MATRIXSYNTH

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

images and videos via
this auction
"The Moog Source is a monophonic microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage. The design was also the first (and only) Moog synthesizer to feature a flat-panel membrane keyboard to replace the standard buttons, knobs and sliders.

In addition to the memory capable of holding 16 presets, the Source features a 37-note keyboard, and two VCOs that can be selected between three waveforms and three octaves. Programmed presets can be saved to a cassette interface to free up the onboard memory for additional new patches. The 24dB/octave VCF has parameters for keyboard tracking, cutoff frequency, resonance, and envelope amount. There are two ADSR envelope generators that can be set in single or multi trigger modes, one for the VCF and one for the VCA. For modulation, the Source features LFO and sample and hold.

Features:
* 2-VCO
* Micro-processor-controlled
* Programmable monophonic synthesizer
* 16 memory locations
* 3-octave, 37-note (C-C) keyboard
* Arpeggiator and a digital sequencer with memory for two seqences of up to 64 notes
* First to use digital parameter access for programming, a method now commonly found in today's synthesizers, using membrane switches, a two-digit LED display and a single data knob
* VCOs have three available waveforms (sawtooth, triangle, and pulse; with pulse width modulation) and three available octaves (32', 16', and 8'). VCO2 can be detuned at fixed intervals and it can be also synced to VCO1
* Mixer section features levels for VCO1, VCO2 and Noise
* VCF (24dB/octave) has parameters for keyboard tracking (off, 1/2, and full), cutoff frequency, resonance, and contour (Moog's word for envelope) amount
* Two ADSR envelope generators, one for the VCF and one for the VCA
* Envelopes can be set in single or multi trigger modes
* LFO (triangle and square waveforms) can be routed to the VCOs and the VCF
* Sample-and-hold can be routed to the VCF
* To the left of the keyboard is the pitch bend and the modulation wheel, along with two octave-switching buttons
* These and a volume knob are the only dedicated controls.
* Back panel includes audio out, cassette interface, a recessed pitch knob (for fine tuning), and CV and S-trigger inputs and outputs
* 16 factory pre-sets are: Lead 1, Lead 2, Horn, Flute, Clav Bass, Vibes, String Bass, Harpsichord, Organ, Trill Voice, Taurus, Synthevox, Sax, Wind, Snare Drum, and Lead 1 (duplicated here so that if you wanted to, you could use this extra slot to move patches around).
* Programs are saved and loaded via a cassette interface.
* Moog's Source was their first to offer patch memory storage as well as some other new features.
* It boasted 16 memory locations so you could finally save and recall your synth patches.
* A cassette-tape jack was also implemented to transfer your patches to and from an external tape and free up the on-board memory for additional new patches.
* In an effort to modernize with the eighties, the Moog had replaced all buttons, knobs and sliders with flat-panel membrane buttons and a single data-wheel assignment format.
* Parameters are edited not with hands-on sliders and knobs but by assigning a selected parameter to the dedicated data wheel.
* Those famous monophonic Moog sounds are still inside this synth which has two fat analog oscillators and the legendary 24 dB Moog filter."

PAiA Stringz n Thingz

via via this auction

You can find more info on the Stringz & Thingz here.

ARP Quadra

images via
this auction

Note the Odyssey in the background is listed here.

Oberheim OB-X

images via this auction
"The OB-X was released in 1979 and was the first programmable polyphone synth from Oberheim. It's the direct successor to the famous SEM-based four/eight voice. The main point is, that the OB-X has the same discrete filter design as the SEM-modules - there are no curtis filter ICs as the followers OBXa and OB-8 got. But the filter is not as flexible as the SEM-one (which were multi mode) - it has a fix 12dB lowpass setting. When you open the belt, you will see boards with tons of electronics. Every voice has got it's own circuit board - they can be removed separately. A maximum of eight voice boards can be installed - mine has got six. For stereo use, every board's output is assigned to a pan pot. Every voice board has two VCOs with saw and pulse. The VCOs can be synced and crossmodulated (you won't find crossmodulation in the followers OBXa and OB-8) - so there can be generated strange and metallic waves. There's a great polyphonic portamento section, an autotune function and a hold button (which can be used as a chord memory as I found out!). Then we got the described filter section and two ADSRs for filter and amp. The sections can be modulated with the Oberheim-typical modulation matrix. An LFO with quare, triangle and S/H can modulate the LFO pitch, the filter cutoff and the pulse width (separate for VCO1 and 2). There are 32 memory locations to save your sounds. Of course you can edit programs any time - just push the edit button and turn the knobs as you like. There's a casette interface to load and save memory banks. On the backside you find some goodies: a CV/Gate interface to control voice 1 and a filter control jack, where I've connected an external potentiometer to modulate the filter cutoff without any stages - which sounds absolutely great. This direct and precise cutoff control you will never ever experience with a software synth. You can really navigate to a particular partial tone and hear it growing louder until you got it exactly! What I learned to appreciate furthermore are the Oberheim-typical levers. They allow you to bend the tones of the Oberheim like you bend a guitar string - the levers are very responsive. It's easy to bend up a note and modulate it at the same time. I admit freely: I'm not a fan of wheels - I like better the korg joystick. Unfortunately, the Oberheim-concept has been abandoned."

Maestro OB-2

via this auction

"Maestro Octave Pedal, made ca. 1974.

This is a classic octave pedal great on guitar, keyboards, even voice.
Extremely smooth tracking, it always yields a nice smooth analog bass tone. When your note decays the box will track the next loudest harmonic, sometimes 3rd, or 5th giving a cool harmony when mixed with dry signal.

The controls on the pedal are: Octave On/Off, Guitar Vol., Octave Vol, Sensitivity, Mode (Perc./Sust.)."

I'm guessing the Maestro Octave Box was designed by Tom Oberheim along with the Filter Sample/Hold FSH-1.

Synhouse DIY CV/Gate and Audio Inputs for the MOOG Prodigy

"Most Moog Prodigy synthesizers have no interface whatsoever. Only the very few last Prodigies made had CV, gate, and audio input jacks. The following plans describe a method of installing the jacks yourself, if you have a little experience with electronic repair and the soldering of wires and circuit boards. If not, these plans will allow a professional repair shop to add the analog interface jacks for you. It is best to download these diagrams and print them out on paper to look at while working on the instrument and make notes and check off the steps as you go. All repairs and modifications made to your instruments will be done at your own risk and Synhouse Multimedia Corporation assumes no liability for personal injury caused or damage to equipment or loss of use caused directly or indirectly by the use of these plans. If in doubt, don't do it!" click here for more info on Synhouse.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

WTF Chicken!?

YouTube via deadmau5.

via Dj Aero.

"In the Studio with Tommy Lee , DeadMau5 and Steve Duda. Chicken is the name of the track which will be released soon."

via an anonymous reader:
"That's at Tommy Lee's studio...with Doepfer, Harvestman and other Eurorack modular gear. More tracks at http://www.myspace.com/wtfisthisstuff"

Metasonix Puzzle

Sighup has been taking the daily Metasonix teaser images going up on umop and piecing them together. Click here to see the full image so far.

Bloog: The RSS Mod-Synth

via Andrew Haarsager (click through for more info and some examples):

"Here is the finished project of what I wrote about here - a machine that scrambles the words and sentences of real-time blog posts, based on the look of a 1960’s Moog synthesizer. It pulls in any RSS feed (for demonstration I used Technorati to create one that fetches all new net-wide blog posts about ‘music,’ har har). The knobs and sliders scroll through the text and add or subtract words from the screen, creating new ideas from the existing sentences."

B2007.004.28

flickr by okto

full size

Alesis Micron

Click the tattoo link below for more.

BTW if you have or know of a synth tattoo that I have not posted, feel free to send it in.

Jean Michel Jarre - In Oxygene estudio

YouTube via cosmicsound. JMJ is playing the Yamaha CS80.

Monowave

images via this auction

"This is a TRULY UNIQUE synth in keyboard history... perhaps THE only rackmounted version of the famous PPG Wave 2.2, only 50 of these were made by Paul Maddox, one of the leading experts on PPG in the UK. Feel free to read more here. This synth was a limited custom (built to order) and only 50 were ever made, this is #16."
Update: you can find more info on the monowave on the Elby-Designs Monowave page as well as via the Monowave label below.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Workshop Analoge Klangsynthese mit Alesis Andromeda

Workshop Analoge Klangsynthese mit Alesis Andromeda 1/2

Workshop Analoge Klangsynthese mit Alesis Andromeda 2/2

YouTube via mag4musicians. Sent my way via Mr. Array.

"Workshop Analoge Klangsynthese mit Alesis A6 Andromeda. Armin Küster zeigt im ersten Teil des Workshops, welche klanglichen Möglichkeiten schon in der Oszillatorsektion stecken. Überabreitete Version"

Encoding an image to sound

"Encoding the Image
The first pass of my program disregarded the color data and only produced a frequency for the Y axis if the color intensity was less that half the sum of all colors. Below is an example. Note: I converted the WAV to an MP3 to conserve bandwidth, at 320kbps not much data is lost.

Audio File: ohmpie.mp3

I was really shocked to fist see the image! The only tweaking I needed to do was to use a linear scale for the frequency. Also if I selected too high an amplitude for the sin wave, clipping occurred in areas with too much black. For image above I used an amplitude of about 1000 on a scale of 0 to 32768."

You can find the full article including more examples and the code here. via Mr. Array.

I'll help! (Roland JP-8080)

via catsynth.com.

Commodore 64 with built in Cynthcart!

YouTube via human202. via C64Music!

"Modified Commodore 64 with Cynthcart built in"

"Here is a list of all the mods:
- Custom black paint
- New decals
- Filter knob (changes values on the SID audio chip filter)
- RCA audio/video jacks on the back for easy connectivity
- Audio out (dual mono)
- Audio in (process external sources)
- Video out (easily connects to any modern T.V.)
- 14 segment LED screen ( displays greeting message and filter values)
- Relocated and replaced power light with blue l.e.d.
- Built in Cynthcart(internal mod)
- Choose between Cynthcart or normal boot up with a toggle switch
- Cynthcart,Basic prompt indicators"

roland jupiter 4 and CR8000 jam.!

YouTube via mopipi2.
"roland jupiter 4 and roland cr8000 jam.!"

Access Virus TI

images via this auction

Ludwig Phase II Guitar Synthesizer

images via this auction

serial #1239

Kind Words on MATRIXSYNTH

"-the best synth site on the web,always updated,always interesting"
-Tom (The Chemical Brothers)

"You do a great job maintaining that blog. It has become essential daily viewing for myself and lots of other people I know. Your efforts are greatly appreciated."
-Thighpaulsandra (Coil, Spiritualized, Julian Cope, etc.)

"Congrats on the site...It's become an addiction, especially now that i am on tour..."
-Alessandro Cortini (NIN, Modwheelmood)

"Isnt Matrixsynth better than a big cuppa cocoa & a Christmas cookie on a cold cold Southern California morning?"
Tara Busch & Analog Suicide

"I think that the matrixsynth blog is great and keeps people well in touch with everything synth- I visit everyday to see what's going on!"
Ken MacBeth

"I know I said it before... but good job with the blog... I don't know how you do it! always something new & interesting to be seen there... but I have to stop myself from looking sometimes... because I'd never get any work done! ;)"
Mike Brown of Livewire

""I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog, and read it throughout the day. There is always something new and interesting to read about. Its also very informative, and provides a wonderful community for all synthesizer lovers like myself." =)"
Richard Devine of Devsnd

"a huge thanks to Matrix of MatrixSynth (matrixsynth.blogspot.com) for all his years of ongoing support to the synth community. This one's for you...from Bacon and I."
Shagghie

"Matrixsynth really helps to showcase all the wonderful little synth & sound setups operating today -- your blog is a large part in helping such things thrive. Absolutely - hats off!"
Tom Bugs of BugBrand

"Thanks again for a great site Matrix,

- Laurie Spiegel"

"The best synth site www.matrixsynth.com" - AtomoSynth

The Packrat by Dave

MATRIXSYNTH Swag & Hall of Fame

MATRIXSYNTH THANKS from 2007.

Yamaha CS15

images via this auction

"So cool to use two filters at once and having dual oscillators makes it so much better than the CS-5 and CS-10. What is so cool is the bandpass/hipass/lowpass filters. It can be played duophonically with another CV controller.

Roland Jupiter-4 and CSQ-100 Sequencer

images via this auction

KORG Lambda ES-50

images via this auction

"- It has "Percussive" and "Ensemble" sections, with individual volume sliders. If the "Chorus Phase" butons for both are off, the go out the left and right channels separately. Putting on Chorus Phase "stereoizes" the sound, each can be set separately. There is also a mono mix out and a stereo headphone out.

- There are 2 tuneable oscillators, each can be tuned separately over quite a wide range so you can get nice phasing happening there, from subtle to pretty intense. Total tune varies both at the same time up or down.

- The accent section is straight forward, you can add key-click to the electric piano sound, and the brass "fC" is like variable treble filter to the brass sound. The tone section is simple brightness adjustments for the Ensemble and Percussive sections.

- There is also an octave switch, self-explanatory. I will also mention the joystick, left-and right are a spring-loaded pitch-bend control, and up and down mess with the chorus phase width.

- The Percussive section has a sustain switch, and toggles for Electric Piano, Clavi, Piano, and Harmonics (additional tonal sound many octaves higher). All sounds can be played individually or combined for thick, rich layering. The decay dial affects the 4 sounds, while the tremolo dial works on the sounds when the Tremolo switch is also on.

- The Ensemble section has Brass and Organ sounds, and Chorus (a little like a vocal choir), Strings 1, Strings 2 (an octave higher), and an Attack/Release switch and knobs, which affect the Chorus and Strings sounds only. All sounds layerable. For example if you play the Brass and Chorus with A/R set, the brass will have its usual A/R envelope while the Chorus one will be different, as you set it so it sounds like two keyboards.

Has some kind of natural sounding reverb after you let up the keys, not sure how they did that but it sounds good. Gets turned off when the Attack/Release toggle is on.

I tried putting all 9 sounds on at once, it's really wild, rich, deep and stereo. Lots of possibilities! The last thing I did with it was a 30 minute long jam to try out everything, glad I recorded it

------------------

Here's a guy who really likes his Lambda ES50 synth, has nice description, pics and audio mp3 samples.

SonicState has a good overview, and the user reviews are mostly 5 out of 5"

Workspace and Environment: Richard Lainhart

click here for the full post on trash_audio.

"Favorite Hardware
Right now, it's the Buchla 200e, although I'd really have to include the Haken Continuum as a part of the whole system. The 200e is an extraordinary instrument in its own right, but I think it's the addition of the Continuum that really takes it to an entirely new level of expression and control. So I'd have to say both are my current favorites, in equal parts."

Plan B Heisenberg Generator

flickr by thumbuki

full size

Monday, January 07, 2008

More Stuff

Fighting P3 - Live sequencing in studio

"all the sequences modifications were done on the fly). Everything was recorded directly into Live 7 in MIDI format."

# Oberheim Xpander - lead
# Oberheim Xpander - bass 1
# Waldorf MicroWave XT - bass 2
# EXS24 samples - pads
# EXS24 samples - drums

via and more info on Hielo Patagonia Sounds

bizzy

"DSI Evolver, Korg ER1, Kjaerhus Spectra softsynth , OB3 , sequenced in Live 7"
via Baghead

Tube Noise Generator

images via this auction via wattson.

"This is a tube noise generator, radio frequency, mute, audio frequency, LF, and ASA is some sort of other noise that im not sure what it is, you cn make some really cool hats and crashes with this thing, the VU meter tells you how many volts you are sending out and you can control that by output knob. the rear of the unit has a 1/4 line level out and a rca line level out. i took detailed pics of the inside, the way the noise is generated there is a tube placed between two magnets its a really neat circuit."
More of a bit of test equipment, but interesting nonetheless.

More info on these here.

"A device that produces electrical noise for use in electrical measurements. Electrical noise generators are commonly employed to measure the noise figure or noise temperature of radio receivers. They are also used in various other tests in radar and communications systems. Celestial noise sources are used to calibrate large antennas."

Update: here's a video of the unit by Shagghie previously posted here.

SunSyn meets Magneto-Tube Random Noise Gen!

Sonic State: Inside Synthesis 003 - Modular Basics

Inside Synthesis 003 - Modular Basics
Introduction to Modular Synthesis
via Sonic State where you can find more info on this video.
This video features the prototype Mattson Mini Modular.

Till Kopper's Workspace

Get ready to drool. The following is a set of images sent my way via Till Kopper. Absolutely impressive. You might remember Till Kopper from these previous posts. Be sure to scroll as the link is a search on "Kopper" and will bring up this post.

You can listen to and see more of what Till does with this gear on his website. Be sure to click the images or the full size shots. Also I think I got all the synth labels. : ) If I missed any post a comment.

Overview from the staircase.
The wooden rack right of the WAVE contains:
Moog Prodigy (my first real synth)
Access MicroWave controller
ART Multi FX unit
Waldorf waveSlave
Waldorf microWave
Waldorf waveSlave (another one)
Waldorf microQ keyboard
Behringer mixer
Ibanez DM2000 delay
Waldorf Midibay-15
(see the other pictures for the rest of the gear shown here)

foreground: Moog Voyager
left keyboard stand:
Jen Sx1000
Waldorf XTk30 (lent away, therefor not shown here)
Manikin Electronics Memotron

between the keyboard stands:
Korg Micro Preset 500
Korg Poly Ensemble PE-1000
Korg Poly Ensemble S PE-2000
Monikin Electronics Schrittmacher
Behringer sub-mixer
3 Modulus MonoWaves (2 beta units)
Waldorf rackAttack
right keyboardstand
Minimoog (with Lintronic Midi and beechwood cabinet) Waldorf WAVE +16
Q32 with
Prototype Waldorf Blofeld atop

The wall of string keyboards (left column from top to bottom):
Wersi Voice FX atop
Farfisa Syntorchestra
Hohner String Vox atop
Logan String Melody
ARP Quartet
ELKA Rhapsody 610
(right column from top to bottom)
Crumar Performer

Vermona PianoStrings (from former East German) Hohner String Performer Crumar Multiman S Wersi Stage Performer Mk1 SII (additiv synth with a single SSM filter and Wersi Voice FX build in) Spot the Waldorf Pulse, Waldorf 4Pole, Waldorf EQ-27. AceTone (= early Roland) Rhythm Ace 2L and Tascam HD recorder

ELKA Solist 505 atop
ELKA X705 organ (with bass foot keys and pedal

Notshown on these pictures:
Eminent 310 unique
broken Hohner ADAM
Schimmel piano
Boss DR-220E
Keio (= early Korg) MiniPops 3
Casio VL-1
Dübreq Stylophone
EEH DS500 (does not boot anymore, need new battery?)
2 ELKA Rhapsodies 610 as spare parts
Waldorf WAVE (the spare WAVE) lent away to a friend

CLICK FOR MORE »

Oberheim OB-Xa

images via this auction via Matt.

Be sure to check them out full size; they are fantastic shots.

via the auction:
"Personally, I think the OB-Xa holds more 80s nostalgia in its tone than any other synth of its era.. It has the most joyous and rich, vibrant signature. Aside from being most famous for "Jump" it can be heard on countless numbers of 80s pop records, as well as 90s club and electro/house/pop/italo recordings up to the present day.

This one has a quite rare Real World Interfaces Midi upgrade, built and installed by Robin Whittle, best known for his Devilfish modifications to the 303. The strip along the top of the keys is a guide for the midi features, and the switch and black button is to toggle midi mode. The manual for the midi upgrade is included. Its a clean professional modification, and anyone who knows Robin's work will tell you he is the best."

EMSA -- Electronic Music Studios of America

via David:

"Peter Forrest's post to AH about EMSA led me to do a little digging. I lived in Amherst, MA, years after EMSA but still love the area. Anyway, Everett Hafner's (owner of EMSA) daughter put up a page about him, including a seriously photo-laden picture of EMSA stuff"

Update: Be sure to check out the EMSA link below for all posts featuring EMSA - there are only a few including this one, however there is some fascinating history including the Ionic Performer.

Stribe 0.4a w/ 0.4g Max patch + DSI monosynth

YouTube via soundwidgets
"A mini-demo of the very basic Max patch I wrote for the Stribe. It's essentially a 'virtual stribe' that sends display messages to the Stribe, and receives sensor data from the touchstrips and displays that in rslider controls. You can actually play with the virtual stribe without a real Stribe, but it's just not the same."

Analog Synthesizers アナログシンセサイザー

video upload by kiewmission

"TOKYO GEIJUTSU DAIGAKU THE 120TH ANNIVERSARY
Buchla, MoogIII, ARP2500, Roland System 700 & 100M.
東京藝術大学　創立120周年企画
音響研究室アナログシンセサイザー展示"

Roland TR-606 "Drumatix" Analogue Drum Machine

YouTube via retrosound72

"short demo of the Roland TR-606 drum machine by RetroSound

The little sister of the Roland TR-808 drumcomputer. The TR-606 has analogue TR-808 like sounds and the typical LED step programming."

How to Repair a Poly-61

Click here for a website on how to repair the Korg Poly-61 via Michael.

"Welcome to my documentation of the odyssey repairing some Poly-61s, as i recently bought 3 of them with the intention to get at least 2 of them working perfectly. If you want to repair a Poly-61, i have to warn you - it is quite a lot of work to get it perfectly working again, if it has the full repertoire of usual problems of this synthesizer. First of all, if you don't want to do a full restoration, you should know a bit about the inner workings of the Poly-61. This is where i want to start. So let's have a look at the anatomy of the Korg Poly-61."

Update: unfortunately the link above is gone. I found the following from Really Nice Audio:

POLY61 RepairS video upload by Really Nice Audio

"By changing the switches and cleaning the keyboard contacts you can bring a synth back to its former glory."

Continuous Signal Processing: The Fourier Series

via AH regarding the following question:

"Does anyone know the formula for calculating the resulting harmonics the formula for calculating the resulting harmonics of a pulse wave when the pulse width is varied? In other words, a square wave (or pulse wave with 50% duty cycle) has only the odd-numbered harmonics present; how do you determine the harmonics present when the duty cycle is 25%, or any other value?"

Dave Manley followed up with a link to this site.
"This brings us to the last member of the Fourier transform family: the Fourier series. The time domain signal used in the Fourier series is periodic and continuous. Figure 13-10 shows several examples of continuous waveforms that repeat themselves from negative to positive infinity."

Update: also see this Synth Secrets article on Sound on Sound.

ARP Omni and Omni 2 Repair Page

On marksmart.net:
* Common failures on the ARP Omni and Omni 2
* 4075 Filter modification
* Power supply modification
* Imitating ARP string sounds
* ARP slider caps

Roland Ace Tone Top-1 Udpate

I missed the auction link in this post. It's up. Sorry about that...

Waldorf Pulse Pluse Demo

Pulse-Demo

via Noiseprofessor

Synthex Workshop

Synthex_workshop.mp3

Nord Wave Manager

"The Nord Wave Manager is now availabe in the Nord Wave download area. This is the application that allows you to edit, create and load collections of samples to and from the Flash memory area of the Nord Wave synthesizer. The Manager will also act as a librarian utility for the Program memory area." link

KikAXXE software synthesizer from Way Out Ware.

YouTube via wiretotheear
"The KikAXXE is a virtual synthesizer, drum machine and analog sequencer. It's great fun. After you watch this video be sure to try the fully working 30 day demo from www.wayoutware.com. For more videos, tutorials and pro-audio articles visit www.wiretotheear.com."

Update via Oliver Chesler in the comments:
"You can also see this in a higher resolution here"

yamaha cs-10 song

YouTube via maxmonomusic. Follow up to this post.
"All synthsounds except drums in this song comes from a yamaha cs 10 monophonic analog synthesizer. for more cs10 go to www.myspace.com/maxmonomusic"

Yamaha CS 30 analogue synthesizer

YouTube via ultragrid

"Yamaha CS 30 Vintage Synthesizer demo - No Music or Tracks - just 8 min of what you can do with the beast...analogue compact mono synth ;-)"

82 - notice of delinquent parking violation (Korg electribe)

YouTube via atishmeh

On the Workbench -- Juno-106

Sequence 15 has a post up on the dreaded faulty voice problem of the Roland Juno-106. It's worth a look if you have or are considering a Juno-106, or if you are just curious about the problem. You'll find more shots of the inside of the Juno-106.

Pictured:
"The long green board on the left is the module board, which is where all of the sound generation circuitry is. (The smaller green board in the center is the CPU board, and the yellow board on the right is the power supply.)"