Dave Smith Mono Evolver Keyboard MEK

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Yamaha VL1-m

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Some details (see the auction for more):
"The VL1 was truly revolutionary and expensive ($6K) when it was first introduced. Although Yamaha was expected to release an even pricier polyphonic synth (the mythic VP1), soft sales of the VL1 led Yamaha to go the other way, cut the capabilities and release the VL-70m, which is roughly half the device. Although the VL70 can be tweaked to produce a satisfactory sound, and although some sort of physical modeling is included in the capabilities of a wide variety of synths today, most discerning players would agree that the VL1 has never been matched, particularly in the way that the sounds can be customized. You can hear this for yourself by comparing the sounds presented on the sites listed above [below in this post] with the sounds of any other synth, real or virtual. Others may sound similar, but the VL1 has an added depth and realism that can be clearly heard.

This synth is the sound designer's holy grail, and sound design is what I used it for. An unbelievable range of sounds can be produced quite quickly, and there's almost no limit if you're willing to spend time digging into the parameters. The time spent is truly enjoyable... you'll see hours slip by as you revel in your creations. You can program sounds on the device itself, or there are two programs that Yamaha released for Macintosh OS 9: a Visual Editor and an Expert Editor (the Expert Editor has been replicated for Windows 98). The visual editor is pure fun, and quite easy... you can mix and match a number of different parameters by simply clicking on options. The Expert Editor is where you can dive deep and really tweak things to either make them more real or truly unreal. I will include the Visual Editor for Mac OS 9 and the Expert Editor for both OS 9 and Windows 98 on a CD, along with the original floppy disks supplied by Yamaha."

Sound On Sound magazine's original 1994 review of the VL1 (the keyboard version)
Ken Barry's web page devoted to the VL1-m, including sounds generated by his Yamaha WX7
International Wind Synthesis Association
A couple of Harmony Central user reviews
Patchman Music patch samples for the VL1

PAiA Strings 'n' Things

Click here for shots via this auction

Sixtoo

Nice Doepfer. Title link takes you to Sixtoo's MySpace page.

via sequencer.de

Korg MS-50

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

RadioShack MicroMoog

flickr by asbestosis.

Title link takes you to more gear shots.

Roland CSQ-100 Sequencer

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Also posted on Synthwire by the seller, UNIT-SOUND.

Roland Planet P Piano Module

No title link, just these three shots pulled via this auction. I never realized the buttons lit up like that.


Details:
"Mono timbral instument with 8 patches - piano 1 & 2, clavi 1 & 2, harpsichord 1 & 2, e.piano 1 & 2 with more variations of these basic sounds available using MIDI patch changes.
An effects section provides simultanious chorus/flanger and tremolo.

The basic front panel controls are:

tune, volume & brilliance
chorus or flange toggle with rate & depth controls.
square or sine tremelo mod toggle with rate & depth controls.
8 patch select buttons.
MIDI channel up & down buttons with LED display.
The back panel features Mono/Stereo out and MIDI In & Thru only."

Portable Analog Synth and Effect Processor

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Details:
"This is a new, handbuilt synth unit and effect processor. Built into a rugged aluminum carrying case. This unit is excellent for creating very unique and unusual sounds. great for drones and noise music or use in a modular system. Unit contains 2 oscillators with pitch knobs for each, an LFO for modulating the sound with frequency and modulation depth, an external input with gain for creating distortion effects, a mixer to mix osc 1, osc 2 and the external input, fed the output from the mixer is an effect similar to bit reduction which has a depth knob and can be bypassed, and finaly there is a lowpass filter for further sound shaping."

Samples (also mirrored here):
the synth
using the external circuit

Texas Instruments TI99 Speech Synthesizer

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Details: "This is a new sealed TI 99/4 SPEECH SYNTHESIZER See side photo of intact warning sticker and intact packaging. These were sent out by TI as premiums for buying a certain amount of carts and this one was a spare. Overseas bidders note this item weighs 11 oz. includes instruction booklet and original box/packaging as pictured."

Analog synth - Roland Juno 106

flickr by cicciostoky.

The Human League Documentary

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

via sequencer.de

Synth Movies

Be sure to see Synths in TV and Film for videos and pics.


Deconstructing Dad - Raymond Scott


OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music (2005)


Moog (2004)


Tangerine Dream Live at Coventry Cathedral 1975 (2007)


Modulations: Cinema for the Ear (1998)


Better Living Through Circuitry (1999)


Oxygene: Live In Your Living Room (3D version here)


Et la tendresse?... Bordel!


Liquid Sky on IMDB
Liquid Sky on Ebay
Liquid Sky on Amazon

via synthetic in the comments of this post: "Neil Diamond's "The Jazz Singer" was on cable a few days ago and the synth player was rockin' an ARP Quadra. I think I saw a String Ensemble in there too. The last concert scene, "Fahhh, we've been travelin' faaahhh..."


Totally Wired

Stockhausen Interview 2007

Also see Synths in TV and Film and the Synth Movies label for more, for example this excellent documentary on KORG.

Uploaded by ssensseless on May 26, 2010

Theremin: an electronic odyssey -trailer-

YouTube Uploaded by ssensseless on May 26, 2010

on eBay

on Amazon

Latest posts:
Intro to Synthesis by Dean Friedman
Daphne Oram documentary - Wee Have Also Sound-Houses & Early BBC radiophonics: Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (1957)
Pierre Henry documentary - The Art of Sounds
Barry Schrader & Death of the Red Planet
DEWANATRON! A 3D Stereoscopic Documentary (Official Teaser)
DEWANATRON! A 3D Stereoscopic Documentary (3D Trailer)
What the Future Sounded Like (2006)

Synth CDs

See the Synth CDs label for more.

Vintage MOOG Albums - Free downloads. Check this one out. This is not an ad.


Amin Bhatia Virtuality
Post on MATRIXSYNTH


Switched on Bach (MOOG)

CLICK FOR MORE »

Synth Books

See the Synth Books label for more.
Also see the scans label for more synth documentation.


The A-X of Analogue Synthesizers by Peter Forest


Vintage Synthesizers by Mark Vail


Essential Retro by James Grahame

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland SH-5

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

EMS VC3 Musical Demo and EMS Resources

RMC posted the following to the AH list. I asked him if it would be ok to post this and he gave me the all clear.
"All the MP3s or YouTube clips that I have found show the VCS3/A(KS) to be a brilliant sound effects device but not much in the way of musical demos.
Here's something like a bass line (257kB size) showing that you can get musical tones (albeit hampered by my hopeless playing, the KS keyboard and a bit of poor MP3 encoding): link

You'd best right-click the link and save it or go to the directory and save it from there; I don't think it will "stream" (3 VCOs as audio sources, some via the filter being swept by the env shaper, and then the reverb added too). I plan to do some more - maybe some leads if I can actually think to play anything.

Cheers
RMC, England"

Very cool. Thanks RMC! BTW, do check out RMC's EMS resources for schematics, images and more.

Update via RMC in the comments:
"also check out the sequencer demo, which is here"

Pochi Crafts DIY DKI Synergy

Remember the DKI Synergy? Title link takes you to Pochi Crafts' DIY Synergy page. Make sure to check out the rest of the site while there.

"SynclonOne is the DKI SYNERGY II+ compatible DIY digital synthesizer. SynclonOne main PCB is very small(140mm x 95mm), but it contains almost all SYNERGY II+ circuit, include Z80 CPU, 32 digital oscillators, panel scan processor, MIDI and serial interface port, DA converter interface. They are integrated into single Altera Cyclone FPGA chip on the SynclonOne PCB." [Previous posts on FPGA]

This one via Mikael.

IBK 10 CONTROL

The IBK 10 CONTROL was a MIDI knob box that allowed you to write custom text to be displayed for each knob. I remember seeing this years ago, well before anyone else was doing this and well before this blog. Title link takes you to a page with more info in German. Here's a link to a Google translated version in English.

"The special to the 10Control, which differentiates this product from others at the market, is to be steered the possibility jump-free many parameters of a hard or a Softwaresynthesizers and a like over MIDI. Clearly more expensive CONTROLLERs reach this only by use of Motorfadern. Instead the 10Control uses continuous automatic controllers and makes thus the same functionality available for much a favourable price."

Update via dheidebrecht in the comments:
"I have one of these. They also made the "4 Control" which was sold by Native Instruments a few years ago. I believe these are still available. There's an english page for the 10 Control on their website"

Rhodes Chroma Edit Panel for Cubase SX3

Title link takes you to the mapping in xml format. Via Åke on the Rhodes Chroma list. If you have the CC+ update for the Rhodes Chroma, this allows you to edit paramaters dynamically via Cubase SX.

Update: This is currently on the Rhodes Chroma site along with other editors.

MIDI Controllers on Sendling

The Diddler

Stephband website

MIDI Controller buy Feena - FMDJ9303

Feena website

what the... ?

flickr by polaranta.

Celebrity Signed Fairlight CMI up for Auction

Remember this? Looks like it's up for auction. starting at $100k. Apparently it was the keyboard played in this video.

Via the auction:
Featuring signatures from 44 celebrity musicians, composers & producers Bono, Mark Knopfler, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby, Todd Rundgren, Sir George Martin, Steve Winwood, Barry Gibb, Brian Wilson, Herbie Hancock, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, David Bowie ... & many more"

Korg EMX-1

Not the rarest of synths, however these are some pretty nice shots. Title link takes you to the set pulled via this auction.

Univox MiniKorg

Title link takes you to images pulled via this auction.

Vst and Energy XT2 Beta

YouTube via deb7680. Also sent my way via deb7680 of Croniques de la Mao.

Oberheim OBX Eprom Hack

Title link takes you there.

Image via sequencer.de.

Moog Prodigy

flickr by janvanvolt.

Title link takes you to more.

Trunk Full of Synths

Title link takes you to the post on Synthesizerforum.de where this was pulled.

via sequencer.de

Update via Dave in the comments:"Hey, they pulled that from my photo page on umop.com. I took that when I was moving into my apartment in July, 2005."

"One thing you can't see in the pic is the OB-Xa in a flight case underneath the other three, snuggled width-wise on the back of the folded down seats. I also had a Voyager at the time which I believe was in the front seat.

So one Camaro, five synths. Camaros are not that hot for carrying lots of synths. I've since traded it in for a Murano which works slightly better."

Roland CMU-800R

Remember this Roland CMU-800R? Looks like inteliko picked it up and could use some help hooking up with an Apple II. Via the comments of this post:

"Speaking of old gear for old computers, I won the CMU-800R on Ebay that was posted here a few weeks back. I'm craving to get a listen and some tweakage on it but I need a working Apple II which isnt in my budget, the purchase tapped me out cashwise along with gifts for my 1 yr old and wife. Anyone with connections to an Apple II who is in or near the FL treasure coast area(Port St Lucie to be exact)can meet up with me for some tweakage on the CMU-800r, Beer and Barbecue on me!!"

You can find inteliko's email address in the comments of this post. Title link takes you to more shots.

Moog Drum

Title link takes you to shots of the top, bottom and side pulled from this auction.

Moog Polymoog

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Some details from the auction:
"Highly popular when it came out, the Polymoog is a preset, polyphonic synthesizer with a 71-note (E-D), touch-sensitive keyboard that is splittable three ways. It features divide-down oscillator circuitry. The presets are strings, piano, organ, harpsichord, funk, clav, vibes, and brass. The Polypedal board allows you to switch between single and multiple triggering, as well as control the pitch, filter, sustain, and external sync. In addition to a main volume slider, the Polymoog has volume sliders for each of the 3 keyboard sections. It also features a 3-band graphic EQ section, and an extensive filter modulation section, allowing it to be modulated by its own LFO, sample-and-hold, and envelope sliders, with variable keyboard tracking. The Polymoog and Polypedal also interface with the Minimoog and Micromoog synthesizers for exciting layering effects. The top of the instrument is actually shaped to accomodate the smaller synths on top. The 1979 price for a new Polymoog synthesizer was $5,295.00 with an additional $375.00 for the Polypedals."

"The sounds you can make on this Polymoog synth are amazing and are unlike those of any other synth. First, understand that this is not a Minimoog. It doesn't want to be. Moog actually produced the Polymoog to interface with the Minimoog so their sounds complement each other. You could trigger the Mini via the Polypedal for scorching leads or to add an extra bass sound in the bottom tier of the Polymoog keyboard. In some ways, you can think of the Polymoog as Moog's pre-midi midi controller, using its 71 touch sensitive keys to trigger the Minimoog and Micromoog as well as playing onboard sounds. The Polymoog itself is well-suited for rich strings and resonant pads, cool vibes, and thick soundscapes. It's not about "phat" monophonic bass lines, although it is perfectly capable of earth-shaking bass. If that's all you want, save up for a Mini.

The Polymoog is fully polyphonic, with a different sound generator card for each of the 71 keys. That's right, you can play all 71 keys at once! Don't know why you'd want to, though. And because there's a different card for each key and the circuitry is all analog, each key has its own special character--resulting in a complex sound that cannot be sampled or modeled by any contemporary machine. And it's touch sensitive, too. The filter section and resonators are tons of fun and can actually process external sources. That's right, you can run your guitar or bass through this Moog filter. Who needs a Moogerfooger when you've got a Polymoog? And since you can control the filter with the expression pedal, just think of the fun you'll have. True analog synthesizer pleasure."

Korg M500 Micro Preset

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Podcast: Sonic State Talk - 024

This one features a few goodies including Gmedia, the Korg MS Series. Title link takes you there.

CZ fun oh fun

Title link takes you to the latest addition to GooGooFish, a page dedicated to the Casio CZ-101 where you'll find a number of tracks featuring nothing but the CZ-101.