MATRIXSYNTH

Novation Circuit Tracks quickstart for super-beginners

video upload by Synthesaurus Rex

"The Novation Circuit Tracks is super - not only, but also for beginners. That is: experienced musicians, like guitarists or drummers, who wanna get into electronics, but also people who are totally new to the topic of making music at home. For details, you might wanna follow my synth blog: patreon.com/synthesaurus"

Discopolis 2.0/Kris Menace & Lifelike (Novation Circuit Tracks Beach Mix)

video upload by Guinan

"I'm travelling so I hope you enjoy some of the slightly different videos I'm posting. This weeks video is a reworking of a track I put out last month following a suggestion by @DerrynGrierson
I wasn't happy with audio/video on the original (see below) so this is a reworking of the same.

Kris Menace & Lifelike have released multiple versions of the track so I feel pretty justified in putting out another mix of the track! I thought however I had to come up with something new so this was re-programmed and then played live on the beach! The line out went straight into a Zoom LiveTrak L6 so everything you hear is just as it was played on the Circuit Tracks 'on the beach'.

It's harder than it looks playing live on a beach (the tide was coming in....). I missed the filter sweep in the track completely! Stay tuned to the end, if you can, to see what a beautiful place this was played at.

Till next time, stay tuned."

Discopolis/Kris Menace & Lifelike (Novation Circuit Tracks Version)
video upload by Guinan

"This week’s track is the 2005 cult club-classic, ‘Discopolis’ by Kris Menace (an alias of DJ Christoph Hoeffel) and Lifelike. Recreating this was suggested by subscriber @DerrynGrierson. Thanks for the excellent suggestion Derryn!

It’s very likely I’ve heard this but it hadn’t been something I’d really noticed. I absolutely LOVE it and it has been a pleasure listening to the (very) numerous mixes and remixes to get an idea as to how to recreate this onto the Novation Circuit Tracks.

It features a very prominent sample from the start of the Italo-disco song 'Another Life' by Kano. Incidentally this sample is also used elsewhere (e.g. by Nero) so you might recognise it. I was able to find and use the same sample and build the song around it.

Everything you hear was programmed and played on the Novation Circuit Tracks. No extra synths/effects were used in the playback and the stereo track has not been remastered or otherwise altered.

I’m trying out a different way of filming/recording these direct to camera so apologies if the video is a bit dark. Almost knocked over the mirrorball too!

I hope you enjoy this track and come back again for other future recreations. Thanks for watching."

Voodoo Ray/A Guy Called Gerald - Novation Circuit version

video upload by Guinan

"Time for the first British acid house hit and another Hacienda favourite. The Manchester act A Guy Called Gerald blew up the Manchester music scene with his 808 and 303 tour-de-force. He's still making excellent music ‪@AGuyCalledGeraldTV‬ #voodooray

Everything you hear was programmed into the Novation Circuit and played ‘live’ straight out of the headphone jack into my phone. No extra effects or outboard gear are used during playback.

The ‪@IsotonikStudios‬ sound pack RB 303 by Yves Big City got me thinking about how capable the Novation Circuit could be for a blast of acid house. I hope this attempt gets close to the flavour of the original. • DEMO - RB 303 - Novation Circuit Pack by Y... [posted here]

‪@GyuBeats‬ has done some great video breakdowns of the track and is obviously a fan. Big thanks as he helped me track down some of the original samples. • Why Does VOODOO RAY Still Sound Fresh Today?

I also found the following website which is a fantastic resource of patterns for 303-soundalikes. It just had to be called Acid Tabs….. https://acid-tabs.com/303_patterns.ph...

I hope you like the track – drop a comment if there is an 80’s or 90’s track you’d like to see a version of.

Synth nerd details;
The 808 sounds are a mix of samples from Isotonik and a pack that is sometimes free called 808 From Mars.

The vocal samples are from a surprising source of an old comedy routine from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. The ‘voodoo ray’ sample is actually cut from a snatch of Peter Cook saying 'voodoo rage'.

A key part of the track is the excellent singing of Nicola Collier. I didn’t have a singer to hand and I wasn’t going to impose my dulcet tones on the world. The ‘singing’ is therefore played on the Arturia plug-in ‘Augmented Voices’.

I hope it fills the gap for now and doesn’t detract from the overall track.

All samples are edited and positioned on drum pads then sequenced/played on the Drum 4 track of the circuit."

Voodoo Ray/A Guy Called Gerald (Circuit Tracks & Rolands Version )

video upload by Guinan

"'Say Hello To My Little Friends'…..

Something a little different again. This is a reworking of one of my earlier videos but with an 'acidic' twist. At the time there were comments wondering how it would sound with Roland synths rather than my attempts at recreating the sound using the internal synth engine.

I couldn’t resist the challenge, so the Circuit Tracks has some company in the form of a Roland T-8 and S-1 Aira. The T-8 is a drum machine based on a selection of classic Roland sounds, but it has the added bonus of a very good TB303 emulation.

The Roland S-1 on the other hand is a 4-voice recreation of the classic 80’s synth, the SH-101. An awesome synth in it's own right it's a great partner for the Tracks to use with one of the external MIDI tracks.

Both of these Roland originals were an essential part of the classic Acid House sound and the track, ‘Voodoo Ray’ so this seemed a natural Circuit Tracks project to rework. I’ll keep a separate playlist of any tracks with external gear to keep my main playlist Tracks only.

For this video I’ve copied the patterns across to the Midi 1 & 2 tracks, hooked up both of the Roland individually to the MIDI Out and Thru (setup in Advanced Setup to be individual MIDI Outs). Each of the Roland boxes are then fed into each of the Audio Inputs so they can be panned, level altered and have effects applied individually. Each of the Roland boxes are not using their own sequencers but are just being used as slave MIDI synths playing the patterns sent via MIDI from the Circuit Tracks. T-8 bass was set to MIDI Ch3 and S-1 to Ch4 to match the default channels for these tracks."

SYNTHESIZER MAINTENANCE + DISCOLORED KEYS RESTORATION / NOVATION K-STATION DISASSEMBLY

video upload by Robert Vadney

"diving into my 23 years old K-STATION for a thorough cleansing"

Luna3: Too Bad I'm Not Alan Parsons

video upload by Giorgio Sancristoforo

Out now at https://luna3.bandcamp.com

Can you really record synths straight into your phone via usb? #microfreak #demo #performance

video upload by Solidtrax

"Yes you can! This is just a quick jam with the ‪@ArturiaOfficial‬ #microfreak - playing around with some sequencer tricks. I was curious if my ‪@motuTV‬ M4 would work directly with my ‪@Google‬ #pixel. Surprisingly, it totally did! So the M4 is powered by my Pixel 8 and that little discovery pulled me right back into the MicroFreak’s weird and wonderful world.

I love how you can tweak up to four parameters per sequencer step. It is so expressive. Threw in some gritty filter movement with the cyclic envelope and played the bass live. I decided to add a splash of reverb from the ‪@alesis_drums‬ Nanoverb. Recorded the whole thing straight into my phone. Instant fun.

Questions? Please ask them below in the comments.

Lastly, my soundbank for the Arturia MicroFreak is available here: https://www.solidtrax.nl/shop/freaky-...

Connect:
https://www.solidtrax.nl"

SCJS#57 A DRUM LOOP NEBULAE

video upload by FL3SHB4CK

"Small Case Jam Sessions #57 A DRUM LOOP NEBULAE

A trip across the nebulae within a drum loop…

Nebulae: phase vocoding & grains
Griffin's Claws: live & recorded cv
Beads: feedback & reverb
Sloth: space time curvature

Recorded live into Syntakt delay & reverb

00:00 hundreds of light years
03:03 cosmic dust
06:03 synchrotron radiation
08:08 molecular clouds
10:10 stellar winds
13:52 ultraviolet radiation
17:06 ionization"

Korg Monotron Delay Analog Ribbon Synthesizer In Original Packaging

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via this eBay listing

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1970s Univox SR-55 Drum Machine

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via this Reverb listing

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"1970s Univox SR-55 drum machine, classic analog preset rhythm box loaded with charm. Tested in great working order."

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