!!), foot the bill to pose with Billy Corgan's Mattson Mini Modular in his 2nd Anything Napkin! AnythingNapkin.com"

BTW, the price for a custom art bar napkin is going up to $10 after napkin 100. See here for details.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

The Making of Billy Cogan's Ichabod Photo Gallery


I haven't posted on Ichabod in a while.
For those not familiar with this massive modular system, it was commissioned by Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins from George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular.  It's a one of a kind system. You can find the full gallery on Facebook here.  Be sure to check out the Ichabod label here on MATRIXSYNTH for more posts including video and audio. I never get enough of that Devils Tower pic. Devils Tower of course was made famous in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind which featured Philip Dodds & and an ARP 2500.  And of course I do like George's T-Shirt in the second to last pic below on the delivery of Ichabod.  The bottom shot is the classic Ichabod Halloween pic (click through for a super size wallpaper shot).

An interesting side note I believe is that the upcoming Mattson SQ816 Sequencer will be the final module to complete the system.  Click here and scroll for some demos and pics of the SQ816 including the Division 6 eurorack format.

Update via George Mattson: "That is correct. Billy ordered two sequencers.  Billy actually started this and said he wanted a sequencer. I prototyped a simple, single-line 8-channel sequencer on a breadboard over a weekend to show him that I can indeed make one.

Stephen used it in one of his video’s [posted here]

I didn’t want to just make a run-of-the-mill step sequencer and wanted to design and build one that I wanted to have fun with. Hopefully, other people will too. Thus, the SQ816 has been three years in development."

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Mattson Mini Modular Ichabod Featured in Smashing Pumpkins Track

The Smashing Pumpkins - The Fellowship (The Vampire Diaries)

YouTube via x3Mysteriiousx3 | October 11, 2010 |

"The Smashing Pumpkins - The Fellowship (The Vampire Diaries)
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Kill or Be Killed"

via Sloucher

See the Ichabod label below for more.

http://mattsonminimodular.com/

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Billy Corgan's Ichabod Featured in Keyboard Magazine


If you have this month's issue of Keyboard Magazine featuring Deadmau5, take a look at the last page. You will find a full page feature on Ichabod. You can see the associated online feature here.

http://mattsonminimodular.com/

See the Ichabod and MMM labels below for more. You can find the full sized shot of Ichabod paying tribute to Devil's Tower here and a video here. Think, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Philip Dodds, and the ARP 2500. This image was taken on route to delivery of Ichabod.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Red Martian at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting


YouTube via matrixsynth.

Note his comment on orchestrating it. The laptop plays the sequence while Stephen edits the four voices in real time - listen for the subtle tweaks. The laptop only plays MIDI notes. The patches and editing are done by Stephen. In later videos he plays the Syntar. Be sure to see this post for more classical pieces featuring the MMM by Stephen and of course try a search here on MATRIXSYNTH on Red Martian or redmartian for more.

http://redmartian.com
http://synthwood.com
http://mattsonminimodular.com
http://www.myspace.com/bluelightcurtain
http://www.facebook.com/bluelightcurtain

"Stephen Jones of Red Martian, Blue Light Curtain, and Synthwood performs the PMS Syntar and Mattson Mini Modular at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting at MS Studios."
Be sure to click on the PNWAES label below for all posts covering the event.


Don't miss the Syntar demo in the video set above.

Mattson Mini Modular at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting


YouTube via matrixsynth

http://mattsonminimodular.com

"George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting at MS Studios."

Remember to click on the PNWAES label below for all posts in this series.


Pic of MMM DIY modules in Eurorack format and Billy Corgan's Ichabod below, and a close-up of the Handicon on bottom (click on the images for the full size shots and click here for more images of the event).



Monday, December 21, 2009

GEKIGANGER - THE TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY OF THE FIRST PRODUCTION MATTSON MINI MODULAR


YouTube via redmartian http://mattsonminimodular.com/ http://gekiganger.org/
"LET'S GEKIGA IN!

After two years of using my MMM (the first production unit) and getting my setup that allowed an efficient work flow I discovered I ran out of room .. and that isn't just because I ordered 3 sequencer units.

Also, I worked very closely with the ICHABOD system and I enjoyed that so much that when I went back to mine it seemed limited. I didn't want to have a system as large as Billy's, but I wanted to have some of the form. Originally George and I talked about putting 3 standard MMM cabinets on their side and make a long row. However, due to budget constraints it was easier to just go with what was already established for ICHABOD and work from there.

Ultimately I'll have a single tier (the size of four MMM cabinets) plus the ability to mount my original MMM case as flanking wings.

So what does this have to do with GETTER ROBO or the mythical GEKIGANGER? There are going to be three of three of these setups with three owners. When they're all attached to each other they turn into a giant robot that smashes stuff and shoots its arms off and things."

Update: click here for some pics via George C Mattson on Facebook.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Ichabod Pumpkin

via Sarah

"So Halloween came and I was inspired by both Ichabod and my love for The Smashing Pumpkins... This was the result."

Awesome.

Stephen Jones and the Modular Synthesizer

via tumblr

"SMJ and Ichabod, a modular synth. for giggles."

Original image below from this post.

http://redmartian.com

Saturday, October 31, 2009

An Ichabod Halloween



Just had to post this shot one more time. Click the image for the full size glory.
Click here for a spooky track featuring Ichabod by Red Martian.
http://mattsonminimodular.com

Thursday, September 24, 2009

-Ichabod- Construction and Module List


Be sure to click on the image for the full effect.
Photo by Michael Mattson.
"Cabinets:
Ichabod consists of an assembly of 9 separate cabinets interlocked together.

The cabinets were constructed out of 3/8” African Padauk, sanded to 600 grit and oiled with Linseed oil. Paste wax was applied and hand buffed as a sealer and protector. The color was originally as orange as the graphics but, the linseed oil and exposure to UV has darkened the wood to a dazzling deep reddish-orange.

The cabinets are all mitered at the corners and the 13 Ga. steel module mounting frames are embedded into a ¼” deep groove, 1” back from the front edge.

The 4X wide main cabinets (qty=3) contain two Condor power supplies, one for each pair of panels. There are connectors on the back for connecting the satellite cabinets to the main cabinet DC power bus. Four El-Pac external power supplies were supplied for the satellite cabinets if they were to be utilized independently, separate from the main system.

The four satellite cabinets and the two cable caddies are stock MMM cabinets. The cable caddies were modified with an orange electro-luminescent light strip and inverters to light the strips. A reverse light mask with the name “Ichabod” was manufactured and placed over the EL strip.

Modules:
The modules were distributed to provide a left-to-right signal flow per each 2-panel section. The 4X cabinets have two identical left and right layouts and the satellites are identical pairs. A few redundant modules were added to the left and right satellite cabinets in order to provide a fully functioning stand-alone system.

The full Ichabod module list as delivered is as follows:
16 OV1-J VCO’s Jacked version
16 OV1-S VCO’s Switched version
7 NS1 Noise sources (1 per cabinet)
16 EG1 ADSR Envelope generators
16 AV1 VCA’s
16 JPVCF1 VC Filters
14 MX1 4X Mixers
10 DLFO1 Dual LFO’s
8 PE/MIDI 2-wide MIDI controller with V 2.0 software
8 AF1 Amplitude Followers (Envelope Followers)
8 GD1 4X Gate delays
8 BF1 4X buffers/signal distribution
8 VCM1 4X Voltage controlled mixers
5 SH1 Sample and Holds
5 LP1 Lag processors/ Glide
2 UT1 Utility modules/ clock/ divider/ manual voltage source

Coming soon:
2 SQ1 3-wide 8X3 sequencer

Module descriptions can be found on our WIKI site: http://mmm.sevcom.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Or, by going to the main web site http://www.mattsonminimodular.com/ And clicking on the WIKI link."

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

BILLY CORGAN'S ICHABOD - A MATTSON MINI MODULAR - ONE NOTE ORCHESTRA - DEVIL'S TOWER


YouTube via redmartian
"This one was done back on the test bench. I wanted to make a morphing polyphonic sound that could be played with a single note. There is a part that is chromatic part that is played first and then step glided later. I believe I only used 6 oscillators with a mixture of various wave forms using the Voltage Controlled Control Voltage mixer for movement.

The picture was taken at Devil's Tower Wyoming."
http://mattsonminimodular.com

Monday, September 21, 2009

BILLY CORGAN'S ICHABOD - A MATTSON MINI MODULAR - FIRST SEQUENCE

BILLY CORGAN'S ICHABOD - A MATTSON MINI MODULAR - FIRST SEQUENCER AND LIVE IMPROV

YouTube via redmartian. Remember to click on the Ichabod link below for all posts.
"With Ichabod on the burn in test bench earlier in the Summer at MMM headquarters working with the breadboarded sequencer (will be available in a few months) and two foot pedals to control the filters and volume control. I'm using the Voltage Controlled Control Voltage mixers with some gate mixing to produce the triggers for the percussion sounds. Audio was direct to 2 track stereo with some reverb."
http://mattsonminimodular.com

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

ICHABOD - A CUSTOM MATTSON MINI MODULAR SYNTHESIZER


YouTube via redmartian. Billy Corgan comes in at 7:58.
"ICHABOD's first day and patching at the studio."
Click the Ichabod label below for all Ichabod posts.
http://mattsonminimodular.com/

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Billy Corgan's Ichabod Delivered!


Update:
Some audio below.

Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins received his custom monster modular system aptly named Ichabod this Monday, 9/14/2009. It was hand delivered by the creator of Ichabod, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular along with Stephen Jones of Synthwood. Note today marks the second anniversary of the Mattson Mini Modular introductory post. Congratulations guys!

Billy Corgan on Ichabod: "It sounds as good as it looks. I'm very excited to see this synthesizer come to life. It's been a real pleasure to work with George MMMattson on this, I highly recommend anyone even casually interested in modular synthesis to go to MattsonMiniModular.com and poke around.

This synth is a dream come true because it embraces all of the sonic dimensions of the old school synthesizers with the upside of modern technology.' - Billy Corgan. Sept 14, 2009

Be sure to click on the images for the full size shots.

Top: Stephen Jones, George Mattson, and Billy Corgan.

Middle: Ichabod patched, lit and ready to go.

Bottom: Ichabod paying tribute to Devil's Tower. A Close Encounter of the Synth Kind!

Again, congrats to Billy Corgan on receiving a beauty of a one of a kind, massive modular system. Congrats to George Mattson on completing such a massive endeavor, and congrats to Stephen for all his support and help. This is a significant moment in synth history.

Special thanks to George: Thanks for wearing the MATRIXSYNTH T! That is too cool. I am not worthy, I am not worthy... :) And more importantly, thanks for making the MMM.

Update: one more pic with Stephen.

Update: three lute patches from Ichabod

Update: some people question the physical stability of Ichabod standing. I've played with it and it is stable. via George Mattson: "The main cabinets are thicker than the satellite cabinets which helps with the stability but, gives an illusion of being thin. The main cabinets are 5.5” deep while the satellites are 3.5” deep. All cabinets are interlocked vertically to create solidity between cabinets and the satellites being angled forward provide a good counter balance. It’s stable."

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Introducing Ichabod - Billy Corgan's Mattson Mini Modular

http://mattsonminimodular.com

"Ichabod is a custom MMMega system commissioned by Billy Corgan of ‘Smashing Pumpkins’.

The system is a 192 module space system comprised of three custom-built 4X wide central cabinets, four standard-size auxiliary 12-space cabinets that can be utilized independently and two custom designed cable caddies for storing and organizing patch cables. The color scheme is orange and black with custom logo panels. The case is hand crafted from African Padauk. Module placement was determined to assure that each cabinet could be utilized as a stand-alone system independent of the other cabinets. Ichabod configured as pictured measures about six feet wide (1.75m) and four feet (1.37m) high.

The final module compliment has yet to be determined and presently sports a whopping 32 VCO’s, 16 VCF’s, 16 ADSR Envelope Generators, 16 VCA’s and 8 MIDI-CV controllers to consist of the main control and audio chains. The remainder of the modules are a generous multiple selection of CV generation and signal processing modules.

Billy asked George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular to design and build a sequencer to compliment the system. Coming soon is a 3-panel wide 8X3 analog sequencer that can be synchronized and run in series or parallel with multiple units. The project required that George finalize the designs of several module designs that were in development and lead to the creation of some new modules. The new modules will be presented throughout the week.

Ichabod is now cosmetically complete. Module manufacturing is in production with completion scheduled for July or August." Note you can see the new sequencer in the bottom row of cabinets, third from the left, top row. If you click on the image and look closely you will see other unannounced modules.
Update: larger shot here.
Tip: after other posts go up, you can get back to this one quicker by clicking on the Featured link on top of the site.
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