LGR: Building a Bigger, Badder MIDI Mountain & Studio Tour

video by LGR

Two cool studio vids spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child. First one above features Roland, Korg, and Yamaha half rack MIDI modules. Second one below is the full studio tour.

"Let's assemble a MIDI RackMountain! The idea is the same as the first MIDI Mountain: combine a bunch of MIDI synths together to make a mountain of musical goodness. But instead of just stacking it all up, this time it's going in an 8U rack-mount case! Plus a few upgrades, like a rack-mounted Roland MT-32, an 8-channel mixer and MIDI thru box, a clicky power strip, and more vintage General MIDI modules. Also a stupid equalizer, ha."

It's time to talk about my synth setup.

video by LGR

"I've put off talking about this stack of synthesizers, drum machines, and audio gear for long enough. Let's dive into the main LGR synth setup and what I do with it! I'm still an amateur with this but here's a bit of a studio tour anyway. Weird electronic music and cool sounds of all kinds, I just can't get enough!"

ST Modular - Singer (PT2399 Craziness)

video by Stefan Tretau

A very simple patch to create some PT2399 noises

0:00​ Take 1
0:57​ Take 2
1:20​ Take 3
2:10​ Take 4
3:15​ Take 5
4:15​ Take 6
4:41​ Take 7
5:03​ Take 8
5:43​ Take 9
6:43​ Take 10

Yamaha SK-30 | The Ambient Organ

video by MIDERA

"Yeah... So I picked up a Yamaha SH-30.

It's big.

Very big. And heavy.

It probably was not the smartest idea to get this, as I literally have no room for it. But did it intrigue me? Yes. It did.

It's got 4 different parts. A monosynth engine, an organ, a 'string synthesizer', and a 'polyphonic' synth section (which is a lie, it's actually paraphonic, but there is a bandpass filter setting which is cool).

The monosynth part has aftertouch (but only on the 'SOLO' section - but that makes sense because the 'Manual Bass' section was meant to be like for a foot pedal? I don't know. I don't use organs or foot pedal bass things. But aftertouch is cool anyway on that part. The monosynth engine is AWESOME. I think the SK-30 is worth it for that alone.

The organ section - used here - is kinda cool too. Good for ambient stuff mixed with FX. Which is what I did. El Capistan and Eventide Space mixed. I wanted to bring in other things, but I didn't do it. Anyway, pretty basic, no real ADSR (organ's usually don't anyway?), but it does allow you to have sustain and decay. That's cool.

The string section doesn't seem to have a dedicated section on the front panel. I think it also uses the Poly-synth section, but it's not that interesting to me. Mixed with the poly-synth section IS COOL.

So... the Polysynth section. I'll admit that when I agreed to buy it - or had committed, was prior to when I realized the Poly Synth section was PARAPHONIC, meaning all the sounds go through a single filter. That sucks. But yeah, it sounds pretty good anyway, but nothing to write home about. If this had actually a proper poly synth egine, I'd probably be over the moon with this synth.

As it stands, I'd say the best part is the monosynth engine. Also cool is the ability to mix all these parts. Mixing the monosynth with the other parts can give it a much fuller and interesting sound for the monosynth. You could probably just mix a mono and a poly synth to get a better effect, I'm not actually sure. That said, it's really beautifully made.

If I were to rate it after one day of use, and not being someone interested in organs or string synthesizers - well, I think that would be unfair. It doesn't really 'sing' to me yet. And it might not either. Being that it's too big for my studio, I am hesitent to grow attached to it.

That monosynth engine is beautiful though - I should probably look up what else uses that VCO, because it's good. Funny that here I am gushing over the mono when all I used here was the Organ part alone, hehe. I guess that's just the way I am. I'm not really good at coming up with interesting mono sounds, because... what am I going to actually do? Anyway... more to come, surely."

Dove Audio WTF Oscillator 5U DEMO

video by alternatingbitmusic

"A critical look at this digital waveform oscillator."

Silent Rain : Therevox, cello and Juno 6

video by Miguel d'Oliveira

"Finally had a chance to write for Therevox on a feature documentary score.

This Ondes Martenot brother thing is a future classic. Beautiful craftsmanship and lovely sound.


Ended up not using the Moog pedal and replaced it with a chorus plug-in.
Played a bit of cello just to add to the grit."

SOMA Lyra8 + Strymon Big Sky Improvisation

video by Akihiko Matsumoto

Sequence: None
Mix: Ableton Live
Synth1: Lyra-8
Reverb: Strymon Big Sky
Effect: None
Limitter: iZotope Ozone9 Maximizer
Camera: Sony a7RII (Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8)

Roland TR-06 + Erica SYNTRX Improvisation

video by Akihiko Matsumoto

"Mixer: Ableton Live 10
Drums: Roland Boutique TR-06
Synth: erica synths SYNTRX
Audio I/O: RME Fireface UCX
FX: Recycler (https://gum.co/UPXNhz​)

Drum Buss Comp: Heavyocity PUNISH
TR-06 Kick Comp: WAVES API 2500
Sidechain: Ableton Gate
Syntrx Bass Comp: WAVES HComp
Limitter: iZotope Ozone9
Camera: Sony a7RII (Vario Tesser 24-70mm F4)

Music by Akihiko Matsumoto - https://akihikomatsumoto.com​"

Son Of GX audio crush demo

video by Marc Brassé

"This video is specially dedicated to Alejandro Lobato Fernandez."

via http://www.brassee.com/instruments.html - be sure to his site for more.

"This is a heavily customized E-70 organ with the synth functions of all 3 orchestra sections (upper keyboard, lower keyboard, pedals) fully and independently programmable. Furthermore a 4th solo section has been added.

Although many people have compared converting Yamaha E-series organs into programmable synthesizers to turning them into CS80´s I have always looked much more towards the GX1 connection. The GX1 was the mother of all Yamaha CS´ and contained 1 analog solo synthesizer, 2 polyphonic sections and 1 bass pedal section. So how could the Son Of GX ever be really complete without the addition of such a solo synth?

I originally thought about converting an EX-1 but could not find one for reasonable money. So yes, theoretically this can still be outdone but on the other hand a personalized version like mine will be more unique. And more "compact". Even more homely.

Added to the V2 version:

1 Solo section with a monophonic. analog, fully programmable, aftertouch sensitive synthesizer but also has its own independent organ section. I reduced a CSY 2 organ into a version that only has an upper keyboard, containing an analog mono synth but also the full upper organ section. Even the original GX1 did not sport that!
Off course the controller box now also contains all necessary controls for the mono synth.
Furthermore 3 analog audio crushers have been built into the programmer. These can be patched into any of the 6 available outputs and add effects ranging from mild coloring, via ring mod type sounds to full audio mayhem.
In short: The Son Of GX has become even more expressive and capable of experimental sounds!"

Guitar Sound Processor - Nuova Elettronica

video by Vintage Audio Institute Italia

Multivox MX-3000 at 1:09.

"A quick sound test of the very rare multi-effect unit from Italy.

Looks great, rather big with nice knobs.

These were sold as kits via mail order from the magazine Nuova Elettronica, a subscription magazine that offered build-it-yourself kits of all kinds of gear, hi-fi amplifiers and short wave radios, but also music gear such as drum machines, a couple of synths and effect pedals.

A great helper for organs or cheap string machines or poly-synths that need some flanging and muddy repeats.

The Chorus only affects the Delay repeats, not the dry signal."

System 8 / Microbrute 2 / Hydrasynth / Grandmother / Prophet 08 / Nord Lead A1 "Real Life"

video by Denis Polic

"Whats the meaning of the "Real Life":"life as it is lived in reality, involving unwelcome as well as welcome experiences, as distinct from a fictional or idealized world". In times of pandemic, when some people try to create their own reality by believing in conspiracy theories, its very important to keep your own head cool, and trust the science. Science has always found an answer, we need a bit more patience before we are trough with it. Till then i wold try to entertain you with my music.

Cheers and a healthy world for all mankind!!!"