New M-Audio Venom Blog & Alternate Designs of the Venom

Taiho Yamada, Product Manager for the M-Audio Venom.

"My dad is cool.

One day when we were getting out of the car to visit my grandparents, my dad and I heard the sound of someone playing a synthesizer from an open window of a nearby apartment building. The sound twisted and morphed and made music in ways I’d never heard before. My dad asked me if I liked it and I said, 'Yes.' That one word changed the course of my life.

A short time later, I had my first analog synthesizer. My dad bought it for me, but I’m pretty sure that he secretly played with it after I’d gone to bed. It was a budget synth, but designed by the master himself, Bob Moog. On this instrument, I learned about Oscillators, Filters, LFOs, Envelopes, Pitch Wheels, Mod Wheels, Portamento, and Sync. I was nine years old."

Taiho Yamada, M-Audio's Venom Project Lead, has started a new blog on the Venom. Currently there are two posts up. One with an interview of Taiho and one with alternate designs of the Venom, pictured. Did you know the original color was going to be purple? According to the post it was a color not often used in the synth world and would have made the Venom stand out. "The problem with this purple was that the iridescence in the paint caused it to turn pink under certain lighting conditions, which we felt would not really help us reach our target audience."

See the direct links above for further details in each post. You can find the main feed for Venom posts on M-Audio's main blog here.

Finally, don't miss MATRIXSYNTH's exclusive review and interview with Taiho Yamada which includes a tips and tricks section as well as a custom iPad editor.

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M-Audio Venom Controlled by TouchOSC Part 2 Update

YouTube via matrixsynth | Feb 24, 2011 | Watch full screen 720HD

You'll find the template posted here.

Some additional info on this one:
"I start on the OSC1 page messing with the different waveforms for oscillator 1. All you are hearing is oscillator 1. At :46 - I flip through to the Oscillator Control page (I briefly hit the OSC3 page) where I have the following settings:

Red - OSC1 Course, Fine, 3>FM, Shape and Keytrack
Green - OSC2 Course, Fine, Keytrack and Sync to OSC1
Blue - OSC3 Course, Fine, Keytrack and Sync to OSC1
Yellow - Start Modulation and Drift
Purple - Mix for OSC1, OSC2, OSC3, Ring, Ext, and Ext Src
Grey - Portamento/Glide On/Off and Rate, Bender Range

I turn OSC1 down and turn OSC2 up. I then flip to the OSC2 page so you can hear it by itself. Note the waveforms although the same sound different in some cases. This is because the envelope setting for OSC2 has a longer sustain than OSC1 so you hear more of each waveform. This is especially noticeable with drum samples. I then go back to the OSC mix page and add OSC1 back in. I adjust waveforms for each in their respective waveform pages so you can hear them work together. I go back to the mix section and add in OSC3. At 2:08 I enable OSC3 sync. I then disable it but it sounds different than before (I'll have to look into that :) Update: this was due to an error in my template which has been fixed). I flip through some of the waveforms again to hear how they mix together. At 3:00 I try OSC3 to OSC1 FM. I set OSC1 to a sine wave so I can hear the effect better. At 3:02 I turn down the levels for OSC2 and OSC3 so I can only hear the effect with only OSC1.

If you watch closely you will see each of the three oscillators has the full 94 waveform sources to select from and you can have them interact with each other. OSC1 can be frequency modulated by OSC3, OSC2 and OSC3 can be synced to OSC1, each can keytrack which means if you disable it the pitch does not track, so if you turn it off for 3 and have it FM 1 it will have a different effect than if it was on. There's also ring mod. You can also set the frequency for an oscillator below audio rate into LFO range. Note there are non standard waveforms including drum waveform samples to chose from, so you can do some really interesting things here. The reason I am creating an iPad editor is because only certain parameters are accessible via the front panel of the synth. You cannot edit OSC waveforms via the synth directly. You have to use the included editor on your PC or go the iPad route."

"Prototype TouchOSC template controlling M-Audio Venom using The Missing Link to translate OSC to MIDI."

Description also added to the original post here.

Full Venom review with tips & tricks here.
M-Audio Venom
The Missing Link - wifimidi.com
iPads on eBay
TouchOSC - hexler

M-Audio Venom Purple Beta Tester Version

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

via this Reverb listing

"M-Audio Venom Purple Beta Tester Version As far as I know there was only one other of these made in this color. [only two other listings were previously posted here. You'll also find a post on Venom creator Taiho Yamahda's blog. Taiho is now with Sequential.] The production units where white with orange and black lettering. I was one of the beta testers and sound programmers for this synth. Since this was a beta tester model the Midi was not fully functional when I received it. We did all of updates thru the USB however so don't know for sure if there was a change to the hardware or it just needs a firmware upgrade. Was just going to buy another production model and swap out the motherboard but never got around to it. It has all of my factory program contributions in bank C. While it requires using the editor from either a Mac or PC to program it completely it has a broad range of possible sounds. It is a very fat sounding synth."

Prototype Purple M-Audio VENOM Virtual Analog Synthesizer

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

via this auction

You can find some of the alternate designs of the Venom in this post. A purple one previously went up for auction here, and one in black here.

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Custom Purple M-Audio Venom 12 Voice Virtual Analog Synthesizer

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

via this auction

"This M-Audio Venom synthesizer keyboard is perfect operational and cosmetic condition. It was custom painted and modified with custom knobs. The unit still retains all of its original lettering."

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Purple M-Audio Venom S for Auction

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

via this auction

Note this was one of the prototype colors mentioned in this post, before M-Audio settled on the white design. The black one was recently listed here. I'm curious how many of these exists and if M-Audio actual released them. There is no mention of them being prototypes in the listings. The following is the description minus the terms & shipping blurb:


"Up for sale is a M-Audio Venom S Virtual Analog Synthesizer. We do not have the appropriate power supply to test this item. For this reason, it will be sold for parts/repair. This keyboard/synthesizer does have some wear with some stray marks, scuffs, scratches, and dry tape residue from tape/stickers that were removed etc. Please refer to the pictures to see exactly what this item is and the condition that it comes in."

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M-Audio Venom in Black

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

via this auction

Don't miss my M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada. You'll find some tips & tricks & an iPad editor. Note the iPad editor is currently mapped for the Missing Link, but the template can be ported.

Update 12/4/12: I just realized this could be a prototype color mentioned in this post. The purple one just went up here.

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