MATRIXSYNTH

Pacific Northwest Synth 2009 - photos via George Mattson

click here for the set.

Pictured here:
James Husted of SYNTHWERKS showing an ipod doc for a euro rac modular [more details and website to come], and our gracious host, John L Marshall taking a shot of a DSI MEK.

event comments in this post

click here for all PNW 2009 coverage.

Pacific Northwest Synth 2009 - photos via David Skinner

The first pics are in. This set via David Skinner. Too many great pics to post so be sure to see them. It was an awesome event this year.

Pictured:

fight going over his new modules
Harvestman is in that case as well

Randy Jones (Madrona Labs) showing his multitouch continuous controler. I have video of this talk that I will post. Impressive piece of gear that will be available to purchase.

A kid toy that plays music and lets you sample. I posted this once before but forget what it's called. If anyone knows, let me know. I want one. Frostwave Alienator next to it. Update: it's a Zizzle Zoundz (click for video). Thanks to PaulR in the comments.

The group listening to on of the talks. We typically go around the room and discuss what we have.

Lorne with the best Synth T in the world. :) Thanks Lorne!

Mattson Mini Modular - not so mini here. Midified skulls. I have some excellent video of that coming up as well.

DIY synth kit from the either the 70s or 80s. I forget what it's called. If you know comments.

Atomo Synth Mochika from Peru

Rare Sequential Circuits Pro-8 and MMM

Pink Thingamagoop, graciously given to me by Bleep Labs a couple of years ago. It was my first gift actually.

The retro, groovy and spooky Optigan. Great Halloween kit.

Computer Controlled skinned Elektron Machinedrum

John L Rice modular featuring Moonmodular, synthesizers.com, Club of the Knobs and more.

click here for all PNW 2009 coverage.

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The Tangent Project Live Rig

via Jeff of The Tangent Project. The image is from 2008, however they will be playing live with most of the gear pictured this December. Details further below.

"Here's a summary of the kit:
The Tangent Project LIVE at The Gatherings from May 17, 2008
Jeff Coulter's live gear rig:

on the keyboard stand:
M-Audio O2
Quasimidi Polymorph
Novation Remote 61LE
Dave Smith Intruments Evolver Desktop
Mutron Phasor II
[and a sustain pedal underneath the stand]

on top of left rack:
EMS Synthi-A

in left rack:
Juice Goose power/light module
Mackie LM-3204 Line Mixer
Digitech Studio Quad V2
Digitech TSR-12

on top of right rack, top to bottom:
Korg MS2000R
Roland JP-8080
Novation A-Station
JL Cooper Nexus Plus MIDI Merger/Patch Bay

in right rack, top to bottom:
Doepfer MAQ 16/3 MIDI/Analog Sequencer
Waldorf Micro Q
JL Cooper PPS-100 Synchronizer [MIDI clock source]
Lexicon LXP-1
Lexicon MPX-100
E-MU ESI-4000 Turbo Sampler
CDROM/Hard Disk for E-MU Sampler

FYI: I'll be using almost the same rig, minus the Digitech Studio Quad and with the addition of a Roland JV-2080 that has 7 expansion board in it, when we play live at WXPN on December 5th for a small donor concert, then we'll be doing a live set during Star's End later - around 2:00 am. The real key to the setup is the MAQ 16/3 and the ability to control each row's parameters from the Novation Remote 61LE and to switch between controlling all the different synths as a track develops. Too bad the Novation Remote does not do splits - that would be even better. The M-Audio O2 is for controlling subsequences, transpositions, and a few specific parameters on the Polymorph.

[Details on ther performances:]
At around 8:30 pm we play for a small audience of special donors to the Star's End radio programme on WXPN FM in Philadelphia - about 20-25 people in total will be there. see:
http://www.starsend.org/premiums100409.html

Then at about 2:00 am we will play a live on-air set that can be streamed from XPN.org or heard in the station's listening area - Philadelphia and a couple other areas - see:
http://www.starsend.org/broadcast.html

This rig fits in the back of a pretty small station wagon and is capable of a HUGE amount of sound, plus it's quite versatile to go from one track to the next without missing a beat - I need to add a new device for MIDI clock generation, as the PPS-100 is not able to shift tempo on the fly - it does have 2 MIDI outs so I can keep the Doepfer and the Polymorph synced together for the entire show - neither has the best clock sync inside them - just try syncing them from a computer DAW and starting someplace other than measure 1 beat 1 - it's awful.

At some point I'll find just the right device for keyboard splits and MIDI clock. The CME VX series look quite capable, but I hear the build quality and documentation is rather dodgy."

via this auction
"Features:
* Four oscillators in total: two analog, two digital
* Analog Oscillator waveshape are Sawtooth, Triangle, Saw-Triangle, and Pulse (with voltage-controlled analog Pulse-Width modulation)
* Digital Oscillators select from 96 wavetables from the Prophet-VS (128 x 12 bits), and 32 user-loadable (via MIDI) Wavetables (128 x 16 bits). The Digital Oscillators get trashy as the frequency gets higher, as with the original VS.
* Hard Sync on the analog oscillators
* FM and Ring Mod on the digital oscillators
* Separate Glide per oscillator, with two glide modes
* Real voltage-controlled analog lowpass filters - not digital recreations. 4-pole/2-pole switchable, fully resonant (in 4-pole mode). There are two separate filters, one for the left channel and one for the right.
* Analog Voltage Controlled Amplifiers (VCA), again one for each channel.
* Dual digital 4-pole Highpass filters (one per channel); place before or after analog electronics.
* Stereo audio inputs; Noise generator
* Envelope Follower and Peak Detect from External Input to use as modulation sources
* External Input can be used to gate envelopes and/or step the Sequencer
* Three snappy ADSR envelopes
* Four LFOs (sync with sequencer and MIDI)
* Dual (left and right channel) tunable feedback loops; modulate frequency and amount
* Delay with 3 taps; each with separate time and amount modulation. Syncs to sequencer/MIDI. Normal feedback and additional feedback path through analog filters
* Distortion! Digital, one for each channel, can be placed before or after analog electronics
* 3 Banks of 128 Programs for 384 total Programs - dump to/from MIDI
* 16 x 4 Analog-style sequencer - syncs with MIDI
* Extensive Modulation capabilities, including audio-range modulation. Bipolar (+/-) modulation."

Arduino Piano Squealer released under GPL V3

via mustakl

"Today I’m releasing the small monosynth, the “Arduino Piano Squealer”, I made for Critters & Guitari’s fantastic pocket piano. Examples and the code, released under GPL V3, are available from the APS’s own page."

Electro-Harmonix Vocoder, David Cockerell (EMS) 1979

via this VEMIA auction

"Rare and interesting vocoder, designed by EMS guru David Cockerell! Some sliders are a bit scratchy, but this is something you set up and leave, not tweak in real time - as the clever design with its recessed sliders and switches implies. Good cosmetic condition - a few superficial scratches, but generally nice, and, for EH product, VERY nice! Can be rack-mounted or is also free standing at a useful angle. Comes with a bad condition but readable copy manual. There is some insulating tape on the mains lead - a possible safety hazard that will need checking professionally. It is a long way down the cable, so there is easily enough to have that part of the lead cut off and the plug replaced. See a contemporary review at http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/davies/vocbaeha.htm - and note that the price then was 428GBP - which equals about 1380GBP in today's money."

Synton Syrinx in purple (Titan) 1 of 8 !

via this VEMIA auction

"Extraordinarily rare version of this fantastic monosynth! Colour : Titan / purple only 8 were made of this colour. Voltage 230V. Virtually mint, so like new, no scratches or other marks except the tiniest marks at the edge of the panel above a keyboard B - see pic. Extras: clear hard plastic dustcover, and manual. Fully operational. Serial number is 01620OS. VEMIA note: one of the greatest-sounding monosynths ever, with filter sounds to die for - and in this ultra-rare finish!"