This one was spotted and sent in via Ivan Trajkovic aka deejayiwan.
As the title states, it's a collection of online synths and instruments grouped by the following sections: SYNTHESIZERS AND INSTRUMENTS, DRUM MACHINES AND SEQUENCERS, VIDEO AND DJ, and UTILITIES AND TOOLS.
Pictured:
MEGAPARSEC 4-PART MULTITIMBRAL SYNTHESIZER WITH GATE SEQUENCER.
NIGHT TRAIN ATMOSPHERIC SYNTHESIZER FOR AMBIENT SOUNDSCAPES.
ROBODRUM 64-STEP DRUM SEQUENCER.
BASS-X BASSLINE SYNTHESIZER WITH STEP SEQUENCER.
MICROTONE MODULAR SYNTHESIZER WITH DRAG-AND-DROP PATCHING.
"As I said in another blog post I find the computers of the 1980s French company Exelvision interesting and under-appreciated. Not only featured these computers (French) speech synthesis, but it had also one of the most interesting and quirky add-ons of the 80s: a digital drum computer (well, sort of)! Fitting into the naming scheme of Exelvisions products, it was called the “Exeldrums”. It was first sold in 1985 for 1200 French Francs (about 400 USD today)."
This one is in via in via Ivan Trajkovic aka deejayiwan.
"Visit of Jean Michel Jarre's studio at his home in Croissy in 1987 as part of the 1pm newspaper presented by William Leymergie on French Television Antenne2, for the release of the album: 'Houston Lyon in concert'. Fairlight and ARP2600 demo.
Mixing: Denis Vanzetto.
I kept this document on a VHS tape in the attic for 20 years. I'm happy to have kept it for so long and, thanks to Youtube, to share it with you!
I would be delighted to share my music with you:
👉 Web: https://bleulezard.com
👉 Digital platforms: https://linktr.ee/bleulezard
👉 Instagram: / _bleulezard"
This one was spotted and sent in via Ivan Trajkovic aka deejayiwan. Note the video is from 11 years ago so not AI. Could be a render for a soft synth or other though. Could be DIY, but note the touch panel or screen. According to the YouTube comments "Picture is only for cover. Not sure which synth it is. Will try to find out." There was no follow-up that I could find after that aside from mention the album itself mainly features Arturia. You can find a list of hardware synths and some harware synth spotting in this previous post featuring Dreamland. If you know what that blue synth above is, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post, or send email to matrixsynth at gmail.com and I'll update the post with anything definitive. BTW, you can find additonal Mystery Synths via the Mystery Synths label here. There have only been 23 including this one, to date, since 2005. Update: answer in the comments of this post below. That was quick.
Sounds are complex and vary widely. This experiment uses machine learning to organize thousands of everyday sounds. The computer wasn’t given any descriptions or tags – only the audio. Using a technique called t-SNE, the computer placed similar sounds closer together. You can use the map to explore neighborhoods of similar sounds and even make beats using the drum sequencer. http://g.co/aiexperiments
Built by Kyle McDonald, Manny Tan, Yotam Mann, and friends at Google Creative Lab. Thanks to the London Philharmonia for contributing some sounds to this project. t-SNE animation featured in video by Gene Kogan.
"My friends I am sorry to leave you hanging all summer with no jams, but its a beautiful sunny world out there and I've got to be out IN IT! So in the meantime I have a few jams backlogged that have **never before been released** and expect some weird b-sides that I was too embarrassed to post when I had content to spare !
Anyways- lots going on here, we got some Hydrasynth deluxe, classic analog pads from the JX-8P... and lots of super pump-jumping with the MX-1 sidechaining and doing some beat effects. Jupiter-80 muted trumpet is the funnest sound in the world.
Stay a while, and listen!"
---
And an interview with MR TUNA Music by Ivan Trajkovic aka deejayiwan editor and journalist (and sometimes producer and DJ):
Q: Have computers and DAWs, in a sense, destroyed creativity – why do we have so many “DAWless” setups today?
A: I think a really big part of it is a desire to get away from 'the screen'. Staring at a computer all day for work, clicking away on a mouse and keyboard can become exhausting after a long day, and to break away from the rigidity and comforts of software simply makes it more fun.... and thats a really big part of why I do what I do. There is some minor advantage to the near-unbeatable quality of analog circuitry you cant quite replicate working purely within a DAW, but that point is being made more and more moot by incredible emulations and virtual analog softsynths.
Q: Today we have apps like BandLab that are complete studios on a phone – have we reached “peak technology”?
A: It staggers me to think about what the future might hold now that music production can be with someone anywhere anytime so long as they have their phones. You can literally be on the bus making a hit track with your thumb. That’s crazy. But I don’t think it’s peak.... Tech is always moving and it doesnt stop for anyone... AI is going to be the next big thing whether we like it or not and we need to find a way to keep in check so we're still doing the creating and imagining and the technology is just an extension of that.
Q: Why are new producers so mesmerized with 80s synths and samplers, even though they’re obsolete tech?
A: Things were built differently. Things were built for professionals. Instruments had a quality of sound and build that is still unmatched today. Some of my gear is 40+ years old and sounds better than the stuff from 2025 thats trying its best to emulate it all today. Why dont we build synths like that anymore? Because its all about money and the manufacturers want to make as much of it as possible while spending the least amount.
Q: With so much new electronic music today, how can anyone “find” an audience?
A: Maybe it's lame to say, but the best path is to be authentic to yourself. When i started finally sharing my music it was more of a personal diary than something i was using to 'get famous' or 'find an audience', but by being true to what I wanted and my own personal vision (and having trust in that over some time), people started to see what I was doing and it all came together. People connect with personality, but it's obvious when you're not being yourself... not just tracks. Its routine to say because its true: be consistent, put your stuff out there. The internet is huge — your crowd is out there, just waiting to stumble onto your page at 3AM.
Q: You have one of the most interesting studios – what was the idea behind its creation?
A: My studio was built with one idea in mind... live looping. When I started dreaming up how I *wanted* to make music there wasnt even the right tools to do it properly.... sequencers were still fairly limited and there wasnt a lot of people in the live-looping jam space. I was really discovering it all and making it work on my own. It all came together with the introduction of the Squarp Pyramid sequencer--- what it allowed me to do, the freedom it allowed me to create with... it was the breakthrough piece of gear I needed to bring everything together and start building and building... and BUILDING. I love the music I get to create, but I am more proud of my studio as a form of art in the beauty of it's function and how it's designed to jam with friends, than I ever have been of the music that I create in it.
Q: What’s the future of electronic music – maybe apps and DAWs in virtual reality?
A: The virtual space is here to stay and it will only get more and more indistinguishable from the real world.... We might be already living in that simulation, but like I said earlier I think the real future is going to be (for better or for worse) in AI production techniques, editing, and complete song production. We're already at the point where AI can create a song for us instantly with our own voices, but how long will it be before AI is doing our chores and boring tasks so that we are free to be creative and put our energy into real art rather than the opposite world we live in now! AI should save us from the hard stuff and let us work on the 'fun stuff', the worthy stuff, the music stuff!
Click the arrow in the right of the image to go through the set.
Don't miss the links further below.
"TOMITA, CASIO & THE COSMO SYSTEM: Casio collaborated with Casio way back in the early 1980’s to create the COSMO synthesizer which was a huge rack of custom devices and computer system that ultimately became the CZ-101 Synthesizer and FZ-1 Sampler…the first 16bit sampler. From what understand the CZ-101 has in its code something like 64 different waveforms of which only 8 were selected for the CZ. I’ve seen someone post about this and was trying to make them accessible. Phase Distortion synthesis is the “real” FM (again as I’ve read somewhere) and Yamaha’s FM is different though I’m not sure what those differences are. The CZ started my career as a sound designer and remains one of my Top 3 instruments though I use the Virtual CZ soft synth by Oli Larkin. I have my entire collection of sounds from all the way back to 1986 and all the ones used on my “Lost Childhood” albums that were done with just two CZ-1’s run from a Roland MC-500 MIDI sequencer in real time through a Roland R880 digital reverb direct to DAT. A fantastic and classic synth! 🎛️ 👽"
"Roger getting to the point of on the run' tune eventually
A meal and a nice young man roger waters 😂🤣mixing tunes 'on the run'. But seriously nice to see a peaceful roger waters . I don't think we were worried about the rest ay 😁"
"CPU Emulation: While the reference FPGA ships with a 32-bit RISC-V CPU running at 100MHz, it can be reconfigured to emulate a wide range of retro-CPUs, from the 6502 to the Z-80 to something we’ve never even heard of. Furthermore, Precursor’s FPGA-based design can accurately emulate old sound chips in hardware, and its modular keyboard can be swapped out for an alternative that more closely resembles your favorite old controller. Be warned, however: it will no longer fit in your pocket if you mount a joystick on it."
Audio features:
Audio with safe defaults
Integrated 0.7 W speaker for notifications
Vibration motor
3.5 mm headset jack
No integrated microphone – audio surveillance is not possible when headset is unplugged
"Waaaa... waa aa a aaa a!" Here’s something to warm your heart: Sit back and enjoy this wonderful clip from an NHK educational show featuring two legendary Yamaha synthesizers: The compact CS-10, and the almighty CS-80 in the second half of the video. So what’s going on in the beginning? Using a microphone, the hosts voice is routed through the filter of the synth and is being modulated in frequency, resulting in the robotic voice. 🤖 🎹
"This Yamaha Ensemble Mixer is part of the private legendary drum machine collection of Moby.
A genuine piece of music technology history from the 70s - and very high tech at the time - PA mixer from Yamaha with built in spring reverb and analogue beatbox.
Serial: 4320. Works!
All items in Moby's Drum Machine Collection ship fully insured with delivery confirmation and include a signed and embossed Certificate Of Authenticity from Moby"
"In the early 80s, the portable consumer electronics market was still in its infancy; many companies were still testing the waters with incredibly innovative products. Here’s a perfect example: What you see above is an analog drum machine, a chord generator, a cassette recorder, a AM / FM radio and a boombox, all in one device - Sony's CFS-C7 Chord Machine. Connect a guitar or a microphone, select a drum pattern, program some chords, hit record & make musical history. 😎🎶"
Studio Vision (1990)
“Doo-dn doo-dn DOOO DOOO DOOOOO!” 🎵
The first consumer software that integrated MIDI sequencing with digital audio editing on a personal computer: This is Opcode’s ‘Studio Vision’, along with a Macintosh IIic and a Roland PC-200 MIDI controller.
"Introducing the Open Amiga Sampler - an affordable, open-source, 8-bit/mono, parallel port sampler for the Commodore Amiga featuring stereo mixdown and an input preamp with physical gain control.
Over the course of the Commodore Amiga's active lifespan, a great many samplers (also known variously as sampler carts/cartridges, sound cards, audio digitisers, audio interfaces, etc) were manufactured to exploit audio capabilities that were unmatched by any other home computer of its time. In 1989 an Amiga 500 with a cheap 8bit parallel-port sampler gave you the means to produce professional sounding music in your bedroom for a few hundred pounds - about the same as it cost to hire a recording studio for a few days. Acid house and techno were exploding; hardcore, jungle and drum'n'bass were just around the corner. Even if your sample-based Amiga music wasn't quite professional sounding by the standards of audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts and the old-fashioned music industry, it was probably good enough for underground clubs and illegal raves! Countless dance, bass and electronic music superstars got their start with an Amiga and a cheap sampler.
Some samplers back then cost a lot of money and offered advanced features or higher quality than the rest, although there was (and still is) a fundamental limit to the sound quality it's possible to squeeze out of an Amiga. This project is a clone of the typical low-budget sampler design that flooded the market in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They're often referred to as 'carts', but they're actually not cartridges: they're usually small 25-pin parallel port dongles whose circuit boards and connectors are housed in the type of plastic shell that systems like the C64 and the VIC-20 used as cartridge housings. But some manufacturers called them cartridges, and we've been calling them carts for decades, so we'll stick with that. Some live in separate boxes attached by a parallel extension cable to the Amiga's printer port, and some connect to both parallel and serial ports, or even to a joystick port, as a hacky but clever way of getting up to 16bit resolution. Interesting stuff, but out of this project's scope for now!
The common features of these cheap sampler carts were:
8bit sample resolution
Stereo or mono
Typical maximum sampling rate of ~55Khz in mono (~37Khz for stereo)
Usually claimed to feature impressive SNR, anti-aliasing filters, and special ~90Khz frequency modes (sometimes these claims were even true!)
The feature set of the Open Amiga Sampler is:
8bit sample resolution
Mono
Typical maximum sampling rate of ~52Khz
Input amplifier with variable gain"
"ask.audio blogs about the 2017 recovery of a rare, one-of-a-kind EMS Synthi KB1 synthesizer, a model that never made it into production. This one was made for the band YES in 1971. Digitana Electronics obtained the synth and was looking to document some music history.
'We are pleased to announce that Digitana Electronics has acquired an important piece of E.M.S. history…the E.M.S. Synthi KB1 keyboard. Only one prototype was ever made, for the band YES in 1971.
'The synth never went into production. It has remained essentially unused for 46 years though Steve Howe (YES guitarist) did use it on a track in the first of his ‘homebrew’ demo recordings, some of which featured on the bands albums. We plan to release more photos and audio demos of this keyboard in the future so that E.M.S. fans everywhere can finally hear and find out more about this beautiful and historic instrument.'”
