Korg Oasys and Karma Video

Moogulator found a great demo video of the Korg Oasys and Karma. Title link takes you to the video.

Weird Noises That Blossom Into Symphonies - NY Times

Title link takes you to an interesting article in the New York Times on the Yamaha Tenori-On, the theremin, and Buchla. Regarding the Tenori-On: "It's a digital instrument in a new form," said Toshio Iwai, a 43-year-old interactive artist and University of Tokyo professor who created the device. "It plays light as well as sound." ... "The aim of this project is to create a musical instrument for nonmusicians," Mr. Iwai said. "I'm not a musician, but I had a dream to play an instrument on the stage." This is later countered with, "The potential in such an interactive system is finite," Dr. Winkler said of the tenori-on. "It's a cool thing for kids to play with, but I don't know any musician who would want to be stuck with this guy's music."

The Funk-A-Duck and MIDI Trumpet

Click here for the techno geeks page of the NAMM Oddities 2006 site. You'll recognize some others there as well. BTW, Frostwave makes some amazing filterboxes. I have the Resonator, and MS-10 filter clone. Build quality is outstanding and the filter on that thing will rip the paint off walls. Via CDM.

Brand New Micro Q Spotted for Sale at Thomann

Now this is kind of interesting consider Waldorf has been gone for some time.

Famous Sounds on Synthmania

Title link takes you to a page on Synthmania that has a long list of samples of famous sounds. Ever wonder what the Hoover sound everyone refers to actually sounds like? Check out "mentasm.mp3" when you get there. The Lucky Man solo? Also there.

Mindtrip - Moog MG-1 and Roland SH-1000 Tune

Title link takes you there. Posted by macman on the-gas-station.

Whacked Pro One Demo

Title link takes you to a post on VSE with a crazy Pro One demo by Jabberwalky. It's worth checking out if you want to hear a wide range of some of the quirky sounds a Pro One can make. There is also a super fat sounding Roland Jupiter 4 demo doing the THX theme by premieklovn in the thread.

Synthesizers.com Review - Build a Modular for $120 a Month

Title link takes you to a synthesizers.com review posted by tunedLow on the VSE forum. It's a good overview of his first impressions. At the end of the review he mentions, "If you're daydreaming about going modular, the entry level at 100 bucks a month can't be beat. Their descript of the plan sounds pretty flexible too." I totally forgot about this. Synthesizers.com has a deal where you send them $120 a month and they send you an item a month. In a year you have a usable modular. You can find more detail here: http://synthesizers.com/system-entry1.html. Hmm... If I remember correctly, I'd be finishing up my modular just about now if I signed up when they started this deal.

EMS Vocoder 2000

Title link takes you to shots pulled from this aucion.

Moog Voyager P*rn

Title link takes you to more shots.

Moog CV-352

Title link takes you to the post on CDM with more info and a bigger shot.

Gregg Janman's Modular Noodlings

Gregg recently posted this MP3 on the Analog Heaven mailing list, as an example of the Metalbox 8008, a Roland TR-808 kick drum clone. The MP3 also includes a Blacet and Wiard modular. I asked him if it would be ok to post the sample as I thought it was really good, it's very clean so you can hear each instrument clearly. He gave me the go ahead and a whole lot more. Below are some notes by Gregg and a few more samples and descriptions of each. Very, very cool. Thanks Gregg!









"i post a lot of info about my modular to the black dog forum here.

i have a 37 module (and still growing but nearly complete i feel) frac
rack system with a mobius and fat controller sequencer, and a
moogerfooger mf-101 lpf. apparently it's the only frac rack modular in
japan ;)

that dimension c track is two modular voices (one blacet pwm wave into
moog filter, one blacet/wiard miniwave into blacet stonz phaser into
wiard boogie filter, both sequenced by the same cv from the mobius) plus
effects (2 blacet time machines plus a boss dimension c pedal) tweaked
and recorded live in one take and then post processed digitally with a
little reverb, compression, limiting and eq. the weirdest thing is that
if you listen to it for a while, it REALLY sounds like a grand piano!!!

here are some other modular noodlings:

1. http://darkflame.hermetech.net/Musick/Babaluma-ChineseLantern.mp3
   
   an example of putting the feedback signal of a delay through a phaser.
   the main patch is the wiard noise ring output quantised by the miniwave
   to a pentatonic scale set to "play" the vco's randomly, through the
   above mentioned effects.



2. http://darkflame.hermetech.net/Musick/OneDropDrums&Acid.mp3
   
   slow and dubby acid with the heavily modded tr-606.



3. http://darkflame.hermetech.net/Musick/Babaluma-VeryPhat.mp3
   
   an excercise in phatness.



4. http://techno.dogsquad.co.uk/darkflame/DoubleDelaySweep.mp3
   
   how BIG can those blacet time machines sound?



5. http://techno.dogsquad.co.uk/darkflame/3SquDroneEndorphin.mp3
   
   a long drone, nice but boring? would make a good "bed" for other stuff.



6. http://techno.dogsquad.co.uk/darkflame/Babaluma-TheKindThatWinds.mp3
   
   techno track, lots of modular, 606 and 8008.



7. http://darkflame.hermetech.net/Musick/Babaluma&Decadnids&Elf-Maggie-YamatoFluteMix.mp3
   
   splitting a stereo mix digitally into m/s components, then processing
   the m and s signals through DIFFERENT modular patches, back into the
   digital realm where the m and s signals are recombined into stereo...
   mmmmm....



8. http://darkflame.hermetech.net/Musick/Babaluma-HymnForJohn.mp3
   
   a complete track featured on the http://www.darkwinter.com/ album "full
   cold moon", a tribute to john balance of coil, and featuring tangerine
   dream/coil style modular sequencing.



9. http://darkflame.hermetech.net/Musick/Babaluma-TsunamiTidalWaves(PowerAmbientRemix).mp3


a full track, and one that i'm very happy with, even though it's old and
was made almost entirely in the digital domain (audiomulch on the pc). i
hope to be able to make stuff like this with just analogue gear in the
future.

anyway, feel free to post any of this stuff on your site. i'm always
looking to collaborate or master other people's stuff when my schedule
allows.

best wishes and thanks for listening and commenting, i really appreciate it!

gregg janman."

Thank you Gregg!

NAMM 2006 Pt. 2 on Retrosynth

Title link takes you there. Full set of pictures are up.

PAiA 2006 Catalog Available Online

Title link takes you there.

Roland SH-201 Video on Sonic State

Almost missed this one. According to the video it uses the same analog modelling section of the VSynth. Title link takes you there.

Metasonix Wretch Video on Sonic State

Title link takes you there. That is one nasty sounding synth. 1950s technology. : )

Analogue Haven Booth Videos Pt 2 on Sonic State

Title link takes you to Part 2 of the Analogue Haven set with Ken MacBeth, Dieter Doepfer, and ModCan. I just started on Ken MacBeth. I'm not going to spoil it, but man... It has to be seen to be believed. Absolutely amazing.



Also check out another batch of Sonic State videos including Line6, Nord, Waves, Analog stuff, Quantum Leap, Korg, Muse Research.

NAMM 2006 via Pigpen Digital Update

Final set is up. Title link takes you there.

Manikin Schrittmacher

Future Retro XS Just Might Get MIDI Afterall

Via Jared on the yahoo group.



"We will try and add MIDI input for control of the XS before the unit goes
into production. This would allow a stock Revolution to control the accent
times of the XS. For those who prefer to control the XS with the CV and Gate
outputs, we have come up with a simple modification which allows the output
of a gated accent signal. We will post more information on how to do this as
we finalize the designs of the XS.

We will try and add MIDI input for control of the XS before the unit goes
into production. This would allow a stock Revolution to control the accent
times of the XS. For those who prefer to control the XS with the CV and Gate
outputs, we have come up with a simple modification which allows the output
of a gated accent signal. We will post more information on how to do this as
we finalize the designs of the XS."

NAMM 2006 via Retrosynth

Title link takes you to the report. Link to the picture set is at the end of the post.

Roland SH-201

Synth pr0n - Flickr Set

Title link takes you to very nice Flickr set by gentle bakemono. Korg electribe on the left.

Buchla and Buchla NAMM 2006 - New Flickr Set

Don Buchla at NAMM 2006. Title link takes you to more in bdu's set.

Roland System 700 Shots

Title link takes you to shots pulled from this auction.



Update via the comments: "beware of this guy, wavstudios. he misrepresents the condition of some of his items and he's extremely rude. check his feedback on toolhaus.org."

Analogue Haven Booth Video on Sonic State

Looks like two of more to come. Videos includes EAR and Synthesis Technology. Title link takes you there.

PSP Rhythm 3.0 Released

Update: There is hope for 2.6. I emailed psprhythm and got the following back: "for 2.6 we'll have to wait for Fanjita to get his new eboot loader working. once he does then it should work."

Now supporting PSP OS 2.0. I knew I shouldn't have upgraded to 2.6. They also put a sample up so you can finally hear what it sounds like. The track is very Daft Punk. Title link takes you there.



"For use on the Sony PSP with Firmware ver. 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0

PSP Rhythm is a homebrew drum machine for the Sony Playstation Portable.

Inspired by classic drum machines such as the Linndrum and Roland TR-series, PSP Rhythm has been created to use the simple, yet effective 16 step style drum sequencer. PSP Rhythm incorporates the use of audio sample playback instead of drum synthesis. PSP Rhythm has been directly influenced by one of our favorite modern drum machines, the Elektron MachineDrum. The most significant is our use of "parameter locks" (as used by the MachineDrum). Parameter locks enable you to change the pitch, volume, balance, start and end time per step to create moving, changing melodies and effects. This control over your sounds will give you much more creative freedom and allow you to not only use drums, but to use instruments in your music.

The new features include: Wave file output, Reverse Drums, Start and End times per drum hit."

Bob Moog Memorial Poster - New Flickr Set

Title link takes you to the set.

Herbie Hancock's

Lemur Software Update

Title link takes you to more on Sonic State.



"Most intriguing are the new messages for switching among the Lemur's multiple interface ‘pages’ from the host computer. This means, for example, that a composition could automatically change the interface presented to a performer as a piece progresses. Other new features include new graphic designs for many of the UI objects, six new functions for the Lemur's powerful built-in mathematical expression language, and new ways to customize the appearance of the standard objects."

Waldorf Microwave I Manuals

No title link. Links to manuals below, courtesy of Rasmus via AH.

http://rasmus.nuovoinizio.se/Performance_Manual_E.pdf
http://rasmus.nuovoinizio.se/Programming_Manual_E.pdf

TC Electronic Quintet - Elhardt Sings

From the man who brought us The Bahn Sage and some of the most amazing samples from the Alesis ION and MOTM & Andromeda A6, a demo of the TC Helicon Quintet vocal processor. Click here for small 1.4M demo. Trust me, it's worth listening to. Enjoy. : )

Arturia Prophet V Hands On via CDM

Title link takes you to the post. The thought of mixing and matching the two synth engines as one is indeed appealing. I can't wait for the demo to come out.



Via the Arturia Site (three simple demo mp3s are up):
"The modulation matrix of the Prophet Hybrid allows you to add modulation inputs impossible to add with the PROPHET 5 alone. The velocity, after touch, or the numerous other modulation sources presented on the VS that can now be used on the PROPHET 5."

Manufacturers and Their Faces - MESI

I was poking around the MESI website and started looking at the different manufacturer pages. After a few, I realized a pattern - many featured a shot with the key people behind the gear actually in the picture. Brilliant idea when you think about it. So... If you were ever curious about the face behind your manufacturer of choice, check it out. Title link takes you there. Click on the "Produits" link on the top of the page to get to the manufacturer list on the left nav. Enjoy.

MINOD Systems VORGA

Interesting mono synth sent my way via André Bihler. Title link takes you to the site with samples and more info.



Features:
# Live realtime Interface
# DCO - with analog waveshaper
# VCF - special mode analog 4-pole filter
# LFO - low frequency oscillator
# ENV - ADSR envelope generator
# SEQ - analog type 8-step sequencer
# MIDI - MIDI control input and output
# Stylish case

Mini-Monsters and MESI

Title link takes you to a site sent my way via André Bihler. The Mini-Monster is a tiny self contained modular synth made up of your modular manufacturer of choice. They have configurations like the Doepfer Moog and MS20 Styles, and an Analogue Systems tiny EMS and tiny Vostok. Title link takes you there. Also track back to MESI for a ton of gear. MESI looks like THE analog shop for France. Very nice. Thanks André.

Korg X50 and microX Videos up on Sonic State

Title link takes you there.

Buchla - New Flickr Shots

A couple of shots spread out through the set. Here's a link to the second shot.