MATRIXSYNTH

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Electronic Arts Foundation

"The Electronic Arts Foundation was started by Tom Rhea, David VanKoevering, and Les Trubey (my father) to promote electronic music and preserve historical electronic musical instruments.

What follows is the text of an article written by Tom Rhea in 1976 for Contemporary Keyboard magazine. Reprints of this article were included in an info package with each synthesizer sold.

Tom Rhea is the president of the Electronic Arts Foundation, has done extensive work as an electronic music clinician, and has served as a synthesizer consultant to keyboard players such as CK Advisory Board member Keith Emerson. Rhea has a Ph.D. in music from the George Peabody College, in Nashville, Tennessee, with The Evolution Of Electronic Musical Instruments In The United States as his dissertation topic. Tom is also a member of MENC (Music Educators National Conference) and the Audio Engineering Society, and has written instruction manuals for Moog Music's performance oriented synthesizer line."

link to full article

Reissued: Gakken Denshi EX Electronic Experimenter's Kit

"The kit includes instructions for 150 different projects. The text is Japanese only, but there are illustrations of each project to help you put them together, although the final result may come as a complete surprise. The projects include several radios, a lie detector, motorcycle and gun sound effects, wireless microphone and a variety of logic circuits [AND, OR, NOT, NAND and NOR]."

Someone needs to come out with an audio/synth centric version of one of these. regardless, this does look pretty cool. I have a Radio Shack Electronics Learning lab with a bread board and well written project guide. I highly recommend these things if you want to learn the basics and just have a fun toy to play with.

You can find more info on the Gakken on Retro Thing.

Roland SH-5 on Aliens Project

click here for more images on Aliens Project.

via sequencer.de.

Con Brio ADS200... in a van... down by the river...

A little humor in the title for any fans of Chris Farley and his classic Van Down by The River skit on SNL (Saturday Night Live).

Humor aside, Brian Kehew of The Moog Cookbook sent me some exclusive shots of his Con Brio ADS200. You can check them out here. More will follow after the show mentioned below. If you remember from this previous post, only two of these were made and this one has just been resuscitated. If you are in the area you can see and hear it at "The FAIR and the MUSEUM: Sat/Sun 10-6 pm!! Exhibits from 2-6pm!"

More info on this shots from Brian:
You will see -
1) Con Brio ADS200 - the one I've had for over almost 15 years. This was me driving it up to a "vintage computer warehouse" in Silicon Valley - hoping we could get it running again.

2) Con Brio ADS200-R, which was picked up on the way, where it had been stored in a garage! Or the main part of it - minus the keyboards, which are already taken out. It hadn't worked when it was put away either - and no discs or manual, alas...
3) One of the main boards inside (forget which one), there are about 10 inside, various functions.
4) The wiring BEHIND that very board - now you can see why this stuff was so expensive to make - this is called "wire wrap" construction, and VERY time intensive - and you can't make a mistake!"

genoQs Dev Environment Tutorial

Grabriel of genoQs wrote in to let me know a tutorial on setting up an Octopus OS development environment is now available here as a pdf.

"Credit for this document goes straight to John Kimble, who was brave enough to take a few hints from us and turn them into a perfectly running installation of the Octopus development environment. At the same time, John was kind enough to capture his experience and gained expertise into a written document, which he supplied to us so we can make it available to the rest of the Octopus community.
Thank you, John!"

And thank you Gabriel for making the OS available to the community.

Genoqs Octopus Basic Demonstration 6

YouTube via DayflightTrok. Be sure to check out the previous demonstrations.
"free definition about how notes should be played in a sequence."

Crumar Spirit

YouTube via fututronic. via Nusonica.

"The Crumar Spirit was designed in 1982 by Bob Moog, Jim Scott & Tom Rhea. It was not a commercial success so only fifty to one hundred of these beauties exist!

It has a 37-note keyboard with 2 VCO's. There are saw, triangle, and several square waveforms on both oscillators. You can sync both oscillators. The oscillators have an octave range from 32' to 4'. Ring Modulation, low and high pass filters, 12 DB & 24DB slope, single & multiple triggering, keyboard filter tracking, band pass filtering, loudness envelope, filter envelope, arpeggiator linked to LFO (mod-X) with 4 different arpeggiations, LFO 1 modulated 6 different ways, a second waveshapable LFO called (shaper-y) with 4 fixed waveforms and shape control adjustable from saw to reverse-sawtooth, performance panel to include Auto & preset glide, and 3 performance wheels, pitch, Mod-x, and Shaper -Y. with the latter 2 having 5 different destinations. An audio mixer with ability to mix OSC A & B with Ring Modulator, and Noise. LFO 1 also has a red noise generator as well as a brightness control for overall boost of the high frequencies. A filter envelope with inverted and normal ADSR & a loudness envelope which can be bypassed. Output Jacks: External Gate in, External Pitch in, Keyboard Pitch out, Keyboard Gate out, OSC B Pedal, Filter Pedal, Shaper Audio Out, ADSR Mix Out, External Audio In.

Features * Bob Moog design! * 37-note keyboard * Saw, triangle and several square waveforms on both ocillators" Crumar Spirit video.

Silver Mystery Modular

Currently up for auction on VEMIA. If anyone knows more about this one feel free to comment or email me (contact info is on the bottom right of the site).

Theis TMSS Modular

Currently up for auction on VEMIA.

Variophon and Martinetta Enthusiasts' Page

via Steamy Vicks in the comments of this post.

click here for the website in both German and English.

MOOG Sonic V Brochure

via
this auction. via Bill.

"Extremely rare brochure from the early 1970's. 8 1/2 x 11", 2 pages. I wonder if these ever even made it into production? I've seen lots of old Sonic 6 synths, but never one of these. And what happened to the Sonic 1 through 4 models?"

According to the book Analog Days (p. 254): “In a nine-month period between December 1971 and September 1972 Van Koevering recorded 121 different sales in 107 different cities in 25 different states. In this period he sold 86 Minimoogs and an additional 168 synthesizers (Sonic V, Sonic VI, and Satellites), plus a range of accessories, including Moog T-Shirts.”

You can find the book on the right Synth Books section of this site.

MOOG 902 VCA Brochure

images via this auction. via Bill.

"Extremely rare brochure from 1974. 8 1/2 x 11", 4 pages. Much better graphic design."

Synthesizer-Magazin #5

German Synth mag via seqnuencer.de is out.

Click here for more info.

Synth content featured:
* Cwejman - Wowa tells ..
* Yamaha CS01- underestimated & small
* Moog Modular system today - what bringts and how can such a thing today?
* Native Instruments-solid-solid one in the face, or are they "just software"?
* Theremin Story
* Virsyn Poseidon Resynthese or Rehsynthese? The moose test!

More Circuit Bending Challenge 2007 Coverage

Click here for the post on GetLoFi. You will find tons of videos and images.

Synton Bow Tie and Hankerchiefs!

Too funny. via
this auction

"Great fun - a mint unused unopened Synton promo bow-tie and handkerchief, in blue. Very much from an era when men like Bob Moog and Felix Visser wore suits and had long conversations at trade shows. Sold in celebration of Synton, now that Felix is selling up his own gear and retiring."

Also one in
silver grey. (another of the Syrinx colours!)."

Note these are interesting items Peter Forrest is putting up to promote the VEMIA auction. You will notice a number of posts going up here this week. Peter has been gracious enough to offer me some very nice hi-res shots of items going up. We get the shots for posterity and those that might be interested in picking up any of the items will get the heads up. Do note that not every single synth will get a post, so be sure to check out the auction periodically for updates.

MFB Step64 step sequencer + ARP Odyssey Mk3 by RetroSound

YouTube via retrosound72. Sent my way via Marko.
"ARP Odyssey Mk III + MFB Step64 step sequencer more info: www.retrosound.de
The MFB Step64 is a step sequencer with 64 steps, up to 4-voice polyphony, 15 shuffle settings, MIDI in/out and 4xCV/Gate outs."

ARP Odyssey Mk3 Analog Synthesizer by RetroSound

YouTube via retrosound72. Sent my way via Marko.
"short demo of the ARP Odyssey III with FM, sample & hold and VCF-Modulation
more info: www.retrosound.de"

SONOLUMINESCENCE

"Todd Barton, Terry Longshore, Suzee Grilley, Michael Maag and Bruce Bayard creating improvisational sound, movement and light." [link]

Todd uses a variety of synths in his performances, ranging from the Roland JP-8080 pictured to a moog, serge, buchla and pro-one.

The image in this post is the PR photo for an upcoming sequence of three concerts. Pretty cool when bands use images of synths so prominently in their promotional material.

click here for their website were you will find some performance clips, images and more.

Circuit Bending Challenge Roundup

"Furby and Jesus, keyboards and guitars and laser gun blasters, pre-natal heart monitors, toys and instruments and strange unidentifiable electronics — in one day, all these things evolved from one thing into … something else. Babies and bigger adult people took to their shops, spent huge amounts of money (one dollar! two dollars!), and came up with remarkable designs. Some were beginners trying their first simple bends, some were serious builders, constructing really playable (if glitchable), convincing instruments. If you’ve never considered bending before, this could change/blow your mind. And for bending lovers, we have quite a range. Thanks to our friend Circuit Master at GetLoFi and Mike Una here on CDM, here come pages of results from the Circuit Bending Challenge I… -PK"

Click here for the post on CDM.

Sequential Circuits Remote Prophet

images via
this auction. via Dave.

"The Prophet Remote is an oddity easily stumbled upon in music shops and the like. It was designed as a strap-on remote keyboard for the Prophet-5. That's right, now the keyboardist can join the ranks of the hip-swayin' and hair-tossin' guitarists at the front of the stage! The Remote connects to the Prophet-5 via a 20 foot long cable designed to interface with only the P-5.

The Prophet Remote has controllers in the hand grip for pitch bending, LFO modulation and volume or filter cutoff. There are also program / bank select buttons for loading up different patches."

Analog Heaven Compilation - 2007

" Analogue Heaven is an email list established in 1993 for the discussion of analogue music equipment. This compilation, created in 2007, is a collection of contributions from list members, centered around the theme of "Sputnik" to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the launching of the Russian satellite.

Technologies used include analogue synthsizers and effects. Where possible, a list of tools and a description of the creation process are provided by the author(s) of each piece with accompanying links to MP3 and FLAC files. Individual MP3 are 320kbps."

click here for the site with tracks and descriptions.

Note the compilation is still being created. Some tracks are up but others will surely follow. I was going to hold off on putting up this post, but the AH list has over two thousand members from what I've heard from numerous sources, so anything that goes to the list is pretty much public the second it arrives. Be sure to check back for additional tracks. If a "the compilation is done" email is sent to the list I will do my best to put up another post.

Update: The page is just a placeholder for the time being. I'll put a new post up when it is done. Sorry folks, I jumped the gun on this one.

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Fairlight Demo & Studio Work (1984)

YouTube via EpoLover. See this post for more.

ASR-10 Sampling

YouTube via Hitman019 (click for more ASR-10 videos).
"Sampling on the ASR-10 taught be its creator."

Sandin Image Processor Plans

There has been some discussion on the Analog Heaven mailing list regarding video synthesizers. Greg sent me the plans for a classic video synth, the Sandin Image Processor. Click on the icon above for the PDF.

Realton Variophon

via the VEMIA auction.

Roland SH-1

via the VEMIA auction.

Korg PS-3010 keyboard and PS-3040 pedals

Two more via the VEMIA auction currently running.

Yamaha CS80 Birthday Card

1/8th scale cardboard CS80. You can see more about it and see more shots on RL Music. When you get there, click on the B on the top right of the page.

via Peter

Cryo - Rock Impovisation

YouTube via Deweak.
Features a the Alesis Fusion and Roland VSynth XT for leads.

Yamaha AN200

images via
this auction.

MP3 demo here.

"This is a 5-voice AN1X with an additional 3 track groovebox style sequencer with built-in AWM2 waveforms for rhythm, bass and fx samples. Entire compositions can be easily made on this box or use it's innovative realtime performance features to create beats to songs on the fly. It has a 4 track free-style parameter sequencer/complex envelope looping generator. This allow you to create high-speed, complex modulatation waveforms to use in any 4 parameters at once. This feature allows you to introduce an endless variety of natural variation into the timbral elements that make up the sound. It gives the sound of the AN200 a kind of animation within the sound, the same way a filter sweep or PWM does, or even oscillator sync. It indeed makes the sound come alive. Because these tracks work at high speeds it gives the AN200 a unique feature not found in other analog modeled synths. Yamaha also includes extra features and routing not found in your typical modeled synths. There's different kinds of sync, FM configurations, new oscillator types, etc. All these features allow this to produce a wide range of all the classic analog synths as well as many hybrid sounds never heard before. It basic design is based on a morphing architecture. That means each preset is made up of two sounds. There is one morphing knob that lets you choose to hear either sound by itself(at the extreme ends), or a true morphed variable combination of the two. Note that this feature doesn't simply crossfade the amplitudes of the sounds the way a mixer would across two tracks. The knob actually adjust each parameter of the first sound towards the values of the other parameters that define the 2nd sound. It's a true morphing function and sounds radically different than simple crossfading. With this revolutionary architecture, almost any animated electronic sound can be realized on this synthesizer.

Here's another description that you may find helpful:

This uses the identical digital circuitry and chips as in the classic AN1X synthesizer, and Yamaha PLG150-AN Plug-in Board for the Motif, CS6X, MU90, MU100, MU128, MU2000, S80, S90, etc, as well as the Keyton plugin box. What makes this technology stand apart from the other virtuals is that Yamaha modelled AN after a SCI Prophet 5, Oberheim, and a MiniMoog Model D. You can get all these types sound character, plus much more you never heard before. This synth has broken new ground in synthesis and sound development by taking the critical elements from these vintage models and fusing them together in an incredibly flexible way. Some highlights are, two main Oscillators, one sub. Oscillators can be patched in series for one to modulate the other in the audio spectrum well above what an LFO can achieve as well as filter/OSC modulation. PWM, different kinds of sync, ring, multimode filter, matrix modulation, etc. However Yamaha didn't stop there, they included a 4 track high resolution free-form envelope generator where each of the 4 tracks are recorded in realtime using any controller knob, then can be assigned/re-assigned to any parameter for automatically generating the ultimate timbral ANIMATION in sync with each key trigger, or even in a random, free-running mode. That alone makes it sound bright and alive. The second revolutionary feature when this came out, was realtime morphing between two scenes, which are really the same as saying two different patches. So for example you can truly morph a Taurus bass into a dark and clangorous series of Cathedral Bells. This is a real morph between two distinct sounds, not simply an amplitude crossfade. This transitional effect sounds radically different and punches thru any mix. This effect really starts getting the AN sound outstandingly close to the kind of animation the Minimoog invoke."

Atari 2600 Synthcart

via
this auction.

screenshot
controllers
cartridge

"The Synthcart is a unique Atari 2600 cartridge that turns your 2600 into a pop music sensation, letting you play music using a pair of Atari's keyboard controllers and can also be controlled with an optional 2600 MIDI kit.

AtariAge sponsored a Synthcart Beat Programming Contest in early 2002 to allow people to create and contribute beats to be included with the Synthcart.

This listing includes:
1- New NTSC format 32K Sythcart cartridge and full-color manual by Paul Slocum.
1- Clean Pair of Video Touch Pad Controllers
1- New pair of Synthcart keypad overlays.
1- Atari 2600 Darth Vader refurbished and customized with 1/4" jack output and composite video output.
1- Highly Liquid internal MIDI 2600
1- Atari AC adapter.
1- Original Star Raiders Video Game Cartridge.
- Play using an assortment of familiar Atari sounds
- Use two different sound types at a time, one assigned to each controller
- Intelligent voice management constantly re-assigns the two oscillators for maximum perceived polyphony
- User interface designed so that you can program and play the synth without a TV. This Atari has been modified with an audio out, you just need your Atari and an amp.
- Easter egg: secret light show mode that displays color patterns based on sound output. To activate, put the scale on "major" and put the left keypad on "pitfall" or "saw" and play the notes: 4 7 8 9 8 9.

MIDI Capability:
- 8th, 16th, and 32nd note arpeggiator
- Can arpeggiate both oscillators simultaneously
- Beat Box with many pre-programmed beats and fills
- Play two beats simultaneously to create custom beats
- Two tremelo settings
- Four attack/release settings

MIDI Features:
* Translates incoming MIDI notes to keypad control signals
* Powered by game console—separate power supply not required
* User-selected MIDI input channel
* Power and activity LEDs"

See the tag below for previous posts including samples.

Crumar BIT One 1 Synthesizer Schematic

via this auction. Note the seller has a ton of other synth scans up as well. I put this one up as I haven't seen it before. The designs synth manufactures come up with for their documentation (colors, fonts graphics) always fascinate me.

MOOG Taurus - 1977

images via this auction

Model 1, serial #2392.

Star Instruments Synare PS-1 Drum Synth

images via this auction

CTO XYEB - New Harvestman Mystery Module

flickr by nakedintruder.

"harvestman mystery module - ships in 2 weeks"

click here for the full size shot.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Patrick Moraz on Oberheim Matrix-12, SCI Prophet-10 and Prophet-5

YouTube via Analogger. In case you missed it in this post, the synth jam starts after the Minimoog signing.
"This segment opens backstage at a benefit concert in Orlando for "Give Kids The World." Rick Wakeman and Patrick are autographing my Minimoog. That's where I first met Moraz.

Patrick and I became friends and spent some time during the five days he was in town. One night my wife and I took him to Amigos restaurant in Altamonte Springs. A group of people recognized Patrick and came over to the table. He was gracious and charming as he answered questions, told stories, and had everybody in stitches with his infectious "Amadeus" laugh. I took him aside and said, "Look...we're about two minutes from my house. How about we invite these people back and you could perform?" Even though it was around midnight he shouted, "That would be fantastic!" He improvised for almost an hour...much of it on my Oberheim Matrix-12. The people loved it!

Patrick spent the night and about seven in the morning my wife and I are jolted out of bed by the sound of Patrick wailing on my Prophet-5. I called a friend of mine, Mark Glinsky, who was a big Moraz fan and told him to come over right away. He asked why? I held the phone towards a monitor and said, "You hear that? Its Patrick Moraz and he's in my studio!" Patrick continued to discuss musical ideas he was working on and play bits and pieces. That afternoon we attended the Van Halen soundcheck since my station was broadcasting live from a skybox in the Orlando Arena. The Van Halen adventure is documented in Part-3."

The Con Brio Rises!

via Brian Kehew of The MOOG Cookbook. Only two Conbrio ADS 200s were ever made. See the links in Brian's message below for more info on this rare digital synth from the past.

"Hi guys - this is a quickie announcement - we're rushing to prepare an exhibit for this year's annual (and final) "VINTAGE COMPUTER FAIR"!

Why? This Con Brio synthesizer I've had for a decade is finally going to make noise in public again. Just this week we heard it for the first time - maybe the first one of these has been used in 20+ years...

http://www.synthmuseum.com/conbrio/conads20001.html

http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-favorite-retro-synth-conbrio-ads.html

It's been a legendary beast - mostly because of how it looks (of course). But until this week, we didn't know it was really GOOD. As a slightly outside observer, it was truly amazing - the design and interface are superb - you can fly on this thing and work very quickly. They implemented the synthesis with some REALLY tricky methods, as well as writing their own disc drive code, things like that. It sounds like other digital synths of the era - but with much better fidelity, its basic tone is pretty great. I am now gonna try and reunite the designers (one of them is coming along for the show and may give a talk). I will probably soon do a detailed web page showing some of the clever ideas and history. ANd my goal is to lend it out to some people, who can take it for a month and do ONE piece on it - so I can make some kind of "ALL Con Brio" CD so people can finally hear it. I don't think it's ever been on a commercial record release...

The FAIR and the MUSEUM: Sat/Sun 10-6 pm!! Exhibits from 2-6pm!

http://www.vintage.org/2007/main/

So - if you're interested in coming by (Mountain View, CA) I'll be there with it. PLEASE pass on the info to your techie-geek friends who may also appreciate this or a roomfull (museum nearby) of vintage computers; Altair, Digital Equipment Corp., Timex, Commodore, early Apple, etc."

Update via Brian in the comments:
"Well, I would think so too, but that's not true exactly. The three guys who did the Con Brio are serious computer experts; the one seen at the show makes his living manufacturing THE fastest RAM you can buy today. He says the way the Con Brio works (which is not a microprocessor counting to create "oscillators") would still be hard on a typical modern computer. If it were done by a microprocessor running numbers, yes, a modern computer would have it beat, but the speed of the Com Brio lies in the "dumb logic" way the waveforms are done, which allows it to be driven a light-speed type rates - "doing the math" with a microprocessor is harder and takes more power. They were far ahead of their time and finding unique solutions to the problems they had.

You mention the comparison between the 16 oscillators and Bill's 136 - actually the Con Brio does run 16 oscillators on each voice/key; TIMES its sixteen voices, so this is actually 256 simultaneous "oscillators" running.

On the 6 different configurations on a DX7 being adequate for what sounds are needed; to do the simple Hammond organ patch with "all drawbars out" is impossible with that limited set - and that's just 8 sine waves, no overtones per harmonic: the 6-operator setup won't do it. There is capability there with so many configurations - and how it's used is up to the user. Same for the Minimoog - Moog engineers felt that more than 3 oscillators made very little difference in the sound. Serious modular synthesists would disagree.

Not to mention - analog hardware. ALL digi synths have it for output - and the choices made there by designers can drastically affect the tone of the output - otherwise all CD players would sound the same playing the same Pink Floyd record, and we know they don't! Yet another reason a Nord Modular doesn't sound like a Doepfer or Buchla... You "can do it" in software, but it will not sound the same."

Polyfusion Sound-A-Round

image via the VEMIA Auction now running.

Polyfusion Sound-A-Round Quad Panner DP-1.

The Welsh Minimoog Model E

image via the VEMIA Auction now running.

You can read a little more on the Welsh Model E here. It was produced by Alex Winter in the UK after he obtained the rights to the MOOG name.

mpc electronic analogue drums

YouTube via Iglobalhead. Sent my way via richard.
"fantastic analogue sounds from mpc electronics rare 1980's drum synth modules"
Note the manufacturer is MPC (see the MORE tag below), not Akai.

ARP 2500

via Steve of Life in Balance:

"For some unknown reason I found this photo very interesting. I came across it while surfing synth stuff. Can anyone ID the woman. I think we know what the synth is."

ARP 2500 of course.
Also anyone know the source of the image?

Update via Mark in the comments: "That is the great Eliane Radigue." I ran a quick search and found this site which has more info on her as well as this shot.

Update via John Levin in the comments: "You can get her CDs from the Lovely Music label, www.lovely.com"

Eliane Radigue trailer from Anaïs Prosaïc on Vimeo.

Mimì and SidStation

via CatSynth.com via polynominal.com.

BTW, I think Mimi is the most featured Catsynth - I gave here her a tag.

S900 Steelphon synthesizer

YouTube via aemmezero.

"Resonance and Noise games"

Steelphon S900 synthesizer demo1

"Wave, lfo & filter demo"

xenakis @ lab30

YouTube via twingaburg. via Nusonica.

"http://xenakis.3-n.de/ This video was shot at the Augsburg Media art festival lab.30 Xenakis is a multi-user instrument to stochastically create music with a tangible interface. You can control the played instruments, their rhythmic and notes by moving physical objects on a luminous table surface. The instrument has been developed by students of Software Engineering at the University of Augsburg, Germany." Similar to reactable. See labels below for MORE.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Monday, October 29, 2007

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