RIP Bebe Barron

via darthmouth (click for the full article)

"Hollywood, however, had already been utilizing instruments such as the theremin in movie scores for many years, and the first widespread American public exposure to the possibilities of the electronic medium occurred with the 1956 release of MGM's feature film Forbidden Planet. In addition to its elaborate space sets and advanced visual effects, Forbidden Planet featured an exclusively electronic musical score composed by Bebe Barron (b. 1927) and her husband Louis (1920-1989)....

Once they decided on the characters' moods and situations, the couple completed a series of electrical circuits which functioned electronically in ways analogous to the human nervous system. Decisions about the circuitry were strongly influenced by their studies of the science of cybernetics which proposes that certain natural laws of behavior are applicable to both animals and more complex modern machinary. The composers employed their noise-producing circuits to emulate such needed characterizations as serenity, anger, and love....


Bebe and Louis' success signaled the beginning of the effective use of electroacoustic music by the modern movie industry."

You can also find more on wikipedia.
And of course Google Image search where I found the images for this post.



via Peter Grenader of Plan b:
"We have lost a bright little little light and a dear friend. Bebe Barron has passed. She has captivated us with her charm, her modesty and her enchanting smile and her memory will remain in our hearts, our art and our spiritforever."

Update: some nice words from Barry Schrader:

"Bebe Barron (1925 - 2008)

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Bebe Barron on April 20, 2008 at the age of 82, of natural causes. Bebe was the last of the pioneering composers of classical studio electronic music. She was a close friend, an enthusiastic colleague, and a most gracious lady.


Bebe Barron was born Charlotte Wind in Minneapolis, on June 16, 1925. She received an MA in political science from the University of Minnesota, where she studied composition with Roque Cordero, and she also spent a year studying composition and ethnomusicology at the University of Mexico. In 1947 she moved to New York and, while working as a researcher for Time-Life, studied composition with Wallingford Reigger and Henry Cowell. That same year, she met and married Louis Barron (1920 - 1989). Shortly thereafter, the Barrons began their experiments with the recording and manipulation of sound material by means of a tape recorder that they received as a wedding gift. They created a private studio in New York and, in 1955, composed the first electronic music score for a commercial film, Forbidden Planet. In 1962 the Barrons moved to Los Angeles; they divorced in 1970. In 1973, Bebe married Leonard Neubauer, a screen writer. Bebe became the first Secretary of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) in 1985, and also served on the Board of Directors. In 1997 Bebe was presented the SEAMUS Award for the Barrons life work in the field of electro-acoustic music. She is survived by her husband, Leonard, and her son, Adam.

Bebe’s last public appearance was on January 12, 2008, at an event held at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, celebrating the work of her good friend, Anais Nin. Bebe was too ill to speak in public at this point, but she agreed to be interviewed for a video piece that was shown at the event. This is her final interview, and you can see it on YouTube.

Bebe’s final composition, Mixed Emotions (2000) was composed in the CREATE studios of the University of California at Santa Barbara. I'll be putting this work up on the Downloads 2 page of my website, along with some photos of Bebe and myself taken in 2005 at her home on the Photos page within the next week.

I first met Bebe Barron in the middle 1970s; I don't remember exactly when, but I think it was around 1975. I had asked Bebe and her former husband and composing partner Louis to attend a showing of Forbidden Planet that I had arranged as part of a class at CalArts. They agreed to do it, and I quickly became good friends with Bebe and we remained close over the years.

In writing about Bebe Barron, it's impossible not to focus on the pioneering work that she and Louis did in electronic music. They began their experiments in 1948, shortly after they were married. This early work was done using a tape recorder, preceding the work of Luening and Ussachevsky and the switch from disks to tape by Pierre Schaeffer and the GRM. But, to my knowledge, the Barrons' early experiments did not result in any completed works, a state of affairs not uncommon with early pioneers in the field. In 1949 they set up one of the earliest private electro-acoustic music studios and began their experiments with electronically generated sounds. They built their own circuits which they viewed as cybernetic organisms, having been influenced by Norbert Weiner's work on cybernetics. The circuits, built with vacuum tubes, would exhibit characteristic qualities of pitch, timbre, and rhythm, and had a sort of life cycle from their beginnings until they burned out.

The Barrons recorded the sounds from the amplification of these circuits and this formed the basis of their working library. They also employed tape manipulation techniques as part of their compositional procedures. The sound qualities of these various amplified tube circuits and the tape manipulations that they underwent formed the musical language that the Barrons created in their studio. Unlike some of the work being done elsewhere, the Barrons' music reveals long phrases, often stated in tape-delayed rhythms, with the stark finesse of the tube circuit timbres. They created a style that was uniquely their own yet married to the technology they were using.

The Barrons earliest finished work, Heavenly Menagerie (1951) does not seem to have survived in a complete form. But their score for Ian Hugo's film Bells of Atlantis (1952), based on a poem by Anais Nin, who appears on screen, does exist on the film sound track. This may be the earliest extant work of the Barrons and presages what was to come with Forbidden Planet, the music for which was composed in 1955, the film being released the
next year.

The music for Forbidden Planet is truly a landmark in electro-acoustic music. This was the first commercial film to use only electronic music, and the score for the movie displays an attitude towards film scoring that was different from anything that had happened before. In Forbidden Planet, while there are themes for characters and events in the film, as was traditional in the scoring of that day, the themes are composed and perceived as gestalts, rather than as melodies in traditional movie music. Even more important is the fact that the scoring of Forbidden Planet breaks down the traditional line between music and sound effects since the Barrons' electronic material is used for both. This not only creates a new type of unity in the film sound world, but also allows for a continuum between these two areas that the Barrons exploit in various ways. At some points it's actually impossible to say whether or not what you're hearing is music, sound effect, or both. In doing this, they foreshadowed by decades the now common role of the sound designer in modern film and video.

The Barrons composed many other works for tape, film, and the theater in the 1950s. Their studio became the home for John Cage's Project of Music for Magnetic Tape, and they assisted in the creation of Cage's first chance piece Williams Mix (1951-52), as well as works by other members of the group such as Earle Brown and Morton Feldman. As a studio for the creation of their own and other composers' works, the Barrons' studio served as a functioning center for electro-acoustic music at a time when there was no institutional support of the medium in the United States. It's curious, then, that, for many years, the Barrons, their studio, and their works were largely overlooked by composers and historians in the field. Fortunately, that injustice has since been corrected, and, in 1997, it was my great honor to present to Bebe and, posthumously, to Louis, the SEAMUS Lifetime Achievement Award. Bebe was involved with SEAMUS from the very beginning of the organization. She was one of the ten original members who responded to my organizational call and met at CalArts in November of 1984 to form the group, and she was SEAMUS's first secretary. There may have been a little strong-arming on my part to get her to be involved so actively, but Bebe was always ready to support the cause of electro-acoustic music in whatever way she could.

Bebe created a firm legacy in her music. If the importance of one's work is to be judged in any regard by it's influence, acceptance, longevity, and innovative qualities, then the score for Forbidden Planet is an enormous success. It remains the most widely known electro-acoustic music work on this planet. For me, Bebe Barron will always be the First Lady of electronic music."

Update: BTW, if you have Netflix, you can watch Forbidden Planet online in IE here.


Bebe Barron on Anais Nin Uploaded on Mar 5, 2008

Forms

videos upload by Forms

CLICK FOR MORE »

Make Noise Introduces the QPAS - Quad Peak Animation System

Published on Jan 23, 2019 MAKEN0ISE

"Introducing the Quad Peak Animation System, or QPAS. The QPAS is a quad core, stereo, analog multimode filter. We highly recommend using headphones while watching this video. All sounds are the direct output(s) of the QPAS."

"The Quad Peak Animation System combines the auditory enveloping of stereo spaced peaks with the animation of two or more peaks in a single channel dancing around each other or engaging in primitive vocalizations. QPAS is Quad Core, containing four identical state variable filter cores with a control system powerful enough to guide them in stereo multi-peak operation, but simple enough to encourage system integration rather than domination.

The Story of the QPAS by Tony Rolando
When I worked at Moog calibrating Voyagers, I monitored with headphones, and one of my favorite sound sensations was that of the stereo low pass filter. You might not even recall that the Voyager had a stereo Dual LPF. It is under utilized since most folks are trying to achieve classic Model D goodness, and the OG MiniMoog was a very mono instrument.

The binaural effect of a stereo Dual LPF is simple: one channel of the sound is brighter then the other. However, the effect is heightened when the filter has an exponential response and the cutoff is modulated. At lower cutoff frequencies the two channels appear to move at similar velocities, but as the cutoff frequency increases, one channel will smoothly increase in velocity, becoming brighter faster. The other channel lags behind, but eventually reaches the same velocity, and finally at high cutoff frequencies the two channels coalesce into full brightness. Where the mono LPF smashes you in the forehead with simple heavy sound, the stereo LPF envelops you, putting you inside the heavy sound.

When I developed the QMMG I learned about multi-peak filtering. Another under-utilized technique, this is processing a single channel of sound, with multiple filter channels, which are modulated, and then summed together to create a new version of the original sound. On the QMMG all four channels of filters were summed to the MIX OUT. There were a few normalizations, but they did not really ease or encourage multi-peak use. The QMMG UI was awkward for use as a multi-peak filter.

A common use for multi-peak filtering is the creation of formants, where multiple band pass filters are carefully programmed to generate human vowel sounds. This can be fun but it requires meticulous programming. If you forget about formants and just modulate until it sounds good, a multi-peak filter can be gorgeous fun. When the multiple peaks are offset from each other and modulated, the effect can be dizzying, as the sound appears to be dancing with itself, moving in many directions and yet it is still a mono sound. It is an auditory illusion.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Making the Andromeda A6

A great thread is up on the VSE Forums on the Alesis Andromeda. I know the threads expire there, so I'll grab some of the most interesting bits here. DB below is David Bryce who worked on the Andromeda. I remember when all of this was happening. Mike Peake was on sonic states the-gas-station and AH. The guys behind the Andromeda really loved synths and they respected the rest of us enough to frequently pulled us in for feedback on the design of the synth. It was as if they were one of us, and in reality they were and still are. Mike Peake stayed active in the synth community and as you can see from this thread, David Bryce is still very active. You have to love a company that does this. Great people make a great company. I personally think Alesis has been one of the better synth manufactures to date. The Andromeda, ION and Micron, and the Fusion have all been pretty amazing synths. The price points for what you get compared to what else is out there is astounding when you think about it. Do take the time to check them out. The Andromeda is a 16 voice analog with a huge modulation matrix, dual filters, built in step sequencer and much, much more. And it sounds pretty amazing imo. Whenever I think I've heard it all, someone makes a demo that showcases a completely new character of the synth. BTW, are there any other poly analogs with 16 or more voices other than of course the fully polyphonic boards using divide down technology?

Alesis A6 Andromeda, Now where did that come from? (title of VSE thread)
---------------
CTB wrote:
Our very own Dave Bryce, who sometimes posts here and works for DSI, was involved in the A6 project. Perhaps he would be the one to ask. Smile

DB:
Actually, we just got tired of people complaining that the QS synths had no resonant filters, so we decided to make something that did. Very Happy Cool

Making Andromeda was really the culmination of a dream for a bunch of us who had grown up with the older analog synths. We had spent years working on sample based stuff, and Erik and Rob Rampley got Alesis founder (and major engineer geek) Keith Barr drunk one night and talked him into letting us make an old school American power synth. Keith actually designed Andromeda's ASICs himself, if memory serves.

One of the back stories was that we were fought tooth and nail by Alesis' sales and marketing VP at the time, who thought we were out of our minds. He once told me we'd be lucky to sell 50 total units. Guess he may have been wrong. Shocked Idea

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer if I can remember. That was a while ago...

StepLogik wrote:
I'm shocked that the marketing group fought you

DB:
It wasn't the marketing group. I was the marketing manager of the synth division, and I was certainly behind it. It was the VP.

,
Quote:
seems like they would want to distinguish Alesis from the "workstation hell" of that era.

DB:
Not just workstations - it was VA synths, too. We figured making a Real Actual Analog synth would catch some people's attention (as Bitexion correctly surmised).

Plus, we were tired of hearing that we weren't a real synth company despite the fact that our ROMplers (especially the QS8) were outselling just about everything else at the time...but there were folks who kept telling us that ROMplers aren't real synths...so we made a real synth. Idea

That seemed to do the trick... Laughing

cbjlietuva wrote:
so maybe i can get my question amswered here:

does the Andromeda have Polyphonic Aftertouch?

DB:
The short answer would be no.

theglyph wrote:
Dave, the one major question I have had and the one thing which has kept me from pulling the trigger on an A6 purchase is what will the status of the A6's ASICs be in the future? CEMs and SSMs were used in several synths from many manufacturers so those chips were manufactured to some degree in surplus as we see today (although they ain't cheap Crying or Very sad). Did Alesis make sure that the IC manufacturer made enough chips to fulfill any future failures or is the well not so deep?

DB:
Alesis is the chip manufacturer...I mean, they don't own the foundry where the chips are physically made, but they do everything else. Consequently, there's no way we can know how many of them Alesis has made/wants to make...

...unless they want to tell us, of course... Wink

Soundwave wrote:
Few questions;

Is the A6 still in production and will it remain so for the foreseeable future?

Will the support continue for the machine i.e. OS updates/fixes?

Are the first, more expensive Alesis A6’s different in any way than the later Numark ones that are apparently now made in the far east as some claim the earlier Alesis ones sound better?

There are rumours that some of the people behind the A6 were also involved in the Xpander/Matrix12 is this true?

Will there ever be an analogue successor or derivative or the A6 as the VA market has kinda reached a standstill now?

DB:
I can only answer two of those questions becuase I haven't worked for Alesis for about seven years, so I have no idea what their current plans are.

Marcus Ryle, who founded Line 6, was one of the guys responsible for the XpanderMatrix 12. He and his team had a lot to do with a bunch of Alesis products including the ADAT and the QS synths...but they had nothing to do with Andromeda.

There are a few "rev 2" Andromedas that were only used during beta. They are slightly different from the production models, but the OS in them is different enough that you can't transfer programs between, them, so they can't really be directly compared....nor, if you could, is there actually any point in doing so. Howver, all the production models are (AFAIK) exactly the same...."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it as of the time of this post. Check out the VSE thread for updates. I'll try to update this post with the historical bits so we don't lose them. Image via this post.

New DIY MBLoopA Voxelspace MIDI Looper Vs Alesis Andromeda

[techdemo] DIY MBLoopA Voxelspace MIDI Looper Vs Alesis Andromeda

Published on Jul 1, 2015 Maelstroem3

"First test run of the Voxelspace MIDI Recorder and Looper, that i developed in 06/2015 based on the MIDIbox platform.

The loopa is a small USB-powered device, that records live loops (non quantized, no step recording) of up to eight MIDI clips onto SD card.
Notes (and quarternote beat lines) are visualized in 'Voxel Space'. The clips are looped and beatsynchronized.

The hardware is based on a STM32F4, with a whopping 192KB (yes, kilobytes) of RAM :). The OLED is a Newhaven 256x64x16 bluescale display.

Official build thread:
http://midibox.org/forums/topic/19585...

Hope you enjoyed the demo, it was not musical, just a tech test! :)
More features like session switching, loop length configuration and synced mutes/unmutes should be added, once there is more time :). Yes, I know, there are still a few bugs, especially regarding the position display, that is glitching around a bit, but hey, it has character... :-)

Thanks for watching!
Hawkeye/Maelstroem Records"

via the MIDIbox Forum:

"we recently had some very rainy days in southern Germany and MIDIbox-build-fever struck again, so I had to do something... my project build stack is very large, and even some started projects are not complete yet (MBProgramma), but this one has been on the wishlist for even longer than the Programma, so I just had to start it this year... otherwise it would probably never happen :-).

I have to say, that the MIDIbox platform is phenomenal and addictive! It would be so nice to work on something of this quality on a daily job basis... results can be reached very quickly, the documentation and code base is great. Thanks a lot for everything, TK.!

Let's start...

Motivation
* DAW hate
Turning on the computer and loading a DAW as complex as Ableton or Cubase makes sure any of my already limited inspiration will be gone by the time it is able to record MIDI. I'd like to sit down and "just jam". I felt, very often, that what i played was lost in time, because, of course, the computer was off. So I wanted a simple MIDI recorder, that "just records" automatically a few seconds after turning it on, without any major interaction. If what was just played sounded nice, it would be automatically stored on SD card in compatible .MID format for later playback or even some DAW-based post-processing. If not, well, one could just jam on, or delete the track (called clip in this app).

* Hardware minimalism
Building the unit should be quick and cheap. There should only be a minimum number of buttons and encoders. I managed to build everything including the control surface (yes, i know, it looks cheap, but it also was cheap :-)) on one long weekend - and so can you. We just use standard hardware (STM32F4 core, one DINx4, out DOUTx4 and a nice display). Because there are few components, it is very viable to do it on vector board, no immediate need for PCBs...

CLICK FOR MORE »

MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2016 Pics

Update: Booth list added below.  30 booths in one day!  It's become tradition for me to come on Saturday only.  The site is just too busy leading up to then.  Be sure to see the last image in the set  It's the NAMM Booth promo for the first showing of the original Minimoog Model D.  The Bob Moog Foundation was giving out buttons of the flyer which you can see in the second to last image.  You never know what will be your last pic at NAMM.  I am glad it was this one.  It's more than fitting considering the Minimoog was the birth of modern day synthesizers.  Apologies for not calling this out earlier.  It was one of those should I not say anything and let people pause at that image and discover what it meant on their own, or should I call it out.  I guess I did both.  :)

--

So first of all, apologies for the super tall pic to start! For some reason Flickr's slideshow is not resizing it, and a few others, to fit the desired frame size. Mouse over the image and use the controls that come up to move through the slide show. Once you get past the first image, the majority of the rest should fit fine. For what it's worth, the super tall pic to start does give you a feel of what it's like to walk up to the entrance of NAMM. If you prefer you can check out the set on Flickr here. Feel free to grab any pics for your wallpaper but if you'd like to use them professionally (not that any are that good :), please contact me by clicking on the small email icon on the bottom right of the site. This year I took a total of 328 pics.

All that said, enjoy the set! The pics speak for themselves. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comments.

NAMM was great this year. Lots of familiar faces and lots of new. Modular has grown exponentially. It was on the main floor this year rather than what we like to call the dungeon. As for new synths, the DSI Oberheim OB-6 stole the show. The minilogue looked and sounded great and the KORG Volca FM was a very nice surprise. Roland's booth was great; nice dim lighting to let the blinky synth lights shine, as well as giving you a more intimate experience with their synths. There was also a cool wall sized timeline of Roland synths. Malekko's Roland System 500 synths were in show and I actually was able to help with one that had its envelope switched to loop mode. Moog's Island of Electronicus was an incredible space. The pics don't do it justice. It was literally like an oasis in NAMM. Things get pretty hectic and can feel overwhelming at times. Moog's booth just made you smile and relax. Thank you Moog!

PS, there are a couple of non-synth shots in the set that might make you smile. I took them to show my wife what I was looking at. :)

Including this post, 253 NAMM2016 posts have gone up and more are sure to follow.

Update: The booth list in order of appearance in both the set and in me walking through NAMM.  The pics in the set are in the order taken.

1.   Entrance to NAMM
2.   Dave Smith Instruments
3.   Moog Music
4.   Schneiders Buero Booth featuring Doepfer, MFB, Birdkids, AJH Synth, Endorphines, soundmachines, and Haken Audio
5.   Pittsburgh Modular
6.   Modal Electronics
7.   Make Noise
8.   Moon Modular
9. WMD (4ms, Verbos & Koma pics came prior to Moon Modular as they were across from each other. The WMD modular area was huge): 4ms Pedals, Abstract Data, Audio Damage, BaSTLE, Delptronics, Elite Cases, Rossum Electronics, Expert Sleepers, Foxtone Music/ Black Market Modular, Koma Elektronik, Hexinverter, Macro Machines, Mordax Systems, Noise Engineering, Qu-Bit Electronix, Soulsby, Steady State Fate (SSF), STG Soundlabs / Detachement 3 [check out the Crowbox black SEM eurorack module!], TipTopAudio, Toppobrillo, Verbos Electronics.
10. Studio Electronics, Mode Machines, and D-Tronics (check out the massive DT7 dedicated programmer for the DX7 similar to the old Jellinghaus)
11. Roger Linn's Linnstrument
12. Tom Oberheim
13. Elektron
14. Malekko - complete with Roland banner to promote their new System 500. Check out the glowing case! You can control the color with CV control.
15. Big City Music - Analogue Systems, Critter & Guitari, Cwejman, Dewanatron, Dirty Boy Pedals, Effectrode Tube Effects, EMC, Eowave, Jomox, Livewire, Mellotron, MWFX Pedals, Sherman
16. Schmidt in the Big City Music booth.
17. Radikal Technologies
18. Waldorf
19. Arturia
20. intelligel
21. Social Entropy and Abstrakt Instrument
22. Expressive E
23. John Bowen Synth Design - check out the custom Sonic Six with Sequential Model 700 Programmer & modded Model 800 Sequencer.
24. Roland (the guy with the hat on the right is the drummer for Train - I was taking pics of the timeline and they were standing there. I asked them if they wanted to be in the pic and they said sure! :) Apologies to Ed Diaz! I took his pic right when he saw me. Trust me he was full of smiles after that pic. I was flattered to find out he knew about the site! :)
25. Yamaha
26. Novation
27. KORG
28. Tangible Instruments showing their Arpeggio
29. Industrial Music Electronics (formerly Harvestman) and Sputnik Modular Synthesizers.
30. The Bob Moog Foundation

30 booths in one day!

More info on the Aries System Modular

via kkissinger on this electro-music.com thread (see the thread for updates):

"After 33 years, my Aries still works to specification.

They used Allen-Bradley pots and they have not become scratchy after all these years. I have had to replace a bypass switch on the Phaser and have, in the past, had to replace the big capacitors on the power supply.

The oscillators are extremely stable.

I have made a few mods to the synth. I dioded the gate and trigger inputs to the envelope generators to prevent "backfeeding" of trigger and gate signals. I've added a Paia MIDI-to-CV converter to it.

The only module that I don't (and have never liked) is the output module because it is too noisy. However, not a big deal because I always just fed the output from the end of my signal chain (generally a VCA) directly to my recorder and/or amplifier-speakers. I want to rebuild the output and power module to bring the level up to +4dbv balanced output for compatability with the rest of my studio.

The keyboards have also held up very well. The contacts are self-wiping gold-plated contacts that never need cleaning. If a contact is intermittent then all one has to do is repeat the note a few times (this happens on some of the less-used high notes).

The Pitch-to-Voltage converter is really an awesome module that works very well.

How does it sound? Well, if you like Moog or Arp Synthesizers, then you probably would like the Aries.

If you purchase one, make sure that it comes with all the schematics. Since it is a kit synthesizer, the quality may vary depending on the skill of the builder.

Also, I power up my Aries on a regular basis -- this is important. An instrument that has sat in an attic for thirty years may require a major restoration effort.

The Aries is a precision instrument -- for example, if you want to do classical transcriptions, then the keyboard action and tuning accuracy permits this kind of use. The five-octave keyboard was quite a luxury in the mid 1970's. They utilize 1% metal film resisters across the keyboard voltage divider. The keyboards are two-voice capable. The voice output produces a voltage that corresponds to the lowest note that is pressed. The aux-voice output produces a voltage that is the difference between the highest and lowest note. Thus, to track the highest note one must sum the Voice and Aux Voice voltages.

The control voltages are standard 1v/Octave. The gates, triggers, VCO, and LFO voltage are all 10v peak-to-peak. Thus, the Aries modules are compatable with modern equipment.

I just posted some looped/improvised tracks at http://kevinkissinger.com/ariesinfo.shtml. You will also see a number of multi-track works and other Aries synth tracks from my tape "archives" there.

On my theremin page, I used the Aries for parts of the Franck "Prelude, Fugue, and Variation".

I'm not entirely sure -- from what I've seen my collection of Aries tracks may be one of the largest that is available all in one place.

We are holding a regional electro-music festival here (near Kansas City) in July. I plan to have the Aries there in the exhibition space and may use it for a set. Would be great to have you attend and you will get to experience the Aries and a lot of other homebuilt/DIY equipment there. Smile

Here is a link to the Call for Participation:

http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-32546.html"

"Entreaty," by Hélène Vogelsinger

video upload by MAKEN0ISE

You can find additional posts featuring Hélène Vogelsinger here.

"'Entreaty,' by Hélène Vogelsinger

We are honored to share this performance by Hélène Vogelsinger filmed on a mountain in the south of France. A full description and patch notes by Hélène are included below!

To hear more of Hélène's music, head to her Bandcamp page: https://helenevogelsinger.bandcamp.com/

--

"An abandoned modular session. In a famous small village, in the south west of France, there is a little mountain. At the top of it, what used to be a cableway station for 60 years, have been still standing there, in the hands of Entropy, for more than two decades now.

The abandoned sessions in Nature are always the most challenging, but also the most transformative. The path that leads to the chosen place is often long, steep, and lined with many obstacles.

Climbing this mountain, In the full darkness of the middle of the night, with only headlamps, and all our distorted senses, as only indicators, quickly becomes a type of active meditation, especially on the session day, with our heavy equipment.

And finally, you start to distinguish the contours of the huge station’s antenna, getting bigger and bigger, as we move on, meter by meter on the last hundred ones.

When we arrive, the connection is immediate. There is nothing comparable to this precise sensation. The surrounding sounds blend together, compose these familiar but unique melodies, in a calm and quiet mind, ready to receive.

Patch Notes:

In this session, the combo XPO + QPAS is at the heart of the patch, omnipresent.

The multi-dimensional aspect of these two modules truly resonates with the multi-dimensional experience I live through my process, and in these post human places.

In this patch, I use the XPO’s Pulse Width modulation and wave-folding stereo outputs, as well as the triangle wave one. The signals are then multiplied and sent through different filters and effects, QPAS being one important of them, here using its Low Pass and Smile Pass outputs. The different parameters are modulated by Wogglebug + hands.

This combo is accompanied, among others, by extra MN family’s members; Strega, STO(x3), DPO, Optomix, Morphagene, Maths, Mimeophon, Erbe Verb."

http://www.makenoisemusic.com"

The Cableway Station // "E n t r e a t y" behind the session //

video upload by Hélène Vogelsinger

The Cableway Station

"Entreaty" ; behind the session

An immersive experience into my creative process.
A spiritual & musical pilgrimage on a mountain,
in the south west of France.

For those you've been following me for the last years,
you know i've been working around and refining a
special creative process.

The different steps of my creative process are ;

1. The Research of the Place
2. The First Exploration
3. The Retranscription
4. Layers of Perception (session day)
5. Sharing the Experience.

In this mini documentary, step 2 "The First Exploration",
and 4 "Layers of Perception (session day)" are mixed together.
The ascension on the session day was so challenging
physically & mentally, that we couldn't record a lot during it.
We are a small 2 people team 👥

It is an excerpt of a longer documentary that will explore
all the steps of my process, coming in 2023.

I hope you will enjoy the journey with us .

🙏 ✨ 🙏 ✨ 🙏 ✨ 🙏

XILS-lab launches classic keyboard vocoder emulation plug-in

First announced here, videos here (human vocies), here (glide and layered sounds), and here (strings), the following is the official press release for XILS-lab's new XILS V+ vocoder emulation.  You'll find some additional renders at the bottom of this post. Be sure to click on them for the super size shots.

"GRENOBLE, FRANCE: music software company XILS-lab is proud to announce availability of its XILS V+ virtual instrument and effects plug-in, a faithful emulation of a well-known keyboard vocoder classic, as of May 27...

Following a year of intense instrument modelling deep inside XILS-lab’s ear-opening laboratories, the XILS V+ virtual instrument and effects plug-in has finally emerged, sounding nigh on indistinguishable from an instantly-recognisable keyboard vocoder classic much loved by both contemporary and acclaimed artists alike. But what keyboard vocoder are we talking about here exactly? And what’s a vocoder, anyway?

By definition, a vocoder is a synthesizer that produces sounds from an analysis of speech input. Vocoders arguably had their musical heyday in the Seventies with the likes of British record-producing heavyweight Jeff Lynne’s symphonic rockers ELO making much use of them throughout several striking recordings — think smash hit ‘Mr Blue Sky’ and the Time album (featuring the Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus keyboard) — while German techno pop pioneers Kraftwerk crafted themselves an ongoing robotic vocoder-led career that’s still resonating throughout EDM’s many modern-day stylistic offshoots; French house music stalwarts Daft Punk became big vocoder fans with several memorable club-friendly hits to their eminently danceable name, par exemple. Historically speaking, the aforesaid Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus is also musically immortalised on celluloid thanks to Greek synth wizard Vangelis’ memorable early-Eighties electronic scores to the Oscar-winning Chariots Of Fire and Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film noir classic, Bladerunner, both of which made much use of the instrument’s signature Strings — ‘emulating’ the sustained portion of orchestral strings — and Human Voice Ensemble ‘choir’ — remarkable and unique — sounds. Subsequently the long-since-discontinued VP-330 Vocoder Plus has become something of a sought-after classic itself... for those in the musical know. Yet finding a fully-functional, pristine example of this 30-plus-year-old temperamental hardware has become nigh on impossible. Which is exactly where XILS V+ comes into play, of course, thanks to XILS-lab’s labours.

So how, technically, does that historic hardware produce those distinctive sounds? And, more to the point, how has XILS-lab been able to magically model them? First things first. Just like the real thing, XILS V+ is based on a Top Octave Divider oscillator — the hidden heart of almost all vintage string machines. Basically, back in the day, this clever concept enabled hardware designers to achieve 49 notes (or more) of polyphony without having to stabilise and tune 49 (or more) oscillators! Instead, a single square wave-generating so-called Top Octave oscillator designed to oscillate at very high specific frequencies is ‘divided’ to provide 12 standard tempered frequencies over four (or more) octaves that are then used to create the waveform for each individual note. All notes are kept in phase with no drift between octaves and only a single tuning circuit is needed for the complete keyboard range. This was quite a technological breakthrough by Seventies standards, but by its very nature there were some divisive downsides — no polyphonic attack stage to the sound which we take for granted today, for instance. Yet, thanks to today’s cleverer computer world, XILS V+ offers polyphonic attack (and also monophonic attack for the sake of authenticity).

So, just like the real thing, XILS V+ features a 10-band VOCODER, Top Octave Divider-based STRINGS and HUMAN VOICES — or, indeed, sophisticated layering of any these three elements! It successfully captures the keyboard in question’s Top Octave Divider oscillator’s unique sound (that no sampling technology or other simple synthesis techniques can reproduce); the ensemble (chorus) circuitry, featuring a compander and no less than four bucket brigade delays; the voice and vocoder ‘vibratos’ (based on two more bucket brigade delays); the 14 filters involved in producing that heavenly Human Voice Ensemble sound; the three filters used for the Strings section; the 40 ‘vocoder’ filters; and sophisticated Attack, Release, and Glide circuitry. Visually, the main control panel section above the keyboard basically mirrors that found on its inspirational hardware predecessor so anyone familiar with the VP-330 Vocoder Plus will immediately feel right at home here — right down to the classic colourful rocker switches!

But that’s not all: rather than simply producing a feature-by-feature emulation of the original hardware, XILS-lab has truly taken the opportunity to bring this Seventies-vintage keyboard vocoder concept kicking and screaming into the convenience of present-day DAW workflow with four additional panels boasting advanced settings: Mixer/ARP allows users to fine-tune the internal sound generators — from adjusting the relative level of the Male 8 and ML/FM 4 Human Voices to tweaking voice formants, the Top Octave Divider waveform, as well as the Strings filter shape — while a built-in arpeggiator is also provided; Vocoder allows users to adjust the analogue-like Pitch Tracking, the ATT (attack) and REL (release) of the ANALYZE algorithm, as well as FILTERS parameters; Effects provides three built-in effects (STEREO SPACE, based on XILS-lab’s now-well-known Stereo Dynamic Engine; a simple, but efficient REVERB; and an analogue-like resonant PHASER); and last, but by no means least, Modulations with over 14 sources and 24 destinations!

So there you have it. If you’re lusting after those classic keyboard vocoder sounds — and more besides, perhaps, but could never afford or find a suitable hardware original, then your prayers have surely now been answered by XILS-lab. Load up multiple instances of XILS V+ into your favourite DAW. Play. Smile. After all, it’s even better than the real thing!


XILS V+ is available to purchase as an eLicenser or iLok copy-protected virtual instrument and effects plug-in for €99.00 EUR/$128.00 USD until June 30 from the XILS-lab web store: http://www.xils-lab.com/products/XILS-V%252b-%3A-iLok-or-eLicenser-protected.html (Thereafter its MRSP will rise to €149.00 EUR/$194.00 USD.)

XILS V+ can be directly downloaded as a 32-bit (Intel and PowerPC) and 64-bit (Intel) compatible virtual instrument and effects plug-in for Mac and Windows in various formats (AAX/RTAS, AU, VST2.4, and VST3) from here: http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS-V%252b_Download.html

Various videoed A/B comparisons of XILS V+ and the original hardware it has been so successfully modelled from can be seen and heard here: http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS-V%252b_Video.html"

CLICK FOR MORE »

RIP William Onyeabor - Nigerian Electronic Funk Pioneer as well as Nigeria's 1st Moog Dealer

'Fantastic Man' (Full Length) - A Film About William Onyeabor

Published on Feb 25, 2014 Noisey

Video description: "'You Need To Hear This' is proud to present 'Fantastic Man' a documentary investigating Nigerian musician William Onyeabor, a man shrouded in mystery and myth. Directed by Jake Sumner (Alldayeveryday) the film tells the story of a label's attempt to track William down, speaking to fans such as Damon Albarn, Caribou and Femi Kuti and travelling to Nigeria to meet those who've worked with him in a bid to uncover the truth about his story. http://williamonyeabor.com/"


William Onyeabor was Nigeria's First Moog Dealer & Electronic Musician. He passed away this Monday, January 16, at the age of 70. Be sure to see the video further below for a taste of his music. To the left you can see him with an Octave Cat, Elka Rhapsody 610, and Moog Polymoog.  MiniKorg 700s in back.

via Boing Boing, via Luaka Bop:

"It is with incredibly heavy hearts that we have to announce that the great Nigerian business leader and mythic music pioneer William Onyeabor has passed away at the age of 70. He died peacefully in his sleep following a brief illness, at his home in Enugu, Nigeria. An extraordinary artist, businessman and visionary, Mr. Onyeabor composed and self-released 9 brilliant albums of groundbreaking electronic-funk from 1977-1985, which he recorded, pressed and printed at Wilfilms Limited—his personal pressing plant in southeast Nigeria.

For people in his hometown of Enugu, Nigeria, Mr. Onyeabor was simply referred to as "The Chief”. He was known for having created many opportunities for the people in his community. In his early 30s, he traveled the world to study record manufacturing, so that he could build, "the greatest record manufacturing business in all of West Africa." After those successful years as an artist and record label President in the 1980's, he opened a flour mill and food processing business. In 1987 these new business ventures saw him awarded West African Industrialist of the Year—just two years after the release of his most successful song "When The Going is Smooth and Good", and what should have been the height of his musical career. He was given the honorary title "Justice of the Peace"—a local judicial position elected by the community to provide independent legal ruling. In the early 1990's, he became the President of Enugu's Musician's Union and Chairman of the city's local football team, The Enugu Rangers. Despite all of these extraordinary achievements, his biography was always shrouded in mystery—some claimed he had studied filmmaking in the Soviet Union, while others placed him in France or Great Britain. To his great amusement (and ours too for that matter), this mythic image was at times so deeply ingrained, that we often encountered people who were convinced that he didn't actually exist. Whenever we shared this with him, or would ask him a question about his past, he would just smile and say, "I only want to speak about God."

After five long years of painstaking waiting, negotiating and intense research, we were finally able to release “Who is William Onyeabor?” in 2013 and his music and story took the world by storm. The release was featured in major newspapers, radio and television stations around the world. Time Magazine listed him as number 4 on a shortlist of that year’s best albums. In 2014, the film documentary “Fantastic Man” followed, as well as the “Atomic Bomb! Who is William Onyeabor?” live shows, which travelled to the most regarded festivals and music venues worldwide-starring over 50 special guests from many diverse generations, genres and backgrounds.

Still, William Onyeabor would never speak about himself and for a long time refused any of the many interview requests that came his way. For an artist that had never performed live in his entire life, he repeatedly, and very sadly, would always decline our invitations to take part in any of the joyous celebrations that were created in his honor. Having become Born Again in the latter part of life, he had turned his back on the music from the earlier part of his life.

As one of the absolutely smartest people we ever encountered—William Onyeabor was always in charge, whatever the situation may be (and even though he was living in a fairly isolated part of rural West Africa). As can be heard in many of his songs, he looked at the world from a bird's eye view. He would watch American, Chinese and European news simultaneously, so he could learn about the different points of view from around the world. In his later years, he was still conducting business as usual. Whenever we visited him in Nigeria, he welcomed us warmly into his home. Whether it be at his palace outside of Enugu or via crackly phone lines to America, he always made us laugh. As is also very evident in his songwriting—another example of his true intellect and originality—he had the greatest sense of humor. His life and accomplishments will never cease to astonish us. More than anything, and still to this very day, his music continues to live on—nearly 40 years after it was originally released.

Chief William Ezechukwu Onyeabor is survived by his wife, children, and four grandchildren. We would like to send our deepest condolences to his family and thank each and every one of you who has helped share the love for his music around the world.

In the short and wonderfully intense nine years that we came to know him, he changed our lives in many ways. If he hasn't yet, we hope he will affect you too, one day."

William Onyeabor - Good Name (Official)

Published on Dec 12, 2013 Luaka Bop

William Onyeabor Boxset available digitally at https://luakabop.lnk.to/OnybrBox. Mr. Onyeabor on iTunes and Amazon.

Happy Birthday Commodore Amiga!

The Amiga Demoscene Mixtape Vol. 1 - mixed by DJ Arvy (The Old-School Classics Edition)

Published on Jun 11, 2013 DJ Arvy

The Commodore Amiga turns 30 today! via Boing Boing

Playlist:

1. The Amiga Demoscene Mixtape Vol. 1 - mixed by DJ Arvy (The Old-School Classics Edition)
"A non-stop DJ Continous Mix featuring some of the greatest and most popular Soundtracks from the early 90s Old School Amiga Demos.

Playlist:
0:05 "Deep Space" by Greg (from "Odyssey" by Alcatraz, 1992)
0:45 "Stardust Memories" by Jester (from "World of Commodore" by Sanity, 1992)
4:15 "Part6" by Greg (from "Odyssey" by Alcatraz, 1992)
6:35 "Hyperbased" by Firefox & Tip (from "Enigma" by Phenomena, 1991)
11:19 "Checknobankh" by Laxity (from "Desert Dream" by Kefrens, 1993)
14:25 "Elysium" by Jester (from "Elysium" by Sanity, 1991)
17:50 "Vite and Plack" by Virgill (from "Interference" by Sanity, 1993)
21:41 "Part3" by Greg (from "Odyssey" by Alcatraz, 1992)
23:21 "Overload" by Firefox & Tip (from "Voyage" by Razor 1911, 1991)
29:30 "Nagual Dance" by Jugi (from "Paradigma" by Complex, 1993)
33:35 "Demomodul#3" by Laxity (from "Desert Dream" by Kefrens, 1993)
37:55 "Cyberride" by Jester (from "Extension" by Pygmy Projects, 1993)
42:16 "A nice Day for a Walk" by Julius / Mad Freak (from "3D Demo II" by Anarchy, 1992)

Free MP3-Download at soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/deejay-arvy/th..."

2. The Amiga Demoscene Mixtape Vol. 2 - mixed by DJ Arvy (Old Skool) ft. Mods by Moby, Laxity and more

CLICK FOR MORE »

Octave CAT

via this auction

“The original Octave Cat was a beast. Some features included a four-note sequencer patch, in which using the sub-oscillator on VCO-1 and the additional pulse, were allowed to form steps. Switching the sample and hold to VCO-1 could accomplish pseudo '4-step-sequencing' on VCO-2. More important than flashy tricks was the ease of use associated with Octave instruments. The machine was carefully and logically planned out, with ADSR and AR located on the upper left hand side (this arrangement allows for easy release or attack variations, which should be considered quite nifty). Unfortunately, the pitch bend slider seemed to be in poor review with many users (in the Cat's defense, the pitch slider is equipped with a "dead zone" in which any position 4 millimeters above or below the center hardly affects the pitch. This is probably achieved with the use of diodes). The original A-1000 of 1975 lacked voltage control, and had an external fuse. An updated version included CV control, but retained the external fuse. What I believe to be the final A-1000 revision places the fuse internally, and seems to be the most common of the A-1000 Cats. (Apparently VCO-1 has a different circuit design than VCO-2. It seems that VCO-1 has a better circuit design, so side by side comparisons will be made in the audio sample section.)
Three waveforms with two sub-oscillators offered a pleasing variety of waveforms and a ripping sound. Audio frequency pitch modulation was available, along with cross modulations of VCO-1 & VCO-2 and vise versa. Four envelope destinations along with the squirmy discrete A-1000 filter were enough to bring a smile to any synthesist of the era (a terrific November 1977 A-1000 Octave Cat ad can be seen here).
It is without doubt that the Octave Cat is a "special" synthesizer. Many mid to late 1970's synthesizers fit into this category as well (Crumar DS-2, EML Electrocomp 500, Powertran Transcendent 2000, KORG 800DV, Roland SH-1, Jen SX-1000, etc etc). These are the synthesizers that really never received the exposure of Arps and Moogs. The Cat has been considered a knock-off Arp Odyssey, and unrightfully so. Various sources claim that Arp took Octave Electronics to court, but the reality is that Arp dropped charges, and they were no strangers to "borrowing" ideas themselves. Comparing the Arp Odyssey to the Octave Cat is completely beside the point; they are both amazing instruments of the 20th century.
The Cat electronic music synthesizer has strong metal sliders. They feel very comfortable and precise. Unfortunately Arp opted for plastic sliders, which often feels stiff and hard these days. A good portion of the Cat is sliders, and perhaps 1/3 is knobs. The Cat is a synthesizer that rarely becomes boring, and new original sounds can always be developed. The actual sound of the Cat is unique as it is relatively indefinable, partly because no one has popularized it like the Minimoog.”

Text from- octavecat.homestead.com. The link isn't working for me. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to comment.

Meet the UNO Synth - True Analog Hardware Synth from IK Multimedia Revealed

Uploaded on May 1, 2018 ikmultimedia

Details on IK Multimedia's new synth, first teased here, are in, and it is not only hardware, but it's analog. Rumored price is 199 Euro which currently comes out to roughly $238 USD.

via IK Multimedia:

"You don’t have to go big to sound huge

True analog synthesizer. Easily programmable. Ultra-portable.

The ultimate real analog synth for everyone

UNO Synth is the ultimate portable, monophonic, true analog synthesizer and IK Multimedia’s entry in the hardware synthesizer world.

We combined our two decades of experience in software and hardware development with the expertise of Italian boutique synth-maker Soundmachines and IK’s synth guru, Erik Norlander (one of the brains behind acclaimed synths like the Alesis Andromeda). The result is a no-compromise instrument with massive analog sound that’s also easy to use with hands-on programmability and advanced features at an unbeatable price.

The days of compromise are over. Now everyone can own a real analog synth with professional sound.

And UNO Synth is proudly made in IK’s own Italian manufacturing facility to ensure the highest quality standards. Like the majority of IK hardware products, UNO Synth is built using a combination of IK’s state-of-the-art, automated mounting machines and test systems and fine, renowned Italian craftsmanship.

Seasoned synth professionals and beginners alike will love UNO Synth’s high-quality, pure analog audio path and its ultra-compact form factor. With both classic and modern synth sounds instantly at hand, UNO will put a smile on the face of synth fans of every musical genre. All this in a synth module that can be easily carried anywhere.

Electronic music lovers or first-time synth users will get instant satisfaction from this affordable, easy-to-use instrument even if they are new to analog synths or synth programming. Thanks to its onboard presets and easy-to-play keyboard with selectable scales and arpeggiator, UNO Synth is the perfect gateway into the synthesizer world.

Great sounding true-analog audio path

Beneath its miniature exterior, UNO Synth packs a powerful, fat and rich-sounding synthesis engine with a full analog audio path on par with professional synthesizers costing much more.

All-analog audio path with 2 VCOs, noise generator, resonant multimode VCF and VCA
2 independent VCOs with Saw, Triangle, Pulse waveforms with continuously variable shape including PWM of the square wave plus a separate white noise generator
A 2-pole OTA-based analog resonant sweepable multimode filter with LPF, HPF and BPF
Custom-designed, dual-stage overdrive that provides filter input overdrive for classic synth saturation tone, from subtle warming to aggressive distortion
LFO with Sine, Triangle, Square, Up Saw, Down Saw, Random and Sample-and-Hold to modulate Pitch, Filter, Amp and continuous oscillator wave shapes including PWM

This highly flexible synthesis engine not only excels in producing the rich, warm, punchy, deep bass sounds that are the core of a high-quality monophonic synth, it’s also perfectly designed to bring a wide sonic palette of leads, drones, arps, sequences, sweeps and effects.

CLICK FOR MORE »

UNO Synth Tutorials

Published on May 17, 2018 ikmultimedia

"UNO Synth is the ultimate portable, monophonic, true analog synthesizer and IK Multimedia’s entry in the hardware synthesizer world.

We combined our two decades of experience in software and hardware development with the expertise of Italian boutique synth-maker Soundmachines and IK’s synth guru, Erik Norlander (one of the brains behind acclaimed synths like the Alesis Andromeda). The result is a no-compromise instrument with massive analog sound that’s also easy to use with hands-on programmability and advanced features at an unbeatable price.

Seasoned synth professionals and beginners alike will love UNO Synth’s high-quality, pure analog audio path and its ultra-compact form factor. With both classic and modern synth sounds instantly at hand, UNO will put a smile on the face of synth fans of every musical genre. All this in a synth module that can be easily carried anywhere."

Playlist:

1. UNO Synth Tutorial 1: Getting Around the Synth

In this video, learn how to get around UNO Synth - IK's first analog synthesizer. UNO Synth is both powerful and easy to use. Not a synth guru? Learn what each control does and hear what you can do with ease and sound like a seasoned analog synth user. Already familiar with analog synthesizers? Learn how to do familiar tasks with this powerhouse! Watch the video to learn more about how to get around this powerful yet portable and affordable true analog synthesizer.

2. UNO Synth Tutorial 2: The Sequencer

In this video, learn about UNO Synth's powerful and flexible on-board sequencer. Get creative with IK's first analog synthesizer!

The UNO Synth keyboard also doubles as a step-edit control for its built-in sequencer. Sequences can be programmed both in real-time or in steps and include up to 20 synth parameters for every step, making the UNO Synth sequencer among the most powerful in its class.

3. UNO Synth Tutorial 3: The Oscillator Section

In this video, learn all about the oscillator section of UNO Synth - IK's first analog synthesizer. UNO Synth's oscillators are the core of its true analog sound, allowing it to excel in producing the rich, warm, punchy, deep bass sounds that are the core of a high-quality monophonic synth, while also making UNO Synth perfectly designed to bring a wide sonic palette of leads, drones, arps, sequences, sweeps and effects.

4. UNO Synth Tutorial 4: The Filter Section

Learn about UNO Synth's analog filter section. The pure analog filter brings all the warmth, depth and fatness you’d expect from a real analog synth. The multimode resonant filter can be used for subtle tonal modification or screaming aggressive resonant sweeps. A custom-designed overdrive circuit lets you easily dial in modern saturated tones. And of course, you can modulate the filter with the filter envelope, LFO and performance buttons, as well as automate it in the sequencer and via external MIDI controllers.

5. UNO Synth Tutorial 5: The Arpeggiator

In this tutorial, learn about UNO Synth's powerful arpeggiator. The multimode built-in arpeggiator with 10 different arpeggio modes and a 4-octave range makes UNO Synth a joy to play for keyboardists and non-keyboardists alike.

6. UNO Synth Tutorial 6: UNO Synth Editor Overview

The UNO Synth Editor is a plug-in and standalone app that lets you access all the parameters of IK’s groundbreaking UNO Synth, the real analog synthesizer for everyone. The Editor lets you go beyond the front panel controls and access deeper programming settings like full 4-stage ADSR envelopes for both filter and amplitude, pulse width and waveform shape modulation of the oscillators, modulation wheel assignments, velocity control and much more. The Editor does not make sound on its own. Rather, it is a controller for the UNO Synth hardware that gives you remote control of this innovative instrument from your computer or mobile device. Learn more at http://www.unosynth.com/editor

7. UNO Synth Tutorial 7: UNO Synth Editor DAW Integration

8. UNO Synth Tutorial 8: UNO Synth Editor for iPhone and iPad

In this UNO Synth tutorial video, learn how to use UNO Synth Editor on your iPhone and iPad.

MIDIBox MBProgramma Knob Box Controller for Synths

[techdemo] MBProgramma vs Alpha Juno Published on Jan 19, 2015 Maelstroem3

"...demonstrating the first test run of the DIY MBProgramma! :-)
Many thanks to TK. for his fantastic MBNG base, and to jojjelito for sourcing parts, gathering ideas, documenting stuff and so on! :-)

The Programma contains 64 LEDring enhanced encoders and corresponding OLED labels. It was built to control multiple synthesizers, that don't have sufficient hardware user interfaces, it should be especially useful for patch programming. The label displays make parameter lookup a lot easier for the user, also there is support for multiple banks with different labels, as well as patch snapshot support (store and retrieve from SD card, for synths with limited memory).

The MBProgramma is a MIDIbox NG with hardware specific software extensions, that utilize the standardized hardware (eg., the 128x64px OLEDs). The hardware list is defined, so it is a "named" MBNG variant, that other users can build, too. This version 0.3 only has support for graphical encoder label loading, nothing more, yet :-). But, thanks to TK., MBNG (which is the base) is extremely powerful, it can be scripted, it can serve as a MIDI router, ... :-)

In this quick demo, the MBProgramma controls a Roland Alpha Juno 2 (MKS 50).

More info: http://midibox.org/forums/topic/19287...

Thanks for watching and listening!
Hawkeye"

via Hawkeye in the forum:

"Hola folks,

Jojjelito and myself are currently collaborating on a bigger MIDIboxNG project, that should help facilitate patch programming for all those synth users, that are unhappy with the bad/minimalistic user interfaces of their rack and keyboard synths, especially when programming new patches. This project was planned for years and never took shape...
But, thanks to TK., MIDIboxNG came to the rescue!
Its codebase has all of the needed functionality integrated in a very generic way, allowing to do so many things!

So... why this project, additionally?

CLICK FOR MORE »

Elektron Spotlight: Introvert

via the Elektron newsletter
Audio embed below - you might want to start the player first and then come back and read the interview while it's playing.

"Happy and careless 8-bit Nintendo sounds and ever-evolving and intricate compositions. When Introvert operates his machines, these contrasting types of expressions are welded together with ease. The uniqueness of the music gives the impression of listening to something deeply personal.

Why do you think the chip sound is so compelling?

I guess mostly because of the nostalgia of the sound. I mean I think that it is something that most people from my generation grew up hearing on almost a daily basis. It's almost like this minuscule part of our childhood that we can all relate to. Chiptune music to me is just so much fun and those familiar sounds can be made fresh again with modern machines like the Octatrack. I just use the Octatrack MIDI sequencer and my Wayfar MidiNES and go at it.

I also love that even people that I know, who don't really care for what I do musically, can't help but smile when they hear chiptune music. They seem to understand my excitement when they hear that 8-bit grit. It just tickles parts of your brain like a familiar scent from the past. It takes me back to a place when we were all kids and when life was more simple, fun and laidback.

Some of your songs, like»Chicago Dreaming«, are very complex. What is your approach when creating such intricate pieces?

Well, when composing some of the more complex tracks I do, I usually don't have that much of an idea of a finished product and I really don't have a set technique for composing. But what I have found with myself is that I'm usually most productive if I just focus on only one thing at a time. Whether it's beats, synths, Eurorack or just noises for backgrounds, concentrating on just one small piece, rather than the whole picture at once, is really important to me.

I usually take just a Monomachine or a Machinedrum or my Octatrack into a room, away from all of my other gear, so I can just focus on that one machine. That way I can get as lost in that single element as possible. I will usually do that with several machines and then when I can get a large chunk of time to zone out and experiment, I bring all of my machines together and start to layer sounds.

I have an Allen and Heath ZED 22FX so I can run everything all at once and sort of let things build themselves. I currently only use Ableton Live 8 when recording. No other software, no plugins and almost no post edits or software effects. I try to just get things as tight and as formulated as possible before I go into Ableton.

Needless to say the copy and paste features in all of my Elektron boxes get used an insane amount. If a groove really connects with me I will make 10 or 20 different copies and variations of that same groove with different swells, retrigs and lengths. This helps me to have as many variations as possible of a single thought.

Once I have done that, it is possible for me to apply my favorite Elektron trick. It is implemented in the Machinedrum and as far as I know, nothing else out there lets you do this. The trick is the Control All feature. When I found this trick my musical life changed for the better. What I do is I will have one straight groove running on one of my machines (usually my Octatrack or my MK1 SPS-1 chaining tons of patterns together). On my UW I just freak out with another groove by holding function and turning a knob so it will turn that knob consistently for every sound across your entire machine. But the cool thing is that it does not map the same for every machine. So if you are using internal machines or ROM machines parameters will be mapped differently, causing crazy cool things to happen! And when you are done "freaking out", just hold your function key and press the classic button and the saved kit will be reloaded. WOW! Ok, now run that through your Octatrack Echo Freeze delay and your electronic life will be changed.

Which aspects of song writing do you find the most rewarding? And which do you find the most tedious?

For me I honestly think the most tedious and stressful part of the writing process is the recording phase. And it's not really recording per se, it's finding the time to really be able to sit down and fully immerse myself in my machines. I think I have the tendency to over think things and that can be really impairing when it comes to completing things.

But I find the most rewarding part of making music is getting positive words and feedback from people I don't even know, or people that I really respect (like you wonderful people at Elektron or the guys at Trash_Audio). When I get nods from fellow synth geeks or professionals out there in the world, it really makes me happy in a way I can't really explain. I don't get to play out very often but it always makes me feel great when there are music geeks that I have never met who are personally effected and inspired by my music and says how much they enjoy my noises. So I guess what I find the most rewarding is people connecting with and enjoying my musical thoughts on a personal level.

Does acquiring new gear change your approach to producing music?

Oh, without a doubt! I think new gear always sparks excitement and confusion, which forces you to work out of your comfort zone. Every piece of gear inspires a unique spark of creativity that, I believe, can be attributed to the creators of the product and their personal background as musicians. That said, I usually just use new gear to create samples and sample banks for my Octatrack and Machinedrum. So while new things can severely change my approach to my creative process, new gear also helps me find new love and inspiration in current familiar machines like my Octatrack and UW. I recently have really been getting into Eurorack and there is a whole world of possibilities and noises out there that I never could have even imagined of. I have created tons and tons of personalized oneshot drum sounds, drones and swells and dumped them into my Octatrack to be mangled. This works great, because by using the Octatrack, and especially the chromatic function, an unfamiliar instrument can become familiar.

I also play Monomachine, Octatrack and guitar with a full, instrumental, band called Karass and I absolutely love to use my Elektron machines in that context. They are so flexible and enable us to keep things 100% live. While I would love to be able to take my Analogue Solutions Vostok or my Metasonix boxes with me to every practice and gig, I rather keep them safe at home. With the Octatrack we can still have access to all of those noises in a live environment and even expand on those thoughts in a really fun and LIVE way.

Check out Introvert on Facebook and SoundCloud"



via Introvert on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

New Midibox MBProgramma Hardware Synth Patch Programmer in the Works

This one was shared on the excellent Rhodes Chroma list. It's a 64-encoder knob box with LED rings. Each encoder is dynamically labelled using a small but crisp 128*64 OLED display. It is currently in the development phase so no date on when it might be available and of course features & implementation are likely to change over time. MidiBox projects are also usually DIY, so not sure if this will be available as a finished product or only in kit form.

You'll find the project page here. The following is the first intro post via Hawekeye in the MidiBox forums:

"Jojjelito and myself are currently collaborating on a bigger MIDIboxNG project, that should help facilitate patch programming for all those synth users, that are unhappy with the bad/minimalistic user interfaces of their rack and keyboard synths, especially when programming new patches. This project was planned for years and never took shape...

But, thanks to TK., MIDIboxNG came to the rescue!

Its codebase has all of the needed functionality integrated in a very generic way, allowing to do so many things!

So... why this project, additionally?

CLICK FOR MORE »

Theft at Malekko Heavy Industry

Joshua Holley of Malekko Heavy Industry wrote in to let us know there was a break-in at his shop. The thief stole about $65,000 worth of personal items. The insurance company won't cover most of it, so he is offering modular art pieces for sale to hopefully recoup some of his losses.

The following is a repost from his site. Please share this with others.

"On August 7th 2022 two males broke into an adjacent business in my building and managed to make their way into my shop via a shared back door. The thieves stole many personal items, sentimental gifts from colleagues, friends, things I will never see again, about $65,000.00 worth of personal items stolen. After almost 2 months dealing with Insurance companies, ultimately they offered little help, citing a convenient loophole stating since stolen items were personal property the business policies won’t cover most of it, giving me about 12% of the loss.

Out of the many stolen items, the one that hurt the most is a one of a kind Minimoog used by the band Skinny Puppy. Anyone that knows me knows how important of an instrument this is and how devastated I’ve been since the break in. With the exception of a Facebook post hoping to flush the thieves out I haven’t been able to talk about it much, watching the video surveillance of the guy carting it out sickens me, I’ve had to watch it several times, each time waiting a week or so in between viewings because I’m so pissed.

A month ago I came up with an idea to right a wrong so I decided to make a set of art based off the stolen Minimoog. My thought is that to have a set of art based on such an iconic synthesizer would make a great conversation piece, look great on any wall, bring happiness to fellow synth nerds and help replace some of the items that CAN be replaced, and basically help turn the negative energy surrounding this ordeal into a positive.

I’m calling the set “The Greater Right of the Wrong” (see what I did there). I sourced a frame maker to make some custom frames in brown to represent the wood from the instrument, and then I had 5 individual pieces of aluminum made to size, brushed, and anodized. I will laser etch all 5 pieces with the blocks of the instrument. They will look like what’s pictured except each edition will be numbered and have “GROTW xxx/200″ small in the lower corner.

The frames are approximately 12” tall and side by side touching the set is about 2ft 10 inches, and about 3ft with nice spacing in between. This is a pre-order. I have approved the metal and frame samples and now they need to go into production. I anticipate shipping at the end of December. This will be limited to 200 sets, numbered in order sold, and once they are sold I will not make any more.

Thank you in advance to everyone who supports this endeavor. It’s been an extremely personal project that I hope puts a smile on all our faces for years to come."

CLICK FOR MORE »

New Casio Watch Inspired by John Mayer's Childhood Keyboard

video upload by Hodinkee

"The G-SHOCK Ref. 6900-PT1 By John Mayer features a dusty matte blue case and strap, a more playful color combination that’s an excellent companion to the first two collaborations. Peach, coral, and turquoise from the PT-1 keyboard were brought in to highlight the 'Triple Graph' display, which sits right at home in the soft cream dial. Darker grey was pulled from the sharp and flat keys of the PT-1 keyboard and added to the illuminator button. All four indicators for the buttons share the navy color from the writing on the PT-1, a perfect accent on the lighter blue background. The G-Shock Ref. 6900-PT1 By John Mayer gives you both the toughness you expect from a G-SHOCK with a colorway that will make your inner creative child smile."

"Being musicians and music fans, we here at Reverb know John Mayer for his guitar-playing and his best-selling signature Silver Sky. But he's also deeply invested in a whole other type of gear: watches.

Mayer, the horologist, is as much a figure to fellow watch lovers as he is to Boss BD-2 enthusiasts, sitting down for multiple interviews about his extensive collection and even getting into the watch design game himself.

In recent years, he's collaborated with the premiere watch site Hodinkee and a brand that, like Mayer, straddles the world of music gear and watches: Casio.

The partnership's latest creation is the Casio G-Shock Ref. 6900-PT1, a digital watch inspired by the PT-1 Mini Synthesizer.

Casio first built the PT-1 synth in 1982 and continued production until 1988, meaning it was one of the many affordable synths and samplers the company released during Mayer's early childhood.

The toy-like PT-1 is a monosynth — meaning it can only play one note at a time—but it packs in more features than parents probably expected. While there are just four simple tones (piano, violin, flute, and the mysterious 'fantasy'), there's a built-in drum machine with the same spread of rhythms you'd find on an old Roland or Korg, and—pretty amazingly, especially to a kid—a sequencer.

To really seal the deal for 'home keyboard' playing, it can run on four double-AA batteries, has its own speaker, and a headphone output.

John Mayer's new G-Shock takes cues from his own childhood PT-1, with its blue enclosure, though you can also find the synth in white, pink, black, and red."