"The K5000 was Kawai's top of the line music workstation digital synthesizer when it was released back in 1996. It's a bold and elegantly designed synth with a large LCD display, real-time controls and incredible sounds!
Programming sounds with the K5000 can be a breeze (once you learn how) although it has over 1,000 parameters per patch! That's plenty to play with. It combines additive synthesis and PCM sampled waveforms for you to layer and combine to design a whole range of sounds. Plenty of LFO modulation, filters and envelope controls allow you to shape and morph your sounds further. On-board multi-effects add the final touch of life to your sounds
In 1997 a rack-module version of the K5000 was released. The rack version shipped with Kawai's more stable OS 3.0 software. The latest is 4.03 and is free to upgrade via download from Kawai. The rack offers all the same power and flexibility as its keyboard counterparts. To get a more hands-on-knobs control of the K5000, we've included the Macro Control with this unit as well."
"With all the excitement generated by the new Oberheim teasers, I thought it might be fun to do a jam with some classic Oberheim sounds. But really, this is really just an excuse to use this ridiculously complex Eurorack / Pro 2 patch that I made. It's a 4-note paraphonic patch, with each VCO in the rack being modulated by a sine wave from the Pro 2 (each individual Pro 2 oscillator is sent out of CV Ports 1-4). I'm also running the VCO outputs back into the Pro 2's CV inputs to modulate each oscillator's frequency and get true cross mod. Then I've got 8 VCO outputs (4 sawtooth and 4 square wave) going into the G-Storm Electro XaVCF, an OB-Xa filter clone, which is in LP 2-pole mode. With all that signal going into it, it produces a heavily overdriven sound, even without the resonance cranked. None of the sound is coming from the Pro 2 as it just acts as a modulation source. Classic 80's Oberheim sounds are coming from the OB-6, obviously. On bass is the Roland JUNO-6, and the JX-3P gets pad duty. Everything gets a heavy dose of Audiothingies Doctor A delay and reverb, except for the drums, which run through the MIDIVERB II for that nostalgic 80's gated reverb (preset 31, if you're wondering).
I didn't rehearse this jam, just programmed a couple drum parts and went for it, staying in the key of C major the entire time, because the black keys are too hard to find in a jam for someone with my sub-par abilities. Also, having to use the octave keys on the OB-6 would throw another wrench in that I just can't really manage to deal with in a live situation. It's a shame, because the Eurorack patch sounds badass in F, hitting the bottom key on the Pro 2's keyboard. So if I had changed it up, it would have been going down to F and then coming back to C. Too advanced, I know.
Gear Summary
Modular: Eowave Titan Discrete Oscillators (x2), Roland System-500 512 Dual VCO, 530 Dual VCA, 540 Dual Env/LFO, 555 LAG/S&H, G-Storm Electro XaVCF and Spring Tank Reverb driver, modulated by the DSI/Sequential Pro 2
Synths: Sequential/Oberheim OB-6, Roland JUNO-6 and JX-3P
Drums: Roland TR-6S
Effects: Audiothingies Doctor A, Alesis MIDIVERB II"
"Mario and Wes reconnected last week to touch base about some Syntakt details that they didn't get to explore at launch !
After such an exciting week we decided to relax a bit and just have fun, we hope you're doing the same!
Make sure to check out all the Syntakt details here : https://bit.ly/3vRNHuO
"ARPchives LIVE! is back for another season! Join d'ARP and Shawn Johnson as they discuss wind controlled synthesizers, plugins, and the music of Brazil
Shawn Johnson is a synthesist/saxophonist whose influences include ambient, jazz, pop, rock, soul jazz and the warm tropical sounds of Brazil. His interest in electronic music production led to the creation of the All Things VST facebook group where all aspects of music creation using Windows, Mac, and iOS devices are discussed.
His love of synthesizers dates back to his earliest musical experiences with classic records by Elton John, Paul McCartney and Wings, Steve Miller Band, and progressive rock bands like Genesis, Rush, and Styx. While studying Music Education in college Shawn performed with local rock bands on saxophone and synthesizer. After relocating to the Chicago area, he gained additional experience performing acoustic jazz and Brazilian music for several years. He eventually became interested in home recording and synthesizer performance using the first wind controller he acquired in early 2018.
In addition to the demos and musical works published as a hobbyist musician on his own YouTube and Soundcloud sites, Shawn has recently appeared on recordings with Benedict Roff-Marsh
Lands with Shawn Johnson | Benedict Roff-Marsh with Shawn Johnson | Benedict Roff-Marsh (bandcamp.com)
YT for Lands:"
"New album which features saxophonist Shawn Johnson playing EWI on the two main tracks. His playing style is quite different from mine so we compliment each other very nicely. His input really lifted these tracks.
This album grew from what I was trying to do for the visual side of "Red Skies Yellow Sand" but just couldn't get started with at that time. What you see here are the first attempts at building world fly-throughs that managed to 'make it' to completion. The purchased version of the album contains three more tracks (total 40 mins) that also accompanied early render trials."
0:03 Remove Versio module from your case
0:10 Determine which version of Versio module you own
0:16 Smaller seed version: How to reset your module
0:33 Larger seed version: How to reset your module
0:54 Configure your computer to recognize the Versio module (you only have to do this set once)
1:21 Swap your Versio module's firmware
2:08 Verify the new firmware on your module
For more information on all of the Eurorack modules in our World of Versio line, visit: https://bit.ly/3KJWzZC"
"One last systematic test of this meticulously refurbished ARP Pro/DGX before we sell it to our customer. Buy vintage synths that work like new at tonetweakers.com. We buy and trade too. We’re in New York City, but we ship anywhere."
"This video demos basic features of the Marion Systems MSR-2 analog synthesizer by Tom Oberheim. This unit has two 8 voice analog modules. The SuperPatch mode is shown in detail where I have programmed 10 Bass SuperPatches and 10 Pad SuperPatches to show the real power of this synthesizer. I slowly demo each of these SuperPatches.
The units LCD screen is hard to focus on without getting close, so early section unit screen is slightly blurry.
Moving in closer camera focuses on LCD.
SuperPatches are selected, and then an asterisk shows next to name.
Pushing enter switches SuperPatch to selected"
"The K5000 was Kawai's top of the line music workstation digital synthesizer when it was released back in 1996. It's a bold and elegantly designed synth with a large LCD display, real-time controls and incredible sounds!
