MATRIXSYNTH

Marshall Time Modulator and the Marshall Tape Eliminator

"To my friends at Whatever Works:

I'm very pleased to announce that I've signed an agreement with the wife of the late Steven St. Croix to sell and service the Marshall Time Modulator and the Marshall Tape Eliminator.

Lots of engineers know these remarkable units, and I'll bet that some here bought their MTM decades ago. It certainly was a beloved piece of gear! Here's a brief history, and for those who don't know it, description of what the MTM does.

The MTM is an analog effects unit that Steve developed in the late 70's. It doesn't truly modulate time; you can't go back and buy Apple stock for $15. It does modulate and manipulate audio delay time, producing many unique and amazing effects. The input signal passes through two analog delay lines. The delay time is adjusted by manual control, a wide range LFO circuit, or (for most effects) a combination of the two. Dry and delayed signal are combined, with feedback added to taste.

This simplified description may sound quite dull, but the sounds produced by the MTM are utterly amazing. Effects include vibrato, positive flange, negative flange, cardboard tube echo, automatic double (and triple) tracking with pitch and delay dithering, resonant flange, circus vibrato, arpeggio, pitch quantizing, and many more. The MTM was used to create Darth Vader's voice in Star Wars, and was used on many hit records.

My understanding is that Steve developed the very first prototype in 1975, to win a bet. He brought it into a studio to try it out in session, and everyone was blown away. The AES Convention happened to be a few days away, and everyone encouraged Steve to produce a finished demo model and show it, which he did. His booth was mobbed at the AES and the Time Modulator instantly got lots of great press. Initial prototype runs were produced, with early batches going to Stevie Wonder and Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis. Wrestling with improvements and tweaks, it was another two years or so to before Steve went into production. But when the 5002 Time Modulator was finally released, it scored rave reviews in Studio Sound, REP, and Modern Recording, and sales took off.

The 5002 was followed by the 5402, which featured a new control set and greatly extended delay times. Steve also developed the AR-300 Tape Eliminator, which simulated delay at various tape "speeds". It included a tape-like EQ curve and natural sounding tape compression -- just like the boxes released today. Of course, he beat all the new guys to it, by 20 years or so!

It's worth repeating that these were analog boxes, totally free of quantization noise and other digital artifacts. The MTM had a signal to noise ratio of 95 db! This was an amazing and unheard of feat, that most modern gear still can't equal. Steve was a real perfectionist. Plug in a Time Modulator, turn the monitors all the way up and you hear...nothing. No background noise.

Mr. St. Croix also authored the Fast Lane column in Mix Magazine for 18 years. I understand that a book featuring some of the best columns is in the works. He proposed a device to make legible the "erased" Nixon tapes after Watergate, and later founded Intelligent Devices. I.D. produces hardware and software for forensic audio and law enforcement applications. The company has been very successful and is still active.

Steve was truly a renaissance man, surely a genius. This brief description barely scratches the surface of his accomplishments. I've copied over a thousand pages of original documentation, and will be adding extensive historical info about the man and these products to my site.

Steve's tech room contained a large number of Time Modulators and other products. We will be servicing and completing these units, offering both repaired units and brand new ones for sale. We intend to stock all the parts used in these models, and will be glad to service and calibrate these Marshall products to their original specs.

Steve created a 15 minute Time Modulator demo record, which was pressed on Evatone Sound Sheets. Last year I created an MP3 of this recording. Here's the link.

There's much more that I'd like to say about Mr. St. Croix and the amazing Time Modulators, but I wanted to keep this initial post on the short side. I'll do my best to answer any technical or historical questions. I'm very grateful to Steve's wife -- a very cool lady who is utterly dedicated to doing Steve's memory right -- for allowing me to help carry on the legacy for these amazing products."

Filing this one under effects. via the PSW Recording Forums where you will find more discussion.

'Fat Bastard'

Title link takes you to a couple more shots sent my way via Rt.Hon.Beermaster.

"Thought I'd send you a couple pics - I'm finally getting my modular dream to come true and getting 'Fat Bastard' built. The first stage has been clearing out the room so new electrics can be added and new carpets etc - the result was that some of my gear had to be moved to the spare bedroom - the pics attached are small part of the modules that will be 'Fat Bastard' - A duvet of modules ! ha ha"

An interesting side note is my first flickr set ever was a set of pics sent in via Beermaster. You can see that set here which was posted on Matrixsynth back on Aug 3, 2005. You can see all my sets since then here.

Robot Makers Zeroscillator Track

via Roger on the Cyndustries list:

"I hope this tune might be of some interest as it features Cyndustries Zeroscillators used in some ways that might not have been discussed before. Check out "Modern Android Cybernaut"

An ostinato appearing from 0:33 - 0:46 is a Zeroscillator with electric guitar used as the modulator signal. The ZO is also set to sync to the modulator signal, in a setup that is meant to be similar to Moogmusic's Freqbox. The ZO set up this way works quite well and allows the generation of a great variety of unusual sounds.

From 2:45 to 3:15 there's a brass melody which is mostly a pair of ZO's in a classic FM patch. The result is mixed with sawtooths from some Moog 921 VCO's and very heavily EQ'd to mimic the spectral content of actual brass instruments.

I hope you enjoy it.

Best regards,
Roger"

The Roland Junior 106

Remember this mini Juno-106? Click here for new details.

Jupiter-8V by Arturia and Nori Ubukata

YouTube via Arturiaweb.

XAVIER TRIBOLET ET NORD LEAD

Title link takes you to a great video demonstration of the NORD G2 via Xavier Tribolet.

Note the title of the video has "Nord Lead" while the G2 is actually Clavia's second generation Nord Modular.

minimoog

flickr by jessgoss.

click here for the full size shot.

click here for another shot.

What do a Minimoog, a Cobra and Kelly Clarkson Have in Common?

YouTube via punxazz.

Synthwood Prophet 5

Remember the Synthwood Prophet 5 restoration for Mike McKnight? Title link takes you to more shots of the finished product. Amazing.

Synthwood

Update via Stephen in the comments:
"- Nearly all tantalum caps, especially on the rails, were replaced with electrolytics
- power supply caps were replaced, regulators solder joints were resoldered and old thermal paste was removed and replaced with new paste. PS was calibrated
- analogue board was scaled, weak solder joints were retouched
- digital board DAC was adjusted, ROM upgraded, memory expansion installed, MIDI installed (MIDI jacks were installed in the sequencer interface holes
- control panel switches and pots were cleaned, replaced where needed. Solder joints on the pots were retouched or leads were fixed where needed.
- keyboard was complete disassembled, keys were washed in warm soap water. Crusty bushings were cut off, keyboard was cleaned, new bushings were installed. J-wires were aligned, resoldered where needed. Pitch and Mod wheels were adjusted
- Chassis/control panel, keyboard/mod wheel mountings were fitted to a synthwood.com black walnut case.
- new Prophet-5 and Sequential Circuits nameplates were installed.

I scrubbed this thing and I'd eat my dinner off of it."