Further Synclavier Adventures

video by 100 Things I Do

"Its been a while since I did a Synclavier clip..... so here it is!

In some ways i'm going back to the beginning and explaining how to create patches and how to explore this unique implementation of FM :D"

100 Things I Do Synclavier posts

Synclavier Noodle and Chat

Published on May 1, 2020 100 Things I Do

Some raw sounds on the Synclavier.

Synclavier X-Mas

Published on Dec 25, 2019 100 Things I Do

"I was playing with some alternate tunings on the Synclavier this morning before heading off to the family X-Mas and decided I would share the outcome. Hope you enjoy!

I also hope everyone is having a stress free X-Mas full of the foods, family, friends and activities you love! Take care, and hopefully get another clip out before the start of the new year!

Mike."

SYNCLAVIER TIMBRE CREATION

Published on Aug 17, 2019 100 Things I Do

"Its been a while since I did a Synclavier video so I thought I would show some more Timbre/sound design. I keep it to one oscillator (more or less... the Chorus effect uses 2 voices detuned from each other). Just adding harmonics and FM"

SYNCLAVIER - TIMBRE DISK 1 REV 6

Published on Feb 23, 2019 100 Things I Do

"I keep being asked to do more Synclavier Videos so I thought this week I would take a look at some of the Timbre's from the Rev 6 Disk#1 Library!"

Synclavier Go!

Published on Jan 27, 2019 100 Things I Do

"I thought we would take a look at the new Synclavier Go from Cameron Jones (co-creator of the original Synclavier). Cameron is still cutting code to this day and his latest iteration of the Synclavier sounds excellent. I have a look at some of the Timbre's (presets), it seems like most of the factory disks are included! I might have a look at Timbre creation in another video but its pretty much 1:1 of using the hardware."

Synclavier II FM Harmonics + Eventide H3000 Crystal Echo's

Published on Nov 10, 2018 100 Things I Do

"I wanted to try adding and subtracting harmonics in real time on the Synclavier II. I do this normally on the V as the limitations of processing power in my original Syncalvier II with its B processor stops it from working as smooth in real time. So, the trick here is to know where the limitations are and try and avoid them (big value jumps being the main one).

While I liked the sound I thought I would also go back and reinvestigate the Eventide H3000 Crystal echos patch. This was used heavily for so long in everything everyone did, and these days the type of effect is built into many reverbs. But, how does the original stand up today ? :D"

Synclavier V V2 - Resynthesis and Patch Creation

Published on Oct 27, 2018 100 Things I Do

"One of the things I am interested in adding to my hardware Synclavier is the Mono sampling option.

This and a processor upgrade will allow me to do sound resynthesis and Timbre frames. I started to look into this at the start of the year but as I was planning my trip to Europe it just was not possible at the time. Just over a month ago Arturia released the free upgrade of Synclavier V which not only brought sampling but the full resynthesis option! First of all.. to get this kind of upgrade for something I paid for 3 years ago is astounding!.. Thanks Arturia! What great times we live in for sound creation :D"

THE LOST TIMBRE - Syncalvier II Release G

Published on Jul 15, 2018 100 Things I Do

"I thought I would do another sound exploration and Timbre clip for the Synclaver.

The tile of the clip comes from dialling in a really nice patch only through my own loose thinking forgetting to ensure I had a writable floppy in the drive to start with! Oh well, live and learn! For some reason my Synclavier gets a bit grumpy when It wants to write to a disk and it can't (possible I don't know a key combination to recover the CPU without blowing everything away also)."

Synclaver V & Hardware Vintage Synclavier II

Published on Apr 21, 2018 100 Things I Do

"I have owned the hardware Synclavier II for a while now and what might surprise some people is that I also still use the Arturia Synclavier V. In some ways they can sound very much alike, in others they can be a very different beast.

I started to do a clip comparing the Synclavier V to the Vintage Synclavier II and ended up starting a track! So how do they sit together in a mix ? Pretty well actually.

I will get back to a direct comparison soon... well .. as soon as I can figure out how to do it without it turning into a flame war :D"

Synclavier II - Timbre Disk 7

Published on Jan 27, 2018 100 Things I Do

"I have had a lot of comments, emails, tweets etc... from people asking me to continue visiting the Synclavier and showing more of this synth. Today I thought we would have a look at one of the Timbre disks (preset disks) that came with the synth. I picked this disk at random so as I'm playing I have no idea what sound is coming next!

Also in here there are a few times I turn on the Arpeggiator, I forgot to demo this in my previous videos!

Its been very warm the last few days and Today Melbournes temperature is going to hit 40c (104F). As such this means my little studio turns into a hot house and its impossible to work for too long in there. Also as the heat goes up my camera seems to play up a little (too much IR maybe ?) and the image quality drops. With all this said... I hope you enjoy the clip! :D"

SYNCLAVIER II CLIP #3 CPU + TRACK AND WOOD WORK!

Published on Dec 16, 2017 100 Things I Do

"The final in the series on the Synclavier II. Thanks to a few requests this week we take a look inside the flight cased CPU,. I play a track on the Synclavier I'm working and show the restoration of keyboard's timber frame following the same hand rubbed method as originally done by New England Digital with the synth was new!

While the Synclavier will return in other views I want to take a look at the u-he Repro-5 and the Arturia Buchla Music Easel in the next few clips. Hopefully before the end of the year! :D"

All parts here.

Synclavier II - Clip #1 - Harmonic Additive Synthesis

Published on Dec 2, 2017 100 Things I Do

"After many months of waiting my Synclavier II system finally arrived! As you will see it was an almost complete refurbish of the 1982 Synclavier II system. Its amazing how warm the Synclavier sounds when you consider its 8bit digital synthesis. Other FM synths of the time that were more available to us mere mortals really sound nothing like it.

I asked for the Keyboard to be left in its bare wood state I will finish this with danish oil very soon (might put a clip up on me doing this if anyone is interested ?)

Changing things up a little I have decided to do a few clips in series on the Sync, There seems to be a absence of Synclavier videos on Youtube! Clip 1 is focused on the Additive Synthesis, #2 will be focused on FM and #3 hopefully with be making a track. Would anyone be interested an a Synclavier II v Artiriua Synclavier V comparison also maybe ?

If anyone is still reading ... I would be interested to know if you prefer the text over the clip as I work to continue or would you rather I talked more about what I was doing and my intensions as I make patches ? Let me know your thoughts! I see a lot of synth videos with "NO TALKING" as a selling/advertising point... is this really a thing ?"

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FM Synthesis - Arturia Synclavier V

Published on Apr 15, 2017 100 Things I Do

"I have always like FM Synthesis. Its like smashing atoms together (Sine waves in this case) in a collider and measuring the outcomes. It can be quite unexpected and is quite often more a journey of discovery than a pre-planned destination.

I haven't done a video on sound creation for a while and, not touched on FM Synthesis yet so time to play with the Arturia Synclavier-V.

For many people the Synclavier is a machine of mystery. It was even more expensive than the Fairlight in the 1980's and only the very top Studios and Sound designers of the day could get their hands on them.

Once sampling became the 'thing', the synthesis section of the Synclavier was almost forgotten. This is where Arturia have come in with their take on the Synclavier. While not really an emulation as such of the classic hardware more, a reimagining and look at where it could of gone next with FM sound creation."

An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

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