Super Mario Bros - Gakken Theremin Mini

YouTube via ooo6. You might recognize the theremin from this post.
"I'm taking us back to 1985 with this one.

The theremin is a Gakken Theremin Mini. It came as a kit in a recent volume of a Japanese Mook (magazine/book) Otona no Kagaku. I consider myself lucky to know thereminist, Masami Takeuchi in Japan who sold me a copy. He said the initial edition of 40,000 copies sold out within days!

Apologies for the gnarly buzzy sound. Yeah, it sounds, er, bad. I put a piece of tape on the speaker so I could calm the sound down a bit. If you are familiar with theremins you know that most theremins have a volume/expression control. This theremin is a pitch only theremin so the sound is non-stop, hence the wacky dips and bends. Also, apologies to the 8-bit purists, who may have decide within seconds of watching that I have desecrated a classic.

If you don't know what a theremin is, please go look it up on Wikipedia. WTF comments will be laughed at. Also, don't waste your time commenting on how bad this sounds. This is not a performance instrument. It's a toy! I'm just playing around!"

Inside a Roland Juno-106

images via this auction

Roland GR-1 Brochure

via this auction

"GR-1 fold-out page catalog with color pictures and settings."

reads:

"It just might be our greatest feet ever"

feet... ha... ha...

Yamaha DX100 with BC-1 Breath Controller

images via this auction

# Yamaha DX-100 Synthesizer
# Yamaha BC-1 Breath Controller w/ Bag
# Yamaha DX-100 Manuals (3)
[Play Book pictured]
# Yamaha AC Adapter
# Original Shipping Box

Inside a Roland TB-303

via this auction

JH Triple Chorus Sring Ensemble

via JH on AH:
"many of you have shown interest in my PCB project to emulate the string ensemble effect of Solina, Crumar, and other similar keyboards. I have finished the prototype and have put up some sound samples.

Setup for demos: OB-8 (mostly set to a boring single-oscillator, unmodulated sound) -> JH Triple Chorus / String Ensemble Effect -> Reverb (String Ensemble Effect is sometimes bypassed to show the dry sound.)

Plain and simple string sound (1.1 MB mp3)
I start with a dry sound just to show you how much the Ensemble Effect is altering it, and I switch back to the dry sound towards the end for the same reason.

Enhancing a bell sound (740 kB mp3)
I think the effect is interesting for other sounds than just mere strings, as well.

Chorale sound (equalized ensemble effect) (470 kB mp3)
I wouldn't sell this as a specialized choir effect device, but it's certainly an alternative to the straight Solina-like stuff.
All done with the on-board 3-band Equalizer (which was inspired by the Crumar Performer).

Stereo effect using individual outputs (390 kB mp3)
Yes, we can do Stereo, with the individual outputs.
My first thought was to take the 3 individual outputs and mix them, one panned left, one center, and one right. But then the "Ensemble" effect falls apart, and the modulation sounds overly strong. I think you can do a lot of experiments with mixing the individual outputs, and will find interesting configurations.
The above sound sample was made with a very simple setup, however:
The full mix (main output) goes to one channel, and one individual channel goes to the other. The two channels are then panned almost (but not totally) left and right on the mixing desk.

Playing around with the EQ section (1.5 MB mp3)
Just some aimless turning of the 3 potentiometers in the EQ section, while my OB-8 arpeggiates away. I obviously change the OB-8 sound to something percussive towards the end, and I also adjust the OB-8's filter envelope setting slightly for the percussive sound, but I think it's quite clear what comes from the OB-8 and what comes from the Crumar-like 3-Band EQ.

Adjusting the waveform pot to find the "sweet spot" (790 kB mp3)
What is "the Solina Sound"? I think without any modulation waveform clipping (like the sound sample starts; please also see the discussion of this topic above!), is a tad overly lush for a solina. Or maybe it isn't. During this sound sample, I chance the modulation waveform from no clipping to almost totally clipped and back, and I think the "Solina sound" is where the waveform is just ever so slightly clipped.
This soft clipping (the "waveform" trimpot on the board) is different from a simple attenuation of the modulation CV. It's possible to attenuate (or to
boost) the modulation CV, too, by changing 3 resistors on the board, if you want to make further experiments.

More information, and pictures of the prototype, here.

JH."

JUNO-106 TEST PROCEDURE

"'IF' your JUNO-106 has (a) broken VCF/VCA chip(s) or WAVE-GENERATOR chip(s), then this simple test procedure will show you which one(s) it is/are. Other problems with the circuitry around these chips is also possible, but in 95% of all cases, it will be one of them that causes the problems. This test is by no means final. Only an experienced synthesizer technician can perform the necessary tests to check what the exact problem is with you JUNO-106."

click here for the procedure. Be sure to check out the rest of The Analog Renaissance while there.
via Jeroen of The Analog Renaissance.

Simian Mobile Disco Goes Gear

via XLR8R TV, via Seppe.
Doepfer modular, Sequential Circuits Drumtraks, KORG MS20, Synare drum synth.

Roland RS-202 Schematics

via Loscha

1.7 meg pdf scan.

"In posts on Synth-DIY, I have asserted that the RS-202 and the VP-330 were very similar, as this was told to me by a Roland service engineer. After seeing this, and the VP-330 schematics, I'm not so sure anymore."

If anyone knows, feel free to comment.

Pics of the VieuMikro 2007 event (Toulouse-FRANCE)

stamba put up a few shots on the Matrixsynth forum.

Pictured here is the MOOG Song Producer. There are also shots of his C64 and SX64 based setup.

BTW, stamba mentioned there hasn't been much traffic on the forum in another post. He is right. The forum is there for you to use, so, please feel free to use it. If you have any suggestions for new categories or other, feel free to put up a post in the Everything Synth section.

Update via Stamba on the Matrixsynth forum post:
"Yes the C64c looks like the C128.. and btw the C128 is quite the same size as an Amiga500

Some audio examples :
http://stamba.free.fr/c64/Stamba_-_p64_REC0066.mp3
http://stamba.free.fr/c64/Stamba_-_p64_REC0069.mp3

In these 2 mp3s.. bassline is 100% c64 with any external effect."