1066 - on a Modular Synth

Published on Mar 1, 2020 The Mad Music Machine

"A quick demo of a patch inspired by one of Caitlin's topics at the Secondary (High) school she now attends.

Here Make Noise René 2 is sequencing the 4ms Spherical Wavetable Navigator, Synthesis Technology E352 & E370 (with VCA controlled by Doepfer A-178 Theremin). Voice Samples are controlled by the 4MS Stereo Triggered Sampler (further pitch-shifted by the QU-Bit Nebulae). Drones via the Mother32. Keys via Behringer K2. Drums via Mutant Bass and Snare.

A tiny bit of reverb via Soundcraft Lexicon unit."

Haven't seen her in a while. You can find additional posts featuring Caitlin here. Here she is with TONTO.

Quadruple theremin test for Horsham Americarna

Published on Sep 28, 2018 The Mad Music Machine

"A very quick test of the setup we will be taking to Horsham Americarna.

4 Theremins that the public will be encourage to try out. One pair control the E352 (Frequency and Waveshape) and the other the E370 Frequency & Delay."

Juan Atkins Interview

Title link takes you to a classic interview of the godfather of Detroit Techno and House.



Some synth bits (make sure to read the full article):
"'During the summer of 1980 I bought myself a Korg MS10. I messed around with that synthesiser all summer, and I'd got to the point where 1 was making up all sorts of drumbeats on it. 1 had two Kenwood cassette decks and a little Yamaha four-channel mixer, and I'd make up my drum beat and record it on one deck, then bounce it across onto the other and overdub another part at the same time. I became a real master at doing that; I knew how to EQ my drum sounds to start with so that by the time I'd finished four or five overdubs the music still sounded clean.'"

"Instruments in the Atkins arsenal include a Korg Poly 800, Yamaha DXlOO, Sequential Pro One, and Ensoniq Mirage and Akai S900 samplers. Like Saunderson, Atkins is not interested in sampling old records. He prefers to devote himself to the delights of synthesis - and in particular to one synth.

"The Pro One is my heart. I'll use that Pro One until it falls apart, and then I'll probably still use it if it makes any sounds. "These new synthesisers now, I think they're scaling them more to interface with the consumer. Synthesisers used to be synthesisers that a synthesist could play. Now manufacturers are going for presets and they make it really hard to get beyond those presets to program your own sounds. "

"Atkins has a similar preference for old drum machines.
"I still use the 808 and 909. I don't like Roland's latest drum machines, but the 808 and 909 are classics. The 808 has a real techno feel. Everything on that drum machine has an electronic feel, it's not like digitally-sampled real drums."

"'We unveiled our secret weapon, which was that we'd brought a Roland 808 to the party to play live rhythm tracks between the records.'

The crowd went wild and the Direct Drive crew got mad. But a new idea was born which was to have a profound impact not so much on Detroit as on Chicago."

Caitlin's live performance at the Brighton Modular Meet 2018

Published on Jul 2, 2018 The Mad Music Machine

"We had a fantastic time at the Brighton Modular Meet and met some wonderful people.

Caitlin enjoyed performing this and was very happy with the audience's reaction at the end!"

Follow-up to this post.

A quick jam with the E352 / Mother-32

Published on Jan 2, 2018 The Mad Music Machine

"This was just a very quick jam as Caitlin wanted to say a quick thanks to lovely people at Synth Tech Modular who have been so supportive of her.

This is Caitlin's own intro and a simple sequence using the E352 & Mother-32. We didn't use any drum modules other than the triggered Mutant Clap which is being used as a filter. The System-1m provides a little bit of reverb,"

Caitlin's joy at creating her first Mother-32 patch from scratch

The Mad Music Machine
Published on Aug 8, 2017

"We had originally created a simple Sonic Pi loop based on the opening bars from the White Stripe's 'Seven Nation Army' - the Mother-32 was first patched to sound similar to the original song - but Caitlin had other ideas! :)"

Too funny. So awesome!

Randomly generated melodies on Sonic Pi seeded by CC MIDI data from Nektar LX25

Published on Aug 22, 2017 The Mad Music Machine

"We use the 'Snack Box' joystick to select BPM and Drum patterns and use the drum pads to shift patterns (just the snare for now) to align with the randomly generated melodies on Sonic Pi"

A quick 'Industrial' jam with the Mother-32 & E352

Published on Dec 24, 2017 The Mad Music Machine

"Caitlin has a quick jam with the Mother-32 & E352"

Caitlin making 'Whale Sounds'

Published on Nov 17, 2017 The Mad Music Machine

"Caitlin has been playing with the inbuilt Cross Modulation and Reverb/Delay effects on the Roland System-1m"

System-1m bass jam with E352, Mother-32 and Mutant Drums

Published on Jan 20, 2018 The Mad Music Machine

"A quick experiment the Roland System-1m playing a bass pattern and and the E352 tuned a couple of octaves higher."

Caitlin explains modulation using an LFO and the intellijel Quad VCA

Published on Dec 26, 2017 The Mad Music Machine

"Caitlin overheard a (non synth) conversation about modulation and although she had been using it (without realising it) for some time, she was not sure exactly what it meant.

So once she understood the basic principle of using one signal to vary another, she decided to make a video."

Dubish Drone Jam. Animoog Patterning BassLine iM1 AUFX:Dub/Space seq'd in Genome

Published on Oct 29, 2016 exnihilo415

"A dub-ish drone jam that came together from experiments with doing bass in Patterning.

Patterning is doing a lot of heavy lifting with the bass and drums
Animoog is doing the heavy delay'd drone
iM1 is doing the dub stab and frilly lead
Bassline is the 303

Trying the BassLine 303 synth for the first time here. I like it. So much nicer to deal with than Rebirth. Good MIDI implementation and simple operation and a real joy to automate with Genome and then push it around against it's will.

Using Audiobus AUFX:Dub and Space to provide effects on iPad. Dub is on Animoog and Space is on the Korg iM1 stabs.

I took some inspiration with the drone and the lead from Junkie XL and the Mad Max Fury Road score."

iTunes:
Animoog - Moog Music Inc.
Patterning : Drum Machine - Olympia Noise Co.
BassLine - Analog Modeling Synthesizer - Markus Waldboth
KORG iM1 - KORG INC.
undefined - Kymatica (Jonatan Liljedahl)
Genome MIDI Sequencer - White Noise Audio Software

Sonic Pi, Mother-32, System 1m, Mutant Drums play Goldfrapp

The Mad Music Machine
Published on Aug 14, 2017

"Today we added a 3rd MIDI channel to create 3 totally independent MIDI controlled voices to add to the Sonic Pi audio,

Add to test it we coded a simple Goldfrapp inspired loop"

'OMD' Jam with Mother-32 controlling E352, Roland System-1m and Mutant Drums

Published on Dec 30, 2017 The Mad Music Machine

"Caitlin jamming with a very simple sequence taken from Enola Gay by OMD - we use the Mother-32 to sequence and control our E352, Roland System-1m and Mutant Drums"

A Relic From The Roots Of Electronic Music - Oramics on NPR

Listen On All Things Considered

"The Oramics machine is the creation of Daphne Oram, the first director of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop and a central figure in the evolution of electronic music.

'Forget everything you've ever known about synthesizers. This machine has no piano keyboard or anything like that. It looks like the sort of thing that a mad inventor would make in his shed.'" [her shed - mad inventor Daphne Oram below left]

This one in via timelord. Be sure to see the Oramics label below for more.

Halloween Special: The Mad Teknician Jam

Published on Oct 30, 2014 HardtekStudios

"Having fun with some glitchy drone music. Gear used is a Circuit Bent SR-16 Alesis Drum Machine, processed by a Delay/Reverb FX on the Korg Koass Pad 3. The Bleep Labs Bitblob (Goopy blinky thing in the jar) is being processed by a Decimater on the Korg Kaoss Pad mini 2. Bleep Labs Bit Blob Jr. (Wirey thing above KP3) has a dying battery, therefore is extra glitchy. and finally the Bleep Labs/Hardtek Ugly Cousin (left of KP3) is clean but triggered by a button, not droning. Everybody have a Rockin Halloween."

Logos presents: The PsybOrg

Published on Oct 27, 2013

www.logosmusic.net

"The PsybOrg is a steampunk 'pipe organ' and interdimensional traveling machine, which incorporates analog synthesizers, digital controllers, Theremin, and sound reactive light displays in an elegant walnut housing that blends future and past.

It was designed by Logos and crafted by a team of builders, programmers, mad scientists, and solder monkeys. Luthier John Mulholland built the wooden housing with help from Phil Hubert, and multimedia artist Joel Horne designed the PsybOrg's visual components."

The Psyborg: A Technical Demonstration

Published on Jan 18, 2014 Logos Music·2 videos

"Composer/producer Logos demonstrating the PsybOrg in action."

This one in via Chris Stack of experimentalsynth.com

Livid CNTRL:R and Dave Smith Instruments Tempest - The Meeting

Published on Oct 30, 2012 by lividTV

"Check out this preview of Peter Nyboer (Livid) and Carson Day (DSI) in a "best of both worlds" throw-down. With an unholy union of gear from the Livid and Dave Smith shelves, Carson and Peter conjure up a mad mix of clips, synths, plug-ins, and step sequencers, in a seamless combination of analog and digital sounds.
Livid and Dave Smith Instruments at first glance seem like two opposites in the music tech world: Livid's controllers are geared toward trends of portability, flexibility, and all-digital, real-time production. Dave Smith's Tempest is gloriously rooted in traditions of analog audio and all-in one electronic instrumentation. However, both companies are simply fans of electronic music, and wanted to find a way to cross-pollinate these ideas. Keep your eye on your inbox, twitter feed, facebook page, or your tickertape for the upcoming tutorials and downloads that show how to bring these amazing pieces of gear together!
Stay in touch:
Livid Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TUKmW0
Learn more:
Tempest Drum Machine and Mopho at http://bit.ly/TlSJDE
CNTRL:R http://bit.ly/QT13wW"

Livid CNTRL:R and Dave Smith Instruments Tempest - The Meeting

Published on Nov 2, 2012 by DaveSmithInstruments

"Check out this preview of Peter Nyboer (Livid) and Carson Day (DSI) in a "best of both worlds" throw-down. With an unholy union of gear from the Livid and Dave Smith shelves, Carson and Peter conjure up a mad mix of clips, synths, plug-ins, and step sequencers, in a seamless combination of analog and digital sounds.
Livid and Dave Smith Instruments at first glance seem like two opposites in the music tech world: Livid's controllers are geared toward trends of portability, flexibility, and all-digital, real-time production. Dave Smith's Tempest is gloriously rooted in traditions of analog audio and all-in one electronic instrumentation. However, both companies are simply fans of electronic music, and wanted to find a way to cross-pollinate these ideas. Keep your eye on your inbox, twitter feed, facebook page, or your tickertape for the upcoming tutorials and downloads that show how to bring these amazing pieces of gear together!
Stay in touch:
Livid Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TUKmW0
Learn more:
Tempest Drum Machine and Mopho at http://bit.ly/TlSJDE
CNTRL:R http://bit.ly/QT13wW"

Molten Music Monthly - April 2020 - Superbooth Special

Published on Apr 30, 2020 Molten Music Technology

"It's been Superbooth 2020 Home Edition and there's too much stuff. Not all of it was new but we had unprecedented detail in awesome live streams about a load of modules and synth. Including my own live stream interviews with synth related people who fascinate me. There are lots to get through and this is just the stuff that I liked in particular - there are loads of things I didn't have space for.

Erica Synths goes nuclear, ST Modular releases 1000 DIY modules, Ritual Modular gets into 1U, 1010music gives us a mini sampler, Befaco does a mini VCMC, Expert Sleepers gives us double the trouble, Bastl loops MIDI, Liquid Foam is a very cool box, Tangible Waves lets us all build modules, Strokes 2 is a mad software groove machine, TiNRS has a Covid kick drum module, Future Sound Systems has a complex VCO, Noodlebox is a thing, Critter and Guitaris does video, There's a whole synth in KOSMO format, Elk Audio OS does something interesting, and there's a shed load of stereo filters. But first, Distrokid.

Intro - 0:14
Distokid - 2:25
Erica Synths Fusion II - 6:11
ST Modular - 9.51
Ritual Electronics - 11:51
1010music - 13:15
Befaco CV Thing - 15:18
Expert Sleepers Disting EX - 17:46
Bastl Instruments MIDI Looper - 20:07
Herbs and Stones Liquid Foam - 22:31
Tangible Waves DIY - 24:01
Strokes 2.0 - 25:58
TiNRS Circular Thing - 27:17
Future Sound Systems Recombination Engine - 29:04
64 Pixels Noodlebox - 30:23
Critter & Guitari - 31:42
ELK Audio OS Blackboard - 33:25
Look Mum No Computer Kosmo - 37:44
Stereo Filter Bonanza - 40:07
Finishing off and coming soon - 44:40"