Fairlight Voicetracker VT-5

via this auction
"This is an extremely rare pitch to voltage/pitch to midi unit with a built in synthesizer made by Fairlight. The unit I have has one of the later revisions of the softare (including the harmony mode). It was sold to me by an ex-Fairlight tech years ago. The unit has a prototype faceplate. I am also including an extra set of buttons and a transformer. I am including the original service and operating manuals. From the Holmes page:

'In 1985, Fairlight Instruments introduced the Voicetracker VT-5, a device that allows you to operate MIDI and control voltage synthesizers with your voice or any monophonic instrument, rather than with a MIDI keyboard. It was priced at US$2495 when it first came out.

The Voicetracker's 8MHz 68008 CPU analyzes an input signal to determine the pitch and harmonic content of the sound (such as dynamics and breathiness). It takes about 1ms plus several cycles of the incoming sound to determine the pitch. As you might guess, the pitch information is output as MIDI note values and analog control voltages, while the harmonic content analysis can be used to control a synthesizer's filters (among other things).

The Voicetracker can be used to "double" parts, either live or from tape. The original sound can be either enhanced with the doubling sound, or replaced completely by it. The Voicetracker can follow the original pitch exactly, or quantize it to semitone steps..." [see The Holmes Page for more]

RARE Muse Triadex Synthesizer Sequencer

via this auction

"Muse Triadex Synth. Very rare, this one is number 51 out of less than 300 made, the exact number is unknown. It was made in MIT, Massachusetts Institution of Technology, and is said to be one of the first digital synthesizer/sequencer. Works 100%, just missing 1 button as shown, but does not affect the functionality. It's in excellent shape for its age, and you probably will not find many for sale, but from what I've seen, they usually go for around $2,000 in similar condition. Original manual is in good shape, and has some notes in it about songs and whatnot. I really don't know a whole lot about it, but there is some information about it online, here is a wikipedia page about it."

1948 HAROLD RHODES PRE PIANO VINTAGE ELECTRIC BASS KEYBOARD

via this auction
"For your consideration is this vintage 1948 Harold Rhodes Pre-Piano electric piano. This particular example is in intact, original, and unrestored condition: it even has the original tubes, still works, and sounds great! Very few early Pre-Piano units were produced, and obviously many less exist today. Though this clearly belongs in a museum, it works quite well, and sounds unlike any other electric piano I've heard. It would make a great conversation piece for any studio or music-making environment, while it is also a really cool usable instrument as well. Having only seen one other on eBay, this is a rather rare opportunity to buy a piece of genuine musical instrument history, so act appropriately, because you might not see another one for quite some time.

This hand-made, incredibly crude, near prototype example is mostly original. While it is missing the original chrome seat and stand apparatus, the piano portion is completely intact and in excellent functional condition. Aside from one tine/tonebar having been broken, it works perfectly and sounds particularly great. Imagine an amplified, though more substantial, Jaymar or Schoenhut toy piano: it sounds kinda like that.

Prior to the Pre-Piano, Rhodes was commissioned to build the Xylette, an acoustic lap piano that was designed for therapeutic use, in addition to being a teaching tool. With the success of the Xylette, Rhodes went on to debut his first electric piano, the Rhodes Pre-Piano, in 1946. The Pre-Piano features an amplifier configured with (1) 7F7, (1) 6V6, and (1) 6X5 tubes through a 1 x 6" original speaker (473820), and a piezo pickup on the bottom harp."

You'll find a ton of pics at the auction and below including some of the inside.

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Cwejman S1mk2 synthesiser

via this auction

"this S1mk2 was bought from Wowo Cwejman himself a little over 2 years ago. It's in impeccable, as new condition - not a scratch anywhere to be seen & has been kept in smoke free studio since day 1.
Some info about the machine..
The truth about the S1mk2 is that it is not a Moog, and even though the filters are Serge like and it can make Serge like sounds, it is not a Serge, though it leans more on that side of the fence, it is very different. Many people also say Cwejman sounds Roland like when Roland was building good stuff. It can come close to old Roland and Korg classics because it is so flexible, but the sound is much better than even the awesome old analog Roland and Korg classics. I like to say that the S1mk2 might sound like Roland's masterpiece if they kept advancing their analog synths all these years and never went digital.

The S1mk2 is a Cwejman though, and it sounds like a Cwejman. It very much has it's own sound. The S1mk2 is Wowa's masterpiece, which says a lot considering everything he builds is so amazing and unique. Every Cwejman creation is very much its own thing. When I think Cwejman S1mk2, I think of the blazing fast envelopes, that are not just fast but do what ever you ask of them, the best I have ever used, like the rest of the instrument, every part of it is near perfection. The vco's, the filters, the 68 front panel jacks being positioned all on the bottom. What you can do with those jacks, which are the best quality jacks around, not to mention the pots and knobs. The Modules are the only modules to have a board on the back to protect the important circuits from damage in case of a drop or something else. Something every module builder should add I think. His Modules have been protected against being powered wrong from the beginning, something yet to be a standard in euro but should be.

Running the S1mk2's lfo out as it's being modulated to death back into its self, or just patching any of the lfo's waves (the first sample and hold style waves being my favorite) into the gates and letting the S1 go nuts as I tweak the envelopes is also a very simple favorite, but fun, and always a pleasing thing to do with the S1.

Here's a little demo from another S1 I found on soundcloud.
S1 Love by Q960 The S1mk2 is really two amazing things in the same panel. Sequencing it from the back main input jacks or playing it with a keyboard using the same main cv and gate input, gives you control of 3 vco's, 2 filters, and a very powerful semi-modular monosynth feature set, similar but superior to the ARP 2600.
Better yet, you can ignore those two main input jacks on the back and patch into each and every individual module from the front, giving you independent control over every part of the S1mk2."

Ensoniq ESQ 1 Digital Wave Synthesizer

via this auction

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RC CIRCUIT BENT LITTLE GLITCH DRUM MACHINE MODULE SYNTH

YouTube Uploaded by djwidow420 on Feb 28, 2012
Resonance Circuits on eBay (RSS)

"A LITTLE DRUM MACHINE MODULE FROM RESONANCE CIRCUITS,HEAR NORMAL (DRY) AND THEN THROUGH A DELAY"

ARP Odyssey MK2 + XBase 888 = Quick Jam

YouTube Uploaded by n3bsvid on Feb 28, 2012

"Little jam featuring the ARP Odyssey and XBase 888 on drums.

Hardware:
ARP Odyssey MK 2
Jomox XBase 888"

Gotharman's Little deFormer - Pitch Manipulation

YouTube Uploaded by gotharman on Feb 28, 2012

"Showing a little of the pitch and glitch manipulation possibilities on my Little deFormer.
More info:
www.gotharman.dk"

Buchla iPad Sequencer

YouTube Uploaded by djangosfire on Feb 28, 2012

"Testing out the "Little MIDI Machine" iPad app by "Synthetic Bits" - it's a cool, simple to use "ARP style" virtual analog step sequencer.

I'm using a IK Multimedia "iRig" MIDI interface for the iPad . . . and a Kenton "Pro Solo MK II" MIDI to CV converter.

Really fun, and easy to use setup - love it!"

Little MIDI Machine is still free for iPad and iPhone/iPad Touch:


Note the iPad 3 is scheduled to come out on March 7. Keep an eye out for prices to go down on the iPad 1 and 2. An iPad 1 does great as a controller and should do fine with currently available synths for iOS.

iPads on eBay
iPads on Amazon
iPod Touch on eBay
iPod Touch on Amazon

Roland JV-1080 (GM Mode) - Cage Medley (Abridged)

YouTube Uploaded by xnonsuchx on Feb 28, 2012

"This is the first ~14.5 mins. of a General MIDI (GM) file (seq. by Santibanks(?), available on www.genesis-midi.com ...a great source of high quality MIDI files) of Genesis' "Cage Medley" (from the "Mama" tour...but may be the same as "Three Sides Live") played through a Roland JV-1080 synth module (boringly pictured) set to GM mode. No additional instruments or external processing added.

I recently got the JV-1080 and found some old MIDI files to play through it in GM mode for the fun of it and just thought I'd share some of the better ones for synth gearheads and anyone else interested."