first jam with digitone2

video upload by Tim O

exploring the different synth machines in the digitone2

video upload by Tim O

Soundtoys Users Donate $61,000 to Médecins Sans Frontières | Up Next: WCK Global Relief

via Soundtoys:

Soundtoys Users Donate $61,000 to Médecins Sans Frontières

Up Next: Supporting World Central Kitchen’s Global Relief Efforts

November 18, 2025 (BURLINGTON, VT): Renowned audio effects creator Soundtoys announced a $61,000 donation to Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders, raised entirely through donations made through purchases of its Radiator plug-in.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides emergency medical care in more than 70 countries, providing life-saving treatment to people caught in wars, natural disasters, epidemics, and exclusion from medical services. In recent months, Médecins Sans Frontières has been working tirelessly in conflict and crisis zones, including Gaza, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan, amid extreme violence and humanitarian collapse.

This gift continues Soundtoys’ ongoing pledge to direct 100% of proceeds from Radiator to organizations on the front lines of humanitarian and environmental crises. Originally inspired by the warmth and grit of vintage tube gear, Radiator has become one of Soundtoys’ most beloved plug-ins – and a lasting vehicle for giving back. All Radiator sales made at soundtoys.com after November 1, 2025, will benefit World Central Kitchen (WCK). Founded by Spanish chef José Andrés, WCK delivers fresh meals to communities affected by natural disasters, conflict, and climate crises. WCK teams are currently providing immediate relief in Jamaica, Gaza, Haiti, and other areas with urgent needs.

“At Soundtoys, we believe in the power of music to help make the world a better place. And in that spirit, we're committed to raising awareness and supporting human rights, the environment, and people in need,” said Ken Bogdanowicz, CEO and founder of Soundtoys.

“I can't say it any better than Chef Andres: 'When people are hungry, send cooks. Not tomorrow, today.”

To participate in Soundtoys’ ongoing giving pledge, purchase to donate at soundtoys.com/product/radiator.

Soundtoys is committed to philanthropy and activism. Over the years Soundtoys has raised more than $870,000 for humanitarian and civil rights organizations, including support for the International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, World Central Kitchen, the Red Cross Society of Ukraine, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund, Team Rubicon, and the Gulf Restoration Network.

About Soundtoys: Based in Burlington, VT, Soundtoys was founded in 1996 by Ken Bogdanowicz, the DSP effects designer behind the legendary H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer and the DSP4000 line of hardware signal processors from Eventide. Soundtoys develops world-class, creative signal-processing software for audio production, mixing, and sound design. Soundtoys users include Mike Dean, Greg Wells, Kenny Beats, Jack Antonoff, Finneas O'Connell, Disclosure, Jamie Lidell, Dave Pensado, Tony Maserati, and Tim Kelley.

Studio Electronics Eurorack Modules

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

via NOISEBUG Reverb

Note auction links are affiliate links. See the site's privacy policy for more info.

"What's nice about our OSCILLATION stunner (according to Tim) "is that the waveforms are DC-coupled [components connected directly together without any coupling capacitors], so they keep their shape even at sub-Hz speeds. The outputs are also buffered, so the amplitude is independent of the load they are driving. The waveform levels on some modern eurorack OSCs are often all different, and they vary depending if they go into the mixer or directly to the filter!" Coupling the circuitry without capacitors in-line gives the go-ahead for the full spectrum of frequencies to do their thing, and ensures near identical response over the years—audiophile, transistor-protecting signal path stuff here. You should see these beauts on the scope: a Class-A ballet of balance and proportion, only drawing modest current, rather evenly from plus and minus."

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Take Full Control Of Your Synthesizers with TA Programming Studio MIDI And CV Interface

Published on Jul 7, 2019 TA Programming

MPE's missing link: The Studio MIDI & CV Interface (at Octagon Studios)

"TA Programming announces availability of Studio MIDI And CV Interface full synthesizer control system debut

LONDON, UK: following a successful showcase in October at Sheffield’s Synthfest UK 2019, billed as being the UK’s biggest synthesizer event, advanced creative technology designer TA Programming is proud to announce availability of its inaugural Studio MIDI And CV Interface full synthesizer control system — capable of controlling multiple synthesizers simultaneously via voltage control outputs and MIDI/USB with extra-low latency while keeping analogue instruments, vintage or otherwise, perfectly in tune with each other — as of December 20…

According to TA Programming CEO/CTO Tim Aviss, 'We designed this interface to be not just a solution to problems that we’d encountered when controlling synthesizers in the past, but to unlock a whole new world of creativity with synthesizers from one interface.'

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Dungeness Current

Published on Nov 17, 2019 MrSharps02

"been listening to cavern of anti-matter a lot lately so i figured id try my hand at a track in the style of tim gane, way harder than it sounds it turns out.

lots of eurorack bits in this, the motorik beat, bass sound, brassy swells and guitaresque plucks are all from the rack. digitone provides organ sounds and sample and hold chords. analog four has some analog bips and boops and those shimmery pulsed chords that show up from time to time. everything is sequenced with the octatrack or eloquencer and the ot also provides a few drums and fx flourishes.

:o)"

Patrick O' Brien live at Binary Society 09 @ Robotspeak

Published on Nov 13, 2017 Distortion Productions

"On October 28th, 2017, Patrick O' Brien from Encino, CA played a live modular set for Binary Society in Vinyl Dreams at Robotspeak's Annual Synth Meet commemorating their 15 Year Anniversary in San Francisco. Live visual performance by Tim Thompson and Bill Wiatroski. Available for viewing in UHD 4K. For more info visit https://www.youtube.com/obrienmedia and binarysv.com"

New Ornaments & Crimes Polymorphic CV Generator Euorack Module

Uploaded on Apr 23, 2016 Tim Churches

"This video provides a very brief overview of version 1.0.0 of the Ornaments & Crimes firmware for the ornament & Crime DIY eurorack synthesier module by Max Stadler (mxmxmx). This enhanced firmware has been a collaborative effort by Patrick Dowling (pld) (who did a great deal of the work, and all the heavy lifting), Max Stadler (mxmxmx) (who designed the module and wrote all of the original firmware) and Tim Churches (bennelong.bicyclist)."

via GitHub:

"ornaments & crimes is a collaborative project by Patrick Dowling (aka pld), mxmxmx and Tim Churches (aka bennelong.bicyclist) (though mostly by pld and bennelong.bicyclist). it (considerably) extends the original firmware for the o_C / ASR eurorack module, designed by mxmxmx."

And additional details via mxmxmx:

"it can now be found here. and it runs on the (almost) eponymous module.

huge props go to pld and bennelong.bicyclist who've basically rewritten the firmware from scratch and mutated the thing beyond recognition, both in terms of functionality and performance.

everything is, of course, open source and we've even made a little schematic for you (NB: post-hoc). speaking of: special thanks must also to the ever-generous olivier gillet, on whose code much of this new functionality builds. (and the hardware, too, gradually gravitated towards being fairly MI-esque). not so much the user interface, which does everything the one-knob-per-function doctrine interdicts: displays, menus, encoders ... the payoff is that you get a polymorphic module that can serve several functions somewhat more transparently:

there is still a improved and enhanced quantising ASR (analogue shift register) function in ornaments & crimes, now named CopierMaschine, but several other "apps" have been added. these "apps" are selectable on-the-fly, without having to reboot the module or power-cycle.

The apps currently available in ornaments & crimes are:

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O+C "Piqued" app with Euclidean filters enabled

Published on Apr 16, 2016 Tim Churches

"Ornament & Crime module, running 'Piqued' quad envelope generator app, with each of the four envelopes used to trigger drums on two MI peaks modules. One clock input routed to all 4 envelopes. Euclidean trigger filters enabled on all 4 envelopes. The Euclidean fill, length and offset parameters on the 4 channels are modified. Trigger delay is also demonstrated on one of the channels."

More info on the Ornament & Crime eurorack module herehttp://www.matrixsynth.com/2016/02/automatonnetz-app-for-ornament-crime.html.

Automatonnetz: an "app" for the Ornament & Crime DIY eurorack synthesiser modulo

Published on Feb 27, 2016 Tim Churches

"A brief and not at all musical demonstration of the display for the Automatonnetz 'app' for the Ornament & Crime DIY eurorack synthesiser module. The Automatonnetz, coded up by Patrick Dowling, combines the neo-Riemannian triad chord transformations of the Harrington 1200 app, which also runs on the Ornament & Crime module, and which was inspired by the Noise Engineering Tonnetz Sequent module, with the 'Exfilnator' vector sequencer idea expressed by fcd72 (Frank) of d:Machinery. See https://github.com/patrickdowling/O_C... for more details."

"digital/quantizing shift register (ASR)

"analog" shift register (ASR) built around TI DAC8564/5 and teensy 3.x (cortex M4)

i/o:

4x CV outputs (16 bit), 'in-the-loop' compensated.
4x CV inputs (+/-5V, 12bit) :: sample input / offset (in octaves) / ASR index / active-notes-per-scale
4x digital inputs (trigger, hold, oct up, oct down)
output range: -3v – +6v
128x64 oled display
reprogrammable
85mA (@120MHz)
https://github.com/mxmxmx/O_C

85 mA +12V
? mA -12V
? mA 5V
25 mm Depth
Module is available as a DIY project only."

Created a new digital asr label for these.

MOOGFEST 2016 Lineup & Details Announced

Moogfest 2016 Talent Announcement with Reggie Watts

Published on Dec 8, 2015 Moogfest

"Headlining performances include Gary Numan playing a three night residency of his trailblazing early albums, a two-night residency by GZA, ODESZA, Laurie Anderson, Oneohtrix Point Never, Suzanne Ciani, Blood Orange, and Sun Ra Arkestra; with keynote presentations by transhumanist activist and pharma tycoon Dr. Martine Rothblatt, and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the field of virtual reality.

More than one hundred other acts are already confirmed to perform, while the conference program continues to develop in partnership with a range of esteemed universities, innovative businesses, and art/technology organizations. Program partners include MIT Media Lab, Google, Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology, The New Museum’s New Inc., IDEO, Gray Area, and the EyeO Festival.

For the first time ever, Moogfest will take place in Durham, NC. Moogfest activates seventeen venues, throughout the walkable downtown core, from intimate galleries to grand theatres, including a free outdoor stage with participatory, all-ages programming. Durham promises to be an ideal setting for Moogfest: a city uniquely blending diversity, authenticity, world class innovation, and culture, with a long history of great music.

Program highlights:
Pioneers in Electronic Music
Electronic music pioneer Gary Numan will perform his first three albums (Replicas, The Pleasure Principle, and Telekon) over three consecutive nights in three different venues. Musical experimentalist Laurie Anderson weaves stories and song in her solo performance, “The Language of the Future” and then returns to the stage the next day to hosts a daytime conversation.

Future Pop
Headlining talent also charts a zig-zagging course across today’s synthesizer infused pop landscape, from the vibrant electronic duo ODESZA, to the future soul of Blood Orange (playing in North Carolina for the first time), a return of utopian rockers YACHT, and even the comic stylings of Reggie Watts.

Experimentalists
Immersive noise and minimalist sonic-scapes from some of today’s most progressive experimental artists, including sunn O))), Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, Silver Apples, Oneohtrix Point Never, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Olivia Block, Alessandro Cortini, and Lotic.

Ambient Music Innovators
A rich program of sustained tones and cascading moods led by Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno’s prolific Grammy winning protege, Suzanne Ciani, and the UK’s originators of ambient house The Orb.

Hip-Hop
GZA leads Moogfest’s strongest ever hip-hop and rap lineup, supported by a roster of emerging talent including Lunice, Tory Lanez, Denzel Curry, Dr. Dre protege King Mez, and Well$.

The Future of Creativity
Futurist philosophers set the tone for a mind-expanding conference. Keynotes by Dr. Martine Rothblatt, author, entrepreneur, transhumanist, inventor of satellite radio, and Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist and composer who has pioneered the field of virtual reality. Other visionaries include sound explorer Onyx Ashanti and his 'exo-voice' sonic prosthesis, Tod Machover from MIT Media LAB presenting his work in HyperInstruments, and Gil Weinberg and The Robotic Musicianship Group at Georgia Tech performing with Shimon, an improvising robotic marimba player that uses artificial intelligence.

Orchestral Ensembles
The intergalactic voyagers of Sun Ra Arkestra channel the cosmic philosopher himself. Arthur Russell’s Instrumentals ensemble, making their US debut. Floating Points’ live project veers fluidly from warm electronic to jazz to sonic space rhythms.

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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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Experimental Garage Sale in Chicago Happening Now

Facebook Event Page here

"Synthesizers, Circuit Bent Toys, Electronic Kits, Unique Musical Instruments, Food, Live Music & Fun!
Please join us for the 7th Annual Experimental Garage Sale organized by GetLoFi.com and hosted by the Experimental Sound Studio of Chicago.
Vendors from all over Midwest ( Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, etc ) will meet for one day to showcase and pass on to a good home tons of gear, electronics, and projects. The sale portion of the day's events will be from Noon - 6:00 pm.

Once again there will be a raffle featuring items donated by the various vendors. Proceeds from the raffle help Experimental Sound Studio continue their programming and services to the regional community.

By Popular Demand- Random Duets Experimental Music Jam! As a celebration of our vendors- most of whom are well-known musicians and performers, we are presenting Random Duets where our artists will be paired up for unique collaborative improvised musical performances- always a lot of fun!! Random Duets will run from 7:30 - 10:30 pm.

Snacks and refreshments will be available (ID required for beer). Sponsored by Chicago's own Revolution Brewing!

This years vendors are:

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New MOOG SUB 37 Paraphonic Polyphonic Synth Coming to NAMM?

Click the pic for the full size shot.

Some discussion on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge and MATRIXSYNTH Facebook.

Update: [see Update4 below] for those not familiar with Paraphonic synths, a definition via wikipedia followed by a couple of notes:

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Imogen Heap & Her Musical Gloves at Upcoming CTM Festival

Imogen Heaps Musical Gloves on Dara O Briain's Science Club

Published on Dec 30, 2012

"Imogen Heap demos her (x-IMU-based) musical gloves to Dara on his show, Dara O Briain's Science Club broadcasted on BBC2, Dec 31, 2012. Imogen also did a short performance of her track 'Me The Machine' but time limitations meant this performance was heavily edited. A longer (but still edited) performance is on BBC i-player:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p012zmvh

More info on the project is available via:
http://www.x-io.co.uk/?p=829"

http://imogenheap.com/thegloves/

"In 2009, when Kelly Snook invited Imogen to visit to MIT's Media Lab, she realised the tech had now made this possible when she tried on Elly Jessop's musical glove. "Elly's glove could record and loop the voice with a few intuitive hand gestures. A million possibilities flooded my imagination! I was quite emotional and as soon as possible I changed my touring and recording life cycle to get to work on creating my dream setup that felt ever closer than before."

She called up Tom Mitchell, who'd worked with her before in coding her Monome for a Letterman performance and told him the idea. He loved it and got funding from the University of Western England (UWE ) to do a research paper on the work. She asked 5DT for a set of gloves to get going and began experimenting."

Details on the CTM Festival:
CALL FOR WORKS: SIGN-UP FOR THE MUSICMAKERS HACKLAB @ CTM.13!

"Throughout the week, we'll welcome artist and developer presentations from Keith Fullerton Whitman, Imogen Heap, Lucas Abela, Tim Exile, Ali Demirel, Native Instruments, Ableton, and others to be announced. Participants will share hands-on skill sessions on topics like physical computing and custom controllers, wearable technology and fashion, live visuals, Pure Data/libpd, Max for Live, Reaktor, OpenSoundControl, Quartz Composer, Processing, and more."

via Create Digital Music

BACH: Christmas Oratorio on mobile devices - by DigiEnsemble Berlin featuring Tobias Berndt

Published on Dec 20, 2012

"The DigiEnsemble Berlin exclusively uses digital devices to perform the aria "Großer Herr, o starker König" from the famous and glorious Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach sung by Tobias Berndt.

For two years now, the DigiEnsemble Berlin has explored the opportunities of mobile music. This aria, however, is a very important step in the course of the musician's quest, due to the high qualitative aspiration and requirements of the piece. The DigiEnsemble Berlin physically premiers the piece together with the singer Roman Trekel at the Berlin Cathedral on the 16th December 2012.

The realization of the musically challenging aria is a culmination for the mission of acquiring virtuous playing techniques with smartphones. Matthias Krebs chose this aria consciously with the intention of accomplishing a signifying step in the ensemble's development. Experts like music professors from the Berlin University of the Arts were consulted to optimize the musical adaption and musical interpretation.
Furthermore, the technical level was enhanced by utilizing a number of elaborate controllers. An important sound quality improvement for this musical interpretation was enabled by a new motion control app called "MIDI In Motion" by Florian Schwehn.
In the process of the project, the digital devices became serious musical instruments on a high level of proficiency and differentiation that has not been reached before.

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x0xb0x Creator Limor Fried Wins Entrepreneur of 2012

Follow-up to Vote for x0xb0x Creator Limor Fried as Entrepreneur of 2012. She won! :)

via Entrepeneur where you'll find the article.

Some fun bits on our synth mistress ladyada from the article:

"Fave quote: 'We are what we celebrate.' --entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen

Words of wisdom: 'Be the change. If you want to live in a world that looks a certain way, don't wait around for someone else to do it.' --business partner Phil Torrone

Required reading: Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson

Entrepreneurial idol: Tim O'Reilly, founder of O'Reilly Media, publisher of countless maker-friendly magazines and books

Biggest motivator: Feedback that Adafruit is inspiring the next generation of engineers

Design inspiration: New York City"

And a blurb on how it all started:

"She liked to put skills she learned in class to the test by building functional objects like MP3 players, synthesizers and light toys from scratch, using custom-ordered parts. This was before YouTube and the iPhone, so she posted DIY instructions for the projects on her personal website. Soon she was bombarded with requests to sell pre-assembled kits. "At first I was like, 'No dude, I'm really busy, leave me alone,'" she says. But after a few months, her fans wore her down.

With $10,000 her parents had allocated for her tuition, Fried bought a bulk quantity of parts and began assembling and selling her kits, making about $10 on each unit. In the beginning, running the company consisted of shipping a couple of packages a day from the 24-hour post office next door to her dorm. As orders increased, she hired friends; before she knew it, she was designing a new project every week around newfangled components like gyrometric sensors, solar panels and thermal printers."

"Last year New York City-based Adafruit did a booming $10 million trade in sales of DIY open-source electronic hardware kits..."

Be sure to see Entrepenuer.com for the full article.  It's a good one. Photography by David Johnson

1979 EMS SYNTHI E VINTAGE SYNTHESIZER SN 7137 & SYNTHI-E SAVES THE DAY COMIC STRIP

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

SYNTH-E Saves the Day comic strip and pics of the inside below.

"For your consideration is this vintage 1979 Electronic Music Studios (EMS) Synthi-E analog synthesizer. Experts have estimated that this incredibly rare synth was produced in limited numbers, in fact, most approximate that less than 200 were manufactured. Of those that have been documented, it is difficult to find a better example, especially such a fine specimen with the original matching DKE keyboard (serial number 7137) and original patch cables. While highly collectible Synthi-A versions are somewhat accessible, the Synthi-E is virtually E-xtinct. Do not miss this opportunity own one of the coolest and rarest synths ever made, because it is possible another will not appear available on eBay for years to come.

The Synthi-E was designed by Tim Orr as an educational version of the Synthi that had a complete teaching course built around it for use in schools. It was intended as a teaching aid into the principles of sound synthesis and electronic music. Small, housed in a brief-case and D-battery powered, the Synthi E was perfect for the student or teacher on the go! Simple as it may appear, it actually has some sophisticated features:

-Input Amplifier with low (Microphone) and high (line) level inputs
-Envelope Follower providing a voltage proportional to the amplitude of the input
-Oscillator 1 with true exponential voltage control of frequency and three simultaneous output waveforms (sine, triangle and voltage controlled pulse)
-Oscillator 2 for slow control voltages such as glissando or vibrato
-Filter/Oscillator 3 with v.c. low, high and band pass filter or pure sine wave
-Modulator for envelope shaping or ring modulation
-Noise Generator
-Trapezoid Generator for multiple simultaneous trapezoid waveforms. These may be used for envelope shaping (trigger mode) or for low frequency waveforms (free run mode)
-Manual-Slide tape Controllers (2) for obtaining control voltages. One slide-tape is stepped and may be used as a keyboard and the other for variable control. One provides a trigger pulse. Both may be temporarily marked or written on
-Inverter to invert control voltages or signals
-Monitor Amplifier and Loudspeaker with two input mixer faders
-The optional 3-octave keyboard for controlling the Synthi E. This unit is a mechanical keyboard which plugs into the Synthi E. It provides the correct pitch voltage and trigger signal for the Trapezoid Generator. A switch on the Synthi E selects internal or external keyboard operation.

Modules:
- VCF 144/1 (Issue F)
- VCF 144/2 (Issue F)
- L.F. OSC 144/3 (Issue E)
- Input Amp Env followr 144/4 (Issue E)
- TRAPZD GEN 144/5 (Issue F)
- VCA O/P AMP 144/6 (Issue G)

This unit is in excellent working condition, and it sounds incredible."

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Tim Davis MOOG SONIC SIX Custom Analog Synthesizer

via this auction

"Tim Davis was killed in a motorcycle accident last month. Tim was a gifted musician and an electronics genius. This synth was a lifelong project and hobby of his. It was purchased the year he graduated high school (1972) and has been with him ever since. I included two pics of an original Moog Sonic Six for comparison.

As you can see the main panel has been removed and replaced with clear plexiglass. In the upper portion: fourteen 1/4" I/O jacks have been added on the left side, eleven 1/8" I/O jacks have been added along the top, 32 various switches, buttons and I/O jacks have been added along the bottom. The original speaker was removed and replaced with a panel of 29 dials and a button. In the lower portion 13 various switches, dials and ports have been added and a replacement speaker (marked ELP) has been mounted. There is a hand written label that says 'TYMCLAVIER', I believe this is a reference to the Synclavier Digital Synthesizer. I have a notebook containing hand written instructions on the use of this creation as well as hand drawn diagrams of many of the circuits involved.

I can not explain the modifications that have been made because I am neither a musician nor an electrician. I can say that I have powered up the Moog and it works. It needs to be refurbished as the keys are not all making good contact when pressed, some are scratchy & some are faint.

This is NOT a stage ready instrument! This is a project for the person who understands the science behind analog synthesizers and enjoys exploring the unknown. This was clearly a labor of love from a man who signed his name Tim "Moog Man" Davis. I hope that this instrument can find its way into the hands of someone who will appreciate the technical genius that created it and enjoy the creative path it leads them down."

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Open Labs MiKo Synthesizer / Keyboard

via this auction

"500GB harddrive. Dressed in an all-new Arctic White Chassis color scheme, the Timbaland Special Edition MiKo will stand out in any crowd.

The Timbaland Special Edition MiKo features E-MU™'s new Proteus™ X2 Streaming Sound Module V2.5 with over 7,000 instruments, including the new Ensoniq™ Urban Legends™ Sound Library that contains the sounds from Ensoniq's ASR™/EPS™/MR™/ASR-X™/ZR™ instruments.

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OSCar MONOPHONIC SYNTHESIZER (Full Midi V3)

via this auction

"Polyphony - Monophonic (Duophonic via built-in Sequencer)
Oscillators - 2 DCO's with sawtooth, triangle, and square-, variable- or modulated-pulse waveforms and 5 preset digital wavefroms
LFO - 1 LFO with square, triangle, sawtooth waveforms, sample-and-hold
Filter - Two 12dB/oct analog filters which can be linked in series for 24dB/oct configuration. Lowpass, bandpass, highpass modes.
Dedicated ADSR envelope, Frequency Cutoff and Resonance controls.
VCA - Two ADSR Envelopes
Keyboard - 37 keys
Memory - MIDI Model: 12 user, 24 preset patches. MIDI-equipped V3 (latest): 36 programmable patches. Custom Waveforms: 24 programmable digital waveforms.
waves. Sequencer: 24 sequences.
Control - Trigger In, full MIDI spec.
Date Produced - 1985

OSCar
The OSCar is a classic mono-synth from British manufacturer Oxford Synthesiser Company (OSC). It first appeared on the scene in 1983 and was considered then to be in the same class as the Arp Odyssey & Minimoog mono-synths (it is). Its late arrival makes it one of the more advanced programmable mono-synths. Amazing sounds and digitally controlled dual oscillators with analog filters and plenty of programmabilitie. It also has full midi MIDI spec.

The Oscar is monophonic, but can also achieve duophonic capability when using just one oscillator per voice. Waveforms offered include sawtooth, triangle, and square, variable, or modulated-pulse waveforms. In addition to these analog waveforms, there's an additive-synthesis function allowing you to create your own custom waveforms by simply mixing the amplitudes of any of its 24 harmonics using the keyboard. Up to 24 of these custom waves can be stored and used with either oscillator. Once you've got some sounds it's time to hit the filter section - the real analog heart of this synth! It has two 12dB/oct filters which can be linked for a steeper 24dB/oct slope. It features switchable lowpass, highpass and bandpass filtering and your basic frequency cutoff and resonance type controls. The filter has its own ADSR envelope as well (a second ADSR envelope controls the amplifier section). The filter can also be modulated by the LFO. The OSCar's LFO offers triangle, sawtooth, square, and other wave shapes and can also be used to modulate the amp, pitch, or pulse-width. There's even a sample-and-hold function. A simple built-in sequencer gave the OSCar duophonic capabilities! It could play a sequence on one of the oscillators while the keyboard can be used to simultaneously play along with the sequence. It stores up to 24 sequences. With full MIDI spec (V3) you can easily synchronize your OSCar and other MIDI gear together and a computer! The sound patches that are stored in memory can also be dumped via MIDI to more permanent storage mediums. MIDI models also offered 36 programmable memory patches which are assigned to the actual keyboard keys (pre-MIDI models had 12 preset and 24 user patches). The OSCar is very hard to find as there are little more than 2000 in excistence, so now is your chance.

It is working well and has been well maintained over the years by the same qualified engineer who used to work in the famous 'Rod Argents Keyboards' in Denmark Street, London W1, the same place I purchased her back in 1985.

‘Sequencer’
The OSCar's sequencer, operates in step-time mode, and is fairly sophisticated. It features the rare ability to lengthen notes or insert spaces, so that it isn't restricted to producing an
endless stream of notes of identical length. This is done by holding down the required note while advancing the step button, or pressing the Space button just below the wheels.
Twenty-four sequences can be stored (the numbered keys being pressed into service for one more function) but then these can be chained together into more complex sequences, complete with program changes. As a result, with a bit of planning, you can produce really quite sophisticated bass lines and other monophonic sequences, whilst playing a second part over the top, if you want. All this can be triggered externally via a Click In which is ideal for interfacing with the drum machines of the day (Linn, Emu Drumulator, Sequential Drumtrak) and OSCar can often be seen as one half of a very tight rhythm section at live gigs. There is even the facility to sub-divide the incoming clocks to create slower or faster lines without spending hours inserting Spaces or making each note four times the length. The same triggering is available on the arpeggiator, which made it amongst the most flexible of the day with multiple octave ranges and random ordering. Or you can just use your computer for sequencing and a nice midi cable, it's your choice.

Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar Specifications
* Type: Synth/ keyboard/
* Synthesis Type: Digital Accoustic simulation Subtractive, Additive (24 harmonics)
* Polyphony:
o Max: 2
o Typical in use: 1
* Multi-timbral (number of parts): 1
* Oscillators per Voice :
o Min : 1
o Max : 2
* Controllers : Pitch bend, mod wheel, (sysex?)
* Effects :
o Number of FX units : 0
o Number of different effects : 0
* Keyboard :
o Number of Keys : 37
o Can send on 1 simultaneous MIDI channels
o Responds to :
o Sounds can be split by :
* Memory :
o Patches : First versions: 12 RAM/24 ROM. Later versions: 36 RAM.
o Performances :
* Inputs and Outputs :
o Number of Audio Outs (excluding Phones) : 1 stereo
o Number of Audio Ins : 0
o Number of MIDI Outs (excluding Thru) : 1 (if MIDI'ed)
o Number of MIDI Ins : 1 (if MIDI'ed)

Well known artists credited as using OSCars include:
* Billy Currie, Chris Cross and Midge Ure of Ultravox
* John Foxx
* Geoff Downes (Asia)
* Jean-Michel Jarre and Dominique Perrier
* Keith Emerson
* Stevie Wonder
* Tim Simenon
* Sneaker Pimps

Examples of OSCar sounds on commercial releases include:
* Ultravox - "Love's Great Adventure" (solo, atonal sequence)
* Band Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas" (bass line)
* Jean-Michel Jarre - "Revolutions Overture" (bass line, solo at climax)
* Stevie Wonder - "Skeletons" (bass line [with Elka Synthex])
* S-Express - "Theme From S-Express" (bass line)"