Minimoog Lapel Pin

Mover over digital. Lee Tizzard saw my previous post on the Yamaha DX7 and Roland D50 Synth Bling. He sent in the following shot of his Minimoog Lapel Pin. "Bought it at a local music store about 12 years ago for $15 CDN........I've yet to wear it." Nice. And Vintage. Thanks Lee!

Argiriadis Analogue Electronics

Title takes you the Argiriadis Analogue Electronics website. There is a link to this video on YouTube on vacuum tubes. It's an amazing video in which Theo Argiriadis goes into detail on the desing and characterstics of the sound. Synth content in the video includes some rhythms and sequences running through the vacuum tube. Great video. Found this one on Digital Music Mag.



Notes on the video:
"Theo's an electronics engineer, working in North London and specialising in valves (vacuum tubes). He makes and modifies quality hi-fi, and unique, stunning audio processors. His workshop's amazing too, so after he built me the most detailed distortion box I've ever seen, I asked if I could make a film about him and his work. Contact Theo through www.tube-electronics.co.uk, or me at film@museumoftechno.org"

Update via the comments:
"Hey, thanks for featuring the film! And for using that primo still as the preview... the pale box with the red controls at top right is my distort unit, which is how I got to know Theo.

If any UK MatrixSynth readers are seriously into their valves, and want a totally different and valuable experience buying a piece of beautiful equipment, do have a think about Theo - he says he's not an artist, but there's some deep Macedonian voodoo mixed up with his science!"

Thank you! That truly was an awesome video.

AHMW 2006 Shots

Title link takes you to more shots of this years Analog Heaven Midwest, by Cary Roberts.

NYU Analog Synth Lab

Title link takes you to shots of the NYU Analog Synth Lab. Via Paul Rothman.



"Here are 5 pics from the analog synth lab at New York University. I
spent spring break putting together the new MOTM modular we got. We
made the custom cabinet out of white oak and I designed the module
layout. It has 7 VCOs, 2 Noise Gens./S+H, and a nice selection of
filters including a CS-80 and GX-1 filter as well as 4 LFOs, 4 EGs and
4 VCAs. The other synths include 2 Buchla 100's, an EMS VCS3 Putney,
Korg MS-20, E-mu Emulator, Octave Cat, and Roland JP-8000. I'm
currently trying to restore our ARP 2600 with keyboard, and ARP 2800
Odyssey."

Thanks Paul! Also check out the Music Technology Studios web page on NYU.

BME 700

Title link takes you to a Bluesynths.com article on the BME 700. Note that Bluesynths switched to a member only site. I hate when sites do that. But sign up isn't too difficult. You just enter an alias you want to use, a valid email address and a password. You get a link sent to the email address you provided. Click on the link and your account is activated. Log in and you can view the article. Pain? Yes, but that's their price I guess. There are more shots of the BME 700, an mp3 and a wmv in the article. This synth sounds good.



Features
1 VCO with variable waveform (starting at triangle - to saw - to pulse). Modulation possibilities.
Noise
2 LFOs
2 envelopes: each switchable AR-ASR
12 dB LP filter + resonance

Tiesco 110F

Shots courtesy of Heath Finnie.



Thanks Heath! BTW, Heath is looking to trade for EML gear, you can reach him at hfinnie[]gmail.com.

Synth Bling - Keychains, Pendants and More

Title link takes you to a site selling Yamaha DX7 and Roland D50 keychains, pins and pendants. 24k Gold Plated D50 picutured to the left. Get your synth bling on. Shots saved for posterity. Via this post on Sonic State's the-gas-station.

MOTM On One Blue Monkey

Title link takes you there. Video link under date under title.

EMS Rehberg

Title link takes you to the EMS Rehberg site. I knew about the UK EMS site, but not this site. According to Dennis Verschoor: "The German EMS was a european distribiteur and technican. Later on he was allowed to design/build ems stuff. Some people say the German ones are even build better. Good German quality (volkwagen, bmw, mercedess etc) : )"

According to their pricelist here, you can pick up a refurbished Synthi 100 for 55.000 Euros or roughly $66,184 US compared to this Synthi 100 with a minimum starting bid of $60,000 US.

Update: Notes from Malte:
"Some years ago where I had some cash I emailed Rehberg about the
possibility to purchase a Synthi A and he answerd rather quick that they
indeed are available. The website has never changed, like the EMS UK
one, but I guess its still valid. As a service you can borrow equipment
from EMS too, although not the 100 I guess :)

This picture shows the 100 that is now in small town Lueneburg

http://www.emsrehberg.de/SYNTHI__s/L_neburg1_web.jpg

Here is the history of another famous of the first importers of synths
in germany (but only in german), Synthesizer Studio Bonn Matten +
Wiechers, who are credited on nearly every Kraftwerk CD and responsible
for the Synthanorma sequencer and Banana synth, an Oberheim clone.

http://www.elektropolis.de/index.htm

BTW: this is Ludwig
http://www.elektropolis.de/images/rehberg.jpg"
Cheers,

Malte

MIDI'ed Chamberlin on Sonic State

Video of a MIDI'd Chamberlin. This has to be seen. Title link takes you there.

I *Heart* Rob Hubbard

Thought this was funny. You can find the full post on the C64Music! blog.

From Wikipedia on Rob Hubbard:
"Rob Hubbard (born 1956?, Kingston upon Hull, England) is a music composer for several microcomputers of the 1980s, especially the Commodore 64. He was probably the first to push the SID soundchip to its limit, composing powerful and catchy tunes for many games of the time. Rob resents being confused with the unrelated L. Ron Hubbard."

Synth Artists Featured on Moogulator

Moogulator has a couple of posts up on two synth artists with some tasty shots. Links to each post above each shot below. Title link takes you to Moogulator's Sequencer.de.

LFO-ONE


Moognase

Carbon111 on the New Moog

Carbon111 put up a great post on Synthwire on why he sold his old Moogs and why he is looking forward to the new Moog. It's a great read. Trust me, go read it. Title link takes you there.

Mark Pulver on "the Minimoogs"

Mark Pulver is one of those iconic names you come across in the world of synthesizers. He's just a person like you and me, but he has a pretty extensive and respected background when it comes to synths, and he's someone that helped me re-discover the bigger world of synths nearly ten years ago on Sonic State's the-gas-station (it used to be THE synth forum back then), later Analog Heaven, and a private email now and then. He is a "deputy" on Analog Heaven (one of the people that helps administer and keep it under control) and he was good friends with Bob Moog himself. Check out his tribute to Bob. So let's just say I have a huge amount of respect for Mark.

So, I've heard that a Voyager can nail the Minimoog sound as indeed it is a Minimoog plus more, and on the flip side, I've heard that it doesn't quite sound the same. So I thought I'd ask Mark. The following is what he had to say. It's interesting in that after reading it seems so obvious. You'll notice that in a sense it's inconclusive - that is what's obvious about it. Time and design both impact a synth. And no two minis are exactly the same. Title link takes you to Mark's Voyager page for more of his thoughts and notes.

"I think that the Voyager is a great instrument, and it's capable of a lot
more sounds and textures than the original Mini - including some of the
sounds that have made the Mini famous, and some sounds that will make
itself famous in its own right.

I think that a lot of the love of the Mini is how it plays, and that comes
from the 30yo keyboard, caps, trannys, etc. Audio circuits that actually
have bleed through, power supply rails with dirt on them, etc. There are
ways that the Mini handles when you tune the OSCs to a harmonic that
overdrives the filter "just" that way - VERY hard to define, or to catch on
a scope, or to make happen on a modern machine. I really think that stuff
like this comes from design flaws turned into features. Not a bad thing,
just something that can't really be replicated.

There are a lot of things like that in the Mini.. Lay the filter on the
edge of howling - notice how it loves to distort the VCA. _AND_ that
character will change based on the pitch you're playing. _AND_ that
character will change based on if you're gliding between notes. _AND_ _AND_
_AND_...

It's like, the Voyager is a pure design - lotso the same schematic work
from decades ago, but then with grit _designed_ into it. No happy accidents
waiting around the corner like the first time that Bob pressed a key on the
Model A.

It's not a bad thing to design in "flaws that have become features", it's
just different. Ya' know?

I guess the bottom line is that I don't have a concrete answer - to me,
something like this really needs ethereal babble.

And... feel free to post it in your blog if you think it makes sense. : )"

Mark

It does. Thanks Mark!

Synthasaurus

Title link takes you to Synthasaurus, home to Andrew Sanchez' modular website. There is a huge list of samples he made with his custom modular.

Vintage Synths Safe in Japan

Title link takes you to the good news on Create Digital Music. "The Japan Times, an English-language newspaper, reports today that the Japanese government is backpedaling on its plans to ban the sale of used electronics." Whoohoo!

I Satellite

Title link takes you to the I Satellite gear page. Huge list but only a few shots. The shots are top quality though including this Roland MC-4b. What's kind of cool about this particular shot on site is that it's initially black and white. When you mouse over it turns into this brilliant color shot. Kind of cool if you are into detail. Obviously check out the rest of the site when you get there.

Four Gorgeous Synths

Gorgeous shots of an SCI Prophet 10, Moog Minmoog, Yamaha DX1, and Octave CAT pulled from these auctions. Links below takes you to the set for each.

Prophet 10


Minimoog


DX1


CAT

Innerclock Sync Shift

Title link takes you there. What is it? Simply put it shifts your sync; Sync Shift, get it? Note the center top is labelled "Throne."

"Using Midi Clock and Din Sync always ensures that start times between connected devices is always the same. This is a good thing mostly. Sometimes, however, you might really like to hear that TB-303 riff playing against the groove – maybe starting on the 3 instead of the 1. You could re-write the pattern in the TB-303 shifting all the notes, accents and slides individually forward by three steps if you had the time or you could record a bar as audio and trigger the phrase in software but then you would lose the live feel and the hands-on control."

Tweakbench

Title link takes you to Tweakbench, home to a bunch of free VSTs, synths and effects. I haven't tried any of these yet, so... try at your own risk. Let me know what you think if you do try any. Chris Sushi sent these in via AH. He recommends Tapeworm, a mellotron clone. The cool thing is there are mp3 for each VST, so you can liesten before you try.

Update via Doktor Future in the comments:
"I *heart* Tweakbench too. They have a great nintendo sound VST synth too. It's great to contrast the SID stuff with Nintendo sounds, let me tell you.

Here's an mp3 of the Mellotron VST I did in Fruityloops:

www.paulsop.com/deathray/mp3/2005/Haunting_Flute.mp3"

HCGPF on Analog Industries

And it's a synthy one. Vince Clark's gear at that. Title link takes you there.

Ciat Lonbarde

Title link takes you to Ciat Lonbarde's website. Home to some truly unique and esoteric synths and more. You want wood? Here you go. Check out the knobs. Reminds me of those little sandwich wraps. Just pick one up and chow. : )

"For you, Ciat-Lonbarde will make the finest instruments to listen to spacey sounds and make space reggae. These instruments feature the sandrode philosophy, a path to intuition. You are presented with infinite possibilities arranged in the random sandrodes and the connections you make in them. You touch them softly or short them metallicly to scroll thru different sonic worlds of sound. The Fourses and Fyrall are two kits to make your own sandrode sonic worlds. "

Hmm... Space... Reggae... Pot... Sandwich wraps. Mmmm....

Joking aside... Truly beautiful design. Make sure to check out the rest. Amazing.

Basement Jaxx and the PSE Law

Title link takes you to a Basement Jaxx video (not sure what the track is), that just screams of the PSE law in Japan. Hmm... I wonder if that was a TB-303 in the bathtub... "Don't take my Ensoniq! Please! For the love of Bob!"

Via Apollo Pony.

Cynthia/Blacet Filthy Filter

Custom Cynthia faceplate for a Blacet Filthy Filter done by Cynthia for James R Coplin. Toung twisters of the synth world. : )

Moog AES - New Flickr Set

flickr by Joel Abbott. Title link takes you to the set.

Ugo Rez and Metallurgy

"Rez is a virtual analog monosynth, with a highly resonant low pass filter, that is capable of a wide range of sounds, from funky squishes, beastly basses and screaming leads, to tight arpeggiations, atmospheres, bells, and interesting effects." And... It's free.

"Metallurgy is a PC VST multi effect that is capable of providing sounds ranging from some basic, subtle, filter tweaks to twisted, complex, walls of sound that bare virtually no resemblance to the original audio. " Title link takes you there.

Update: new website:
http://www.ugoaudio.com/

Aliens Project 360

Now this is cool. Click here for a 360° Quicktime 3D View of Aliens Project Studio. Via Moogulator. Also check out the Aliens Project Studio site.

Quality is in the New Moog! : )

Well, no surprise as it is MOOG, but it's always good to hear it confirmed.

"The new synth DEFINITELY DOES have Voyager similarities... it has two
Voyager oscillators, identical to the ones in the Voyager as far as I know.
The envelopes are a discrete transistor design inherited directly from the
Voyager. The filter is a Moog ladder filter; Bob's design directly ported
from the Voyager also. Dr. Moog put a lot of work, directly and indirectly,
into this new synth, and it is in the direct lineage of his creations."

As I expected, and definitely good news. Quality OSCs and filters and Bob was behind it. That's more than good enough for me. I can't wait to see and hear this synth!

Fenix Modular

Another shot via Axon Vox.



Click image or title link for a bigger shot.

Music Genesis

This one sent my wave via Brian Comnes. Music Genesis is basicaly a windows based random music generator that can export to WAV, MP3, or MIDI for playing other instruments.



"MusiGenesis works by adding randomly-generated notes to a song and letting you decide whether to keep or delete each one. By keeping what you like and deleting what you don't like, you will quickly create a unique piece of music ( more ).

Once your MusiGenesis song is finished, you can export it as a WAV file (for CDs), as an MP3, or as a MIDI file for use in other sequencing software like ACID, Cakewalk or FL Studio (Fruityloops)." Title link takes you there.

Here's a short WAV from Brian.

Details:
"this is a musigenesis file exported to midi
then into ableton in 2 tracks
drums are SonicCharge Mictrotonic with Toby Bear Candy Box
bass synth is Operator preset
4 bars
time to create less than 2 minutes
like maybe I can compete with Britney's boyfriend ??
all I need is a Brazilian singer loop
byeeeeeeeeeeee
Brian "

(see this for his Britney Brazillian reference. Apologies ahead of time).

Thanks Brian.

Modcan on One Blue Monkey

Title link takes you there. Video links under date under title.

Minion's Got Balls

Saw this one on Digital Music Mag. I read about the dancing balls and decided to check it out. It's actually pretty good and it's free. Can't beat that.

"When you just have to have four filters being modulated by a total of twelve LFOs, you need Minion!

It's got balls, you see. Four of them, pinging and swinging their way around an innovative XYZ pad that's used to control the plug-in and to give visual feedback. And for each ball, there's an effect module, and each of those can produce one of a variety of filter effects, including several filter/distortion combinations. Minion also comes with numerous presets that demonstrate the range of audio warping possible. And did we mention that it's free? (Yes, yes we did.)"

Title link takes you there.

Shadow XTk

What better way to follow up a shot of an orange XTk than with a shot of the Shadow XTk. One of two in existence. Click title link or image for a bigger shot.

And no, it's not mine.

Update: More shots via Axon Vox. Also added these to the title link share.

Waldorf XTk - New Flickr Set

Looks like Carbon111 set up a flickr site and this shot just popped up in my reader. Cool. Title link takes you to the set.

The DMX Files

Title link takes you to The DMX Files, a site dedicated to the Oberheim DMX drum machine.



I recently had a thread going with Ed of dmxkrew. The conversation lead to the Oberheim DMX drum machine. I have an Oberheim DX and that bass drum kicks. It always fascinated me that the DMX kick did not get the same attention as the 808 or 909. Yes the 808 and 909 are analog, but that solid kick in New Order's Blue Monday was a DMX, and it has one hell of a punch. Ed brought up a good point, you can sample a DMX and pretty much get exactly the same sound out, but an 808 or 908 just doesn't come out the same.

Nice Modular

Another shot from softestthing via the comments of this post.

Roland RE-200

Not a synth, but you can run one through it. : ) Just don't see these everyday. Title link takes you to the shots pulled from this auction.

Emergency Services - New Flickr Shot

flickr by мסмסяפаи.

New Moog Specs are Up

In case you missed the update to this post. Title link takes you to the full list on Moog's website. Scroll when you get there.

Pi Sequencer on Voltage Controlled

Too cool. Title link takes you to the post.

My First Step Sequencer

Title link takes you there.



ndc Plugs has released My First Step Sequencer, a simple 16-(or 8-)step sequencer aimed at children. It comes with a shuffle mode and a note randomize button, as well as a scale-forcing control, to make it so that you can only select notes within a particular scale.

The notes are represented by animal heads in the carriage windows, with the velocities being represented by flowers on the carriage doors. The octave can be changed by clicking the body of the engine. A signal at the bottom right is a global mute - setting it down will stop the plugin from outputting MIDI data. The arrow at the bottom left can be used to display a number of advanced options, left to right:

Shuffle.
Number of steps (16 or 8).
Scale: lets you ignore certain notes, to enforce a particular scale.
Notes: Switches between displaying the notes as animal heads, or their actual values.
Random: randomizes the note values.
My First Step Sequencer is available for free as a VST effect plugin for Windows and Mac OS X and it is open source, so the source code is also available.

AHMW 2006

Just a reminder that AHMW 2006 is this Saturday, March 25. Title link takes you to more info.

AHMW 2005

New Moog - Initial Specs Leaked

Update: Moog put up the official specs: http://moogmusic.com/news.php?cat_id=107 (scroll down when you get there).

A spec list was leaked on the Moog forum and posted on AH as follows. Amos of Moog jumped in and stated that the spec list leaked was not complete. We know it's a synth so... Here are some basics sent my way via Dylan. I also saw the specs on AH. So if that list gets to see it, so do you. ; )

-----

It was posted at address (now forbidden) :

http://moogmusic.com/detail.php?main_product_id=3D227

specs for the new synth : "Little Phatty"

Little Phatty Tribute Edition

Here are some specifications:

Sound Sources:
Two ultra-stable analog VCOs.

Sound Modifiers:
VCLPF: 24 dB /Oct Moog Ladder filter,
Overload control
Single Output VCA.

Envelope Generator section:
Two ADSR EGRs:
One to modulate the Filter (Filter EGR)
One to Modulate the VCA (Volume EGR).

For each EGR, the parameters are:

Attack
Decay
Sustain
Release

Modulation section:
4-waveform LFO
1x1 Mod Buss
6 possible mod sources
4 possible destinations.

User Interface section:
Fine Tune (for both Oscillators)
Glide On/Off
Octave Down
Octave Up

Output section:
Master Volume control
Output On/Off switch
Headphone Volume control
Headphone output jack (1/4?

I/O Panel Section:
AC In (100-250VAC, 50-60 Hz)
Power On/Off
Audio Out
Ext. Audio In
Pitch CV In (1 V/Oct)
Filter CV In
Volume CV In
Keyboard Gate In
Midi In
Midi Out

the price was briefly posted as $1479

(info from analogue heaven mailing list btw)

Keep up the good work
dylan

NitroTracker

Another reason to get a Nintendo DS. Title link takes you there.

Sun Ra Interview

An interesting and sometimes humorous interview of Su Ra and his synths (only 2.2M mp3). Some details below posted by elmacaco on AH. BTW, elmacaco is looking for the real scoop behind what happened to Sun Ra's Minimoog Model B prototype. Rumors have it that it was destroyed in a pawn shop fire but then interviews mention it went missing. If you know, please post in the comments.




"Hi everyone,

Well I've been getting kinda deep into Sun Ra since watching Space is the
Place, and have gotten my hands on a few recorded interviews. THis one in
particular is titled "Sun Ra Speaking at Oct. 1971 Rehearsal" and the link
below takes you to where you can download the mp3.

He starts off talking about an analog sequencer, with the lights chasing,
and how you can change the speed, etc. Then he talks about a synth you play
by touching a copper strip instead of keys, and how he couldn't play it
because his skin resistance was different, that he had to wet his fingers to
be able to play it. He says this was produced "around here" and I have
references to Sun Ra rehearsing in Oakland in 1971, So that could place
"Around here" in Buchla or serge range geographicly, but it seems a bit
early for serge. Anyone know anything about this encounter? Perhaps
someone who knows him can ask Don if he knows something about it? I

He also talks about the people at Moog calling him to have him return the
prototype, swap it for a new one, or pay for it :D. He says something about
a lawsuit or something, but he may be building the mystique around the Model
B, since he is talking to his band, and saying that no one has the one he
has, that they just made it for him when he went by there one sunday.

Sorry for all the detail, but the link only lasts a week, so it makes some
good archive info.

I've combed the archives here and in other places, and there doesn't seem to
be a lot of good information on Sun Ra and his instruments. The best I can
piece together about the Fate of the Model B is that it was destroyed in a
pawn shop fire, but in other Sun Ra interviews I see him mention that it
went missing. If anyone knows the real scoop, or just has some more
mythology, please share it.

Even general Sun Ra anecdotes are welcome, as he was a really interesting
guy, but particularly synth related stuff, as there isn't enough of that,
and it's on topic ;')"

elmacaco

Gnostic Rocket Live in Toronto

Update2: Via Doktor Future in the comments:
"Here are some pics of a recent Ambient Ping performance up on this page:

http://www.paulsop.com/gallery/February2006?page=2

(near the bottom)."

Update via Gnostic Rocket in the comments:

"Hey Matrix,

Thanks for the link. There has been a bit of a change to the events planned for next Tuesday.

I will not be performing musically, but will however be featured as one of three "human canvases" who will be painted throughout the planned musical performance."

Note the following is no longer current (see above). Just saving this for posterity.
Gnostic Rocket/Phil Ogison will be performing live Tuesday, March 28th at Ambient Ping (at the Hacienda Night Club) in Toronto Canada.

"The event is part of Ambient Ping, a weekly experimental/ambient music event held at Toronto's Hacienda club (located at 794 Bathurst Street in Toronto - on the northwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst). We will be onstage at around 9:45pm.

I'm thinking about a more atmospheric, and less rhythmically driven set for this show. Will definitely bring the Springboard Dub, Casio CZ1000, Theremin, circuit bent Speak and Math by fastmatt, and probably my lap steel guitar and my Korg X911 guitar synth."

Title link takes you there. Sounds cool. Wish I was near Toronto.

Voltage Controlled

Joshua Greenberg just started Voltage Controlled. His first post is a salute to Music Thing, Create Digital Music, Matrixsynth, and all the others. Definitely honored to be on that list. His first content post is on an auction for a Synthi 100. Title link takes you there. I'm subbed and look forward to see what else comes. I also added Voltage Controlled to my blog roll on the right. Thanks Joshua!

New Buchla 200e Shot

Title link takes you to the full shot on VSE.

New Moog is Most Definitely a Keyboard

Title link takes you to Moog clue #3.

"Taking Shape: Time to Put it Together!

Thanks to everyone for providing superb guesses and creating the most interesting mock-up designs, especially the Sailboat with the cool Moog Voyager Mast. Absolutely brilliant!

Thanks for fueling the overall enjoyment of launching Moog's exciting new product! We still have one more week until the full unveiling at Musik Messe where it will all come together.

We strive to provide everything you have come to expect from Moog while keeping you pleasantly surprised. We will see you in Frankfurt."

drvt - New Flickr Shot

flickr by softestthing. Cool shot.