"Torden over Herning" - on Roland SH-2000 and CASIO SA-1

YouTube via organfairy

"This melody was something I made back in 1997 when I lived in Hammerum - a village placed a couple of miles west of Herning near the big sculpture I showed in the "la isla bonita" video (except that the sculpture wasn't build in 1997). The story behind this weird piece of music was that I had just finished repairing an old Grundig TK125 de luxe tape recorder that I had bought at a jumble sale. At the moment I switched it on to test it a thunderstorm broke out and I thought it could be fun to try and record the sound of it. I placed a microphone in the open window and recorded ten minutes of violent summer thunder on tape.

Later I used the best parts of it to make this melody. Some of it is played directly from the tape. Other parts I stored in the Yamaha VSS-30 sampler and played using the keys.

To illustrate the melody I took a walk in the autumn rain in the area where I lived. The places are:

1:43 - the house where the melody was made.
1:53 - Knudmoseværket, the regions power plant
1:57 - the art museum
2:38 - the university and educational area
2:43 - the shopping centre
3:22 - Utzon House

I play the melody on Roland SH-2000 synthesizer and CASIO SA-1 toy keyboard. The bass is played on CASIO SA-3 toy keyboard through a Boss OC-2 octaver, the rhytm is played on Roland CR-1000 drum machine, and the (a bit too loud) strings are played on a Kawai MS-20."

the great gig in the sky

YouTube via graal7. "motif xs 8 +nordwave" Pink Floyd

PLLesque

YouTube via neandrewthal
"This is not intended to be a musical performance but merely a demonstration of a voltage controlled oscillator I patched up from several NOR gates and lag processors whose mistracking of an applied control voltage creates pleasant artifacts reminiscent of the Doepfer A-196 Phase Locked Loop."

Launchpad Linear Sequencer with Mulitple Patterns and MIDI CC

YouTube via littlescale. Novation Launchpad.

Novation Launchpad Waveform Editor (3 bit by 3 bit)

"This evening I made a Launchpad-based 3-bit by 3-bit waveform editor. In a way, this is related to my ever-present desire to touch sound (eg. the Toriton water-based instrument etc).

http://little-scale.blogspot.com/"

Solvent improv #2 - Electro Acid w/Modcan, 808, x0xb0x,...

YouTube via s0LVentCIty. part 1 here

"Hi - my name is Jason Amm and I release melodic electro(nica) music under the artist name Solvent, for labels including Ghostly International, Morr Music, and Suction Records.

You can check my music via: solventcity.com
myspace.com/solventcity

Here is video #2. This time, the video is much worse, but the audio was recorded from the mixer, so it's much higher quality. I also think this track is much better... I'm pretty happy with this track myself, and will likely edit it down and release it at some point. Mind, this is only the first 10 minutes of a 45+ minute long improv!

An explanation of the video: I was so immersed in this little jam session, that it didn't even occur to me - before pressing REC on the video camera - that I was still in my pajamas. So what I've blacked out is basically me pulling up my pajamas every 30 seconds. It may look like I've blacked out some of what I'm doing on the gear, but everything on that side of the screen was blocked by me anyways, so not really. That cheesy electricity effect is also there to distract during a section where I enter the frame.

So, sorry about the video... this one's mainly about the music.

OK so here is a melodic electro acid improv. The Doepfer Regelwerk is the master clock, and is sequencing 2 synth parts on the Modcan.

The Regelwerk does have CV/Gates built in (8 of each!), but in this case I used a Midi out into a 4-channel Midi-to-CV module (an MOTM-650, the only non-Modcan module in there). I am muting/un-muting these Modcan parts on the fly via the Regelwerk, which you can't see... But if you look closely at that black Modcan module, you can see the lights blinking to indicate when sequences are start/stopping.

The bass sound is 2 or 3 VCOs, with the Multi-Mode VCF (a killer filter IMO!). I'm doing a lot of tweaking on a dual-mixer module: 1 side is for the VCO levels, the other side is for different outputs from the Multi-Mode VCF - combining LP with BP, Notch, etc gives a lot of diversity to the sound.

The other synth part is 1 VCO + 1 MinWave, into the EMS-style Diode filter.

All of the delay you hear is from the Modcan SuperDelay module, which is probably my favorite module in the whole system... Wow.

The Regelwerk also has DIN-sync out, so that's how the 808 is being synced. x0xb0x sequencer is receiving Regel's MIDI-clock. My x0xb0x is heavily modded, and what you'll notice me doing a lot is switching on/off a mod which keeps the VCA open.

Modcan's sequencer is clocked via an 808 trigger. The main thing that it's doing is sequencing that occasional white noise pattern that comes in occasionally, which was Noise into the Frequency Shifter module, and then some VCF, don't rem which one.

BTW, the Modcan isn't mine, unfortunately! I had it on loan from a guy named Jeff, who makes really nice music under the name Minisystem (myspace.com/minisystem)."

Native Instruments Launches "Synthsgiving"

"Berlin, November 26th, 2009 - Native Instruments today launched "Synthsgiving", a time-limited special offer that gives musicians and producers access to some of the most powerful software instruments on the market at a drastically reduced price. Until November 30th, ABSYNTH 5, FM8, MASSIVE and REAKTOR 5 will be available for download purchase in the NI Online Shop for $99 / 99 EUR, a discount of up to 75% on the regular pricing.

More information on "Synthsgiving" can be found at
www.native-instruments.com/synthsgiving.info

About Native Instruments:

Native Instruments is a leading manufacturer of software and hardware for computer-based music production and performance. The company's mission is to develop innovative, fully integrated solutions for all professions, styles and genres. The resulting products regularly push technological boundaries and open up new creative horizons for professionals and amateurs alike."

Modular Synthesizer - Somatic Circuits - Dark Side SSM2044 VCF

Youtube via MrRitchieDrums
"Just a quick Sequence with a Synthesizers.com Q106 Oscillator VCO and Q119 sequencer and a Somatic Circuits - Dark Side SSM2044 Filter"

Ribbon Controller Demo at MTM04

YouTube via MMTAKEDA55
"Demonstration for Ribbon controller and new handmade syhnth called Orange pARM"

Update via motohiko in the comments: more info in Googlish here.

Chordica Touch Live Rhythm

YouTube via ChordicaRevolution
"A demonstration of the new Live Rhythm section found in Chordica Touch. Discover the reasons for the positioning of the rhythm triggers and watch a live demo at the end."
On iTunes:
Lite version:

Free Stylophone

Available at SuperWave

"The Stylophone is back but now in VSTi format and completely FREE!
Over 40 years old, the Stylophone pocket synthesizer made popular by the likes of Rolf Harris and David Bowie (as used in the timeless classic Space Oddity) is now available in VSTi format. The Stylophone has been used by many great artists such as Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, Erasure, Orbital, Marilyn Manson, They Might Be Giants, White Stripes and Little Boots. The Stylophone is a monophonic synthesizer with one sound only, with the option to add vibrato enhancement. The Stylophone VSTi has a sample based oscillator using samples recorded from an original Stylophone, not the modern reproduction model. All samples were recorded using a high quality microphone from the Stylophone speaker output for the most accurate sounding emulation.

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