"PLEXIGLASS CASE (BLACK) AND POWER SUPPLY (INCLUDED)
MODs: CV 1-CV2-GATE IN - TRIG OUT 1 - TRIG OUT 2
Weird Sound Generator (WSG acronym) is a synthesizer capable of many different applications:
from noise generator to dronemachine
originally designed by ray wilson/music from outer space
The interaction with numerous controls panel allows endless combinations and the chance to create soundscapes unimaginable.
INSTRUMENT FULL ASSEMBLED, TESTED AND
READY TO USE!
6 Oscillators in frequency modulation, 2 waveforms 1 lowpass filter For a total of: 11 controls with knob 1 volume control 7 selection switch To control it via keyboard or synth equipped with CV and GATE: 2 inputs Control Voltage (CV) Gate 1 input 2 trigger out DIMENSIONS (cm) 26 X 16 X 3 Case Plexiglas etched 1 output jack mono 1/4 " Power button (on / off) with LE"
"I had an idea to make a version of the popular MFOS Echo Rockit circuit that was portable and ran on USB power. Thanks to a few readily available parts and some DIY ingenuity, I assembled the Pocket Rockit.
It has come to my attention that Paul Schreiber has passed away.
Pictured: Paul Schreiber at the 2006 NAMM show. Top from this previous post (pic by fr1zz), and bottom from this post (pic by Synthtopia) - this is the first image of Paul on the site. There is one comment in that post: "He's a good guy." Indeed.
Readers of the site should be familiar with his work. He was the man behind MOTM and Synthesis Technology.
To say Paul was one of the greats to influence the synth community would be an understatement. He was pivital to the rebirth of modular synthesizers. He started when modular as we know it today was in its infancy, as one of a very small group of large format DIY modular manufacturers along with Blacet, Modcan, Cynthia, Wiard, Oakley, STG, Catgirl/CGS, Tellun/Lower West Side StudioYuSynth, Jurgen Haible, and of course DIY staples like Thomas Henry/ MFOS, Ray Wilson and PAiA (see this post for some modular formats back in 2007). I focused mainly on those offering DIY. There were other manufacturers including Synthesizers.com, Club of the Knobs, MOS-LAB, Moon Modular, MacBeth, CMS, and more. Feel free to mention others in the comments. This post is about Paul, but I think it's important to reflect on some of the large format modular manufactures he was amongst at the time.
Paul created the MOTM format of 5U modules in 1998. MOTM stood for Module of the Month offering monthly DIY kits. From Wikipedia: "MOTM was created by Paul Schreiber in 1998. The system was created in part due to the renewed interest in large-format analog modular systems that occurred in the late 1990s. Between 1998 and 2021, over 8000 modules were sold. The company, Synthesis Technology, also offered a limited number of modules in Eurorack[2] and Frac[3] format."
He was also helped design the Moog/Realistic MG-1. From Wikipedia: "In 1980, Moog Music was seeking to contract manufacture a mass-marketable synthesizer which could be sold via a large retailer. Moog representatives secured an appointment at the Radio Shack corporate offices for a 5-minute demonstration. Radio Shack approved the concept, and Paul Schreiber (then employed by Tandy Systems Development) worked together with Moog on the synthesizer's design to achieve Radio Shack's price requirements.[2][3]"
He later joined the eurorack scene with Synthesis Technology branded modules. FYI, his site for MOTM was always http://www.synthtech.com/, short for Synthesis Technology. The first post to mention Paul and MOTM was posted just under twenty years ago here on MATRIXSYNTH back on August 26, 2005. If you click through you will see it was a post announcing the MOTM/synthtech.com site was going down for the weekend. He announced he was retiring from the synthesizer business in August of 2023.
It's worth repeating, Paul Schreiber was one of the key figures that brought modular back to the masses. He was both respected and loved by the synth community. It's impossible to overstate his influence. He will be missed.
The following are the first the last video interviews with Paul to be featured on the site:
The SynthSummitShow Episode 2: Paul Schreiber (Synthesis Technology) and A.Dapt (music producer) ...
SysEx Dumpster - Episode 44 - a conversation with Paul Schreiber
video upload by Sysex Dumpster on Jul 30, 2023. Details previously posted here.
The first videos to feature Paul presenting a module was back on January 3, 2010, and the first interview on SoundCloud in 2013, and he was of course featured in the modular documentary film I Dream of Wires.
"While playing around with a CGS29 Wave Multipliers I came up with a bubbling sound that reminded me of The Lazarus Pit from DC's Batman.
Here is a sample of the sound created by feeding some LFOs into a CGS29 then modulating it and twisting it with an Oakley Overdrive and MFOS 8-Stage Phase Shifter"
"This video contains more filter sweeps than the video previously posted on 7/10/23, and the MFOS filter cutoff settings cause the Zerosum Inertia 6AS6 Signal Combiner to generate different rhythms than in the previous video. Two MFOS LFOs (at audio rate) go to Zerosum Inertia 6AS6, get combined, go to the MFOS filter, and go one channel on the R-57."
"Win cash prizes, store credit and merchandise by showing off your Noise Toaster
synthCube has organized a 'Show Off Your Build' contest to celebrate the most popular MFOS project of all time-- the Noise Toaster-and the companion how-to book Make:Analog Synthesizers by Ray Wilson, the founder of MFOS.
If you've built a Noise Toaster, enter the contest to show off your project and tell its story-or build a new Noise Toaster in order to enter the 'New Build' categories!
Noise Toaster desktop analog synthesizers come in all shapes and sizes-and the contest will award prizes for different categories- see the contest landing page for details and prizes!
Prizes include VISA gift cards, store credit vouchers, MFOS merchandise and MFOS synthesizer kits.
This appears to be the first post to feature the Viscount PCM 64S.
"This rare and feature-packed (trigger in, out, individual snare out, footswitch jacks for break, clap, and start, volume knobs for six categories, 2 clap variation buttons, three percussion cancel buttons) preset pattern drum machine worked fine every time. Yet it wasn’t getting used enough and was put in a storage box and listed on Reverb. It sold, so it got pulled out for a final test (as one does) before shipping. What evil invisible specter lived in that box? Not sure, but it flew this Viscount over the cookoo’s nest and now this once glorious machine just ratchets and glitches. I opened it up and saw no bulging or leaking capacitors or obvious issues. We have a tech who is willing to fix it, and the previous buyer is still willing to buy it once it’s fixed, but we have no schematic. Viscount was an Italian company and restoration of antiquity is one of the many things at which Italians excel. So, if you have a schematic, posso avere? Ti prego!"
"I added a couple of things, icluding a stereo panning mixer from MFOS schematic. I'm trying to use a VCF as kickdrum but not really happy with the sound, I'm gonna try to build some 808 clones in the future."
"The Wiard Wogglebug is a random voltage generator designed by Grant Richter and inspired by the Buchla 265 / 266 Source of Uncertainty module.
The module features multiple simultaneous random audio and control voltage signals. It can be used to create the most incredible other-worldly sounds.
The patch in this video features the following modules;
- The Wogglebug
- Oakley Croglin VCF
- CGS114 DUSG
- MFOS VC Echo
- Oakley Classic VCA
- FCUK System X ADSR
- Tellun Doomsday Machine (for LFO modulation)
- Yusynth VC Panning Mixer
"Droning oscillators of the MFOS WSG/01 fed through the Vermona Retroverb gated by Doepfer's Dark Time with percussion supplied by the classic Korg Electribe ER-1 fed through Strymon El Capitsan's Spring Reverb mode."
"An early morning patch I created to demonstrate the MFOS VC Echo. 2 tracks were created. The first driven by a CGS57P VCF/VCO then processed by an Oakley Equinox phase shifter and the VC Echo.
A second track at half speed accompanies the first track.
"I implemented in the code a way of sequencing inspired by MFOS variclock sequncer and the intelligel metropolis, where you can set the amount of clock each step takes, before it goes to the next. That way you can longer melodies with fewer steps, and set repeating notes easier."
"This is the weird take on the weird sound generator synthesizer I've redesigned with the help of my brother. Our goal is to provide estatic pleasing synthesizers by using unconventional materials.
The MFOS WSG is a synth for anyone who is looking for unique and more unknown sounds that are yet there to discover. By adding some effects you can easily create unique soundscapes and some interesting textures.
Our next project will be the Soundlab Mini MKII but before we get to this point I'll create a video soon where I'll share more information about the Weird Sound Generator.
