DX-7 Super Max

Via Florian on Digital Hell. If anyone knows of a website dedicated to the DX-7 Super Max,post it in the comments and I'll update the post.

"I built in SUPER MAX yesterday evening and I am completely overwhelmed. This is the second most incredible rework of a synthesizer OS after the Europe expansion for the JP6. I definitely recommend it.

Features in short:
- 8 Banks of Memory
- Arpeggiator with very, very good algorithm; provides
32 Arpeggio memories, but these might be not enough for
all usable combinations (not to speak from possible
combinations)
- 3 additional Layer voices with individual tanspose.
- keysplit
- MIDI-echo with transpose
- microtonal tuning
Best of all is: you can send the MIDI-echoes and the Arpeggiator notes separately to the MIDI-Out!

I definitely recommend this. And also the seller bigmanilow is a very reliable person.

Thanks to Lorne for this great hint.

Best regards, Florian"

Sequential Circuits 'The Patch' for download

via Stephen Jones on AH:

"I asked Dave Smith and John Bowen about 'The Patch' and it seems that only 3 or 4 issues were published between 1981 and 1982. I have volume 02 issue 01 (February 1982). Its got some really great information, patches and advertisements. This issue has a cool picture of a plexiglas Pro-One too.

You can download it here.

Does anyone have the other issues of 'The Patch'? (I'll stop asking now)"

Update via the comments:
"Did anyone see the "Digital Interface for the Pro-One" article in there? That is like the holy grain for Pro-One DIYers. I don't think anyone has documented how to modify the Pro-One for this and here it is from the source."

The Human League - Interview (Phil)

YouTube via interjet. Via JZ. E-Mu Emulator.
"Interview With Phil on ITV 1 TV AM Back in 1983"

Effector 13 : Synth Mangler : Mangled Synth!

"Synth love courtesy of : PLEXUS :
That's a pre-OohLaLa / Jason Myrold era Synth Mangler.
More sonic doom below :
http://www.effector13.com/
http://www.deviever.com/"

Thomas Henry Strikes Again

via Scott Stites on this electro-music thread. Sample at the post (it sounds gooood).

"From way up north, Mankato way, land of a thousand lakes and even more synth designs, comes a new VCO design from Thomas Henry. Grab your spare 3080 and put it in a safe place.....

Thomas calls it a workhorse VCO - Expo FM, Lin FM, triangle, PWM and one hell of a pure sine wave. On top of that, in typical Thomas Henry fashion, it is an elegantly simple design - I was amazed at how quickly I breadboarded it. But, don't let the simplicity fool you - this thing has got an *amazingly* accurate 9 octave range and it plays beautifully. I love this little VCO already. Page to come, schematics, PCB layout, the works.

Here's a quick sample of it - no big musical event, just the VCO piped through the Mankato filter I've had on breadboard since the summer of 2004. I modulate it here and there with an LFO, and the PW is modulated by another LFO (the wave heard is the PWM wave). And, of course, I use my patented Too Much Reverb(R) effect. Of course, it's the Thomas Henry keyboard controlling it.

Remember, this is with no tempco with a patch held together with alligator clips. I spent about three minutes tuning the VCO (it tuned easier than any VCO I've ever dealt with, don't know why - of course, I haven't tuned it to the gnat's ass yet - I'm having too much fun Very Happy ).

Coming soon to an Internet Near You.

Scott"

Remembering Bob Moog

Amos wrote into AH letting us all know Bob Moog would have been 73 today. Happy birthday Bob, wherever you are.

Image via Robotspeak, where you will find an interview with Bob from 10/29/04.

Update: I just received the following from the Bob Moog Memorial Foundation:
"Remembering Dad:
"The Best Birthday Present Ever"
I own a gift store in downtown Asheville. About five years ago, I happen to be working on my birthday. About an hour after I opened, I was in the back of store setting up a display. It was a quiet spring day and the doors were wide open. I was quietly working away.

My solitude was suddenly and wonderfully interrupted by Dad, who was standing at my front doors singing “Happy Birthday” to me at the top of his lungs. He was so into it. He was waving his arms up and down with the beat, bending his knees and singing so loudly that they heard it half way down the block. I’ve never smiled so much, nor have I ever been more touched.

Dad never really liked celebrating birthdays in the conventional sense because the idea of giving a gift just because you were supposed to troubled him on a deep intellectual level. But hell, who needs a gift when you’ve got your Dad at your door, bellowing out the birthday theme?

Today is Dad’s birthday. He would have been 73. I’m taking the day off to remember him……and to sing to him.

Send Bob a Birthday note--share your Moog Stories at our website.
Take a moment out today to reflect on how Dad touched your life, how he inspired your creativity, how he changed the face of music.

May Moog be with you,
Michelle Moog-Koussa
Executive Director, The Bob Moog Memorial Foundation for Electronic Music
Make Waves. Support Bob's Legacy."

And of course, via MOOG Music:
Happy Birthday Bob - May 23, 1934
Ileana Grams-Moog, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Moog Music President Mike Adams and the Moog Music family gathered today to celebrate Bob's birthday and legacy.

The Top 100 Synths According to the A-Z of Analog Synths

via Ethan Callendar in the comments of this post. Thank you Ethan! Click the image to shoot Peter an email on the availability of the A-Z Books. I have them and they are very, very good - an absolute must have for synth enthusiasts.

"Here are the top 100 according to Peter Forrest's "A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers:

1. Moog Memorymoog (LAM)
2. Roland MKS-80 (w/MPG-80 + MKB-1000)
3. Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 (Rev 3)
4. Moog Memorymoog Plus
5. Sequential Circuits Prophet-10
6. Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 (Rev 2)
7. Oberheim Matrix-12
8. Sequential Circuits Prophet-T8
9. Moog Original Prototype
10. Oberheim Xpander

CLICK FOR MORE »

ARP Axxe and Little Brother

via this auction. Cool advert. I actually put this one up on Matrixsynth-b first, but thought it looked pretty cool, so I put it up here as well.

RMI Harmonic Synthesizer

via this auction

Click here for more pics.

Details: "You are bidding on a keyboard from a estate, this keyboard was played in the 70s and was stored away for the past 20 years. We plugged in the keyboard and all keys work nice including all the lighted buttons and the left and right equalizers, we did try to test most functions however we are not totally familiar with this equipment so we cannot guarantee every function works perfect. The keyboard looks to be well taken care of. It has a case and 4 steel legs that fold up. We would rather this be a local pick up however we can ship this item.

HISTORY

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland 80017a

The dreaded chip that takes the Juno-106 out. Title link takes you to shots via this auction. Docs with mp3s and shots also saved here. See this post for an alternative replacement chip.

Details:
Roland 80017a Replacement VCA/VCF chip for Juno-106/ MKS-30/ GR-700/ HS60
Problems Typically Solved by Replacing the Failed 80017a Chip Include:
* Erratic or sudden loud noise from synthesizer output, particularly after 10 minutes of powering up.
* Note hang-ups or long sustain.
* One synth voice will not respond to filter or amplifier changes.
* Unstable operation.
* Juno-106 or MKS-30: Notes will not play, most typically every 6th note will not play due to failed 80017a chip.
* GR-700: One particular voice or string will not sound, "D" string, "A" string etc.

About the 80017a VCA/VCF chip:

The 80017a chip was a real workhorse for Roland synthesizer engineers in the early 1980s. This one chip contained both the classic, driving -24 dB voltage controlled low-pass filter with a smooth voltage controlled amplifier. By placing all the components on one chip, Roland was able to keep the classic sound of their analog synthesizers across various products, with low production costs. Almost immediately Roland knew they had a problem on their hands, and changed production methods.

When these chips fail, sometimes voice will stop working completely. On a keyboard synth, this shows up as every sixth voice not working. On a GR-700 guitar synthesizer, this shows up as one string’s synthesizer voice failing. But the chips may not fail completely, resulting in a lack of control over the filter quality for one voice, or by sudden, loud erratic sounds from the synthesizer. The only solution to these problems is to replace the existing 80017a with a new chip.

This chip is from lot 44, produced after Roland solved the manufacturing problems. Probably 20 years after the original production date, this chip is still working well without failure."

Demos:
Failed Chip
Good Chip

"There are four audio samples of the open string "D." The first audio sample has both resonance and filter cutoff tracking the envelope generator. The VCA is set to "gate," no VCA modulation. This sample highlights the resonance effect. The next sample has the resonance turned off, and only the filter cutoff is modulated. Again the VCA is set to "gate," no VCA modulation. The third sample has the filter wide open, with the VCA being modulated by the envelope. This is to highlight VCA modulation. The last patch is a complex modulation patch of the filter with sample and hold qualities. The mp3 file is a little over one minute in length. There is silence at the beginning, and the sample was normalized to make it as loud as possible."

Update via the comments:
"The statement that there are good lots (date codes) for these chips is completely untrue. I've seen all date codes from 40A to 61A fail."

Update: Looks like there is another one up for auction.