MATRIXSYNTH

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Elson's 2008 NAMM Show Adventure

YouTube via elsongs
"Singer, Keyboardist, Bassist, Producer and overall music geek Elson Trinidad goes to the 2008 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, runs into some friends, meets some celebrities, grabs some free stuff and plays around with the gear."

TB-303 potentiometers

"This page contains a few notes and photos concerning the six small pots of the TB-303."

SmallDotSound

click here for a new synth blog named SmallDotSound. It currently features a few posts on sound design with Propellerheads' Reason Thor. It will feature sound design in general and eventual feature posts on the next album for the Small Dot Sound project.

Remember, the easiest way to check back on updates for any blog without having to remember to go back is to subscribe to the blog with something link bloglines.com. Just add the address of the site to your RSS reader and whenever a new post goes up it will show up in your reader. You can sub to MATRIXSYNTH, SYNTHWIRE and MATRIXSYNTH-B the same way.

Arturia Origin

YouTube via griffinavid. Note this vid is from AES and was uploaded back in Oct.
"Arturai Origin demonstration at the 123rd AES New York arturia.com aes.org ProducersEdgeMagazine.com"

Arturia Origin Galaxy Filter

Arturia Moog modular V

YouTube via griffinavid. "Clips from the Arturia tutorial and teaser DVD."
Hmm... That should be the Arturia Minimoog V not the MOOG Modular V.

jx8p analog polybrass

YouTube via wilcossb
"this is a better quality video of a roland juno d playing a tweaked patch that i call juicyfunk its actually an analog polybrass from my favorite jx8p and jx3p!"

Korg MiniPops 35 Vintage Drum Machine at BigCityMusic.com

YouTube via bigcitymusic.
"Here's a demo of a great sounding little drum machine, the Korg MiniPops 35! Sounds cool right? This is part of the ever-growing collection of bigcitymusic.com This particular drum machine is not for sale but there is other great vintage stuff available. www.bigcitymusic.com"

STEPP DGX Midi Guitar synth controler

images via this auction

"STEPP DGX Midi controler guitar. This model is from 1987 and is in MINT CONDITION. The STEPP DGX was far ahead of it's time as was a lot of the midi technology of the 80's. It is a very versatile instrument, each string can be assigned it's own parameters and midi channel, the guitar can be sculpted to your own touch. The fretboard can be switch on to remember and sustain hammered on notes or chords whilst playing other parts with your right hand. The 2 foot pedals can be assigned to a wide variety of functions.

The original manual is included and the guitar is switchable between 110 VOLTS and 240 VOLTS."

Quintron Drum Buddy

Remember this post on the Drumbuddy going up for auction? It looks like the time has finally come.

images via this auction

"Up for auction is a brand new Quintronics DRUM BUDDY, a one of a kind light activated analog synthesizer / rhythm machine hand crafted by New Orleans musician and inventor Quintron. The basic principal of operation is that there are cadmium sulfide light sensors hidden inside the colored tubes around the rotating black can and as the light holes pass them by, the various oscillator sounds are charged, filtered, bleeped and blooped in a variety of different ways. Each of the 4 oscillators is represented by a different color and each has been designed to complete a total rhythm kit, much the same way that the different elements of an acoustic trap set go together. The Blue pipe is the “kick drum”, the red is the “snare drum”, and the green is the “organ oscillator”. This green oscillator is raw VCO melodic organ tone controlled by “general” and “fine” tuning knobs for playing songs in a whole new way - no chromatic scales on this instrument. The yellow is the “space” or “scratch” oscillator which is plain un-effected, eerie sine wave tone which increases and decreases directly depending on the amount of light that is shed upon it. There is a 10 turn / 10K potentiometer wired to control the spinning can motor speed. This allows the player to precisely beat match DRUM BUDDY rhythms to DJ records, drum machines, railroad crossing signals...whatever. There are also various oscillator filters, on / off switches, and momentary buttons on the top panel and a general volume mixer on the front. There is also a light dimmer on the top panel which is a way to uniformly change the overall sound of all oscillators together. At its core the DRUM BUDDY is a straight up old school analog synth (built from scratch with the finest components) with a VERY unusual activation system which allows the player to create a variety of different fixed rhythms or to “scratch” the different sounds by using the momentary switches and spinning the can by hand. In addition to the sound synthesizing capabilities of the DRUM BUDDY, it is also a signal processor and can filter any instrument THROUGH to produce a strange ethereal bubbling effect onto the original signal. This is called the “WOBBLE FEATURE”. There is a bypass on the top panel for this feature and the best thing about this new 2008 addition is that the wobble feature is a totally separate circuit from the DRUM BUDDY synthesizer sounds so that you can play BOTH at the same time and they will be in perfect rhythmic tandem....the possibilities for new sounds and rhythms are endless. ABOUT THE CABINET: The cabinet was built by New Orleans furniture maker Marvin Hirsch out of 100% virgin pecky cypress. The wood for this particular one came from the original Cypress harvest (sometime between 1880 and 1930) and the tree itself could have been hundreds of years old when it was cut. The pecky dark streaking is quite rare and is the result of a fungus that only effects older cypress trees. This special swampy wood is a living antique and most certainly predates the purchase of Louisiana by the United States in the early 1800s. Only 10 cypress Line Drum Buddies were built and there are no plans to build any more ever. The Drum Buddy up for auction here is serial #1 and was originally intended to belong to Quintron (he decided to keep serial #6 with a strange cracked knot in the back as well as #10 - a green sinker cypress cabinet). All Drum Buddies in the world (less than 50 total and only 10 Cypress-Line) except this one here have found homes. This is it for a long long time....possibly ever. The cabinet is truly one of the most beautiful ever made and very unique. Profffits from this sale will go to the New Orleans Musician’s clinic. Please visit http://www.neworleansmusiciansclinic.org to learn about their tireless effort to provide health care to noninsured New Orleans musicians. This Drum Buddy comes with two different cans - a “TWO STEP” can and a “SLOW RIDE” can as well as a manual, power cord, and a static DRUM BUDDY DUSTER for cleaning the instrument. Also included will be a special kit for instructing how to cut your own cans! You will also receive the original broadcast version DRUM BUDDY INFOMERCIAL on Vhs tape and a rare signed test pressing of the original DRUM BUDDY DEMO lp. We understand that this price is very high for your average musician but please keep in mind that the many duties of this auction are being handled by a third party furniture store in Brooklyn called FRESH KILLS and that part of the auction profffffits will go to the New Orleans Musician’s clinic. Fred and John at FRESH KILLS are old childhood friends of Quintron and are very friendly. Don’t hesitate to stop in and see the Drum Buddy in real life and take a test drive or PLEASE don’t hesitate to email me thru this auction with any questions. SEE DRUM BUDDY DEMO VIDEO. VISIT FRESH KILLS: 50 North 6th Street, Brooklyn NY 11211 (718) 388-8081"

Analogue Systems rs430 Distortion module for Eurorack synth

YouTube via bigcitymusic
"Here is the new Analogue Systems rs430 Distortion module. Controls include: Drive, Mix, Signal 1, Signal 2 and Output level. Sockets: Drive CV-IN, Mix CV-In, Sig-IN 1, Sig-IN 2, and Output. There is a switch for Inverse and Non-Inverse. Its available in the U.S. at bigcitymusic.com and anloguesystems.com for everywhere else."

Surfin Step Sequencer

flickr by Synthesizers

full size

Update via Qwave in the comments:
"Have a look here for information about this project of Wolfgang Michalowicz from Dusseldorf/Germany:

I heard it and his 4 channel panning-processor last September in Kufstein/Austria during a little gig we (HAJo and me = EL-KA) had together with Wolfgang.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

New Young Pony Club - The Bomb

YouTube via glengoetze

"Ice Cream" - New Young Pony Club

YouTube via bangonkatie
Roland HS60

Alesis Ion The Cars "Let's Go"

YouTube via synthartist69.

"Here is a cool Sync Lead patch from the Ion."
BTW, if you have an ION or a Micron or are contemplating one, read this. I'm not sure how wide spread this problem is as the first I hear of it was on AH today. If you know more feel free to comment. For what it's worth, I have an Ion and haven't run into this but you better believe I will be careful with electro-static shock. The ION really is a great synth.

Arturia Analog factory Workflow

YouTube via griffinavid.
"Clips from the Arturia tutorial and teaser DVD. http://www.arturia.com/ www. ProducersEdgeMagazine.com"

Arturia ARP 2600 Overview Perspective

YouTube via griffinavid.
"Clips from the Arturia tutorial and teaser DVD. http://www.arturia.com/ www. ProducersEdgeMagazine.com

Pixelh8 - Pro Performer DS

YouTube via Hiddenfortress
"New Software for DS out soon. Turn DS into real time synth, has lots of new and improved features over the music tech"

CGS Digital Noise

images via this auction
"in Frac rack panel.
makes crazy arcade game style noise, knob controls rate. add a pulse to the clock input and make it go even slower for random pulses. CV controls the pitch of noise. 2 unique digital noise outputs plus white and pink. i added 2 resistors to the digital outputs to make them not so much louder than the white and pink. on the back of the board some jumper wires are seen which were added to repair over soldering errors. module functions perfectly. the panel and board L-brackets are handmade. used on Pulse Emitter recordings ;-)

more info:
Cat Girl Synth
http://www.synthnoise.com"

See Matrixsynth-b for more.

MOOG The Source

images via this auction
"*16 programmable patch memories
*Touch panel for digital precision
*Instant editing and program storage
*Pitch and modulation wheels
*Rear panel tun9ing and interface connections
*2 oscillators & dual ADSR control, Noise generator
*Single & multiple triggers
Two 88 note real time sequencers
*24 note programmable arpeggiator
*digital sample & hold
*programmable sequencing of voice changes
*program storage on standard cassette"

Friday, January 25, 2008

White Clavia Nord Lead 3 by Forat

Another custom white synth via Forat where you can find more custom work.

via Chris in the comments of this post.

Roland V-Synth from Madonna Tour with Custom FORAT Mod

via this auction

Here's the white V-Synth mentioned in this post.

"Roland V-Synth which was used by Madonna's longtime keyboardist Marcus Brown on Madonna's recent "Confessions" Tour. It was personally customized by FORAT himself as part of Marcus' unique white Roland setup for the tour. This whole rig has a stunning customized white & black paint design. To see an article about this setup, and more pictures, go to this Roland Web site page. The FORAT modifications for the V-Synth cost $1,000."

Note this was picked up by Dave of umop/Parallax.

Inside a Waldorf Q

click here for more images and info.

novelty synth

YouTube via noystoise. Anyone know more about this one?

One more from noystoise.

filter

Update: Diagram image of the novelty synth's functions

Moog Music Voyager Old School

YouTube via griffinavid
"Winter NAMM 08 coverage by Producer's Edge Magazine namm.org ProducersEdgeMagazine.com"

REASON SUBTRACTOR

YouTube via eurondigital. REASON 3.0...subtractor

Roland TR-606 "Drumatix" through Moog Minimoog

YouTube via retrosound72

"synth demo by RetroSound (with better sound quality) Roland TR-606 analogue drum machine through Minimoog VCF with different filter and "LFO" (OSC3) settings"

Roland SH-201 from Madonna Tour with Custom FORAT Mod

via this auction. Looks like it ended with a BIN of $800.

"Roland SH-201 which was used by Madonna's longtime keyboardist Marcus Brown on Madonna's recent "Confessions" Tour. It was personally customized by FORAT himself as part of Marcus' unique white Roland setup for the tour. This whole rig has a stunning customized white & black paint design. To see an article about this setup, and more pictures, go to this Roland Web site page. The FORAT modifications for the SH-201 cost $1,000. This is your chance to own a piece of Rock & Roll history and is a one-of-a-kind keyboard, like no other available on the planet. I also have the FORAT-customized white Roland V-Synth from Marcus' tour setup, shown on the Roland Web site" I didn't see the V-Synth listed as of this post.

via Gord.

Zeit Desktop Sequencer

click here for more pics of the Zeit. Be sure to check these out full size.

More info on the Zeit:
Forum
Website

Also check out the Zeit label link below for previous posts here.

Mark Salud on Yourself Presents

YouTube via peahix. Sent my way via Pea Hicks.
"amiga desktop mod techno, performed live on san diego public access tv show 'yourself presents!'"

Moog Minimoog Analog Synthesizer by RetroSound

YouTube via retrosound72

"synth demo with some typical minimoog sounds (bass,lead,fm-sounds and more) by RetroSound a little bit reverb and delay used"

Pigtronix Echolution vs. Electrix Filter Factory

YouTube via Analogger.
"I strummed a chord on my SG which was in DADGAD tuning. I used the Echolution tap switches 1/2 & 3/4 then hit the loop switch. I fed that loop thru the Filter Factory - I manually changed the filter cutoff, and also used the envelope follower. I added some Evolver stuff - a lead and a bass patch. Robbie the Robot monitored the session."

Casio SK-1 Circuit Bent Live and Raw

YouTube via electricinsect1.
"I finally get the sound I am looking for at the last 30 seconds. The best thing I have found with these type machines is always be recording. You never know what amazing, unique sound you might stumble across. And more importantly, its nearly impossible to get it again. Although I have found it can be done. All these sounds were created from a voice sample I had just made that said 'the battle of the locust.'"

NAMM 2008 - Big City Music - LL Electronics RozzBox!(3)

YouTube via bigcitymusic.
"Here's some more video footage of the LL Electronics polyphonic RozzBox V2 with our friends Shagghie and Victor. The audio with the built-in mic on the camcorder isn't great but we figured people would want to see it anyway. www.bigcitymusic.com"

L.L. Electronics Polyphonic RozzBox V2 Menu Screens

"We took a video scrolling through the menu pages. It should give you an idea or ideas of just what this little monster can do. The sounds are overdubbed is a patch from the Rozz, duh. www.bigcitymusic.com "

Moog Taurus Mk1 analog bass pedals by RetroSound

YouTube via retrosound72

"Moog Taurus 1 synth demo by RetroSound (with much better audio quality)

The presets of the Moog Taurus Mk1 bass pedals:
- Taurus (long decay)
- Tuba (only one oscillator)
- Bass (short decay)
- Variable (variable settings)

'I really believe that you've not heard 'deep' bass until you've heard the Taurus in full flight. I have no measurements to illustrate the frequencies that the Taurus reaches, but these kind of sub-sonics are beyond the scope of any digital synth that I've come across, and even put a lot of good analogue ones to shame." (Published in SOS June 1995)

used by Rush, Genesis, Asia, The Police, J.-M. Jarre, Marillion, U2, Phil Collins, Saga, Steve Hackett, Yes, Led Zeppelin and more"

Studio Electroncs SE-1

images via this auction

KORG Polysix

images via this auction

Ghielmetti Matrix

images via this auction

"-36 x 36 Ghielmetti Matrix Pin Patch board as used in EMS Synthi Clone or Analogue Solutions VOSTOK
-16x Pins.

GHIELMETTI is a competent partner for customized matrix boards and High- Performance patch systems."

Check out the Ghielmetti tag below for two prior posts including one integrated in a modular system.

Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000

images via this auction

Two Rhodes Chromas and an Odyssey in this picture as well.

"Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000 Sampler/Synthesizer. One of the finest samplers of her day. Excellent keyboard maping and looping functions, even for today. 12Bit sampling and 256K memory, so no slouch in sound re-generation. Many upgrade options are still available. Just ask the helpful folks at Wine Country

Includes all the basic synthesizer sound building blocks available to apply to your sample, and the famous Matrix programming front panel. Velocity sensing 61 note keyboard. Microphone & Line sample inputs. Stereo outputs. DSDD upgraded floppy drive.

Check out this excellent review from the original studio programmer.

Wine Country Sequential Classic Analog Keyboard 5 disk set - Samples of Minimoog, PPG, Phrophet 5, Oberheim Matrix 12 & OB8."

Quasimidi The Raven

images via this auction

"Built in 8 track sequencer on the Sirus/Polymorph tip. You can layer up to 4 sounds Built in samples are absolutely nutty, 303, 909, etc... It also functions as a great controller keyboard, just ask Kraftwerk This Raven Max is in great condition and 100% functional The Max expansion adds twice as much onboard samples and presets"

Update via Qwave in the comments:
"Notice the picture of the manual: it does show the Quasimidi in the studio of Klaus Schulze. One of the R&D persons of Quasimidi is JÃ¶rg Schaaf (now Mr. Spectralis) is a friend to Klaus. So he drop in from time to time and showed Klaus the new Quasimidi stuff then. Klaus Schulze still uses a Quasimidi as his main keyboard in a drawer below the mixer and the computer displays.
Here are more pictures of Klaus studio with Quasimidi keyboard shown:
studio1.htm
studio5.htm
a502.htm
a601.htm"

FORMANTA MINI

images via this auction

"SOVIET EXTREMELY RARE GUITAR-LIKE DIGITAL-ANALOG POLY SYNTH!!!! IT LOOKS LIKE MOOG LIBERATION OR SIMILAR... IT WAS MANUFACTURED IN SAME FORMANTA POLIVOKS FACTORY, THIS MODEL ARE FROM THE LATEST FORMANTA SYNTHS LINE AS KVINTET, MAESTRO, FORMANTA P-432, IT HAS 32 VERY UNIQUE AND POWERFULL PRESET SOUNDS, 8 VOICES POLYPHONY, UNISON MODE, MODULATION CONTROL AND OTHER FUNCTIONS.

PANEL FUNCTIONS:
PRESET SELECT KNOBS - BANKS 0-3, SOUNDS 0-7
UNISON MODE -ON/OFF
FINE TUNING +/- 1 SEMITONE
VIBRATO - DEPTH, FREQ LEVEL
MAIN VOLUME LEVEL

ON THE GRIP: 2 SUSTAIN, VIBRATO, SOLO KNOBS, GLISSANDO CONTROLLER (SLIDE PITCH SHIFTER)

PRESET NAMES: 00-ELPIANO, 01-BRASS, 02-FLUTE, 03-ELBASS, 04-KLAVESIN, 05-ORGAN, 06-HAMMOND1, 07-COSMIC, 10-JPIANO, 11-HORN, 12-PICCOLO, 13-SYNBASS, 14-CLAVINET, 15-REEDORGAN, 16-HAMMOND2, 17-FANTASTIC, 20-FPIANO, 21-HARMONICA, 22-CLARINET, 23-JBASS, 24-MUSBOX, 25-JORGAN, 26-SYNORGAN, 27-SLAPSYNTH, 30-PIANO, 31-ACCORDEON, 32-OBOE, 33-BASS, 34-HARPSY, 35-FORGAN, 36-BRASORGAN, 37-BLUESYNTH

DOWNLOAD MY SOUND EXAMPLES FROM" [mirrored here]

MAIN AUDIO OUTPUT ARE BUILT-IN TO THE POWER SUPPLY (220V/50HZ), FOR 110-127V NEED A VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER.

SYNTH WEIGHT JUST - 4.5kg, WHEN IN FACTORY CASE INCLUDE FULL SET IS - 10kg

THE SET INCLUDES: FORMANTA MINI, BELT, POWER SUPPLY, CORDS, 1/4 JACK ADAPTER CABLE, FACTORY HARD CASE.

MAESTRO

images via this auction

"This auction is for vintage analog synth MAESTRO. It was made in Soviet Union (Russia) by well-known Polivoks/Formanta plant in Kachkanar city. This instrument is analog synthesizer with digital control. Synth has 20 patches in memory, vibrato, chorus, analog filter and excellent arpegiator. So there is joystick for pitch/vibrato control. It’s a great instrument for electronic music or collection.

MAESTRO is in a quite good shape and well working condition. Instrument has original configuration: without midi or CV/Gate, 5-din audio out, ¼ Jack headphones out, 220V power."

Yamaha SY-1

images via this auction
"This is a great mono synth and was fully functioning until one day,after not playing it for 6 months or so,i turned it on and all the keys were playing the same note.this problem also seems to affect the fine tuning knob and portamento which were working before.All other functions are working as they should.These include the filter,envelope,pulse width,attack bend tone,touch control,octave shift and all the preset sounds."

Thursday, January 24, 2008

JH Triple Chorus Update

via JH on AH:
"I've made an update to my Triple Chorus page. You can now see a picture of my 2nd prototype. I've also added more links to BOMs, front panel designs and building documentation from those friendly people who wanted to share them with others. Thanks again to all who bought PCBs and made that project possible!"

synthmat

flickr by ostrovitch

full size

Oberheim Matrix-12
Elka Synthex

E-Mu Emulator for a Buck.. In a Van... Down by the River

In Portland via this Craigslist post:

"Original EMU Emulator Sampler with teh 5 1/4 Floppy Drive, and one Disc. Looking for a Best CASH Offer on this one. It powers up, but I have not tried to get it to function. It is in my car, very heavy, and I don't quite have the patience to check it out, or go about finding 5 1/4 inch discs to try it out with. I am in SE portland. But for a collector or someone with patience, this is your chance to grab a Very Rare and one of the Very First Samplers for your Museum :)"

via Robert.

EKO Tiger Duo

images via this auction
*Tirettes haut: Strings,Salicet, French Horn, Tibia, English Horn, Trumpet,Percus, Mono Plus, Short/Long, Chorus, Repeat
*Tirettes bas: Vibrato On/Off, Bass Chorus, Flute, Brass,Reed,Mellow
*Boutons haut: On/off, Balance (clavier haut/bas), Tone Swell, Rhythm On/Volume, Tempo, Repeat Rate, Vibratp intensity, Vibrato Velocity
*Boutons bas: Bass Volume, Tone Great

You can find audio demos here *Rythmes: Waltz, Foxtrot, Western, Polka, March, Rhumba, Bossa-nova, Cha-Cha, Mambo, Rock1,Rock2

KORG MS20 Legacy with Modified Case

images via this auction

MOOG Realistic MG-1

images via this auction

You can find samples and a manual here.

specifications:
# Monophonique
# 2 VCO : triangle / square / pulse / White Noise
# section polyphonique: 10 voies
# Filtre: 24dB
# VCA: 1 générateur d'envelope (attaque, release et sustain switchable)
# Clavier: 32 touches
# Glide
# 1 LFO
# Ring Modulation
# Sorties : prise casque et sortie rca
# Entrées: line in rca
# Alimentation : 110v
# Date de Production - 1981

YAMAHA CS01 MKII

images via this auction
Note the direction YAMAHA is facing. You can find some samples here.

Specifications:
* Monophonique
* 1 VCO : triangle / saw / square / pulse / PWM / White Noise
* Filtre: 24dB
* VCA: 1 générateur d'envelope (attaque, profondeur, sustain et resonance)
* Clavier: 32 mini touches
* Glissando
* 1 LFO
* 1 molette pitch
* 1 molette modulation (vco ou vcf)
* Breath Controller (non fourni)
* Sorties : haut-parleur mono intégré, prise casque et sortie jack (mono)
* Alimentation : adaptateur secteur (9-12V) et/ou piles (6 piles 1,5V standard)
* Date de Production - 1984