PĒRKONS + PERfourMER

video upload by Electric Bear

#vermona #ericasynths #electronicmusic

Erica Synths Pērkons + Dreadbox Nymphes | Vermona PERfourMER + Integral + Digitone

video upload by Electric Bear

Vermona PERfourMER + Integral + Digitone

video upload by Electric Bear

"jam with #vermona PERfourMER, ‪@TastyChips‬ #integral, ‪@WeAreElektron‬ #digitone (drums+sequencing )"

Sound exploring - Bear in blue by Pochard

video upload by Pochard

"Five examples with different sound sources. In this first episode you can hear the original sound and the altered sound going trough the pedal. No other processing is done."

Check out Bear in blue by Pochard here.

"Bear in blue is an electric signal distortion unit with a full-bodied sound, highly controllable state variable filter and dry mixing output stage.

It can be used with guitar, bass and synthesizers."

Synth Videos by Gard Osen with the Moog Sub Phatty, Korg Minilogue, and Roland TR-8 & JU-06

Published on Sep 22, 2017 Gard Osen

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gard.osen/

Soundclound: https://soundcloud.com/gard-osen

More stuff: https://soundcloud.com/gardmatilde

Playlist:

1. Gard Osen - Bjelge (Casiokids cover)

"Over 10 years ago a band called 'Casiokids' from my hometown made an album called 'Fück Midi'. One of the songs of the album was a demo thing from an old Casio keyboard. Of course I had to make an ALL-MIDI controlled cover of that song.

Check out the original: https://open.spotify.com/track/6GxFVr..."

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Happy New Year! The Year in Synths 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a busy year it has been in the world of synths.

This is going to be one doozy of a post, so bear with me. This post is a review of the year in synths for 2013. We begin with Tributes to Those We Lost This Year, followed by New Manufacturers & Makers, Older Manufacturers Added to the Site, New Gear Announcements, Top 10 Posts by Traffic,  My Standout Posts for the Year, and finally This Years' Synth Events. I did my best to keep things as short and concise as possible.

Let's begin with the hardest part of the post.

Tributes to Those We Lost This Year

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer
Lou Reed RIP
RIP Dick Raaymakers aka Kid Baltan
RIP George Duke - DreamWeaver
RIP Ralph Dyck, Sept 28, 1941 – May 20, 2013
RIP Ray Manzarek

All missed and never to be forgotten. Take a moment to remember them.

------

New Manufacturers & Makers

Starting last January, I decided to keep a running list of every new manufacturer and maker introduced to the site during the year.  This is something I haven't done before and I thought it would be interesting to see how many there were in the year.   It's easy to focus on the big synth announcements throughout the year, but what about all the new makers and brands? I shouln't have to go considerably into the significance of new designers on the scene, so I'll just say two things regarding them.  One, the number of new makers is a direct reflection on the interest in our scene, and two, these are the creators of new gear which directly translate into new designs not previously available to us.  Think about that for a moment.  These are makers and designs that did not exist before.  They are part of our synth history.  So what is the total count of new synth designers for the year? A whopping 113. Think about that a bit. One hundred and thirteen new synth designers and brands this year alone.

Here they are (note a handful date back to 2012, but 2013 marked their momentum and availability):

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Only 12 Days Left for Bob Moog Foundation Raffle

"Time Running Out to Enter to Win One-of-a-Kind Moogfest Voyager Synthesizer

November 19, 2012 (Asheville, NC) -- There are only 12 days left to enter the Bob Moog Foundation’s raffle for the Minimoog Voyager synthesizer signed by a host of artists and panelists who performed or spoke at Moogfest 2012. The four week raffle began on November 2, 2012 and ends at 11:59pm on November 30, 2012 or until all 700 tickets are sold, whichever comes first. Tickets are $20 each or six for $100 and are available for purchase through the Bob Moog Foundation’s online store. All proceeds benefit the education and historical preservation initiatives of the Foundation. The winner will be drawn on Monday, December 3, 2012.

Donated to the Bob Moog Foundation by Moog Music, Inc., the Moogfest Voyager is the Electric Blue Edition featuring a gorgeous electric blue backlit panel and fractal blue (black with tiny blue specks) solid ash cabinet. The retail price of this award-winning instrument is over $3,500.

The following Moogfest 2012 artists and panelists signed the Voyager, making it a one-of-a-kind collectors item:

Squarepusher, Nas, Ana Sia, Shpongle, Paul and Phil Hartnoll of Orbital, the Magnetic Fields, Santigold, Thomas Dolby, GZA, Richard Devine, Carl Craig, Miike Snow, Les Claypool of Primus, Bear in Heaven, Explosions in the Sky, Morton Subotnick, Richie Hawtin, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Alessandro Cortini, Chad Hugo, Herb Deutsch, and the team that created the Robert Moog Google Doodle, released on May 23, 2012, Moog's 78th birthday.

Ryan Germick, Lead Designer from the Google Doodle team, crafted a miniature replica of the now infamous “Goog” browser synthesizer on the back of the Voyager.

The Minimoog Voyager, designed by Bob Moog himself and released in 2002, is an updated version of the original Minimoog with 21st century advantages to carry the archetype into the future. The Voyager is the definitive American synthesizer, a lovingly hand-crafted, monophonic, monotimbral high performance instrument with enormous sonic range and possibilities. From its famous ladder filters to its innovative Touch Surface Controller, the Minimoog Voyager is the ultimate in analog. – Moog Music, Inc. website."

The GREATEST Custom Studio Keyboard Stand!

via this auction

Some great synth spotting below as well. Note the Con Brio, Conn Electric, 360 Systems, and OB-Mx amongst others..

"Perfect for someone with a large keyboard/synth collection and want to keep it close without a lotta space. It is a 6 tier keyboard stand for wall mounting. It's VERY strong, and mounts to the wall (please find studs to screw into!) securely with long screws/bolts. It's welded iron, with some foam pads added to each tier. Over the years, I've had many people approach me about making another, but I never did. It will be a bear to ship, but it's possible. I'll leave it at "local pickup" for the auction, and IF you want to ship it, we'll deal with the cost them."

Battlestar Galactica Cylon theme on Eigenharp Alpha

YouTube via gbevin | September 06, 2010

"I've been studying the Eigenharp Alpha for a few months and have been looking for a nice song to cover until my own compositions are finished. I accidentally stumbled into the melody of the Battlestar Galactica Cylon theme while jamming and thought it could be a perfect fit.

The theme is heard in the series by the final five Cylons and it's a melody that Bear McCreary composed on top of the chords of Bob Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower'. I continued improvising off of the piano song that the series' character Kara Thrace is trying to remember and made my own version of it.

This arrangement on the Eigenharp Alpha features Tonehammer's Emotional Piano, the Eigenharp's natively modeled Cello, Orange Tree Samples Evolution Electric Guitar Strawberry, Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro and FabFilter Twin 2. The drum loops are part of the extensive collection that ships with the Eigenharp.

At the end of the song it seems that I'm taxing my two year old MacBook Pro a bit too much and there's some crackling since the CPU has trouble keeping up. It was fine while rehearsing, but recording at the same time seems to have pushed it over the edge, sorry about that. I should have expected this as these Kontakt sampler instruments are so detailed that some computers have trouble even playing them by themselves.

I hope you enjoy this performance nonetheless, do tell me what you think of it."

Eigenharp Pico - Live recording "Winter Movement"

gbevin | February 02, 2010

"If you like this song, consider supporting me on Akamusic:
http://akamusic.com/gbevin

This song got me to win the runner-up prize for the Eigenharp Alpha competition."

more videos here

EMS PITCH TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER

via this auction

"EMS Pitch To Voltage Converter, perfect to add to your Synthi or VCS3. Also interfaces with other modular/cv synths. Fully functional but missing the front panel 'reference tone' switch (an easy repair and the switch can be ordered from EMS - the ref. tone is currently set to 'off') and comes with mini-Bulgin power lead. The module is internally switchable between 110V and 220V.

Previously owned by Malcolm Cecil and formed part of TONTO. "Tonto is an acronym for "The Original New Timbral Orchestra," the world's first (and still the largest) multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer, designed and constructed by Malcolm Cecil. Tonto featured on albums from Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Bobby Womack, The Isley Brothers, Gil Scott-Heron and Weather Report, as well as releases from Stephen Stills, The Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, Little Feat and Joan Baez, Steve Hillage". More info here

from the original spec sheet -

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Theremin And Electric Kantele

YouTube via copperleaves

"I call this composition LEMMENKAINEN'S DREAM. Lemmenkainen was one of the heroes in the Finnish national epic known as the KALEVALA. The writer of The Lord Of The Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien, based much of his vision of Middle Earth on ideas and images from the Kalevala which he had read as a teenager. He liked it so much he actually learned Finnish in order to read the book in its native language, and later went on to invent a language entirely of his own (the language of the Elves called "Quenya") which was based on Finnish.

The kantele (pronounced "kan - teh - leh") is the national instrument of Finland and belongs to the family of instruments known as "psalteries". The one you see in this video is a 38 string, steel strung, electric kantele. It's magnetic pickups (which are eight inches long) were custom made by Jason Lollar for Bart Hopkin of Experimental Musical Instruments. If you are curious about them, visit Bart's website, windworld.com.

The kantele is an extremely resonant instrument and larger "concert" models are provided with a damper consisting of a thick felt strip similar to what you might find on a piano, in order to mute the strings. I left the damper box open in the middle part of this video so you could see what it looks like. These electroacoustic kanteles bear little resemblance to the traditional 5 and 10 string folk instruments but they open up all sorts of doors for modern musicians. The high tension and steel strings on the instrument in this video allow me, if I wish, to play the kantele with a bar which I hold in my left hand. Players of steel guitars and of certain traditional instruments of India also play in this way. The effect of it is a very pure and strangely lonely "northern" sound which I found appropriate for the piece.

The theremin I used is a Moog Etherwave Pro."

Inside an Oberheim OB-SX

Click here for more shots via this auction.

The OB-SX is a preset analog polysynth with limited programmability. I always wondered if it was closer to the OB-X or OB-Xa. According to the owner's manual notes below it has the same circuitry as the OB-X.

Update via the comments: "The OB-SX manual says its the same as the "Xa" not "X"! Looking at it right now..." Note: check out the update towards the end of this post as well.

"From the Owner's Manual:
'The Oberhiem OB-SX brings polyphonic synthesis to the discerning keyboardist at an affordable price. It's as simple to use as the popular "string machines" with the versatility of sounds achievable only with a variable synthesizer. The OB-SX is a real synthesizer utilizing the same circuitry as the celebrated OB-X. User programmability is unnecessary since the 'SX' is programmable with 24 sounds including those sounds most used and requested, such as: strings, brass, clavinet, organ, electric piano, bass, flute, and synthesizer solo. Other great sounds, many unique to the 'X' family, are also included. Each program can be modified to ones' own personal taste by adjusting the front panel controls (since they are constantly in edit mode). The programs (sounds) are permanently stored on a plug-in computer memory chip. Should 24 programs not be enough, an additional 24 are available for a nominal charge*. A switch on the back panel is provided to switch from each group. Custom chips can be used by sending an OB-X cassette tape to Oberheim (first 24 programs can be used). The key ingredient to the OB-SX is: although it's as simple to operate as your typical string machine, you can update your sounds by changing program chips.'"

Update:
"Strangely enough, the original sales flyer for the OB-SX (printed around the summer of 1980 I presume) claims it utilizes the same circuitry as the OB-X.

Read for yourselves here (the white text on black background): link

Maybe the SX was originally meant to utilize the same circuitry as the OB-X but that in the end Oberheim chose to base it on Curtis chips seeing as the OB-Xa was soon to replace the OB-X at the start of 1981.

The first OB-SX's (mk I) started to ship in the late summer/fall of 1980 so it did predate the OB-Xa. I'm not sure when the first mk II's shipped though...possibly in the spring/summer of 1981!?

Btw, does anyone here have the 2nd (or 3rd) edition of the service manual for the OB-SX (mk II)? It should be mentioned in there when the mk II first appeared.

Micke"

Update via PeteM in the comments:
"I'm a little late here, but also have a 56 Preset, Blue striped, genuine 5 Voice OB-SX, despite all references stating that the OB-SX only came in 4 or 6 voice configurations.

IMHO it is probably best to think of the OB-SX as a hybrid between the OB-X and OB-Xa, as it shares features with both. I did wonder if the OB-SX was a proof of concept for changing the production techniques from the discreet circuitry of the OB-X, to the more reliable Curtis Chip based voice card circuitry of the OB-Xa. Personally, I consider the OB-Xa as an advanced continuation of the OB-X model, rather than its replacement.

My Owner's Manual First Edition August 1980 states:

"The 0B-SX has been developed using much of the same circuitry as the Oberheim OB-X in order to get true polyphonic synthesizer sounds. This gives you the sound of an 0B-X along with the ease of operation of a pre-set synthesizer."

Owners with later User Manuals can also verify that their manuals refer to the "OB-Xa" instead of the "OB-X", so both camps are correct. This would suggest that the OB-Xa was the next evolutionary step of OB-X project.

As others have already stated, the OB-SX has the Voice Architecture of the OB-X, but using a manufacturing process relying on Curtis chip based voice cards like the OB-Xa. Some of the sounds in the first 24 presets bear testimony to the Cross Mod of the OB-X, yet it generally sounds more like an OB-Xa in 12dB/Oct mode. The sonic similarities between the OB-SX and OB-Xa are largely due to the CEM3340 Oscillators, CEM3320 Filter and CEM3310 Envelope Generators that were common to both machines.

The main differences in voice architecture between the OB-SX and OB-Xa are that the OB-SX uses Oscillator Cross Modulation like the OB-X, whereas the OB-Xa uses Filter Envelope to modulate the Oscillators instead. The OB-SX voice card only has a single CEM3320 Filter chip in 12dB/Oct mode, whereas the OB-Xa has both a 12dB/Oct and 24dB/Oct filter chip on each voice card.

Kenton can partially MIDI retrofit an OB-SX to recieve only Note On/Off data using an OB-X MIDI kit rather than an OB-Xa kit, which probably creates further debate about which OB family member the OB-SX takes after."