Ned Lagin and Seastones

"In April [ 1975 ] Phil Lesh and electronic music wizard Ned Lagin put out SEASTONES, an album of experimental "electronic cybernetic biomusic," in the words of a Dead Heads newsletter.

Lagin and Lesh made several appearances at Dead [Grateful Dead] shows before the "retirement," opening the second sets of their final week at Winterland with a section of apparently formless electronic cacophony- high tweedles, rumbling bass notes that vibrated the entire hall, waterfalls of swooshes, bleeps and assorted noises that defy onomatopoetic description.

The album is considerably more sophisticated than what the pair could manage live, however. On the LP, Lagin performs his compositions on a huge battery of synthesizers and keyboards, including such experimental instruments as a then-revolutionary digital-polyphonic keyboard developed by E-mu systems, a custom setup by electronic music pioneer Don Buchla, an Interdata 7/16 digital computer (used for processing the music), and scads of other high-tech machines. Lesh's bass during this era was a futuristic marvel to behold, as well a fully electronic bass developed by Alembic that allowed him to independently process the signals from each string of his instrument."

Title link takes you to more info on the album including a full download. Via Amos.

MUSIC FROM OUTER SPACE "16-STEP SEQUENCER "

Rotary Format Design by Thomas White. Title link takes you to more shots and info.

"This is an actual Front Panel Express Panel being fit with the parts to complete my layout of the Music From Outer Space Sequencer by Ray Wilson. I wanted to go for the rotary look in the MOTM-Basic format. Of course, you can see the knobs are no where near MOTM spacing, nor are the switches. But, they are switchcraft jacks and flatted bat switches. I am short a few knobs and control switches, but you get the idea of what I am going for. The sequencer features:

* 16 Step Operation With LED Indicator Per Step
* Gate Switches per Step
* Coarse and Fine CV Adjustment
* Built In Oscillator for Sequence Rate with LED Indicator
* Forward and Backward 1-Step Switches
* Reverse Mode
* Random 16-Step Mode
* Play Till End of Sequence Mode (Triggered by Gate or Start Button)
* Gate/Trigger Out Per Step
* Glide
* External Start"

Sequential Circuits DrumTraks

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

The Sonica

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. Not mentioned in the auction, this features Serge components.
"This is definitely the first time 99% of you have ever seen this exceedingly rare instrument, and it is most likely that this will be the only opportunity to purchase one. No information is available online and only one other Sonica has ever been auctioned on eBay (approximately 4 years ago.) [Not Exactly]

This rare "portable self-contained synthesizer" as it is described within the original pamphlet (included), features "Sens-a-Touch, an electronic sensor that converts the pressure of your touch into creative musical tones and expressions."

For the lack of a better analogy, this instrument is most like a stylophone. However, the Sonica is more responsive, better sounding, more versatile, and seemingly effortless to manipulate. The Sonica features; volume control, key control, half-step pressure-pad function, tone pressure-pad function, and the slider pressure-pad function. The Soncia is powered by a 9v battery, has a built in speaker and features a mini-jack output ability.

The back of the headstock has a heart-shaped plate which typically has a serial number. This one has the plate without a number as I was told it is a prototype version. It is 1.5 octaves and still includes the original soft case and original booklet which is signed and dated 1979.

The Sonica works perfectly with the exception of the "key" control being temperamental, as such it is being sold "as is" with the belief that it is in need of repair. There are also several non-original screws which fasten the front brass plate to the lute-like body. Otherwise the Sonica is in great cosmetic condition with no breaks or significant originality issues.

The Sonica was designed by Frank Eventoff of Sound Instruments L.A., CA."

Yamaha RX-5

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. Note the sliders.

Audio Damage Liquid

New product coming from Audio Damage.

"Told you it'd be quick. We've saved up a lot of ideas in the time it took to do Dr. Device. This is Liquid. It'll be done Real Soon. What does it do? As the name implies..."

Plan B Model 15 VCO Audio Clips and Images

via Peter Grenader on the Plan b list:

"I've added pictures and audio clips of the various outputs of the Model 15 VCO to it's product page on the EAR site. Go here, scroll to Waveform Images."

MX4 Layers

YouTube via stretta.
"An early demonstration of MX4 from 2003. Four instances of MX4 are layered to produce the final result which was performed in real time and controlled from the DPM-C8 controller."
More info on Stretta's blog

Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream's PPG 340/380

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

"340 A Generator Unit
340 B Prozessor Unit
380 Event Generator
2 Terminals
2 Computer Keyboards
all racked in a silver aluminium flightcase.
This system is former owned by Edgar Froese from Tangerine Dream (s. label on flightcase)"

via swissdoc

Steelphon S900 synthesizer demo

YouTube via aemmezero.

"A little demo of my vintage monophonic Steelphon Synth, made in Italy in 1973."

Follow up to this post. via insektgod.