New XPander Sides by James R. Coplin

Via James R. Coplin on AH:
"I have been annoyed that my Xpander has to sit flat and takes up a bunch of
valuable horizontal surface in my studio. I do have extra vertical space so
I though it would be great to make some new sides for the Xpander so that it
could "stand up".

You can see the results here:

http://www.ticalun.net/Music/Xpander_up.jpg

Works perfectly! I made mine out of 1/4 sawn white oak and finished with a
Mission style / Stickley finish. The color is pretty much exact to my
original sides. The stainless screws are just temporary until the black
hardware arrives!

http://www.ticalun.net/Music/Xpander_side.jpg

Since I know people are going to ask, yes I will make these for folks and
they are super easy to install. The price is $75 plus shipping for standard
hardwood (oak, maple, etc.). If you want some funky colors, it's not a
problem but will run an additional $16 for the dye. You can see the
available color options at:

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

The color on mine is the Dark Mission Brown. The red desk you see in the
picture is the Bright Red dye.

This is not a chump finish either, it is a traditional oil finish with hand
cut shellac and a hand oil rub out. The look and feel is silky and perfect.

I can make these out of more exotic or highly figured wood as pretty much
anything is available to me but expect about a $25 additional charge
depending on the wood you are interested in. I can also make standard
Xpander sides if you just want to spice up your Xpander or replace a beat
set on your current. The price is the same as there isn't much less wood
and most of the cost is in the labor. I can also make sides for any other
synth you would want, just get in touch with me. Thanks!

James R. Coplin"

Gameboy Advance MIDI Interface

Title link takes you to the post on hackaday. Via underface.

Apple II Synth Editors

"For some screen shots of Apple II editors for the Chroma see:

http://www.rhodeschroma.com/?id=apple"

Dave Smith Instruments Factory Tour

Click image to launch video or title link to get to same on YouTube.
Also worth checking out: Is Dave Smith a Performing Musician.

Roland TR-505 Bends

Title link takes you there.
Via GetLoFi.

The ERWIK Matrix 12 Filtermodule

Features:

2 Audio inputs
2 VCA´s adjusting the input signals (manual or with CV)
Filter "cutoff" and "Q" controllable manual or with CV
1 VCA controlling the output signal (manual or with CV)
Filtertype can be selected manual or with trigger at input "UP" & "DOWN"

Very limited edition (12 )

Software:

Switching on your system you can choose between 4 different modes.

1. No button pressed - normal function.
2. Downbutton pressed - rotating filtertable.
3. Uppbutton pressed - faster triggering/swithing filtermode.
4. Both buttons pressed- rotating filtertable as well as faster triggering/swithing filtermode.

The display gives an indication of 'r' or 't' as well as both.

Filters:

1 pole Low
2 pole Low
3 pole Low
4 pole Low
1 pole High
2 pole High
3 pole High
2 pole Band
4 pole Band
2 pole Notch
3 pole Phase
2 pole High + 1 pole Low
3 pole High + 1 pole Low
2 pole Notch + 1 pole Low
3 pole Phase + 1 pole Low

Siel Brochures

Title link takes you there.

Anthony Pateras

Title link takes you to audio.
That looks like a Synthi to me.

Yamaha Electone "Synths"

Video of the Yamaha D-80 by Mattias. I always seem to forget that some of the Yamaha Electone home organs had synth sections and with the D-80, an arpeggiator as well.

Frank who is an Electone enthusiast posted the following on AH and gave me the ok to put it up here:

"I've got the 415: image

which is probably the last of their analogue spinet organs.

Very cool machine. The solo synth on mine sounds very SY-1 or SY-2'ish. You can have pitch and/or filter mod with left-to-right wiggling of the solo section keys too. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it can be pretty expressive.

The strings, with soft attack and longer release, through the synphonic ensemble (BBD ensemble) or the rotary speaker (!) can be very pleasant.

Jeff Koepper tried mine a couple of weeks ago and got all sorts of cool un-home-organ-like things out of it.

Yamaha made a whole bunch of these kinds of miniature three manual organs with solo synths in them. Earliest is probably the DK-40, then at least there was the D-80, D-85 and 415. The D-85 and 415 seem to be nearly identical, feature wise.

The DK-40 is technologically not too distant from the earliest group of Yamaha analogue organs, and I suspect it shares similar circuitry to the YC series of organs.

Also, the DK-40 has a 'fourth' manual, in the form of a separate 'portamento' synth, which is played from a ribbon controller to the left of the solo synth keys. You can just barely see it in this image the green tabs control the portamento ribbon, which extends right in front of them.

I kid myself that the 415 is sorta like a cut down EX-1. It isn't really, but it's fun to pretend, and I don't anticipate ever owning an EX-1, for a number of reasons! :-)

Frank
Electone enthusiast"

Update via buckystoppz in the comments:
"I also have the 415 and use it to death! People are sleeping on these, I got it for $120 on eBay locally. They were about $8000 new in the early eighties."

DBX Subharmonic Synthesizer

"THE BASS IS BACK. The disco boom of the 70's was fueled by the throbbing bass beat of dbx® Subharmonic Synthesizers in discos around the world. During the 80's, patented dbx Subharmonic Synthesis was the secret weapon used by mobile DJ's and film and sound professionals to produce an impact unavailable from any other device-unique because the dbx process actually produces a new, Waveform Modeled bass note, exactly an octave below the bass in the original audio.

THE PROFESSIONAL SOLUTION. The dbx 120XP Subharmonic Synthesizer has been specially optimized by dbx engineers for the needs of audio professionals. Its two separate bands of bass synthesis provide the best combination of smoothness and control, and the independent Low Frequency Boost circuit is designed to get the most out of high-performance low frequency speaker systems.

Flexible system interfacing is achieved by providing main outputs which can be full range (including synthesis) or high frequency only, along with a separate subwoofer output with its own level control.

PUT THE BEAT BACK INTO THE MUSIC. The 120XP's patented subharmonic synthesis process actually builds the synthesized waveform using the waveshape of the original bass material. Unlike other attempts at bass synthesis, the dbx process produces smooth, musical low frequencies that don't interfere with mid and high-band information, even when maximum synthesis and boost are applied. The result is a low-end punch that people really feel, even at system levels that won't destroy sound equipment or damage hearing."

Title link takes you to the DBX page on the 120XP. These are discontinued.

Arturia Releases Analog Factory

Looks like Arturia is coming out with a preset bundle featuring it's line of soft synths. What's interesting is that you will be able to tweak common paramaters. You can see cutoff, resonance, LFO, Chorus, Delay, ENV and four "Key Paramaters" in the screen shot. There is also 8 buttons that correspond to patch memories for your tweaks. Via Sonic State News. I didn't see anything on Arturia's site as of this post.

Details:
-2000 analog synthesizers sounds that have defined the sound of modern music.
-Presets all carefully selected from the Arturia Classic Synths (minimoog V, Moog Modular V, CS-80V, ARP 2600 V, Prophet V and Prophet VS). These TAE® powered sounds offer unparalleled audio quality.
-Smart Preset Manager: fast filter the presets by Instrument, by Type (Bass, Pads, Leads…) and/or by Characteristics (hard, soft, complex, simple, short, long…).
Organize Presets view by Name, Instrument, Type, CPU usage, Favorites, or User Presets.
-Straightforward Editing, with the most essential parameters for personalizing presets: (Filter and LFO sections, 4 Key Parameters differing for each preset, Chorus & Delay mix, ADSR envelope)
-8 SNAPSHOTS buttons (quickly store up to 8 snapshots for sound comparisons, variations…)
-Integrates as a plug-in within your sequencer, on Mac and PC, or plays as a standalone software synthesizer.
-Optimization of the screen space: possibility to view the Preset Manager only, the Keyboard only, or both at the same time.
-Set to Control with the external MIDI keyboard in just a few clicks.
Up to 32 voices of polyphony, depending on the preset loaded.

Happy Birthday Bob Moog - 1979

Via Brandon Daniel.

Full page ad from a 1979 issue of Contemporary Keyboard magazine.

Happy Birthday Robert A Moog via the electro-music.com forum

Title link takes you there. Looks like the poster picked the Wendy Carlos portrait as well.

Happy Birthday, Bob Moog via CDM

Title link takes you to the post on Create Digital Music.

Thanks Bob - Mark Pulver

Couldn't think of a better day to put up another post on Mark Pulver's tattoo tribute to bob. Mark sent this in with birthday wishes to AH. If you blow it up you can see a message that reads, "Thanks Bob." Title link takes you to more. BTW, if you have anything you want to send in tribute to Bob, send it in - email link is always on the bottom right column. This will be a Moog only day.

Bob Moog Portrait by Wendy Carlos - Happy Birthday Bob

Today would have been Bob Moog's 72nd birthday. I've been waiting to put this shot up. A portrait by none other than the woman who possibly started it all, Wendy Carlos.

Happy Birthday Bob. Thanks for everything.

Caring Bridge
Moog on Wikipedia
Big Briar
Moog Music
Wendy on Wikipedia

X-Station Faders - New Flickr Shot

flickr by Daragh.

Roland System 100 - New Flickr Shots

flickr by mixdelayoutonly. Yep.... Title link takes you to more.

Hmm... Might have put this post up too soon. I subscribe to a couple of flickr feeds and got to the shot above first, so it went up and it will stay. However there are some really nice gear shots in the set as well, such as this shot of a Jupiter 6. The gear in the shots are immaculate - some of the cleanest I've seen. Title link has been updated to bring you to the start of the set.

Melbourne, Australia DIY Modular Synth Builders unite

For those of you in Australia, Ross Healy asked me to post the following. Sounds like a great idea.

"Melbourne, Australia DIY Modular Synth Builders unite

In the Spirit of the 60's Modular synth builders....

Modular Synths cost way too much for Australians to import (I know I
just bought a 5 panel Serge Modular Synth) so kits seem to be the best
option, but for a noobie to solder and build here is an idea...

This idea came from *Serge Tcherepnin and the 60's spirit.

I have a classroom in the centre of town that we could use on 1
Saturday a month to get together and build modular kits. W*e would all
buy the same board and parts ( say of a Ken Stone - Low Pass Filter) and
build it all on the same day, this would enable people with no knowledge
to be next to people with no knowledge and in the process have fun.

I am collecting names of people who are interested, I am hoping to get
10 - 15 people max interested (already have 5 people, all you need to do
is get involved in the spirit ..., pay nothing except for the Board,
parts, and your own solder etc. and come along..

Contact Ross Healy healyr@tpg.com.au and I will start to get the ball
rolling."

Juno 106 Replacement ICs

There is finally hope for the dreaded failed voice of the Roland Juno 106. Someone has cloned the chip.

Click here for the official page on the chips with more info and how to get them. They are also up for auction here.

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? These might be great for a DIY project or a new synth.

Details:
"The most common problem with juno-106's is one or more of the voices going dead or that keep hanging. The problem is the poorly manufactured A1QH800170 or A1QH80017A custom vcf and vca ic. Since these ic's are no longer manufactured and roland has no spares for them anymore, we are forced to scrap other 106's for spares. Which is not a good idea because every single one of these ic's will die. Therefore I did some research on those ic's.
First I designed a vca clone, that only took over the vca of the 80017A, but still used the vcf part (if that was still alive). This design was completed at the end of 2003. Numerous of these ones have been sold and installed to great succes in juno's worldwide.
After that I continued my research on this ic with the goal of designing a full clone of it. This was a particulary hard job because only little is known about the intestines of this ic: only the rough outlines which are displayed in the juno-106 service manuals and the little info that is available on the IR3109 and how it is used. It took no less then 6 restarts from scratch until I had a prototype of which I thought that it was on the right track. The bigest problem was the creation of an exponential current source that has the same error and temperature tracking as the one inside the IR3109 (of which no one knows how it was built). When this problem was solved (about nov 2004) I could start doing signal analysis on both an opened 80017A and my design to adjust gain levels so that the non-linearities (tanh) of each stage were the same(summer of 2005). After that I designed a smd prototype for further testing which surfaced more problems: strange behaviour with resonance at very high and low frequencies, which were all solved by the end of 2005. At this moment I was unable to measure nor hear any difference between the original and the clone. After that I built some more prototypes and installed these in 4 different juno's owned by different people. These have been in test for several months now and none of these people were able to tell which voice had the clone.
After that only minor changes (pcb-design)were done until the final design which is now (may 2006) for sale:

summary:
-Designed and built to the highest standard.
-No measurable nor audible difference with the original. I'm very serious about this and I'm well aware that my clone is the only one which sounds right.
-All integrated components are in mass-production by more than one manufacturer and have been available for over a decade. Thus have a proven reliability and are easy optainable(in the very unlikely event of failure).
-Used discretes are close tollerance and high quality (capacitors are the infamous panasonic stacked pps film ones)
-very high quality pcb.
-Installation is straightforward: remove the defective 80017A , replace it with my clone and re-adjust your juno as described in the service manual. (please do not ask me how to do this. I simply do not have the time to give electronics lessons. If you don't have the knowledge: consult your local synth-geek)"

Serge Modualr Synthesizer Prototype - New Flickr Set

flickr by wayneandwax. Title link takes you to more.

Listen Tu Compiuters

Ok, this one took me a bit to figure out. This originally was going to be a New Flickr Shot post for this. I was wondering if this unit actually existed because it looks pretty sweet in red. I then clicked the all sizes link to get a bigger shot of the image so I could read the text. It read more like a graphics design technique on placing text. So I think, ok this is just someone's photoshopped work for a design class or the like. Then I click on the link to www.compiuters.com at the bottom of the flickr shot. I get there and I see what looks like an interactive large scale version of this keyboard. Some music starts playing and I click a key, but nothing. So... I'm thinking this is a work in progress and eventually it'll be playable. Cool! I then notice the player controls and click the forward button. Nothing. I go about my browsing wondering if I should even post this and a few minutes later music starts playing but this time it's actually a song! And... It's actually interesting - catchy, geeky, computer, synth pop in Spanish (actually one track reminds me of "Bust a Move" and another reminds me of Bow Bow Wow for some reason). Catchy stuff. So at this point I'm obviously guessing this is a band's site. Pretty clever considering how I found it through flickr as a synth tagged shot. If you know more about them and/or if that's a real Casio product feel free to comment.

Polyfusion - New Flickr Shot

More great scans by bdu. Title link takes you to more including one for the Oberheim OB-X. Click on the All Sizes link on top of each shot to get to a bigger image.

JSH Pro Rhythm Drum Synt SD1

Shot pulled from this auction.

Details:

"For more pictures and SOUND SAMPLES go to here.

This drum synth sounds AMAZING - check out the samples at the link above.

The synth section has two oscillators, multi mode resonant filter, LFO, ring modulator, two envelope sections and an amazingly versatile architecture allowing the creation of sounds that most analogue synths could not manage.

Better still the drum pad is VELOCITY sensitive so the sound, filter, pitch, etc can change depending how hard you hit the pad!!

The controls are as follows:

VCO 1 (oscillator) - Frequency, Switch (square wave/noise/ring mod)
VCF (filter) - Frequency, Switch (low pass/band pass/high pass), Resonance
VCO 2 (oscillator) - Frequency, Switch (LFO/OFF/saw), Modulation amount (routable to VCO1 and VCF).
SWEEP (envelope section) - Switch (VCO1/both/VCO2),VCO (amount envelope modulates pitch of selected oscillator - allows positive and negative), VCF (envelope mod of VCF), Decay.
VCA - Decay, Volume.

10 knobs and 4 switches.

The architecture and modulation possibilities make for a very versatile unit that can produce sounds from the usual space drum to Kraftwerk snares, Kicks, hats and metal sounds (thanks to ring mod). Also the bass sounds are amazing and really unusual - great for sampling to allow accurate pitch control - or "play" the Frequency knob."

Electronic Latin Love - New Flickr Shot

flickr by AdamVandenberg.

Synthi AKS Vids on YouTube

Via Des choses et d'autres. The following was translated from the post via Google translator:
"Here five vidéos here of Ems Synthi Aks, truth, which was posted by Cores303, a happy owner of this superb synthetizer. It has just carried out very different sequences, showing the possibilities of this sonic instrument. Moreover, obviously, its Ems Synthi Aks was modified. "

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Click each image to launch video.

Udpate via deb7680:
"Here are the modifications of the Ems :
It possesses all the modifications proposed by EMS in the 70s: - modif. on the reverb - modif. on the envellope cad that we can activate(start) a sequence by pressing on the red button - inversion of tensions: with 4 reversers, the sound is to play has to, exellent for news(short stories) sound creations –
- Synchronization 3 oscillateurs which allows to controler chaqun of them independently, this modif. allows to create sounds very complex impossible with a normal aks - modif. on the forms of waves in particular on the third to oscillateur which allows to explode the sound - finally, great pleasure, The aks is entirement CV and Gate, cad that it is completely midi via a kenton kit kind(genre) pro solo or pro on 2000."

Also check out this post.

Des choses et d'autres - New Video Blog by deb8076

deb8076 of Chroniques de la Mao just launched a new blog, Des choses et d'autres, which will feature videos. So far he has a performance by Soft Machine and some killer Synthi AKS videos on YouTube. I'll be putting up a post on the Synthi vids with tomorrow's set of posts in a bit, but if you want to see them before then, check out deb8076's new blog. Via deb8076 in the comments of this post.

Warning - Hongkongsupersellers

I've been hearing a lot of bad things about hongkongsupersellers, suppliers of ICs and other parts. Title link takes you to the latest on GetLoFi. Here's a bit from somone on AH who wishes to remain anonymous. Consider yourself warned. Chipsforbrains on the other hand is apparently all good.

"This guy sells a lot of out-of-production IC's on E-bay, I've seen him offer SSM filter chips & 4096-stage BBD IC's. The latter is what I got screwed on, it seems he's selling counterfeit (knock-off's) MN3005 & MN3205's........what I got was a 2048-stage BBD (still in production & cheap to buy) that had been relabled as a MN3205 (discontinued). What's worse, I've let him know they are counterfeits & about to send 'em back for a refund, but he is still selling them....so he's got no scrupples.

Both the MN3205 & MN3005's look fake comparing them to the panasonic chips I've got & Chip4brains stock. He's sold a bunch of them already (in sets of 10), so I'm sure a lot of folks are gonna be pissd off."

Kelly Osbourne Synth Tattoo?

According to Music Thing, Kelly Ozbournes has this synth tattoo. Title link takes you to the post. Hmm... Someone tell her about my blog! : )

Rudiger Lorenz

loran modular
formant modular
terzvocoder
analog sequencer
frequency shifter

Title link takes you there.

ELP Tribute: Modular Sunth - New Flickr Shot

flickr by poligraf.

Dewanatron Birdhouse

Two shots of the Dewanatron pulled from this electro-music.com post, which came from the Dewanatron site. I bet Thomas Dolby would like these.

Title link takes you to Dewanatron.

"Dewanatron: a family of instruments which hazard unpredictable behaviors and self playing tendencies. They make all previous and future instruments obsolete."

Modded Roland TR-606

Via mono-poly in the comments of this post.

"I got a modification done with my tr-606 and i am really happy with it.
My 606 got now trigger outputs for all sounds. And trigger leds to show witch chanels get triggerd. Now the days i use the 606 most times to clock my analogue sequencers and other stuff witch use trigger sources. It also got the the modification wit the noise output from the hihat circuit i am really happy with it!

link

There i am using it to controll a wiard sequantizer and vco i just got. and made quickly a little demo with it.

Here are some pics of just the 606
link
I am really thinking about another one because i could use more 5 volt triggers. And perhaps i want a module to control the gate time."

Update via Rogo in the comments:
"Check out http://www.numberofthebeast.org/ as well. Julian is a very nice guy and his mods are awesome"

I also put up a post a bit ago here.

Tanz Dandy - A6 Demo

Title link takes you there. Via this post on HC.

"SFX Pro, Space Designer were accomplices."

DJ Shakey on One Blue Monkey

Some Ableton Live action via the Warper Party. Title link takes you to the video on One Blue Monkey.

Ableton Live rules for live play.

The First ARP 2500

You are looking at the first ARP 2500. It's home is at the New England Synthesizer Museum in Nashua, New Hampshire. I was fortunate enough to actually see it in person a couple of years ago. It was an amazing experience, standing in front of it, realizing what it is. I took a few shots including this one. Title link will take you to them including a much larger version of this one. Also note the SYNTHE license plate on top. : )

What is just as amazing is how Dave Hillel Wilson, the curator of the museum, acquired it. There are amazing deals and then there is this... But don't feel to bad, as you will see, somehow karma has a way of balancing things, but somehow I think Dave still came out ahead. : )

"Many years ago a man tried to sell an ARP 2500 to Daddy's Junky Music in Nashua, New Hampshire. They didn't want it, so they referred him to me. I looked at it and was afraid to offer too little; I offered $500 US. He was expecting to get $50 for it, so he was so happy he threw in his gray meanie 2600 as well. Later Alan R. Pearlman confirmed that this 2500 was the first ever made.

Best purchase I didn't make - I looked at a Buchla Music Easel (before I knew much, but after I thought I new everything) and said it wasn't as good as an ARP Axxe. The guy offered it to me for $400 US dollars and I said no. Boy have I made some stupid mistakes in my lifetime!! (Some guy bought it for 400, turned right around and sold it to a dealer for $1200, who sold it to someone in Europe for $2400, so it's long gone)."

- David Hillel Wilson
Curator
New England Synthesizer Museum
_DWilSynth[]aol.com
_www.synthmuseum.com/nesm

Update: a few more pics below. Note David Hillel Wilson passed away in 2010.

MPC Shots and Sample

Title link takes you to more shots including some gorgeous shots of an EDP Wasp, Serge and more. He even has one of these! : ) You can find a 4.6M mp3 here. Via Dennis Vershoor. Thank you Dennis!

More on the MPC.

The History of Roland on SOS

Title link takes you to Part 1 of a four part series. Roland was founded by Ikutaro Kakehasi. Something tells me James of Retro Thing will appreciate the following. : )

"Born in 1930, Ikutaro Kakehashi was just two years old when his parents died from tuberculosis, and he spent much of his youth living in Osaka under martial law. He studied mechanical engineering and simultaneously worked as a schoolboy worker in the Hitachi shipyards where Japan's 'midget' suicide submarines were built. As a result, he witnessed a great deal of destruction in the last months of the war.

Once World War II was over, and after failing on health grounds to enter the city's university in 1946, Kakehashi moved to the southernmost of Japan's four major islands, Kyushu. This offered a far more rural existence and, to survive, he took a day job as a geographical survey assistant. But, at just 16 years old, he noticed that, with no watch or clock industry in post-war Japan, there was a thriving business to be had repairing existing timepieces. He was unaware of it at the time, but a chap named Torakusu Yamaha had also started out as a watch repairer, as had Matthias Hohner. Even the Hammond Organ Company started out as a sub-division of the Hammond Clock Company!"

Update via the comments:
"Mr Kakehashi is a very nice man.
He will give you his full attention and fully listen to you without interruption.
He visited Roland US once when I worked there (mid '80s) and I was shocked to find that he took the time to sit with me and go over things I found in error with some Roland products.
He even took notes.
Consider that. The president of a huge international company actually listening to a lowly repair tech.
This is part of why he's successful.
He has very little ego and loves music."

Vyonich Yamaha CS10 Sample

Title link takes you to a sample of a Yamaha CS10 monosynth with an extra OSC modded, being driven by a Roland EF-303 through a Kenton Pro Solo MIDI to CV converter. Via Chris Strellis' Vyonich.

Robert Rich Review and Shots

Title link takes you there. Link to photo set is in the box on the top left when you get there.

Analog Revolution - The Sound of the Century

"This is the story of the synthesizer, the entirely new class of instrument born out of the technological tumult of the 20th century. It had a revolutionary impact on the sound of the century, crossing all musical genres on the way. We hear how artists as diverse as Pink Floyd, Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock, and Doctor Who's Tristram Cary took to Bob Moog's invention with fervour, weaving it into the cultural fabric and popular psyche." Title link takes you there.

Update via the comments:

"I posted this on the analogue haven list yesterday. Hope everyone enjoys...don't forget part 2, it's called Transformer, and it should be up within the next few days."

sequential circuits pro five - New Flickr Shot

flickr by windupgodzilla.

One Blue Monkey Adds RSS

Awesome. I'm subbed. Title link takes you there. Look for the orange RSS icon up top for the feed. I also added the link to my blog roll on the right.

Studio 303 Roland MC202 Samples

Title link takes you there. Some beefy samples. The MC202 sounds goooood.

Vangelis Video on DVDBorn

Title link takes you there.

Popol Vuh Beat Club 1971

Click image to launch. Via nx.

"It's time to freak out with some glacial soundscapes from Popol Vuh (florian) on the beat club television show, 1971"

Update via james in the comments:

"Very nice. Sadly, Florian Fricke passed away in late December, 2001.

Here's one of the few interviews you're likely to find:

http://www.eurock.com/features/florian.aspx"

Update via James Anderson in the comments:
"just to let others know...

a bunch of popol vuh's cds,
mainly soundtracks I believe, have been re-released on the cd format in the past couple of weeks.

I work at a record store and have wanted to know what it sounded like. thanks Matrix! "

You're welcome! BTW, to my surprise Yahoo! Unlimitted actually has them including their early stuff. I'm listening to it now. I love Yahoo! Unlimitted. I pay 5 bucks a month and get access to all this stuff. And no, I have no affiliation with them. I just like the service and don't want it to go away. : ) They have 19 Popol Vuh CDs. These alone would pay for the subscription. Think about that... I also get to check out Christopher Randall's music of Analog Industries (Sister Machine Gun and Micronaut)! Alright, off of my soapbox.

Mike Walters' Geeky License Plate

Mike Walters' of Mystery Circuits sent this shot of his Polymoog license plate in. Nice! I'd be honking my ass off if I saw that driving down the street. : )

Korg Sigma - New Flickr Shot

Another great shot by SkullKid.

Japan on YouTube

Japan Promo Video - Life In Tokyo
Japan - Quiet Life
Japan - Gentlemen Take Poloroids
Japan Quiet Life 1981
Japan - Cantonese Boy (Live)

via Micke in this VSE post.

Shimmer - Synthesizers.com Demo

Via Andrew of bleepsandbloops, "Here's a little demo I made with my Synthesizers.com setup. It's pretty minimal right now - just two oscs, noise unit, one envelope, one filter, one multiple, one amp - but I've already been able to do a bunch with it."

Title link takes you to a 2.84M MP3.