Roland Vocoder Plus VP-330

via this auction

"Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus synthesizer. This instrument was only produced between 1979-80 and features the most otherworldly, goose bump inducing string section, choir, and human-voice sounds. Incredibly warm, rich and harmonic, and similar to that of a Mellotron (Tony Banks of Genesis replaced his onstage with a VP-330). It was also famously used by Vangelis for the 'Blade Runner' soundtrack. A much desired instrument possibly due to it sounding like little else. If it is ultimate lushness you seek, look no further. This is a MK1 version with the rocker switches for a nice vintage feeling.

Just a heads up, but a few auction posts came in. It looks like we are on another run. Enjoy the pics and remember to just skip by posts that don't interest you. A lot of this is just eye candy. "

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ÉuCuE xxvii - Jan. 2009 - "Plugged"

"Concordia University’s Music Department (Electroacoustic Studies) and Concordia Electroacoustic Studies Student Association (CESSA) are happy to announce EuCuE "Plugged" - a series of six electroacoustic and multimedia concerts taking place between 28 and 30 of January 2009."

I'm obviously a bit late posting this, so my sincere apologies. I like to keep posts focused on specific synths vs. synths in general and I completely missed this one. That said there are still performances tomorrow including Alessandro Cortini (Blindoldfreak, formerly NIN) and his Buchla 200e. You can find more info on the event here.

Note there will be follow up concerts for Blindoldfreak on Feb 1st in Québec, 2nd in Ottawa and 7th in Montréal. Kakihara 079 of Ögenix will be playing with the system pictured in this post (Sid the cat), with slight module changes (AFGs, Frequensteiner, less Doepfer, etc), Max MSP and a Novation remote 25SL controler. You can find more info on the shows on Blindoldfreak. If you are in the area, this is a great opportunity to see some of this equipment used live.

Sequencer Development (Last Stage)

YouTube via nathanielscott
"So, I have about got the kicks worked out of my first sequencer. Everything works from the start, stop, step push buttons, to the Portamento control, though the portamento is a bit glichey (I need to research way to build that bit with more control).

The video shows some toy keyboards that I hacked to gain gate control over the onboard sequencers. The Casio SK-1 may not really be a total toy but the little grey Lonestar keyboard totally is. I paid three bucks for it at a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago.

I still need to build a better VCO. I have done very little research in this area and I feel that a good VCO would go a long way to a better performance feel, thereby giving better user experience in playing music. (just a thought)

The last bit of the video has music recorded with the sequencer but the VCO is run through a large amp and miked, and also DIed, so are the other keyboards wich include my Poly-61 and Crumar Performer."

TRITONE APC and SK-1

YouTube via 3rdness

"The Atari Punk Console with tricolor LED. Run through a bent Fab Echo for delay.
Accomp by my SK-1.
bent by 3rdness aka Noam Schatz
http://www.mobiusband.com/blog
http://www.myspace.com/3rdness"

Prosthetic beatbox

YouTube via timexile. :)

MPC500/microKORG - DnB Test #2 (Live)

YouTube via encode84
"Please welcome my new DnB station - MPC500+microKORG"

Making a CR-78 grittier using stompboxes

YouTube via RothHandle. You can find more videos from RothHanle here.
"Yesterday I was working on the mix for the track Apple (weird working title but there you go..) The artist is a very talented guy from Poland called Antkowiak and we have recorded a full album that will hopefully be released this spring. A great blend between odd sounds and great songs.

This little snippet was shot at the Roth Händle studios in Stockholm. If you are curious about the studio please visit www.roth-handle.nu for more info, booking et.c"

NORTEC: PERCUTER S + TB-303 + TR-606 + CLAP TRAP with QMF

video upload by Ramón Amezcua

YouTube via bostich1

"Dr. Bostich having fun with the ROLAND TB-303 , TR-606, SIMMONS CLAP TRAP , Dinacord PERCUTER S , SHERMAN QMF Quad Modular Filter , using a Shuffle Generator.

http://www.myspace.com/tijuanasoundma..."

Roland JX-8P Analog Synthesizer + Programmer PG-800

YouTube via retrosound72

"vintage synth demo by RetroSound

Roland JX-8P Analog Synthesizer + Programmer PG-800
(demo of various filter and envelope settings, oscillator-sync, crossmodulation, VCF and DCO modulation and more); The JX-8P is triggered by the MFB Step64 step sequencer and sync with the Roland TR-707

This video demo is not a musical statement, only demonstration of the sound possibilities of the instrument."

Circuit Bent Speak and Spell + MIDI - SPEAKING BETA 2

YouTube via radial77. Part 1 here
"Once again being triggered with Live. I threw this one together to provide a rough second example. For a slightly better shot of the setup, see my first one"
The rhythm kind of reminds me of Ultravox's Alles Klar mixed with The Thin Wall.
Update: up for auction here.