MATRIXSYNTH

Sony to Discontinue Floppy Disks

This one was sent in on April 26 via Zero. I didn't opt to post at the time as floppies are still manufactured by other companies, but as Zero said, this does mark the beginning of an end. The previous post on the Emulator II disks below, reminded me of this.

via Gizmodo

VINTAGE EMULATOR II SAMPLE DISKS

via this auction
"25 UNUSUAL VINTAGE EMULATOR II SAMPLE DISKS FROM A LONDON STUDIO THAT FOLDED IN THE 1990'S.
25 DISKS:
1) BASS SYNTH (FAT ANALOGS)
2) ANALOG SYNTHS (GREAT VECTORS, ANALOGS AND A FENDER RHODES)
3) FAIRLIGHT/ PPG-WAVE (VERY COMPLEX VOICES)
4) HUGE ORCHESTRAL HITS
5) BULGARO OPERA (PRETTY ENTERTAINING SAMPLES)
6) HORN SHOTS

7) WIND CHIMES
8) PEOPLE SOUNDS (LAUGHING, COUGHING, SNEEZING)
9) POLYPHONIC GLIDE (REALLY FAT ANALOG SAMPLES)
10) BEAT BOX (GROOVES)
11) ALIENS SPEAKING ("ALIENS" PHRASES, RADIO COMMUNICATIONS)
12) STAR TREK (GREAT DISK WITH DOZENS OF SAMPLES)
13) SITAR (AUSTIN POWERS)
14) CANNON IN "D" (LONG ORCHESTRAL CLIP)
15) NYLON GUITAR/MANDOLIN

16) SYNCLAVIER (COMPLEX MORPHING VOICES)17) ALEMBIC FUNK BASS
18) ARP 2600 (REALLY WELL DONE)
19) GONGS, VOICES, TIMPANI
20) TUBULAR BELLS
21) TWILIGHT ZONE (A REAL SCREAM)
22) BAG PIPES
23) EROTICA ( USE YOUR IMAGINATION)
24) HELICOPTER
25) POWER GUITAR"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Circuit Bent Speak & Math Glitch Synthesizer

via this auction

www.myspace.com/GlitchedOut

ROLAND VP-7 VOCAL PROCESSOR NOW AVAILABLE

"Los Angeles, CA, May 13, 2010 — Roland is pleased to announce that the new VP-7 Vocal Processor (www.RolandUS.com/Products/VP-7) is now available in stores. This portable vocal processor sets up quickly on top of keyboards and creates ensemble vocal sounds with a variety of PCM-based vocal sounds, or with Roland’s superior Vocal Designer® technology.

For keyboardists who want lush vocal backing tracks without singing into a microphone, the compact VP-7 includes four rich and expressive human voice sounds — Female Choir, Boys Choir, Gregorian Choirs and Jazz Scat — just by playing the keyboard.

Utilizing Vocal Designer technology derived from Roland’s VP-Series vocal & ensemble keyboards, the VP-7 has three Vocal Designer algorithms that can automatically generate multi-voice backing harmonies that sing the same lyrics as a performer sings into the included DR-HS5 headset microphone.

Pressing the Vocoder button allows for quick access to a talkbox, vintage vocoder, or modern vocoder effect. Keyboardists can also go deeper into seven additional vocoder variations that have natural human voice sounds. This allows for the performance of independent harmony lines that complement the lead vocalist.

The VP-7’s super-simple interface features large, quick-access buttons and knobs, so it’s easy to call up preset sounds and adjust blends on the fly. Onboard ambience effects sweeten the sound with the twist of a knob, while a handy bypass switch lets the user bring the VP-7’s processing in and out with the push of a button, or with a tap of the optional DP-2 footswitch.

The VP-7 is now available with an MSRP of $639.00.

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About Roland Corporation
Roland Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of electronic musical instruments, including keyboards and synthesizers, guitar products, electronic percussion, digital recording equipment, amplifiers, audio processors, and multimedia products. With over 38 years of musical instrument development, Roland sets the standard in music technology for the world to follow. For more information, visit http://www.RolandUS.com."

STG Modular Cabinets

http://stgsoundlabs.com/

"These are for a customer who wanted a pair of 15U racks to match his Moog-format racks, and also needed a row of MOTM format rails (from Bridechamber) in one of the synthesiser cabinets.

The dark stain was an attempt to blend in a bit better with his Synthesizers.com cabinets. I personally prefer the straight tung oil finish, but since this gentleman was enthusiastic enough to buy 4 cabinets I couldn't say no."

Waldorf Largo V1.5.1 Update

"Largo V1.5.1 Update
13/05/2010: Largo V1.5.1 is only available for Windows users and fixes the issue that graphics is slow on some computers, especially under Windows 7.
Improvement:

* Windows: slow graphic issue resolved.

Download:
Largo V1.5.1
Download this file, extract it, launch Largo-Installer.exe and follow the instructions on screen.
Have fun with Largo!"

You can find all Waldorf Largo updates here.

History of the Vocoder on NPR

NPR has a segment on the history of the vocoder and Dave Tompkins' book, How To Wreck a Nice Beach, previously posted here. When you get to NPR, be sure to click on the "Listen to the Story" link right under the title for the audio segment. There is a download link as well, so I backed up a mirror here.

via Zero