MATRIXSYNTH

The Wacky Ol Blues

YouTube via JCRUDESS | February 22, 2011 |

"Getting wacky with SynthX for the IPad (unreleased to date) and the piano, with some old blues man singing his heart out."

iPads on eBay

Rare Triadex Muse Sequencer-Synthesizer-Instrument

via this auction

"rare Muse synthesizer-sequencer-instrument made by Triadex of USA. This device was designed by two MIT professors (Marvin Minsky and Edward Fredkin) and first marketed in 1972. The best information I could find is that less than 300 of there devices were made and that they were primarily sold in high-end audio stores. As I recall, they were sold for about $350 in the 1970s (which would be about $1844.00 in 2011 dollars). The Muse is a music composer computer that is both a synthesizer and a melody composer. With the user-operated controls, it allows the possibility of over 14 trillion note combinations. The device has a built-in speaker. The controls are as follows: The four sliders in the lower left control volume, tempo, pitch, and fine-pitch. The switches on either side of the four sliders are used to start and stop the sequence or to step through the sequence note-by-note. There are eight longer sliders on the right. Four of those sliders control the musical intervals (labeled A, B, C, and D), and four control the theme (labeled W, X, Y, and Z). In the lower right corner are two switches. One allows the user to substitute a rest for the lowest note and the other switch provides for using an external amplified speaker. The tempo clock can be slaved to that of another muse which would allow for multi-part compositions. The Muse I am selling is working well in all functions. The Muse is in excellent cosmetic condition with only very minor signs of use. The serial number of this muse is 00285-106. This is a great device for the music tinkerer and also a fine and rare early electronic music collectible."

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Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter Synthesizer with MPG-80

via this auction

MKS-80 SAMPLE SOUND
M-64C cart.

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 REV.2 Synthesizer

via this auction

"This is the rare and better sounding Revision 2 with SSM2040 filters, which are regarded by many as the best sounding analog filters ever built. It sounds beautiful."

Note the Fairlight in the background.

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[cubisteffects] TECHNO-TARI 2600 "VADER"

"The Techno-tari 2600 is an analog synthesizer that replicates a basic square wave synthesizer . It is a synth in its most basic form – but with a handful of controls, can provide anything from squelching Techno bass lines to glitchy arpeggios and droning bass notes. The Techno-tari 2600 provides thick analog synth sounds in a rehoused Atari 2600 console.

The core of the synth is from Forrest MimsStepped Tone Generator (STG), also known as an Atari Punk Console. I used this circuit to produce the square wave sound. The circuit has two PITCH knobs that control the frequency of each step in the waveform. So by having the VCO at its core, I added a circuit that emulated three more elements of an analog synth; a voltage controlled filter (VCF), a low frequency oscillator (LFO) and a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA).

The RATE knob is used to control the speed and can give anything to a throb to fast Techno-speed beating to a drone. Setting the control at maximum is like having the original sounds of the STG.

The FILTER knob acts a tone control or VCF. Swept to its minimum, it acts like a high pass filter i.e. all high frequencies above a fixed point are passed through, cutting out the lower frequencies below the threshold. At its maximum, it acts like a low pass filter. This is subtractive synthesis at its most simplest – subtracting frequencies away from the whole (VCO) to provide a synthesised sound.

A FREQ switch allows a shift in octave of the oscilltor so you can go from chirpy, glitchy sounds to rumbling deep drones with one switch. Due to the change in frequency, the PITCH knobs act in a different relationship than before so experimenting here will give you a different low end result. Switch to the left is low frequency, to the right is high frequency.

Finally, I added a bit of a fuzz boost to beef up the filtered pulse wave, The stock sound was thin but by adding this VCA-esque stage, a thick squelchy sound is sent from the Techno-tari straight to the mixer/amplifier. The LEVEL control is the large knob and controls the final output of the signal.

The Techno-tari 2600 operates off 9V DC using a standard 2.5mm negative tip power supply commonly used to power effects pedals. It has an on/off power switch and OUTPUT jack for plugging into headphones, mixer, amplifier or effects pedals...

This one is an older "Vader" case and is larger than my standard 2600 Jr. case as shown below, and in the demo. Based in Sydney, Australia, I repair, mod and circuit bend guitar pedals and this is one example. Check out my website for examples of my work."

video at auction and previously posted here.

Nocube Vidisynth Design

flickr set by sobczak.paul
(click for more)

video posted here

Native Instruments - Absynth Sound Design (Bowed Piano)

YouTube via ANTsynth | February 22, 2011 |

"Sound Design of a chord progression I recorded into Apple Logic using Soniccouture Bowed Piano sample library. The bounced file was 30 seconds long. I imported the file into Absynth for granular processing and other sound modifications. The final result was a file that was over 7 minutes in length."

Ghostwriters – No Man’s Land - Charles Cohen on Buchla Music Easel

"Ghostwriters – No Man’s Land
Zero Company Records
1980

Side 1: Dance of the Spiritcatchers
Side 2: Sleep Walker, Sleep Walker

an amazing e.p. from this little known pennsylvania group consisting of charles cohen and jeff cain.

charles cohen solo on side 1 with an absolutely mesmerizing burner on the buchla music easel!

jeff cain solo on side 2 with a slightly dissonant off kilter terry riley zone.

enjoy!"

Roland SBX-1000 midi sequencer for synthesizer

via this auction

"Roland SBX-1000 midi sequencer/ cueing box. The SBX has 16 tracks to record midi performances. It is like 16 player pianos for any electronic instruments with midi i/o. All 3 original manuals are included as well as the original floppy disk and box."

Moog CDX-0652 Organ synthesizer White Elephant

via this auction
With case and pedals. Synth section not working according to the full description.

Details via Combo Organ Heaven where you'll find additional models:
"The synthesizer voices play only on the upper manual, organ voices play on both. Organ and synth voices may be played simultaneously on the upper manual. It includes a batch of 9 preset synthesizer voices that don't appear on a Satellite. Unlike the 0642, this one seems to have all of the organ features (many of which seem identical to the 0642) available on both keyboards.

Controls:
Top Panel:
* Tab: Moog On/Off
* Buttons: Piano, Sax, Guitar, Flute, Banjo, Clarinet, String, Trumpet, Horn, Preset
* *Tabs 1: Octaves: 1 & 2 Modulation: Rep, Sine/Square, Vib, Trem
* *Tabs 2: Glide, Sust
* *Tabs 3: Brass: Mute, Open Reed: Thin, Hollow, Full, Bright
* *Tabs 4: String: Bow, Pluck Strike, Pick Bell, Lunar

Left of Upper Keyboard:
* Knob: Tuning
* Black Sliders: Flute Voices: 16', 8', 5-1'3, 4', 2-2'3, 2' Mixture, Volume Lower, Volume Upper
* *White Sliders: Filter: Contour, Color, Emphasis Modulation: Rate, Depth Glide, Volume

Left of Lower Keyboard:
* Buttons: Coupler, Sustain, Bass
* Sliders: Bass Min/Max, Guitar Bass, Vibrato Depth

Right of Lower Keyboard:
* Buttons: Percuss, Repeat, Mono
* Sliders: 8', 4', 2-2/3', 2', Decay Short/Long, Repeat Rate Slow/Fast"