Live at Home II (Elektron Digitone // MFB Tanzbar // Roland S1 // Teenage Engineering KO Sidekick)

video upload by 2-Minute Warning

"It's been almost a year since I last used my Elektron Digitone. The knobs had gradually become sticky, making the instrument pretty unpleasant to use. Since this seems to be an issue other people have experienced too (and I've had similar problems with other gear), I eventually decided to buy replacement knobs and swap them myself.

And honestly, this machine is too good to stay on the shelf!

To celebrate its return, here's a second "Live at Home" session: a 14-minute live set built mainly around patterns I recorded on the Digitone before I stopped using it.

The setup:
Elektron Digitone : the heart of the setup, sequencing the Roland S-1 and sending program changes to switch its sounds throughout the set.
Roland S-1 : mainly handling the bass.
MFB Tanzbär : adding some extra analog drums, using its own internal sequencer.
Teenage Engineering KO Sidekick : processing the Tanzbär (Channel 1) and the Digitone (Channel 2), with onboard effects for breaks, transitions, and a bit of hands-on sound shaping.

The Digitone acts as the master clock, with MIDI running from the Digitone to the S-1 and then to the Tanzbär. While the Digitone sequences the S-1, the Tanzbär keeps its own patterns running in sync with the rest of the setup.

No elaborate concept this time, just a chance to revisit some old patterns, bring the Digitone back into the mix, and see where the machines take me.

As always, the performance was recorded in a single take. I mixed and mastered the individual tracks afterwards in Ableton Live, but the musical performance itself wasn't edited or fixed.

00:00 Track 01 01:21 Track 02 03:04 Track 03 05:06 Track 04 06:26 Track 05 07:55 Track 06 09:07 Track 07 10:37 Track 08 12:28 Track 09 12:52 Track 10"

Sennheiser Vocoder VSM-201

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

via this Reverb listing

This one was spotted and sent in via
M Me.

Listing details:

"The legendary Sennheiser VSM 201, one of the rarest and most important analog vocoders ever produced.

Developed by Fritz Sennheiser and introduced in 1978, the VSM 201 is a professional 20-band vocoder renowned for its exceptional intelligibility, sound quality, and flexibility. It has become one of the most iconic vocoders in electronic music history and has been used by artists including Kraftwerk, Herbie Hancock, Neil Young, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Daft Punk.

Features include:

CLICK FOR MORE »

FREEDOM by Davide Micheli

video upload by Davide Micheli

You can find an English translation of the following video description further below.

"Freedom è un brano di musica elettronica prodotto da Davide Micheli utilizzando sintetizzatori elettronici tra cui alcuni Italiani moderni come il 'GRPA4', ma anche vintage anni 80 come 'Elka Twin61' e 'CRB Diamond 910 Gold M'. Altri sintetizzatori utilizzati sono il 'Moog Voyager XL', il 'Waldrof Quantum', e per ultimo 'Oberheim OB-X8'. La Drum Machine è una Drum degli anni 80 molto famosa ai sui tempi la 'Dynacord P20' 8-Bit Drum Machine.

CLICK FOR MORE »

NLC FM OP quick review/demo

video upload by Meska (Meska)

"Quick demo/review of the NLC FM OP oscilator

RTFM& Buildguide: https://static1.squarespace.com/stati...



Thank you for watching. My name is Meska of the statik collective . I've been making mostly 'dark and expérimental' music for more than ten years now, i'v learn so much online, now it's time for me to share my knoledge, my exploration and this channel is a place to talk about the tools, sound design and techniques to make music with. You can stream my albums and EPs at https://statikwave.bandcamp.com/. If you'd like to support the channel​ consider buying music from bandcamp ;) Contact/booking: meskastatik@gmail.com"

via nonlinearcircuits

"This 4HP module is a thru 0 VCO using the SSI2130 chip. It is designed as an FM operator as per the concepts delivered by John Chowning, so for best results 2 or more are needed (get 6!), along with suitable EGs and mixers. The NLC Valmorification (VC EG) and 4HP Mix are intended as support modules to develop an all analogue FM system. It contains the oscillator and VCA, the EG must be patched in. The thru-0 oscillator has a good variety of controls – control voltage, frequency modulation, phase modulation and hard sync.

The module only has a sine output as per a standard FM operator, although it generally spits out some very complex waveforms. I rarely do any further processing to the signal, such as VCFs or wave folding, there is enough going on.

Before going too far, please check the size and datasheet of the SSI2130 at https://www.soundsemiconductor.com/ . It is tiny and will be extremely difficult to solder by hand, much better to use solder paste and a hot air gun or a reflow oven. Also the circuit requires quite a few unusual resistor sizes that need to be obtained from Mouser or similar. This is not a regular NLC design, where all the resistors are just 1k, 10k and 100k. There are a few other components that have never been used on NLC modules before as well, nothing particularly rare or expensive, just probably not in your stash.

Thanks to Neil Johnson of Sound Semiconductor Inc. for his support and advice in developing this module.

Assembled modules are built to order. They will be ready to ship within 4 weeks after ordering."

Yamaha - EMT 10 AWM Sound Expander - Sound Demo

video upload by Runningonair

"In this video I demo sounds from the Yamaha EMt-10 AWM sound expander, released in 1989. The patterns vary in usefulness but the lofi digital sounds (8/12bit) could be good for sampling. The individual sounds can apparently be played via a midi utility, but I've not looked into that so far.

All patterns are at 120BPM, for those that would like to try them out."

Music/Support:

Bandcamp:https://runningonair.bandcamp.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5fNUf...

Merch: https://runningonair-shop.fourthwall.com/en-usd

Paypal: https://paypal.me/runningonair

Dirtywave M8 Syntax 2025 one track challenge compo entry

video upload by Avrilcadabra

"Syntax is an Australian demoscene party, While it mostly is a celebration of coding and tracking for 8 and 16 bit computers they do have some M8 tracking competitions.

You can even enter some of the compos internationally. https://www.syntaxparty.org/

One such compo is the one track challenge inspired by Ess's wertstoffe track.

Rules are simple, only use 1 track, no samples, no midi, no nxt.

I think my entry came 3rd, Dustsucker won and Laamaa came second if I recall correctly.
Nevertheless I was quite proud of this.

I used a variety of techniques here, starting with fm synthesis of DTMF to make actually DTMF compliant dial tones, a DTMF decoder will understand these and it works via a table in the m8. if you want to dial an 8 and you THO (table hop) to 08 and so on, then a ring tone made in macro synth.

The speech synthesis is done by creating phonemes, it's flipping instruments and using vosim , wavemap and wavetables in wavesynth then arranged and sequenced to create words.

CLICK FOR MORE »

DMGo! is OUT! New music program for the good old Game Boy

video upload by AudioWanderer

"Drum Machina Go!
Finally released at audiowanderer.com
A new complex drum machine for the good ol' classic Game Boy
DMGo! is the ultimate music tool for your japanese handheld
With DMGo! you can make your own music fast and easy
with its simple to use step sequencer,
and they are going to sound
cool with the FX dedicated section
EKO, STUTTER, DISTORTION, and KAOS!!!

CLICK FOR MORE »

Yamaha EMR-1 Digital Drummer Sound Demo

video upload by Runningonair

Note: this appears to be the first demo featuring the EMR-1 on the site. There was one previous post featuring the EMR-1 in Yamaha's half rack series here.

"In this video I demo patterns from the Yamaha EMR-1 Digital Drummer, released in 1988. The patterns vary in usefulness but the lofi digital sounds (8/12bit) could be good for sampling. The individual sounds can apparently be played via a midi utility, but I've not looked into that so far.

All patterns are at 120BPM, for those that would like to try them out."

Music/Support:

https://runningonair.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5fNUf...

https://paypal.me/runningonair?

Custom ARP 2600

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

via this Reverb listing

"One of a kind- Arp 2600 2601 MKII Including 3620 Keyboard. All upgrades performed by Arp synth master Phil Cirocco At Discrete Synthesizers. I bought this from John McEntire at Soma Studios (Tortoise, Sea and Cake) around 2010. It is a sound design dream machine. Downsizing my studio and very sad to see this go. Cosmetically in good condition- has a few scuffs on the tolex on the back of the unit, as well as the bottom front ride side (pictured).

A few notable upgrades performed by Phil at Discrete Synthesizers-

POWER SUPPLY REBUILD
AUDIO PATH UPGRADE PACKAGE
17 INCH REVERB TANK
VCA MODULE UPGRADE
ENVELOPE GENERATOR RANGE TIME EXPANDER SWITCHES
VCO OCTAVE SWITCHES
AR ENVELOPE GENERATOR UPGRADE
1/4 INCH LINE LEVEL JACKS
24Db DUAL MODE FILTER - MODEL 2621(no longer available)
VCO / 4 CHANNEL MIXER - MODEL 2627 (no longer available)

International shipping is too unpredictable due to tariffs. If you are very interested please DM me and we can see if it makes sense."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Oberheim Teo 5 The Edge of Midnight Vol.2 Preset Bank

video upload by Reginald "Regg" Smith

Oberheim Teo 5 The Edge of Midnight Vol.1 Preset Bank

"This preset bank includes 48 Presets for the Oberheim Teo-5

Purchase Link: The Edge of Midnight Vol.2 https://reginald-regg-smith-sounds.se...

The Edge of Midnight Bundle (Vol.1 & 2) https://reginald-regg-smith-sounds.se...

Designed by Industry Producer Reginald 'Regg' Smith for the OBERHEIM Teo-5

Visit www.soundstoinspire.com for more of my preset banks!

Being primarily a music producer and songwriter, the focus of these presets were to design presets that sound good in a music production. Most of the presets contains additional modulation via mod wheel, so one preset almost feels like 2.

These presets are to be installed using a Sysex Library Manager (Free)"

Moog Taurus Bass Pedals in Genesis Songs and more - The Legendary Prog Rock Sound!

video upload by RetroSound

"The legendary Moog Taurus Bass Pedals played a huge role in the powerful low-end sound of progressive rock — and Genesis used that sound in some truly iconic songs.

In this video, we take a closer look at the Moog Taurus bass pedal and its role in the Genesis and the Phil Collins, Steve Hackett solo works, exploring those deep, massive bass frequencies that became a signature of progressive rock.

From the classic Genesis era to the unmistakable sound of the Taurus pedals, we'll look at how these legendary analog bass pedals were used and why the Moog Taurus became such an important instrument in rock music.

If you're a fan of progressive rock, Moog synthesizers, analog synths, bass pedals or classic 1970s rock sounds, this video is for you.

🎧 Listen with headphones or a good sound system to really hear those deep Taurus frequencies!"

The song list: 0:06 Afterglow 0:47 I Don`t Care Anymore (P. Collins) 1:16 Dance On A Volcano 1:54 Squonk 2:22 Clocks (S. Hackett) 2:50 Los Endos 3:10 Musical Box 3:35 Mama 4:31 Entangled 4:56 Firth Of Fifth 5:20 I Know What I Like 5:42 Shadow Of The Hierophant (S. Hackett) 5:55 Suppers Ready 6:18 Tonight Tonight Tonight

New Maschine 3.7 update and Expansions | Native Instruments

video upload by Native Instruments

"Maschine is alive and evolving. The latest update packs in a host of fresh features. To celebrate, we’re launching three special Expansions, including Thirty – a Native Instruments 30th birthday addition.

Check it out: https://www.native-instruments.com/pa...

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:30 New Paris Heat Expansion
00:55 Generate tab
02:45 Melody generation
04:21 Chord generation
05:43 Variation tab
07:33 New Rage Circuit Expansion
07:56 Euclidean generation
10:12 New Thirty Expansion
10:29 Note probability
11:53 Probability lock
12:25 Free update
12:47 Outro"

Update: press release follows:

A MAJOR UPDATE FOR MASCHINE 3

Maschine 3 is Native Instruments' beat-making and music production software, usable on its own or with Maschine hardware. It's built to keep musical ideas flowing at every step, letting producers lay down beats, sample, arrange, and perform with virtual instruments or their own sounds, solo or inside a DAW. Maschine 3.7 adds a set of creative sequencing tools designed to get producers out of a blank grid and into a groove faster than ever.

Key Update Features

RANDOM NOTE GENERATOR: Let Maschine write the notes. Set the odds and start from an idea instead of an empty grid.

CLICK FOR MORE »

INFIDEL low fidelity DIY modular synth from DenverSynthLabs

video upload by manmade madman

"INFIDEL shown here put through its paces.
This is an intentionally non-musical demo to show the power and sound of INFIDEL. It gets loud. If you don't like it, good.
The point is, you've never heard a VST sound like this, ever.
What we make hasn't existed before.
So, stop chasing other people's sound, and make something that's your very own for a change.
With roughly 1/3rd of the available modules shown here, you can tweak until morning.
Just make sure you get some sleep sometimes!

store.denversynth.com"



"INFIDEL is a full modular synth built around one idea: every module runs its own cheap sign-magnitude DAC, at its own sample rate and bit depth, so the whole rack can sound exactly as broken as you want it to — on purpose. You don't have to earn that sound with a soldering iron or a twenty-minute boot sequence. Hit INIT FULL and you've got a working 47-module, 81-cable patch across four buses — lead, drone, texture, drums — before you've turned a single knob. Hit EZ on any module and it rolls a new setting that's checked to never go silent. Cables snap to the nearest free jack, drop onto an existing cable to insert a module inline, or swap one module for another while keeping every cable that matches by name. It's fast to get a sound out of, and it stays deep — a 53-module library and KEY-locked lo-fi clocking mean there's always one more place to take it.

- 53 user modules across Sources, Filters, Effects, Drums, Utilities and Logic — including an 8-model VCF BANK (CS-80, IR3109, SSM2044, CEM3320, SSM2040, STEINER, EMS DIODE, WASP) and effects ported from SpringBoy, BucketBoy, Thermion and Ironwall

- Every module runs its own cheap lo-fi DAC — RATE 1–32 kHz, BITS 2–16 — and KEY locks a module's clock to the last note played, so the grit tracks pitch instead of just buzzing underneath it

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Crow Hill Company Announces Availability of Utterly Terrifying CHILDREN’S CHOIR

Utterly Terrifying Choir - WALKTHROUGH video upload by CROW HILL

Press release follows:


The Crow Hill Company announces availability of CHILDREN’S CHOIR, crafting terrifying sounds from school-age children to deliver broad spectrum of timbral possibilities

EDINBURGH, UK: The Crow Hill Company is proud to announce availability of CHILDREN’S CHOIR — crafting terrifying sounds from a school-age troupe of boys singing with just the right amount of ‘beautiful menace’ and an ability to be creative while working with the Edinburgh-based enterprise in support of delivering an instrument based around an expertly curated sample-set with a broad range of timbral possibilities designed by media composers with other media composers in mind — as of September 21…

Asked about the task of crafting CHILDREN’S CHOIR, The Crow Hill Company co-founder and media composer Christian Henson has his tongue not entirely out of his creative cheek in response, resurrecting the famous showbiz warning usually credited to American comedian W.C. Fields, effectively, by way of opening: “Never work with animals and children! So what’s this going to be like? Getting kids to be slightly demonic, evil, scary… they love it! And they totally seem to get making it so pretty that it’s scary. So we thought we’d try and nurture that spirit in a children’s choir library designed particularly for media composers — people who write for film, TV, and computer games. Why are these guys going to be wanting to use a children’s choir? Maybe there’s something set in a boarding school, maybe there’s something slightly choral and religious, but, more times than not, something unsettling is needed, and that’s where we’ve gone with this one. There are limits to how long children should be asked to perform. So, we thought we’d use the time thoughtfully, curating a selection of singing styles that capture this spirit. As opposed to giving you yet another library with ‘AAs’, ‘EEs’, ‘Ahs’, ‘Ohs’, and ‘MMs’, etcetera, AHOH, OHEH [and many more singing styles are available using the EXPRESSION wheel]. There’s some lovely WAVERING stuff where the pitch centres change. They sound great and scary when you cluster up, but on their own — or just a couple of notes — they have all sorts of childlike menace. There’s terrifying RISES and FALLS. And we’ve got a whole bunch of SHORT [singing styles].

CLICK FOR MORE »

Technics SX-WSA1 Acoustic Modeling Synthesizer

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

via this Reverb listing

Additional SYNTH CITY Listings

"Used Technics SX-WSA1 in very good condition, this one comes with it manual, plus the sound/combination/demo disk as well. Although their turntables are a lot more well known than their keyboards and workstations, Technics never ceases to amaze! With acoustic modeling technology and built in effects, this guy is the peak of 90's keyboards!"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Semiotic Sequencer – Online Text Based Sequencer

video upload by Mute State

Note the above video is from January 10, 2025. It reminds me of Textquencer which made its first appearance on the site back in 2022. Sequences from Semiotic Sequencer can be exported as a MIDI file.

"The Semiotic Sequencer: Merging Music and Meaning:
https://www.mutestate.com/itu/seq_og_... [link to online version. BTW, "sequence this" makes for a good sequence - just paste it in multiple times. See this link for additional info]

The Semiotic Sequencer is a tool created by jazz musician, composer, and sound artist Tao Højgaard, known as Mute State. This tool is not just an artistic experiment but a conceptual bridge between music, linguistics, and semiotics. By translating text into musical sequences, the sequencer creates a sensory dialogue between language and sound, sparking curiosity and innovation at their intersection.

Why It Matters
At its core, the sequencer embodies a shared curiosity between science and art—a desire to explore abstract ideas and transform them into tangible, meaningful experiences. Just as science seeks answers and art provokes questions, this sequencer offers a unique way to navigate the uncharted territory between these realms. It reveals the rhythm, melody, and harmony inherent in written language, providing new insights into the musicality of language.

CLICK FOR MORE »

3x Ambient Explorations // Novation Peak // Cocoquantus // Soma Cosmos // Chase Bliss & Oto Pedals

video upload by Lesjamusic

"The Novation Peak does just sound so damn good. I went into a weekend sesh with the intention of building a new Midi map for it, but got stuck simply enjoying how great it sounds. The Peak is the sound source for everything you hear across these three pieces. I took snippets and looped in Cocoquantus then smeared using Cosmos. I also took a second FX send through Onward / Lossy / Gen Loss for some added texture. Oto Boum and CXM 1978 ever present."

#novationpeak #chasebliss #ambientcuration

00:00 Exploration #1
04:40 Exploration #2
09:20 Exploration #3

VAV N-Wave: Middle-Out Waveshaper

video upload by Magical Synth Adventure

"Join me as I take the @control_voltage VAV N-Wave Middle-Out Waveshaper for a spin!

The N-Wave is a really imaginative waveshaper. Some waveshapers might fold over the peaks of an incoming waveform, some might rectify them - squaring things off like a fuzz pedal. N-wave keeps the peaks of waveform - like the top and bottom of a saw wave - intact, and instead lets you shape and turn up on the volume on a section in the middle of the waveform - leading to unique tones. This is especially true, as you can vary the width of this middle section!"

video uploads by control_voltage

Playlist:

1. VAV N-Wave: Step Sequenced Threshold

One fun live performance (or studio) use for the N-Wave is to connect a Step Sequencer on the Threshold CV and generate different timbres for each step in a sequence. These act as accents and add a lot of life and feel to your sequences and the feel can easily be changed on the fly using something like a Joranalogue Step 8 as your source of steps.

2. VAV N-Wave: Threshold Ring Modulation

In Part 2 of the VAV N-Wave Video Manual, we look at using the threshold control and bipolar vca cv to create new waveforms that have a mixture of normal and ring modulated (quadrature) segments.

3. VAV N-Wave Mangles a Triangle

Here, the N-Wave does quite a number on an unsuspecting triangle wave with the help of some nearby modules. N-Wave is kind of like that one kid's house where everyone hung out and cooked up weird DnD campaigns or something. But for modular signals.

"N-Wave is a novel waveshaper for the Eurorack modular format. Unlike traditional wavefolders and clippers, which operate on the peaks of a waveform, N-Wave leaves peaks intact. All you need to expand your sound palette greatly is a VCO signal and a few twists of the knobs!

Using its internal bipolar VCA (aka four quadrant multiplier, aaka ring modulator) you can apply gain reduction and polarity inversion to an inner portion of the wave slope that you define with the THRESHOLD and OFFSET controls.

All functions can also be controlled via control voltage inputs. LFOs, Audio Rate VCOs, ADSR Envelopes, 1V/Oct signals, sequenced voltages, sample and hold signals, noise, and sub octave signals are all very good choices and can produce results ranging from very musical to very strange. An external detector signal can also be applied if you don't want to trigger the detector on the waveform you're modifying.

If you like, you can also use N-Wave as a high quality bipolar VCA, attenuverter, or ring modulator with the THRESHOLD set to maximum and dynamically mute the effect by applying 0V or a negative voltage to the threshold either using a sequencer or manual control, which allows for hocketing and rhythmic effects.

N-Wave can also operate all the way down to 0hz (DC), so, in addition to audio, it can process LFOs, envelopes, 1V/octave sequences, and any other signal that varies amplitude over time (Sorry, square waves and pulse waves. Your super-sonic rise times are hard to shape in an audible way, but you do work well as control signals).

N-Wave is 10HP and uses Burr Brown op amps for the primary signal path alongside high quality Texas Instruments ICs that are carefully chosen to best fit their roles in the circuit."

MAME Synths as Plugins?! Vintage Emulator Studio is Here

video upload by Autodafe

"Vintage Emulator Studio (VES) is finally here!

Download VES here:
https://www.autodafe.net/vintage-emul...

VES started from my experiments with the synthesizers, sound modules, samplers and drum machines emulated by MAME. Over time, after several videos, tests and even A/B comparisons with original hardware, I started wondering: what if these machines could be used in a more musician-friendly environment — and even loaded directly inside a DAW?

That idea eventually became Vintage Emulator Studio.

VES brings together a curated selection of MAME-emulated musical instruments in a single application, available as Standalone, AU and VST3 for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux.

You can download VES for free from my website. As with all my free plugins and sample libraries, there is also an optional €5 Supporter version if you'd like to support my work and future development.

VES is also open source, and the GitHub source code is linked from the product page.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: ROMs are required and are NOT included with VES.
I do not distribute MAME ROMs, so please don't ask me to send them. You will need to provide your own ROM sets. The good news is that MAME ROMs are generally not particularly difficult to find compared with those for some other emulation platforms.

Also keep in mind that VES relies on MAME emulation. Not every supported machine is emulated to exactly the same level of completeness, so some quirks or limitations may come from the current state of MAME itself.

P.S. You may occasionally hear a few small audio drops during this video. My computer wasn't always particularly happy about running multiple emulated machines while recording the screen and audio at the same time — so those glitches are mostly from the recording setup rather than VES itself. 🙂"

Sequential Fourm - The Non Prophet Presets

video upload by kgbirmingham media

"Sequential Fourm – The Non-Prophet Presets
I almost didn’t buy the Fourm, because most of the demos I watched focused on the “Prophet Sound,” which is great, but I was hoping for more versatility then that.
When I got it home and went through all the Factory Presets, I soon discovered that it is a very versatile synth with lots of character and it is quite capable of producing Non-Prophet Sounds!
So, the following are a whole bunch of Non-Prophet sounds, with a few classics put in, just because.
I did not apply any effects and the only plug-in I used was a Limiter.
Enjoy!
For the Techies
Here is the list of Presets.

CLICK FOR MORE »