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Sunday, December 18, 2005

Synth Books

No title link. With the recent book posts for Essential Retro and Real World Digital Audio, I thought I should put up a list of synth books. A friend of mine joined the Amazon affiliate program and started putting up book ads in posts where he reviewed the particular book. I actually liked the look of the ads because they include a small snapshot of the book. So, I figure why not. I joined and added a few of my favorites to the right pane (just scroll down and look for the books on the right). I also found one I hadn't heard of before called "Quick Guide to Analog Synthesis." Anyone know if this one is any good?

BTW, if you know of any others I should add to the list on the right, please post them in the comments below and I'll put them up. I checked Amazon for A-Z of Analog Synthesis but surprisingly it wasn't there. BTW, I don't want to limit the list to just ads, so if you have any links for synth books not on Amazon or other, send them my way. I just think it would be cool to have a list of all synth books on the right. And yes the Amazon ones are ads, no trickery there on my part. And obviously, if you are interested in picking up one or more of these books, feel free to support my site by ordering through one of these links. : )

Update via Peter Forrest in the comments below : )
"Hi all - very nice to be a toilet stalwart! I'm Peter Forrest, writer of the A-Z books. Sorry, but Amazon demanded such a ridiculous price to stock my books that I won't do it through them. Luckily you can buy them direct through me if you want :o) The easiest way is to email me at pforrest@vemia.co.uk, and I'll send you the details. I also still have some copies of the Synthesizer Museum books (and videos if anyone wants a nice retro original vintage 90s etc. etc. version of Bob Moog's speech and a bunch of incredible synths)."

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Homebrew Sequencer - Galoppierende Zuversicht

Pic of a homebrew sequencer (and possible synth?) used by styro2000 of the swiss group galoppierende zuversicht. Sent my way by Philip Sherburne. Title link takes you to the galoppierende zuversicht site. Click here for a live set.

GenoQ Octopus Ready to Order

Looks like the GenoQ Octopus is ready to order. Title link takes you to their news page with more info. I previously posted on the GenoQ Octopus back in August. The Octopus looks to be an amazingly feature rich pattern generator/sequencer, focused on ease of use (little to no "sub menus") and live performance. For more, make sure to check out other sections of the site including the Story-Board pdf.

Bad Wolf TV

Kenny Balys sent a link to a couple of videos, "Eternity" and "Deja Voodoo" to AH. I finally got around to checking them out. Brilliant. Spoiler below shot. Check them out in this order: "Eternity" then "Deja Voodoo." Each is about 60M.



Spoiler:
Starting with "Eternity" my first impression was this is mediocre but pretty refreshing. Made me want to travel and gave me that sense of taking a cold shower, but a bit deeper than that; it reminded me of my self induced repression, reminded me of my college days when things were so much more crisp and life was simply magic, and how things aren't quite like that anymore. Things still are magical, but scars kind of leave their marks the older you get. Then it hit me. This is much deeper than the surface. The video quality reminded me of the videos I used to make in college. There is a certain depth to that. Coincidence? Who knows, but it brought me back. "Deja Voodoo" was a complete contrast; pulled me out of the wonder and into the scars, back to reality. What's interesting is the two paired reminded me of my rave days but in the opposite order. You'd start off at a rave that had the vibe of "Deja Voodoo" but end with the vibe of "Eternity." But life seems to go in the opposite direction, or does it? Maybe it just goes in waves. Anywho... Don't know if this effect was on purpose or not, but, brilliant stuff; nice contrast between the videos. The interesting thing is "Eternity" was more deja voodoo to me in reminding me of the past; reminded me a bit of Dif Jus actually. So, anyone know the significance of 099 or the fly that shows up in both videos?

Gear list comments from Kenny:

"The tracks were done with ATC-1 on bass, Moog Voyager,
Jupiter 6, TR808/909/606 CR8000 DR-55, Jomox Xbase-09 and lots
of Doepfer A-100. Also have some MFB in there from
Schneider's Buero at Alexanderplatz, Berlin.

Electrix Filter Factory and the Warpfactory used to add
shimmer and life to top end of certain sounds.
Dimension-D chorus for some pads and counter melodies.

We mixed analogue on a SSL 4048 board with a bank of Neve
pre-amps."

Airport81 - New Yoko - Yamaha CS60 over Atari 2600

Title link takes you to MySpace site for Airport81. I previously posted on their track The Buddy System. Looks like they have a couple of more tracks up including "New Yoko" which features just the Yamaha CS60 over an Atari 2600 for beats. Pretty interesting track. Via this post on Sonic State's the-gas-station.

Sonar Axe

Theremin like MIDI guitar controller. Yep... Via GetLoFi, which mentions something about having to wear goggles and rubber gloves? Hmm... Better keep the alcohol away from this one; unless, of course, you like the smell of burnt rubber. Looks like two massive sodering irons to me.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Essential Retro

Looks like James Grahame of Retro Thing has a book out and... it has synth. : ) Title link takes you there (scroll down the page to see what's in the book). Looks like a fascinating trip down memory lane as well as current retro design. Very cool. Would make a great stocking stuffer. Congrats James!



"My new book is entitled Essential Retro: The Vintage Technology Guide. It covers a few hundred of my favorite vintage and vintage-style gadgets.

Since I'm a synth addict, there's an entire chapter dedicated to electronic musical instruments. I start with a look at some classics like the ARP Odyssey and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, but I couldn't resist including a few modern 'vintage analog' devices from Dave Smith, Clavia, and even the real analog growl of the Alesis A6 Andromeda.

Check out www.essentialretro.com for more details. People can buy signed copies direct from the site, and it should be available on Amazon in the USA and UK early next week. Priced at $19.95 in the USA, £11.95 in the UK."

Charles Cohen's Buchla on Flickr

Nice shot of Charles Cohen's Buchla on Flickr.

Nord Lead Demos

Title link takes you to some Nord Lead demos by SpeckO on Sonic State's the-gas-station.

Distorted Music Festival Pics

I recently posted about the Distorted Music Festival in Melbourne Australia. Title link takes you to shots of the festival including synths. Via Andee on AH; this was Andee's first live gig and he had a blast.



"Well, I had my very first ever live gig and it was a blast! I had to get the
A6 and my 20kg+ road case up 2 flights of stairs to do it, but damn it was
worth it:)"

"It was part of the distorted music festival in melbourne (distorted.com.au) so
not only had a great time performing, but also got to see and meet a bunch of
artists I've admired for years, not to mention getting onto a compilation CD
with the likes of converter, architect, scorn and mono no aware!"
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