Korg MS-20 Fireworks Zone

YouTube via Newueel
"This must definitely be the safest fireworks on the planet. Two simple patches mixed up together for creating your own fireworks on a Korg MS-20. A fire arrow patch and a 1000 shot patch. Both patches are triggered with random time intervals using the ESP. Knob settings should be readable when watching in high quality/fullscreen.

Although this is the safest way to play with fireworks, in order to prevent accidents and other problems:
- Use at your own risk only
- Keep children and pets out of range at all times to protect them and their hearing — and to make sure animals don't get scared and bolt.
- Dont try to reignite a firework that doesn't go off. Leave it alone for at least 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water. :$

I wish you all a very happy and synthful new year!"

damn hoss

damn hoss from edison on Vimeo.
"hello all....
introducing "64 fingers"
a new project by edison.......

64 buttons.....
63 sounds....
1 stop button......
no quantize......
no loops.......

there will be 7 videos in this project.....
this is the first.......
you can download this full track for free, right here
drop.io/p05tkko
thank you for your time.......

the yellow box is a monome 40h, hand built and installed in an old kids lunchbox......
the monome is controlling ableton.......

monome.org
myspace.com/bearless"

Circuit Bent Casio SK-1 Green

via this auction
"1: Circuit Bent CASIO SK-1 sampling keyboard w/fx box !!!

The custom paint job and all bends were done by DIABOLICAL DEVICES.
FEATURES:
20 point patch bay
6 toggle switches (holds, delays, ect.)
5 push buttons (random glitches) additional custom made FX box that features 2 LFO's and a Photocell.
comes with 4 banna jacks for making patches.
The FX box connects to the SK-1 via a 1/4" instrument cable and a banana jack.
The FX box also has 3 cool little green lights to show you what effect(s) are activated. They match the paint job! The SK-1 has a 1/4" output and a AUX output."

Sequential Circuits Studio 440 Part 5

YouTube via WISSJE. Parts 1-4 previously posted here.

christmas toy

flickr by recompas
(click for more)
"Just build a rack to hold my evenfall minimodular and my new blacet darkstar chaos. woo! Thomas Henry MPS, Voice of Saturn Sequencer and Blacet Darkstar Chaos"

full size

A bit blurry but you don't see the Evenfall Minimodular too often and the shot should give you a perspective on it's size.

The Serge on felix inferious

felix inferious has a post up what makes a Serge modular different from others. It's a fascinating read and useful if you are not familiar with Serge systems. Note that it is written from the perspective of someone researching a system. If you've ever had GAS (gear acquisition syndrom) and have researched a synth ad nauseam, you will appreciate this post. The following is just an excerpt so do check out the full post for more.

"That brings me to my next advantage of the Serge. Functional density. In Serge-land, they call this "patch programmability". Depending on how you patch a particular function block, you can achieve different results. The "Smooth / Stepped Generator" (SSG) for example, can not only be a S+H, but also a VC slew limiter, VC LFO (triangle and square), clock, LPF/LPG, lo-fi VCO, zero-crossing detector, and more with any combinations of these (that's right, most of those functions only require one half of the module!). This module is even one-upped by the "Dual Slope Generator" (DSG) which has an unprecedented number of patch programmable functions, yet on the surface, it's just an AD envelope generator. It's this "patch programmability" that really attracts me to the Serge system. The flexibility and range of sounds possible in even a single panel (or even M-odule) is rather astounding."

Radikal Technologies Spectralis II

"Spectralis II is the even more powerful successor of Radikals sophisticated Hybrid Synthesizer. With up to 2 GB sample memory and tons of new features Radikal raises the bar again for our competition. Never stop the sequencer engine again with our fully redesigned sequencer engine that allows for on the fly realtime sequencing, recording of MIDI controllers and overdubbing. Quick Sound Selection for every part - your most favorite sounds are just one fingertip away. Transpose your patterns and step sequences with the attached keyboard and control the Spectralis parameters via MIDI from your computer. There is only one thing, we left untouched in our new design - the sound engine. Still the warmest and richest sound out there with the power of a modular synthesizer in a box.

The Hybrid Synth
The SPECTRALIS II hybrid synth, fueled by the latest DSP- and true analog technology, delivers maximum tonal capabilities and leads you into a radical new world of sounds full of life and animation. The SPECTRALIS’ oscillator section takes sound design to new extremes. The 4 oscillators offer continuously variable waveshapes plus time linearity modulation, FM, PM, oscillator synchronisation, bit reduction and independent pitch and volume envelopes. The self resonating filters, a 4 pole lowpass and a 2 pole multimode filter with LP, HP, BP and notch outputs, use two highly improved true analog circuit designs to overcome the restrictions of modelling based synths. The way players can interact with the destinc-tive user interface makes the SPECTRALIS II hybrid synthesizer a killer live instrument with unbeatable richness and stunning flexibility. The synthesis engine takes advantage of a sophisticated step sequencing system - 32 independent parameter control lines with up to 192 steps let you explore an universe of previously unheard rhythmic effects and atmospheric textures. Punchy high resolution envelopes, are the cutting edge of todays synthesizer technology. They are the perfect weapon for the creation of floor pounding kicks, state of the art sequencer staccatos and numerous percussion effects.

The Filterbank
Rumbling noises, nasal sounding oboes, booming SciFi-drones and vocaloid solo-voices - all these different sounds have one thing in common - the fixed filterbank. Consisting of 8 bandpasses, one lowpass and one highpass filter, the filterbank allows the selective modification of certain frequencies. The spectrum of the sound is divided into separated frequency bands where each resulting spectrum slice has an individual attentuator. Like the instrument corpus forms the frequency response of an acoustic instrument, the fixed filter bank provides a new approach in the creation of realistic instrument timbres and bizarre FX-sounds. In contrast to big modular systems of the past, where the filterbank had fixed filter response curves and simple pots to regulate the levels of the frequency slices, the SPECTRALIS comes with sequencer controlled level modulation and in depth parameter editing like individual frequency band panning, Q and roll off slope control and filter stage spacing. The usage of the fixed filterbank isn’t limited to hybridsynth voices - simply feed any DSP synth part thru the filterbank or even any external signals from the external analog inputs. The SPECTRALIS II step sequencer comes with step envelopes, where normal step-sequencers only offer a fixed value setting per step. In conjunction with the filterbank, these step envelopes allow for instance the creation of a new drum beat by simply feeding noise into the filterbank and programming some decay steps for selected frequency slices.

The sampling section
In contrast to many other groove oriented sampling instruments, the SPECTRALIS II offers real multisampling and a 32 stereo voice polyphonic sound engine with powerful subtractive synthesis capabilities. Lush strings ensembles, dramatic soundscapes or earthshaking drum grooves - simply drag and drop the highlights of your personal soundlibrary from your computer onto the SPECTRALIS II. The highspeed USB2 interface transfers even large sample instruments in a few seconds. An included sample conversion utility allows importing wav- and soundfont2-files. After finalizing your music production, the entire song content with patterns, sounds and samples can be stored back to the computers harddrive. Satisfied with the backup functionality but still wondering about the LIVE situation? Don’t worry about that! The SPECTRALIS II comes with a SD-Card slot and has an onboard 1GB flash memory (expandable up to 2GB) for permanent storage of samples, songs and sounds. Features are only one side of the story - but realizing them with the latest Texas Instruments floating point DSP generation and featuring HiEnd Burr Brown DA converters gives the SPECTRALIS II the no compromise touch of a groundbreaking new star in the sonic wonderland of electronic music instruments.

The sequencing system
As a groove oriented system the SPECTRALIS II features a powerful pattern based sequencer playground with realtime, overdub and step by step recording as well as grid based drum programming. Additionally, the state of the art step sequencer opens a complete new universe of tempo dependent sound manipulations and freaky polyrhythmic sequencer battles. Designed with the live situation in mind, you will enjoy the absolute freedom of realtime manipulations during your session. Mute/unmute tracks, exchange the motifs on the fly, tweak volumes, panning or FX-sends with the built in mixing console or transpose an entire pattern by simply pressing a note on your keyboard. Editing of sequences can be done without stopping the sequencer - one of the most desirable features in todays groove oriented live instruments. Start your session with a simple basic groove and add steps on the fly until the audience is totally freaked out. Are you into more serious music production? Well, the SPECTRALIS also comes with a song section, where you can arrange the patterns to complete songs."

You can find more info including samples on Radikal Technologies. via zamise.

PlanB Model 10 as an audio source

YouTube via dkimcg
"a model 15's morph output controls cycling of a model 10 with envelopes fast enough to generate audio. Basically it's a wave shapeable synced oscillator that's especially neat when you feed it multiple outputs from the same model 15. some powerful wave shaping...with an envelope generator.

I had read the m10 was fast enough to use as an audio source, n the scope shows the proof. :)

add the usual ending for stereo. top scope on left, bottom on right.

pardan the bad camerawork, my arm was stopped abruptly by a taxi door in downtown LA."

Inside an Ensoniq ASR-10

flickr set by firegroove
(click for more)

Akai MPC 2000XL and S1000

via this cl post also on Ebay. via R

MPC2000XL: "max memory and 8 outs, even has the EFX Board, internal floppy, external zip drive"
S1000: "S1000 has a maxed 32mb of RAM, 8outs, the scsi option card, AND i'm throwing in an external SCSI 135mb removable media scsi drive, with 3 discs full of samples, and three NOS wrapped in plastic discs. The s1000 is running OS 4.04"