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.

Frederick and Friends - New Flickr Shot

NAMM: Street Boxx and Rockers Mints

Title link takes you to a hillarious video by the Sonic State crew on what looks like the NAMM 2006 after party. There's a couple of plugs including the Street Box SB-246 (a repackaged Zoom Rhythm Trak they claim to be "Hip-Hop's first real beat machine. For the streets......By the streets"), and Rockers Mints. Enjoy. Man I miss LA at times. That's sparkle. : )

Blacet Sound Clips

Update: Title link was pointing to one of the MP3. It's now updated and points to the forum post. Sorry about that.

Title link takes you to a post on HC with some impressive sound clips. Below are the current samples. Make sure to check back for more over time.

"One is some FM craziness using the filter in self-oscillation to modulate a sine wave from the VCO, with the filter frequency modulated by the LFO. The other is a simple saw-tooth bassline, with some standard filter sweeping."

http://home.comcast.net/~r3cogniz3r/BlacetSineFM.mp3
http://home.comcast.net/~r3cogniz3r/BlacetSweep.mp3


"Here is a quick loop I whipped up. The drums are Battery, the lead sound is Vanguard, the bass is the modular. It's a simple pulse-wave patch with PWM."

http://home.comcast.net/~r3cogniz3r/BlacetShortLoop.mp3

Blacet/Wiard/Doepfer Live - The Picture is Dead

I posted about The Picture is Dead back on Nov. 26. Some truly bizarre and interesting music reminiscent of the old 4AD and Fac bands. Well, they will be playing live in the DC area on the 25th of January, and they will be performing with their Blacet, Wiard, and Doepfer modular; you don't get to see that every day. More info below. Title link takes you to their site with a couple of mp3s.



"This message is to inform you that THE PICTURE IS DEAD will be performing at DC9 on Wednesday the 25th of January at 9 PM. The band members are BRYAN CORNELL, SAM SERAFY, PATRICK TIMONY, and JAMES WOLF. To hear what we sound like, visit www.pictureisdead.com or www.myspace.com/thepictureisdead. The band will play along with projected images by PAT PADUA. Joining us will be the bands SPANORB (aka DJ Panic) and JAKUTA AND CARL.

DC9
1940 9th Street, NW, (9th & Florida)
Washington, DC
http://www.dcnine.com

Hope to see you there!"

Synths Make the Sunday Paper

In the UK that is. Note this is in a Newspaper, not a music publication. Pretty cool. Title link takes you to more via Chris Strellis.

Kraftwerk Pocket Calculator Video on DVD Born

Title link takes you there.

Korg Radias on Sequencer.de

Title link takes you to Moogulator's page on the Korg Radias including several screenshots of the editor.

Silky T and the Juno G - Video up on Roland

Title link takes you there. Tired of the standard techno demos? Well here you go.



To get to the video, click the little video icon on the bottom left of the juno image.

KORE Portability?

Title link takes you to a good post about KORE on CDM. The one thing that stood out to me was the following:

"Portability: Because KORE will store all this patch information and performance and control settings, you'll be able to take your whole KORE setup anywhere you want -- move from Logic to Live, SONAR to Fruity Loops, from your Mac to your PC, from your studio tower to your stage laptop, whatever. Of course, you'll have to have the same plug-ins on both systems, but at least you won't have to manually move over plug-ins."

This along with seamless integration of your plug-ins seems one step closer to soft synths bridging that final gap with dedicated hardware synths. I just prefer the directness of hardware, but you can't deny the apeal of having a hundred different synths under one hood; this just might be the solution.

Knobs on The Packrat

January's strip of The Packrat is out. Title link takes you to The Packrat page.

Marvin Jones Website - NAMM Memorial, Paia History and Much More

Title link takes you to Marvin Jones website. I arrived to what looked like a simple, lean website. I then began to explore and found much more than meets the eye. I found the history of Paia, Marvin worked there and became lifelong friends with founder John Simonton. I found some humorous ads from Paia including this great shot of Marvin dressed as Santa.



I found some great shots of NAMM 2006 including these two Buchlas.


And... I realized that Marvin Jones has had a year I simply cannot fathom. The following are shots from this years NAMM Memorial. Morris "Morrie" Jones below, is Marvin Jones father. Title link takes you to his site with much more.

Moog 900 Series Demo Record

Title link takes you there, including MP3. Via Henry Birdseye on AH.



"When I was a kid, starting in 7th or 8th grade, I was rabid about finding info about synthesizers. When I wrote the R. A. Moog company in 1968, I got a pile of literature and this 10" vinyl record. I haven't heard it in some 35 years, and for a relic, it's in pretty good shape. An odd thing about this... the labels are reversed. The side 1 label (shown) is on the side with excerpts from "Switched-on Bach," and vice versa."

MEK Video Up on Sonic State

Title link takes you there. Watch this video. Some juicy tidbits including Dave Smith stating that the Curtis filter chip is the same filter as used in the Pro One, Prophet 5 and Prophet VS. He states that the evolver series is what the Prophet series would look like twenty years later. He also notes that Doug Curtis is a good friend and is making the chips exclusively for him.

Moog Tribute Project

Title link takes you to the Moog Tribute Project, a site put up by James R. Coplin to host musical tributes to Bob Moog. From James R. Coplin: "I don't want this to come across as some sort of a contest; I'm not making editorial decisions etc. Many people I've talked to feel the need and desire to express something they feel about Moog's impact on their music and so I've volunteered the hosting space for it. I thought that music would be the best tribute to him as words, memorials, foundations, etc. are fundamentally disconnected with the work and gifts he gave us as musicians and artists. It's more of a musical guest book of sorts I suppose in that sense."

If you would like to submit your own tribute, James R. Coplin is still accepting them.

More NAMM Shots from Brandon Daniel

Title link takes you there. Same set under NAMM, Winter, 2006, just more shots.

Buchla 222e Multi-dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port

Analog Systems NAMM 2006 - New Flickr Shot

Title link takes you to a bigger shot.

Ferrapsylix Mindblock

Right click title link and save (13M) for a little ditty by Troy Sheets featuring:
"Real analog bass (Moog MG-1), real analog 303 emulation (x0xb0x), all
other synths are waldorf Q." More on http://www.ferrapsylix.com/.

ARP Quadra Shots

Title link takes you to shots pulled from this auction.

NAMM 2006 via Pigpen Digital

Title link takes you to the set. Via Moose of Pigpen Digital.

Notice On Matrixsynth.com

For anyone that used my old site, I've moved it to http://www.matrixsynth.com/old. Matrixsynth.com will now redirect to this site moving forward, as here is where I spend all of my time and this is Matrixsynth. My old site was mainly my personal portal to all other synth sites, and home to a few pages on my first synths (the nostalgia link). And of course there were some shots of my cats and Aleister the Water Dragon. I started Matrixsynth.com in October of 1997. This feels like the end of an era for me as I am basically laying the old site to rest, but it will live on.

A PunkdISCO Wedding

Title link takes you to the track and the story. Synths featured: Moog Voyager and Korg MS-20.

GMedia Flashes a Boob on Sonic State

Nice! Man I love Sonic State. In the latest issue of Keyboard Magazine there's a small bit asking why no one has come out with an Oberheim soft synth yet. Well.... Looks like this might be it. : ) Title link takes you to a clip on Sonic State where GMedia accidentally flashes the SOB pictured below. GMedia rules. I have their impOSCar and Oddity, both great and affordable soft synths.

The Analog Collection

Title link takes you to Reflex Audio's The Analog Collection. What's impressive about this collection in addition to the list of synths, surprisingly, is the price at a mere $29. That and it's from James of Retro Thing. Reflex Audio is also responsible for the Sonia Xi and HardSid Quattro PCI.



Samples include the ARP Odyssey, Chroma Polaris, Elka Synthex, EML ElectroComp 101, Kawai K3, Korg MS-20, Moog MemoryMoog, Moog Minimoog, Oberheim Matrix 12, Oberheim OB-1, Oberheim SEM, Oberheim Xpander, Roland Juno 106, Roland Jupiter 8, Roland MC 202, Roland MKS-80, Roland SH-7, Roland TB 303, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Sequential Circuits Six-Trak, Waldorf Microwave, Yamaha CS-5, and Yamaha CS-50.

Korg Radias Video up on Sonic State

Title link takes you there.