MATRIXSYNTH

Powertran Transcendant 2000

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"Powertran Transcendant 2000 - vintage 1980s Analogue Monophonic Synthesiser in excellent physical condition. This legendary synth dates to 1980s electronic music era, and was sold in kit form, which was produced in England and designed by Tim Orr... Much of the early English 1980s electronic music was created using Powertran synthesisers.

This synth is complete except for a missing power supply, but circuit diagrams for this are available on the Internet. Also the original assembly manual and circuit diagrams are included in this sale. The synth is untested."

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Moon Rise by John L Rice

Published on Jun 29, 2015 John L Rice

"One from my archives, wow, 28 years ago! Time sure flies! :-("

What you are hearing:

"In order of appearance:

The dog/wolf howls is Roland MKS-50 preset B83 ‘Dog Bark’ I used some pitch bending on it
http://www.synthmania.com/Roland%20MKS-50/Audio/Factory%20examples/B83%20DogsBark.mp3

The ‘wind’ sound I’m pretty sure is Mini Moog Model D

The sort of gong/deep bell sound is a Roland S-10 sampler with a sample I made of part of an old coffee percolator.

The strings . . . the first strings to enter are one of the Roland MKS-50 presets but though out the piece I think there are also Roland S-10 sampler strings and possibly some from a Yamaha TX81z also?

The massive bass is Mini Moog Model D of course! ;-)

The soft bell line is a Yamaha TX81z preset I think, probably from bank D (or Roland MKS-50?)

The acoustic guitar is from a Roland S-10 sampler.

The noise burst (supposed to be 'lightning crack/thunder'! ;-) is sort of interesting. This is from a modified PAiA 4750 LFO/Noise module. I was experimenting with different noise transistors and I happened to try a zener diode that was in a transistor like package. (the noise circuit only used two of the three transistor leads so the diode was try-able) I put a switch on the front panel select the normal transistor or the zener diode. And I found that by switching to the zener would cause a burst sound that would die out in a sort of random way.

The lead solo line is Yamaha TX81z preset C20 ‘Lyrisyn’

The drums are from a Roland TR-505 drum machine, played by hand via MIDI on the Roland S-10 keyboard.

I think the only effect unit I had at the time was a Yamaha SPX90 which was used for reverb and possibly chorus on the guitar sample.

Mixing board was a Studiomaster 8 Into 4"

Tom Oberheim Interviewed by Sweetwater Sound

Published on Jun 29, 2015 SweetwaterSound

"Mitch Gallagher sits down with synthesizer legend Tom Oberheim for a special interview at Sweetwater's GearFest 2015. A pioneer of the synth and MIDI world, Tom Oberheim co-designed the Synthesizer Expansion Module (SEM), a device that allowed musicians to simultaneously combine live playing and sequenced playback - a concept that pre-dated the MIDI revolution. In 1981, he, along with Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential's Dave Smith, developed the MIDI spec, which changed the course of modern music. Tom recently re-released his famed Two Voice synth."

See SWEETWATER - GEARFEST 2015 - The Inventors of Synth (Roger Linn, Dave Smith & Tom Oberheim) for the panel and follow-up interviews.

DSI Prophet 12 OS 1.2.9.2 Update Adds DX7 Style Linear FM & More

This one in via Soviet Space Child, via the DSI forums. Note the thread is dated Tue Aug 6, 2013 but that appears to be when it was created for the first OS updates. Also note the latest OS on the DSI site is currently 1.2.0, so this is new. You can see a history of OS updates for the Prophet 12 in that thread. Be sure to read it if you plan on updating earlier. Soviet Space Child mentioned there are some bugs with the release which might explain why it's not on the DSI site yet. The news hear is DX7 style linear FM has been added to the Prophet 12.

"Main OS 1.2.9.2
NOTE: Reset globals or enable the screen saver global after installing this OS unless you absolutely do not want it on to save your OLED lifespan
Alternate tunings/scales added. You can load these in the globals section after sending the attached MIDI sysex file for alternate tunings. Read the Prophet 6 manual for more information
Linear FM (DX7 style). An additional parameter has been added in the Osc section to toggle between exponential and linear FM modes
Unison now selectable from 1-12 voices or in split/stack from 1-6 voices
Arp can now output the MIDI notes it is playing. A global has been added to enable this
New mod destinations added:
Osc 1-4 Slop
Osc All Shape Mod
Delay All Time
LFO and Envelope destinations can now be assigned by holding down the LFO/Envelope button and moving the destination you wish to set, in the same way the mod destination button works
Added global to toggle MIDI program change messages being sent
Added global to turn off screen saver mode
Fixed bug: Delay buffer overruns minimized to fix audio dropouts and some clipping issues
Fixed bug: BPM calculation smoothed to improve delay performance from quick tempo changes or an inconsistent clock source
Fixed bug: Delay buffers now cleared when changing programs
Fixed bug: Show response not working correctly when pots set to passthru
Fixed bug: Screen glitches when coming back from sleep mode
Fixed bug: Program Volume (CC#7) no longer sent when MIDI send off
Fixed bug: Crash/Lockup when receiving clock in MIDI: Slave Thru mode
Fixed bug: Arp playing incorrect notes in certain combinations of params/keys
Fixed bug: In some cases cannot switch programs from a DAW/Host
Fixed bug: BPM acquisition time improved"

Rare Monowave Wavetable Synthesizer for Sale

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via this auction

The Monowave was a Paul Maddox design which featured PPG wavetables. It was essentially a monophonic PPG Wave. Paul Maddox is the man behind the current Modal Electronics.

via the seller: "It's bulit with the board from Elby Designs. I didn't like the vcf's response from the board so I replaced it with one more appropriate to the original ladder filter."

via wikipedia: "This synth was first shown in 2001 by its inventor Paul Maddox on a PPG user/fan meeting. Because its attraction to some synthesizer players at the event, the project was started with 5 beta-test units to test the software and hardware. By spring 2002. the serial production of a 25-piece limited run started. About a year later, all units were sold.

Late in 2005, after many attempts at designing new products, Paul decided to close Modulus Electronics and its website (modulus-music.com). In order that people could still enjoy the Monowave, he worked with Elby Designs to create a kit version of the monowave offering the same features. The software was released at the same time under the GPL license, in the hope that others would continue to develop its features.

It features two digital oscillators with 256 different waveshapes selectable individually. There is also a unique de-res, a function to lower the digital waveshapes' sample resolution, to give a sound very much like the famous German PPG wave synthesizers from the eighties. The signal of these oscillators and their suboctave signals are mixed together and then feed in the pure analog part of the synth:a 24 db lowpass filter a la Moog synthesizer. and a VCA. Both of them controlled by their own ADSR envelopes. Depending on the EEPROM software, it may either have an arpeggiator or a midi velocity to wavenumber function.

The MonoWave has no patch memory. It can be played by ingoing MIDI signals from software, sequencers or MIDI keyboards."

Roland SH-1000 with Original Case

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via this auction

"This unit is in excellent condition, looking pretty much untouched since the 70's. All the paintwork and woodwork still looks fresh as the day it left the factory! It is shipping in the original Roland hard case with a lovely yellow velour, and will be packed extremely well."

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Roland JUNO-60 with Original Case

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via this auction

See the seller's other items for more.

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POLYGAMIST LOVE 11

Published on Jun 29, 2015 Smokey Quartz

"In this video I give the Knas Polygamist some love and go swimming in the ocean."

03-The Korg ARP Odyssey: Oscillator 2

Published on Jun 29, 2015 AutomaticGainsay

"Here is a demonstration of the sound and functionality of the second oscillator on the Korg ARP Odyssey.

If you benefit from these videos, consider contributing in order to help me keep making them!
http://www.patreon.com/automaticgainsay"

All parts here.