Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!!  I hope 2012 treated you well and I wish you the best in 2013!

As I do each year, I thought I'd reflect a little on the past year.  These posts are always difficult to write, and I always wing them, so bear with me.  It's impossible to justify a whole year's worth of synth coverage in a single post.  The following is just a small bit of what comes to mind when looking back.  You'll find a top ten list of posts with the most page views followed by my picks for the year further below.  Apologies if I miss anything, and of course, if you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment below.  I'm curious what you, the readers of the site, felt stood out in the world of synths this past year.

First, I want to begin this post with a HUGE THANK YOU!!!  If you are reading this it obviously means you have come to this site and some of you have been coming here for years! Thank you for sticking with me. This site is a journey I hope to continue for years to come. Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to showcase their synths, and thank you to those that share what they find! Thank you to those that link to the site and help spread the word on MATRIXSYNTH via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and your own websites! And of course, THANK YOU to all the sponsors on the right who believe in the site enough to support it!

A nod to previous New Years posts, pictured to the left is the MATRIXSYNTH world domination map. :)  I always think it's worth taking a look at who's watching the site.  Synths are global and you are looking at a map of the readers of MATRIXSYNTH.  Everything you see in green represents a visit from that country.  The darker the green, the higher the number of visits.  This is just for the year, but for the life of the site, we still haven't gotten a single hit from North Korea!   I don't know what they have against synths!  ;)   You'll find the top 10 visits by country further below.

This is the eighth New Year the site has gone through!  The focus for the site this year has been the same as previous years, and I plan to keep it that way.  This site is about showcasing specific synths, not just synths in general, and not just news and press releases.  The focus is on the individual synths that have existed throughout history, the technology behind them, and the lives they lead with their odd owners, myself included.  :)  Yes it is about the gear, their makers, and their players.  It has always been my opinion that synths in general have a tendency to be undervalued. Compared to say collectible guitars, they are often discarded and devalued in favor of next year's model, next year's technology.  It has always been my opinion that every synth has something of value to offer,  something specific and something unique that gives it its character. I built this site to showcase that.  This site is about the history of synths as their history unfolds - videos and images of synths being played and used, by both those that make them and those that play them.  Vintage synths being offered in the second hand market, being exchanged from one sonic explorer to the next. It really is a wondrous thing. Think of the magic synthesizers bring into your world. That is what this site is ultimately about.  Some posts may not seem to make sense now, but they will in time, because they will be a look back in time. A day in the life of a particular synthesizer.  I love analog and I love digital. I love all synths and this site celebrates that.

And now for a little reflection on the year. This year we had a total of 16678 posts including this one.  That comes out to roughly 45.69 posts a day.  Not a single day of the year went without a post.  So what dominated the synth year?  Mobile, modulars and a few dedicated hardware synths.

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A.I. Experiments: The Infinite Drum Machine

video upload by Google for Developers

"Check out https://g.co/aiexperiments to learn more.

Sounds are complex and vary widely. This experiment uses machine learning to organize thousands of everyday sounds. The computer wasn’t given any descriptions or tags – only the audio. Using a technique called t-SNE, the computer placed similar sounds closer together. You can use the map to explore neighborhoods of similar sounds and even make beats using the drum sequencer. http://g.co/aiexperiments

Built by Kyle McDonald, Manny Tan, Yotam Mann, and friends at Google Creative Lab. Thanks to the London Philharmonia for contributing some sounds to this project. t-SNE animation featured in video by Gene Kogan.

More resources:
https://github.com/lvdmaaten/bhtsne
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/explore...
http://ml4a.github.io"

This one is in via Ivan Trajkovic aka dejayiwan.

A couple of screenshots for the archives:

KORG Polysix & Yamaha Vocaloid Come to Miselu

Malte of Miselu sends in the following news. Pics & video below via Engadget. You might remember Miselu from this post, and this post.

"I wanted to share a few exiting updates with you that we will show live at Google I/O starting today.

Since SXSW the hardware reference design continues to mature, but mainly focused on the software side and have released our music SDK alpha to a select group of developers that used our Miselu emulator environment (alpha for Mac and Linux) to the build apps.

Yamaha has produced a Vocaloid application prototype for the Miselu platform. The app (codename “MV-01”) is produced by music game designer luminary Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Vocaloid is a singing synthesizer technology developed by Yamaha that uses concatenative synthesis to splice and process vocal fragments extracted from human voice samples. Vocaloid allows to create an authentic computer-generated singing voice with text-to-lyics capability. More details.

Korg is bringing a software implementation of their world-renowned synthesizer, the Polysix, to the Miselu platform.

In addition Plasma Sound, the premiere music instrument for Android, was ported to our device. The developer didn’t have access to the hardware and solely used the SDK and emulator.

Retronyms expanded their nStudio suite for Miselu [video of early version here]. Retronym’s cofounder Dan Walton says, 'Miselu has designed something really special. Neiro is much more then a tablet with a piano keyboard attached. For the first time we have a touch based hardware platform dedicated to music. The wide control screen gives this little instrument unlimited potential. Miselu has gone the extra mile to reduce audio latency making this one of the most responsive devices we have seen.'

We are also pleased to announce the addition of Jory Bell as the company’s CTO. Jory was cofounder and CEO of OQO, a San Francisco startup that created the ultra-mobile computing (UMPC). Before Jory was at Apple Computer, where he helped design several laptop models and was responsible for co-inception of the Titanium Powerbook."

SoundPrism 2.3 update – real multitasking through interconnected apps enabled by virtual Core MIDI

SoundPrism 2.3 Trailer

YouTube Uploaded by Audanika on Sep 8, 2011

"Audanika did it again - a little revolution for iOS mobile musicians. With SoundPrism 2.3 you can use your iOS device as a complete music studio. Using virtual Core MIDI it is now possible to interconnect apps and use them parallel. What about SoundPrism, NLog Synth and MoDrum?"

"Erfurt, Germany, September 15th 2011

Audanika, developer of the popular iPhone/iPad instrument and MIDI controller SoundPrism is pleased to announce the release of SoundPrism Pro 2.3. SoundPrism Pro 2.3 goes beyond the limits of iOS music making. It’s the begin of a new era of mobile music creation!

SoundPrism Pro 2.3 is now able to interconnect with other music apps via virtual Core MIDI. MIDI notes and controller data generated by SoundPrism Pro can now be sent to synthesizer apps running in the background. With this step iOS devices become modular creative studios. No additional hard and software is needed anymore.

One special synthesizer app that can be controlled via SoundPrism Pro is TempoRubato‘s NLog. NLog is an extensive synthesizer that provides multiple high quality synthesis modules, SoundCloud upload, Audio and MIDI Export as well advanced real time control. Thus NLog and SoundPrism Pro complete each other perfectly: NLog provides a high quality analog audio synthesis to SoundPrism Pro and vice versa SoundPrism Pro provides a highly intuitive musical user interface to NLog. A demonstration video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Sb3KUBrq8.

For existing users SoundPrism 2.3 comes as a free update for both standard and Pro versions from the iOS App store. Please note that the virtual Core MIDI features stated above are only available in SoundPrism Pro available for $15.99/£9.49/12,99 EUR.

SoundPrism has been downloaded over 250,000 times and both versions have scored full marks in app store reviews across the world, further proof that the app continues to inspire musicians and producers everywhere to interact with sound in an innovative new way.

Open Music App Collaboration

Audanika and TempoRubato are the founders of the open music collaboration, a developer community advancing the virtual Core MIDI Standard. We are pioneers in the field of mobile music creation. A lot of iOS developers already follow us. Our aim is to enable a whole bunch of music apps to interact with each other. More information concerning this development group are openly accessible at http://groups.google.com/group/open-music-app-collaboration.


About Audanika

Audanika GmbH creates innovative digital music instruments. We're a group of academics with a background in software development and new media who have dedicated large parts of our lives to either learning, playing or teaching music. Our goal is to enable more people to do so and fall in love with their creations just as we did.

About TempoRubato

TempoRubato is a synthesizer 'microbrewery' located in Frankfurt, Germany founded by Rolf Wöhrmann. We believe in the good life and doing things at work we really like to do for the pleasure, creativity and joy of our users. Visit http://www.temporubato.com for more info or email to info@temporubato.com"

SoundPrism Pro - Audanika GmbH - iTunes
tempo rubato - iTunes
iPads on eBay
iPod Touch on eBay

Mikrowave - sequenced synthesizer for Android version 2.1

Published on Oct 20, 2014 Igor Zinken

"Mikrowave version 2.1 (all ready for Android Lollipop!) being put through its paces showing how all the processors work to subtly sculpt the sound, or how to quickly slide into complete and utter aural mayhem.

Mikrowave is also available for free (no ads!) and fully functional, apart form being able to save your songs and export them to MIDI.

You can get it here on Google Play :

https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

Or visit the project page:

http://www.igorski.nl/mikrowave

Developers interested in creating their own audio mangling app for Android can follow the project page to find the source code for the audio engine on Github."

NAMM 2023 - AmeNote - ProtoZOA - MIDI 2.0

video upload by sonicstate

"MIDI 2.0 is set to revolutionize music technology in the coming years. AmeNote's Mike Kent told us about the four years of prototyping by the MIDI Association, which has been using a hardware development tool for Mini 2.0 called the ProtoZOA from AmeNote. Apple OS and Google Android already have MIDI 2.0 integrated into their operating systems and Mike showed us the MIDI 2.0 driver which is being developed by AmeNote for windows in operation.

According to Kent, MIDI 2.0 is expected to grow gradually over the next five years, with more products being released in 2024 and beyond. Kent emphasized that this gradual change is essential to ensure a smooth transition for users, and to account for the fact that not all manufacturers will be able to release MIDI 2.0 products instantly.

AmeNote will make ProtoZOA available to all non-member developers after the MIDI Association publishes MIDI 2.0 specification updates expected in June 2023 and then makes the github public.

Non-Member Developer Price: Standard ProtoZOA hardware with permissive license to source code for USB MIDI 2.0, MIDI-CI, MIDI 1.0/2.0 Translation, Universal MIDI Packet, UMP Endpoint, Function Blocks, and more: $290. With Ethernet expansion: $320. With Ethernet expansion and display: $350.

https://amenote.com/"

Fermion for iPad

"Fermion--much like a true classic hardware analog synthesizer--makes all synthesis parameters concurrently visible, available and tweak-able, for greater real-time performance control.

For playing hard core dance and techno, nothing beats the classic sound of a monophonic synth. Easily create and play sounds like a classic Moog or or a Roland TB-303.

Features
* Monophonic— plays one note at a time l]
* Oscillator Module
* Dual oscillators
* Square, Triangle, Sawtooth, Reverse Sawtooth waves
* Octave selector, supporting 5 octaves
* Glide between notes (Lag Processor)
* Oscillator fine tune (more than one full octave)
* Oscillator sync
* Low Pass Filter Module
* Modulation module
* Tremelo/Wave
* Vibrato/Pitch
* Filter
* Envelope Generator module
* Supports ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)
* Volume
* Filter (amount of low pass filter)
* Arpeggio

Fermion is a based on the open source project Mobilsynth by Allen Porter. Developers are encouraged to visit the website and contribute. For more information about the Mobilsynth, visit http://code.google.com/p/mobilesynth/"

Fermion - DaabApps
iPads on eBay

Meet the Yudo Neuman-2 - Massive Touch Screen Synthesizer Spotted at Nam

via Gearnews.de

The following is Google translated from German:

"NAMM 2018: futuristic prototype Neuman-2 synthesizer surfaced!

The world has not seen anything like this: this crazy prototype from Yudo called Neuman-2 Synthesizer. A huge touchscreen sits above the keyboard. The image on the monitor is reminiscent of a spaceship's cockpit, it looks absolutely like a science fiction movie. But it controls a synthesizer. I have to see that live!
Neuman does not control UFOs

Very spectacular is the new Neuman-2 synthesizer from the hardware developer Yudo from Japan. The company is actually known for their smartphone games and music apps. Striking is of course the large touch screen monitor that towers above the keyboard on the synthesizer. On this you can see controls that actually remind of a huge console game, but could also come from a cockpit. It includes a lot of colorful shapes, big virtual sliders, X / Y pads, multitouch controller fields and above all a very nice big ad slot for parameter values. So you want a fully grown controller!
Inside, a computer-based synthesizer slumbers. Especially for this an OS was designed, which was tuned to the needs of many musicians. As the operating system is publicly accessible to developers, something great may be about to become the unique controller screen in the near future. Sound and video examples are unfortunately not yet available. But the photos definitely make you want more! Or what do you think?
Here you will find another very funny presentation of the DIY project Kami-Oto by Yudo, which reminds a little bit of Nintendo Labo.
Price and specifications

Unfortunately there are no Prizes and availability of the Neuman-2 Synthesizer yet. This is allegedly "tailored" to the user. The OS is also still in a development phase. But it could well be that the manufacturer Yudo launches a Kickstarter campaign with the very exclusive device. We are curious!"


NAMM 2018: Yudo NEUMAN Multi-Touch Keyboard / Synthesizer Prototype
Published on Jan 26, 2018

Novation - 30th Anniversary | Podcast

video upload by Sound On Sound magazine

"An Illustrated Podcast
Novation - 30th Anniversary: Grooveboxes, Controllers and Synths

2022 marked the 30th birthday of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synths, samplers and hardware controllers. In this podcast, Novation Product Specialist Chris Calcutt looks back over three decades of innovation and explores the key products, technologies and partnerships behind a British music technology success story.

SHOW NOTES
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:26 - 30th Anniversary
01:02 - The First Product
03:24 - The Launchpad
06:58 - Automap
09:25 - Friendly Relations
13:08 - The BassStation
17:50 - Hands-On Control
19:07 - Analogue Sound Modelling
21:41 - The Resurgence Of Analogue
30:43 - From The Rack To The Desktop
34:33 - Moving Away From Computers
38:02 - The Focusrite Group
45:25 - 40 Years of MIDI

Novation - Biog
In 1992, Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson founded Novation Electronic Music Systems and created the MM10, a keyboard controller designed to be used with the Yamaha QY10 music workstation. The BassStation was launched in 1993 and was used by many top artists of the day. ASM (Analogue Sound Modelling) technology was introduced in 1995 and designer Chris Huggett joined the team full-time in 1998, with the popular Supernova synth being released that year.

30 years later, while still creating grooveboxes, controllers and synths, Novation is now part of The Focusrite Group, along with ADAM Audio, Focusrite and Sequential.

https://novationmusic.com/en/30-years...

Novation - Chris Calcutt
Chris Calcutt has been the Product Specialist at Novation for over a decade. Despite coming from a more traditional background of classical music composition and playing the trombone, Chris has always been heavily involved and passionate about music tech.

As a kid, Chris would play with synthesizers and a four-track recorder on the living room floor and has since gone on to work with Novation, collaborating closely with the product developers, designing and building new and innovative electronic instruments.

Chris is responsible for representing multiple brands under Novation's parent company, The Focusrite Group, working with their European distribution partners to deliver training, product presentations, and live performances both online and at in-store events.

Chris also produces and performs live as CALC and is an active member of the experimental electronic music scene in Brighton, UK.
About The People & Music Industry Podcast Channel
Listen to experts in the field, company founders, equipment designers, engineers, producers and educators.

Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts."

mobilesynth - Open Source iPhone Synth

"mobilesynth is an open source classic monophonic synthesizer, designed for live performance. Developers are encouraged to visit the website and contribute.

Features
* Monophonic, playing one note at a time like a class synthesizer
* Oscillator Module
o Dual oscillators
o Square, Triangle, Sawtooth, Reverse Sawtooth waves
o Octave selector, supporting 5 octaves
o Glide between notes (Lag Processor)
o Oscillator fine tine (more than one full octave)
o Oscillator sync
* Low Pass Filter Module
* Modulation module
o Tremelo/Wave
o Vibrato/Pitch
o Filter
* Envelope Generator module
o Supports ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)
o Volume
o Filter (amount of low pass filter) "

available on iTunes here


Note mobilesynth is from Google developer, allen.porter who lists the following:
Project Ownership:
arpspyx
iphonedisk
mobileterminal
thebends
open-tracker
itone
openloop
mobilesynth
Project Membership: iphone-dev