sonic picnic boxes

"the sonic picnic set is a low tech modular system connections are made as needed using crocodile clips these pictures show some of the boxes"

more here

Vince Clarke in the studio 1985

YouTube via Ynnarg

"Interesting piece of how Vince was working in the studio at this early Erasure time. Good old synths."

Equinoxe Part 7 - extended cover - in stereo!

YouTube via rfoshaug.

KORG M3. I found this one posted on Jean Michel Jarre's blog. He liked this cover and encouraged others to make covers as well.
"Equinoxe 7. Original music composed by Jean Michel Jarre.

Copyright recordings and music reproduced by kind permission of Francis Dreyfus Music and Jean Michel Jarre.

My cover version of Equinoxe 7 starts out as a regular cover - ie. not an exact replica (I generally like to make my own versions) but it follows the concept of the original song quite closely.

But then - about 6:20 into the video - I do a little improvisation based on the nice "Equinoxe groove" that's going on at that moment. A Jarre-trained ear might hear a hint of Jarre's "Arpegiator" from Concerts in China in there. Luckily for you, YouTube has a max limit of 10 minutes per video, because I could go on like that forever. :-)

The left part of the M3's keyboard has been transposed 3 semitones up to allow me to play it in A minor (while the song is actually in C minor). This eliminates the need for pressing any black keys during the sweeps over the keyboard and makes it easier to play that part live. Those sweeps are not exactly as the original song, but close enough. I really wanted to play those live, so I've taken a few artistic liberites. :-)

By converting the video to .flv format before uploading, I was able to keep the stereo sound of the recording.

Arranging and playing this "special edition" of Equinoxe 7 was great fun, and I hope you'll have some fun watching it as well. :-)

An MP3 file with this cover can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mjevcnxhtnd"

Parameter Locks on the Machinedrum

YouTube via bigcitymusic
"Here's an example of the "Extended" mode of the Elektron Machinedrums. You can lock parameters to every step. In this example we locked the pitch of the bass drum to different values to create a bassline. You can also lock other parameters like reverb on one snare hit, change the filter cutoff on two claps but none of the others etc... To do this hit record, choose the instrument (make sure you're in extended mode) Hold the desired step and then change the value of the parameter ou want to "lock" to that step. In this case we changed the pitch of the bass drum for virtually every step. You can also see just how to use the mute function to mute specific tracks, an extremely useful feature for live jamming.

http://www.bigcitymusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/bigcitymusicdo...
http://www.bigcitymusicblog.blogspot.com"

diy synth

YouTube via Vtolus. Update: You can find additional info on SuN SyNtH
"my new diy synth based on voice changer chip. This small box can produce thousands variations of bleeps, noises, feedbacks, ring-mod sounds and drons. It can also process external signal - than it works like ring modulator, digitalizer or pitch shifter. It has 2 body contacts, pitch shifting knob, voltage knob and few switchers. In some mode it can be controlled as thermin, just by moving the hand behind. Also it has expression pedal input, audio in and audio out."

Analogue synth jam

YouTube via angelometz
"My buddy Luc came over with his TR88 and TB303 for a jam."
synthesizers.com roland tr 808 tb 303 jupiter arp odyssey minimoog angelo metz electronic indie unsigned alternative

Toolshed Pawn Shop Movie

YouTube via massonix. Various Roland, EM&M Spectrum Synthesizer, Casio, EDP Wasp, Hohner, Pearl Syncussion, Quasimidi, ARP, Wurlitzer"
"Analogue Synthesizers,vintage Keyboards,Toolsheds studio two in 1999."

My Studio 1994-95

No, not my studio. Flickr set by firegroove.

Have fun spotting the synths in this set. I gave up on the labels. :) Note the Power Glove.

RSF Kobol on top.

Rhodes Chroma Interface Manual

via Chris Ryan on the Rhodes Chroma list.
"The Interface Manual is now available in hypertext format at the site. It documents the computer interface, and includes sections on Command Descriptions, Software and Hardware requirements (along with schematics), and several appendices such as Parameter Information and Command Listing.

This is the 1982 edition that I obtained from the Canadian distributor in the mid-1980s. There was apparently a later revision; David Clarke has sent me some excerpts and I will publish them at a later date, or perhaps update the entire manual (does anyone have a page that might indicate the publication date of a later edition?). The additions appear to be mostly related to the Polaris.

All four major Chroma manuals are now online: Performance, Programming, Service, and Interface. As this is another significant addition to the site, I will consider it a "special summer double issue" and will not publish a new article for August (though I will still post the list archive for July and do other minor updates)."

popol vuh-bettina

YouTube via thomm658