MOOG The Source

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"This is a later model unit, and as such has Roland-compatible DIN Sync input to control the on-board arpeggiator and 2 sequencer tracks."

RAJ MUSICALS SAARANG

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"VINTAGE Electronic Tanpura Synthesizer DELUXE SAARANG RAJ Musicals
- Made by: Radel Systems , Bangalore
- Type No. TBR6
-SI. No. 266

Runs on 6 C batteries and for having such a small speaker can get painfully LOUD! Radel Saarang Electronic Tanbura

The 'Saarang' produces the plucked sound of a conventional stringed tambura (tanpura) used for classical Indian music. The sound is produced electronically without the use of any strings. The 'Saarang' plays by itself and does not need a person to play it.

Pitch tunable by more than octave and covers the range of male as well as female voices - from lower A to higher C (lower 6 to higher 1, Karnatic system or lower White 6 to higher White 7, Hindustani System).

The Tanpura
The Tanpura is a four to six stringed fretless instrument made of wood, and usually combined with gourd. It provides the performing artist(s) with a tonic reference and enriches the background with its unique harmonic drone. The strings are tuned in a manner that emphasizes the tonic and the dominant notes of the raag. The bridge is slightly curved to not only provide a buzzing sound (as the strings are plucked), but also to generate various harmonics that enhance the tonal quality of the instrument. The size (gourd and neck) of the instrument may vary depending on whether the artist is an instrumentalist, male vocalist, or a female vocalist. Tanpura was most probably included as a part of a classical music ensemble since the seventeenth century.

The Tanpura player plucks the strings one at a time, in a steady, repetitive, almost orderly manner, using the index and middle fingers.

These days "electronic" tanpuras <../elect/elect.html> have become commonplace, since they do not require a human player, are less expensive, simpler to tune, require minimal maintenance, and are easily portable. Many Indian professional musicians (including world renowned artistes like Pandit Debu Chaudhuri and Pandit Aashish Khan) are now touring without a tanpura player and are using the Riyaz Raagini <../elect/elect.html> sampled electronic tanpura machine as it sounds so very realistic. However, some artists prefer a natural instrument to an electronic one when available, and sometimes combine the two types. Electronic Tanpuras are, naturally, used by many students for practice as in this way the student can practice for long periods of time as and when needed without the need for a person to sit and play tanpura for them.

Electronic musical instruments are defined as instruments that synthesize sound from an electronic source. The origins of electronic music can be traced back to the work of Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand Von Helmholtz the German physicist, mathematician and the year 1860. While many instruments were developed in years to follow it was not till The Vacuum Tube Era (1915-1960) and Integrated Circuits time, that real muscle made it to world of electronic musical instruments. With travelling Indian musicians, good electronic instruments have been of great help both in performances as well as in Riaz (practice sessions).

David Courtney, musician, music theorist, divides these instruments into 3 classes, Shruti Generation, interments that replaced drone instruments like the Surpeti. Electronic "Surpetis" have been in use for about 20 years. In recent times the more refined Electronic Tamburas have become very popular. The 2nd generation are the Lahara Machines that provide repeating melodies to accompany drum solos. The 3rd category is the Theka Generation, or the Drum Machines, devices that provide sound comparable to the Tabla."

Udpate via Loscha in the comments:
"I have one of these, and it sounds like this:
http://www.loscha.com/music/Loscha-Tambura_Test.mp3
Well, almost the same. Mine is the "base" model.
The pcb look like this;
http://www.loscha.com/music/saraang-pcb.jpg
http://www.loscha.com/music/saraang-pcb-marked.jpg

I am adjusting an modulating the notes pitches in real time with this track.

The unit arpeggiates the tones in a 6 note sequence, and the notes are fixed, the root note on my unit has no fine tuning, only coarse.
You have notes on steps 1, 3 4 and 5 of the pattern. You can only turn on and off notes, and each note has a certain range, constrained by traditional patterns.
I think the Deluxe unit has 5 notes in the sequence, my base unit has only 4.

I corresponded with the creator a while ago, and this is the main section of what he wrote

'At the outset, please accept our apologies for this delayed response. For some unknown reason, we were unable to connect to the site referred to in your mail and we were not in a position to figure out which model you possessed. We were able to connect today and now know that you possess an obsolete version of the Saarang that went out of production seven years ago. We seem to have destroyed all the data connected with this model and are not in a position to furnish them to you. Considering that you are an electronics engineer, the following explanation should help you in trying out whatever modifications you may want to perform.

The four strings are synthesized through four oscillators based on 555 Timers. These signals are amplitude modulated through a capacitive charging and discharging circuit comprising two transistors, BC547 (NPN) and BC 557(PNP). Each of the four PNP transistors is triggered on by a
zero going pulse applied to its base, which results in an electrolytic capacitor getting charged to a peak value. This voltage acts as the amplitude modulating voltage for the square wave input. The triggering of the PNP transistors is controlled by a control circuit comprising another 555 timer, a counter and a demultiplexer.

We hope that this explanation is of use to you. With regards,

G. Raj Narayan'

My Tambura is one of my favourite things in the whole world, and it is in my top 5 musical things I'd never part with if I had to sell up everything I owned. "

Update: mp3 sample demo from Loscha here.

Roland System 100 Model 102

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"The Expander 102 section is a keyboard-less version of the 101, designed to stand upright and behind the main Synthesizer 101. More than one Expander 102 can be added to make your system fatter and fatter! The Expander is identical to the Synthesizer except that it replaces Portamento/Glide effects with a Sample-and-Hold feature for the LFO, the Noise gen. Is replaced by a Ring Modulator, and the A-440 tuning osc. Is replaced by weak/strong sync inputs and a mix-in jack. The Expander is an excellent way to add more oscillators and synth effects (the s&h and ring-mod) to a System 100. The oscillators can be synced if you have both modules. The 101 & 102 are already internally patched and ready to produce sounds, but that can be bypassed by external patching.""

Spook 2004

One last Halloween post. This one an Alesis Andromeda A6 tune from Dex titled Spook 2004.

Happy Halloween! via Constantine

new from the squarewave parade

the SLOSH BOX - ST
"the SLOSH BOX - ST is a stereo (dual mono) variable resonant analog low pass filter box with a distorting starve function"

the MING MING
"the MING MING is a stereo (dual mono) passive analog ring modulator with an octave up feature"

They will have a batch of TREMBLE parasites available in the next few days as well after they are through testing them

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween folks!

Have a spooky but safe day.

The synth should be easy to ID, but in case you need some help and for fun, you can find some more pics here.

E-Mu E-Drum Modules

images via this auction. via Matthew.

"2 E-MU Systems, Inc. Model 8000 E-Drum Digital Percussion Modules
7 Hard-To-Find Sound Cartridges:

8102 - Rototom2
8107 - Tympani 1
8111 - Grand Piano 1
8113 - Gong
8114 - Bass Drum 1-4
8115 - Rock Ride Cymbal
8117 - Claps

Controls include: Pitch, Sound Selector (for carts with multiple sounds), Pitch Sensitivity, Decay, Bass, Treble.
Features: Trigger Input, Audio Output, DC In, DC Out (allows you to chain the modules with a single power supply), can also be battery powered.
Can be mounted on drum stands"

Yamaha TG33 with Three Voice Cards

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this auction. via matthew.

"Yamaha TG33 Tone Generator with Dynamic Vector Synthesis
Original Yamaha Power Supply
3 Hard-To-Find Voice Data Cards:
VC3301 - Stage Selection
VC3302 - Studio Selection
VC2203 - Shofuku (I may be wrong about the number on this one)


The TG-33 sound module is a slightly enhanced key-less version of the SY-22. It is a digital synthesizer that employs frequency modulation (FM) synthesis combined with low-fi (12-bit) ROM samples. However, this machine is not low quality (especially for the electronica-oriented musician). Its preset sounds are a bit thin, however using the joystick controller you can manipulate and combine the 12-bit samples with the any of the 256 FM vector voices. This gives it a range of tone and sound that is as dynamic and mysterious as other vector synths such as the Korg Wavestation and ProphetVS.

Also available is a drum kit, effects, 8 part multitimbrality for layering sounds and 32 note polyphony! Definitely a powerful little beast that can create pretty nice sounds with lots of motion and character. With its wide range of sonic possibility, the TG-33 has what it takes to create unique sounds that will keep you and you're music sounding a little different from the rest!"

i3L v0.2 preview - MIDI for the iPhone

"Based on the forthcoming aka.iphone3, i3L v0.2 will support:
- Multiple screens
- Transition effect
- Accelerometer
- XY slider
- Vertical and horizontal sliders
- Large and small buttons
- OSC port configuration
- Sending and Receiving values
- New protocol (over OSC)
- Multiple iPhone support
- No multi-touch support
- No GUI configuration
Note: No ETA on this. Just a heads-up that it is in the works."




MIDI comes in with i3L MIDI BRIDGE for the iPhone.
"i3L (pronounced "i thrill") is Freeware, and was developed using Max/MSP from Cycling74 and is a support application for aka.remote by Masayuki Akamatsu i3L receives pre-defined UDP messages from aka.remote.app running on the iPhone, scales the values to MIDI, and allows you to configure the sending MIDI channel and control change message number. While this software was developed to work seamlessly with our Real-time 3D VJ software Thrill, ( http://thrill.artificialeyes.tv ) you can use this program with any audio or video software which receives midi messages."

click here for more info and screenshots. via CDM where you can also find a VJ app for the iPhone.