IMG_0064

flickr by ianworang

Minimoog

DMS

flickr by glacial23

"This may figure into my bela dubby performance on Friday."

Apple DMS

Circuit Skills: Circuit Board Etching

YouTube via makemagazine. See more synth centric makemagazines posted here.
"Making your own printed circuit board can be a truly satisfying process, tying together electronics and the handmade craft of etching. It's the most accurate way to build a circuit short of sending away to a PCB manufacturer and it's a lot more fun (+ cheaper too!)."

K5MP Kawai K5 Editor and Noise Reduction

via Kyle Weiss in the comments of this post.

"This link has a noise-reducing modification that I'm going to give a try..."

The link also mentions an old DOS based editor called the K5MP. The link appears to be from Sound Doctorin, who I'm guessing is this sounddoctorin.

"K5MP FEATURES:
* Runs on any IBM compatible with DOS 3.2 or higher, floppy DD
and an MPU-401 compatible (UART) midi card.

* Eases the process of becoming K5MP proficient, by providing
COMPLETE MENUS, which prompt for all options available.

* Allows you to create custom MACRO LIBRARY files, which help
you generate complex sounds in minutes! A library file for
each "page" of data on the K5 can be accessed. Just imagine
selecting your favorite piano timbre without searching your
patch libraries for the sound that contained that timbre, and
then extracting it into your working patch. Setting up these
libraries as you please will allow you to remove the obstacle
which has kept your imagination from running wild on the K5!

* Takes out the guess work when editing delays and envelopes
by letting the user enter real times. (eg. trend of 4.2 sec.)

* Provides logical and imaginative tools for creating timbres, a
very efficient discrete harmonic entry utility, and a waveform
plot utility.

* Patch can be sent to or received from the K5 with one keystroke."

Lady GaGa - Telephone (Acoustic) & Dance In The Dark Live at the Brits 16/2/10 HQ

YouTube via JORDANMERRITT. Crazy custom keytar with embedded MPC right after 2:27.

Ham Heart Analog Synth Noise Box

via this auction
"This is a handmade Ham Heart analog synthesizer.

It features 1 squarewave oscillator, which can either be free running in drone mode or triggered
by the green pushbutton in trigger mode.

The green toggle switch selects between 'drone' or 'trigger' mode.

The green button allows you play the device rhythmically or in short bursts.

The large knob sweeps the frequency of the oscillator.

The yellow LED displays the rate of oscillation, and changes as you sweep the pitch.

6.35mm (1/4 inch) audio output
2.1mm 9v DC input (tip -)

Rubber feet
Metal faceplate painted caution yellow with high gloss clear coat.
Hand painted wounded beast hamheart logo.

hamdust at gmail or hamheart dot com for sounds."

Pittsburgh Modular Confluence

via modularsounds.com

"The Pittsburgh Modular Confluence (PM1) VCLFO module is the first module from the new Pittsburgh Modular company. Pictures show the first 2 prototypes of the Confluence (PM1) VCLFO module.

Prototype 1 of the PM1 is in dotcom format and has triangle and square wave outputs. The speed is adjustable from very slow to audible frequencies.

Prototype 2 adds Voltage Control to the PM1."

MIDI Timing and Dedicated Hardware

Nice shot of the Akai ASQ-1 sequencer via Hexfix93. Click here for a write-up on Hex's take on MIDI timing.

"I started using hardware synths and drum machines ages ago in tandem with my Atari ST computer. The atari ST had built in midi ports. With notator or cubase software on the atari, you could get midi jitter down to about 1 to 3 ms. This is just right and sounds super tight. Even with one midi out daisy chaining through all the midi throughs of my synths, the songs I made had this syncopated musical sound that I just do not feel and hear today."

Lights @ Cockpit, Leeds

flickr set by Chris Walton Photography
(click for more)

Yamaha KX5

Malekko Wiard Borg Filter x 2

via Josh

"Malekko is now offering the Borg filter in two flavors. The Borg2 (black knobs) and now the original Borg (white knobs) The difference is amazing, two great filter choices with two different textures, tones and feel. Get a faster aggressive response with the Borg2, or the nice ring, almost haunting of the original...or both..you choose!"