Magic Smoke Electronics Mankato

"Magic Smoke is the exclusive licensed source of Thomas Henry's books on do-it-yourself musical electronics as well as the source for exclusive analog synthesizer modules and kits. For starters, we're bringing out Thomas's classic books plus his fantastic new voltage controlled filter."

The Mankato!

Designed by well known synth DIY guru Thomas Henry, the TH-201 is a low-pass VCF with some unusual operating modes. Magic Smoke will be producing kits for a four output model (TH-201/4) and an eight output model (TH-201/8). With the Resonance control turned all the way up, these filters will self-oscillate, operating as multi-phase LFOs or VCOs.

Both DC-coupled and AC-coupled inputs are available. The DC-coupled inputs allow the TH-201 to operate as a voltage-controlled lag processor (slew limiter). All outputs are buffered and have standard 1k impedance.

The TH-201 VCF will be produced as a kit in Euro Rack and Frac Rack panel formats. The PCB will be available separately for those who want to package the TH-201 in other formats.

The Mankato covers a very wide frequency range -- around 0.005Hz (200 seconds/cycle) to beyond 20kHz without range switches. Changing the timing capacitors can provide extended low frequency operation.

TH-201/4
• 12 and 24 dB outputs
• inverted 12 and 24 dB outputs
• 90 degrees of phase difference between each output
• quadrature sine wave oscillator

TH-201/8
• 6, 12, 18, and 24 dB outputs
• inverted 6, 12, 18, and 24 dB outputs
• 45 degrees of phase difference between each output
• 8-phase sine wave oscillator

The following is one via this gallery of this year's AH Bay Area Synth Gathering.

AH Bay Area Gathering 2006 via Electronic Musician

The synth gathering made the Electronic Musician blog. Our own Brian Comnes got a mention as well. Pretty cool. : )

"List member Brian Comnes, who coordinated the gathering, set up a raffle to raise money for the Bob Moog Memorial Foundation. The donated prizes included hats and shirts from RobotSpeak, a Metasonix TM-6, a gift certificate to Analogue Haven, and a vintage Korg MonoPoly synth (donated by sound-designer and EM author Nick Peck).

Personally, the most interesting aspect of an AHCali meeting is hearing what people have to say about their instruments, finding out what they like most about them, and hearing how they use them. I was particularly interested in learning more about the Buchla 200e, and Chris Muir was patient enough to explain some its deep feature-set to me."

Update: I realized I didn't give the celebrity list for the event. Here it is:

"Instrument designers visiting the show included Don Buchla, Dave Smith, Mike Brown (LiveWire), and Eric Barbour of Metasonix. Composer/performer Robert Rich was kind enough to bring along his large MOTM system. And San Francisco-based retailer Robot Speak was also present with plenty of Moog-related hardware and software items on display."

PAiA midi2cv8 MIDI to CV converter

Bookmarking this one for me to look up when I need one.

"This freshly updated MIDI to CV converter from PAiA is an economical and versatile solution for interfacing MIDI to the world of analog synthesis and control. It is an easy to build and use system with eight analog outputs that can be Control Voltages, Gates, Triggers, even variable amplitude pulses for triggering analog drum sets. The newly revised firmware allows Multi assignment of notes by midi channel and a DIN sync mode that can also control of one or two synths while sync is running."

Title link takes you there. via brian comnes.

"my favorite now if I did it over again wpould be that PAIA MIDI2CV8 kit. This thing gives you 8 separate CV outs that can be configured in several ways - coolest is the mono with pitch. gate, and 6 more assigned CC controllers (think about that ) , or 4 channel pitch and gate only , it's a trip ..... you can build one for about $130 or check the 1U rack mount with the pair horizontal , can you imagine 16 CV channels and a computer sequencer on a modular?? ..woohoo ....except no LFO, you have to get that somewhere else, also the M2CV8 has power circuit on it (wall wart too) , the other modules get their pawer from the M2CV8 or separate supply"

Fairlight CMI III Audio Demo

Title link takes you to the post on Failed Muso.

I thought the following summed up why many of us still go after vintage synths and why we appreciate different synths from different manufacturers. They all have their own character. You can usually get close approximations between synths, but rarely can you capture the unique character that makes any given synth shine.

"However, after listening to this and yearning to own one more than ever, I found myself thinking about why I really wanted one as I could get sounds like these from any number of newer, more advanced and able machines. Heck, my Alesis Fusion is 100 times more powerful and can produce many similar tones. A Kawai K5000 could do very good additive as can Camel Audio's Cameleon 5000, but there is something in the Fairlight sound that tends to be lacking from many modern day instruments and that is character. The Fairlight has it in bucket loads, like many other synths of it's era. Nowadays, we seem to accept power and bloatware as the way forward. This is a big mistake."

The Simmons Electronic Drums Virtual Museum

Title link takes you to The Simmons Electronic Drums Virtual Museum where you'll find manuals, patches, images and more.

via Georg.

AH Bay Area Gathering 2006 Gathers $565 for the Moog Foundation

Brian Comnes, host of this year's AHBA set up a raffle for the gathering in which proceeds would go the Bob Moog Memorial Foundation for Electronic Music. They raised $565. Pretty cool.




"Here's the list of goodies some lucky folks walked away with yesterday. Not bad for a $5 ticket
** Korg Mono/Poly in a flight case (donated by Nick Peck)
** Metasonix TM-6 tube filter (from Eric Barbour of Metasonix)
** $100 gift certificate to Analogue Haven (from Shawn Cleary and Chuck Oken, owners of the store)
** Moog DVD from Moog Foundation
** Several Moog Hats from Moog Foundation and RobotSpeak (Steve Taormina and Alan Stewart, owners of the store)
** Hooded sweatshirt from Livewire Electronics (from Mike Brown of Livewire)
** Moog Tshirts from Moog Foundation and RobotSpeak
** Studio Electronics T shirts from Robot Speak

Please go to www.moogfoundation.org. You can find out about the group's work. You can also contribute online. Their goal is to get to $5mm and to date they only have $30k, plus our $565, so they have a ways to go and could definitely use help from the synth enthusiast community.

The goal of this Foundation honoring this unique and special (Bob Moog) is to foster innovation and curiosity in electronic music.

In my humble opinion, I think the AH local groups should adopt the Bob Moog Foundation for at least all of 2007 and maybe in perpetuity if all goes well.....and beside a raffle adds an element of excitement, tension and anxiety to an otherwise blissful day ...and if they can't get any prizes they can just set out a coffee can and collect.

Peace
Brian"

Great idea Brian.
If you haven't checked out the Bob Moog Memorial Foundation for Electronic Music, please do.

Update: Brian suggested I put up a permanent link to The Moog Foundation. Great idea. I'll be adding the below image shortly.

The GTR Orgatron

via loscha. Update via Loscha in the comments:

"Hi Folks,

Once a year I get someone emailing me asking for information on the Orgatron. Sadly, I lost all that information to a HDD crash in 2009 or so, and I sold the Orgatron soon after these pictures were published, as I moved to a much smaller house.

So, I'm really sorry - I can't help anyone out with further information about the keyboard.

It had a chord organ section on the left, and the main synth voice was a very sketchy monosynth. There was some kind of weak lowpass filter that would close on some of the brass sounds, I seem to remember.

If you can get one for $50 -- do it!
If you can get one for $200 -- don't do it!"

Air Synth Shirt

Well, technically it's an air guitar t-shirt, but I'm hijacking it. I need to make my Matrixsynth T out of this stuff. Then we can have a Matrixsynth rave with everyone actually creating the music as they dance in a trance.

"Our air guitar consists of a wearable sensor interface embedded in a conventional 'shirt' which uses custom software to map gestures with audio samples. Freedom of movement is a great feature of these textile-based interfaces. It’s an easy-to-use, virtual instrument that allows real-time music making – even by players without significant musical or computing skills."

via CDM and Gizmodo. Title link takes you to an article on the shirt with contact info. Also see this article on the BBC.

Kenton Selling Starts Selling MIDI Retrofits Again

Add MIDI to your old analogs. Title link takes you the list. It's a long one. Korg Polysix MIDI Retrofit pictured. I think it costs about as much as a Polysix. : )

AH Bay Area Gathering 2006 Gallery on synchro1

Title link takes you to the gallery.

Oberheim OB-1

AH Bay Area Gathering 2006 Gallery on redfish.net

Title link takes you to the set.

Dave Smith and Brian Comnes at AHBA 2006

Love the T Brian!

You rule. ; )

Update: I sometimes assume that anyone that comes to this site knows who Dave Smith is. I know I wasn't born knowing, so if you don't, in short, he was the founder of Sequential Circuits, maker of the Prophet 5 (the first full programmable polyphonic analog synth with patch memories), the Prophet VS, Prophet T8, Pro One and more. He now has a little company called Dave Smith Instruments, where you will find the Evolver and Poly Evolver line of synths. Oh, one more thing: he was the guy that brought us MIDI. Yeah, that guy. Wow. I am not worthy, I am not worthy... : )

BTW, if you came across this post directly, check out this previous post for shots of the event. Also check out this post of John Bowen talking about his time at Sequential Circuits.

AH Bay Area Gathering 2006 Gallery on fdiskc.com

Title link takes you to the set.

MPC Bling

Damn. This beats the synth buckle and Minimoog Lapel Pin. Title link takes you to a post on CDM where you'll find links to a few music bling makers.

Creamware ASB Minimax Samples

Title link takes you to the Minimax ASB page on sequencer.de where you'll find a "more acoustic" sample of the Minimax. Scroll to Audio on the left when you get there.

LIQUID::PATTERN.LOG - SEQ64 & More

Title link takes you to Liquid::Pattern.Log where you will find these two shots an more. Note the MOOG Lowpass VCF

via sequencer.de

Plan B Model 24 Heisenberg Generator

Plan B on EAR Group.net

Roland Bass and Guitar Synths

Title link takes you to a Roland Bass and Guitar Synths page with info, images and samples on HelpWantedProductions.com.

via Loscha.

Custom Synth Handmade End Panels

"We specialise in restoration, renovation and custom fitting the best Vintage + modern instruments, Including: MOOG, ROLAND, YAMAHA and KORG to name a few."

Title link takes you to more shots of other synths. Pictured is the Korg MS2000. I actually liked this shot the best for some reason. There's also some nice shots of a Jupiter 6, Juno-60, and Korg MS20 with custom wood panels.


Here's a link to their store on the bay. I saved the shots here. via Ben of Korg Kornucopia

synthstuff

flickr via polaranta.

The cartridge if for the Korg SAS-20 (Super Accompaniment System)



Image via the Audio Playground Synthesizer Museum.

Steveo Studio Pics

Title link takes you to more shots of Steveo's studio. Steveo is top notch. He was one of the first people I met online on Sonic State's the-gas-station, and one of the most informative and helpful. Cheers Steveo.

Roland SH-09

No title link. Just three really nice shots pulled from this auction.

Alien Devices Bent Roland TR-505

Title link takes you to samples pulled via this auction.
"The Alien-Devices modified Roland TR-505 is a MIDI drum synthesizer that is capable of producing thousands of new and unique synth drum sounds and percussion patterns. The mods can effect the drum sounds in subtle or drastic ways creating synth tones, digital filtering, distortion, bizarre beat warping, and strange electronic textures. These units are great sample sources as well as stable live instruments and are fully MIDI capable."

BTW, be sure to check out Alien-Devices for more.

Update: Looks like they have a Bent Alesis HR-16 up as well: link. samples.

Yamaha CS15D

Click here for shots pulled via this auction.

Chroma Polaris 2

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Synth Albums

Synthbaron put up a couple of links to recordings of synth ablums on Synthwire. They include "Everything You Always Wanted to Hear on the Moog" and Ruth White's "Short Circuits." Title link takes you to the post.

Roland CMU-800R for Sale

Remember the Roland CMU-800R demoed by James Gallant at this year's Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting? Well, at the meeting James mentioned he purchased one brand new from a school that was going to auction off another one. Well here it is. Note these are extremely hard to find with interface card and software. This one is brand new. If you ever wanted one of these, here is your chance. Note that the proceeds will go to the school, so this is also for a good cause. No title link as there are just these two shots.
Here's a link to the auction.

Details:
"This is the second of two extremely rare units from the same source (described below). There is a very cool blog [Matrixsynth! :)] devoted to synthesizers. You can see videos of the first unit we listed in operation and being demonstrated by the successful bidder at the following link.

Up for auction is an all original (and very very rare) Roland CMU 800R in ABSOUTELY NEW condition. This unit is in original Roland packaging, and has never even been unbagged until now (we opened the shipping bag to take a picture of the back of the unit.) It includes the original box, original manual, Apple interface card, interface cable, power cord, and a copy of the original Apple format 5.25” floppy disc with Apple software. The disk copy was made by the gentleman in the above mentioned video, and is an exact copy of the original software (The disk in the picture is the original disk, not included in this auction.) Several Roland brochures are included as well. The Apple interface card has the original metal foil around it used for ESD protection (we will add a modern ESD bag for the card – but we will leave the metal foil intact.) It appears this is exactly what Roland shipped – Box, manual, cable, interface card, power cord, and the unit itself. The original Styrofoam inserts for the box are missing – we will use bubble wrap to pad the unit.

Special Feature: The winning bidder of the first unit spent a fair amount of time figuring out how to get it to work. He has written a wonderful 1 page document to help guide you through that first power-up. This invaluable “Setup Tips” document is included with this sale! It includes a color photo of how to orient pin 1 on the interface cable – a very valuable piece of information.

The winner of the first auction has suggested I include a couple additional interesting facts about these units:

First, they require an Apple II e with at least one floppy disk drive to operate. These are available on Ebay for reasonable prices.

Second, all the eight channels of control voltage and gate outputs on the back of the 800R can be used to control both vintage and modern analog synthesizers that work on the 1V/octave standard. That's pretty much every analog synth out there except for those by Korg and Yamaha.

A history of these units can be found at: link

Scroll on down a little over half way at the above link, or search for the heading “Milestone: The Roland DG CMU 800R CompuMusic”. This unit is a piece of history. Well, maybe a small one. The Sound on Sound page says it all. These were way way ahead of their time, and almost none remain in operating condition.

This unit was donated to a local school decades ago, and sat untouched for years. Unfortunately the original Roland box has “Sound Mixer” written on it in black felt pen by confused band director. To the best of our knowledge, this unit is exactly what was shipped from Roland. We have no way to test it, so it is sold as is, with our belief that it is exactly as shipped by Roland in its day, a couple decades ago. Check out the matrixsynth link for details on how the first unit ran.

All proceeds from this auction will be donated to the local public school instrumental music program. Bid with the assurance you’re helping a small town music program!"

Again, here's a link to the auction.

Update: Note that this seller has been known to sell the software.

Yamaha GX-1

Move over EMS Synthi 100 (listed at $60k). This one has a buy it now of $125,000. Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Someone buy it so I can see what the affiliate commission for something like this is. ; ) BTW, I remember this unit coming up on AH. The owner managed to buy it from an estate sale in Australia. Amazing find.

via Reed

Update: Here it is again.

What is Circuit Bending?

"This Short/Preview for the Circuit Bending Documentary by Derek Sajbel (http://absurdity.biz) features Q.R. Ghazala, Nebula Girl, The Shinths, Daedelus, Dave Wright, Cynthia and music by Venetian Snares"

YouTube via DrRek. Sent my way via FreakyFreeFrancis. Cynthia makes an appearance along with some modulars.

Sonic Destruction Trio

"TB-303 Sequence run through a Jomox M-Resonator, Frostwave Sonic Alienator and Effector13 Synth Mangler."

Via REwire.

Moog vs. Synthesizers.com

Title link takes you to a review by Mike Peake sent to AH back in 2002 on Moog vs. Synthesizers.com. It's an oldie but worth reading if you haven't seen it before. It recently popped up on AH and I figured I'd put up a post. For those of you that read the comments here, you might recognize synthbaron gets a mention. : ) BTW Mike Peak was the man behind the Andromeda A6. He helped make it happen. I remember before it came out he was gathering feedback on AH and Sonic State's the-gas-station. I kind of miss those days. Waldorf was still in business, the-gas-station was still pumping (pun intended) and someone was actually going to come out with an analog poly monster synth. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. This post is about Moog vs. Synthesizers.com. Go read about it and then check out some of these videos.

The following is a small excerpt:
"The Moog 904a lowpass filter and the Arrick ladder (in the "traditional" response configuration in which resonance is proportional to Fc) sounded quite alike! Very much so. The tests weren't detailed enough to be conclusive (owning and using both would be the next step) but dang, they were close. The Arrick tracked a hell of a lot better than my Moog filter (but then again, it's not calibrated at the moment) without sounding rigid. The only issue I had with the Arrick ladder was some self-noise. But for the price, if you want something that close, you can't beat the Synthesizers.com ladder filter. You could probably buy three or four Arrick ladders for the price of a vintage Moog 904a!"

Korg Synthe Bass

Title link takes you to a track by syntheriver featuring the Korg Synthe Bass. I think. : )

via sequencer.de

Electronic Music - Its Composition and Performance by Robert A Moog

Title link takes you to a Orac Records where you will find a pdf of a 1967 article on Electronic Music by Bob Moog.

Yamaha CS-10

Title link takes you to shots pulled from this auction.

ARP Axxe

Title link takes you to a couple more shots pulled via this auction.

Three Octave Alesis Andromeda?

It could have been, along with a rack. Check out the update in this post.

Korg EA-1

flickr by giginger.

Title link takes you to a few more.

Roland CR-78

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

via luke, the seller of this one:
"I'm biting the bullet and selling my Cr-78, will I regret it, hmmm? But I
must build the System 100 so it's for the greater good. It's the cleanest
one I've seen." Yeah it is. Amazing condition.

Inside a Juno 106

Title link takes you to the set.

Dual Synthis

Via RMC on AH. The kicker is I'm under the impression that he was given these. Meaning for free? I have no idea, but wow. He'll be fixing them up over the coming months.

Update via other! in the comments: "Maybe if he leaves them on the bed and turns down the lights, and puts on some Floyd, they'll mate..."

Doesn't get much better than that folks. Good one other! ; )

Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore

Some "I feel the need to poke out my eyes goodness." Features the Moog Polymoog. You can thank one of the anonymous for this one in the comments of this post.

Memories of Miss Memory

It looks like our Moog heroine in the previous post is Sofie Loizou. She put up a couple of posts on her impression of the Moog Little Phatty on her blog. Title link takes you there.

"It looks and feels solid, great key action (no skimping on key size depth), it has pink and blue buttons (extremely important) and rotary LED knobs. The layout is simple and easy to use, and its controls are chosen to emphasise its role as a chunky sounding monophonic synth. And above all it sounds like a moog. My thirst for tangible analogue aesthetic has been quenched. Every girl should have one. ;)"

Update: Make sure to check out this post on CDM. Peter Kirn uncovers a bit more about Miss Memory. Pretty cool.

Update: here's Part 1 of the review.

give a girl a moog

flikcr via sofie loizou. Title link takes you to more.

Over 1 million hits!

Looks like I finally broke 1 million hits. I'm not sure when it happened, but my site stats are showing 1,022,798 hits. Number of posts to date? 4488. This one marks 4489.

Bent Circuits vs Modular test

"Circuit bent Grillo Parlante, Speak and Maths and Boss Dr Pad with it's circuits exposed and a wet finger, and a Doepfer/Analogue Solutions modular synth. The Grillo is used as the oscillator and the S&M is triggering the clock via an envelope follower which is then triggering the filters, envelope and sequencers on the modular. All sound is generated by the Grillo, S&M and Dr Pad, no other oscillators are used. Recorded at the Bathysphere studio"

YouTube via eddie23a. Sent my way via frederic.

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

A teeny tiny Minimoog action.

Korg Z3 Guitar Synthesizer

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Details:
"you are looking at a used Korg Z3 Guitar synth system. this auction includes the rackmount interface, the pickup (with mount) and the necessary connecting lead....so there you have it - the somewhat obscure entry by Korg into the even more obscure guitar synth market. until i came across this device, i had no idea korg had even ventured into the guitar synth market - i assumed it was purely a roland pipe dream...(later entries by yamaha tried and failed). even so, this unit could be an ideal entry level unit if you fancied dipping your toes into guitar synth territories or even if you have an existing Z3 unit and would like a spare... "

You'll find more info on the Z3 here, where the following was pulled:
Features of the Korg Z3:
* Yamaha FM Synthesis
* Built-in Reverb
* Built-in Tuner
* Multi-timbral operation (allowing each string to play a different sound)
* Easy front-panel access to most frequently used functions
* Responds only to Master volume commands, ignores all guitar controller information, CV knobs, bender-arm, etc.
* Front panel guitar input connector will not accept first generation Roland locking cables!
* No Sound Patch Editing!
* Limited editing for Programs (basic string settings, etc)
* Use of the Z3 as MIDI sound module disables Guitar Synthesizer
* Synthesizer Off foot switch input
* Foot switch inputs for Patch Up and Down
* Dedicated Hold foot switch input (like Ibanez MC1)

Korg oscillator panel

flickr by pureCaffeine.

Korg EA-1 MKII. I like the green. Title link takes you to a few more.

Miquette's Synths

flickr by basilb.

EMS Synthi, Nord Lead. Title link takes you to more.

Santa Rocking a Prophet

via Music Thing.