KNOBSTER MelloFAN

"If you like noise, and you know how to use it for music, the synthesizer MelloFAN exactly what you need. With this synthesizer you can perform music on an ordinary household fan.

Main features:
* Adjustable «melodiousness»;
* Adjustable frequency and amount of rotation;
* ADSR-envelope;
* LP filter."

Linn LM-1 Drum Computer and the Oberheim DMX

via Hey, what's that sound on the guardian.uk (click through for the full article). via The Museum of Techno on Twitter (http://twitter.com/museumoftechno)

"What are they? The first drum machines to feature digital sampling. Before the release of Linn's LM-1 Drum Computer in 1980, early drum machines could only synthesise drum sounds out of bursts of white noise or sine waves. The LM-1 and Oberheim's DMX sampled actual drum hits, which could be programmed and manipulated with lovely knobs."

spectral processor

flickr by citizenmori

"a 296 module built beautifully from a garage sale kit by rick of electricmusicbox.com."

The Moogist - "Attitude"

YouTube via timtsang3

"For more info please contact Tim at moogist@gmail.com"

The Moogist -"Music is Finished" - Glenn Gould Mashup

quick BM toy (ghost version)

video upload by 4mspedals

"short video to show it works!" 4MS Bend Matrix

Update:

Toy matrix (ghost) part 2

good books/sites for synth electronics

Tim (good enough for analog) Servo sent the following in to the SDIY list. I asked him if I could put it up here and he gave me the OK.

"For learning basic electronics and finding some fun circuits to play with, I'd recommend any of the Forrest Mims "Engineer's Notebook" series.

http://www.forrestmims.com/
http://www.forrestmims.com/engineers_mini_notebook.html
http://www.radioshack.com/pwr/product-reviews/Toys-Games/Hobby-projects-kits/RadioShack/p/2102913-Electronics-Learning-Lab.html

For more thorough electronic theory, "Art of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521370957

Also try the "Op Amp Cookbook," "IC Timer Cookbook" and others by Walter Jung.
http://www.amazon.com/Op-Amp-Cookbook-3rd-Walter-Jung/dp/0138896011

For a great collection of synth circuits and some theory behind them, "Electronic Music Circuits" by Barry Klein. Highly recommended, and Barry is even a list member.
http://members.cox.net/barryklein/em.htm

Electronotes. You will love this. Guaranteed. If you don't want to pop for the entire collection, at least get the "Preferred Circuits Collection."
http://electronotes.netfirms.com/


I also sell reprints of several books by Thomas Henry that concentrate on one specific chip (e.g. 3080 OTA, or 566 VCO) or one type of synth circuit (e.g. Drum Circuits or Noise Circuits) through Magic Smoke Electronics at www.lulu.com/magsmoke


You will definitely want to get yourself a decent meter. I have one that was less than $100 and does capacitance and frequency readings. Not super accurate, but VERY handy. Also, do yourself a favor and get an oscilloscope. You can easily get by with an older model with lower bandwidth (5 or 10MHz is good enough for analog synth stuff), although a dual trace model is recommended. Again, you can often find a used
model for less than two or three hundred, and a scope will make diagnosing and troubleshooting SO much easier.

And welcome back to synth building!

Tim (good enough for analog) Servo"

Note the Atari Punk Console comes from Forrest Mims' designs.

Update: be sure to see the comments below for more recommendations.

Waldorf Largo Comes with Free Version of D-Pole

via andrew

"Just got my Waldorf Largo about an hour ago. Yeah, it's frakking awesome! I know you're loving that Blofeld, too! Anyway, just wanted to let you know that the Largo CD also comes with The Waldorf Edition LE (lite versions of Attack and Wave 2.v, full version of D-pole). I've been wanting to try out the 2.v (this version has 8 voices + 1 MIDI channel), so it's a very nice bonus!"

very cool

OCTAVE KITTEN

via this auction

"The Kitten offers two mixable modulators on both the VCO and VCF. The Axxe? No way. The Kitten's oscillator has three mixable waveforms, plus independent sliders for 2 suboctaves! The SH-09? Nope. The Kitten's filter is more ballsy and can be modulated by the oscillator! Korg MS-10? Not even close. The Kitten has just as many interface jacks and sounds much bigger. Overall the sound of this synthesizer is unique and high quality; it offers lots of flexibility for its size."

x0xb0x - Best TB-303 Replica

via this auction

click the top two images for larger shots. Note the clear back on the bottom shot.

Curtis vs radio demo

Curtis vs radio demo from strange agency on Vimeo.

"Curtis granular synthesizer is finally live on the App Store! Here's a medley of tweaks to live radio recordings."
Note I created a Curtis Granular label below. Click it for more and be sure to see this post.