relaxing on the lawn

flickr by mtritter.

click here for the full size shot.

Doepfer on grass.

Switched-ON Rock

"The Moog is played by Kenny Ascher, arrangements are done by Alan Foust and Norman Dolph produced & tuned.

Some liner stuff:
The amazing thing about all the sounds is not that they are done one voice at a time, but rather one finger at a time. The silly machine only plays one note at a time and the temptation play a chord must be overcome... you only get the lowest note if you press more than one key. Improvisation is difficult but far from impossible if you redefine the problem."

Title link takes you to a free download stream of the album on Wiel's Time Capsule.

Plan B Model 11 - Prototype Demo and First Image

via REwire: "This is a demo/song using the New Plan-B Model 11 Evil Twin Bandpass Filter. I used the Prototype version and the final will be the same but a bit wider. I ran just one or two oscs, drums and some vocals all through the filter (with a bit of Reverb and Delay in my DAW). It has a 6db and 12db output that I frequently panned left and right for stereo effects. This is a Bandpass Filter that uses Vactrols (4 inside) and has controls for Frequency, Bandwidth and Resonance with CV of F and BW. When the Bandwidth is narrowed down, the resonance gets extremely crunchy and it seems to self oscillate in an erratic nature that makes it sound like all hell is going to break loose. It has a switch that patches in a second feedback mode for even more distortion, hence the "Evil Twin" reference. In my demo, I patched all sorts of LFO's, ENVs, Filter FM and hand control to twist every patch through the ringer. Can't say I've heard anything like this that wasn't coming out of a vacuum tube!"
REwire_-_My_Evil_Twin.mp3

SID Synth

Two shots via this auction. Update: be sure to check out the comments of this post.

"This is a hand made Analog Synth with SID 6581 as the sound engine. It has a 2x16 Blue LCD, blue LED power and midi in

indicator There are (6) Big Black Buttons to select menu functions. There are midi in and outs on this unit.

_it has blue and red LED's
-this version has artwork on front panel
-All internal wiring is CAT5 and hot glued down at the solder locations to survive a very long lifespan
-the front and back panels are very thick clear and Transparent Blue plexiglass.
-12v AC power adapter is included (WALLWART)
-a HEATSINK is on the SID6581 for cooling and heat management.
-It can be edited via CC midi messaging.

Here is the myspace link to here a demo of what it is capable of: It was mixed down in CUBASESX

All songs are 100% SID only, the first song only has VOCODED INTRO."

Audio Damage Liquid Now Available

"Liquid is a through-zero flanger, and excels in adding vintage vibe to your recordings. From a subtle ADT effect on vocals or electric piano on up to massive "Jet" style 2-buss flanging, Liquid will bring the classic sound of real tape machine flanging to your modern DAW.

A normal flanger, at least in today's world, is just a delay line set to a very short time with some feedback. In "analog" pedals this is done with a bucket-brigade delay chip, and in DSP-based effects like digital pedals and plug-ins, it is one of the easiest effects to create. However, the original flanging effect was created by running two tape machines with the same material in sync, then varying the speed of one of them (sometimes by actually applying pressure to the flange of the tape reel with a finger) to cause some rather extreme and odd comb filtering.

Made popular by George Martin (and used heavily on John Lennon's vocals on many tracks from Revolver on) and Phil Spector (who used it on, well, just about everything), it is a classic effect that was difficult to achieve in software. Until now."

Title link takes you there.

DSI Prophet '08 SE

Pic of the DSI Prophet '08 Special Edition sent my way via Stephen Jones. Click the image for the full size shot.

MAM RS3 Resonator

Click here for shots via this auction.

"Three bandpass filters, controlled by various modulations. Includes original box (not shown) and power supply. Front and rear inputs; input jack for external modulation. Stereo outs. This makes an excellent 'secret sauce' tool for absolutely all gear when run on an fx bus, or straight from your synth/pedals/etc."

Next SuperBass 4.4

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

"100% analog. Imho the best 303 emulation, but it also goes beyond that with extras like sub oscillator and distortion. Also has filter input in the back, which allows you to play a sounds through the sweet filter section of the unit. Knobs send MIDI, unit responds to CC data. Has autoslide legato on/off for those TB 303 lines."

Waldorf XTk

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Note the Q Phoenix under the XTk and of course the XTk logo. There is also an Alesis A6 in one of the shots.

via Mr. Array.

picsynthv2

flickr by dar303.

click here for the full size shot.

"PIC-microcontroller based digital synth/sequencer/filterbox with Wasp filter"

Update via ScarKord in the comments: "Quick bit of Googling came up with this link... Here's what they say about it... ...powered by a 9V-battery and the size is 11x5x3 cm Controls:Five pots (tempo/duration, data, cutoff, resonance and volume) and seven buttons (play, rec, stop, pattern, step forward, step backwards and rest) Status is indicated by an bi-colour LED (rec, play, stop, external trig mode, end of pattern) Four jacks are located on the back of the unit (external trig in, external audio in, filter cutoff and output) Four different sequences of 16 steps are stored in the internal Eeprom of the PIC18F84. The sounds are PWM-based 8-bit sounds with both tones and different pitched noise."

Daniel Hansson RIP

Title link takes you to the sad news on the Elektron website.

Update: when I first heard the news I was speechless. What do you say when something this tragic happens. He was too young. I put the post up with just the words above. I've received a couple of emails from readers stating I should put up a post. I'm guessing they missed the original post. Because of this I'm updating this post to make it a bit more visible, so others do not miss this terrible news. I decided to make this the last post of the day. I've lost people extremely close to me in the last few years and it is a painful, personal, and traumatic experience. Words cannot express how sorry I am for those that were close to Daniel Hansson and all who are saddened by this loss.

Yamaha TG-33 Demo by smackos

Title link takes you to the mp3. Via smackos in the comments of this post.

THeff's Model 2 Klee

Via Scott:
"THeff has built the only Model 2 Klee I've ever seen other than what I have on breadboard. The guy built the thing on perfboard - one board! It's a Model 2, which differs a bit from the electro-music Klee Sequencer PCB project, but the difference is pretty minor. His thread is here.

A couple of pics of the sequencer here and here [pictured].

And some samples he's posted in the thread (he's picked up on it pretty quickly - programming a Klee is definitely a different process than programming a standard step sequencer):

1st_klee_demo_210
happy_klee_718
leave_it_to_kleever_330"

Update: I asked Scott for a little more info on the Klee. Here is what he had to say about it:

"the Klee is something I pretty much cooked up in this thread:

http://electro-music.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12940

It's a lot of reading, though =0). Earlier this summer, Andy Sharp, Tom Fenn and I cooked up a scheme to produce PCBs of the project and sell them at a small profit, which we're donating to the electro-music forum for operating expenses, and to go towards a new server (a bit late on that one, judging from the recent crash there).

I've got a fairly complete (but not totally complete) draft of the Klee theory here:

http://electro-music.com/forum/download.php?id=8646

It's from this thread:

http://electro-music.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19278

The doc explains what the Klee is and does and how it differs from a "normal" sequencer. It's a draft with a couple of minor typos, and I haven't yet gotten into the last part of the functionality - the interval switch."

Cyborg System 100 in da House

Roland System 100s racked like a modular.

via Aliens Project. BTW, it looks like the Aliens Project now has a blog. Excellent. via sequencer.de.

Rendez Vous 2 Jean Michel Jarre Cover

YouTube via fischek.
"I've used the sampled Elka Synthex patch (SF2 format) and FL Studio for creating and looping the rhythm."

MemPot v1.0, potentiometer with a memory

"Introduction
MemPot was developed by Dan Blackburn and me as a control interface for circuit bent instruments and sound generators. MemPot is a built around PIC 16F819 microcontroller that reads analog resistances, records them to memory and plays them back via digital potentiometer DS1267 chip. The memory buffer size and the playback speed can be adjusted."

Title link takes you there. Previous posts.

SuperVirus

"Software editor for Access Music synthesizer Virus A, B, C, Classic, Rack XL
Solar3D software proudly presents SuperVirus Version 2.0! There are a lot of new features available in this version...

* Browse for categories of Single programs
* Jump to bank- buttons with DirectSelect menu
* Background dependency check for Multi programs
* 999 clipboards for Single programs
* complete support for A, B, C, Classic, RackXL
* complete Multi program support
* unlimited Undo/Redo for incomming Sysex messages if you edit directly at the Virus hardware controls
* Big face lifting"

Title link takes you there. There is a 30 day trial download. via sequencer.de.

Hints of New Things from Zebranalogic

There are a couple of posts up on the Zebranalogic blog discussing some of what they are working on. First is Digital Audio Techniques. "In our research of audio development, we are working with some digital techniques for digital systems. Like the Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) technique. With this one we can simulate analog waveform with a dsp processor. The result is pretty good and depends of the number of digital samples. The output is ploted in a GLCD (Graphic LCD ). The frequency of the wavform is variable by software with a knob..."

The second post is New MIDI design which mentions, "In order to complete our blocks for a new audio machine we are designing a more complete MIDI circuit. Part of the process is the system simulation. In the picture we can see the capture of the values of Status byte, note, velocity and note off, all are the same in this test because we are entering the values with a PC keyboard ...we are working a lot to design a bigger machine with more details and best options..."

Electro-Harmonix HOG Demo

YouTube via ehpedals.
"Electro-Harmonix Hog Demo NAMM 2006"

Electro Harmonix HOG

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. I know these aren't knew, just never took the time to check one out. Anyone know how these sound? Off to check the Tube...

"The Electro-Harmonix HOG is a totally polyphonic guitar synthesizer, giving the user complete control of up to 10 interval pitches. Musicians can unveil an entirely new tone potential with anything from extreme sub bass to powerful multi-octave chords, including fifth and third intervals. Dedicated Filtering and envelope control, with numerous setup options, make the HOG a must-have performance instrument. And NO special pickup is required and NO glitches are created.

Features include:

#10 intervals of pitch can be mixed by using 10 surface faders, which may then be played polyphonically with perfect tracking:

· 1 octaves down · 1 octave + a perfect fifth
· 2 octaves down · 2 octaves up
· Original pitch · 2 octaves up + a major third
· One Fifth up · 3 octaves up
· 1 octave up · 4 octaves up

#Six unique expression modes are accessible via the Exp button, expression pedal*and MIDI. Octave bends, step bends, volume control, user defined Wah-Wah, Filter control, plus two unique freeze modes: With Freeze Gliss, an expression pedal freezes a chord while letting you play over it having your frozen notes gliss to meet your new notes. The Freeze Volume freezes a chord allowing you to control its volume, with an expression pedal, as you play on top of it.

#An external “whammy” pedal and a momentary surface mounted Exp button, allow for real-time access and manipulation of all of the above expression modes. A new level of performance interaction.

#Dual Envelope generators that work with both the higher and lower frequency ranges. Allows unique contours of attack and release in two different harmonic regions.

#12 dB per octave 2-pole low pass filter and resonance controls manipulate the tone while also being a critical element within the expression modes.

#Surface Foot access for True Bypass, expression control and envelope engagement.

#Store performance presets when you use the optional external Electro-Harmonix foot controller. 9LDC-500 power supply included"

Serge Modular in Custom Case

This was for sale in 2007 by hhelms.

Shots mirrored here with permission.

CLICK FOR MORE »

MS20-KLON

KORG MS20 Clone

Not one, but two: "One with classical filter architecture, the other one with CEM filters."

Title link takes you to the site in German. You can find the Google translated version in English here.

via dk

243 Programmable Pulser

YouTube via verbos2000.
"My custom programmable pulser module for Buchla systems."
Previous Posts

Also:
Buchla MARF in action

Luther Rochester playing his Buchla Music Easel at AHMW 2007

YouTube via therealretrosynth.
"Luther Rochester generates some nice organic tones on his Buchla Music Easel at AHMW 2007."

Dance like a star

YouTube via analoguecrazy4.
"Here is my cover of an old Human League demo 'Dance like a star'. This demo was made in late 1977 and was never released. The synth the Human League used on this demo was the Minikorg 700S." Guess the synths used here. Hint in the labels.

Korg MS-20 demonstration

YouTube via VintSynth.
"A Korg MS-20 showing that after thirty years she's still worth every knob, in a simple bass sequence together with a Roland D-50 in the VintSynth Studio in Almere, the Netherlands."

Prophet Synthesizer Model 1000 Manual

via this auction.

"Fresh, full black and white copy of original operations manual in 8-1/2 x 11 format."

Update via the comments: This is the Rev 1 manual up for auction. If you know how different the Rev 1 to the Rev 3 manual is, feel free to comment.

Update via Stephen in the comments:
"The rev1 and rev3 manuals are completely different. The rev 1 manual is made up of mostly patch sheets which use a different template than the later patch sheets. The later manuals, including the Prophet-10 manual, contain excellent descriptions of the digital/analogue hybrid synthesizer.

On the synths, rev1s could be modified with a rom/timing circuit update which stablized tuning (which became part of the rev2 design) as well as a cassette dump interface. Both of my rev1s have these two field mods. Neither the rev1, rev nor the first rev3 had a 'live' control panel in preset mode without the user hitting an 'edit' button. Live editing actually didn't occur until the rev 3.1 (not the rev 3.0). If you want to call the sequencer interface 'integrated midi' then that would be the rev 3.2. Dave and John call the sequencer interface spec 'Pre-MIDI MIDI'. The MIDI retrofit for the rev 3.2 and 3.3 (as well as the rev 3 Prophet-10) is basically a daughter card which can either be interconnected to the rom socket via a ribbon cable or by using socket with extra long solder tails. The rev 3.1 and earlier revs could not use this field mod. (Kenton has a solution).

Both the rev1 and rev2 have a number of SSM chips, but I wouldn't say they have a gazillon. 10 VCO chips, 5 VCFs, 5 VCAs and 10 EGs. The individual EGs, which have to be trimmed, really help give the rev1 and rev2 its unruly (as opposed to unstable) character. Of course the SSM filters are also equally notorious for that reputation. But this comes well after the fact. If you look back, or if you were there, you know that the Prophet-5 became successful because:

1. You could play 5 notes of the same patch
2. You could store your patch

3. It was $4500

Within a few years it became unsuccessful because:

1. You could play 5 notes of the same patch
2. It had a wood case
3. It was expensive "

You can download and print out the Prophet-5 Rev 3 manual from here.

KORG MS20

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Roland Juno-60

Click here for shots via this auction. Don't miss the video.

"The Arpeggio function is one of the Juno-60's sweetest features. You can hit the hold button and tweak the arpeggio on the fly. On the back you have an arpeggio clock input to sync the arp rate to other devices that output gate or trigger. There is also a VCF control input which allows you to sweep the filter with a pedal or do rhythmic step modulations with an analog sequencer. There is also a handy tune knob on the back. You can hear how this very synth sounds. I did a short video on You Tube with it...I triggered the Juno-60 with a JSQ-60 sequencer...just a random nonsense pattern but it demonstrates the fattness of the filters."


Roland Juno 60 and JSQ-60 Sequencer YouTube via Analogger.

KORG Mono/Poly

Click here for shots via this auction.

Pictured:
Back panel jacks
Owners manual

Oberheim OB-Xa

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. Shots include some of the inside and this one shot of a preliminary service manual.

The Thomas Henry 8038 Audio Generator

via Scott Sites on electro-music.com:

"The Thomas Henry 8038 Audio Generator Page is up here. Its primary purpose is that of a bench generator. It's got a CV input so you can sweep the output. It could also be patched into your synth for synthy fun, though it's not designed to track keyboards. Schematics, parts list, PCB layout, parts placement, panel design, and drill pattern accompany the terse blow-by-blow commentary.

Cheers,
Scott"

Livewire Dual Cyclotron Demo

video upload by jamescigler

via felix inferious. "A demo and description of the Livewire Dual Cyclotron synth module. [Correction] During the video I mention that we're listing to the sine wave output of the Dalek Modulator...it was actually the square wave. :p"

drummachine-differentangle.JPG

flickr by sofie loizou.

Click here for the full size shot.

Guess the gear.

Roland SH-5

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

"Roland SH5 - only for collectors - museum item.
No noisy outputs& inputs, she stays in tune, no scratchy pots, just SH5 Sound.
The case is also like new! (no scratches on it!)
Look at the pics...You can pick it up in our Studio. (Munich)
If you look for Memorymoog LAMM, Jupiter 8, so it will be here soon."

Visitors of Matrixsynth

I was just looking at my stats and saw this. Anything green means there was a visit to the site from that country sometime during the period of Jul 26 - Aug 25. These are real people, not bots. Pretty cool.

Hello world!


Note the count is visits not pageviews. Pageviews are about double.

EMS VCS3 With Misterious Drums

YouTube via waveshaper. Sent my way via Dennis.

The AKS On The Run

Title link takes you to more info on how to patch the EMS Synthi AKS for Pink Floyd's classic "On The Run" on EMS SYNTHI.

Update via the comments:
"I tried this a couple of different ways if anyone is interested.

1. The notes are E4 E3 G3 B3 A3 G3 A3 B3.

I programmed the notes into a Future Retro Mobius driving an Analogue Solutions Sub VCO and SY01 into a Sherman filterbank. It really opened this sequence up to a new dimension.

2. I also programmed the notes into FL Studio using the 3 OSC plugin added hihats with delay and it was practically an identical copy from the actual run on Dark Side of the Moon."

The Making of the genoQs Octopus

Title link takes you to a pdf on the making of the genoQs Octopus. It is also linked to on the genoQs documentation page. It was presented at the electro-music.com European Modular Event 2007.

KORG Wavestation on Celiar Structures

Title link takes you to a post on the KORG Wavestation on a Spanish synth blog, Celiar Structures. You can find a Google translated version in English here. This is a good follow up to this post on the Yamaha TG-33.

Be sure to check out the rest of the site while there.

via sequencer.de.

Inside a Clavia Nord Lead 1

via sequencer.de

The EVOS Modular is Coming

Remember the EVOS? Via Mike Peak on AH:

"Dennis contacted me yesterday:

'Mike,

I have no problem with you passing on what I discussed with you. I will be making some sort of announcement (sometime in early '08) about the web site and when the updated Evos Modular will be available.'....

The previous email:
'Mike,

Every few months, or so, I do some internet browsing, just to see what sort of things are going on in the synth world - especially concerning modular stuff. While doing so, I happened upon your post on the MATRIXSYNTH site (via AH).

It's always pleasing to me to know that people are still interested in my modular and also, that they seem to understand and appreciate what I was trying to accomplish. While I have no objections to the documentation being disseminated, I often have mixed feelings about this. Firstly, (and most importantly) because the system has gone through a number of refinements over the past few years and secondly, republishing them only perpetuates the grammatical and typographical errors which appeared in the originals. To rectify this situation, I am (slowly) compiling data on the latest version which will appear in an upcoming web site dedicated to my modular system. Eventually, I plan to include some historical information tracking the development of the various versions of the system through time.

...I have been making plans to release the new version of the modular early next year. It will be, initially, limited to a set of what I consider to be the most essential modules, with gradual additions over time.

I genuinely want to see the modular in the hands of people who might put it to good use...

Take care.

Dennis'

This is great news. Especially if it sounds like it looks."

Customsynth.co.uk Roland TR-909

If your 909 needs a face-lift, here you go.

via CustomSynth

Metasonix Wretch Machine Vids

Remember this Wretch up for auction? The following are some vids of it.

EM-bizarre-hard-6c.mov
EM-bizarre-hard-7c.mov
EM-bizarre-hard-8c.mov
EM-bizarre-hard-9c.mov

MOOG Taurus Demos

Taurus 1 DEMO


Taurus DEMO 2

videos by mrosati69

KORG Delta DL-50

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Two Tracks via Computer Controlled

"Some more noodlings from the Bunker...

http://acid.experimedia.net/ComputerControlled-Mnml_Freq.mp3
Old style Minimal Techno.

SH-101
TR-707
Xbase 09
Alesis Bitrman (processing the 101)

http://acid.experimedia.net/ComputerControlled-PowerSurge.mp3
Mid-tempo Acid
SH-101
TB-303
TR-707
Xbase 09"

Yamaha TG-33 Welcome Message

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

"Nice to meet you"

A little synth history: The TG-33 is a direct descendant of the SCI Prophet VS, vector synth. It is different than wavetable synthesis found in the PPG and Waldorf synths. When SCI folded, Dave worked for Yamaha and the technology used in the Prophet V went into the TG-33 and eventually the KORG Wavestation when Dave moved on to Korg. The Prophet V had analog filters, the TG-33 and Wavestation were all digital and of course they all sounded different. BTW, if anyone has more to add to the story, feel free to comment. The one thing I always wonder was who owned the technology and how it moved from Yamaha to Korg. You'd think Yamaha would have held onto it if they could. I'm sure I heard the story at one point, but it's all a blur...

Update: MP3 demo via smackos in the comments.

The Rentals (8/25/07) - TLA/Fillmore, Philadelphia

flickr by Jalapeño.

Click here for the full size shot.

MOOG The Source

The Rentals.com

ARP 1612 Sequencer SN #0001

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. via jeffc.

"This wonderful unit has serial number 0001. It’s in full working order and near mint condition. Some minor cosmetic flaws are visible. A photo copy of both Owner’s and Service manual will be included with the sequencer. A classic sequencer of the 70's. You create your sequences with the 16 sliders. Adjust the sliders to change pitch while each slider represents a sixteenth note. It uses Control Voltage (CV) and Gate protocols to play your sequences on a connected analog synthesizer. The ARP Sequencer works perfectly with the ARP 2500, 2600, Odyssey, Avatar and other ARP synthesizers as well as Roland, Oberheim and Sequential Circuits. To interface the Sequencer with other types of CV/Gate capable synths like fx the Mini Moog or the Korg MS 20 would require a CV converter box. The ARP sequencer is fun and easy to learn. Use it to create continuous arpeggios or simple sequences of patterns for your vintage analog gear. Tweak it in real-time as you create or perform, it's very hands-on. Product description from the manual: The ARP Sequencer, model 1612, is a 16 step sequential voltage generator. A voltage slider is provided for each of the 16 steps to adjust the voltage output from 0 to +10 volts. The sequencer may be used in a “8 x 2” mode so that outputs 1 through 8 (Bank A) and 9 through 16 (Bank B) sequence in parallel. The outputs of banks A and B are prewired to a voltage quantizer which effectively “rounds off” the sequencer’s voltage to the nearest whole twelwth of a volt. This allows for precise tuning. A low frequency voltage controlled oscillator governs the stepping speed of the sequencer and can be started, stopped, gated, or speeded up either manually or externally. Serious bidders and Paypal only. WILL SHIP WORLD WIDE, but buyer will pay for shipping. Item location is in Drammen, Norway - Europe."