Starr Labs Alternate MIDI Controllers

via Starr Labs

"Though Starr Labs is well known for our professional line of Ztar MIDI Guitar controllers, it stands to be told (re-told) that we've designed and built many other alternate MIDI control instruments. From keyboard-like controllers with alternate key/note layouts, to MIDI foot controllers and other multi-array MIDI instruments. Check out Roger Linn's site for a great little archive of Alternate MIDI and New instruments for music expression. Here are a few photos of our goods"

STARR Labs (RSS)

Circuit Bent Bruin Animal Friends Piano by freeform delusion

YouTube Uploaded by eecouk on May 25, 2011
freeform delusion on eBay
"Bruin and friends Piano - Given to me by a work colleague and her son :-)

Switched mono mini jack output

UV LED
...
Pitch Up/Down Control

Green momentary button for Extra Sound - Car Engine

Red momentary button for Extra Sound - Car Horn"

Novation Super Bass Station

via this auction

"It has a nice feature set which is not found in any other synth of this size. It has a built in MIDI to CV converter which can do oct/volt and Hz/volt. It also features trigger out for stepping analog arpeggiators or sequencers in time with MIDI clock (and at user defineable divisions) and it has an external in conector for running audio through this synth's filters and fx. I've have used the MIDI to CV converter, the trigger out AND the synth all playing at the same time with great satisfaction. It's a very useful piece."

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Roland TR-808 Analog Drum Machine

via this auction

SN 990148

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Roland Jupiter-80 on eBay?

via this auction

Note the stock photos including one from FutureMusic.com. I wonder if the Yamaha Motif XS7 goes with it.

Stanley Jordan Demos his Starr Labs Ztar

YouTube Uploaded by StarrLabsZone on May 25, 2011

"A classic from the Starr Labs Video Vaults."


STARR Labs on eBay (RSS)

Update:

Stanley Jordan Starr Labs Ztar MIDI guitar Demo pt 2

YouTube Uploaded by StarrLabsZone on Jun 1, 2011

Little MIDI Machine V2 Now Available - Analog Style Step Sequencer for Free!

From Synthetic Bits, (makers of FunkBox), Little MIDI Machine V2 is now available. It now supports the iPhone and iPod Touch (min OS 4.3, bottom screenshot), CoreMIDI, sync, and best of all, it is still free!!! This is a pretty amazing little app when you consider how much the equivalent in hardware would cost you. If you have a device that supports MIDI to CV you should even be able to use it with your modular gear. And... you can store your sequences. If you think about it, an 8G iPod Touch runs $229 brand new. You can run this and other apps on it for less than what this would cost in hardware. A used iPod Touch or iPhone would be even less.

"Little MIDI Machine is an analog-style MIDI step sequencer app for CoreMIDI and/or the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer interface. This app requires you have a CoreMIDI setup or own the hardware Line 6 Mobilizer MIDI interface hardware accessory for full functionality.

Little MIDI Machine gives you the step sequencing power of a hardware analog sequencer on your iPad! Program two independent sequencers that send note and velocity MIDI data out on two MIDI channels to control your hardware synthesizers. LittleMM includes many of your favorite hardware sequencer features such as mute and un-mute notes, skip steps, reverse the sequencer, adjustable clock speed, etc. If you do not have a Line 6 Mobilizer or CoreMIDI setup, LittleMM can generate very basic melodic sounds in place of sending MIDI. This will let you play around with the app and try it out, but it is not a feature that will be developed further and is not the primary purpose of the app. LittleMM is intended to be a MIDI sequencer driving external hardware.

What's New in Version 2.0
Now a universal app that works with iPhone and iPod touch, as well as iPad
Added MIDI clock sync support
Added CoreMIDI USB/Network support
Added random sequencer mode
Updated graphics/UI
Other misc fixes/improvements
Minimum OS version is now 4.3

With Little Music Machine you can use your Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer interface or CoreMIDI network/USB setup to control your favorite hardware synth or apps running on other iOS devices and create mind-bending loops and sequences."

Synthetic Bits, LLC - iTunes
iPads on eBay
iPod Touch on eBay

RP Punch Introduction

YouTube Uploaded by robpapen on May 25, 2011

"Rob Papen Punch
virtual drum machine
With Punch, Rob Papen delivers a brand new speaker busting, body rattling software instrument. Punch delivers synthesized drums in the finest audio quality and with breathtaking features for the contemporary producer.

You can can use synthesis and the build in samples to build your own unique sounding drum-kit, but also your own samples can be loaded into Punch to complete your kit. Your sounds can then be crafted using the stunning features, filters and huge synth power we all know from other RP synthesizers.

Punch has a unique sound but also built in sequencers, allowing you the user to have multiple patterns at your finger tips. These grooves can be triggered in a live environment to build a song, but are also great for just improvisation and jamming!

Also featured are drum-kits built by famous DJ's which complete the arsenal of power that is Punch..."

VAX77 & Forte - Infinite Response Physically Folding Keyboard

YouTube Uploaded by InfiniteResponse on May 25, 2011

Richard Lainhart - Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival Lecture & Performance

Slideshow of Richard Lainhart's lecture at the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival (BEAF), Friday, May 6, 2:PM PST, 2011 (mentioned in this post). Below is a video of the Buchla and Haken Continuum portion of the lecture followed by a performance of Olivier Messiaen's Oraison written for the ondes Martenot at the 48:00 mark (see this post for the original version and this post for another performance by Richard). You will notice Richard makes references to earlier parts of the lecture. These included his training on the CEMS modular synthesizer system and the ondes Martenot (don't miss this post and this post on the CEMS). See the labels at the bottom of this post for more info on each. I will upload those videos at a later date. They were background to Richard's experience with early modular synthesizers and controllers that eventually lead him to the Buchla and Haken Continuum. It was a great lecture and I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to bookmark this one. I also want to thank Richard Lainhart for doing lectures like these. They are a rare treat.


YouTube Uploaded by matrixsynth on May 19, 2011

The following is a full transcript. BTW, if anyone is interested in transcription services, let me know.

"RICHARD LAINHART: BUCHLA AND HAKEN CONTINUUM LECTURE

Speaker: Richard Lainhart
Lecture Date: May 6, 2011
Lecture Time: 2:00 p.m. PST
Location: Western Washington University
Event: Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival 2011 (BEAF)
Length: Digital AVI recording; 57 minutes 32 seconds

[Beginning of recorded material]

Richard Lainhart: Okay. What I want to do now is actually talk a little bit about the system itself here and about the design of the system and explain what's actually happening here and why it's designed this way, and again, my focus on, on expression. So this is, as I mentioned, this is the Buchla 200E. This is a current electronic music instrument that is still being made now by Buchla. Don Buchla again was a contemporary, or is a contemporary of Bob Moog, and he took a very different path than Moog did. And one of the reasons I think that Moog's instruments became so popular, of course the Mini Moog was like the first real break-out electronic music synthesizer, was that Moog's instruments had keyboards on them. They had black and white keyboards. And you could use them to play, you could use them to play rock and roll with them basically because you could plug them into a really loud amplifier and it could be louder than a guitar. And it could be a bass, you know, it could be louder than a bass and all that sort of stuff. And of course a lot of, you know, a lot of wonderful music was made with that instrument.

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