FINALLY! E-MU Morpheus Z-Plane Synthesizer Tutorial!!!

Published on Apr 5, 2019 Ran Jurgenson

"A video introduction to the E-MU Morpheus vintage synthesizer.
RARE VHS TAPE RIP.
N'jOY :)"

If I could give a post of the day award, this would be it. I believe this is the first time this has popped up anywhere. You can find some great demos of the E-Mu Morpheus in the archives, but not the official E-Mu VHS. BTW, creating a new VHS label for these. If you see any older official VHS video posts let me know and I'll add the label.

Update: here's an image of the VHS from a previous listing.

Synthplex 2019- Check Out These Vintage Minimoogs

Published on Apr 1, 2019 sonicstate

"Emeapp.com Electronic Music And Education And Preservation Project.
They brought along their collection of MiniMoog prototypes - A,B and C.
You can see the evolution from modular format to the self-contained keyboard. Which of course is the end game - the playable, no patching required instrument that the Model D eventually became"

Note the preset model at the end.

Serge Tcherepnin - Waveshaper TV Ep. 9

Published on Mar 21, 2019 Waveshaper Media

"Support us on Patreon: http://patreon.com/waveshapertv

Here's an interview with the one and only Serge synthesizer designer, Serge Tcherepnin! Interviews with Serge are few and far between - in fact we're only aware of one print interview, from the early '80s. As far as we know, this is the only filmed interview with Serge in existence. Serge was a friend and colleague of Morton Subotnick's; Mort is the one who hired Serge onto the staff at CalArts, where he developed his synthesizer system for students to build and use. We met Serge in Paris to film with Mort for our upcoming Subotnick documentary, and after much convincing, Serge finally agreed to also give us a solo interview for Waveshaper TV!"

This is a treat. The influence of Buchla and Moog are covered by Serge Tcherepnin.

An Oberheim Matrix-24 was Almost a Thing

Someone on the Analog Heaven email list noticed the Oberheim Matrix-12 and Xpander shared the same voice boards and that "the ribbon cable from the Processor Board to the Voice Board(s) has enough signals allocated and named to drive 4 Voice Boards. The two extra traces aren’t connected, and the firmware doesn’t support them, but it seems that somebody was thinking of a massive 24-voice Matrix.". The Xpander of course is essentially a six voice desktop version of the Matrix-12 with added CV. There was also a CV extension mod for the Matrix-12 that added the CV jacks on the left side panel. Someone else reached out to one of the developers of the Matrix-12, a gentleman named Marcus. The following is his reply:

"Yes, my original dream was to someday make a Matrix-24. When designing the Xpander we put a jumper on the voice board to allow up to four voice boards to be addressed independently, in anticipation of future models with more voices. In the Matrix-12 we used the first two addresses to create a 12 voice. The Matrix-12 main board was set up to address four voice boards, so that no hardware changes would have been required to make this work (other than the power supply would have needed to be beefed up). The intended UI was to have the voice select button (the one that has two LEDs labeled VOICE 1-6 and VOICE 7-12) toggle through four states to select between the four boards if we were going to make one without any changes to the front panel either (though other UI approaches would have been better).

Although the hardware was ready to go, a lot of work would have been needed on the main processor firmware, since that’s where all the editing, patch memory, and voice assignment work lives. Never did get started on any of that, and never had the chance to even make a prototype. I left Oberheim in April of 1985, and no one else pursued it as far as I know.

Thanks,
Marcus"

PPG Wave 2.2 / 2.3 Rack Project

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"I have a significant amount of time [both mine and others] and money invested in making this work.
I am at my limits of abilities to work on it. I can get a display to run but no sound because of the Proz-mismatch.

The PPG has the latest Virtual Music 8.3 ROMs. I am including a second set of ROMs as well.

I would refer to this below from Alexander from Virtual Music [link removed by eBay]
I am looking for $5000 as is.

When this was shipped, the cards were not removed and wrapped so the damages are listed below.
• 2-3 broken mylar caps [the leads are hairline thin and very fragile]
• 1 broken 27.460mhz Crystal
• LCD cable pins are bent / broken and some will need replacement.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Skyline Forty-Nine P does Mozart (Adagio in C)

Published on Mar 3, 2019 Kris Lennox

I beleive this is the first demo of the Skyline Forty-Nine P on the site. The only other post is this recent auction listing. This is likely the first time many of us are hearing one.

"Not too long ago I picked up this old synth/organ. It wasn't working at all, so I've spent a little time on it/brought it back to life. Great to hear it. I put up an article a few weeks back with photos of the innards (plus manual/schematics etc) - link here - https://krislennox.blogspot.com/2019/...

Reverb was added post.

To the piece: Mozart's KV356 for Glass Harmonica - an instrument invented by Mr. Benjamin Franklin. Have a look on YT and you'll find a live performance of someone playing this piece on Glass Harmonica. Beautiful sound.

The range of the Glass Harmonica is ideal for the synth. Also, being Mozart, there are sections where one can quite easily imagine a different tone (this is common with his piano works, and he often instructed his students to imagine certain parts belonging to certain instruments). I'm utilising the sense of difference within the piece to harness a small selection of tones from the Skyline.

The Skyline can sound very synth-like (i.e when the vibrato & sustain are on) - I'll upload something more 'synth-y' in the near future. Interestingly, it is Farfisa chips under the hood.

I enjoy playing these kind of instruments: no concerns RE voice limits/note stealing. They are also good for technique i.e finger-swapping to maintain a good legato (far less forgiving than piano).

PS I had a look on IMSLP at the Glass Harmonica repertoire: it is quite small, but there are a few sets. I'll maybe take a full set and record it on the Skyline. It would be a very nice way of not only expanding repertoire awareness for any curious listeners, but also giving the Skyline a notable recorded repertoire.

All best (more on this instrument soon)
Kris"

Barack Obama Follows MATRIXSYNTH!

Of course he does! This is real and not photoshopped BTW, I grabbed the screens off of Twitter. :)

Africa's first Home made Modular Synth

Published on Jan 14, 2019 TheDIYer

"A few months ago I dipped my feet into the world of modular synths. The entire African continent has only one shop selling Euro rack modules which is really sad. Also, Euro rack modules are overly priced for someone in my context. My only option was to go the DIY route. I looked up schematics and started modifying some circuits and building others from scratch. All parts in my modular were sourced locally. In a few months I have learnt so much about electronics and analog synths and I have built what is an almost decent modular synth. I believe this is Africa's first home made modular synth. I hope this video inspires someone out there to build their own synth." www.bamanyabrian.com

via @thonk_synth

Playlist:
Africa's first Home made Modular Synth
DIY Modular Synth and Beat Step Pro
DIY modular analog synth build

KEYNOTE MARK XX (1976) Demo

Published on Jan 17, 2019 Synthesizer Home

This is the first demo of one on the site. One was previously posted as part of Moby's drum machine sell-off here.

Excelsior Ek6 Vintage Synthesizer

Published on Jan 16, 2019 Riccardo Pietroni

"The Ek6 is a very rare Italian presets synthesizer made by Excelsior in 1979."

This is the first Excelsior Ek6 post on the site. Another first from Riccardo Pietroni.

YAMAHA EW-20 Wind Jammer Electronic Woodwind Synthesizer AC100V EW20 INSTRUMENT

via this auction

Another odd and rare item. I believe this is yet another first to be featured on the site. I found an old video of one below.

"Vintage electronic wind controller and sound module with midi cable. Controller has choice of fingerings: one similar to saxophone, the other similar to recorder. Sound module has 64 voices (no polyphony). Unit has reverb, automatic transposition, octave switching, vibrato/pitch bend, and pitch control from A438-445.

Manual available on line at www.house of synth.com, search for Yamaha EW-20."


yamaha ew20 midi sax Published on May 29, 2008 gSax sax

Symetrix Phase Filter - Uses SSM 2040 like Sequential Circuits Prophet 5

via this auction

Another first on the site. Anyone ever hear of Symetrix before?

Some pics of the inside below. From the listing:

"Ive held onto it for over 10 years because it is so rare and so amazing sounding, words cant even desribe.

Never have I heard a phaser so lush.

Can even be controlled with CV.

About 100 were made, this is serial number 48."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Godwin Drummaker 45 Computer System

Published on Jan 4, 2019 Italian Vintage Stuff!

This is the first post to feature the Godwin Drummaker 45. You think you've seen it all, yet every year something new comes out of the annals of synth history. Be sure to check out the New Old label at the bottom of this post for more, and check out the Godwin Drummaker 32.

"The Godwin Drummaker 45 Computer System is an Italian Auto drum machine / Arpeggiator / Bass / Chord Arranger from 1976.

It was originally the rhythm section of the huge organ with the same name, but a few stand-alone units with a two octave keyboard controller were produced as well.

Very nice and warm analog sounds. It's quite complex, with many variations, less ompa-ompa compared to other similiar machines from that era.

Run through a Space Echo 301 with added chorus, echo and spring reverb."