Playlist: [note the first 3 are new. Including the full playlist for those interested.]
1. Lo-fi Trap Kit Sample Pack (lofi trap samples)
New Loops presents: Lo-fi Trap - a full construction kit of hard hitting low fi Trap samples including beats, bass, synths, vocals, sound effects, and more! You'll find pianos, plucks, 808 bass, atmospheric synths, and hard punchy drums. This Trap sample pack features a full kit of 85 Trap sounds with 32 loops, 53 one shots (including multi-samples), and 6 midi files for synths."
2. Trap of Gods Sample Pack (Trap Kit, Trap Samples)
New Loops presents: Trap of Gods - a full Trap construction kit with deep sub bass, punchy trap drums, and chanting choir stabs.
3. Hard Trap Sample Pack (Hard Trap Kit, Trap Samples)
New Loops - Hard Trap Kit has everything you need to make a modern Trap song including, hard drums, screeching synths, Trap plucks, bells, and relentless sub bass. You’ll find 35 hard Trap loops, 47 one-shot samples, and 8 midi files for melodies, synths, and bass.
4. Radio Ready Hip Hop Kit Demo
New Loops presents Radio Ready - a full Hip-Hop kit with 39 sounds, including Bass, Kick, Hi-Hat, Clap, Chords, FX, Vocal, and more. This Hip-Hop kit has punchy Trap drums and modern synth sounds, just like the current radio hits!
5. 01 New Loops Halloween Trap Kit
Scare your family and friends with this sick Halloween Trap Kit. Spooky melodies and unsettling sound effects set the scene for heavy sub bass and punchy Trap beats.
6. Hard Trap Sample Pack (Hard Trap Kit, Trap Samples)
Scare your family and friends with this sick Halloween Trap Kit. Spooky melodies and unsettling sound effects set the scene for heavy sub bass and punchy Trap beats.
This is the walk through of the Synthorma synthesizer museum in Luterback Switzerland. Before you watch this video I want to make a few notes. First of all, be sure to click on the synthorama label/link below to see all posts on my visit to the museum. Second, this set of five videos is literally walk through the museum. If you have been following the posts you will know that the majority of synths are hooked up to headphone amps. There is a very good reason for this - you are encouraged to explore and listen to the individual synths without the disturbance of others doing the same. Because of this there is obviously no synth audio in this set of videos. The purpose of this post is to give you an idea of what is there and to give you a sense of what it would be like to walk through and see all of this before you put the camera down and start playing. :) There is no background track as you walk along. Just a ton of synths you want to explore.
For those of you that get camera sick watching videos like this, apologies ahead of time, and there are plenty of shots of the museum in my prior posts if that works better for you. Hopefully the vids aren't too bad.
That said, enjoy this set of videos, or not. Remember you can mouse over the video and click on the forward and backward links to move on to the next video if you do not have the time to watch all five in one shot.
Thanks again to Martin Hollinger for hosting such an incredible synthesizer asset for the community and a special thanks to swissdoc for not only driving me to the museum with the great synth talk, but also for dropping by the music shop and brockenstube on the way there. I couldn't have dreamt of a better synth fix on my vacation. Thank you.
Spotted the first video in the playlist above on discchord.com. The Playlist contains 21 videos. You can use the player controls to skip around. Descriptions for each are below. All videos feature various gear so you should be able to get an idea of some of the capabilities of each featured. You can check out Jay Hosking's music at https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/.
Note, more will likely get added over time. The following playlist is as of this post:
1. Jam w/ Vermona PERfourMER MkII, Elektron Analog Rytm MkII, OTO Bam, Styrmon Big Sky, Fugue Machine
A live, semi-improvised performance, all on hardware, and inspired by some pretty tough news that has me sentimental.
I loved the Elektron Analog Four MkII so much that I picked up the Analog Rytm MkII. My feelings on the Rytm are mixed. On the one hand, it's missing that spontaneity and spark of units like the Arturia DrumBrute Impact and Teenage Engineering OP-Z, with no readymade performance effects, roller bar, or global randomization, and a slower workflow. On the other hand, I really like its analogue sound engines, any unused tracks can be converted into impressive analogue mono synths, it does beautiful things to samples, and like all Elektron boxes it integrates the effects into the sequencer really nicely.
As for the Vermona PERfourMER MkII, I'd been pining over it for ages, and it was fun to finally tinker with it. The Perfourmer definitely excels in the mid- and high- range, and I love how the independent voices making really interesting voices for chords.
Vermona PERfourMER MkII + OTO Bam — Three synths (left chord note, right chord note, melody)
Vermona PERfourMER MkII + Strymon Big Sky — Bass chord note synth
Elektron Analog Rytm MkII — Drums, samples, sample melody, punchy bass
Fugue Machine (iOS) — Sequencing
IK Multimedia iRig Pro Duo — MIDI out from iOS
Written and performed within a 24-hour period, and uploaded as is, with only a little sidechain compression on the Perfourmer (to emphasize the sound that the Rytm was already making), and compression/limiting on the master.
"Discover the Roland Boutique VP-03, the compact vocoder that recreates the legendary Roland VP-330, a key player in electronic music from the '70s and '80s. Used by artists such as Vangelis, Human League, and Laurie Anderson, this instrument defined the sound of an era with its 16-band vocoder, synthetic strings, and ethereal choirs.
In this video, we'll explore how the VP-03 works, listen to its vintage sounds, and discover how Roland has captured the magic of a classic in a pocket-sized format.
Perfect for those who love retro synths, cinematic sounds, and the aesthetic of vintage electronics, the VP-03 is a unique instrument for bringing the charm of '70s and '80s productions back to life."
Pictured to the left is Professor William Hoskins (via). What you see there is not the mystery Moog, but his Moog modular system. This post is about another Moog synth, one most likely based on the Sonic VI. If you have any information on what this synth might be after reading this, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly. My contact info is on the bottom right of the site. I have already contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew author of Kaleidoscope Eyes A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper, as well as Trevor Pinch, author of Analog Days [Amazon hardcover & paperback, preview on Google books], and featured in this exclusive post. I also contacted James Husted of Synthwerks, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular, Steven Jones of Synthwood, and Carbon111, all of whom know their synth history. None were familiar with what the synth might be.
The story: I was recently contacted by a Paul Rego with the following:
"I've been searching the Internet for over a year now and have not been able find a specific synth. Since you seem to know and work with every type of synth known, I thought I'd ask you...
Around 1973 - 1974, I took private synthesizer lessons at Jacksonville University (Florida). The instructor was Professor William Hoskins and the synth was a custom Studio Moog assembled by Professor Hoskins.
One day, Professor Hoskins showed me his personal, portable synthesizer. He brought out what looked like a brown suitcase. When he opened it, I saw a Moog Sonic VI.
This is nothing new. I've seen lots of images of this synth on the Internet. The one aspect of this particular synth, that I cannot find anywhere, is that it had a touch-sensitive keyboard. The keyboard was made of plastic and had a gray / brown color. Outlining the keys (showing the location of the 'white' and 'black' keys) was an almost medium blue color (about an eighth-inch thick). (He and I tinkered with this synth for about a half-hour to an hour.)
Professor Hoskins passed away several years ago, so I can't ask him about it. I did contact his family but they don't remember anything about this synth.
I do remember Professor Hoskins telling me that he and Bob Moog had 'gone to school together'. I think he was referring to electronics school but I never asked him more about it. I thought I had read somewhere that Professor Hoskins and Bob Moog had briefly worked together on a Sonic VI prototype but I don't know if that's true. (Even if what I saw was a prototype, someone has to own it now and should be proud enough of it to post some photos somewhere.)
I thought the background story might help in your own research on this.
Basically, I'd just like to know if this synth ever existed or am I just not remembering it correctly.
Thank you for your time and attention."
My first obvious guess considering the blue was the Buchla Music Easel or separate Buchla touchplate keyboard modded into the case of a Sonic VI. I sent Paul a couple of links to various images.
Paul replied: "the synth I saw didn't look like the Buchla Easel. Good call though.
The 'blue', which outlined the keys on the Sonic VI I saw was a bit lighter in color than the blue in your photos and maybe had a bit of green in it (closer to turquoise). There was no red or other color on the keyboard (that I can remember) and the entire keyboard seemed to be one piece of plastic with only the blue / green outlines separating the 'keys'.
I also read a story recently about the time when Musonics bought Moog and had a synth ('Sonic V'?) of their own, at that time, but I haven't research this too much yet. One thought I had was the synth I saw was something from Musonics but was never officially released (until it had the 'Moog' name placed on it). I'm pretty sure the synth I saw had the 'Moog' logo and the word 'Sonic VI'. (Not 100% sure but it seems clear in my memory.)"
I also sent Paul images of the EMS Synthi AKS. Paul replied it was the closest, but definitely not it.
I contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew to see if they knew of anything. Michelle replied: "...I can tell you that we have several of William Hoskins reel-to-reel tapes in the archives, so there was obviously a significant professional relationship between he and Bob.
I don't ever remember reading anything about the Sonic VI, but maybe Brian does. One thing I can tell you for sure is that Dad began working with John Eaton in 1970 on the Multi-Touch Sensitive keyboard [left via]. The main component of the MTS was the touch-sensitive keyboard, of course. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Dad would have used his work with John to push boundaries on another project."
Brian replied: "Bob didn't design or build the original Sonic V (from Musonics before they bought Moog) that was Gene Zumchak: The Sonic V did have a brown wood style. It's even unlikely Bob did much on the Sonic Six as it was the same thing with a new outer case.
The Sonic VI was the version Moog made in 1972 and later, in a plastic suitcase version. Many of these were made vs the very few Sonic V's. So one might think they saw a Sonic VI when it was the V (same front panel and features). But the brown suitcase and colored keys and touch sensitive thing are ALL unusual. I know a little about Prof Hoskins from the paperwork of the past, but no mention of this synth. Definitely unusual to have keys like that anywhere, anytime!" Followed by: "And there IS touch (velocity) sensitivity on Wendy Carlos' synth by 1971 for Clockwork Orange, but it's used under the normal keyboard. THIS velocity was very possible, but would not make the keys look different. Again - maybe a Sonic V was retrofitted with a cooler keyboard later in the 80s, but why not do so on a BETTER synth!?" :)
On a separate thread, Trevor Pinch got back to me with the following: "Bill Hoskins was important in that he was one of the first people David VanKouvering approached about minimoog reiail sales etc. I have a good album of his somewhere! I think he may have been Bob's favorite composer for a while.
I have no idea about the touch key board but I'm in touch with Gene Zumchak the guy who designed the Sonic Six, so I'll ask him. (I guess you know the joke that the Sonic Six was known by Moog engineers as the Chronic Sick!)
Actually its story might be kinda interesting - Zummy (as he is known) told me that it was made with 741 op amps and in many ways was more advanced than the minimoog.
Maybe it has had an unfair press. I never heard one or saw one for real."
James Husted sent me the image of Professor Hoskins at the top of this post. I sent it to Paul to see if maybe it brought back any memories that might help.
He replied: "The custom Moog modular in that photo is the same one I took lessons on. However, this is an early photo and when I saw that Moog modular, Professor Hoskins had already added a top layer to that cabinet — which included a Moog sequencer. (I have a photo of it, that I took around 1990, but the top part of the photo, showing the upper section, is cut off.)
The reason you didn't see Professor Hoskins' 'Sonic VI' is... I'm guessing that he didn't bring it to the university very often. When I saw it, I was at his home. He had invited me over one Saturday afternoon to see HIS custom Moog modular. It was in his garage, which he had made-over into a nice studio. It also had a two-manual organ, at least two reel-to-reel tape decks and LOTS of recording tape. Later, during that same session, he said 'There's something else I want to show you. Come inside.' We went into the living room and I sat on the couch. He said 'I'll be right back.' After about a minute, he came back carrying a brown 'suitcase'. He set it on the coffee table in front of me and sat down on the couch. He opened it up and... Whoa! I had never seen one of these and it was the first time I had seen a Ring Modulator!
---
I remember seeing Professor Hoskins play his Sonic VI during a live performance of his album 'Galactic Fantasy / Eastern Reflections'. The Jacksonville University orchestra played most of his composition but at one point his Sonic VI was brought out and he played it while at center stage. I could see it clearly from my seat but, of course, I could only see the back of it, which simply looked like the back of a brown suitcase.
---
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Since I think this is important, I thought I'd try to recreate the 'Sonic VI' I think I saw. I 'Photoshopped' a production Sonic VI and attached it to this message. It's the best image of what I think I saw.
Modifying the image forced my memory to go into more detail. Here's what I'm fairly certain of:
• The outer color of the "suitcase" was almost dark brown.
• The outer shape was more square than the production Sonic VI.
• The thickness of the top and bottom sections was thicker than the production Sonic VI model.
• The keyboard was made of slightly textured plastic, otherwise completely flat, was brown / gray in color and had a vibrant blue outline between the keys. (I'm not 100% sure if the "black" keys were outlined or solid blue.)
• The background color of the back panel and the area surrounding the keyboard was almost dark brown. It looked like it was made out of either pressed cardboard or thin wood. It really reminded me more of the thin 'wood' used in old, tube televisions and radios (during the 1960s).
What I'm not 'fairly sure' of:
• I can't remember if it had a Mod Wheel.
• I think there was more space between the modules.
• I think it had two speakers (placed on the left and right side of the back panel). Each might have been the size of the center speaker-grill in my photo.
• I can't remember if there were any connectors, switches or knobs on the keyboard section."
Update: via Aaron aka theglyph in the comments: "Holy shit! That's the guy from JU. There was an electronics repair/pawn shop here in Jacksonville called Active Electronics that had a bunch of synths back in 90's. The owner had a sign in the store explicitly stating that the synths were not for sale and that customers were not allowed to walk up and look at them or touch them. I walked in day and walked close enough to notice that the MiniMoogs had very low serial #'s. It wasn't until I read Analog Days that I found out that the earliest Mini were sold here in Jacksonville. There so much more to this story that I don't know where to begin but I can say that I did an obscure Moog at the store that I've never seen photographed since and I simply thought I was loosing my mind recollecting it. WOW!
Cheers,
theglyph"
Update: Above, Brian originally mentioned Bill Hemsath as the person that designed the Sonic V. He meant to say Gene Zumchak. This has been updated.
Updates: via Dorothy in the comments:
"HI, as a Hoskins kid, I watched Dad perform on the synthesizer and I know we had the Sonic but I thought it was a "V". Dad had several custom modules built for him by Bob Moog. They were friends but didn't go to school together -- Dad went to Trumansburg NY to work with Bob on the synthesizer that they got for Jacksonville University (in 1969, I think). I will have to go digging in the Will Hoskins letters that I have. Those of you who knew Dad know that he was very meticulous about writing up the components that he bought and what they were for.
Late in Dad's life, when he was basically letting go of most composing effort except for revising existing scores, Bob helped Dad find a collector (in Germany, as I recall), who bought all of Dad's big home synthesizer. I think some of the smaller units were in the hands of Steve Smith, who was Dad's right-hand man at the JU studio for some years. Whatever happened to them, I don't think Dad would have cared as long as someone was using them to create music. He wouldn't have collected synthesizers as museum pieces, he actively used everything he got from Moog until he was ready to let it go."
Followed by: "BTW, that last time I spoke to Bob Moog was after Dad died, when Bob came to Rochester NY http://www.esm.rochester.edu/news/?id=132 which is near where I live now. Bob spoke very fondly of working with Dad, because Dad cared as much about the science of music synthesis as any composer Bob knew. Dad did some work with him on modulators and other components for JU and the Hoskins home studio."
Followed by: "Hoskins synth photo --not a Sonic -- in news article 1970 [link]"
Update 6/6/2010:
Some more interesting bits of Moog history:
Trevor Pinch checked with Gene Zumchak who had the following to say:
"I am not aware of a touch sensitive keyboard on the Sonic V or 6. It did have a two-note keyboard and the highest key pressed and lowest pressed could be routed to Osc 1 and Osc 2.
They removed the keyswitch bus and superimposed a highpitch (100KHz?) tone on the voltage string. This might have been the source of a whine that some users complained about that wasn't present in the Sonic V."
via Josh Brandt: 'Okay, I did hear back from David Mash [VP of IT at Berklee and friend of Bob Moog], who says that the story he was telling me several years ago was about a keyboard Bob was building for John Eaton. I asked about the story he'd told me and if the pictures you posted could be of the instrument he'd been talking about, and he said:
"The story I was no doubt telling was definitely about the keyboard Bob built for John Eaton [middle pic above]. Bob was going to show us the completed instrument (which my friends Jeff Tripp and Paul Derocco helped complete), but we never got to see it due to the way the conversation turned over dinner. I did see the instrument several times during the design/build stages and again later after it was complete.
The keyboard was simply a controller and not a synth, so definitely not the portable synth the blog is referring to. I know Brian, and was involved briefly with him and a bit more with Michelle Moog on the NAMM Museum exhibit, and they used a couple of my photos for the exhibit. They're great people and working hard to preserve Bob's legacy.'"
Update via WmJHeart in the comments:
"Thanks Matrix, for hosting this page. I own a copy of Will's Galactic Fantasy & Eastern Reflections (my personal favorite) recording on vinyl. But I also discovered and listened to the entire album on YouTube recently! Here:"
Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections (1979)[Full Album]
Published on Jul 12, 2017 TheHomecoming
"Rare electronic/synth/moog private pressing LP
TITLE 'Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections'
William Hoskins, "Galactic Fantasy, Eastern Reflections" [CP-158]
TRACK 01 AUDIO TITLE "Overture : Stars Are Suns" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 00:00
TRACK 02 AUDIO TITLE "Intermezzo : Interplanetary Communique" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 06:39
TRACK 03 AUDIO TITLE "Star Nocturne" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 08:11
TRACK 04 AUDIO TITLE "Scherzo : Comets" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 16:35
TRACK 05 AUDIO TITLE "Beyond Beyond" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 18:54
TRACK 06 AUDIO TITLE "Prolog : Theme and Variation" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 23:40
TRACK 07 AUDIO TITLE "Lower Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 27:55
TRACK 08 AUDIO TITLE "Song : Open Skies" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 31:22
TRACK 09 AUDIO TITLE "Drum Chime" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 35:28
TRACK 10 AUDIO TITLE "Upper Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 39:41
TRACK 11 AUDIO TITLE "Epilog : Processional" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 41:30
A1
Overture: Stars Are Suns
A2
Intermezzo: Interplanetary Communique
A3
Star Nocturne
A4
Scherzo: Comets
A5
Beyond Beyond: An Entropy Study
A6
Eastern Reflections
Eastern Reflections
B1
Prolog: Theme and Variation
B2
Lower Heterophonie
B3
Song: Open Skies
B4
Drum Chime
B5
Upper Heterophonie
B6
Epilog: Processional
Criminally under-rated set of Early American Moog Modular Synthesizer Music - the sole release by composer William Hoskins, the 'Director of Electronic Music and Composer-in-Residence at Jacksonville University in Florida.' Issued in 1979 by the Harriman, NY-based Spectrum - a 'Division of UNI-PRO Recordings, Inc.' the LP consists of a pair of discrete pieces, with each taking up a side of its own."
Update via Kimberly S Beasley in the comments:
"Hello, everyone. I am the current chair of the Department of Music at Jacksonville University and I have the original Sonic VI manuals and one of Hoskin's Moogs....happy to share photos tomorrow."
Kimberly sent in the images with the following:
"This has been in the possession of our Professor Emeritus Dr. William Schirmer as it was given to him by Hoskins. Hoskins' granddaughter Dorothy is also aware of the instrument. We also have a large collection of manuscripts of Hoskins.
There is also a mini-Moog we just refurbished in our recording studio."
You can see WM. Hoskins written on the top right of the manual. Note "Home Copy" on the blue cover. It's kind of neat to think of him perusing through the manual in the comfort of his home.
In case you missed it in this post, Roger Linn noted Dave Smith was "an avid athelete, cyclist and triathlete. He actually participated in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon in his younger years..."
@birdkids reminded me of an article on the development of the Prophet VS archived on the WaybackMachine. In it, Chris Meyer mentions Dave was in Hawaii prepping for the tournament during that time. I thought it was interesting and worth sharing. I captured it below.
"Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 07:55:41 -0800 From: Xrystal MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Birth of the Prophet VS
I thought the following might be of interest to you. Xrystal _____________________________________________________________________
The Birth of the Prophet VS
By Chris Meyer, ex-employee of Sequential Circuits
It all started somewhere in 1985. We were still working on the Prophet 2000 sampler, and as resident historian (in other words, I had the most magazines and manuals) another engineer was asking me to explain how various instruments performed crossfades. I had finished discussing the Fairlight, and had moved on the PPG - explaining its wavetables, and the ability for it to scan a group of waves first in one direction and then back again, While I was scrawling this back and forth motion in my notebook, suddenly a little twinge went off in the back of my head, and myhand drew the next line arcing down the page.. and the concept of crossfading beween waves in two dimension, not just one, was born.
All sounds come from the 'Jexus OB-6 Soundset' with 150 custom presets / patches & all the sequences that you hear. I did not use any external FX in the demo; all the delays, reverbs, noises & sound deformations are part of the OB-6 engine / intentional sound design."
Click CC in the bottom of the player for subtitles.
Google translated video description:
"🎛️ The Memorymoog as you've never heard it.
In this video I get my hands on one of the most legendary analog synthesizers ever: the Memorymoog, the last beast produced by Moog in the 80s.
Thanks to Organstudio Italia, I had the chance to try it live, listen to it, tinker with it and tell you everything:
✅ The technical features (oscillators, filters, modulations)
✅ Its fascinating history
✅ The problems... and its magic
✅ The artists who made it immortal
An analog monster with 6 voices, 18 oscillators and a sound that punches you.
If you like vintage synths, pure electronics and the history of the instruments that changed music... this video is for you.
📍 Recorded at Organstudio Italia - thanks for making this incredible experience possible!
🎧 Listen to the Memorymoog with headphones. Trust me."
"There were only 500 of these ever made, and many didn't survive due to an engineering flaw in the earlier production runs. This unit is one of the last ones produced and does NOT suffer from that flaw. It left the factory with the fix in place and has operated perfectly its entire life, and should continue to for many years to come. It's a beauty." See The Fizmo Fix on Carbon111 for more info.
BTW, this reminded me of a crazy synth dream I had last night. In my dream I was heading to some synth gathering and spotted a pawn shop when I parked. I went in not expecting much and then saw a bunch of stuff in different sections of the shop. I had that "yes!" feeling. To the right there was a two octave Fizmo! I have a Fizmo and debated whether I should pick it up as a lap synth. I then walked over and there was a Blue SH-101 in pristine shape for $400!!! I was definitely going to get that. I then started to see what else they had and Computer Controlled dropped in. I ran to the SH-101! :) Anyway he was coming in from the synth gathering to check things out. If only he dropped by beforehand. I took a bunch of shots for the blog and then woke up thinking well at least I got the shots! Yep... if only. :) The other night I had a crazy synth dream with Tom Cruise. He was on Oprah and then the show switched over to Letterman. He was talking about how he was all into synths now and he then performed some prog rock electronica. He kind of looked like a cross between Gandalf and this guy. Glad that one is over.
Real life synth dream: a few years back I went to Maui and on the last day after giving up on synth hunting from one jewelry pawn shop to another, my wife and I went to a Taco Bell to get something to eat. I snuck into one last pawn shop by the Taco Bell. I saw guitars and amps and got that feeling, "yes!". In the back corner was a TR-909 with a sticker on it that read 220, no dollar sign. I asked if that was the price. They said they'd give me $30 off of it!!! I got it for $190. Problem was they only took cash, I didn't have any and they were closing shop. I ran across a fourway highway as fast as I could to hit up the ATM. When I got back they were outside closing the door. I had that sick feeling in the pit of my stomache, but when they turned around they had the 909 in their hands. I bought it, cleaned it up and it's in pristine condition. True story.
"It one of storytelling's oldest tricks, the bad guy that turn out to be the good guy. From Dickens’ Ebeneezer Scrooge to Jane Austen‘s Mr Darcy, from J.K Rowling‘s Snape to (who ever came up with him!?) Jonny Lawrence from Corbra Kai, the tough guys aren‘t as tough in the end and often the bad reputation they carry isn‘t really their own fault.
So, will a synth that is both notorious for being little more than a dub step noise machine and a cheaply built and quickly abandoned piece of glossy white plastic actually turn out to be the hero of the story?
It very much depends on who tells the story here, as M-Audio‘s Venom clearly has it‘s strengths if you can overlook the questionable design decisions made during it‘s inception. Like the hard to read grey on grey lettering or the fact that M-Audio thinks it totally ok for a stand alone hardware synth to heavily rely on a software editor that requires a PCor Mac to be able to utilize most of its extensive set synth engine features. Even the Virtual Analog Synthesizer claim that is prominently featured on the synth itself, it a bit of a hoax, as the Venom basically is just a souped up Rompler running on Amtel‘s Dream series ICs that were also found in PC sound cards and Karaoke Machines in the late 90s and early 2000s.
If you ignore these shortcomings and manage to get the editor running, you might be surprised of what the Venom can actually do. Apart from all the obvious dirty and distorted stuff, a lot can be achieved with the synth engine. Also as it was designed as an all in one solution for music beginners, you can even use it to record and process other instruments and even your own voice (vocoder anyone?).
Last but not least, the Venom might be pretty much the only synth whose price tag doesn‘t seem to have skyrocketed during the pandemic, here in Europe, you can still regularity find one for around 100€!
Curious? Then go ahead and press play!"
0:00 Intro
0:46 Introduction
1:29 The ugly parts
2:10 The bad parts
3:12 The good parts
4:35 Controls and connectivity
6:07 'Sick and Nasty' Patches
8:40 'Mad FX' Patches
9:29 'Whirling Pad' Patches
13:19 'Clean Keys' Patches
14:54 'Stained Keys' Patches
18:12 'Amazing Arp' Patches
20:46 'Traditional' Patch
21:13 Some Drumkits
22:39 Multi Mode Demo
25:31 Conclusion
26:10 Outro
RS042.1 M-Audio Venom: 'No Talking Edition'
"This is a shorter 'No Talking' edit of my video about the M-Audio Venom for those who prefer 'pure' demos without comments."
"No talking demo of UDO Audio Super 6. All patches custom-made by Jexus. I did not use any external FX in the demo; all the delays, noises and other effects are part of the Super-6 engine & mod matrix. I recorded my demo straight through an audio card. This is a standard factory unit - you don't need any custom wavetables or add-ons for the patches to work.
Chang sent the following in on the AH list. I've posted Synth Dreams in the past and figured this one was worth a post.
"My dream the other night...
I went to a music shop and bought two new synths. One was called the JP6 by Roland but was not a Jupiter 6. It was built almost like a taller, narrower Korg MS-10 or MS-20, with avery colorful front panel.
The other synth was kind of like a Nord MicroMOdular only when programmed it produced these gorgeous, analog drenched sounds and arpeggios. I and my abovementioned companion marveled at the sounds before the ladder sex. Then at some point later in the dream the guy from the store stole the synth back and I woke up pissed.
I have often dreamt of weird sex. I am only human.
I have never dreamt of synths. I am a geek now. Synths & sex? That's reallly weird."
Someone of course wanted to the know the details. Consider yourself warned... There is no synth content beyond this point, so if you are sensitive towards this stuff, move on...
"YOu ased you sick bastid:
Last night's dream has stuck in my head all day.
I can't figure out which part was the weirdest.
After the cut, there is sexy dreamy nonsense. You have been warned.
So the first weird bit was me having sex with the mother of an old high school friend. Only it was not the actual mother, but some sort of composite. And it began on a ladder. Yeah. When we actually, bedded, I tore away her turtleneck sweater to reveal a large surgical scar down the center of her chest and something written on her abdomen which I cannot remember. At some point earlier in the dream she had told me she had recently recovered from cancer. As we had the dream sex, she moaned, "THE CURE!!! THE CURE!!! THE CURE!!!" which neither took to mean sex with me was a cure for cancer (studies are inconclusive) and not an endoresment for Robert Smith and co."
YouTube via PostModVid. Not the best quality video, but this is the best I could find on the tube. BTW, I can thank Matthew Sweet for my Clavia Nord Lead 1. I used to go see him perform live. My wife loved his music and asked what that red synth the band was playing all the leads with in every show. I said it's this new cool synth called the Clavia Nord Lead. She said I should get one and eventually talked me into it with some extra money that came in at just the right time. :)
BTW, Mathew Sweet has an ARP 2600 in the following video. Anyone know if it's his and if not who's it is?
Back to the Clavia Nord Lead (and the purpose of this post), it definitely has it's own character and it excels at lead sounds. All synths are obviously capable of a wide range of sounds including leads, but you have to wonder how much it's strength in it's character lead to the name of the synth.
If you know of other tracks featuring *that* Nord Lead sound feel free to share. Also feel free to comment on other specific synth lead sounds you think stand out in general. The MicroKORG detuned saw in various tracks, such as The Killers' Somebody Told Me comes to mind. I'd post the video but there's no embed code for it. Side note: every time I hear that track I hear bits of Midge Ure and early Robert Smith. Their new track Human sounds like Alphaville. Not much synth playing in the video but you can see their MicroKORG. I like bands that own, show and stick to their synths. Ladytron, and the Dandy Warhols with their KORG MS20s come to mind.
"Did you know that almost all Elektron devices* are USB class compliant? That means you can easily send audio out from your Elektron drum machine or synth directly to your Apple iOS or OS device and record proper line-level audio. This is great for quickly capturing that beat you've been working on and sharing it with friends or for posting on social media like a pro. In this video we look at how easy it is to plug and record audio to your Apple device with no additional drivers, app or software required! It's also possible to send any incoming audio from external sources routed through to your Elektron box, out to USB as well. In this video we jam the Elektron Syntakt together with a vintage Roland TR-606. The TR-606 audio is running into the external input of the Syntakt and all the sounds from both devices are being routed directly via USB audio into an iPhone.
Elektron firmware provides options for choosing what audio source output you want to route to your iOS device. The default setting will send the main stereo outs, whereby the mix of all your tracks inside your Elektron box is sent out via USB. Alternatively, there are options to choose a specific track out via USB; perhaps you just want to send your sick bass line without the kick drum — yes you can! The Analog Heat+FX also has the option to process incoming audio from USB, offering a two-way audio solution that has many creative applications. Your iPhone or iPad microphone might be good at recording your voice, but they're not great at capturing and representing your latest beat creation.
Basically it’s a full-blown Micro-Q (2x25 oscillators, 25 part multitimbral) with a built-in step sequencer, and all the samples that were in the Roland 808/909 synths (cymbals). [Per Waldorf: "The RackAttack's virtual modeled circuitry synthesis is optimized for drums and percussion."] So it’s capable of emulating all the classic drum machines, (the Simmons is immaculate, plus there are unlikely ones in here like a Casio, some other 8-bits, of course all the old Roland kits..) and also extra capable of producing super far out and excellent modern, custom, wild kits. Plus it functions as a normal analogue modeling synth, not just a drum synth. Making basses, leads, pads, sound effects, whatever.. totally possible and really pretty simple. Same as any other Waldorf Q series.. maybe even easier, especially if you want crazy sounds. You can make it do one random sound, or an entire random program set, then play around and fine tune the results, all without overwriting the program you’re in until you’re ready to, the edit buffer is huge. Copy and paste sounds from any kit into any other kit.. get some FM noise and tweak it with the LFOs.. Oh, baby. Yes.
2 full and separate effects units are present. Includes a bit cruncher that can decimate any patch down to chiptune resolution — that’s really cool. Plus all the normal stuff, reverbs, chorus, flanger, phaser, distortion/overdrive, clock sync delays.. it’s all here in duplicate.
The FM on the oscillators is just sick. Not sure how else to describe it. It’s the key to producing drum sounds using analogue oscillators. The manual explains this in great detail, how they recreated the emulations of drums from the 80s. Crossing FM on 2 oscillators with any of the waveforms produces insane results. Making sounds that scream and cut through a mix is cake. Plus it has the Waldorf randomizer function that you can activate anywhere, any time to get a random patch generated.. it just turns every parameter at random, usually producing some jaw dropping or ear splitting tone. Use with caution! lol
So, yeah. We have 1 stereo input (to run anything through the filters and effects) and 6 programmable outs.. 1/4” of course, this isn’t a toy. Headphone jack on the front panel. MIDI in/out/thru. 12v power supply included. I have both the original German 220v and the original German 110v adapters, depending where it’s going, I’ll ship the appropriate one. I also have the original spiral bound manual (English version) which you’ll also get.
Let’s talk about the knobs on this, because it’s important: they are self-cleaning digital encoders, NOT potentiometers. So if they get janky, NEVER DO ANYTHING BUT TWIST THEM UNTIL THEY WORK SMOOTHLY AGAIN!! I see people buying and selling the Q series encoders on eBay all the time because they got antsy and sprayed contact cleaner in there and killed them. Don’t do that. Just twist them for maybe 30 seconds in each direction until you see a normal movement of the values on the screen. Also.. very sorry.. one of the knobs on this one went missing. But they’re easy to move around, I’ve always kept it clean, I normally leave knob 2 under the LCD screen as the absent one because I rarely touch it anyway. Replacing all the knobs with originals (there are some listed on this site right now) is just as easy as finding alternate knobs to slide on the encoders.. that’s if having one absent really bothers you.. personally, it never bothered me, neither cosmetically nor in programming / playing it. This is the only flaw on this unit, outside of that it looks and functions like the day I opened the box from Waldorf HQ in Germany.
I guess it’s highly coveted because it has the companion Waldorf Attack VST software to make programs in, then use this unit with its 6 outputs to slam the beats in a live or studio rig. Yes, you can completely program it using the interface with no computer. Of course. But people seem to like having that extra VST option (it is really cool). Look around forums, you’ll find people sharing kits for this going back to 2003. Chances are if you’re reading this, you already know exactly what it is and why you want it."
"Halloween new sick music on AE Modular and some my Eurorack system.
Both synths sounds come from AE Modular-Tangible waves one with reverb but I added drums from Pico DRUMS -Erica Synths and triggered them with Four Brick Rook -Shakmat Modular.
Little evening fun but I like such things because I want to connect this small AE Modular system with other things.
Everything connected to the Erica Synths- Fusion Mixer for a little tube sound."
"Our label, Moroderik Musik, just released something by an artist called Me, I'm Counting. The EP is MACAU. It was recorded with classic and modern synths, and references the golden age of electronic music, very early techno, some modern psychedelia, incorporating some experimental flourishes to keep it interesting. Typical of Nick's stuff, where it starts out and where it ends up are two different places. It's on all of the services.
The inspiration for the album came on a trip from Hong Kong to Macau, where Nick got sick, and had to ride a hydrofoil back to Hong Kong in a state of delirium. 'I felt like I was being carried along on a cloud of pure air conditioning.'
Here's the video for "Wave Age" which was shot when four Moroderik acts set up and played a masked, distanced outdoor show during the pandemic to get live music to people who were starved for it. Nick is using Elektron and Moog gear. Dreamy footage is interspersed with his live performance."
This is a video I made of John McCreary's minimoog repair.
This minimoog is from 1978 SN 9781.
You also get a look at my new home studio in this particular video, still have my shop but at the end of every restoration or repair, the synths come to my home base for a good audio and function test.
Thanks again John for giving me the opportunity to work on your synth, really appreciate it!
Thanks for watching and if you have a sick minimoog or other synth you would like to have the synthpro treatments done to, feel free to message me at: synth_pro@yahoo.com (Note: that is an underscore in my address).
