Dave Smith Poly Evolver Keyboard

images via this auction

Roland SH-1000

images via this auction

"The SH-1000 was Roland's first instrument, and probably one of the first Japanese compact affordable keyboard synthesizers. It has been used by Vangelis, Human League and Jethro Tull. it's also a classic piece of Roland's history Roland's first synthesizer was Japan's first synthesizer, predating the Korg 700 by a handful of weeks. It was a strange instrument, offering 10 preset tones to which you could add vibrato, growl and portamento. Alternatively, you could select any combination of eight waveform/footage options ranging from a 32' sawtooth to a 2' square wave, plus noise, and shape sounds using the envelope generator, some preset envelope shapes, a self-oscillating resonant filter, and modulation. yet it produced decent bass and lead sounds that many professional musicians sought after. Although it has limited capabilities, with 10 simple preset voices, the SH-1000 can be manually tweaked around to create new interesting sounds."

KORG ER-1

flickr by katokia
(click for more)

full size

Metasonix TM-7 Scrotum Smasher Pre-amp

images via this auction

"Here it is: the notorious scrotum-smashing TM-7 Scrotum Smasher by Metasonix. It is extremely nasty sounding. This one is in excellent condition, with some scratches in the cartoon face decal which I wasn't able to capture in photos. If that gives you the idea that they are almost invisible, it should.

What is the scrotum smasher? Details, of course, can be found at http://metasonix.com, but briefly it is an abusive distortion/pre-amp box that is unstable and angry. It may turn on you and bite you where it hurts. It consists of an indestructible yellow box enclosing some vacuum and/or gas tubes which aren't usually used for musical amplification (with good reason?)

This one is packed in the original box, with what I believe is a description of the contents scrawled on it by someone at the Metasonix "factory" using a fat permanent marker. Comes with the AC adapter. No manual was enclosed when I got it, so I can't offer one to you."

Bob Moog Foundation Receives GRAMMY™ Grant

via The Bob Moog Foundation:

"We are proud to announce that the Bob Moog Foundation has been awarded an “Archiving and Preservation Planning Grant” from the GRAMMY™ Foundation to assess the preservation needs of the over 300 reel-to-reel tapes in Bob’s archives. These tapes include seminal works in synthesis from the mid-60s to the late 70s, such as works from Herb Deutsch, Wendy Carlos, Larry Fast, Isao Tomita, Keith Emerson, Roger Powell, Chris Swansen, John Weiss, David Borden, Joel Chadabe, John Eaton and many, many more. The $8,000.00 grant provides for the assessment of the tape’s condition by a team of experts including an archivist, a preservationist (responsible for digital transfer), a historian and a copyright expert. Our assessment team includes archivist Steve Weiss, Sound and Image Librarian for UNC-CH, preservationist Seva David Ball, recording engineer/mastering engineer, Soundcurrent Mastering, historian Douglas Babb, Curator for the Bob Moog Foundation, and intellectual property attorney Steven Schnedler. Michelle Moog-Koussa will be coordinating the project.

Once the assessment is completed, the foundation will have the opportunity to apply for a $20,000-$40,000 preservation grant to set about preserving the tapes in a digital format, so that they can be shared through our website, traveling exhibits and our eventual Bob Moog Museum. We are VERY grateful to the GRAMMY™ Foundation for their support and belief in our project!"

See The Bob MOOG Foundation for more.

yikes, more blue knobs

via Reed

"To celebrate the Verbos modification of my Buchla Control Voltage Processor Model 255, I re-knobbed it in classic blue."

Yazoo-Don't Go-Jonathan Ross Show,16.5.08

YouTube via chrisf242. sent my way via Jez.
Jez spotted the Fairlight. Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. Vocals steal the show.

Robot Harvest

YouTube via datanoster. I'm guessing that's a Yamaha PSS of some sort. If you know, feel free to comment.
"Robot Music Video, synthesizer pop, electronic pop, 80's synth pop, Robot, Robot dance music, Vintage Robot Toy."

MIDI Drum Beat Controlling Sega Master System Gameplay

YouTube via littlescale
"A MIDI drum beat in Ableton Live is controlling the gameplay of Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Master System.
--- http://little-scale.blogspot.com"

Soft Synths

YouTube via dbosten
"Live jam, wobblyfied with After Effects."

gear used:
Doepfer Schaltwerk
Novation KS-Rack
Roland TB-303
Roland TR-606 modified
Roland SH-32
Roland 112M dual oscillator module
PaIa 9730 VCF
KORG Poly-800

The Official Organ Blue Book

Another great resource via Loscha.

"Heya Matrix;

[Update: scans moved here]
One of my proudest scans, ever. I bring you the Organ Blue Book from 1986. The "Update" was originally in the front of the book I had, but, I've put it into the back in Pt3, I felt the book had better flow. The update was sort of glued into the front, anyways.

Part One: 168 Pages; 12mb
Introduction, and everything up to, but not including, Hammond (ends in Gulbransen).
Used Organ Resale Values; Serves as a master index for the organs contained therein.

Part Two: 136 Pages 11mb
Opening page are some rough handwritten notes on a Hammond Timeline.
Starts with Hammond. Contains Leslie, ends with Technics.

Part Three: 150 pages; 9mb
Yamaha starts page 60. The EX1 and EX2 are listed. GX didn't rate a mention!
Starting Page 86 is the 'Valuation Guide for Used Organs'.

Page 120: The Update. This includes Lowery (some of which are Re-Badged JVC home keyboards).

This book is for "Serious Organs" Vox, do not rate a mention. Bontempi are in there, but, only their Spinet cabinet organs are in here. No cheap crappy combo organs. Farfisa misses out it's bravo and superbravo.

It's a good resource, but, looking through it is a bittersweet affair. The brands you love have all the pizzaz taken out of them. It's like that movie, The Straight Story. Sure, it's made by David Lynch, it has elements of his quirk sense of the absurd, but, it's still a Disney movie."

Vermona Perfourmer Graphic

Graphic via Mark

VICMOD Looking for New Members

via Ross
"We are currently looking for new members to join VICMOD.

We are a group of 12 people at the moment we build Ken Stone/ Elby Design modular synth modules in eurorack format. We meet once a month.
Most of us didnt know how to solder until we started the group, we have to date built Steiner Filter, Utility LFO, Super Psycho LFO etc soon Cynare, BiNTic etc....When we have nothing to build we bring in synths and jam :-)

If you live in Melbourne Australia and would like to part of this community please contact me.

here are some VICMOD photos

vicmod at internode dot on dot net"

blue one analog synthesizer

via micromundo arts

"This is a miniature synthesizer designed & made by me with wood, cardboard, plastics and epoxi putty."

Direct links for the archives: one, two

Oberheim - Viscount OB12 Display Fix

Ian posted this on the OB12 list. I asked him if I could post it here for anyone else that might run into the problem over time. He gave the OK.

"I had a problem with the display back light flickering. I opened the synth up by removing the five screws on the base panel situated under the wooden end pieces on each side of the keyboard, the three screws under the ribbon controller and the five screws at the bottom of the rear panel. I found this easiest to do by resting the synth on its side in an armchair in the living room! (I also needed my wife to hold it open at one end as certain wiring prevents opening completely!). Once inside I found that there was a small white 4-pin connector (situated roughly under the effects section of the front panel) that fed a wire into the back of the display which was very loose fitting. I just cut a very thin piece of selotape 10mm x 2.5mm approx and stuck the two parts of the connector firmly together. This has cured the flickering and the display is much brighter. The connector was so loose that I would not be surprised if some just fall off altogether if the synth is moved [regularly]. It only took about 20 minutes to fix altogether."

「KORG DS-10」IMSTA FESTA 2008ビデオレポート

YouTube via musicmasterjp

Annoying synth neighbor

YouTube via electriceyeLLC. There's a small Not Safe for Work moment - tiny screen.
"a short film about having an annoying roommate with a lot of synths."

hardtek korg electribe mx 1 by Piz

YouTube via dani89italy

Doepfer MS-404 Filter Self Osc

YouTube via hiatoi. "Filter Self Osc Sine wave. with crazy FM."

more machinedrum jammage

YouTube via radambe

electronic break beat

YouTube via radambe. via synthzoom.

Vintage ELKA Keyboard Now MIDI

Part 2

60+606=666

60+606=666 from Alex Inglizian on Vimeo.
cliplead.blogspot.com/

First Flight

via Califaudio where you can find an mp3.

"My first experience on the Arp 2600 semi-modular synthesizer reminded me of the first time I flew an airplane."

Mellotron Mk.II

via Brian Kehew:
"Two good friends of ours were getting married, and asked Roger Manning and I (the Moog Cookbook) to play the wedding. It's not something we would normally do, but these would really good friends. We decided to surprise them by doing the show in tuxedos and space helmets, on a Mellotron Mk.II. This Mk.II is one of a few made in black, originally came from Graham Nash of the Hollies.

In order to prepare, I did some demos of the tunes, and have some mp3s of this. As you may have seen the LEFT side of the MkII is all rhythm parts and "fills" (instruments that superimpose over the rhythms.) The RIGHT side keyboard has all the main sounds you know from Mellotrons. I've added a custom set of sounds on the right, but what you hear is mainly stock sounds; basically what a 1964 Mellotron demo performance would be like, but with more modern songs. It's only a 2-track recording (left and right) without editing, just played live, but that does show how cool the Mellotron sound was when played as intended. If people like these, I have more to hear sometime..."

1) California Dreamin' (Mamas and the Papas)


2) The Model (Kraftwerk; featuring bits of JMJarre's "Magnetic Fields" inserted)"


mp3s and wma's here

Division 6 Midify - MIDI for Nintendo

"Midify is a tiny board that lets you add a MIDI port to your Nintendo handheld or just about anything.

See the FAQ for more information."

Only $29.99

See Division 6 for more info. You can find the forum here. Also see this post for a video of it in action.

DSerial - MIDI In/Out for the Nintendo DS

via natrum42
"Posted schematics, pictures and brief instructions for connecting MIDI input and output to DS to the DSerial Wiki. MIDI output is very easy, because it requires no components besides wire and a 5-pin DIN connector. MIDI input, on the other hand, requires a 3.3V optocoupler because MIDI uses a current loop to prevent introduction of noise."
via MODD3D:
"There are a few different sequencers out there for it. Here's a couple:soundpunk.com, nitrotracker

There's also a project that lets you do MIDI over WiFi or with DSerial: http://dsmidiwifi.tobw.net/"

giant yuckosaur eats tamale island

YouTube via PHAEDRIDER. "drum time happy place of many funs" ARP Odyssey MK1.

Roland SH-101

images via this auction

"This was and still is a very popular analogue synth. Apparently 'DEVO' were the first group to receive the first two of these ever made from Roland themselves."

Anyone confirm or deny this?

Vintage Arp Manufactured Odyssey Synth Stand

via this auction

"original keyboard stand manufactured by Arp in the late 1970's early 80s. These are always seen in ads for the Odyssey and Omni synths. Made of steel, breaks down into 4 pieces and ships flat. Weighs 20 pounds. This one has standard nuts (not the threaded plastic wheels in the ad)."

Casio SK-1 Sampling Keyboard Synthesizer

images via this auction
Update: And the joke is lost for this one. The auction link went to the auction post for this Simba Lego set but was miss-titled as the Casio SK-1. When I first saw it, I thought someone actually pulled the guts out of an SK-1 and built this as a custom case. I then realized it must have been a mistyped auction. I put the post up with just the link so you could share in the experience, but no the link goes to Vintage Tupperware Popsicle Molds. :) The actual auction for the SK-1 is here.

Roland JX-3P

images via this auction

Hohner Multimonica

images via this auction

"This is an early synth on the top manual and the lower manual is air driven / reed operated."

Polivoks

images via this auction
"Very good for agressive bass, weird modulations, cool FXs & agressive sounds. Impressive fat saw & cool glidings. Killer 2-Voice mode.

2 VCO with classic waveforms, noise oscillator and external source.

Very strong sounding Analog LP/BP filter with ADSR Envelope,
which can play in loop (retrig). You can process external sound through it,
such as guitar, vocal, drums or another synthesizer. Because of FILTER sound of POLIVOKS is so unique and strong/

Amplifier section contain Envelope ADSR with loop function (retrig), modulation & bypass mode.

Modulator section is a low frequency oscillator with multiple waveforms
and changable rate. LFO roots to amplifier, filter, VCO-1, VCO-2.
Polivoks can play like a classic monophonic synth or in 2-voice mode.
And also You can modulate VCO-1 with VCO-2 (ringmodulator).

No pitchbend & modulation wheel.

Cool design. Very solid. Hard aluminium body & case - it's Bulletproof I think. (It's a joke. Do not try this @home ; ))
All words printed in cyrillic - so it's very unique too.

There is a custom made CV/gate modification on the board (1 voice).
Now You can connect analog sequencer (1 volt per octave)
This is very usefull function. Feel free to use it with Your analog sequencer.
I had use it with my Roland TB-303 sequencer.

CV/Gate - is the first step to MIDI . You can find in the web how to do that.

Of course You can play with keyboard.
There is a tumbler.
Choose CV/gate or Keyboard."

VCO 4 BBD

flickr by Loscha
(click for more)
Ideas For Experiments
"Circuit for using a CD4046 PLL to generate a voltage controlled BBD complimentary phase clock! I found this ripped out page on it's own in a stack of magazines I purchased Yesterday; Sunday 18th of May, 2008. The previous owner was interested in the other side (some notes on there in pencil).

Thanks to Hugo Bramall of Canterbury, Victoria who came up with the circuit and sent it ETI magazine in the first place! "

Chimera BC16 Arrives at Music Thing

pics and info on Music Thing.

Korg Pa800 Iraqi beat 2008

YouTube via ashur75. "Korg Pa800 Iraqi beat 2008"

Synthpop's Alive

YouTube via maisonvague. Spot the synths.

"Synthpop's Alive! Can't you hear it?!

Disclaimer: This video response is in no way intended as a personal attack against the maker of the original "Synthpop is Dead" video. On the contrary, I found this video very amusing, actually -- even if disagree with its central message. As for who's case my own efforts end up supporting, well... I'll let you be the judge of that!"

Minimax ASB

YouTube via fystasjoppheng
"This is a short demo of Minimax ASB. It is a very good emulator of the old Minimoog model D synthesizer.
You can also choose between playing monophonic or polyphonic! This is the best emulation I have heard and the knobs are the same as the orginal,but smaller. It has its own delay and chorus onboard.

After listen to it on YouTube the sound is a little bit overdrive.The signal into my videocamera must have been to load and dont give the right impression so I concider to make a new with a better sound quality.

Kjell Gierstae"

Sven Hansen Live in your Youtube.

video upload by M F Lunatic Blo

"Pre order the CD...DROP ME A MAIL in this section of the web,

http://cdbaby.com/all/svenhansen

all rights reserved, copyrights owned by Harmony Sound Design.
Improvisational piece for the upcoming album 'The Earth Mars Connection'
A mix between Jean Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze.
Ore Sven Hansen goes electirc light orchestra.'

Update: new video above. Original had the following:
Korg Polysix, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Yamaha CS6X? What's under the Prophet-5?

Update via Hans Peter in the comments:

"I'm quite sure the keyboard below the Prophet is a Philips Philicorda. I used to have one back in the days, painted mine black and gave it a PPG-blue frontpanel.

You can see a picture of mine here

It's in the top photo, in the middle below the Teisco 110F. "

Hi-Pi Tonal Plexus Now Shipping

"Have you ever considered what kind of music might be possible if your keyboard had more than just twelve keys per octave? If so, you are not alone. In fact, it's been one of the most enduring and puzzling questions in all of music history. The Tonal Plexus is not just a product of years of research and development, but is a result of literally hundreds of years of experimentation with musical tuning, keyboard design and research in human pitch perception. The Tonal Plexus provides no fewer than 211 keys per octave, allowing the finest discrete control of tuning expression ever available on a MIDI keyboard. If you want to make music that truly sounds new and different, then this is the keyboard for you! Take a closer look..."
via Deviant Synth

Music easel

flickr by Ethan Hein

From wikipedia.

Happy's Synthseite

Click here for Happy's Synth Site. via sequencer.de

1980 electronics book synth quote

via alka

"I picked up an electronics book from 1980 at the sale table of my library recently. There is a section in the book entitled "Music Synthesizers" wherein I found this slightly humorous quote:

'Unlike the electric guitar, the electronic organ and the electronic piano, one does not "perform" at the keyboard of a music synthesizer. Instead, one assembles bits and fragments of musical phrases from various sources, and records them on tape. It is almost as laborious as animating a Disney cartoon.'

I guess I could understand if the book had been from 1967, but 1980!? It's like the author disregarded the whole development of synthesizers through the 1970's, let alone all the bands that effectively utilized them up to that point!

Here is the complete citation:
Houglum, R. J. (1980). Electronics: Concepts, applications, and history. Belmont, Ca.: Breton Publishers." on Amazon

HarriL - Sublight (Live)

video upload by HarriL

"MP3 Here: http://www.mikseri.net/music/play.php...

Hello, I'm back once again with a (tech?)house track, featuring; EMX, ESX, 309, Evolver and the Revolution! Everything is live as usual."

The Thomas Henry Mega Percussive Synthesizer (MPS)

Scott Stites put up a new page on The Thomas Henry Mega Percussive Synthesizer (MPS). The following is a short excerpt. Be sure to check out the page for more including a sample.


"The MPS is truly an inspired design. One very important element of the MPS, the impact generator, was derived directly from a modular percussion patch by one of the great synthesizer masters. In fact, the MPS contains three seperate tunable oscillators. In addition to the oscillators, the MPS utilizes a ring modulator, it has a noise generator, a voltage controlled resonant filter with two selectable responses (low pass or band pass), three VCAs, and a mixer section for mixing all of the elements together to fine tune a very realistic percussive sound.

The MPS will deliver anything from a convincing snare to toms, to bass, to a sizzling high hat, to a glorious cowbell. When Christopher Walken demands "more cowbell", the MPS can deliver. Not only can the MPS deliver standard percussive sounds, it can easily be tuned to the "out of this world" percussive sounds. It can easily supply voices ranging from the electronic disco drums used in modern day hospitals to empty stomachs of their contents to the sound of an alien craft taking off with each drum beat. In fact, at the flick of a switch, the MPS will transform from a percussive synthesizer to a full-on sustained..sound..generator capable of fully rendering the Neptunian Planetary Anthem in full four part Neptunian harmony. "

make noise moddemod

Currently available at Analogue Haven.
this circuit was originally utilized in the generation of single side band modulation; a military developed radio communications technology. a program (speech, data) would be mixed with a high frequency carrier waveform using this circuit. after filtering an rf amplifier would be used to broadcast the transmission. at this point the signal could be said to be modulated, sounding unintelligible. at the receiving end, this circuit could again be used to demodulate the radio transmission by re-introducing a carrier waveform of the same shape and frequency used to create the transmission. as you can imagine, some cool distortions happen on account of the inadequacies of this technology, variation in the two carrier waveform generators (both frequency and shape), signal levels and of course, interference. reclaimed for artistic purposes by harold bode (and perhaps others) reclaimed this technology for artistic purposes in the early 1960's (utilizing carrier waveforms in the audio range instead), and bob moog (in collaboration with bode) incorporated it into his modular synthesizer systems in the 70's. by then the design was pretty different and they were calling it a "ring modulator" possibly for the "diode ring" configuration originally utilized or perhaps they knew it was a more appealing name that, to some degree, described the clangorous, bell like sounds a single iteration of the circuit was capable of creating.

the moddemod features 2 identical circuits that may be used together or individually. when using them together there is no need patch the output of circuit 1 to the input of circuit 2 as they are internally patched when nothing is inserted at the output of circuit 1 and the input of circuit 2. i worked very hard to minimize carrier bleed. the amount varies from unit to unit and even circuit to circuit within each unit. however, all units match or better the level of bleed you hear in most ic based ring modulators. for this type of circuit, that is very good!

to use this module you will need a minimum of 2 signal sources. 1 will be the program. this signal is inserted at the program input (sockets 1 or 4). the 2nd is the carrier, and it should be inserted at the carrier input (sockets 2 or 5). the outputs are at sockets 3 and 6. by varying the frequency, shape and level of these signals, many different timbres may be heard.

this module is a 4hp wide euro-rack module that consumes no current.

a fun movie about the moddemod."

YouTube via MAKEN0ISE

audio:
the sound is way out, just listen!
something percussive
something else percussive

FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD::: WENCHUAN and The Sound of Earthquakes

via SoNiCbRaT. See the forum for details. BTW, also see Califaudio's The Sound of Earthquaks.
"Geeks, friends and foes. Let's do our part in lending a hand to help with the recent Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake. This is my little effort to encourage people to donate. I've even set up a fundraiser page so do drop by. The music in this album uses KORG M3-88, though the mix could be improved (by miles) but I wanted to do it in a day so we'll have to live with the little imperfections.
The recent Sichuan Earthquake in China had shocked the world. With more than 28,000 dead and more than 190,000 injured and many homeless; the victims there need our help."

Cremate your soul session 98

YouTube via synthman70
"a video of my old studio in 1998, with some of my massive collection of analog gear, some which i sold ten years later, like my Oberheim Matrix-12, it just expensive to up keep those instruments, I also sold my OB-8, but I still have quiet a few good pieces, and hopefully in time i will be posting a more up to date video of my collection.

PS the songs that you hear is not typical of what i do, I am hugely influenced by Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwek, and the old school guys, but I also like Depeche Mode and some modern stuff.
For some of my work log on to
www.myspace.com/emodmusic
www.itunes.com under artist seach type in emod"

Jon and Vangelis on juno6

YouTube via mik300z. via synthzoom
"sorry if I offend anyone who loves this song as much as me but I had to give it a go! Almost every sound is coming from the juno's, either sampled or sequenced. I am playing the melody live, the juno's freq. is set very high for jon anderson's vocal part so it can be heard above the other instruments. very difficult to get the same sound vangelis used on the melody, I tried for ages using pulse wave mod. but just sounds so hollow compared to the Yamaha CS80 I would imagine he used for it. very intersting to come across the chords and arrangements he used though, a bit tricky near the end. Knowing vanglis he probably composed it first take out of his head. His chord arrangements are beautiful and it's only when you try take them apart you realise the true genius he is."