NAMM: George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular

via Ken MacBeth's Photos

"Thats one cool synth!"

http://mattsonminimodular.com/

The Performance Music Systems Syntar II

Pics of the Syntar II prototype. This is a follow-up to my last post from my recent visit to George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular.

The Syntar II never made it past the prototype stage. The first Syntar was the first synthesizer enclosed in a keytar case. Previously only remote controllers for external synths existed. See this post from 2006 for interesting background of The Syntar including Bob Moog. Also check out The Syntar on Carbon111. See the Syntar label for more.

Key features of the Syntar II:
"It had two full ADSR's. It was polyphonic in the sense that the entire keyboard was connected to two, parallel banks of top octave dividers that could be slightly detuned for a phase roll in addition to the two VCO's. The polyphonic board worked but, I couldn't squeeze it into the case. The VCO's had a hard sync. The filter had VC resonance and a mode switch above the filter that let you go continuously either from LP-BP-HP, LP-Band reject-HP or, LP-notch-HP. It also incorporated an internal digital delay."

Unfortunately the Syntar 2 never made it beyond the prototype stage and is beyond salvation. Fortunately, a part of it will live on. According to George Mattson: "I'm going to be pulling out all of the hand-made boards and turning them into modules. It was made with Curtis CEM chips.

Those modules will be built into cabinets that will hang on the side of the sequencer. I'll put 'em to work." See this post for reference. I have some exclusive pics of the refurbishment in progress and will post them in time.

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Elektron Octatrack 1st test - Acid mix

YouTube via darenager | January 20, 2011 |

"Very rough first go with the Octa!"

Elektron Octatrack on eBay

Update:

Elektron Octatrack 2nd test - Extreme time mangling

darenager | January 21, 2011 |

"The original loop plays as standard upto 48 seconds, then the mangling commences, still very much learning how to use it, but good fun!"

808 State meet The Human League

YouTube via massonix | January 20, 2011 | 0 likes, 0 dislikes
Tons of synth spotting. This one in via popitem
"Working in adjoining Studios in Sheffield in 1994 ,808 State go for a brew with Phil Oakey and compare the size of their Synths. Its a Red Rose /White Rose situation.On home turf The League wins this time."

Cosmic Rockers - Destination Space

Cosmic Rockers - Destination Space from C.R. on Vimeo.

"This is my tribute to Chilly B of Newcleus R.I.P.

gear used:
Bass & Leads: mostly VSTs: Arturia Minimoog for the Bass (layered). TAL U-NO-60 and Arturia CS-80V for the leads/solos later in the song. The vocoder is the TAL vocoder.
Pads/Chords: mostly Juno 106"

How to Connect up Audio and Midi to a PC in a Small Studio

YouTube via Yorkshirelad69 | January 16, 2011 |

"Just the basics that might prove helpful to other musicians looking to expand their setup beyond one or two instruments into a larger more permenant setup. I take you through what I use in my own studio to connect up the audio and midi to a PC."
"In the video I discuss how to connect up a small studio with both midi and audio to a PC so for the first 4 minutes I talk about the equipment in the studio including out beloved Polymorphs :)"

sic-sp-chicken

flickr By custer_flux

"cd art for an upcoming release by SICMaN of VA"

pro1c

flickr By custer_flux

Thomas Margolf Modified BOSS VT-1

YouTube via basementhum | April 13, 2008 |

"A preview of Thomas Margolf's latest project. By adding MIDI capability to a BOSS VT-1 voice transformer pedal he changes it into a vocoder-like instrument.

http://www.sidsyn.com
http://www.basementhum.com"

39 Mankato Bug Music

YouTube via 7thDanSound | January 20, 2011 |

"This is a just for fun bug music patch. Just testing what happens when feeding a lot of FM stuff into an STG Mankato filter that is self oscillation. No demo and no trick this time so if you don't like noise or bug music, skip this one :)"

Update: MATRIXSYNTH T at 4:11!