Sunday, September 27, 2009
OBXa birthday cake
Cohen's HALLELUJAH: Vocal, Theremin & MIDI theremin
YouTube via copperleaves.
"First of all, I'm sorry this video is so long but I wanted to sing all the verses of it that I could find. Leonard Cohen (who wrote the song) said that he wished people would stop singing it but you might as well ask people to stop looking at the Mona Lisa! In its genre, this song is a masterpiece.
I discovered Leonard Cohen back in the early 60's when a family friend gave my parents a copy of LOVE WHERE THE NIGHTS ARE LONG, a collection of the works of Cohen and his friend and mentor, the late, brilliant Irving Layton. I had never really appreciated poetry until I read that book. Perhaps what has always impressed me most about Leonard Cohen's work is his ability to be distant and objective about his subject while resting quietly in its heart.
There are two theremins in this video, Samuel Hoffman's 1929 RCA and the Moog MIDI Ethervox. I have never been able to sing and accurately play the theremin at the same time, so verse three (where I play the Hoffman RCA) is the only verse where I did not sing live. The MIDI theremin (which you see on verse five) is fairly easy to play while singing. Simple gestures of the arm trigger sounds from a separate MIDI module (in this case a Roland JV 2080).
The keyboard on this video is a Korg Triton Extreme (doubled with a Roland Fantom XR). The advantage of an electronic keyboard over an acoustic piano is that there is no leakage into the vocal mike when a singer is playing and singing at the same time. Nothing will ever replace a good Steinway but the latest generations of electronic keyboards are awesome!
The mike I used is a cordless Sennheiser that I have had for years. It was given to me by Sennheiser when they sponsored a tour in the 1980's and it works as well today as it did when I got it.
Here's a little bit of trivia you may not know about the RCA theremin in this video. According to Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong's biographer, Andrew Smith, Armstrong actually took a recording of this theremin with him into space for the moon landing in 1969. The previous owner of this instrument, Dr. Samuel Hoffman, used it on his 1947 recording, MUSIC OUT OF THE MOON. Neil Armstrong liked the sound of it so much that he made a cassette tape of it from his personal record collection and took it with him to the moon.
Andrew Smith ends his book, MOONDUST, with the following words, '.....when I've thought of Apollo, I've thought of him [Neil Armstrong] and his little band drifting out there toward the secret Moon.....spilling theremin music out at the stars.'"
Update via Brian in the comments:
"Check out: http://www.peterpringle.com/"
Ensoniq ESQ-1 demonstration part 4.
YouTube via teanegro. part 3 and links to previous parts here.
"Demonstrating new sounds from my Ensoniq ESQ-1."
Yamaha SK30, Analog Symphonic Synthesizer

"This unit is massive, I cannot understate that. It is probably the same size as the CS-70, and it uses a lot of the same internal components as the CS-70 and CS-80. The big draw you hear for this synth is the String sounds, and there is a reason for that. It is the best string sound I've ever heard, and I've heard solinas, crumars, arps... There is just no comparison and the main reason is that not only do you have 3 preset string sounds but you also have a 2 OSC polyphonic analog synth built into the unit as well that is fully customizable. This polysynth section is made to be played in tandem with the string section and the two together create a very lush, deep string sound. This section also has an analog ensemble and tremelo effect that you can run it through to deepen it up even further. The polysynth section can be played alone as well and it has your standard square wave and saw tooth settings, and it sounds wonderful. If that wasn't enough, there is also an organ section (also has separate tremelo and ensemble effects) that sounds fantastic as well. You can get amazing analog-sounding emulations of any organ, especially a B3, and it has several draw bars. It even has a leslie connection on the back if you want to hook it up to one of those speakers. Again, the feature set is not over. There is also a ripping, separate monophonic synth section that reminds me a lot of the Yamaha CS-5 or CS-10 (Think really early Depeche Mode basslines and leads). Very buzzy, cool sounding resonate section with many different features including glide, portamento and PWM, etc. This part has CV-in/out so you can get a Midi to CV box and hook it up to a modern MIDI computer or sequencer. I used it mostly for huge basslines but the portamento makes for some great leads as well. All of these sections are stackable and you can also do keyboard splits (say, if you want the polysynth on the right and the organ on the left. Buying this is like getting 4 very nice instruments in one."



ohm64 app to run monome apps
ohm64 app to run monome apps from Livid Instruments on Vimeo.
"here is my first test with the mon+ohm max patch, works as a standalone. I am running 64step, available form the monone site here. To run monome apps all you have to do is open mon+ohm, then the app. Some of the apps don't require this as they send midi. Lots of fun"
Livid Instruments
Pixelh8 Master Stroke DS Beta Now Available

via Pixelh8 on Twitter
YouTube via pixelh8. previously posted
Pixelh8 master stroke
YouTube via michaelnervous
"Simply the best homebrew instrument! Thank you Matthew!"
Dynacord SRV-66 Vocoder, Part 1 of 4
YouTube via VoiceEncoder
"Dynacord SRV-66 Vocoder, part 1 of 4.
Copyright Synton Electronics of Holland, Inc., Bluesynths, and various, etc... All Rights Reserved."
Yamaha RX21 & RX21L Drum and Latin Percussion Machines
YouTube via zibbybone
"Quick demonstration of a pair of mid 80's drum machines. Demo starts out with dry, direct signals from the machines and then I add a little reverb from Alesis MultiMix 8 at the very end. These machines are popular with circuit benders."
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© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH