Novation Circuit from scratch (plus FM radio sampling on OP-1)

Published on Nov 11, 2015 Terrible Beat

"Noodling on my new Novation Circuit. Sampling the FM radio on OP-1.
Apologies for the noise hiss. I'll sort that out for next time."

https://us.novationmusic.com/circuit/circuit
Novation Circuits on eBay | Novation Circuits on Amazon

And the resulting piece including a mini review from Terrible Beat:

Under the Tree with Novation Circuit

Published on Dec 8, 2015

"Here I am sitting under the Xmas tree with my Novation Circuit. I hope this video helps those of you interested in investing in one. You can see me create something quickly from scratch near the end of the video (https://youtu.be/rukEjtzHgHw?t=541). Track list is below:

Floatation Tank Thoughts https://youtu.be/rukEjtzHgHw?t=25
Bad Bloke https://youtu.be/rukEjtzHgHw?t=292
Shinjuku Nights https://youtu.be/rukEjtzHgHw?t=372

What I like about the unit:

- Firstly, the visuals on the system really help. It's not just a pretty face. The visual sequencer, integrated keyboard, pattern control, gate/velocity etc everything is so intuitively laid out in front of you. So, no deep menu diving.
- Exploration. This can also, understandably, be a negative aspect. But, if the user embraces the lack of labelling of what the encoders (knobs) do for each patch and just explore, more often than not, happy accidents occur!
- Automation. Recording the knob tweaks is awesome. Also, the visual feedback from the little LED is really helpful. As well as the live automation recording, there is the ability to step input knob tweaks, a la parameter lock-like (see Elektron units) functionality.

Things that could be improved:

- Quick audition of patches. As there are no little screens, choosing from the 64 patches can be difficult to remember and therefore lotto-like. A quick middle C preview would be great. Albeit, whilst Play button is disabled.

- No biggy for me, but a nice to have. Panning. The stereo width can be adjusted for parts using some of the delay presets, but that's not ideal.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope you enjoy the video. Look out for more. Please leave a comment and like ;)"

Final Fantasy Gadgeteer Comes to Town (Theme remake using Korg Gadget)

Published on Jan 17, 2016 Terrible Beat

"A remake of the classic Final Fantasy theme made using Korg Gadget on iPad Mini 2."

iTunes: KORG Gadget for iPad - KORG INC.

Magical Pocket Shower Operator - PO-12 / PO-20 / PO-28 x Outrun

Published on Feb 11, 2016 Terrible Beat

"My Pocket Operators attempt to perform an arcade classic.

PO-12/PO-20/PO-28 x Outrun"

And a couple more:

From Scratch: PO-20 Arcade & PO-28 Robot


From scratch: PO-20 Arcade, PO-28 Robot, OP-1 from Teenage Engineering

Disassembly Language: Ambient Music for Deprogramming Vol. 1

via 8 BIT WEAPON

"PREORDER NOW AND GET A TRACK TODAY!

Our new chipmusic concept album is a collection of ambient music crafted to help facilitate relaxation. Over 1 hour of mind defragmenting tones for you to enjoy! Each sound is hand crafted from the Commodore 64 personal computer's SID sound chip. Portions of the album were co-written by a computer as many of the notes were set to be selected by the CPU at random! All tones have been digitally processed for maximum smoothness and optimum ambiance. Relax and Enjoy!
credits
released February 12, 2016

All Music & Production 8 Bit Weapon"

Sequential Prophet VS "Time Capsule"

"(c)2016 vintage synthesizer demo track by RetroSound
all sounds: SCI Prophet VS Vector Synthesizer (1986)
recording: multi-track without MIDI
fx: a bit delay and reverb"

Moog Minimoog D Synthesizer with Roland MPU-101

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

via this auction

"This amazing classic axe comes with a mint condition Roland MPU-101, which is the best (fastest) MIDI to Gate/CV converters on the market and is very rare. The Moog's Trigger Input has been professionally modified to invert the polarity of the industry-standard Roland trigger/gate and is easily un-doable with simple tools, but why? (Moog products of this time had an inverted trigger polarity from all other synth manufacturers, and are intended to be driven by a Moog Sequencer output only). This rare interface allows MIDI functionality and; thus, defacto computer control for one of the fattest sounding classics available...tweeze the filters in real-time and rerecord in playback mode while the track plays back. Play faster, hipper, more correct bass lines after editing, etc.; the list goes on. This little trick made me sound like a player with great chops and groove."

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Akai Miniak Song

Published on Feb 12, 2016 ProckGnosis

"To skip the babble and beer preamble and hear the song, go to 2:00. To hear the isolated patches used in the song, skip to 6:00.

Nice little melody mostly in 5/8, with a middle section in 6/8. All sounds from the Akai Miniak, including the drums. My attempt at doing some proggy electronica, I guess. Majority of sounds are presets from the synth, with 2 or 3 being slightly tweaked or modded from presets.

The Akai Miniak is an 8-voice, 8-part multitimbral, virtual analog synth, with the same voice engine as the Alesis Ion, Alesis Micron, and the VA part of the Alesis Fusion. It's a pain in the butt to program without some software, but with 6 options for modulating the sound on the fly (pitch wheel, 2 mod wheels, and 3 assignable knobs), it's still capable of plenty of interactive, real-time modulation. Lastly it has some seriously deep programming options and a great bunch of filter models to choose from. And just to emphasize again, those seriously deep programming options are a pain to get to without software.

Though the raw oscillators are missing a bit of that analog presence, it is VERY much an acceptable substitute in a live environment, and even fine for most studio applications.

It's a shame Alesis/Akai has gotten out of the synth business, because they produced some decent sounding stuff. Yeah, they still do MIDI controllers, but it would be nice if they could have used some of the expertise that built the Andromeda and even the Fusion to carry on and improve on some of the earlier ideas. But they didn't. Oh well. So it goes..."

Miniak's on eBay

Dave Smith Instruments Prophet '08: Improvisation LXI

Published on Feb 12, 2016 Sacred Synthesis

"Another improvisation from the previous day's session, using the same brass patch. This piece is meant entirely to demonstrate the power of the Prophet '08 Keyboard and Module pair. This is how it sounds to "pull out all the stops".

Instrumentation:
DSI Prophet '08 Keyboard
DSI Prophet '08 Module
DSI Evolver Desktop
Hammond XPK 200L

Effects:
Lexicon MX300 reverb
Alesis Nanoverb 2 delay

Performed live and recorded directly to CD

All music property of Sacred SynthesisDescription"

Drawing a new card

Published on Feb 12, 2016 schokokontrol

"Testing an Easel breakout card"

AHMW 2016 Synth Meet Set for April 23rd

Additional details here.

"This year's theme: SIXTEEN

Bring something with SIXTEEN of SOMETHING...

Sixteen voices, Sixteen steps, Sixteen knobs, etc.

The annual Get-Together will be Saturday, April 23rd at the PHHS Media Center.

I'll have the doors open at 10:00am. All synthgeekgearheads are encouraged to join us and spend some time with awesome gear and great people.

Past gear includes:
All sorts of Modulars (MOTM, DotCom, Euro, Blacet, Metalbox, Wiard, Cynthia, Modcan, Serge, Buchla)
Moog: Minimoog, Voyager, Prodigy, Polymoog, MemoryMoog, Taurus (I & III)
ARP: 2600, Quadra, Odyssey
Oberheim: Xpander, OB8, OB-X (and crOwBX!), OB-1, Two Voice, Four Voice
Sequential: Pro 1, Prophet 5 (rev 2 & 3), Prophet T-8, Prophet 2000
Roland: Juno 6, Jupiter 4, Jupiter 6, Jupiter 8, RS-101, SH-09, SH-101, SH-3a,
TB-303, TR-505, TR-606, TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, System 100, System 700
Korg: MS-20, PS-3100, Trident, Lambda
Yamaha: CS-15, SY-2, CS-80, SK-30
Also: VCS3, Putney, PPG, SunSyn, Polygamist, Buchla 400, Rhodes, Hammond
And DIY gear, and much more!

Location is between Lagrange and Angola in northeast Indiana.