MATRIXSYNTH

Modified Korg Poly-61Synthesizer

YouTube via rolandsh1000

"Demo of my modified Korg Poly-61. I got it for cheap off local Craigslist because of some issues. The most problematic was the non-triggering keyboard. I swapped out the keyboard PCB from a dead Korg DW-6000 and now it works perfectly (I recommend if you can find a dead DW6k and you're trying to repair a Polysix or Poly-61, you'll be amazed how much better the DW6k keyboard works).

Anyway, the P-61 is a lot like a Juno-60 or -106, in that each voice has one real digitally-controlled sawtooth core oscillator (DCO), VCF, and VCF. So it's essentially an analog polysynth under digital control. What it has over the Junos: an extra true-digital oscillator (fairly lame, but useful for some things), real analog envelopes, two LFOs. What the Junos have over the P61: chorus and, most importantly, analog controls to tweak all parameters.

The P61 designers apparently wanted to save money and followed the lead of the Rhodes Chroma and Moog Source in the user interface, so the P61 used a digital button interface to adjust parameters settings. IMO, this sucked because 1) it inhibited sound exploration 2) the resolution on the voice and modulation parameters was limited.

So, I decided to bring out a lot of these parameters of the P61 out to the panel and convert them to true analog control. This meant that these parameters could not be stored in patches (though other parameters still would be), but I was willing to forgo that since I basically just play for fun, not on stage. The parameters I brought out were the global ones (changes made by the microprocessor to all voices at once), which made it easy to have one knob or switch control all voices - all my mods are either switches or resistors/pots, no active electronics were added. I think you could make ALL of the parameters under analog control, but to go beyond what I did, you'd have to modify each voice circuit, which is a lot more work. :)

Controls added:
DCO1 waveform switch (saw, pulse)
DCO1 PW/PWM switch
DCO1 PWM amount
DCO2 on/off 'harmonic' switches: 2', 4', 8', 16'
VCF cutoff
VCF resonance
VCF keyboard tracking switch
VCA EG/gate switch
MG frequency
MG waveform (tri, squ)
MG DCO amount
MG VCF amount
Joystick:
- LFO2 waveform (tri, squ)
- LFO2/cutoff switch
- Joystick/Knob select switch (vertical joystick disabled in favor of rotary knobs)
- LFO2 DCO amount
- LFO2 VCF amount

In sum, these synths seem quite inexpensive for what's inside and with this added analog control (now it's somewhere between a Juno-6 and -60 as far as patch storage and user control), it's a lot more fun to play!"

Vintage Jennings Univox Valve Tube Keyboard Synth & Amp

via this auction
"Magnificent & super rare Univox / Jennings Valve Synthesisor & amplifier - in an alligator skin case!!!! Well... faux alligator. These synths were one of the first ever to be built & were made along the lines of the Selmer Clavioline (which I think was used on the 60`s single Telstar) - superb tones can be had from gut breaking bass to eerie high tremolo starsounds - so great for both rhythm & lead work if origional organic tone is your thing. This baby comes in all origional condition with all the leads & the volume lever which you move to raise or lower the volume."

KORG MAXI-KORG 800DV

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"rare Korg MAXIKORG 800 DV. It's essentially two Mini-Korg K2's in one synth...

Specifications Polyphony - 2 - Duophonic Oscillators - VCO x2: Scale (64', 32', 16', 8', 4', 2'), Waveform (triangle, square, sawtooth, pulse, PWM), Pink Noise, White Noise; SUB OSC x2: Scale (32', 16', 8', 4', 2') LFO - LFO x2: PWM + Vibrato Filter - VCF x4: Traveler (High Pass, Low Pass) VCA - VCA x2 + ENVELOPE GENERATOR x2: Attack Time, Singing Level, Range Selector, Mode Selector Keyboard - 44 Keys Memory - None Control - None Date Produced - 1975"

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Waldorf Microwave XT

via this auction

AudioCubes LoopShaper

"LoopShaper is a software application developed specifically for Percussa AudioCubes. It lets you use the AudioCubes with your existing VST instruments to create sounds and loops.
LoopShaper is a standalone application, hosts your VST instruments, and lets you interact with them in a hands on fashion through AudioCubes. With LoopShaper, AudioCubes and a VST instrument (some are freely available), you have everything you need to create interesting sound material and loops..."

An Evening With Star6 - Berlin (Compilation)

An Evening With Star6 - Berlin (Compilation) from Star6 on Vimeo.

""An Evening With Star6" - Berlin, Germany happened on Sept 4th, 2009 at Jacki/Josephclub @ Maria am Ostbahnhof.

Star6 is a iPhone/iPod touch app that allows the user to manipulate and perform with samples by moving their phone in the air. For more info check our website:
star6app.com

Get Star6 now from iTunes:

iTunes > App Store > Music > Star6

Star6 is an innovative new iPhone instrument by Jason Forrest and Agile Partners. To celebrate it’s release we threw a relaxed party to demonstrate this new instrument and have a bit of fun! Performances by:

Jackson (Warp, FR)
Kiki Moorse (ex-Chicks On Speed,DE)
Song Band (US)
Jason Forrest (CRD, US)
Guido Mobius (Karaoke Kalk, DE)
Ben Butler & Mousepad (SCT/DE)
DJ's: Finkobot & Marius Reisser

Jacki Terrasse / Joseph (@ Maria)
An Der Schilling Brücke
10243 Berlin

For more on the artists:
myspace.com/moorse
myspace.com/jacksonand
myspace.com/benbutlerandmousepad
myspace.com/guidomoebius
myspace.com/jason_forrest
myspace.com/songbandmyspace
myspace.com/finckobot
myspace.com/mariusreisser"

Bill and Will's Synth Jürgen Haible "Living VCOs" Construction

via Dragonfly Alley

MIDIbox SEQ V4.0 Public Beta released

via MIDIBox.org where you'll find more.
"List of major changes:

* uses the new MBHP_CORE_STM32 module (ARM Cortex M3 based derivative)
* firmware completely rewritten in C – it can be optionally emulated under MacOS
* patterns/songs/grooves/configs/etc. now stored on SD Card in a FAT32 filesystem
* USB MIDI natively supported, MIDI events are sent more than 100 times faster to a DAW/virtual synth
* two “common” MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports, up to 8 additional MIDI OUT ports can be added with MBHP_IIC_MIDI modules
* track length increased to 256 steps
* track memory can be partitioned, e.g. 64 steps and 16 parameter layers, or 256 steps and 4 parameter layers. Each track provides 8 trigger layers
* resolution increased to 384ppqn (16 times faster than common MIDI clock)
* new MIDI event scheduler concept priorises and sorts queued MIDI events
* new parameter layer options like “Pitch Wheel”, “Roll” and “Probability”
* special drum mode for easier editing of percusive patterns
* additional chords (now: 32 in Major/Minor scale)
* new track progression parameters like “Interval/Repeat/Skip”
* groove templates can now be customized and stored on SD Card
* Echo Fx with variable number of repeats, damp, tempo change, note incrementer (can be forced to scale!)
* LFO Fx with different waveforms, synchronized to track clock, step based selection of period and reset, assignable to Note/Velocity/Length + separate CC with definable ppqn resolution
* value range Limiter Fx
* Loop Fx (also nice for editing)
* overworked realtime record function with better quantisation
* hardware configuration file now read from SD Card. No need to recompile the firmware on changes.

A big thank-you goes to NILs for creating the layout of the MBHP_CORE_STM32 module, Bugfight and especially StrydOne and This for MIOS32 beta testing, Seppoman for providing the first STM32 presoldered prototype boards to programmers, SmashTV for providing STM32 presoldered PCBs to users, Wilba for creating the beautiful looking MBSEQ Frontpanel, Marco and Francois for beta-testing the firmware on their MIDIboxes, and to everybody else who gave me helpful proposals and mental support.

Best Regards, Thorsten." Community effort.