Inside the Oberheim Xpander

flickr by timothy fellsrow.

The Casio CZ series

Title link takes you to an article by Tomás Mulcahy on the Casio CZ series. While there also check out the rest of his site including the articles page.

via Music Thing.

202 Hack

"202 Hack is an application that converts sequence information stored in standard MIDI files into a format compatible with Roland MC-202™ sequences. You choose one or two MIDI channels, whose note information is then extracted from the MIDI file and converted into the "internal" and/or "external" sequences of the 202. Accent and Portamento can also be coded for, as well as some post-processing tricks to generate Roland TB-303™-like slides. The output of 202 Hack is an audio file that can then be played by your computer into the 202's "tape in" jack."

Title link takes you there. via dmxkrew.

SH-5 and Bowljo Live

YouTube via CropDusters. Sent my way via frederic.

IDM SESSION 3

"Another track recorded while I recorded it, if you can understand that. Using and OB-12, AN200, DX200, DR660 and sequenced with FL studio. If you have any tips on how to record audio into a sound card and recombine it with the original video or any type of camera that can record good audio with good video (at a reasonable price) I am all ears."

YouTube via weatherkop. Sent my way via frederic.

Elogoxa's Elottronix XL

Note this is not a new VSTi. According to the download page the latest version was out on 5/11/04. That said, I've been playing with this for the last hour and I must say it is quite addictive. You can make some crazy loops with it by just adding layer after layer. I currently have it running a whacked out loop with Audio Damage's Reverence. Amazing stuff. The reviews on KVR for Elottronix also seem to be favorable. BTW, word of warning: on the top right of the plug-in UI there is a Stop/Start switch with REC to it's left. This is not what you switch to start recording loops, it's what you switch to start saving the audio looping to your hard drive. Don't turn it on unless you want to record and don't leave it on or it will eat up hard drive space with the file it saves. Also, you need to rename the file in the input box under "file" before hitting record otherwise you will probably overwrite the previous file. Overall, it takes a little experimentation to get used but once you do it's a pretty amazing tool. I need to check out the rest of Eogoxa's stuff next. Big thanks to brian comnes for sending this one in.

"Emulation of Robert Fripp's tape delay effect 'Frippertronics': two Revox B-77 in continuous loop. This XL version supposes a complete rewrite of the old Elottronix, and adds a ton of new possibilities"

- Two independent routable delay lines, with a maximum delay time of 80 seconds.
- Tempo can be synced to host BPM.
- LFO controlled Pan per delay line, with definable Bar Divisions, Pitch and Waveform.
- Two global Pan modes: normal and inverted.
- Rehearsal option: when switched ON, the incoming signal doesn't pass through the delay lines, so you can try different things before inserting them into the loop.
- Biquad-X multimode filter per delay line. This advanced filter has 9 different modes: Low Pass, High Pass, Low Shelf, High Shelf, All Pass, Band Reject, Band Pass CSG, Band PassC0PK and Peak. Optional parameters to control are Gain, Cutoff and Q.
- Tape machine: this module generates tape hiss, which can be pitched up and down.
Completely automatable via MIDI CC.
- Moderate CPU use (-8% Athlon XP 2400+).
- Includes 8 Presets to give an idea of the effect (4 for sends, 4 for inserts). But what Elottronix XL does can't be covered with presets as you'll discover.

Via Brian Comnes.

Vince Clark Studio Shots

I just updated the previous post with a link to these shots, and figured I'd put up a separate post in case you missed it.

Pictures of Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones is the producer of Erasure's upcoming album. You can find a blog on the new album here.

Title link takes you to some pictures of Gareth Jones and gear including the two I grabbed for this post. Check out the ARP 2500. In the shot below he's holding a small keyboard called a Chord Computer. Anyone know more about this little keyboard? Click the images for larger shots.

P.S. There is a nice close up of Gareth Jones and an E-MU Modular after the hop.

Update: Be sure to check out other shots of Vince Clark's gears as well.

Controlling Synths Via Your Cell Phone

In short, you can use Sailing Clickr to transmit messages to your PC via wireless. Jason Kramer wrote some software to have it control Ableton Live. Title link takes you to the full post on CDM.

Y2K6 Looping Festival and NorCal Noisefest

Two events coming up sent my way via Brian Comnes.

Y2K6 International Live Looping Festival
"Over 50 artists from around the globe will converge on the San Francisco Bay Area this fall for the Fifth Annual Y26K Live Looping Festival. Perfomers from across the United States and as many as 10 other countries will appear in Santa Cruz, Calif., on October 21 and 22, for the main two days of the festival. Additional festival-related events will be held in San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland during the week preceding the main festival."

Nor Cal Noise Fest.
"The Norcal Experimental Music Festival was started in 1995 and was held at the Guild Theatre in Sacramento, on November 3rd, and 4th. Performers came from all over the western United States and Canada. 2006 will mark the 11 year anniversary of NOISEFEST happening in the Sacramento area, and will be the 10th time this event has occured. After searching the web and beyond ..we have yet to find ANY other Noise/Experimental festival happening anywhere else in the World that has continued for as long as NorCal NoiseFest has. we thank you for your patronage."