Lot's of Knobs

Title link takes you to more Waldorf Q shots via this auction.

via Loscha.

Synthmaster

Trip. When I had severe GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome), I used to have these dreams where I'd walk into a pawn shop and see all these bizarre and obscure synths. Sometimes they were rare models of Oberheims and Rolands, etc, but usually they were obscure synths from manufacturers I've never seen before. Right before I was waking from the dream, I'd think if I only grab one I might be able to take it to the other side. : ) If you ever had dreams like this you probably know what I'm talking about.

Well, when I saw the Synthmaster post on sequencer.de, I had that same feeling, like I just walked into a pawn shop of obscure synths in dream land. There are a ton of bizarre and obscure synths I've never seen or heard of before. Looks like he brought them over from the other side. Click here for more.

Pictured above top down: E-Pro Minisynth, Firstman FS-4V       Polysynth, and Antares 1.

Synths on Synthmaster:
Antares 1
E-Pro Minisynth and Spirit - this looks like the Crumar Spirit to me.
CRB Daimond Vocostrings Ser.1, Ser. 2
Crumar Spirit, Compac Synth
Conn Electrik Band
Elka Accordion Synth Soloist 505
Excelsior Digital Synth, EK 4
Excelsior EK 4
Firstman SQ-01, FS-4V Polysynth
Jen Synx 508
Keytek CTS 5000, 2000, 1000, 400
Paia System 4700
Powertran Transcendent Polysynth, Transcendent 2000, Transcendent Variation
Pulser M 75
Salamander SMS 400
Skyline Orchestra
Steelphon S 900
Stramp Synchanger 2
Welson Syntex

Jordan Rudess Shot

Found this one on the-gas-station. Title link takes you to Jordan Rudess' site.

Synth Legends Symposium DVD

via AudioMIDI

"If the Musical Instrument industry had rock stars, there's no doubt that Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, and Dave Smith would be in the Hall of Fame. These men are as beloved by electronic musicians as Les Paul and Leo Fender are to guitar players. The recent death of industry legend Bob Moog brings into even greater focus the impact these men have had on music in the last three decades. And as interest in these "retro" instruments grows it seemed like a great time to bring together these "Synth Legends"; to speak about their accomplishments, tell some stories, and talk about what they have planned for the future.

Russ Jones, owner of audioMIDI.com, brought together his longtime friends, former competitors, and former partners to create a memorable night. The panel was moderated by Roger Linn, a synth legend in his own right and he set the warm, lighthearted tone for the evening. Each presenter spent about 15 to 20 minutes giving a brief history of their respective careers and how they initially got involved in creating the products that changed the MI business and what they are doing presently as well as their views of the future. Then the Q&A panel was formed and Marcus Ryle, former design engineer at Oberheim and co-founder of Line 6, joined in.

See the video and hear from these "Synth Legends" as they offer insights into music making past, present, and future. Also see the warmth and humor that was Bob Moog in his last public appearance."

Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith and Roger Linn going left to right, top down.

Update via Brent Hoover in the comments:

There was some mixup and Kevin finally got a hold of us and we are straightening it out. Russ never got an email from Kevin (which I am probably to blame for since I'm the IT guy too). The cover was done by Axel Hartmann (of the Hartmann Neuron and art design of most Waldorf synths) who I don't believe would knowingly use copywritten material without taking care of it, he hates having his stuff stolen too. So apologies to Kevin and I am sure it will get worked out to his satisfaction.

As to why its American-centric is because the event was really made up of people that Russ knew personally. He worked at Oberheim in the beginning and thus came into contact with Roger, David, Tom, Bob, and Marcus. Marcus, David, Roger and Bob (until he passed away) we still dealt with all the time cuz we still sold their products. So it was not so much American-centric as Russ-centric. And not being a rich company I don't know if we could have afforded to fly and house someone from Japan (everyone else came on their own nickel). But we are all very much aware the contributions the Japanese have made to electronic music.

The point being that this was a labor of love and we are so in the hole on this we will probably never make a profit, but that was never the point. It was to contribute in our own way since we don't make synths and utilize Russ' unique relationship with all these guys.

So I sincerely hope people enjoy the DVD though we wish the sound was better (its a long story) but its a unique opportunity to really see and hear the people behind the famous gear. I know its easy to be cynical about a retailers motivations (and I certainly would) but if you spend all your times at big retailers, you might be suprised about how many others of us are in it for the love of music, because it's certainly not making me or Russ rich men (although I do have a very nice studio).

Brent Hoover - Webmaster - audioMIDI.com

These views expressed are my own and do not reflect anyone elses including Russ, audioMIDI.com, or Fox Television.

ps. I heart Matrixsynth and read it almost every day. I don't know how you do it."

Thanks! : )

Carbon111 Bathes

Title link takes you to Carbon111's site. : )

Carbon111 takes a bath.

Tali

Brain to CV Converter

This one via Andrew aka drewtoothpaste. Thought this was pretty funny. Why isn't he smiling? Yeah, I prefer knobs as well. Title link takes you to Toothpaste for Dinner where this shot comes from. Thanks Andrew!

TENORI-ON Report

Remember Toshio Iwai and the Tenori-on?. Looks there is a Tenori-on blog with info, pics, video and more. The blog was set up by One Tonne Music. Title link takes you there; also added to my blog roll on the right.



via CDM. BTW, do check out the CDM post for more on Toshio Iwai.

Glitchsim - Video Synthesis

Although my posts are mainly about audio synthesizers, every now and then I see something that interests me on the video synthesizer and circuit bending front. GetLoFi has an interesting post up on Glitchsim, an artist that bends old video equipment.

"I have started modifying secondhand and obsolete video tools to create my own tools. By making my own tools I create the image together with the tools. I let technology play an important role by bringing the mistakes and imperfections of the tool to the front."

Title link takes you to the post on GetLoFi including links to more info, video, pics and more.

New World Order - New Flickr Shot

flickr by insane jane.

MSIC Synths - New Flickr Shot

flickr by jo co.

Anyone know what that red box is? I'm thinking Red Square, but not sure. Also what's to the right of it and to the left of what looks like a Juno 6/60? Sherman Quad filter? Click image for a larger shot.

Update: Ortho thinks the red box could be an Oberkorn Sequencer. Definitely could be. You can see images of both the Oberkorn and Red Square on this sequencer.de page.