"We are delighted to announce Terry Michaels as our esteemed guest of honor. Join us at the annual banquet for his keynote address and to help us honor him.
Terry Michaels, AKA Terry Mikulic, designed the seminal relaxation-core oscillator published in Electronotes 62 by Bernie Hutchins: the highly accurate ENS-76. It is the most influential analogue oscillator design of the modern era. This circuit became the heart of hundreds of synthesisers, including Gene Stopp’s ASM-1, the Synthesizers.com Q106, and the muSonics Vanilla Oscillators. Through his synthesizer work, Terry founded a laser light show company called Laser Artistry in 1976. The company operated as one of America's elite laser show outfits until its final performance on December 31, 1999.
The annual catered banquet will be held Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 7pm in the Sapphire Pavilion. Tickets are available as an add-on to your Knobcon attendance. Seating is limited."
"I honestly didn't see this coming. The Alesis Andromeda A6 is famous for being a massive analog monster, but I was completely shocked by the sheer variety of sounds it can pull off.
In this video, I’m exploring the sonic palette of this legendary synthesizer—and it absolutely blew my mind. It doesn't just do classic analog warmth; it even nailed convincing PPG-style wavetable textures!
🎹 What's your favorite patch from the video? Let me know in the comments!
Gear used in this video:
Alesis Andromeda A6 Analog Synthesizer
built in FX only straight into Audio-Interface"
I just recently came accross this one and thought it was worth sharing, if anything for the nun with the SYNTHI below. It immediately reminded me of the Every Nun Needs a SYNTHI ads. According to the article that the image is from, they formed around 1981. The article is in French and has one NSFW (not safe for work) image of a breast - fair warning if you pop it up with someone else within eyesight: [French | Googlish]. The following is the bit pertinent to synths followed by a translation of the full article. You can find the release via BandCamp above or in the article from Born Bad Records. I also wanted to post this for the way the female singer enunciates those lyrics.
"While they started out like everyone else, playing flute and acoustic guitar and listening to King Crimson, the arrival of synthesizers on the European music scene completely redefined their direction: they cut their hair, donned ties, and replaced Indian tapestries with Venetian curtains. Kraftwerk had clearly had an influence. It was around an EMS AKS synthesizer, a Roland SH101, and a Roland TR808 drum machine that the four friends gathered in their home studio to compose the carefree and joyful electronic and exotic tunes that are the hallmark of Chacha Guitry. The group thus chose to climb the sunny side of New Wave, the one taken by the B-52's or Isabelle Antena, rather than its dark side, cluttered with the heirs of Joy Division. The boys programmed the machines, while the girls created minimalist, geometric costumes using whatever materials were at hand (paper rather than fabric). Together they immortalize their youth on Polaroid, take glue and scissors to assemble photomontages in the style of their Dadaist idols."
"Incredible Roland Jupiter 8. The king of all Roland synths. This one is the last Rev with factory 14 bit DAC. This is one of the finest examples we have seen. Fully fuctional and has MIDI professionally installed. Well cared for in a non smoking home studio. It is in fabulous condition and sounds absolutely amazing. If you are looking for a Jupiter 8. Look no further. The best of the best. Awesome."
"Up for sale is a classic Roland Juno 60 Analog Poly Synthesizer. So many hit songs of the 80's and 90's had the Juno 60 legendary tone. Once you play one, you can recall countless sweet pads, strings, brass, basses, and leads. The 60 was simply essential in music production, and still is. There is nothing that comes close to it. Even the Juno 106 can't do exactly what a Juno 60 does. The tone is simply king.
This Juno 60 is in great working order. ALL sliders, buttons, knobs, jacks and keys work as they should. It was fully gone through by my analog synth tech. I also had him install a new battery as well as an easy battery replacement holder.. no more solder batteries : ) He also loaded some wicked cool custom patches. Cosmetics are very very good. There are typical lite scuffs and scratches around and about, but nothing major and these are to be expected for a 30 year old synth. But it really looks fantastic! See all pics for cosmetic details. Comes with the uber necessary Kenton Pro DCB dbc to MIDI converter."
"Hi,
enjoy the first sounds of the magnificent YAMAHA CS80 after a long time of restoring its very unique sonic soul. There are still a few things to fix, but it sounds already glorious. What do you think about the modified chorus (now a flanger style effect)?
Enjoy the music !
Bernd
"Hi,
I had the pleasure to test the Donner Essential L1, a very powerful monophonic analog synthesizer quite similar to the Roland SH-101. I made some sounds, sequences and synth sketches. I used Valhalla Massive as delay and reverb.
Enjoy the music !
Bernd"
"Hi,
here is a video of my first encounter with the legendary Yamaha CS-80. The owner ask me to do a thorough inspection of the instrument and help him to sell it. This video lists all technical and cosmetic issues of the instrument. Please contact me if you´re interested in this fantastic instrument. [contact The Synth King on YouTube]
Enjoy the music!
Bernd"
"Absynth is back and better than ever. The legendary semi-modular synth built for evolving textures, immersive atmospheres, and expressive sound – now with new presets, a reimagined Mutator, Preset Explorer, surround sound and MPE support, plus much more."
And a few supporting member videos followed by the press release with images:
"Read my full review here: https://www.databroth.com/blog/absynt...
Join me December 12th at 9 AM PT in the Native Instruments discord as I live stream Absynth 6
1. Absynth 6 Review is Here: The King of Cloudy Pads Returns #absynth6 #absynth #nativeinstruments
"Native Instruments has finally released Absynth 6! In this exclusive first look review, we dive deep into the completely redesigned GUI, the new MPE capabilities, and the massive library of new presets Ocean Swift helped design.
After years of waiting, the legendary semi-modular synthesizer is back. As one of the external sound designers for this release, we've spent months exploring the new engine. In this video, we break down exactly what makes Absynth special and why the new UX modernization changes the game for sound designers and composers.
We cover everything from the new HD Mode and browsing workflow to the advanced envelope shapers that made Absynth famous - now easier to use than ever.
00:00:00 Absynth Is Back! 00:01:16 UX and UI Remake 00:03:15 Revamped Macros 00:04:22 MPE and PolyAT 00:06:22 New Synthesis 00:08:00 Browsing 00:08:27 New Presets 00:09:48 Get +780 Presets! 00:11:13 New Samples 00:13:10 In Love"
2. Absynth 6 - Design a Patch From Scratch | Layers, Clouds, Macros & Note FX #absynth6 #sounddesign
Along the way we explore the unique features that make Absynth special: working with all three layers, using per-layer envelopes, dialing in note-aware effects, assigning macros, shaping clouds and filters, and sprinkling in small tricks and workflow tidbits.
By the end of the video you’ll have a clear understanding of how to approach your own Absynth 6 patch design - whether you’re after cloudy pads, moving textures or more experimental tones.
If you’re just getting into Absynth 6 or want to go deeper than presets, this walkthrough will help you unlock the synth’s semi-modular possibilities and design your own signature sounds.
Press release follows:
Native Instruments makes things “Weird by Design” with the return of fan-favorite soft-synth Absynth 6
The semi-modular powerhouse, overhauled for a new generation of musicians, featuring full MPE polyphonic aftertouch, surround support and an AI-powered browser
"King of the CZ Series with double the polyphony, a stereo chorus, multitimbral capabilities for splits and layers, and a larger memory capacity of 64 user-programmable patches. This one has an upgraded blue OLED screen.
Synth shows average wear and tear, plastic window panel is cracked. Does not affect the functionality of the synth and is purely cosmetic. Includes AC power cable."
"Hi,
here is my second demo of the mighty Yamaha CS80. This time the song or improvisanton turned out to be completely atypical, not at all similar to the style of Vangelis. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about it.
Bernd"
"Hi,
here is my first ambient improvisation with a Yamaha CS 80. This instrument has been given to me for thorough inspection. Cosmetically the CS80 is in a quite bad shape, however, from a technical perspective it works almost perfectly. You will notice some issues with one voice distorting and not beeing consistent in volume (probably a bad VCA).
I´m working on a video showing further details on how I came to this instrument or shall I say how this CS80 found me. Stay tuned.
Bernd"
"I thought I had seen it all in my 'will it music' test equipment journey. Then I stumbled upon the Brüel & Kjaer 7502 Digital Event Recorder and my mind was blown. They accidentally (?) designed a wonderful lofi pitch shifting echo, that allows for extreme effects. It can even be played as a keyboard controlled sampler with a range wide enough to turn everything into digital dust. An absolute gem and worth saving from the trash heap that all these instruments end up sooner or later.
I first learned about Roger a few years ago while making a film called “The History of Sampling in Music” [below]. While I didn’t know anything about Roger at the time, I was astounded to learn that he had created both the LinnDrum and the MPC, which shaped the punchy robotic drums of 80s pop music and the grungy experimental grooves of 90s hip-hop respectively. I did a quick bit of research about him for my video, but didn’t really dig much deeper than that… However, a few months ago I decided to rewatch my old project, which reignited my interest in Roger’s story and gave me the idea for this video.
Like my previous project, I’d initially planned to write a script and do a voice-over, but after discovering the assortment of recorded interviews that Roger has already appeared in, I realised that I could just chop them up and have Roger tell his own story. I thought 'hey that sounds pretty cool, how hard could it be?'
Well, let’s just say I’m probably never going to do something like this again. I did enjoy making this and I am proud of it, but if I had just done a voice-over not only would it have been easier to make, but I also could’ve included a lot information without it feeling incredibly clunky. The initial cut was about 26 minutes, but I cut out loads of stuff for the sake of pacing and trying to stick to narrative beats. Roger is a fascinating guy with a lot of great anecdotes though, so if you enjoyed this video then I highly recommend you seek out some of the podcasts/interviews he’s done over the years.
I planned on making all the music for this film myself, but decided it would be better to use music that relates to Roger in some way (for example, he co-wrote 'Promises' by Eric Clapton and 'Quittin’ Time' by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and first used the LM-1 Drum Computer on the Leon Russell album 'Life & Love' which featured the track 'One More Love Song'.) I salvaged one of these demo tracks for the credits, but you can listen it and a few more scrapped tracks here:
Since you’ve read this far, here’s a few bonus Roger facts that got cut out of the video:
The LM-1 was featured on the best selling album of all time - 'Thriller' by Micheal Jackson, as well as other early 80s hits like 'Maneater' by Hall & Oates, 'Valerie' by Steve Winwood, and for some reason - the original 1983 Thomas the Tank Engine theme song.
Roger hired his friend, a professional session drummer called Art Wood, to record most of the sounds on the LM-1. They set up the kit in Roger’s closet, recording each of the drums one at a time… then called it a day. Given the popularity of the songs featuring these recordings - Art Wood is technically one of most prominently featured drummers of all time.
And here's two bonus facts about this video:
The title 'The King of Drum Machines' is a quote from the father of MIDI - Dave Smith, when he spoke about Roger and the Tempest drum machine (which they built together) on a Sweetwater panel in 2015. [below]
This video was released on Roger’s 70th birthday.
I hope you enjoy it!"
The History of Sampling in Music (2022)
"Join Mitch Gallagher as he moderates 'The Inventors of Synth' panel discussion at Gearfest '15. Featuring industry icons Dave Smith, Tom Oberheim, and Roger Linn discussing their thoughts on the past, present, and future of analog synthesizers and controllers.
Legendary synth designer and Grammy-winner Dave Smith was the founder of Sequential Circuits in the mid-'70s. His Prophet-5, the world's first fully programmable polyphonic synth, was the first musical instrument with an embedded microprocessor. Dave is also known as the driving force behind the development of the MIDI specification. He has continued to innovate, and recently unveiled his latest synth creation, the Sequential Prophet-6.
A pioneer of the synth and MIDI world, Tom Oberheim co-designed the Synthesizer Expansion Module (SEM), a device that allowed musicians to simultaneously combine live playing and sequenced playback - a concept that pre-dated the MIDI revolution. In 1981, he, along with Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential's Dave Smith, developed the MIDI spec, which changed the course of modern music. Tom recently re-released his famed Two Voice synth.
Technical Grammy award-winner Roger Linn invented the LM-1 Drum Computer (the first sample-based drum machine) in 1979. He later designed the Akai MPC60, which combined a sampling drum machine with a real-time MIDI sequencer. His guitar effects unit, AdrenaLinn, has been used on hit recordings by John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2014 he released the LinnStrument, an expressive MIDI performance controller."
🎛️ Welcome to the sonic playground of Saß – where DAWless jams, boombap beats, and experimental ambient soundscapes collide. This channel is all about raw, hands-on music creation, driven by hardware and a deep love for texture, rhythm, and exploration.
Whether you're into electronic, techno, lo-fi hip hop, synthwave, IDM, EDM, Sound design, synth wizardry, and everything in between...
…you’re in the right place."
"Classic 90's / 2000's Mega synth.. this CS6x was the best of all the X series synths.. Cs1x, Cs2x.. the 6 was king! It has a way better build quality, way better, bolder,. cleaner sound and had all the techno / trance basses, leads, pads, arpeggiators and more! This synth is a GREAT addition to any synth lovers rig. It works great.. no operational issues, and it looks good as well."
"Here is a great package for any analog synth lover. It starts with a 1980 Oberheim OB-SX 4 voice that was overhauled by Synthchaser about a year ago... Works like a dream, all voices pass autotune. Has the synth king eprom in it. 56 presets. Comes with Magic Box Midi Editor that connects to the "Computer" Interface on the back. Also comes with a Behringer Controller that has the OBSX template loaded already.. Plug it all up and you now have so many controls to edit the OBSX!!! Synthchaser calibrated th OBSX as well as installed new key bushings. All in all a modern re-do and stable synth to deliver some jaw dropping Obie pads, brass, strings, leads, basses and more! RARE to find a turn key package like this and priced low as well!"
"In this video, we take another look at UTF-8 SAMPLIFIED – the fully open-source 8-bit Eurorack drum module I released with ASCII Synth. It’s made its way into racks all over the world, and even into DIY workshops like the one run by mzourack at Noise Kitchen in Prague.
Now it’s getting even better:
Thanks to a pull request by community member poetaster, three new kits have been added: 808, Jungle, and Beatbox – plus a handy wav2c.py script that lets you convert your own samples into custom kits!
"In this video we are building a tiny - almost credit card sized - drum machine called UTF-9 SAMPLIFIED. It is based on the bleep drum. Check out my version on GitHub:
