Billy Cardine: Looking Forward, Looking Back & The Moog Lap Steel

Playlist:
Billy Cardine: Looking Forward, Looking Back
Improvisation for Moog Lap Steel, Synthesizers & Effects
Billy Cardine on the Moog Lap Steel & the MakeNoise René (previously posted)
The Moog Lap Steel (previously posted)
The Moog Lap Steel [2nd vid]

"Moog Lap Steel powers groundbreaking EP exploring uncharted expanses of Ameritronica

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (September, 2011) Mix cutting-edge electronic vibration control technology with an instrument born on a train track, put it in the hands of musical omnivore Billy Cardine and the result is music with one foot in the past, one foot in the future and both ears wide open. Refining a lifetime of musical influences and liberating them with a combination of string and studio wizardry, his new EP Looking Forward, Looking Back shines a light on a musical future true to its roots yet constantly growing and evolving.

To know where you’re going though, you have to know where you’ve been…

The story goes that the lap steel guitar was invented in the 1880s by seven-year-old Joseph Kekuku as he walked along a Hawaiian railroad and experimented with playing his guitar using a metal bolt he found. By the 1930s, Hawaiian music had become one of the first waves of American interest in exotic “world music” and the lap steel became the first stringed instrument to be electrified, predating Les Paul’s first electric guitar. Also in the ‘30s, the Sacred Steel tradition was born in African-American House of God churches, fueled by the low cost and highly expressive nature of this new instrument. From there it spread to many far-flung homes, including Indian classical music and American country and bluegrass, the genres in which it and its musical progeny, the dobro and pedal steel guitar are most closely associated.

Fast-forward to the present… While a spin across the radio dial today results in very little country music featuring the lap steel, the instrument has been embraced by a number of innovative players pushing musical boundaries, including U2 producer Daniel Lanois and Wilco guitarist Nels Cline.

The lap steel guitar itself is now even more suited to “boundary pushing” with the introduction of The Moog Lap Steel, an instrument that brings state-of-the-art control technology to the instrument born on a 19th century Hawaiian train track. It incorporates the same electronics that earned The Moog Guitar numerous industry accolades including Guitar Player Magazine's Reader's Choice Award, Electronic Musician Magazine's Editor's Choice Award, NAMM "Best In Show" honors, a “Best of What’s New Award” from Popular Science magazine and a Mix Foundation TEC Award.

Billy Cardine is an Americana/Bluegrass phenomenon who has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Ryman Auditorium and Bonnaroo. He is a member of the renowned Americana band Acoustic Syndicate and leader of the new music ensemble The Billy Sea. He also studied in India and will perform at the 2011 Bangaluru International Arts Festival with chitravina master Ravikiran. Billy was instrumental in the development of the Moog Lap Steel and played an early prototype for its debut at Moogfest 2010.

“In one of those moments of wonderful synchronicity, I met Billy about the same time I finished the first Moog lap steel prototype which I had dubbed “The Monster” said Moog Music’s Chief Engineer, Cyril Lance. “Billy and I got together and the first music he made on this crude instrument was stunning. It was immediately clear that not only was Billy perfect for this instrument, but the instrument was perfect for Billy. This began an extremely rewarding collaboration that resulted in the current Moog Lap Steel.”

Combining the unique expressive qualities of the lap steel with the innovations of the Moog Guitar results in an instrument with unlimited sonic potential. Like the Moog Guitar, it is in not a guitar synthesizer, but features an onboard Moog filter (with control voltage input) that places it firmly in the Moog family tree and allows for some amazing creative connectivity with devices ranging from theremins to massive modular synthesizers.

"For me the Moog Lap Steel represents the invention I've worked on for so many years finally taking flight on its own.” said Moog Guitar inventor Paul Vo. “Cyril Lance had the inspiration that really drove this project home. He expertly placed the same vibration control technology that I developed for the Moog Guitar into this beautifully crafted instrument, co-designed by luthier Wes Lambe. I mostly just watched. Now Billy Cardine, virtuoso of the lap steel and dobro, brings it all together and takes it to heights of musical expression that completely amaze me. I am a very grateful spectator!"

“Looking Forward, Looking Back”, the historic first EP of music for the Moog Lap Steel, is the creation of a composer and player at the height of his powers in control of an instrument that extends those powers like no other innovation since it was first electrified.

The EP kicks off with the opening track “Moolodious” whose soaring melodies and pulsating beats sweep the listener along so thoroughly that it is easy to miss the technology behind the magic. While the Moog Lap Steel plays long anthemic notes that seem to defy the laws of physics, its big brother The Moog Guitar cranks out rhythms that, although created using advanced modular synthesis techniques (routing beat-synced control voltage signals from ProTools to The Moog Guitar’s onboard analog filter), are still very much the product of strings, a pick and a guitarist’s callused fingertips… in this case, the fingertips of Moog’s Cyril Lance.

“Jet Li”, the second track moves from Americana to Asiana. Inspired by the fluid movements of martial artist Jet Li, it starts with the low rumble of Moog Taurus Bass Pedals and a unique melody created with a two-handed phrasing technique impossible on an instrument without the precise sustaining abilities of The Moog Lap Steel. This may be the first recording in history in which a lap steel gets mistaken for an erhu.

The title track “Looking Forward, Looking Back” takes the Moog Lap Steel and Moog Guitar in a new direction. As it unfolds, the Lap Steel’s timbre is more reminiscent of a dobro while the Moog Guitar takes on a surreal, funky banjo-like role. When the long, sustained-note melody comes in, being played on the same instrument with the same strings creates a pleasing timbral cohesiveness.

“Stacks”, the most electronic of the tracks, showcases the instrument at play with its other Moog siblings. Built on an analog filtered drum beat, the Moog Lap Steel intertwines with the sounds of the Moog Guitar and Slim Phatty synthesizer while a Little Phatty synth generates a beat-synced control voltage making the Lap Steel’s filter dance in time with the rhythm. Meanwhile other keyboards and vocal processors fill out a soundscape proving that analog and digital can get along quite nicely.

The closing track, “The Curious Boo” was written on the original Moog prototype and combines sacred steel feel with an Indian approach to slide guitar phrasing. A Moog MF-102 ring modulator adds a unique metallic edge to these fluid lines.

The Roman god Janus, for whom the month January was named, is depicted as having two heads, one looking into the past and the other into the future, making him the archetype of beginnings, transitions and gateways (and New Year’s parties). When listening to “Looking Forward, Looking Back”, it’s hard not to hear the music in a similar light… as a harbinger of new beginnings, transitions and gateways… as a new voice… as “Ameritronica”. It’s also hard not to hear it as just damn good music.

Looking Forward, Looking Back is available from Indidog Records through bandcamp at:

http://billycardine.bandcamp.com/album/looking-forward-looking-back



Visit billycardine.com for more information."

Via Chris Stack of experimentalsynth.com

Synth Party

YouTube Uploaded by experimentalsynth on Apr 15, 2011

"If it's not fun, it's not music. -Chris Stack"

Rhodes Chroma w. MIDI, all upgrades, display, more

via this auction

"All of us synth doods know about the Chroma. Amazingly versatile architecture, the closest thing you can get to the ARP 2500 modular sound, beautiful weighted keyboard, and a nice flat top to stack other gear on as well.

Over the years, the Chroma has got some negative press due to some original design choices. Luckily, the Chroma is without a doubt the most supported vintage synth on the planet. Chris Ryan's www.rhodeschroma.com site has provided owners and potential owners help and support for many years. In addition, dedicated users and techs have come up with some essential upgrades over the years to make the Chroma even better.

This Chroma has all the updates plus more.

MIDI CC+ CPU board - replaces original CPU board (and leak-prone AA batteries) and adds full MIDI support.

SPSU - smaller, lighter, more stable universal power supply

CPS - polyphonic pressure sensor kit

In addition, using the interface provided by the CC+ board and latest OS, I added an LCD display to show you what you're editing!

Face it, one of the knocks against the Chroma is that the complexity of the synth engine is somewhat hidden by the very basic 2 segment LED displays and touch panel buttons. Programming it required you to keep the manual or at least the large parameter chart handy. No more!

Take a look at the display in the picture - you can see you are editing parameter 37 (LP/HP filter), the current value (LP), and all the modulations being applied to the parameter. Excellent!

So, at this point, you have a polyphonic pressure generating analog polysynth with an easy to use interface, stable power, and amazing MIDI capabilities. Where else can you find this? Maybe a Yamaha CS-80 with a MIDI retrofit. Good luck with that one though. More expensive, much heavier, and prone to breakdowns.

In addition, this Chroma has the dual footpedal, complete set of docs (I found the Performance manual after taking the pix), and 2 voice cards. At least one of the cards works (but doesn't pass auto-tune) and both cards are fully populated so you have backups of the CEMs and other stuff. There's a great tech in Canada (JL at Cantos) that fixes up cards for a reasonable price, so if you wanted working spares, you could send them off to him.

You won't find a Chroma with all these upgrades and extras anywhere else, so if you've been on the fence, now is the time to act."

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Slim Phatty/ Little Phatty Interaction

YouTube via experimentalsynth | January 26, 2011 | 0 likes, 0 dislikes

"experimentalsynth.com data sample #387 - explores the use of the Pitch CV output of a Little Phatty (with CV Output Mod) to control the Filter Cutoff Frequency of a Slim Phatty.

Data capture method: Android phone

www.experimentalsynth.com is the laboratory of Chris Stack. His musical and technological endeavors have involved activities as varied as Marketing Manager for Moog Music, Belly Dance Musician, Printed Circuit Designer for Bob Moog and industrial computer applications (including a Space Shuttle experiment) and ambient piano creations."

I Sing With An Electric Voice

YouTube via experimentalsynth | January 25, 2011 |

"A demonstration of "Electric Voice", a voice processing system comprising an Alesis Micron Vocoder and a TC-Helicon Voiceworks vocal processor. Additional expressive capabilities are provided by a Moog Etherwave Plus Theremin CV Controller and a Moog MF-101 Low Pass Filter.

experimentalsynth.com is the creation of Chris Stack, former Marketing Manager for Moog Music and all around jack-o-the-wires"

Vocoder Experiment 1

Vocoder Experiment 1 by chrisstack
"A quick-and-dirty recording of some dual vocal processors in action... simultaneously playing an Alesis Micron vocoder through a Moog MF-101 Low Pass Filter (controlled by an expression pedal) and a TC Helicon Voiceworks controlled by a MIDI keyboard. Background is Moog Voyager and Little Phatty, Yamaha MO8 and Korg MicroX (both non-Moog run through MF-101s)"
Update: Chris Stack is the Marketing Director for Moog Music

Update:

Vocoder Experiment #2
Vocoder Experiment #2 by chrisstack
"Further experiments in multiple vocal processors. Alesis Micron vocoder through Moog MF-101 Low Pass Filter w/ expression pedal, TC Helicon Voiceworks controlled by MIDI keyboard, bass is Moog Little Phatty. Rest is Yamaha MO8 through 2 Moog MF-101s and Kurzweil K2000 through Moog MIDI MuRF."

Navigational Stars :: Ankaa

Navigational Stars :: Ankaa by chrisstack

via Chris Stack of Moog Music

"[the track] uses one of my favorite production techniques.

I have a Little Phatty with the CV Out Modification. Here I synced its arpeggiator to a master MIDI clock from a Yamaha MO8 (MO8 run through MF-101s on each stereo channel). I connected the Pitch Out CV from the Phatty to the Filter Cutoff In CV on a Voyager, dialed up a wet, resonant patch and had a lot of fun.

The rest is Alesis Micron through MF-101, Korg MicroX through MF-101 and Kurzweil K2000 through a MIDI Murf."

Moog Babes

via Stewart O'shields's Photos on Facebook.

"had a great shoot w/ the inspirational MICHELLE MOOG-KOUSA, executive director of the Bob Moog Foundation, look for the story in the October issue of Verve Magazine..."

In via Chris Stack of Moog Music

David Guetta & Chris Willis ft Fergie & LMFAO - Gettin' Over You (Official videoclip)

YouTube via davidguetta — May 19, 2010 — "David Guetta & Chris Willis feat. Fergie & LMFAO
Directed by Rich Lee
'One Love' - New album - OUT NOW
(P) 2010 Gum Prod, licence exclusive EMI Music France
www.davidguetta.com"
some synth spotting via DeeJayIwan - don't stack your Rolands...

New Moog Taurus 3 Site

http://www.taurusbass.com/

Sent my way via Marko and via Chris Stack of Moog Music.

Moog Taurus3 Microsite

NAMM: Moog Taurus 3, Little Phatty and Moogerfoogers

http://www.moogmusic.com/

Three shots from the Moog booth at Winter NAMM. Click on the images for the full size shots.

I spent most of my time at the booth talking to Michelle Moog-Koussa of the Bob Moog Foundation, Chris Stack of Moog Music, Amin Bhatia, Larry Fast, and Eric Norlander. All great people.

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Modular For The Masses: The Moog Little Phatty Control Voltage Output Modification

Official Press Release:
"ASHEVILLE, N.C. (September 15, 2009) Moog’s ubiquitous Little Phatty synthesizer just got even more powerful. With the new Control Voltage Output Modification, a Little Phatty (Stage II, Stage or Tribute Edition) synthesizer opens the door to a new world of expression and sound design. This exciting modification gives musicians the power to control Moogerfooger Effects Processors and other analog gear with control voltages generated by the Little Phatty. The list of possible applications is as endless as a player’s imagination.

The Little Phatty CV Output Modification adds five 1/4" analog CV outputs to the right side panel:

* Gate
* Pitch
* Volume Envelope
* Filter Envelope
* Mod Bus


'Use MIDI Clock Sync to synchronize the Little Phatty’s arpeggiator to a drum track, and the Pitch CV output becomes an incredible production tool.” said Chris Stack, Moog Music Marketing Manager. “You can route it to a wide variety of Moogerfooger parameters to create a universe of tempo-synced analog effects, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.'

The Little Phatty Control Voltage Output Modification is available for $199.00, as a factory upgrade.

For more information, visit www.moogmusic.com/modifications


About Moog Music: Moog Music and its customers carry on the legacy of Bob Moog, the inventor of the synthesizer. Moog designs and manufactures electronic musical instruments, including Little Phatty® and Minimoog® Voyager® synthesizers, Moogerfooger® effects modules, Etherwave® theremins and The Moog Guitar. Founded by Bob Moog, Moog Music designs and manufactures its products in Asheville, N.C."

Little Phatty Control Voltage Output Modification

YouTube via MoogMusicInc. previously posted

lpcv

previously posted

Musikmesse: Moog MF-106TC

"Moog Unveils Long Awaited and Much Anticipated MF-106TC Analog Time Compressor

-Shipping April 1, 2009-

The history of invention and innovation is replete with instances of accidental successes: Chewing gum was a bad batch of tire rubber. Penicillin came from mold growing on abandoned plates of bacteria. And we all know about Benjamin Franklin and lightning rods.

Our own musical mad scientists (who never fear failure and are constantly experimenting, tinkering and tweaking) have recently had their own kite-flying experience, and the result is the amazing and logic-defying MF-106TC, Analog Time Compressor.

"We accidentally reversed the clock phasing in the time generation on our MF-104Z Analog Delay, and discovered that it can actually work in reverse, compressing the time stream instead of expanding it. Much to our amazement and delight we began hearing sounds up to 1000 milliseconds before we played them,” said Amos Gaynes, Moog Temporal Engineer.

Gaynes said that the Analog Time Compressor circuit on the MF-106TC can eliminate digital latency in real time, or sound like you're playing faster than you really are. The Analog Time Compressor’s unique Slap-Forward delay effect sounds even better than Slap-Back, according to Gaynes.

“The MF-106TC has hundreds of unique applications,” said Moog Marketing Manager Chris Stack. “Used on the Pitch Preview output of our new Etherwave Plus Theremin, you not only hear your note before the audience does; you actually hear it before you play it.”

Consumer Product Safety Warning: Customers should not attempt to reverse the clock phasing of the time generation circuit on their MF-104Z delay to mimic the capabilities of the MF-106TC Analog Time Compressor. Without the factory-installed flux capacitor added, a standard MF-104Z will be seriously damaged."

More info here. Be sure to click on the image when you get there.

Moog Grammy Sale

"Moog’s February Grammy Sale: Once More with Feeling

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (February 1, 2009) – Starting today, for the full 28 days of February…and for the last time, Moog Music is offering hefty rebates on its best-selling equipment. Moog’s Grammy Sale offers rebates of $100 on any Minimoog Voyager, $75 on any Little Phatty and $30 on any Etherwave theremin or Moogerfooger purchased from authorized Moog dealers during February.

“We’ve been doing this program for five years and it’s proven to have a positive impact on Moog dealer sales ~ every year we see a significant spike in customer product registrations during the month of February. We plan to replace the Grammy Sale with something equally attractive in the future, and we thank our loyal customers for participating in the sale,” said Chris Stack, Moog Marketing Manager.

Visit moogmusic.com during February for more information on the Moog Grammy Sale.

About Moog Music: Moog Music and its customers carry on the legacy of Bob Moog, the inventor of the synthesizer. Moog designs and manufactures electronic musical instruments, including Little Phatty® and Minimoog® Voyager® synthesizers, Moogerfooger® effects modules, Etherwave® theremins and The Moog Guitar. Founded by Bob Moog, Moog Music designs and manufactures its products in Asheville, N.C."

Voyager Travels Farther, Little Phatty Gets Phatter with OS Upgrades

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (July 2008) – Owners of the Moog Voyager and Little Phatty
synths can now significantly upgrade their capabilities via free downloads from the Moog Music website, moogmusic.com.

The new Voyager 3.4 Operating System features extensive local control options, new touch surface features and enhanced pot resolution. All the great sonic capability of the Little Phatty Stage Edition is enhanced with the addition of an arpeggiator in the Stage II. And for controlling LFO and Arpeggiator rate, the Stage II has a new Tap Tempo and MIDI sync capability. Topping it all is the addition of a new bank of presets.

“Our goal is to continue to deliver value to our core customer base and these new free software releases will make many of them feel as if they have a completely new synth,” said Chris Stack, Moog Marketing Manager.

There are two types of upgrades available for the Voyager and Little Phatty operating systems:

Voyager: A free software upgrade (for owners with version 3.0 or above) is available for download at http://moogmusic.com/voyager/ (under the “software” tab). A hardware upgrade is available for customers who have an older model of the Voyager (OS revision 2.5 or lower, built before August, 2005) increasing their current single bank of 128 presets to seven banks of 128 for a total of 896. This upgrade is available as a field upgrade for $265 or as a factory upgrade for $365. Customers who choose to upgrade will then be able to take advantage of all the latest software features in Version 3.4.

Little Phatty: Software upgrades for the Little Phatty Stage Edition are available for free download at http://moogmusic.com/littlephatty/ (under the “software” tab). If Stage Edition customers want to add the MIDI over USB capability of the Stage II, a hardware-based upgrade is available as a field upgrade for $100 or factory upgrade for $150.

At the MOOG Factory

Via Steven:
"Recently while on tour my group Life In Balance visited the Moog factory in Asheville NC. Besides the gigs this visit was just a real highlight for me. The people at the Moog factory were very warm and gave freely of their time. Later Chris Stack, Linda and Cyril Lance from Moog came to our gig then Cyril joined us for an after show beer or two. How wonderful is that!

Thanks for a great Blog I visit it a few times a day.
Steve Sciulli Life In Balance
http://www.lifeinbalancemusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/soundhealer

Steve with the Voyager and the EWI4000s both going through a Powerbook running Live6"

Bottom shot is the MOOG Voyager Prototype.

Interview with Hexfix93 of VAC

The following is an interview I just wrapped up with hexfix93 of Velvet Acid Christ. As you know, this site is about the gear, namely synths, and the gear that helps drive and enhance synths, but ultimately the focus is on synths.

I was chatting a bit with hexfix93 and asked him if he would be interested in a slightly different take on an interview, one focused on synths and their impact to his world. We all have our story regarding how our obsession with synths first started, how we see and approach synths and what they mean to us. I thought it would be interesting to hear his story. The following is the interview.

Before it begins, I want to thank hexfix93 for taking the time out for this. We all have a different approach and a different story when it comes to our synths. This is his. For more of his music check out VAC and don't miss Toxic Coma. Cheers, matrix.


1. What was your first synthesizer, how old were you when you picked it up, and why did you pick it up?

"It was some kind of old yamaha cheap thing. i got it for my atari st, so when i played games like leisure suit larry that the music wouldn't come from the wimpy fm built in sound, but a general midi synth instead. it really didn't sound all that great. i wasn’t really a keyboard player at this point.

The first synth i got as a keyboard player was a roland w30 sampler workstation. And we made like 3 records with that keyboard. i remember gary slaughter an x vac member, spilled orange vodka drink on it. and i had to take it apart and clean every part of it by hand slowly, it took weeks. it was a pure nightmare.

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