oldmanfury

via Gerald:
"I started up a semi-synth-related blog. Have written a couple of posts here: oldmanfury"

pictured:
"Andy's modular is mostly Frac-rack, populated with lovely Blacet, Wiard, and a few Metalbox CGS modules. Since his system is so uniform and professional looking, he wanted to get some high-quality panels to match. Here's a picture of about 1/4 of his modular (and his Niece knob-tweaking)."

MacBeth X-Series Backend Filter

via Mr. Array, via Muff's Forum
"- hi guys- well my plan was to have the grounded control for the envelope EG- my experience of using a bipolar control- though neat- makes it tricky to find an accurate zero point between the - and the +. Sometimes I want no envelope present at all- so when the EG control pot is at zero there is no chance of mild sweeping. This is important when approximating 1V/Octave tracking. This EG input control is normalised to the positive going envelope- but can be overidden by patching the negative envelope- or indeed, any othe control or modulation source!

Regarding taking the filter output and feeding it back through one of the audio mixer pots- thats a great idea- I'll look into that tommorow.

And yes- there are the potentiometer controlled inputs- its a small three input mixer! I have tried to put every 'angle' possible on this thing- and hopefully I have! I don't see the justification in having to buy a separate basic mixer for this thing. With the dual oscs and noise- it's a perfect companion. hihi

One further module out of the six planned is a reasonably complex dual mixer that will have multiple inputs and some degree of cv, inversion etc...this will help utilise the multiple outputs from the dual osc module. I could have turned this into a single 84hp synth- but splitting the idea in two allows for thos who want more than one dual osc and or backend filter the option to sonically 'go big'

Again- I appreciate all your feedback- I know what I like- but your suggestions that go out side of my box are most helpful. I'm designing this stuff for you the enthusiasts and it's great fun on the way!"

Eric Archer Drone Commander

on eric archer.net

"With a total of 9 knobs, the Drone Commander offers two manually-tuned oscillators and two LFOs, plus an unusually colorful and nasty filter. LFO1 is an analog variable-shape oscillator, and LFO2 is a pulse waveform that auto-synchronizes to LFO1 at a ratio of 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x. Both LFOs can be routed to the filter for rhythmic patterns. A line-level output jack is provided for connection to amplifiers or effects."

see these posts for video and more.

Yamaha DX7S synth - Leader of the Pack Advert

flickr by msxgalaga
(click for more)

"ad from Melody Maker magazine 1987"

Commodore 64 for iPhone

YouTube via manomiodotcom
"The first official demonstration of the Commodore 64 computer running on the iPhone from Manomio and Kiloo"

Happy Father's Day!!!

Oh the toys you get to play with when you become a father...

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!

BOSS BR-600 Quick Review on Cafe 80

"The BR-600 features good quality effects to process the input, even while recording. Realistic distortion and other classic chorus or flanger effects for the guitar, more adventurous processing for the line input (bit reduction, etc…). These are really useful, as you can just plug in a guitar and record a decent electric guitar track, and so on… There’s also a whole mastering section, which I didn’t have the time to test, along with some facilities like tuner, phrase trainer, pitch correction or loop."

full review on Cafe 80.

Clavia Nord Lead 3 Trance Presets Audio Demo

YouTube via alanmarcero
"http://www.alanmarcero.com for free patches for your synthesizers. Demo was done with a Nord Lead and external FX. Comprised partly of clips from my own tunes."

Roland 80017a

via this auction
"Problems Typically Solved by Replacing the Failed 80017a Chip Include:

* Erratic or sudden loud noise from synthesizer output, particularly after 10 minutes of powering up.
* Note hang-ups or long sustain.
* One synth voice will not respond to filter or amplifier changes.
* Unstable operation.
* Juno-106 or MKS-30: Notes will not play, most typically every 6th note will not play due to failed 80017a chip.
* GR-700: One particular voice or string will not sound, "D" string, "A" string etc.

Sound Clip of 80017a Failure in a GR-700 Guitar Synthesizer

The sound of the failure will change depending on which part of the circuit is not working: the VCF or VCA for example. The above example is provided to illustrate one type of failure. Your synth may have different symptoms as listed above.

An easy way to determine if you cable is working correctly on the GR-700 is to press the EDIT foot pedal, followed by 4 and 8. This puts the GR-700 in tuning mode. Play each string on the GR-700, and you should see the display change for each string. The displays shows "1" for the high E string, "2" for the B string, down to "6" for the low E string. If the GR-700 responds to all six strings, then your cable is good, and most likely you have a failed 80017a chip.

About the 80017a VCA/VCF chip:

The 80017a chip was a real workhorse for Roland synthesizer engineers in the early 1980s. This one chip contained both the classic, driving -24 dB voltage controlled low-pass filter with a smooth voltage controlled amplifier. By placing all the components on one chip, Roland was able to keep the classic sound of their analog synthesizers across various products, with low production costs. However, Roland did experience some probelms with the early production techniques. With reports of chip failures, Roland knew they had a problem on their hands, and changed production methods.

When these chips fail, sometimes a voice will stop working completely. On a keyboard synth, this shows up as every sixth voice not working. On a GR-700 guitar synthesizer, this shows up as one string’s synthesizer voice failing. But the chip may not fail completely, resulting in a lack of control over the filter quality for one voice, or by sudden, loud erratic sounds from the synthesizer. The only solution to these problems is to replace the existing 80017a with a new chip.

At least 20 years after the original production date, this chip is still working well without failure." There's more info on the specific chip for sale including samples at the auction.

Be sure to see this post for a fix to existing chips as well. I had the procedure done and it did work.

EML Poly Box Screenprint

via this auction

"poly-box synthesizer screenprint. printed on red mr. french paper using black and white plastisol inks. also has a small pink screenprinted "stamp" saying "non stop" (kraftwerk reference). edition of 20. measure 12.5 x 19. looks better in person, pics don't do it justice."

NON STOP!