MEDITATIONS ON DEATH | Solar 42F, Vongon Replay, Intellijel Swells & Jellymix, Fieldtone Weaver

video upload by Jay Hosking

"Please support my work on Patreon: / jayhosking
A live synthesizer jam performed entirely on hardware, with the 42F at the centre.

00:00 - Childhood and adolescence
04:10 - Adulthood
08:42 - Senescence

This is perhaps the first of a number of longer-form performances focused on some existential themes. I thought perhaps I might use the Solar 42F for all of them; I may still, but I also don't want to limit myself with any arbitrary rules, so we'll see.

Thanks for listening.

Elta Solar 42F - arp, sirens, drone chords
Vongon Replay - melody/lead synth
Fieldtone Weaver - sample weirdness 1
Qu-Bit Stardust - sample weirdness 2
Intellijel Swells - reverb on everything
Intellijel Jellymix - mixer

Performed and recorded live to a stereo output, with EQ, compression, and limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com"

Introducing Plinky 12 Blocks, Chords and Toadstep

video upload by Making Sound Machines

Additional videos below.

"We are super excited to introduce 3 new instruments today! Plinky 12 is a family of expressive polyphonic touch synthesizers. The three instruments are built around a shared synth engine. Designed by mmalex, it evokes the unmistakable melancholic sounds of the original Plinky. https://plinky12.com

Each instrument is designed in collaboration with a different synth maker, lending each panel a distinct playability and unique character.

Plinky 12 Chords is a harmonic inspiration machine. It lets you improvise melodies and chords, with expressive control over voicings, progressions, and immediate musical play. Created by Making Sound Machines, Chords is the panel for finding beautiful harmonic movement quickly.

Plinky 12 Toadstep is a 4-track step sequencer built for super funky riffs, experimental self-generative melodies, and good ol' Acid. Created by Toadstool Tech, the designer behind the Ectocore Eurorack module, Toadstep is fun, immediate and easy to jam with!

Plinky 12 Blocks is an open panel built for experimentation, with monome-grid compatibility, Plinky style touch synthesis, and a browser-based coding environment just a click away. While it comes with a fully playable design out of the gate, creator mmalex invites you to build your own adventure with this panel. If you can imagine it, you can make it!

In this video, Enrica and Roland from Making Sound Machines explore the three new Plinky 12 instruments: Blocks, Chords and Toadstep from left to right.

The track builds on a repeating loop created with the built-in sequencer on Plinky 12 Toadstep. The short sequence uses rhythmic step repeats, track step length and animated synth parameters to create an ostinato that keeps sonically evolving over the length of the track.

As the piece continues, Roland plays a progression of harmonies from the rainbow chord palette on Plinky 12 Chords, before launching a sequence that reharmonizes the loop heard from Toadstep. Enrica joins in playing sparkling arpeggios with her fingertips on Plinky 12 Blocks, the surface with the sunset colour-fade print.

As the track progresses, Roland plays a melodic line on Chords, then Enrica takes over with a melody on blocks. The Plinky 12 polyphonic play surface reads both play position and pressure of the touch. It enables bends and glides on the horizontal axis, while allowing for discrete arps in the vertical direction.

They end the piece with a tempo transition showcasing the septuplet feature on the internal sequencer."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Animal Factory Dirty Mirror × Korg Monologue // Fuzz Synth Jam (No Talking)

video upload by Animal Factory Amplification

"Use headphones for this one! Animal Factory Dirty Mirror dual parallel fuzz pedal running a Korg Monologue analog synth — no talking, no post-processing, just raw tone. This was recorded in one take to bring out how the Dirty Mirror becomes an instrument in itself.

A love letter to shoegaze, noise, and harsh textures, the Dirty Mirror pairs a modified Shin-Ei Superfuzz (the "Burn" channel) with a heavily modded Big Muff Pi (the "Churn" channel), plus a pre-fuzz delay modulated by an internal LFO and envelope follower. Hand-built in Mumbai by Animal Factory Amplification and debuted at Superbooth 2025.

Here it's sculpting the Korg Monologue's aggressive analog voice into fuzzscapes, drones, seasick vibrato, and pitch-shifted square-wave chaos. Recorded dry — no EQ, no reverb, nothing but the pedal and the synth. Drums from an MFB Tanzmaus (not processed)

🎛 SIGNAL CHAIN
Korg Monologue → Animal Factory Dirty Mirror → interface"

Animal Factory Dirty Mirror Fuzz on MFB Tanzmaus | Dual Distortion Delay Jam

video upload by Animal Factory Amplification

"Use headphones or speakers with good bass! Dual fuzz chaos meets beat-driven synthesis! Watch the Animal Factory Dirty Mirror transform the MFB Tanzmaus drum machine with creative distortion and delay manipulation. This is pure experimentation—no tutorial, just sonic exploration.

Gear featured:
Animal Factory Dirty Mirror Dual Fuzz Pedal
MFB Tanzmaus Drum Machine

Not just a shoegaze and noise rock machine - the Dirty Mirror is the perfect fuzz for musicians exploring wall-of-fuzz sounds, experimental synthesis, drum machine effects processing, and unconventional gear combinations."

"The Dirty Mirror takes these two behemoths of sonic perversion and adds an extra layer of nasty – using the core circuit of our Coma Reactor Eurorack module.

This three footswitch, 15 knob pedal looks complicated – but it’s not:

The BURN Channel (left side) is based on our Chemical Burn circuit, a nastier FY-6 variant.

The CHURN channel (right side) is based on a heavily modded Big Muff Pi.

There is a short delay circuit before the fuzz circuits.

Both the fuzz circuits can switch between the input sound, 100% wet delayed sound or a blend of wet and dry.

The fuzz circuits are then mixed in parallel into a high-headroom output section.

For added sickness, the delay time can be modified by an envelope follower or LFO.

Choose your filthy reflection – from straight dual parallel fuzz textures, to seasick vibrato to long slow quasi-chorus phasey apocalyptica.

The delay can be used on its own for slapback, chorus and vibrato effects.

Yes, it can get very noisy.
No, you can’t do anything about it - so weep in pain and pleasure, and submit to the swarms of square waves that joyfully fill your room."

A DARK CINEMATIC Music Performance | SOMA TERRA | Exploration: 35 | PATIENCE IS THE GAME

video upload by Rick Hopkinson

"The Dirty Mirror takes these two behemoths of sonic perversion and adds an extra layer of nasty – using the core circuit of our Coma Reactor Eurorack module.

This three footswitch, 15 knob pedal looks complicated – but it’s not:

The BURN Channel (left side) is based on our Chemical Burn circuit, a nastier FY-6 variant.

The CHURN channel (right side) is based on a heavily modded Big Muff Pi.

There is a short delay circuit before the fuzz circuits.

Both the fuzz circuits can switch between the input sound, 100% wet delayed sound or a blend of wet and dry.

The fuzz circuits are then mixed in parallel into a high-headroom output section.

For added sickness, the delay time can be modified by an envelope follower or LFO.

Choose your filthy reflection – from straight dual parallel fuzz textures, to seasick vibrato to long slow quasi-chorus phasey apocalyptica.

The delay can be used on its own for slapback, chorus and vibrato effects.

Yes, it can get very noisy.
No, you can’t do anything about it - so weep in pain and pleasure, and submit to the swarms of square waves that joyfully fill your room.""'Patience is the game' is a live improvised cinematic ambient performance on the Soma Terra synthesiser; a deep and evolving journey through dark, cinematic ambient soundscapes.

Cinematic ambient music, dark atmospheric soundscape, experimental synthesiser performance, Soma Terra improvisation, ambient drone music.

This is my 35th cinematic ambient exploration in the Sanctuary series.... This time it's played on the Soma Terra synth by @somasynths
I keep coming back to this synth!
Best experienced with headphones 🎧"

CLICK FOR MORE »

A Demo of mods driving the TastyChips Integral dual convolver pedal

video upload by ParadisoModular

"As I recently finished modifying my 'Integral' dual convolver pedal by TastyChips (https://www.tastychips.nl/) to accept control from multiple external CVs and gates, here's a quick demo video. After a few minutes of showing the Integral's front panel being driven by my external CVs, I switch to showing more detail on my mods and the patch that runs it. This patch also gave me a chance to explore my TipTop Matrix Sequencer, where you dial in 16 pitches from which you can extract 10 sequences that traverse the note matrix in different ways. I crossfade periodically between these 10 lines driving different tone sources (reversing them occasionally to give a bit of variety) - this provides a dynamic and harmonically-rich base upon which to run the Convolver, which produces all of the effects that you hear.

My mods let me turn essentially all of the knobs with external voltages (I also have a gate input for the 'shift' button so I can get at the secondary functions of these knobs too), and indeed, I do that here. All of the knobs are being turned constantly by different LFOs. This pedal sports two convolvers - the panel's knobs affect the one that's displayed, but also I provide a periodic pulse to the 'select' knob (which I gated in the pedal so it doesn't hit when 'shift' is active to avoid going into a menu), which toggles control to the other convolver. So this patch, simple as it is, spans a lot of sonic space...

The Integral is a wonderful box - it sports two convolver chains, and you can select from circa 100 different impulse responses (plus add your own via a USB stick). Convolution is a general operation that spans across reverb, echo, filtering, etc. - you essentially inherit the character of the chosen impulse in the driving waveform. It's not a real-time operation in principle (the convolution integral for each sample goes across the entire impulse) although there are ways of speeding and breaking the operation up to approach real time (plus this pedal allows you to window the integration over the stored impulse). It's a very deep pedal - and in using it, I saw right away how turning several of the knobs at once can get you to interesting modulations and textures while they are moving (the expression input gives access to only one parameter - I use it now for the convolution cross-fade, as I couldn't get to that input with my mods). TastyChips used to make a Eurorack module giving some of this flexibility, but it only included one convolver. The Integral pedal has 2 and is a current product, hence reinforcing my decision to acquire one and essentially 'turn' it into a versatile synth module.

My sequences here are a bit major-key/unsophisticated (all notes have to work potentially on top of each other and in whatever sequence it picks), and the pedal occasionally gets briefly into strange territory - hence this demo only hints at where this beast can go (every impulse response has a different character too). And turning all of the knobs can occasionally push it into instability - I will probably use fewer when I take it out for a real spin. More coming with this one in future patches, but in the interim, here's this trial demo..."

He Compared Elektron's Sampler So You Don’t Have To

video upload by EZBOT

"I’ve spent countless hours mastering these machines, and I’ve condensed much of that knowledge into the definitive Elektron Sampler Guide. Whether you're just starting out or looking for your next studio centerpiece, this video covers it all: technical specs, storage limits, audio character, and the real-world learning curve. I’m also sharing specific tips, tricks, and live performance workflows for each device. If you want a masterclass in the Elektron ecosystem in one sitting, this is it."

EZBOT resources: https://www.patreon.com/ezbot, https://ko-fi.com/ezbot/, https://www.modbang.com"

00:00 Why compare them?
00:01:39 The Three Boxes
00:02:33 Live Performance
00:07:41 Specs and Storage
00:13:15 Audio Quality + Learning Curve
00:29:17 The Sampling Process
00:40:17 Which Box Is For You?
00:44:17 My Opinion..

FORMANTA EMS-01 - Ode To Devotion (Live)

video upload by LFOstore

"This composition played live by Nick Klimenko on recently restored & tuned flagship of soviet synthesizers - Formanta EMS-01.

Its very hard to tune OSC sections & there are not so many fully working & tuned units in the world!
Thanks to / @ДмитрийБоровских-ш7п for midifying & tuning work!

Working unit sounding ultra mega magnificent!

FORMANTA EMS-01 is an electronical music instrument combining a polyphonic organ and a monophonic synthesizer. It is designed to perform music of all genres and to create various sound effects while recording soundtracks for movies and plays, or studio recording. The organ has a 5-octave keyboard, 6 preset sound timbres, frequency vibrato with adjustable vibrato delay, decay adjustment and a stereophaser (both for organ and synthesizer). The "vibrato delay" scheme is activated again only after all the previously pressed keys are released. In the "legato" mode the "vibrato delay" scheme is not activated.

The synthesizer has:

3-octave keyboard;
modulator, modulation voltage from which is applied to frequency modulator, width modulator, filter, and amplifier; broad band oscillators 1 and 2 (with various waveforms);
mixer, designed for summation of signals from oscillators 1 and 2, noise generator, external source, and ring modulator; filter, designed for dynamic and static changing of the spectrum of summarized signal from mixer output;
amplifier, designed for making the sound corresponding to various parameters of the envelope;
Visual division of the synthesizer panel into the above listed sections and their lay-out make it more easy to orientate oneself while setting the required timbre. Besides, the synthesizer is able to simultaneously control one more similar synthesizer through a special cable and connectors CONTR IN and CONTR OUT.

The instrument provides the opportunity of connecting stereo headphones; the volume in headphones doesn't change in case of changing the volume of the instrument from zero to maximum at all the outputs of the instrument with the foot pedal; thanks to this, preliminary control of timbre through the headphones before applying it to amplifiers is possible. By switching on PHASER into the channel of organ or synthesizer, it is possible to get stereo sound in the outputs STEREO L and STEREO P. In case PHASER is switched off, both channels will function in MONO mode."

A Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter soundscape with the Fractal Audio FM3

video upload by MIDERA

"So, I borrowed my friend's Roland MKS-80 because there was an issue with it (actually, there wasn't, we just didn't have something connected right). Well, I figured I'd try playing it. I knew I hated my Jupiter 6 and I was convinced this would sound just as bad.

I was VERY mistaken. The MKS-80 sounds nothing like the JP6. I don't know what anyone's talking about when they say they sound alike. The MKS-80 sounds way better, to my ears, I absolutely despised the JP6 filter. The MKS-80 sounds great. I'm honestly really impressed.

I could buy an MKS-80. I'm tempted - but I do have a Prophet 10 which sounds pretty similar... but... how often will I come across another Jupiter 7?

#RolandMKS #fractalaudiofm3 #soundscape"

AW NOISE MAKER, a glitched troublemaker noise synth

video upload by AudioWanderer

"The AW noise maker is a non-idiomatic instrument made not to be controlled or understood in any manner. Based on poor signal-to-noise ratio transmissions and glitch aesthetics. The key to playing with this noisy device isn't to reach perfection in its operation or trying to predict the way it works to achieve similar results every time it is used. In fact, the machine is programmed to be unpredictable every time it is connected due to a carefully designed randomization mechanism that modify the conditions used by the device when it boots up. So, you never know exactly how it will sound or how the filters will work the next time you play with the AW noise maker.

Another funny thing about this device is the glitched display. A mess of pixels and line iterations once you start to push buttons and twist knobs there transforming the display into another source of chaos and uncertainty. That's the spirit behind this little gadget: to express the turmoil and instability that we are living in. Use this machine as a way to meditate above the noise... with the noise. AW noise maker will be available soon. Limited units. Register your interest for this gadget from hell here:

https://audiowanderer.com/AW/aw-noise..."

HOW TO Build a Portable Live Techno Rig (and Actually Perform With It)

video upload by SynthDad Music

"Turing machines are generative sequencers that create looped melodies that slowly evolve and change over time, perfect for techno. I'm using the Shroud of Turing from Flatsix Modular in my compact techno setup. It's a 1U turing machine with clever features like user-defined scales and the ability to save different scales to play. I'm using it with Shakmat Ballista Blast as the main voice . Ohmforce Bohm is the main kick and I play it against Shakmat Battering Ram for dual-kick fun."

HOW TO Build a Portable Live Techno Rig (and Actually Perform With It)

video upload by SynthDad

"I used to think a bigger setup meant more options meant better music. Turns out the opposite is true, at least for me.

For a while my live rig was getting more complex every time I played it. More modules, more flexibility, more things to manage. And instead of playing, I was troubleshooting. So I stripped it back.

In this video I walk through the portable techno case I built for live performance; what made the cut, what didn't, and why having fewer options actually made me more focused and more musical on stage.

If you make techno with hardware and performing live is something you're thinking about, hopefully this is useful.

Timeline:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Breakdown of my setup - kicks
01:01 Adding texture with Oneiroi
01:36 Battering Ram as second kick
02:03 Lead voice Ballista Blast
02:25 Sequencing with Shroud of Turing
05:23 Changing up the melody
05:52 Quantising notes to change the mood
07:27 Putting it all together to play
22:36 Conclusions"

Modular techno performance with a portable setup

Genki Instruments Katla #4 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

I can't get enough of these kind of gentle key patches on the Katla synthesizer! For this patch I used a similar approach to the previous one, using the self oscillating filter as a sound source. But this time I played with modulating the wave folder, which at times in the piece almost feels like an extra melody coming in. I also once again tuned one of the voices an octave higher than the other ones, for unpredictable octave jumps in the melody, I just love that so much on Katla! For the next patch I'll try a more distorted one, promise."

See the Genki label below for additional posts.

Passive Bandpass Filters Are GOATED | AudioThing Octaves

video upload by HAINBACH and AudioThing

"Passive bandpass filters are an obsession of mine, so it was just a question of time until AudioThing and me would make a plugin of the special subset called octave filters. Octaves is out on now: https://www.audiothing.net/effects/Oc...

My Music: http://hainbach.bandcamp.com"

"Hainbach’s Bandpass Filter

Octaves is our latest collaboration with Berlin-based composer and YouTuber Hainbach. It is a filter plugin designed to take apart the audio spectrum in spreads of octaves, allowing for unique and enchanting spectral sound design effects. Octaves gives you a retro-scientific approach to sound that echoes the timeless productions created in the BBC Radiophonic workshop or the WDR Studio für Elektronische Musik by the Avantgarde masters, and modern places like Willem Twee, Strøm, and Hainbach’s own laboratory.

Octaves is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux (VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP).
It’s also available on the App Store for iOS and iPadOS (AUv3 and Standalone).

CLICK FOR MORE »

Intellijel Swells - Multi-Model Reverb Module with Swell Generator

video upload by Intellijel

"Swells is a multi-model reverb module, with a built-in modulator we call the 'Swell Generator'.

Some feature highlights of Swells include:
Nine unique studio-grade reverb models
Fully stereo signal path
Eight reverb parameter sliders
Ebb & Flow - two per-model parameters
Swell Generator - aka envelope follower with four modes.
LO-FI with Min & Max setting
Freeze, Reverse and Burst FX
20HP Module"

Intellijel Swells | Four synth explorations

video upload by Jay Hosking

"Four mostly ambient pieces with Intellijel's new reverb and other hardware.

Fair warning: Intellijel sent me the Swells and Jellymix. Take that as you will. Considering how much other Intellijel stuff I use, and considering how much I'm a sucker for reverb, I was excited to try this one out.

00:00 - Omnichord ambient
03:49 - SubH Replay ambient
08:22 - S-4 OVUM ambient
12:35 - Hexdrums jam

Undoubtedly, we're living in a golden era of reverb hardware. I've got more reverb than one human needs, but I love it so much. One thing that means, though, is that I'm looking for reverb that does new things, that isn't just good but different and textural and interesting in and of itself.

In that respect I've been very happy with Swells, and am planning to use it a bunch after this. Swells can play it straight, but the combination of self-generated modulation and great colouration options means Swells can draw attention, add unique character, and fill a role more than simply adding space. I've particularly liked pairing it with Jellymix, using Swells as a send and then using varying amounts of wet/dry across multiple instruments, creating a shared reverb environment that feels pretty glued. It's a great combo.

So do you need another reverb? Probably not. You don't need anything in hardware, honestly. But if you're looking for a hardware reverb that makes you think differently about time-based effects, and if you're looking for a reverb that sounds good in new ways, I think Swells is worth checking out.

Thanks for listening.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com"

How's the Serenity?

video upload by cirtcele

"Quad reverse sigmoid chaos module with CV inputs, sync controls and mixed outputs
https://www.nonlinearcircuits.com/mod...

single 1U version - https://www.nonlinearcircuits.com/mod..."

"This module is a set of 4 reverse sigmoid chaos circuits, running at different frequencies, there are pots to feed each section into another and influence, sync – sort of, the action. There are also CV inputs for each section which affect the reset or crossover timing, for the faster ones the results are obvious. For the slower ones, give it a few hours.

The reverse sigmoid circuits are similar in concept to the mackey-glass based design used in the NLC Frisson, but are greatly simplified to a bare minimum of parts. Simply an integrator, two all pass filters and a nonlinear stage with two feedback paths. The nice thing about them is you can use any capacitors you like, so long as all three are the same, and the circuit will work with no other mods required. The sections in this module use 1uF, 10uF, 2x 1000uF in series (so 500uF) and 2x 2200uF in series (so 1100uF).

They work quite differently to the Sloth chaos circuits, with a number of ripples or rolls between each attractor, also the three outputs track each other, the faster ones are delayed by a few seconds, the slower ones by minutes. The intent of having 4 different circuits running together with pots to get them to influence each other is to have a module that can create longer tracks with many different but related musical events happening and, of course, weird delayed CV effects. Think of a band where the members all do their own thing but every now and then the sounds and patterns connect and achieve structure, which slowly scatters and reforms in new ways.

Feel free to change the 1uF caps to a higher or lower value, similarly for the 10uF. Stack capacitors on top of each other to get 20uF, or use Tayda 22uF caps and stack them. See pictures on pg6 for info on which caps to change. Make sure the capacitors have at least a 25V rating or higher.

If you want to use larger values than 1000uF and 2200uF, make sure they will fit on the PCB and/or thru the panel holes (1000uF on PCB are 10mm diameter, 2200uF panel holes are 16.8mm)

There are also two difference rectifier circuits which output complex mixes of the individual chaos circuits."

1U REVERSE SIGMOID
DESCRIPTION/USAGE

6hp

This module is a reverse sigmoid chaos circuit; it can be built to run as a fast or slow CV source, or even as an audio/noise source. This is a single version of the four chaos circuits in the NLC How’s the Serenity module.

The reverse sigmoid circuits are similar in concept to the mackey-glass based design used in the NLC Frisson, but are greatly simplified to a bare minimum of parts. Simply an integrator, two all pass filters and a nonlinear stage with two feedback paths.

The nice thing about this design is you can use any capacitors you like, so long as all three are the same the circuit will work with no other mods required. The capacitors are marked ‘C’ on the PCB, 1uF is a good mid-range value to install, but 10uF, 22uF are good too albeit much slower. Lower values than 100nF get you into audio rate territory. Make sure the capacitors have at least a 25V rating or higher.

This works quite differently to the Sloth chaos circuits, with a number of ripples or rolls between each attractor, also the three outputs track each other, the faster versions are delayed by a few seconds, the slower ones by minutes.

The Input expects a positive CV, negative going CVs won’t hurt but will have no effect. The CV signal feeds into the first all-pass filter stage via 10k and a diode, this is different to the method used on How’s the Serenity. On slower builds, using 10uF caps, the effect of the CV will be washed out to some extent. It will still have an effect but not as noticeably as on the faster versions.

Moog Memorymoog Plus Needing Service

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

via this Vemia listing

Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.

"Another very nice-looking instrument which has obviously sat around for many years not being used. Brief report: Looked to power up OK but a very noisy cooling fan. Display showed correctly and it made sounds, albeit random noises so the presets seem corrupted.

Turned it off an on again and it went through the autotune OK but turned it off again as I didn't want it to overheat.

Turned it on a third time but no lights, nothing. I removed the mains but the mains input pins on the Memorymoog seem loose."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Free Behringer CZ-1 online editor

video upload by gary909

via gary909:

"I've finally finished my Behringer CZ-1 editor, which is available online for free:

https://www.behringer-cz1-editor.co.uk/

This editor has taken me forever to complete! It's by far and away the most advanced one I've built yet, featuring 90 or so sliders. I'd had no experience with Phase Distortion Synthesis before starting this project, so it meant reading a few books and watching hours of you tube videos. There's bound to be a few bugs, but it beats using the single button on the hardware to program the unit.

The UI has also been designed to shed some light on how to program it, with panels being highlighted when accessible, and animations to convey what is being changed. Hopefully it should help somebody. Every control has it's function listed, you just need to hover the mouse over it.

Here's a short youtube video going over some of the features.

It's completely free and works through the browser, you just need to plug in your CZ-1 into your pc or phone. Safari unfortunately isn't supported because Apple doesn't allow midi data transfer, but it should work well on most other platforms."

The Crow Hill Company Introduces the THE SH*T SYNTH

The Sh*t Synth - Walkthrough video upload by CROW HILL XTRAS

Press release follows:


The Crow Hill Company turns to extensive and rare collection to turn out THE SH*T SYNTH as compendium of 48 circuit-, wave- and sample-bent instruments

EDINBURGH, UK: The Crow Hill Company is proud to turn to its own extensive and rare collection of hardware to turn out THE SH*T SYNTH — available as a compendium of 48 circuit-, wave- and sample-bent instruments inspired by some of the Edinburgh-based enterprise’s eclectic musical favourites (spanning the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada, Joe Maus, Jon Brion, Laurie Spiegel, Radiohead, Throbbing Gristle, and Yazoo) to create something that they collectively ask: is it just shit or ‘the shit’? — as of April 7…

Whatever way anyone chooses to read into the titling of THE SH*T SYNTH as the latest entry into The Crow Hill’s ongoing ORIGINS series of sample-based virtual instrument plug-ins, one thing is for sure: it readily represents a broad selection of three categories of 16 workhorse instruments each, effectively wrapped up into a single plug-in designed to bring a cohesive approach to making music more edgy, lo-fi, retro, and — swimming against the technological tide of so-called progress — decidedly AI (Artificial Intelligence) slop-free. From pianos to strings, plucks, beeps, bass, and pads, the compendium that is THE SH*T SYNTH has been lovingly sculpted by the Edinburgh-based enterprise’s media composer and ‘samplist-in-residence’ Christian Henson to take the hassle out of making existing sounds less refined, catering to those looking for an entirely new bank of Mellotron-style sounds as well as synths that have been long forgotten — for good reason, too!

CLICK FOR MORE »

'SIEGFRIED' | VC RES EQ + VBR | Serge Modular | Episode 11

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"The VC RES EQ is big, very big and the VBR (Variable Bandwidth Filter) makes it even bigger. But even then, it's not a combo that would appeal to the 'mainstream' eurorack audience. The 4U version joins both modules under one panel and is called 'SIEGFRIED', inspired by Wagner's dragonslayer in the classic Ring des Nibelungen epic 15 hour opera which ends in Ragnarok - the Apocalyptic end of the Gods. Now that's a much better setting! We need mist, heroes, dragons, Gods and something close to Mount Doom. Tolkien didn't like Wagner's work at all, in fact, he hated it. With this eurorack combo you can now create your own adventure, keep the ring for yourself and throw Frodo into Mount Doom.

This is one of my favorite videos so far and I just LOVE the sound of the VC RES EQ. The VBR is added to tame the harsh sounds that often come from the 'pet dragon', but if you play it with your fingertips, prepare for myths and legends.

As always, this video is not sponsored, but I am enjoying a small 'artist discount' from Random*Source because I make videos like this. Dear Serge, if you're watching this, THANK YOU for being Serge and thank you Random*Source for keeping the legend vibrant, alive and kicking."

Memories | Roland JX3P and Fractal Audio FM3 nostalgic instrumental

video upload by MIDERA

"So, I sold my JX3P, my amazing condition JX3P, because I had the System 8 and the Jupiter 6. Fast track to now, a friend sells me a beat up JX3P and I think "I'll test it out again..." And man what a synth. The System 8 really doesn't do it justice. I can't believe I kept the JP6 over the JX3P, which sounds far better than the JP6 or System 8. What a bummer. Now, just like the D-50, I sold a mint condition one, and ended up with a junker :/ Sigh... well, the Jupiter 6 is gone (couldn't be more glad to be honest), and I'm eyeing the System 8...

Fractal Audio FM3 used for FX.

#roland #fractalaudiofm3"

It's Finally Here // UDO DMNO Review and demo

video upload by Starsky Carr

"The UDO Domino *is here… and it might be one of the most interesting hybrid synths we’ve seen in years. In this full demo, review, and walkthrough, I explore what makes this *8-voice hybrid polysynth so unique — from its dual synth architecture to its incredibly flexible filter section and deep modulation capabilities.

With FPGA oscillators, analog-style waveforms, 32 digital waves, and a powerful dual-engine design inspired by classic SEM-style layouts, the Domino sits somewhere between vintage character and modern sonic experimentation. And yes… it can get beautifully weird.

In this video, you’ll hear real-world sound demos, explore the interface, and see how far you can push this synth — from lush pads to aggressive, experimental textures.

🎛️ What you’ll learn in this video:
Overview of the UDO Domino architecture
Dual synth engines (Domino 1 & 2) and layering possibilities
FPGA oscillators + digital waveforms
Deep modulation options (LFOs, envelopes, cross-modulation)
Advanced filter modes: low pass, band pass, high pass, phase & more
Stereo, parallel & series routing
Effects: chorus, drive, delay, reverb & EQ
Play modes, binaural mode & voice variations
Real sound demos and performance examples

🎧 Why this synth stands out
The Domino goes far beyond a traditional polysynth. With extreme flexibility in routing, modulation, and filtering, it behaves more like an experimental sound design tool than a conventional keyboard — while still being intuitive and hands-on.

🎹 My verdict
This isn’t just another synth — it’s a playable, exploratory instrument that encourages experimentation and rewards creativity. If you like synths that go beyond the obvious… this one’s worth a serious look."