The Stylophone

Hmm... Move over Buchla Multi-Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port. I want one of these. I think I need to hit the local Value Villages again. Maybe I'll find a Thunder sitting with the toasters. Remember, always check the toaster section.

Tite link takes you to more on the Stylophone on Retro Thing.

Update via the comments: "I have two of the little buggers, one black and one white. The main difference, apart from the color, is that the white one is an octave higher than the black one."

Update2 via solipsistnation in the comments: "There are a few versions, actually. I had a black one, a white one, and a woodtone one, and the black was an octave lower and the woodtone had a slightly different timbre from either. It's a really simple little circuit, and it went through a bunch of iterations. Each version is slightly different.

I bought 2 of mine from this guy, and I highly recommend his refurbished Stylophones:

http://www.stylophone.co.uk/

Plus he has loads of info. Check out the 350S!"

RSF Kobol Schematics

Title link takes you to them. Via synth ollie.

Ion Shadows - New Flickr Shots

Flickr by NoNightSweats. These are shots of PhilT's setup. Title link takes you to more including an ARP Odyssey.

PhilT's sites:
sydney post-punk
a slow rip

Moog Factory - New Flickr Shots

flicky by minimoog7000. Title link takes you to more.

Update. This top shot is the prototype Voyager shown in Winter NAMM 2000: link.

Aliens Project Happy Knobbing 2006 Shots

Title link takes you there. Click on the "zu den Bildern.." link to get to the gallery. Via sequencer.de.

Rob Papen's Albino 3 Released

"There are loads of amazing new creative features added like the two new filters "Scream" and "Comb"; four FX units with new FX like LoFi and WahWah; a Compressor and an improved Reverb. But the biggest new feature is that you can layer up to four instances of Albino in one single preset!"

Title link takes you to more info.

Sonic State Podcasts

I didn't realise Sonic State started doing podcasts. The second one just came out. Title link takes you to there. There's a link to the first one at the bottom of the page.

"Our second round-table discussion once again with Andy Jones and Dave Spiers ranges in topics from monitor choice – Dave have just bought a pair of ADAM monitors and wants a Roland D50, Andy wants something like the Lemur polyphonic touchscreen but not quite and the best and worst of Ebay. We also talk of Imgoen Heap, Thomas Dolby, Russian synths, EML Polybox, Daves enormous synth collection, the Optigon and a few grumpy words on ringtones and more."

New Source of Inspiration

This one in via Paul. A new kid introduced to the world of synths. : ) Just make sure to keep those volume levels low. Hmm... That's one nice pillow. Title link takes you to more gear shots. Thanks Paul!

NI Traktor MIDI controller - New Flickr Shots

flickr by fibra. Title link takes you to more.

Keith Emerson Band at Ramshead Tavern - New Flickr Shots

flickr by gerenm. Title link takes you to more.

Solvent Bunnies 300 - New Flickr Shot

flickr by burnlab.

Update: Link to Burnlab.

Update2: One more Solvent flyer via Deathlab featuring Solvent and a synth below. Anyone know what that is? Tip via gerald in the comments.

A King with a Polivoks - New Flickr Shot

flickr by polaranta. Gotta love WC Olo Garb.

Prophet64 First Impressions and Knob Mod on GetLoFi

Title link takes you there.

Hiromi (上原ひろみ) - Kung-Fu World Champion

Awesome. Ever since I saw Hiromi featured in Keyboard Magazine, I've been meaning to check her out, but never seem to get a chance. Create Digital Music put up a post with a link to this video. It features a Nord Lead 2. Title link takes you to the post on CDM with more info and links on Hiromi. Great stuff.

Moogerfoogers - New Flickr Shots

flickr by chaircrusher. Click here for more.

Upate via chaircrusher in the comments:
"The band in question is called Blizzards of Wizzards, and they're kind of post-rock-esque.
Anyone with a free flickr account can log in and look at larger sizes...
For the record, the guitar setup comprised:
EH Linear Power Booster
EH Microsynth
Roland CV Pedal
Moogerfooger Lowpass
Moogerfooger 12 Stage Phaser
Moogerfooger Ring Mod
Moogerfooger Analog Delay
2nd Roland CV Pedal
Ibanez Analog Delay
Moogerfooger Control Processor
He had a pretty expensive amp as well -- a Mesa Boogie IIRC.
There are a couple of pics of the keyboardist in the set, I didn't take any gear geek pics though. He had a JX3P (with the knob box) a Wurlitzer Electric Piano, and one of the Yamaha CS series keyboards."

EAR on YouTube

celebrity custom rig test 1


celebrity custom rig test 2


celebrity custom rig test 3


celebrity custom rig test 4


celebrity custom rig test 5


celebrity custom rig test 6


Initial testing and burn in of the EAR Performance Synth. FSOL in the background in Test 3. Title link takes you to the set on YouTube..

Update: Try launching each video in a row above for some fun modular multi-tracking. Click the Play icons to launch each.

Joe's Modular Synthesizer Video

I previously posted on Joe's Modular Synthesizer site, but either I missed the video or it's been added since I last posted. It's pretty amazing. Title link takes you there.

EAR Performance System

Remember this post? Title link takes you to shots of the EAR Performance System debuted by NIN.

Catgirl Synth

I previously posted on Ken Stone's Catgirl Synth (CGS). I was reading the Analog Renaissance article by Electronic Musician and noticed that CGS was featured along with this shot. Now that would be one cool module to have in your modular. I couldn't find a higher res shot, so if you find one please comment and I'll update the post with it. Title link takes you to the CGS site.

Rockets-Ideomatic (Live)

Features an EDP Wasp. Via Dennis Verschoor (gear, music)
Update via sneakthief in the comments: "one of the "doctors" is playing the EDP Spider sequencer that goes along with the wasp. heheh." Nice, I was wondering what that was.
Update via the comments: "they also play the EH mini synthesizer. Cool stuff, i've always loved The rockets - even when Sal Solo from Classix Nouveaux became the singer" and "...and of course the simmons sds-v drum set :-D"

Analog Renaissance on Electronic Musician Online

Click here for an 861kb pdf of the Analog Renaissance article in Electronic Musician. The article features the Cyndustries ZeroOscillator, pictured.

Via John Loffnick on the Cyndustries mailing list. You might recognize John Loffnick of The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site and The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site.

BTW, I love it when magazines put full articles online. Thank you Electronic Musician.

The Appreciation Post

This one in via Roger Lussier of The Appreciation Post.

"I play moog synthesizers for Boston indie-rock superstars The Appreciation Post. We're getting quite a following up and down the east coast.

I play a Moog Source and a Realistic MG-1 and the pure analog sound just can not be beat. Our singer also used a Sonic Six (which he has since sold) to record a cover of rod stewarts "some guys have all the luck" which you can hear on our Purevolume page. Every sound except vocals was made by the sonic six, even the 'drums.' So, check it out, tell me what you think."

I did and I think I like it. : ) BTW, before I get bombarded with MySpace sites, I only put stuff up that has something interesting about a particular synth or synths. In this case there were two things - the shot and a track featuring nothing but a Sonic Six. It's always a cool surprise when I like the music as well. Thanks Roger.

Yamaha CS60 on Synthwire

Looks like Carbon111 got his Yamaha CS60. Title link takes you to the post on Synthwire including more shots. I'm looking forward to the samples.

Arturia's Analog Factory Demo Online

Just saw this one on One Blue Monkey. Title link takes you to the demo download page. The best thing? No dongle required. Thank you Arturia.

My Doepfer A-100 - New Flickr Shot

flickr by Luca Capozzi. Serge VCS in there as well. Note this is not my A-100, it's Luca's, although I am thinking about one... : )

Update via Luca in the comments:
"ehehe i'm glad you like it :) check also my new entries on YouTube here. Whole A-100 test video here."

Excellent. And I almost didn't post this one because I thought I had too many Flickr shots going up. You never know what you might find. Thanks Luca!

Korg Electribe ER-1 - New Flickr Shots

flickr by Ethan Callender. Title link takes you to more. I love how clean and light these shots look.

Simultaneously Playing Two Waveforms on an MS10?

David of DVDBorn, posted this one on AH, but no one replied. If you have an MS10, MS20, or MS50 feel free to comment. I don't so I couldn't check myself.

"I never saw this mentioned before. I found out that it's possible to use 2 waveforms simultaneously with the MS10.

It needs a bit of finesse but it will work. You'll have to place the Waveform selector switch in between 2 waveforms. There's a sweet spot in there where you'll hear the 2 waveforms at the same time. This means that you can have triangle + Saw, Saw + PWM or PWM + Noise.

The Saw + PWM setting is quite beefy for bass sounds.

I guess this will also apply to the MS20 and MS50.

David
http://dvdborn.blogspot.com"

A6 Banker

Patch Bank Software for the Andromeda A6.

Send and receive:
individual Programs and Programs Banks
individual Mixes and Mix Banks
Global data dumps
Rename new in version 1.40:
individual Programs and Programs Banks
individual Mixes and Mix Banks
Split new in version 1.40:
Programs Banks
Mix Banks
Initialize Mix with user-definable defaults new in version 1.40
XP Themes supported new in version 1.40
Read and write standard SysEx files
Easy to use

Title link takes you there.

Moog Updates

A couple of bits from the June 19th Moog News Letter.

-New Little Phatty Samples are up: link.
-The Little Phatty goes into production on July 19. Hand built.
- Wendy Carlos' Switched on Bach Honored by the Library of Congress - Librarian of Congress names 50 recordings to the 2005 National Recording Registry including Switched on Bach: "'This meticulously recorded album introduced the Moog synthesizer to a much wider audience than it had previously reached. Many of the separate synthesizer voices on the album were recorded to tape individually and carefully mixed to create the final product. After the recording, Bob Moog’s musical circuitry enjoyed an enormous boom. Within a decade the synthesizer was well established in the idioms of rock music, dance music and Western art music. Wendy Carlos went on to record several more well-crafted Bach recordings.'"

For those of you in New York this Wednesday, here's your chance to see a Little Phatty before anyone else:
"6/21/2006 5:00:00 PM - 6/21/2006 6:00:00 PM

Sam Ash and Moog Music cordially invite you to attend a special demonstration of Moog products by Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, accomplished solo artist) and Roger O'Donnell (Formerly of the Cure and now with a new solo album, The Truth in Me).

The demonstration will include the latest new product from Moog Music, the Little Phatty Analog Synthesizer. This will be the first in-store demonstration of this soon-to-be released product.

For more info, contact Sam Ash.

Download Map."

Also:
"Moog Music has introduced a new photo gallery called Uniquely Moog: A Pictorial Journey. To be supplied by Moog subscriber submissions, we hope that it will grow quickly. Send in your photos to help build up the gallery. We are looking for creative images with the only prerequisite being that are Moog-centric. Take a look at a few current examples. Please send images to jared[]moogmusic.com"

And finally:
"The Lothars will headline the Saturday night concert, August 5, 2006.

Well respected in the theremin community, the Lothars promise to entertain. We are very excited to bring them to Asheville.

For more information about them, check out their website- The Lothars.

Most importantly, visit Moog Music to read more about this event and register today!"

Devine Machine

"Born from the ideas of two music professionals who were unsatisfied with the current loop software, Devine Machine VSTi allows you to spontaneously and effortlessly explore the possibilities from loops you already own.



Hundreds of presets allow you to create variation on any loop with a single click. Drum mode allows you to have loops match precisely with independant control over groove, tempo, and score."

Via Doktor Future in the comments of this post. They also make Minion, previously posted here.

Glitch

"Glitch chops up your audio in real-time and applies a variety of effects which can either be chosen at random, manually sequenced, or a mixture of both. The sounds it generates range from quite subtle to extremely bizarre, depending on how much you tweak the controls." Title link takes you to more info and samples.

Yamaha FVX-1

8-Operator FM synthesizer that seems to use 12-bit D/A

More on the Yamaha FVX-1 in German and Google translated. Also on 120 Years: "YAMAHA used FM synthesis in their Electones, too. HX electones and FVX-1 module were 8-Operator FM synthesizer that seems to use 12-bit D/A, and it could have been the evolution of DX7 I series." Via Sequencer.de.

Update via Loscha in the comments:
Link to Manual, and "no-one ever mentioned this in the YamahaBlackBoxes group!!!"

Update: One more site sent my way via brian comnes: link

- very rare programmable 8-operator FM synthesizer expander released in 1988
- 64 editable parameters - 22 direct + 42 with DOS based editor
- DSP - 11 effect algorithms Stereo-Chorus, Stereo-Pan, Symphonic, Phaser, Flanger, Delay, Tremolo, Digital hall, Celeste and Wah.
- 5 LED dsplays + levelmeter
- 4 x 8 voice blocks (4 part multitimbral)
- 248 ROM, 248 RAM presets, 16 performances
- 2x MIDI IN (front and back), 2x MIDI OUT (front and back), MIDI THRU, Headphone OUT, Aux OUT Stereo, Main OUT Stereo, Main In Stereo Cinch, Main Out Stereo Cinch, Aux In Stereo Cinch, Aux Out Stereo Cinch, Pack Port
- 14 Buttons + 1 Coarse, 4 endless controllers, 1 Main Out volume knob, 1 Aux Out volume knob, 1 headphone Out volume knob

Monome 40h on YouTube

Note, the monome is a controller, it does not actually produce sound. More on the monome here. Via Matthew Davidson on SynthSights.

Update via Matthew: "The 40h is not a MIDI controller (but it can be via the mapd software) Natively, it speaks OSC (OpenSound Control) which is a richer (open source) protocol that more products are supporting."

More on OpenSound Control: one, two.

Another update via Matthew: Apparently Bidule and the Lemur (not Lenny, well he does to I guess) also support OSC.

Blectum

Another shot of people outside with synths. Via the comments of this post.

Friends - New Flickr Shot

flickr by antfactor. No one I know, just shots of some people with their synths on the street. Hmm... Wonder what the story is behind this one. Who goes out with their synths like that? Nice fashion accessory. I'd want a keytar strap myself.

MOTM Modular - New Flickr Set

flickr by mikest. Title link takes you to the set.

Keith Levene - PIL

Keith Levene of PIL with small Roland 100M.

via Mikael Lingren on AH.

Plogue Bidule

"Is this a familiar picture? Cables lead from a microphone input into a small digital effect. More cables connect the effect to a mixer. Elsewhere, a MIDI cable links a MIDI input to a synthesizer, which is in turn connected to a mixer. Old hat, right? Now, imagine this: the same single output socket sprouting no less than eight different cables connecting eight different effects.

It gets better: A sound is broken down into 256 individual bands, then each is tweaked one at a time in a unique way. As he performs, a musician decides to add an LFO to a synth's filter cutoff knob, where no LFO existed before. Sound crazy? Not anymore. The new paradigm of computer audio can be summed up in two words: "real-time" and "modular" – both of which are embodied by one application..."

Title link takes you there. Via Analog Industries.

Obeheim Two-Voice - New Flickr Shots

flickr by Ethan Callendar. Title link takes you to more shots.

Roland TR-909 Service Manual

Title link takes you to a 9.82M pdf.

Serge Modular Music Systems Historical Materials

Title link takes you there. Via sequencer.de.

DIY Sequencer PCB Group Panels

Title link takes you to the post on sequencer.de.

Moog Sonic Six Shots

Title link takes you to shots pulled from this auction.

via Loscha.

Update via underface in the comments: "Sound on Sound has a pretty informative retro review of the Sonic Six here."

MS 20 - New Flickr Shot

flickr by pyramidimaryp.

The Trapezoids - Yellow Meat on YouTube

"1981 video by unknown Minneapolis New Wave band The Trapezoids"

genoQs Octopus OS v0.92 released

I love it when manufacturers incorporate what users ask for. Hats off to genoQs.

"Dear all,

we are proudly announcing our first maintenance release for the Octopus OS, now available for download from our web site.

The new OS release incorporates some fixes, some changes, and some additions, all according to numerous discussions we have had with users since the initial launch.

We strongly advise all users to switch to the new version of the OS, not least since it is the foundation on which we will base our further efforts.

Along with the MIDI System Exclusive file comes an update version of the Navigation Guide and Storyboard document. The Navigation Guide contains a "What's new" section on pages 41/42 for the convenience of those familiar with the earlier version of the document.

Also, please note that you will lose your memory content in the process of upgrading to the new version.

Please use the follow link to go directly to the file download area.

Also, there is now a thread in the forum, intended to host discussions and comments related to the current release. You may use the following link to reach it.

Thanks all for your input, trust and patience.

Marcel + Gabriel

genoQs Machines
______________
www.genoqs.net"

Synth Noir

Found this one on Sequencer.de. If you know what Film Noir is, you will get a kick out of this site. I recently saw Kiss Me Deadly which some consider to be the first X-Files or Repo-man of the mysterious-radio-active-box films. The site and this shot of an EMS Synthi-E reminds me of it; trips me out to see a synth in this perspective. Very retro.

Bossa Nova - New Flickr Shot

flickr by devowski.

Moog - New Flickr Shot

flickr by walter.franchetti.

Korg MicroKontrol

flickr by fibra.