A New World in Synthesis

YouTube via Pic2008Lex

Note the above video does not feature any synths. It is a concept video for a tablet UI. The hardware looks like the majority of artist renders for the upcoming Apple iPad/iSlate. If you haven't heard, tomorrow, Apple will announce their new tablet device. Rumor is it will essentially be an iTouch with a 10" screen, more power, memory and may have the ability to run multiple apps at the same time. [Update: it most likely will]

Why is this a new world in synthesis? In short this is a new hardware platform for synthesis. Yes it is an extension of the iTouch platform, but the obvious key difference and game changer in my opinion will be the size of the screen. For example, imagine controlling all of your synths running Numerology on the device in that video. Imagine interfacing with your modular with a UI optimized version of VOLTA or Expert Sleepers. Imagine running Way Out Ware's iSample, or how about an ARP2600 emulation with sliders. Imagine running Audio Damage's tattoo on one, etc. And don't forget the accelorometer. Processing power, additional memory, and potentially running multiple apps at once will only add to the advantage the slate will have over the iTouch.

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David Gilmour's EMU Emulator II?

via this auction
"Here we have my Emulator II Samper/Analog Synth from circa 1984. I purchased this rig from Dave Gilmours roadie who got it from David (there is no documentary evidence of this but he had no reason to lie to me and I dont doubt it!!).

The serial number is fifteen, yes 15, so this must be one of the earliest EII's that has survived - bearing in mind the new price was around £8000 it stands to reason that only very wealthy musicians could afford one!

Also included is an EMU Drumulator drum machine that has gone faulty and only hums...no output and seems otherwise dead.

The synth comes with three boxes of 5 1/4 floppy discs (must be 150-200) many of which contain all sorts of weird and wonderful sounds including effects, piano, strings and my favourite 'orchestra hits' used by many 80's groups including the Pet Shop Boys who used an EII for many years. I have not been through all the discs but there may be some of Mr Gilmours samples in there...."

User Manual for Ralph Dyck’s Home-Brew Digital Sequencer

You can find the full scan on the on Pea Hicks Roland MC-8 Micro-Composer blog here.

Ciat-Lonbarde DDDM2

flickr by ...photon...
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Korg Mini Pops 3 / Univox SR-55 Demo ( Vintage Analog Drum Machine )

YouTube via Thalassa77
"The Korg MiniPops are a group of drum machines released by Korg ( under Univox brand on USA ) on the 70's . They are full analog and are preset based but you can combine diffrent presets to get new rhythms . This just a demo of the presets include on this drum machine and a few combinations :)"

MIDI keyboard conversion

YouTube via Mahto
"Here's a project that I've had kicking around the lab for a while. It's a MIDI conversion for an old organ synth. I set up the circuit last April, then converted the two organ flights into a single keyboard this summer."

Beat Thang is ALIVE

YouTube via BeatKangz. Note the pitch bender on the left at 2:05.
"I'm Alive......Yes I am a Beat Thang...... I'm not like any other Thang.......I dont Care about your Rules or your Stat Quo....... I'm very hungry!!!! I feed off positive and negative energy! I have come to Earth for one reason........To Vaporize anything that gets in my way!!"

NAMM: Eddie Jobson plays VAX77

YouTube via IRvax77 http://www.infiniteresponse.com/ via David Rogoff
"Eddie Jobson demos his dual VAX77 keyboard rig with Apple MainStage 2"
Update: Think CS80 and polyphonic aftertouch when you listen to this one.

A Portrait of Eliane Radigue (2009)

A Portrait of Eliane Radigue (2009) from Maxime Guitton on Vimeo.

"A portrait of Eliane Radigue, produced by the Austrian IMA (Institute for Media Archeology), which observes Eliane in her workspace, operating the ARP and talking about the process of composing and recording.
French audio with English subtitles, 15 minutes."
Featuring the ARP 2500. via Richard Lainhart. You might remember the trailer from this post. You can find all posts featuring Eliane Radigue here.

Oxygene part IV - Cover by Andy Ford

YouTube via Yorkshirelad69

"My second take on on Jarre' s seminal Oxygene part IV using just a Nord Wave, Novation Supernova II, Korg Radias, Stereo Small Stone Phaser and a Mini Pops 7 VST emulation - Tiny Pops for the Percussion track. You can download the demo here - http://www.superwavesynths.co.uk/prod...

No other additional effects were used.

While remaining pretty faithful to the original I have started the track off in a slightly different way, one that I'm sure Jean Michel himself would approve of :)"