MATRIXSYNTH

Crumar Orchestrator

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

"This is a vintage Crumar Orchestrator (known as the Multiman-S in Europe). The strings on this synthesizer sound remarkably similar to the ARP/Solina String Ensemble, because they use the exact same TCA350 BBD delay chips found in the Solina, and have a very similar triple delay line configuration for its ensemble effect. In addition to the Violin and Cello string sounds, there is a Brass section with a four pole ladder filter that was most definitely infringing on the Moog patent at the time. There's also two piano sounds ("Piano" and "Clavichord"), and a bass section that works on the lowest 27 notes of the 61 key keyboard.

This particular synthesizer is in excellent operating condition, and remarkably good cosmetic condition for a synth manufactured in 1977. The right-hand piano volume slider shaft is broken, but the original slider cap still can grip on to the stub (most photos show the cap in place, I included another photo with the cap removed for purposes of full disclosure). There is no lid and the original lid latching hardware has been removed.

This sucker is heavy!"

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Clavia Nord Modular Rack Synth SN 20011174 w/ Rack Ears

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via this auction, also on Reverb

"In good working condition. Comes with non-factory rack ears. Has a missing cap on the encoder knob (doesn't affect anything) and non-factory volume knob. Everything works perfectly. The original editor runs great on Mac up to Monterey through Wine emulation, so in theory it should run on M1 Macs without any issues. But you better to check if you have M1."

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M-Audio Venom Synthesizer

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

via this auction, also on Reverb

"This synth has some pretty wicked synth textures and beats at a great price. Amazing arpeggiator too. Very underrated and well worth double the price. Great synth, lightweight, can be used as a controller too!"

Unfortunately you need an external editor to access the full synth engine.

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White Model KORG MS-20

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

via this auction

A couple of these have been featured on the site before, but this one did a better job of showing the white side planl. It would be interesting to see the smaller black keys in white as well. Note this listing states it's an original vintage analog synthesizer, but later mentions it is the reissue. Gig bag/soft case pictured below.

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Exploring the CHORD mode on the 1979 MSV

video upload by batchas

"A gate signal is sent to the MSV gate input, but also an audio signal from 259e is sent to the RES (resonator) input. Not directly, but first to an attenuator (210e) and then to a 292e used as modulated VCA.
An LFO is scanning through the wavetables of the modulator VCO on the 259e to add some variation and also produce some weird sounds. I like it for instance around 01:50.
No external effect added."

A Quick Note on Links On the Site

It appears some people are letting their domain names expire. This is understandable as people move on. The problem though is phishing sites are taking them over. This site is run on Blogger and Blogger has been notifying me of malicious links. I've spent several hours removing problem links. Because of this I've decided to no longer actively link to external sites, with only a few exceptions. If you are interested in a product featured in a post, search for it online or highlight any unlinked links and copy and search.

Rob Papen - Signature Sounds for Waldorf M (Sounddemo)

video upload by WaldorfMusicChannel

"Rob Papen is a well-known sound designer from the Netherlands and many of his sounds and plug-ins have become legendary. Back in the 90s, he supplied several sound sets for the Microwave 1, which just saw the light of day. His 'Techno' and 'Signature' cards inspired many users and can therefore be heard on countless productions of the 90s. The two sound sets have been freshly reworked by Rob Papen and optimized on the M.

Both sets have been combined into one soundbank. The current signature set contains 128 patches and offers different lead sounds, basses, percussive sequencer sounds, pads, plugs and much more.

For external effects, the two FX plugins Delsane and RPVERB2 by Rob Papen were used. If you purchase the soundset you can get a discount on the two plugins. Please send a proof of purchase to : info@robpapen.com"

Roland JX-3P & Kiwi mod | Stay away from this?

video upload by Espen Kraft

An interesting take from Espen Kraft. I always assumed these mods kept the original sounds and functionality, and simply expanded on them. Feel free to leave a comment if you know more. Key point: do your research before modding.

"After using a Kiwi modded JX-3P for quite some time I can honestly say I really dislike this mod. Way too many features, hard to access, bugs, but most of all; they changed things that makes the modded 3P sound inferior to the original synth. Especially the envelopes. With a Kiwi modded 3P you get envelopes that sounds more clinical and less musical than on the original synth.

Admittedly the new controller from Retroaktiv, the PG-2K makes it a lot faster and easier to access the parameters, but even that can't take away that the mod is a bad choice for any 3P lovers. I highly advice to stay away from these mods.

The above rant is of course my highly biased opinion I admit to that. ;-)"

SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING Three Body Overview

video upload by SCHLAPPI ENGINEERING

"The Three Body is an FPGA based triple digital oscillator and frequency modulation toolkit.

0:00 Introduction and overview
0:54 Ratio Mode
6:44 Modulation normalization
7:23 Modulation Indexes
9:17 Free Mode
12:55 Patch example"

Note the prototype Three Body made it's first appearance on the site in 2020 here. Unfortunately that video has been removed.

"The Three Body is a phase and frequency modulation toolkit, designed to bring digital techniques to an analog interface. It consists of three oscillators which can be used independently but which have normalized connections to facilitate exploration and improvisation.

Features:

Three separate high quality oscillators
Each oscillator has volts/octave input
Each oscillator has both a phase and a frequency modulation input
Each oscillator has a modulation index (VCA) cv input
Each oscillator has sine, triangle, saw, and square outputs (for a total of 16 outputs)
The center oscillator has two phase related output pairs for stereo usage (sine and cosine, saw and cosaw)
Each oscillator can independently be set in a free running or ratio mode
Each oscillator can have either exponential or linear through zero frequency modulation
Each oscillator can track external signals at a cv controllable frequency ratio
Frequency ratios can be cv controlled
Tracks volts per octave over at least 4 octaves of positive CV and 2 or 3 of negative CV.

Built around an FPGA core with high internal sample rate for audio rate modulation
30HP
Skiff friendly 30mm depth
current consumption of 95mA on +12V (less than 200mA on startup) and 50mA on -12V"