MATRIXSYNTH: The Usual Suspects

Showing posts with label The Usual Suspects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Usual Suspects. Show all posts

Thursday, October 01, 2026

The Usual Suspects Blue Giant – Novation Supernova II Emulation


video upload by Autodafe

"A quick NO TALKING sound demo of Blue Giant by The Usual Suspects, the new simulator of the legendary Novation Supernova II.

Blue Giant recreates the original hardware using DSP56300-series DSP emulation and the original Novation ROM. Like the Supernova II, it offers an 8-part multitimbral architecture, up to 24 voices, three oscillators per voice, multimode filters, extensive modulation, arpeggiators and the original multi-effects system.

In this video I’m simply browsing through a selection of sounds and presets — no talking, just Blue Giant in action.

More info about Blue Giant / The Usual Suspects: https://theusualsuspects.io/

The Supernova II was one of the iconic virtual-analog synths of the early 2000s, and Blue Giant finally brings its distinctive sound into the DAW."

Monday, September 21, 2026

Nord Modular G1 emulated in Gearmulator: it finally makes sound | #1


video upload by animatek

Patreon patches, downloads, and exclusive content - / animatek
The emulated Nord Modular G1 is now playing: the original G1 OS running on a computer, using Gearmulator, and controlled from my Animatek NME editor as if it were the real synth. First test, in pre-alpha phase.

⬇️ IN THIS VIDEO ⬇️

I document the first sound from a Nord Modular G1 emulator. The original G1 operating system runs on an emulated 68331 processor and loads its programs on four emulated DSP56303s, with the same kernel that Gearmulator uses for the Nord Lead 2X. The Animatek NME editor connects via PC Port and loads patches with oscillators, a mixer, and filters onto the virtual G1. And just like with the hardware, I close the editor, the synth continues playing, and when I open it again, it retrieves the patch.

This is a snapshot of the development process, bugs and all: clicks, filters that aren't working yet, unfinished clocks and sequencers, and empty banks. The emulator isn't released yet, and no ROMs are being distributed. This is episode 1 of the emulator's development diary. I'll upload a new one whenever there's a noticeable improvement.

⬇️ INDEX ⬇️

0:00 - Nord Modular G1 emulator on Gearmulator
0:44 - The engine: the G1's 4 DSPs and the first sound
1:24 - Animatek NME connected to the virtual G1: oscillator and output
2:00 - Mixer with various waveforms
2:29 - Nord Modular filters: simple ones yes, complex ones halfway
2:59 - Clocks and sequencers, not yet
3:20 - PWM, and things that cut the sound
4:24 - I turn the emulator off and on again
5:03 - Reconnecting via PC Port and empty banks
5:27 - Loading Nord Modular patches: the drone patch yes, others no
5:55 - The G1 emulator from scratch
6:38 - The two outputs and the low-pass and high-pass filters
6:55 - I close the Editor… and the emulated G1 keeps playing
7:21 - I cut the emulator: real test
7:34 - Project status

⬇️ RESOURCES AND TRAINING ⬇️

Sunday, September 20, 2026

The Usual Suspects Introduces the 88EmuPlayer Emulator


Demo video upload by Numero Uno

Also see Retromulator 1.6 What's New

"Low-level Sound Canvas series emulator, running the original firmware. Every sound you hear is from the emulator, no additional processing applied.

theusualsuspects.io/downloads/88emuplayer
Join our Discord: discord.gg/WJ9cxySnsM

00:00 Overblow – Night Slave (SC-88Pro)
00:25 Myth – SC-88 Demos (SC-88)
01:26 Departure For Space – Gradius (MIDI Power Pro 5) (SC-88Pro)
02:40 Stellar – HaruMKT (POWER! SC-55) (SC-55mk2)
04:14 Within End's Reach – MelonadeM (SC-8850)
05:56 Plok! Breezy Beach – HaruMKT (SC-8850)
07:19 DANCE II – Idecs Hyper Groove (SC-88Pro)

08:46 WALL FIVE MIX – SC-8850 Demos (SC-8850)
09:59 Embarrassment – Policenauts (MIDI Power Pro 3) (SC-88Pro)
11:07 Jazz & Fusion 2 – Idecs Hyper Groove (SC-8850)
12:04 Six and Seven – Theme Hospital (SC-88)
13:23 passport.mid – Windows 3.0 (SC-88)

Thanks to HaruMKT and MelonadeM for contributing with their compositions!
All the emulators are original work by TUS, except the SC-55 emulation core which is originally based on the work of NukeYKT."


"88Emu emulates the hardware inside most Sound Canvas modules and related earlier sound generators, used for retro gaming and DTM. It runs the original firmware on emulated CPUs and sound chips, including the firmware’s instrument selection, voice allocation, effects, MIDI handling and front-panel behavior. You supply the ROM images; they are not included.

88EmuPlayer is NOT a DAW-compatible plugin, but instead a standalone application for playing MIDI files and using those devices from a MIDI keyboard, sequencer or game. 88EmuCli uses the same emulation to render files to WAV offline using a command line interface, without having to wait for the song to play in real time."

Elektron Monomachine Emulation | Factory Patterns Demo


video upload by Autodafe

Part 1 here

"What if you could run an Elektron Monomachine inside your computer? 👀

In this video I’m testing Gearmulator MM, an emulation of the legendary Elektron Monomachine developed by Joe Landers as a fork of the Gearmulator project.

No talking — just the interface, some factory patterns and the sound of the emulation in action. 🎧

⚙️ Gearmulator uses low-level hardware emulation to run the original firmware rather than simply recreating the synth behaviour.

Joe Landers’ gearmulator-md-mm fork adds support for Elektron Monomachine and Machinedrum.

Saturday, September 19, 2026

Machinedrum Emulation is HERE | Factory Patterns Demo


video upload by Autodafe

"What if you could run an Elektron Machinedrum inside your computer?

In this video I'm taking a look at Gearmulator MD, an impressive emulation of the legendary Elektron Machinedrum, developed by Joe Landers as a fork of the Gearmulator project.

There is no talking in this video — just a quick look at the interface and a selection of the original factory patterns, so you can hear the emulation in action.

⚙️ ABOUT THE EMULATION

Gearmulator is a low-level emulation project that recreates the hardware used by several classic digital synthesizers and runs their original firmware.

Joe Landers' gearmulator-md-mm fork extends that work with emulations of the Elektron Machinedrum and Elektron Monomachine.

The result is not simply a software recreation inspired by the Machinedrum: it runs the original machine firmware on an emulated version of the underlying hardware.

At the time of making this video the project is still in alpha development, so expect things to continue evolving.

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Elektron Monomachine emulator (Gearmulator MD/MM v0.1.0 alpha.12)


video upload by Ticco Ross

"Here is a small demo of this Monomachine/Machinedrum emulator. Yes, you read that right. A true emulator with all its functions included, even parameter locks. Still in Alpha stage and you can see its peaking 75% CPU but its working flawlessly.
You´ll need your original Rom for MD/MM.
Macbook Pro M1 MacOS 12.3 //// Ableton Live 12.2.7
Link to project:
https://github.com/joelanders/gearmul..."

Also see Elektron Machinedrum & Monomachine Emulations Come to Software

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Retromulator for iOS



"Retromulator is a multi-core retro hardware emulation app and AUv3 plug-in that brings legendary synthesizer, sampler, and keyboard cores back to life through authentic low-level emulation. Each core runs its actual firmware, physical model, or sample data — delivering the unmistakable character of the hardware that defined electronic music from the early 80s through the 2000s.

— EMULATED CORES —

VIRTUAL ANALOG SYNTHS

Motorola DSP 56300 recreation (interpreter mode), built on the open-source Gearmulator by the dsp56300 team:

• Access Virus A, B and C
• Access Virus TI / TI2 / Snow
• Clavia Nord Lead 2X
• Waldorf microQ
• Waldorf Microwave XT

FM SYNTHESIS

• Yamaha DX7 — original chip set emulation, based on VDX7 by Charles Chiaccona

• Yamaha OPL3 — Nuked OPL3 cycle-accurate FM by Nuke.YKT

Elektron Machinedrum & Monomachine Emulations Come to Software

Elektron MD + MM emulations playing 2008 Autechre Echoplex sysexes

video upload by Joe Landers

"Thank you to ios for the very detailed Reaper project with all the program changes and automations: https://watmm-archive.com/t/96054/2#c...

Thank you to The Usual Suspects for the gearmulator project.

For the Machinedrum and Monomachine emulations, see my fork of gearmulator here: https://github.com/joelanders/gearmul...

There's a Discord server here: / discord

Please note I'm not affiliated with TUS, so please don't ask for support on their Discord :)

Thank you to all of my tireless alpha testers on Discord :)

Thank you to Elektron for decades of cool gear :)
Thank you to Autechre for the music :)"

Monday, September 07, 2026

The Usual Suspects Reveals Blue Giant - Emulation of the Novation Supernova II


video upload by Numero Uno

"Blue Giant is a bit accurate emulation of the Novation Supernova II

Running 4 instances in this project, performance mode, each instance running 9 DSPs, 8x DSP56362 and 1x DSP56303

It is 8 part multitimbral, offers 4 stereo outputs and has 24 voices, expandable to 48"

See The Usual Suspects label below for additional emulations by them. These essentially run the same code/OS as the original hardware, ported featuring a software UI.

Monday, August 17, 2026

10 Amazing Skins for JE-8086 You Need to See


video upload by Autodafe

Kind of interesting to think what the original JP-8080 might have looked like.

"Here are 10 of my favorite skins for JE-8086, the free Roland JP-8000/JP-8080 inspired synth by The Usual Suspects.

🎨 JE-8086 Skin Repository:
/ discord

A quick 90-second showcase of some of the coolest interfaces available for JE-8086 — from classic hardware-inspired looks to completely different designs.

🎵 The background track was made entirely with 4 instances of JE-8086 — no other synths used.

Which skin is your favorite?

#JE8086 #JP8000 #JP8080 #Synthesizer #VST"

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Integer digital-analog modeling delay – with JE-8086 emulator


video upload by Sinevibes

"Integer is a highly charismatic digital-analog modeling delay, designed and developed by Sinevibes. Available as a plugin for Mac, Windows and Linux: https://www.sinevibes.com/integer/"

Monday, August 03, 2026

JADE Is Here! | First Look at the Roland JD-990 Emulator


video upload by Autodafe

"Today I'm taking a first look at JADE, the brand-new Roland JD-990 software emulator developed by The Usual Suspects.

In this video I'll give you a quick overview of the project, explain how to get access to the current alpha, and let you hear a few sounds from this amazing emulation.

If you enjoy vintage Roland synthesizers, this is definitely a project worth following!

The Usual Suspects
https://theusualsuspects.io/

Donate to get access to the Alpha on Discord:
/ discord"

Roland JD-990 Lives Again! | JADE Demo Songs (No Talking)

video upload by Autodafe

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