Jen SX 1000 Synthesiser *Fantastic Condition*

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

via the seller: "I have owned this synth for about 8 years and it has been carefully restored and improved over that time. The filter components have been replaced with high quality 1% metal film resistors and 1% polystyrene capacitors which means it now sounds as it was intended. It has a 24dB/ octave filter not a 12dB as is often incorrectly described. See this article for more details (he is not writing about this synth).

The 1uF electrolytic input capacitor which forms a low pass filter has been replaced with a 3uF polypropylene to subtly improve the bass response (one of the common complaints about the SX1000 is poor bass). The potentiometers in the signal path have been replaced with high quality conductive plastic type, which will permanently cure the crackles and noise. The feel is not affected, you cannot tell the difference. Most Jen's for sale will have noisy pots or had them sprayed with contact cleaner, which only works for a few months. I still have the original components in case you want to restore the original crackly sound.

All the electrolytic capacitors have been replaced with high quality, long life Panasonic electrolytics, so should be good for another 40 years.

This synth looks like it has been been gigged in a previous life and has the stickers (and knocks) to prove it. Most unusually though it is only missing one knob cap, and the rest are the original colours in the correct place. Bear in mind this is at least 35 years old, so is not immaculate but I think it still looks great.

If you are looking at this you probably know about the SX1000, but a nice review here anyway.

So there you have it, it sounds great, looks great and is very playable and reliable."

CLICK FOR MORE »

JRB touchplate controller for Buchla 200 Series

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"For auction is a beautiful JRB Touchplate controller for Buchla 200 systems module. Sort of a 'mini 216' controller."

Oberheim DMX Drum Machine SN 832114 with Extra Sound Boards

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Barely used Oberheim DMX Electronic Drum Machine in very good condition. Comes with 4 extra drum sound chips & power cord. Tested all buttons and works great.

Description: An old, sophisticated, classic drum machine. Its sounds are sampled recordings of actual instruments. The machine has a number of human like feels to it such as a great swing function, rolls, flams and other weird time signatures and grooves. Best of all it's easy to operate. 8 separate outputs for individual processing, 100 sequences and 50 songs."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Octave-Plateau Cat Stick

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"This one is brand new in the original box with the manual and is working 100%. Prior to the listing, it has been calibrated (it's been sitting for over 30 years.) This unit was purchased by the guy who designed them and was never sold. It is one of last ones I'll be listing. The Cat-Stick is not just for the Octave Cat, but for any analog synthesizer with CV Inputs."

Update:: There was some old new stock from Octave-Plateau's Carmine Bonanno previously featured here in 2013.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland MPU-101 Midi to CV converter

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"For sale is my Roland MPU101 4 channel midi-cv converter. Perfect for controlling your old analog synthesizers with midi. Also great for modern eurorack gear or anything that takes in analog cv or gate. You can control up to four different synths with this, & is also has CV outs for pitch bend, aftertouch, velocity, etc. along with routing options for mono, 2 voice, 3 voice, 4 voice so you can get cool voicing when using sequencers or chords. Very useful & hard to find unit. It's in excellent shape & fully functional. See pictures below for details."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Arturia Introduces the V-Collection 4 - Matrix 12 V, Solina, Spark 2 and Vox Continental V

Published on Dec 2, 2014

"Arturia releases the V-Collection 4 including new software instruments: Matrix 12 V, Solina, Spark 2 and Vox Continental V."

Arturia introduces Matrix 12 V


Arturia Matrix 12 V tutorial part 1

Published on Dec 2, 2014

"Glen Darcey, VP Product Management, takes you on a tour around the Matrix 12 V."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Buchla Christmas by Warner Jepson

"SHINKOYO is very proud to release for the first time ever, a most auspicious recording, Warner Jepson's Buchla Christmas. I'll let Warner explain it in his own words...

San Francisco Bay Area: 1969

"I'd been playing Buchla music in various galleries for openings, as well as MOMA openings. They liked them enough, since the music gave a good time, was infectious and totally new to people. So MOMA asked me to provide music for their annual Christmas party for Children on a Saturday morning.

So I took off one evening for Mills College where the Buchla now was kept to take up my usual time time slot of 8pm. At the time use of the Tape/Buchla room was very loose; I could stay as long as I liked after the building closed at 10; sometimes I would be there almost till dawn. There were times, however, when I'd go back home at midnight dejected at having found nothing exciting.

This night I was already across the Bay Bridge when I realized I hadn't brought any Christmas music, no carols! I was going to have to remember what I could. Turned out I knew enough of them to play with.

The Buchla doesn't' have a keyboard like a piano (with twelve notes to the octave), just slits in a metal plate with two tuning knobs to give each slit a pitch or a pair of pitches. I didn't have to reconstruct all twelve notes of a scale, just the notes needed in the song. Tuning what few notes I needed for each tone was fairly easy. But one carol sounded like church bells because it one of the notes sounded out of tune as some church bells because their tuning doesn't fit with a tempered tuning so goes out of tune with the other notes. At first I thought this a problem, but since it did resemble church bells it decided it added to the charm. Other sounds reminded me of lighter caroling bells as I imagined in old Germany or the Alps, at least, as I remembered hearing them.

The most pleasure came when I incorporated the sequencing module that gave a tune rhythm that it never had nor would have, since it came from a synthesizer with a different kind of creativity that a human wouldn't have. The unusual rhythm added a kick to the carol.

I didn't have enough carols to make a long enough session so I added here and there, especially at the end, some synthesizer music that I'd previously made on the Buchla that sounded shimmering and might evoke a starry sleigh filled night."

credits
released 15 December 2010
Composed, Arranged, and Recorded by Warner Jepson at Mills College Electronic Music Studios. December 1969, Oakland, California. Composed on the Buchla 100 Analog Modular Synthesizer. Recorded to Ampex PR-10 Tape Recorder.

Cover photograph by Warner Jepson. Design & Typography by Severiano Martinez.

www.shinkoyo.com"

Image of Warner Jepson below back in the day via Synthtopia.

Korg MS-20 Mini - Drum Synthesis Tutorial Videos by WaveAlchemySamples

Published on Nov 28, 2014 WaveAlchemySamples

"Sound designer Matt Urmenyi offers tips and advice on how to synthesise kick drums with analogue synthesis, using a Korg MS-20 Mini."

Playlist:
Korg MS-20 Mini - Drum Synthesis Part 1 - Kick Drum
Korg MS-20 Mini - Drum Synthesis Part 2 - Snare Drum
Korg MS-20 Mini - Drum Synthesis Part 3 - Cymbals
Korg MS-20 Mini - Drum Synthesis Part 4 - Toms
Korg MS-20 Mini - Drum Synthesis Part 5 - Congas

KORG MS20 Minis on eBay

Giant ARP 2600 Booth at NAMM in the 70s

via Control Voltage

"ARP 2600 booth at The NAMM Show, circa sometime in the 70's."

Minimal Glitch - Modular Improv

Published on Dec 2, 2014 Modular Cult

"This patch started out as a single voice sequence. Ended up as an experiment in using gate signals as audio sources.

An output of the 4MS RCD is used as a audio source, along with some enveloped white noise to make the rhythmic glitches. Also the stuttering 'ghost' of the main sequence is produced by modulating the sine wave output of the main VCO with another output of the RCD through a Yusynth Balanced Modulator. The result is filtered by a CGS 1973 Serge VCF."