Sinister Sounds for Halloween on the Oberheim FVS

video upload by Electro-Classic Orchestra

"A sinister improvisation on a Gilbert & Sullivan opera "The Sorcerer". The song is 'Sprites of Earth and Air' and is played heavily on the Oberheim Four Voice Synthesizer (FVS) from 1976 with its incredible state-variable multi-mode filters, one of the first truly polyphonic synthesizers ever made. Also featured are three Moogs, a Third Wave, a D50 and a vocoder!" Polymoog in there as well.

See the Halloween label below for additional spooky posts.

Bach on the ARP 2600

video upload by Electro-Classic Orchestra

"Bach's 3-part Invention in B minor. I've spent the past month getting to know the ARP 2600 and have been amazed at the sonic possibilities. I opted for beautiful, musical tones instead of the bleeps and blips you so often hear from this magnificent machine!"

Invention 4 (Bach on Moog modular system)

video upload by Electro-Classic Orchestra

"One of Bach's shortest 2-part Inventions, clocking in at only one minute. I first heard this Invention in D minor on Wendy Carlos' Switched-on Bach album. She had an elaborate customized Moog system. I did my best to pay homage with my rather limited system, and I hope it captures the spirit of Switched-on Bach. Enjoy!"

Auld Lang Syne on a Yamaha L-20D

video upload by Benjamin Dehli

"Playing an excerpt from Auld Lang Syne on a Yamaha L-20D electric harmonium / reed organ 🎹"

https://www.dehlimusikk.no

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Happy New Year everyone!

The above video by Benjamin Dehli went up yesterday on the 31st, and I figured it would be an appropriate start to the New Year - something vintage that harkens back to the pre-synth age, but new to the site. This is actually the first post to feature the Yamaha L-20D. Aparently it's an electric harmonium as opposed to an electonics-based harmonium like the Telharmonium (click and scroll down for additional posts). If anyone knows more about the Yamaha L-20D and/or when it was released, feel free to leave a comment.

I found the following brief discripton from this forum:

"Yamaha harmonium - looks like it dates from the 60's or 70's in great condition. I've tried to find out info about these on the net for ages but there doesn't seem to be ANYTHING out there on it. This plugs into the mains and it sort of whirs up - like a mini leslie rotating speaker and when you play you can feel the wind coming out of it. It also has a sort of knee pedal that you can use to alter the volume. sometimes there's a bit of a buzz overall but it seems to depend on the day and the weather but a great vintage sound.No outputs on this but has built in speaker so would be great for micing up and recording."

There is no mention of it on Wikipedia as of this post. That said, it sounds like the electric portion powers the airflow, so it's likely closer to a classic wind based harmonium (click for additional posts) than an electronics based harmonium like the Telharmonium. Note via 120years.net, "The Telharmonium can be considered the first significant electronic musical instrument and was a method of electro-magnetically synthesising and distributing music over the new telephone networks of victorian America."

I also found the following video from four years ago.

Music for a Found Harmonium (Cover) on a Yamaha L-20D

video upload by Benjamin Dehli

"Music for a Found Harmonium by Penguin Cafe Orchestra played on a Yamaha L-20D electric harmonium / reed organ. All the sounds is created with the organ and recorded with a matched pair of AKG C451E."

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Happy New Year!

Thank you to eveyone who enjoys the site, supporting members, and sponsors. You all keep me going each and every day.

Yamaha Introduces the MODX+

video upload by Yamaha Synths Official

It looks like the rumors were wrong on this one - no AN-X engine. Instead we get the AWM2 (Advanced Wave Memory 2) sample and synthesis engine, and a pure FM-X (Frequency Modulation) engine.

"Check out the compact, lightweight MODX+ synthesizers, designed to help you take control of your sound and stand out on every stage, studio or stream.

MODX+ is powered by the same innovative technologies found in our flagship MONTAGE synthesizer including the AWM2 (Advanced Wave Memory 2) sample and synthesis engine and a pure FM-X (Frequency Modulation) synth engine for amazing sound playback and complex sound design.

MODX+ Motion Control brings the sophisticated automation of music production to live performances by giving you simultaneous control of up to 128 parameters. So you can shape live sound like a conductor commands an orchestra."

SOUND

The most important element of any instrument is the sound. MODX+ makes all elements of your music sound amazing. MODX+ uses the same technology that powers the flagship MONTAGE: 128 notes of AWM2 (Advanced Wave Memory 2) sample and synthesis polyphony for stunning emulative acoustic instruments, synth sounds and drums. MODX+ also features 128 notes of FM-X (Frequency Modulation) polyphony - a unique, expressive, highly-programmable synthesis technology for dynamic, electro-modern music creation.

The AWM2 engine is exclusive to Yamaha synthesizers and offers much more than just sample playback. Each of the 16 AWM2 Parts feature eight programmable synthesizers with 18 different filter types, amplitude, pitch and filter envelope generators, nine LFOs, 3-band EQ and a dedicated dual insert effect with Virtual Circuitry Modeling.

The FM-X engine: Everything you love about the iconic DX7 meets the latest Yamaha innovations. FM-X produces classic ‘80s or cutting-edge EDM synthesizer sound with incredible dynamic range, power and fidelity. MODX+ goes well beyond the capabilities of the original DX7 with an 8-operator FM architecture, 128-note polyphony, many filter types and more. All with Motion Control for ever-evolving and changing textures to create sounds no one has ever heard before.

256-NOTE TOTAL POLYPHONY
MODX+ features 128-note stereo AWM2 polyphony and 128-notes of FM-X polyphony. Due to the unique architecture of MODX+ and MONTAGE, this polyphony is always available without latency or compromising other features.

Smart Morph enables morphing between FM-X sounds. Its sophisticated A.I. algorithm creates an interactive morphing map from up to eight FM-X sounds. You can “play” this map from the touchscreen or use the Super Knob to move between two points. The result is a staggering number of interesting and interactive new sounds.

You can find additional info at: www.yamaha.com/2/modxplus

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Electro Harmonix String9

video upload by Robin Rimbaud-Scanner

"This is some of the most fun I've had with a guitar pedal in a while. The polyphonic STRING9 String Ensemble from Electro Harmonix transforms a guitar into nine different string ensembles and string synthesisers, so I can still tap into the heart of my love of electronics whilst using my handsome Danelectro 59M guitar.

This is just live documentation of my improvising with it in the studio. Nothing special, just pretending I'm in a progressive rock band, but without the cape and long hair. And deliberate bum notes to keep you on your toes. Happy listening!"

Electro-Harmonix STRING9 String Ensemble (EHX Pedal Demo Bill Ruppert)

video upload by EHX

"The polyphonic STRING9 String Ensemble transforms your guitar into nine different string ensembles and string synthesizers while requiring zero modifications, special pickups, or MIDI implementation. In a 9 Series first, the STRING9 includes the signature EHX Freeze effect to sample and hold notes and chords with infinite sustain."

"The polyphonic STRING9 String Ensemble transforms a guitar into nine different string ensembles and string synthesizers while requiring zero modifications, special pickups, or MIDI implementation. It relies on the same technology powering all EHX 9 Series pedals. In a 9 Series first, the STRING9 includes the signature EHX Freeze effect on 3 of the presets to sample and hold notes and chords with infinite sustain.

A rotary switch on the STRING9 allows the player to select the sound of their choice, as follows:
SYMPHONIC: Re-creates the sound of a large symphony orchestra and features an octave down effect on the lower range of the guitar for a full sound

JUNE-O: Emulates the Juno® analog string synthesizer sound

PCM: Sound of a small string section sampled by a vintage PCM keyboard producing a warm vintage string sound

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Todd Barton on BBC Sounds + Multum in Parvo Release

Excerpts of Todd Barton's performance at the Unsound Festival in Krakow is up on BBC Sounds.

"A rebroadcast of excerpts from my performance of Music and Poetry of the Kesh at the Unsound Festival in Krakow last month with a wonderful ensemble of Polish musicians. Here's the link which will be active for a month.

And the first excerpt on the broadcast is from my new solo Buchla Music Easel album, Multum in Parvo with cover art by Ursula Barton! [embed below]

Much more to come in 2019! Gigs in Belgium, NYC and Santa Barbara. New Album releases too.

Happy Holidays!
Best wishes,
Todd"

"If you’re anything like me, then one of your favourite albums of 2018 was Music and Poetry of The Kesh, released on the Freedom To Spend label. Recorded over two years in the mid-1980s, Music and Poetry of The Kesh in truth was never really designed as an ‘album’ as such. It was a cassette bundled with early editions of the legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin’s Always Coming Home novel.

The novel described the art, culture, language and ethnography of a fictional tribe of indigenous inhabitants of North California, 500 years from now. On the tape, Le Guin and her friend and collaborator, composer and sound artist Todd Barton, created a detailed, vivid musical identity for these people - the Kesh.

Listened to in 2018, the sounds of Music and Poetry of The Kesh feel simultaneously ancient and futuristic. Todd designed and built new instruments to realise the Kesh’s music, which were woven among synthesisers and field recordings from the Kesh’s native Napa Valley.

It’s a stunning, singular piece of work, but the story doesn’t end there. Anyone intrigued by Music and Poetry of the Kesh would be well advised to dig further into Todd Barton’s work, starting with Multum in Parvo - a brand new piece Todd composed using the Epoch Modular Benjolin and Buchla Music Easel.

“Don Buchla created a musical instrument that he said had no ‘preconceived ideas,’” Todd recently told the Listen to This website. “He wanted people to figure out how they wanted to interface with it. You see that with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Alessandro Cortini—they’re bringing their own voice to the palette. For my part, I’m obsessed with sound, with the ‘Buchla Paradigm.’

“His approach to synthesis, which was so different from Moog on the East coast, is immediately evident to anyone who has ever touched a Buchla instrument. If you listen to a Buchla, it will start rewiring your synapses.”

Todd honed his craft composing for acoustic instruments - string quartets, small ensembles and orchestras. In the 1970s he was drawn to emergent synthesiser technologies because of their abilities to access tones ‘between’ the standard 12 notes of the Western musical scale, and to have the power to craft music out of glitches and unique sonic gestures that are unplayable on acoustic instruments.

Multum in Parvo is reflective of this approach - it has a definite and logical flow as a composition, but its content is abstract sound sculpted out of pure energy, something only analogue synthesis can offer.

Sometimes sparse, sometimes bristling and jumping with detail, Multum... provides a genuinely multidimensional experience. Listen to it in the dark on your best headphones, you experience your brain moving slowly through a black space where an orchestra of strange, electro-microorganisms seem to swarm, murmurate and disperse, adding their distinct flutters, whispers and calls to an immersive electronic symphony.

Like the classic Forbidden Planet soundtrack, which Todd was inspired by, or indeed Music and Poetry of the Kesh - Multum in Parvo seems to function as part of some unique sonic ecology, according to its own rules, in its own universe and somewhere just beyond time.

Multum in Parvo is available on CD with artwork by the artist Ursula Barton - Todd’s daughter, named after his great friend and collaborator. It is also available on cassette with Blue Tapes artwork as ‘blue twenty-eight’.

Praise for Todd Barton:

"Multum In Parvo creates a very real imaginary place, and then it weaves that imaginary place into exactly where you are right now. I’ve listened to Multum In Parvo a dozen times or more and I’ve never heard the same album twice, because I change and my mood changes but also because incidental noises in my body and my surroundings – from sighs to car horns to distant giggles – all seem to be on very friendly terms with Todd Barton and his Buchla." - The Quietus

“Listen outdoors and the creek water you hear in Le Guin and Barton’s songs may sync up to the muddy river you’re passing; listen during a city’s winter and the percussive rhythm and bell-like tones will commune with your apartment radiator. These are sounds that seek to speak from then and beyond, to right now.” - Pitchfork
credits
released October 5, 2018

Improvised soundscapes by Todd Barton
on the Buchla Music Easel and Epoch Hordijk Benjolin

Cover art by Ursula Barton (ursulabarton.com)"

Electro Harmonix Mel9 Tape Replay Machine

Published on Mar 14, 2016 EHX

"The new MEL9 Tape Replay Machine emulates vintage Mellotron® sounds and uses the same ground breaking technology that powers the award-winning B9 and C9 Organ Machines, plus the KEY9 Electric Piano Machine. Nine of the most famous sounds are included: Orchestra, Cello, Strings, Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Brass, Low Choir and High Choir.

MEL9 works on guitar without modifications, special pickups or MIDI implementation and tracks bends, slides, even whammy dive bombs! It also works with bass guitar down to the open A string and keyboards, too.

Watch as Bill Ruppert takes you on a tour of the MEL9 and re-creates some of the most iconic sounds of classic rock!

®Mellotron is a registered trademark of David Kean, M. Resch AB and Markus Resch."

An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

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electro-music 2014 festival - Sept 5-7, Huguenot NY

"The electro-music festival, known as the "Woodstock of electronic music," is the world's premiere event for experimental electronic music. Now in it's tenth year, this year's gathering features three mind-bending days of innovative electronic music concerts, seminars, workshops, demonstrations, jam sessions, video art, a laptop battle, and a swap-meet. Action starts at 1pm on Friday, September 5 and runs until midnight on September 7. Musical activities will be running continuously throughout the three days of the festival.

electro-music 2014 takes place at the Greenkill Retreat Center in Huguenot, New York. On-site lodging and meals are available. Tickets range from $40 for a single day to $339 for a 3-day pass including meals and lodging.

More information, including a complete schedule of events can be found on the web site at:
http://event.electro-music.com/
You may also contact us at
event@electro-music.com

A wide variety of instruments and musical styles will be represented, ranging from theremin to analog modular synthesizers to home made devices, from classic space music and ambient to abstract electronica, glitch, electro-pop and beat-oriented music.

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"In C" Performer for iPad & 50th Anniversary of "In C" - sfSoundOrchestra Event

iTunes: "In C" Performer for iPad - sonomatics

"Fifty years ago, Terry Riley essentially launched the Minimalism movement with the premiere of 'In C', influencing iconic composers like Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams.

Now, you are able to recreate history in the comfort of your own home.

'In C' Performer for iPad allows a single person to play 'In C', normally an ensemble work, as a solo performer. You can play the piece using the Built-In sounds, or via MIDI (through a USB camera connector or WiFi MIDI).

Double-tapping on a sliders will 'group' them together so you can adjust the volume of multiple instruments at once."

"sfSoundSummerSeries

Tuesday, July 8 2014
uptown nightclub
1928 telegraph :: oakland
donation :: 9p
active music series
presents

sfSoundOrchestra
commemorating the 50th anniversary of
Terry Riley's In C


On November 2, 1964 at The San Francisco Tape Music Center, 321 Divisidero, Terry Riley essentially launched Minimalism with the premiere of In C. Performers included Jeannie Brecken, Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, Terry Riley, Warner Jepson, Stan Schaap, Sonny Lewis, Ramon Sender, James Lowe, Morton Subotnick, Tony Martin, Mel Weitzman, Pauline Oliveros, and Phil Winsor. Although this classic work is often cited for its influence on composers like Glass, Reich, and Adams, its use of open instrumentation and dynamic form determined individually during the performance is perhaps more radical, and certainly more relevant to today’s Bay Area experimental music scene.

This performance is also the “App Release Party” of a new iPad app created by sfSound’s Matt Ingalls and Henry Warwick from Ryerson University (Toronto). Prof. Warwick will be present performing on the app as part of the orchestra. This extraordinary piece of software allows one person to play "In C", which is normally an ensemble work, as a solo performer. In this this way, and in a first-of-its-kind performance, he will be performing as an ensemble, with an ensemble.

M U S I C I A N S
Cory Wright, saxophone
Richard Worn, bass
Henry Warwick, ipad
Christina Stanley violin
Meerenai Shim, flute
Aram Shelton, saxophone
Monica Scott, cello
Larry Polansky, electric guitar
Stacey Pelinka, flute
Crystal Pascucci, cello
Theodore Padouvas, trumpet
Aaron Novik, clarinet
Lisa Mezzacapa, bass
Dominique Leone, keyboard
Benjamin Kreith, violin
John Ingle, saxophone
Matt Ingalls, clarinet
Diane Grubbe, flute
Phillip Greenlief, saxophone
Giacomo Fiore, guitar
Mark Clifford, vibraphone
MaryClare Brzytwa, flute
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe/english horn
Jacob Abela, melodica


O P E N I N G S E T S
Gosling
Malocculsion

Malocculsion is the solo recording/performance moniker of Oakland based sound/visual artist malocculsion proto of Ratskin Records. Proto uses voice, tapes, loops, homemade electronics, and field recordings to create a dark mirror of the unknown through audio and visual trap door psychosis and high tension performances. Proto also runs and co-curates the Ratskin Records and Lewcid Joosebox imprints and often can be seen as the lead roadie for the Styrofoam Sanchez project. proto has solo recorded works planned for release on Tusco/Embassy and Ratskin Records.https://soundcloud.com/malocculsion-proto/malocculsion-occams-razor-2013

Danishta Rivero (Voicehandler,Blood Wedding) and Sarah Elena Palmer (EFFT, Lutra Lutra) are Gosling: an electro-acoustic soundscape project that uses analog machines and acapella effects. The Gosling code of conduct is that each improvisation adhere to the journey of the sound, without rush, fear, or assumption."

This one in via Brian Comnes.

Final Set of A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

The listing is from the author Peter Forrest who states this is likely the last set.  These are great books and imo the most comprehensive.  Click on the pics to get an idea of what they are like.  Peter also has other items listed including The Museum of Synthesizer Technology and Synthesizer von Gestern II.

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electro-music 2012

"The electro-music festival, known as the "Woodstock of electronic music," is the world's premiere event for experimental electronic music. Now in it's eighth year, this year's gathering features three mind-bending days of innovative electronic music concerts, seminars, workshops, demonstrations, jam sessions, video art, a laptop battle, and a swap-meet. Action starts at 1pm on Friday, September 7 and runs until midnight on September 9. Musical activities will be running continuously throughout the three days of the festival.

electro-music 2012 takes place at the Greenkill Retreat Center in Huguenot, New York. On-site lodging and meals are available. Tickets range from $35 for a single day to $385 for a 3-day pass including meals and lodging.

More information, including a complete schedule of events can be found on the web site at: http://event.electro-music.com/ You may also contact us at event@electro-music.com

A wide variety of instruments and musical styles will be represented, ranging from theremin to analog modular synthesizers to home made devices, from classic space music and ambient to abstract electronica, glitch, electro-pop and beat-oriented music.

The following artists will be performing:

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Ultimate Classic Moog Album Collection and Some Others

via these auctions

"Plugged In, Switched On! the MOOG synthesizer is featured this week. Check them all out: 26 different Moog LPs - Playing Bacharach, Playing the Beatles, Playing ABBA, playing Popcorn, Playing Bach, playing Country and Western, and always striving to "improve" on the classics. Some are pretty common, others are pretty rare, but all the epitome of good taste and artistic enlightenment such as MOOG LPs of the 70s came to represent.

"The Synthesizer Sound Machine - The Fantastic Pikes
Its incredible that all that sound comes from a machine!
That lass is rich with popcorn, and coincidentally, the song "Popcorn" features. No self respecting Moog album should be without a version of that wondorous tune.......
SONIC 9044 (Astor Goldengroove series)"

"The MOOG Strikes Bach - Hans Wurman - 1969
RCA LSC3125
Stand back as a switched-on anonymous nerd plugs-in the bewigged old masters
Thank Gott for electronic reworkings of classical favourites"

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