Electro Harmonix Electronic Crash Drum

via this auction

"Knobs for Sweep Start, Sweep Stop, Sweep Time, Decay Time & Resonance. Back has On/Switch with Power light, External Trigger Input, Aux In, Output and Sens Hi Switch"

KORG ES-50 LAMBDA

via this auction
"This is an excellent sounding 3 oscillator string, brass, piano and organ synth. Each of the two oscillators can be de-tuned against the master osc for a very rich sound. In addition, vibrato, tremolo and chorus can be added and in stereo it sounds really nice. It is surprisingly good sounding and versatile, yet under-rated keyboard."

Wexler ROCKMATE Vintage Analog Drum Synthesizer

via this auction
"It is a "Rockmate", distributed by David Wexler & Co. of Chicago, IL, and manufactured in Japan... There is a central knob for selecting pitch (A, B, C, D, E or F), a tempo control to the left, and a SW-VOL knob to the right. At far right, there's a START/STOP button and a "SOLO" button. Apparently the latter has three settings, it shows quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes. On top, there are two inputs (START-STOP and SOLO) and one audio output (AMP-SW), all are 1/4" standard jack. There's also a port for an AC adapter; however it appears to run on a 9-volt battery as well... Measures 7.5" x 7.5", by 1-1/4" deep (excluding the rubber feet), it is housed in a bright red enameled-steel case and is quite heavy for its size. The face is gold-toned brushed aluminum." Anyone know more about this one? BTW, click on the multi-shot for a larger image.

Update via the world of next tuesday in the comments: "Never saw a Wexler before. It's a rebadged Keio Donca Matic Rock Mate, which I think is fair to say is the first portable drum machine, 1966. Keio Guutsu Kenkyujo became Korg based on Keio Organs later. I've seen a West German(?) rebadged version called a Checkmate too. Oddly the Europeans re-oriented the unit 90 degrees from the Keio and the similar Wexler. So the knobs are on the right rather than top, but is the same hardware as far as I can tell."

Minimoog with Big Briar MIDI and Separate Keyboard

via this auction
"Description: This early 1970s, vintage synth is rather unique, in that it has been outfitted w/ a MIDI interface, at the Moog factory and under the direct supervision of Bob Moog only a few years ago. At the same time, the latest, rock-stable oscillator cards were installed and the instrument is in PERFECT working condition. None of the keys stick, and all of the pots and switches work as well as the day I bought it. I am the original and sole owner. The keyboard was split from the body, again at the Moog factory circa 1974 and under the supervision of Bob Moog. Because the instrument was only a year or two off the production line at that point, and the factory was still creating these instruments for market, the wooden framing that the factory carpenters custom made after the split "surgery" was complete match the rest of the body just perfectly. The two halves are connected by a twenty foot, pliable snake, with “Jones Plug” connectors on each end. Unusual, now, but these were relatively common connectors of that period – and they work perfectly. Why the split? In the mid 70s, I heard and saw The Mahavishnu Orchestra perform on many occasions, and the keyboard player, Jan Hammer, wore a split Mini Moog keyboard around his neck and played it in guitar-like fashion. A “first” at the time, and I had to have it done, by the same technicians, at the same factory, and under Bob Moog’s personal supervision. The lugs for a guitar strap remain on the keyboard box to this day.

I had the pleasure of both meeting and performing for Bob on multiple occasions, as I had been asked to join the Moog touring electronic music ensemble in the mid 70s by the then Moog V.P. of Marketing, Herb Deutsch. He is the man who co-invented the instrument in the summer of 1964 with Bob, and who was/is, an excellent snyth player as well.

The ensemble performed periodically for the next couple of years, so as a “road instrument,” it sustained multiple “car-door dings” if you will, but all of these were finished-over by a professional paint/stain restoration artist, and are now nearly imperceptible."

Roland SH-5

via this auction

Electrocomp EML 500 analogue synthesizer

via this auction

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The OG Keytar

The ultimate keytar, unfortunately it's not a synth, but... I'll make the exception for this most awesome axe.

Sent my way via dalas via soxiam

Harpsichord Keytar

fredd minimoog MVI 8257

YouTube via AnalogSweden

midi triwave keyboard

YouTube via 4mspedals
"MIDI Triwave controlled by keyboard. All audio comes direct from Triwave Picogenerator from 4mspedals.com"

Ableton Live 8 Released

"New in Ableton Live 8
Version 8 enhances the Ableton vision of creative, real-time digital music with a wealth of new techniques, effects and most-wanted workflow improvements.

New groove engine
Groove patterns can add life and swing to straight sequences. Live 8's new groove engine lets you apply groove patterns in real time, extract grooves from audio or MIDI sources, quantize audio and MIDI in real time. It also comes with a new groove library.

New warping engine
Live 8 introduces a new, more direct way of working with warping and some important Warp Mode enhancements. You can now warp audio events by adjusting the events themselves on the timeline. Beats Mode has been updated, and there's a completely new Complex Warp Mode. Plus you can slice audio files to MIDI tracks based on transients.

Looper
A much-requested feature, the Ableton Looper effect gives you classic sound-on-sound looping without the limitations of a hardware device. Looper is set up for remote operation, so you can record, overdub, undo and more without touching the computer.

New effects
Live 8 includes five powerful new effects: Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Limiter and Frequency Shifter. These effects cover all the well-known aspects of these devices, but really shine due to some innovative features and enhancements from the Ableton labs.

Workflow enhancements
Version 8 makes Live easier with a number of most-wanted enhancements and some deceptively simple detail work including real-time crossfades in the Arrangement View, enhanced MIDI editing, group tracks, a screen magnifier and more.

New in Ableton Suite 8
Ableton Suite 8 is a package which gives you a rich world of sound, perfectly complementing the tools and features in Live 8. Suite 8 provides all the instruments a musician could hope for, including a wide range of synths, a powerful sampler, electric and acoustic drums, mallets, numerous sampled instruments: 10 instruments in all. Here's what's new in Suite 8.

World-class library
Ableton Suite 8's library completely surpasses everything that Ableton has ever offered before. With the creative professional in mind, Ableton has put together a well-balanced and comprehensive tool set and, above all, a wide-ranging set of beautiful sounds.

Collision
Collision is a unique instrument for authentic mallet sounds and creative percussion. Co-developed with AAS, it uses physical modeling technology to reproduce real-world instruments such as xylophones, marimbas and glockenspiels, but also provides enough depth to create truly dramatic new instruments and sounds.

Latin Percussion
Latin Percussion is a collection of acoustic percussion instruments such as congas, bongos, timbales, claves, shakers, tambourines and bells from the worlds of Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and African music. It also comes with clips and grooves, so you don't only get the drums, you also get the drummer.

More Operator, more power
Operator, Ableton's renowned do-it-all synthesizer, has been given a major overhaul. We opened up the hood, took a long hard look inside and did some serious hot-rod stuff. New filter types, more modulation routing options and additive wavetable synthesis with drawable partials make Operator more powerful and flexible than ever."

http://www.ableton.com/