MATRIXSYNTH

I've Got a Fever...

YouTube via FatSynthDude
"...and the only prescription is MOAR (ANALOG) COWBELL!!!!!!1111oneoneone

Friend of mine on the intertubez posted something about needing more cowbell and since I'd done a vid recently that had a bit to do with the cowbell on the 522, I thought it would be mildly entertaining to make a cover of the infamous "Don't Fear the Reaper" song by Blue Oyster Cult to post as a reply. I'm at home sick today anyway (ironically, with a fever) so it isn't like I've got anything better to do. And of course, I made the cowbell way too freakin' loud intentionally. :-D It ain't pretty, but making this thing work with only one free hand is pretty much impossible.

So here's how it was done: The Akai MPC1000 (with JJOS of course) was used as the master sequencer. The actual notes were sequenced in using a Schecter Devil Elite outfitted with a GK-2a feeding a GR-30 and outputting MIDI to the MPC. The synth that mimics the main guitar riff throughout the song is an Alesis Andromeda ('bout time I got some use out of that beast!) The bassline was played with an Analogue Solutions Red Square. The percussive/distorted/band-pass filter synth thingie is Future Retro XS. Almost all of the drum sounds were handled by the MFB Schlagzwerg, except of course for the cowbell which came from the MFB 522.

Sorry again that this thing was done kinda sloppy, but doing all this stuff one-handed really bites. Anyway, enjoy!"

TeleKraftzSchlagz Jam

"This is just something I threw together real quick. Not supposed to be fancy or mind-blowing, just some simple fun. What I have here is the MFB Schlagzwerg being used to trigger it's own drums, and fire off gate and CV to the MFB Kraftzwerg and the Analogue Solutions Telemark and tweaking all of the above. This is just to show that while yes, the Schlagzwerg sequencer is a bit of a pain in some ways, it can most definitely be used creatively. (I'm even thinking that one of these days, I want to do a demo where I turn off the audio outs to the Schlagzwerg and just use the entirety of the sequencer to decimate one single synth.) When doing this video, I wanted to get a bit more going on as far as the number of synths going off at once, but sadly I didn't have any 1/8"-1/4" cables left when I thought I did have some, and half of my gear runs on 1/4", so I had to suffice. Oh well. This is totally giving me some ideas for some crazy synth jams, though. Almost wish I had like five other people, and then I could just use the Schlagzwerg to send pitch and gate and have an orgy of synthetic sound molding! I'm getting moist just thinking about it....

Oh, and I didn't have room on the Schlagzwerg video to append this, but it did turn out that the MIDI timing was partially my fault. The reason the timing was goofy was because the swing was turned on. ...this is especially odd since I don't remember turning on swing.

And sorry that the video and the audio don't quite sync up. My usual video editing app hasn't been cooperating lately, so I've been stuck with Windows Movie Maker and it doesn't quite sync up the way it looks like it does when matching waveforms up. ....see why I use so much hardware for music now? I hate computers. This also helps to justify whenever I use the camera's microphone to record this stuff. Helps to keep me fat and lazy! XD"

Data Input and Echo Button

flickr by thumbuki
(click for more)

"SID Station Synthesizer.

Day 3 of Thing-a-day 2010.

thing-a-day.com/"

Yamaha VSS-30

"Day 2 of Thing-a-day 2010.

thing-a-day.com/"

Knobs of enlightenment

flickr by Eugene of Norway
(click for more)

"This is the main reason I took few shots lately. Awesome synth."

Kawai K3m rackmount synthesizer

via this auction

Sold For: US $99.99

via selectivepressure in the comments.

Blacet Improbability Drive w MOTM Frame

via this auction

This gives you an idea of the size difference between Frac and MOTM format modules.

Buchla 144 Crossmod

YouTube via waveshaper
"Buchla 144 vco crossmodulating the FM and AM sections."

158 crossmod

"Buchla 158 vco crossmod demo"

Roland JX-8P Analog Synthesizer

YouTube via retrosound72

"vintage synth demo by RetroSound

Roland JX-8P Analog Synthesizer (1985) + JX Programmer PG-800
the demo shows the different sound settings (DCO`s, VCF, Sync, X-Mod) and some factory and self-made retro sounds

For me one of the most underrated vintage analog synths ever. The sound is fantastic and with the programmer PG-800 the pure synth heaven."

Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Synthesizer @ Production Room Leeds UK

YouTube via productionroom.

Factory track. Some of you might remember this one.

"Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Edition Synthesizer @ Production Room Leeds UK

The Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Synthesizer remains the standard for virtual modeled analog synthesizers.

There are up to 100 voices offering up to 5 oscillators including wavetable generators, 3 LFOs, 4 envelopes and 2 filters with a sophisticated routing method and all filter types that you expect from a Waldorf synthesizer. Furthermore, the Waldorf Q+ Phoenix Synthesizer offers unique Comb filter types in two flavours. This enables the Q not only to create polyphonic Chorus or Flanger effects but previously unheard athmos or pluck sounds with great life."