Buchla 260e Duophonic Pitch Class Generator

flickr by Yotsuba&!

AKS = Ass Kicking Sequencer

YouTube via stomachlining
"AKS sequence by STOMACHLINING recorded dry, no processors or effects, plus alittle joy sticking & 1 keyboard lead solo; along with some dancing in the streets. To hear Stomachlining & the band go to itunes."

starve circuit by properboy

YouTube via theproperboy
"www.properboy.com
this is a properboy dying battery simulator seen here draining voltage from a dwarfcraft rotyrbrain."

properboy feedback looper with bypass


atari punk console, drone synth with cv input


"www.properboy.com
running some vintage front 242 through my properboy pollute pedal. messing around with the feedback and input volume settings."

boss ds-1 modification by properboy

"boss ds-1 distortion with silicon transistor added to key points on circuit to cause self oscillation. hi and lo frequency switching. most mods try to mellow this distortion pedal out, this one causes it to go over the top and totally melt down your guitar!"

FM8 test

YouTube via elektronischesschaf

Chroma Polaris Color Themes and Ad Scans

Via the excellent Rhodes Chroma site. You can find the color themes here and the Ad scans here. Note this image has the "Halloween" orange color theme.

Update: some notes via Robb Witt on the Chroma list:
"Regarding the color schemes on all panels manufactured before the original Woburn team departed Fender….

While it’s generally true that there are probably 3 or 4 major “families” of color schemes, it’s absolutely true that the number and variety of panels that could potentially exist out there is a bit larger. As the guy who made all of them, with the exception of the Blue production Polaris panels, and some later blue/green versions for the Chromas that were possibly made in Hoopeston, I can state with authority that we were constantly “tweaking” both the colors themselves as well as the color layouts. We’d mix up a batch of “earth toned” ink and print up a half dozen panels… and then the next week do a different run to see if Shykun liked it more. I also dimly recall doing a couple of “special runs” for people at the shop (Mark Smith I think, and maybe Mike Shea) That was the benefit of having a full blown production shop at the dev facility. In general I think the story is something like this:

1 - The original layout was done (I think) by Warren Ames, who also designed the switch panel underlays. The colors on these were probably derived from the colors Arp was using on the Quadra, at least that’s the only blue/green color combination we used at Arp that I can think of. We probably made a minor adjustment or two to the panel labels before we went into pre-production. I’m pretty sure I manufactured the original display prototype that we used at Arp (all the original publicity photos), and am positive that I manufactured all the “first 50” panels, as well as those used for demos, in-house, spares, production, and the like. This is the layout that should, I think, be considered the standard “production” layout and color scheme. I am relatively sure that all panels using this scheme were manufactured at the Cummings Park R&D facility in Woburn that we set up when we exited Arp. The only reason I say “relatively” is that I heard a rumor years ago that after I left Fender (about the same time Phil, Bob Hartford, and a number of others left) the guys in Hoopeston decided to outsource making the panels for production. That may or may not have happened, I can’t say.

2- so-called “Halloween” units. (BTW, the first time I ever heard this term used was here. We never called them that at Fender, regardless of what Phil D. apparently reported). As has been noted elsewhere, we started fooling around with the Chroma color scheme while we were designing the Polaris in response to a request by John Shykun. After more or less settling on a color scheme for the Polaris, we decided we’d similarly “retrofit” the Chroma. So as Mark Smith has commented, the idea was to switch the Chroma production over to the new scheme when we released the Polaris. (I was gone by the time that finally happened, so can’t tell the story on how/why those plans were changed, as they obviously were). Once we decided to do that we tried to “fix” a couple of other problems that folks had reported with the original layout. So that’s the reason the position of the numbers in the parameter boxes was changed (moved up), and the descriptors changed from black on a colored ground to white on a black ground. (We’d been told, and duplicated via experiment, that under certain combinations of stagelighting the original labels more or less “vanished”. That obviously made programming on the fly even harder that it normally was, and it was easy enough to fix…). With the new layout in hand, as well as a new switch layout underneath (again courtesy of Warren Ames), any number of variously colored “non-standard” panels were fabricated. My fairly faulty memory says that Mark Smith and I both had Chroma’s with this color scheme, and I’m pretty sure I would have given any of the in-house tech’s who asked (Mike Shea for example) a set. Then of course there were our in-house demo units (Chroma and Expander), as well as Herbie Hancock’s units. We may also have sent some panels out to particularly “friendly” customers or shops. I’m not sure. I guess my point is that there could be a 3 or 4 more of these lurking around out there, as well as any number of replacement panels. (As for my old unit, which had no serial number… I’d love to know if it ever surfaced. I sold it in ’91 to someone in Colorado I think. A much regretted action.)

As far as the gold-toned set goes; Mark Smith might recall that I made a special “gold and black” switch panel for the 82 key “Grand” version of the Arp electric piano that we had. (The case had a top that opened to a sort of faux Steinway look. Boy I’d love to know where that ended up!). I don’t have a specific memory of doing the gold Chroma panels that Mark had, but it’s obviously something we would have easily done in our spare time. This group should not be astonished if another one-off color scheme crawls out of the woodwork at some point either.

Anyway, that’s what I know ‘bout that!

robb witt"

Button and a Dotcom Modular Bed

via James Price

"This is my mostly empty dotcom with my kitten, Button, inside."

Mi-Sex - Computer Games (1979)

YouTube via nzoz1979. synth spotting. Rev 2 Sequential Circuits Prophet-5.
"Music from Australia and New Zealand in the year 1979:

Mi-Sex's promo-video for the hit single 'Computer Games' taken from the 1979 album 'Graffiti Crimes'.


This single topped the Australian National Chart at number one during the summer of 1979.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiSex"

Tonmeister

"Tonmeister is the perfect add-on for CLOCKWOrK, but can of course also be used alone. It forces MIDI notes to a given scale. Additionally it can generate chords for a single MIDI note.

Tonmeister is included free with CLOCKWOrK." previously posted

via WOK

David Bouchard - Sound Mites, Tangible Sound Interface 2007

YouTube via MediaArtTube
"Sound Mites explores how simple localized interactions between elements of a system can sometime result in unexpected complex patterns.
The work consists of a set of small tangible nodes that alter their behavior according to the nearby nodes, in an asynchronous fashion. Nodes have magnets on the bottom and are deployed on a flat metallic surface. Each node is equipped with a small speaker that generates a musical tone according to the state of its immediate neighbors and a simple set of rules. Nodes also provide visual feedback on their current state by means of colored lighting. Finally, the nodes sense touch through a thin metal rim and can toggle their state to reflect the interventions of viewers.

The nodes are fully independent from one another. Users can reconfigure the topology of the system in real-time by moving the nodes around and rearranging them, creating an ever-changing sound texture with unique qualities, revealed through the use of a large number of sound sources physically distributed in space.

My intent with this project is twofold. On one hand, I wish to explore how we can leverage emergent phenomenons to design more engaging audio/visual experiences. On the other, I hope that the direct manipulation of the nodes will help viewers get a better understanding and appreciation of emerging patterns within distributed systems.
Mor einfo: http://www.deadpixel.ca/projects/soun..."

NAMM: moonmodular@2010 NAMM Show, Hall A · Booth# 6108

YouTube via moonmodular
"Gear in use: Trigger Sequencer M563v2, the new Quad Quantizer M565v2 with the expander M565e and a LFO triangle wave. Sound source Oberheim Xpander."