Shot by 0++0
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Buchla Responds
There was a two part review of the new Buchla 200e in the December 2005 and January 2006 issues of Sound on Sound. There was a bit of buzz about them as the first of two was not very favorable, specifically regarding the build quality. I'm still waiting for these articles to come up on the non subscription SOS site. Well, it looks like Don Buchla responded to the review and his comments are available online. Title link takes you there. Enjoy. "Hopefully, I leave your kind and tolerant but inquisitive and deserving readers with a slightly better sense of what we're all about. Reliability is of the highest concern to us, and we intend to continue making instruments of unimpeachable quality. We do our best to build fine instruments at fair prices, but we promise to avoid the cheap. Fame, fortune and financial success are of secondary importance, and we'll happily flail about in "the backwaters of the music industry" for a long time to come." Don Buchla on SOS.
Sampler anti-aliasing and pitch-shifting comparison
Interesting page testing a number of samplers. Samples, results and more listed. They also have an interesting analogy of audio aliasing and film (see below). Title link takes you there. Via the mighty Moogulator blog.
"It's easiest to describe aliasing in terms of a visual sampling system we all know and love - —movies. If you've ever watched a western and seen the wheel of a rolling wagon appear to be going backwards, you've witnessed aliasing. The movie's frame rate isn't adequate to describe the rotational frequency of the wheel, and our eyes are deceived by the misinformation!"
"It's easiest to describe aliasing in terms of a visual sampling system we all know and love - —movies. If you've ever watched a western and seen the wheel of a rolling wagon appear to be going backwards, you've witnessed aliasing. The movie's frame rate isn't adequate to describe the rotational frequency of the wheel, and our eyes are deceived by the misinformation!"
BeauSoleil - Prison Made Modular
Fascinating. Title link takes you to the full story. Charles Manson ties below.
"BeauSoleil got his first hands-on exposure to electronic music during the recording of the soundtrack. "I needed to enhance the sound palette of the basic rock instrumentation we'd used. I read Polyphony magazine [which later became Electronic Musician] and a couple of books by Craig Anderton to learn how to build my own circuits and instruments. From there, I graduated to building modules from scratch using parts from electronics surplus houses, and I used the modules to create new sounds." Thereafter, he studied audio electronics for several years in a prison vocational electronics program. This learning phase gave him the opportunity to develop skills he has put to good use ever since as a synth programmer and engineer. In 1984, he persuaded Jerry Kovarsky of Casio to loan him a CZ-1 synth in exchange for developing sounds for the instrument. (Kovarsky is now with Korg.) This was BeauSoleil's first experience with digital programming, but because the instrument was based on an analog architecture, he was able to complete several volumes of sounds. He is also a guitar player, so Casio later provided him with a PG-380, a MIDI guitar synth that he still uses as a stand-alone instrument. Actual programming of the PG-380 had to be done on Casio's rack-mounted VZ-10, from which patches were transferred on a data card. This programming experience and his connections at Casio later led to programming gigs with Ensoniq for the KT-76 synth, Kawai for the K4 synth, and Kurzweil for the K2000."
Update via the comments:
"Robert Beausoleil was also a member of the Manson Family before his imprisonment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Beausoleil"
From Wikipedia:
"He met Charlie Manson in Topanga Canyon in 1966 and later went on to be one of the group who killed Hinman, allegedly for defaulting in a drugs deal. Accompanying Beausoleil that night were Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner, both later involved in other murders."
"BeauSoleil got his first hands-on exposure to electronic music during the recording of the soundtrack. "I needed to enhance the sound palette of the basic rock instrumentation we'd used. I read Polyphony magazine [which later became Electronic Musician] and a couple of books by Craig Anderton to learn how to build my own circuits and instruments. From there, I graduated to building modules from scratch using parts from electronics surplus houses, and I used the modules to create new sounds." Thereafter, he studied audio electronics for several years in a prison vocational electronics program. This learning phase gave him the opportunity to develop skills he has put to good use ever since as a synth programmer and engineer. In 1984, he persuaded Jerry Kovarsky of Casio to loan him a CZ-1 synth in exchange for developing sounds for the instrument. (Kovarsky is now with Korg.) This was BeauSoleil's first experience with digital programming, but because the instrument was based on an analog architecture, he was able to complete several volumes of sounds. He is also a guitar player, so Casio later provided him with a PG-380, a MIDI guitar synth that he still uses as a stand-alone instrument. Actual programming of the PG-380 had to be done on Casio's rack-mounted VZ-10, from which patches were transferred on a data card. This programming experience and his connections at Casio later led to programming gigs with Ensoniq for the KT-76 synth, Kawai for the K4 synth, and Kurzweil for the K2000."
Update via the comments:
"Robert Beausoleil was also a member of the Manson Family before his imprisonment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Beausoleil"
From Wikipedia:
"He met Charlie Manson in Topanga Canyon in 1966 and later went on to be one of the group who killed Hinman, allegedly for defaulting in a drugs deal. Accompanying Beausoleil that night were Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner, both later involved in other murders."
OP-X
Reaktor based Oberheim OB-X soft synth. Title link takes you there. Via VSE.
Update2: Via the comments:
"Anonymous said...
I hope they sue the guy, he's been spamming his wares on just about every thread of every forum.. gr...
10:29 AM
Hamilton Lovecraft said...
Yeah, what anonymous said -- these guys spammed all over the KVR fora recently. Don't give 'em any press."
Update: Via Wiglaf in the comments: "Keep reading that thread, the person who made that could be in some trouble." The risk is Gibson coming after them for the likeness of the Oberheim name. Gibson owns it. Thanks Wiglaf, I might have missed the updates - only so much time in the day feeding this site along with everything else. : )
Some choice snips from the thread:
"spookyman, I would take Bitexion's advice and tell your friend to either make it free or remove all references to Oberheim.
Why? ... well for the reasons already given, but also because I too have first-hand experience with such issues. Look at the last 2 softsynths mentioned in my sig. I am part of a developing team called Voltkitchen, we released these 2 emulations last year and we almost immediately received cease and desist e-mails from Arturia, as well as a less-nasty but inquiring e-mail from Moog Music.
However, Arturia's threats did not amount to anything because our product does not copy anything from their software. Arturia are just another company making emulations, not the original hardware (and they don't own the Moog or Arp name). So they had no case. But they were VERY nasty and threatening toward us for the obvious reasons (market share being taken away).
With Moog Music, their concern was not the softsynth itself but the "use" of the Moog legacy in the graphical layout and general appearance. I know calling it MiniMogue was a little bit of a sly side-step, but at least they were okay about it in the end after conversing with them via e-mail. Since Moog Music makes hardware (Voyager, etc.), they weren't concerned at all about market share, there's no comparison between a hardware real-analog Voyager and our free software.
However, Gibson is a HUGE company and might not be so nice. They've been known to throw lawsuits around like confetti. Tell your friend to be VERY careful."
Followed by:
"heheee.... thanks for your work on MinimogueVA! I work for Moog and own a Voyager, and guess what? I love MinimogueVA and use it on tracks side-by-side with the Voyager. It really sounds good. Not better and certainly there are many areas where they don't overlap... but I am not interested in comparing A to B as much as I am into really good sound... and MmVA is one of incredibly few VSTi's that really sounds good to my ears. The fact that it can even keep up in a mix with the V'ger and my Jupiter is quite telling. Keep up the good work... "
Update2: Via the comments:
"Anonymous said...
I hope they sue the guy, he's been spamming his wares on just about every thread of every forum.. gr...
10:29 AM
Hamilton Lovecraft said...
Yeah, what anonymous said -- these guys spammed all over the KVR fora recently. Don't give 'em any press."
Update: Via Wiglaf in the comments: "Keep reading that thread, the person who made that could be in some trouble." The risk is Gibson coming after them for the likeness of the Oberheim name. Gibson owns it. Thanks Wiglaf, I might have missed the updates - only so much time in the day feeding this site along with everything else. : )
Some choice snips from the thread:
"spookyman, I would take Bitexion's advice and tell your friend to either make it free or remove all references to Oberheim.
Why? ... well for the reasons already given, but also because I too have first-hand experience with such issues. Look at the last 2 softsynths mentioned in my sig. I am part of a developing team called Voltkitchen, we released these 2 emulations last year and we almost immediately received cease and desist e-mails from Arturia, as well as a less-nasty but inquiring e-mail from Moog Music.
However, Arturia's threats did not amount to anything because our product does not copy anything from their software. Arturia are just another company making emulations, not the original hardware (and they don't own the Moog or Arp name). So they had no case. But they were VERY nasty and threatening toward us for the obvious reasons (market share being taken away).
With Moog Music, their concern was not the softsynth itself but the "use" of the Moog legacy in the graphical layout and general appearance. I know calling it MiniMogue was a little bit of a sly side-step, but at least they were okay about it in the end after conversing with them via e-mail. Since Moog Music makes hardware (Voyager, etc.), they weren't concerned at all about market share, there's no comparison between a hardware real-analog Voyager and our free software.
However, Gibson is a HUGE company and might not be so nice. They've been known to throw lawsuits around like confetti. Tell your friend to be VERY careful."
Followed by:
"heheee.... thanks for your work on MinimogueVA! I work for Moog and own a Voyager, and guess what? I love MinimogueVA and use it on tracks side-by-side with the Voyager. It really sounds good. Not better and certainly there are many areas where they don't overlap... but I am not interested in comparing A to B as much as I am into really good sound... and MmVA is one of incredibly few VSTi's that really sounds good to my ears. The fact that it can even keep up in a mix with the V'ger and my Jupiter is quite telling. Keep up the good work... "
The Lambdoma
Title link takes you there.
"The Lambdoma Matrix is attributed to the philosopher Pythagoras (500 bc) who spent over twenty years as an Egyptian initiate. The concept of the Lambdoma Matrix in the present age is relatively unknown, and is not cited in most dictionaries. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a mathematical multiplication and division table. On a closer look however, it bears a one-to-one relationship to musical intervals in a very specific harmonic series. Because of its numerical framework of ratios, it can be translated into frequencies of audible sound. The Lambdoma bears relationships to aromatics, chemistry, crystallography, cybernetics, art, music, geometry, all of which may be explored by those interested in the above disciplines. The Lambdoma bears mathematical relationships to Issac Newton, the Diophantine equations and the Farey series, as well as in the present century to Georg Cantor."
"My dream was to realize the application of my theories in the health and musical domains. Recently I have accomplished a breakthrough in making the lambdoma a oncrete instrument of healing and auditory pleasure. With the help of engineers, software programmers, musicians, and electronics manufacturers this dream has materialized in the Pythagorean Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (PLHK). Based on early prototypes of this revolutionary instrument we have demonstrated its unique effects on human well-being and musico-spiritual evolution. Articles and testimonials from well-known authors on sound healing, microtonal composers, and university professors are available upon request. "
"The Lambdoma Matrix is attributed to the philosopher Pythagoras (500 bc) who spent over twenty years as an Egyptian initiate. The concept of the Lambdoma Matrix in the present age is relatively unknown, and is not cited in most dictionaries. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a mathematical multiplication and division table. On a closer look however, it bears a one-to-one relationship to musical intervals in a very specific harmonic series. Because of its numerical framework of ratios, it can be translated into frequencies of audible sound. The Lambdoma bears relationships to aromatics, chemistry, crystallography, cybernetics, art, music, geometry, all of which may be explored by those interested in the above disciplines. The Lambdoma bears mathematical relationships to Issac Newton, the Diophantine equations and the Farey series, as well as in the present century to Georg Cantor.""My dream was to realize the application of my theories in the health and musical domains. Recently I have accomplished a breakthrough in making the lambdoma a oncrete instrument of healing and auditory pleasure. With the help of engineers, software programmers, musicians, and electronics manufacturers this dream has materialized in the Pythagorean Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (PLHK). Based on early prototypes of this revolutionary instrument we have demonstrated its unique effects on human well-being and musico-spiritual evolution. Articles and testimonials from well-known authors on sound healing, microtonal composers, and university professors are available upon request. "
OBX-a Soundscapes
More by Heath Finnie. Should have known. This peices reminds me a bit of the dreamy soundscapes you'd expect from a Yamaha CS80. Title link takes you there. Beautiful stuff.
Not Breathing
I previously posted about the Sedona Custom Synth on the Not Breathing site. I just purused the site again and thought I'd put up a post on the site in general. There a sections on DIY, Circuit Bending, Noise Makers, Drum Machines and more. Definitely worth checking out. Title link takes you there.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Happy Valentine's Day - New Flickr Shot
This one via Brandon Daniel. Make sure to check out the rest of the shots in the set for some vintage goodness. That's a Korg OASYS btw. Thanks Brandon!
PREVIOUS PAGE
NEXT PAGE
HOME
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
