AHMW 2015 This Saturday April 18th!

AHMW 2014 - A look at last years event.

"This year's theme: HYBRID

The annual Get-Together will be Saturday, April 18th at the PHHS Media Center. I'll have the doors open at 9:00am. All synthgeekgearheads are encouraged to join us and spend some time with awesome gear and great people.

Past gear includes:
All sorts of Modulars (MOTM, DotCom, Euro, Blacet, Metalbox, Wiard, Cynthia, Modcan, Serge, Buchla)
Moog: Minimoog, Voyager, Prodigy, Polymoog, MemoryMoog, Taurus (I & III)
ARP: 2600, Quadra, Odyssey
Oberheim: Xpander, OB8, OB-X (and crOwBX!), OB-1, Two Voice, Four Voice
Sequential: Pro 1, Prophet 5 (rev 2 & 3), Prophet T-8, Prophet 2000
Roland: Juno 6, Jupiter 4, Jupiter 6, Jupiter 8, RS-101, SH-09, SH-101, SH-3a,
TB-303, TR-505, TR-606, TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, System 100, System 700
Korg: MS-20, PS-3100, Trident, Lambda
Yamaha: CS-15, SY-2, CS-80, SK-30
Also: VCS3, Putney, PPG, SunSyn, Polygamist, Buchla 400, Rhodes, Hammond
And DIY gear, and much more!"

Full details here.

Original Polyfusion Modular Synthesizer 4 Page Brochure

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Polyfusion Modular Synthesizer brochure, original and vintage in very good condition. Its a 4 page brochure that covers the Polyfusion Series 2000 Synthesizer. Has a few slight wrinkles (see pic), no punch holes, no writing. The Polyfusion Modular Synthesizer is one of the great legendary modular synthesizers from the golden age of electronic music. Up there with the Moog Modular, Arp 2500 Modular, EMU Modular, Buchla, Serge, Roland System 700, EMS Synthi 100 and other legends. Will be shipping in large bubble padded mailer with stiff cardboard."

Synthesiser von Gestern Volumes 1 - 3

Synthesiser von Gestern Volume 1
Published on Feb 22, 2015 baward

"From the 1990 CD, ‘Synthesiser von Gestern' ('Synthesisers of Yesterday’) or 'Vintage Synths Volume 1’"

Playlist:
SVG1 1/22 Arp Odyssey
SVG1 2/22 Yamaha CS-60 part 1
SVG1 3/22 Oberheim SEM
SVG1 4/22 Korg Mono/Poly
SVG1 5/22 Minimoog
SVG1 6/22 Memorymoog
SVG1 7/22 Roland Jupiter 8
SVG1 8/22 Yamaha CS-60 part 2
SVG1 09/22 Sequential Circuits Pro One
SVG1 10/22 Korg PS-3100
SVG1 11/22 Roland SH-5
SVG1 12/22 Rhodes Chroma part 1
SVG1 13/22 Korg Poly 800
SVG1 14/22 Roland System 100
SVG1 15/22 Roland Juno 60
SVG1 16/22 Mellotron
SVG1 17/22 EMS Synthi A
SVG1 18/22 Rhodes Chroma part 2
SVG1 19/22 PPG Wave 2 2
SVG1 20/22 Yamaha CS 15
SVG1 21/22 Korg MS-20
SVG1 22/22 Moog System 55

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Yamaha AN1x - Poor Man's Buchla & Serge? One Underrated Synth...

This one in via Rolf Eichert: "I am a regular visitor of Matrixsynth page and I am surprised about the huge numbers of Serge & Buchlas around especially if you think about the price tag involved. Here are a few examples of a very underrated Yamaha AN1x Virtual Analog Physical Modeling Synth. Polyphonic subtractive synthesis, FM, Sync, RingMod, Noise are available simultanously, Includes Editor, Modulation Matrix, 4 controller data can be drawn on the Computer screen. Oscillator waveforms, resonance, LFO speed, ADSR times.... can be modulated, This synth is capable of extremly short click & percussive sounds. 10 voice or 2 x 5 voice - unison - split - layer - morphing. The regular analog things you would expect it does as well, If I could only take one synth to a remote island this would be it. What is better than an AN1x? Two AN1x! Cost you about 600,00 to 700,00 US$ (for both!)"


Image via this post. You can find previous posts including video demos of the AN1x here. Don't miss Rolf's demos linked above and here.

Happy New Year! The Year in Synths 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a busy year it has been in the world of synths.

This is going to be one doozy of a post, so bear with me. This post is a review of the year in synths for 2013. We begin with Tributes to Those We Lost This Year, followed by New Manufacturers & Makers, Older Manufacturers Added to the Site, New Gear Announcements, Top 10 Posts by Traffic,  My Standout Posts for the Year, and finally This Years' Synth Events. I did my best to keep things as short and concise as possible.

Let's begin with the hardest part of the post.

Tributes to Those We Lost This Year

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer
Lou Reed RIP
RIP Dick Raaymakers aka Kid Baltan
RIP George Duke - DreamWeaver
RIP Ralph Dyck, Sept 28, 1941 – May 20, 2013
RIP Ray Manzarek

All missed and never to be forgotten. Take a moment to remember them.

------

New Manufacturers & Makers

Starting last January, I decided to keep a running list of every new manufacturer and maker introduced to the site during the year.  This is something I haven't done before and I thought it would be interesting to see how many there were in the year.   It's easy to focus on the big synth announcements throughout the year, but what about all the new makers and brands? I shouln't have to go considerably into the significance of new designers on the scene, so I'll just say two things regarding them.  One, the number of new makers is a direct reflection on the interest in our scene, and two, these are the creators of new gear which directly translate into new designs not previously available to us.  Think about that for a moment.  These are makers and designs that did not exist before.  They are part of our synth history.  So what is the total count of new synth designers for the year? A whopping 113. Think about that a bit. One hundred and thirteen new synth designers and brands this year alone.

Here they are (note a handful date back to 2012, but 2013 marked their momentum and availability):

CLICK FOR MORE »

Chimeror by Benge on Vintage Buchla 700

Published on Jun 16, 2013 zack dagoba·231 videos
http://myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com

Update: some updates in grey below.

"In December 2012 I was visiting a friend in Vancouver, BC and he showed me his working example of the legendary Buchla 700 analog / digital hybrid synthesiser. This highly advanced synthesiser was developed and produced in the late 1980s by Californian electronic instrument pioneer Don Buchla, using proprietory hardware and software components. About 12 of these machines were ever produced, and there are possibly only 4 working examples left in existance. My friend showed me some of its sound producing capabilities and then left me to explore for myself. Presented here are the results of the hour or so that I had alone with this machine

Donald Buchla began makng electronic musical instruments in 1963 with his 100 series modules appearing in 1965, which introduced the concept of analog voltage control to musical instruments (bode did it in 1959 and moog in 1964 - Moog started work with Herb Deutsch  on the first Moog modular systems in 1963). He then produced the 200 series modules in the early 1970s and continued developing systems and modules of greater complexity utilising digital control and eventually microprocessor control, culminating in the 700 system in the late 1980s. More recently Buchla introduced the 200e modules which he continues to develop

The five compositions were recorded directly to computer using overdubbing in places. No additional processing was applied. See below for a full overview of the Buchla 700 system


Track Listing:
1 - Chime One (5.06)
2 - Chime Two (4.56)
3 - Chime Three (3.06)
4 - Chime Four (2.26)
5 - Chime Five (11.24)
Total Duration (27.02)
credits
released 15 June 2013
Recorded in Vancouver, BC, December 2012
Special thanks to R.Smith for the use of his Buchla700
All Music and Design by Benge (c)2012 Ben Edwards (Benge)
All Rights Reserved

www.memetune.net
www.expandingrecords.com
www.buchla.com
myblogitsfullofstars.blogspot.com"

The Museum Of Synthesizer Technology

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction

"The Museum Of Synthesizer Technology book. NEW. Large size format 11.75 inches X 8.25 inches with full color photos of some of the most legendary analog synthesizers ever made (or heard). Moog modular, Arp 2500 modular, Buchla, Polyfusion, Roland System 700, Synthi 100 modular, Oberheim 8 Voice, you name it, it's here and all in full color. You want to see a stack of 5 Arp 2500 cabinets, who doesn't? This is a top 10 book and one of my favorites. No, it is not as technical as some of the other legendary synth books, but the thing I like about it is that it was put together and published by a fellow synthesizer afficianado, Martin Newcomb in 1994. It shows the great interest and passion in electronic music instruments/synthesizers that the rest of us have as well. It is a book that is full of synthesizer eye candy that is sure to make the most hard to please drool with with envy. I am sure that after flipping through this book, you will likely go out and start looking for your next synth. Definitely a book for the synthesizer library for the serious electronic musician..."

Martin J. Newcomb: The Museum of Synthesizer Technology

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction

"The Museum of Synthesizer Technology by Martin J. Newcombe (Privately Printed July 1994, First Printing; softcovers)

Scarce 118-page publication illustrating the collection of the short-lived (1994-1997) Museum of Synthesizer Technology in Berkshire.

Contents:

Foreword by Bob Moog
Aims and Services of the Museum
The Exhibits
A Voyage of Discovery
History of the Synthesizer
Moog - History of the Company
Moog - The Range of Instruments
Oberheim
E-mu
Buchla
Sequential
Arp
Polyfusion
EML
EMS
EDP
Roland
Miscellaneous

Including the synthesizers:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Update on I Dream of Wires Documentary Release

via Modular: the documentary on Facebook:

"When is "I Dream Of Wires" going to be released?

Hi,

My name is Jason Amm, and I'm the producer for "I Dream Of Wires" (IDOW), an upcoming documentary about the resurgence of modular synthesizers. If you're reading this, you probably already know all about IDOW, and have been anticipating it's release for quite a while. Chances are you may have even contributed money to one of our IndieGoGo fundraising campaigns, and have been wondering when you're going to receive your perk.

It was suggested in our IndieGoGo fundraising write-ups that the film would be completed sometime around Sept/Oct 2012. When we started this project, IDOW was in our minds going to be a small, straight-to-DVD niche film, and so this release date was a realistic goal. But the scope of the film, and the ever-growing interest in it, has gotten so much larger than we originally expected. We've been overwhelmed by all of the support from everyone following our progress, and it's largely this massive interest in the project that's ended up making it so much bigger than we originally anticipated. Though it has delayed the release, we are extremely excited by the wealth and quality of the material we've collected. With just two people working on IDOW (myself and director Robert Fantinatto), the task of sorting through over a hundred amazing interviews, and organizing those into a coherent and compelling film, has been daunting to say the least. We've really struggled to work out how to do this properly in a way that will satisfy the community of hardcore modular synthesizer fanatics (ourselves included), while also hopefully having an impact outside of that world.

So... "When is 'I Dream Of Wires' going to be released?"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Analog Drum 'n Bass

Analog Drum 'n Bass from K X on Vimeo.

"This is my imagining of what circa '98 era minimal tech step drum 'n bass may have sounded like had it been invented before modern samplers and digital synths / fx.

All the sound is being generated live, coming straight from the main mixer in the middle, with no multitracking. Sequenced by 3 vintage hardware sequencers, the Yamaha QX-1, Roland MC-4 and Roland MC-8 locked together by tape-sync.

List of the main gear used :

Sequencers : Roland MC-8, Roland MC-4, Yamaha QX-1

Modulars : Roland System 100 (Drums), Moog series 900 (pads), Roland System 700 (Basses), Arp 2500 system, Buchla 100 series.

Other Synths : Korg MS-20, Roland System 100 standalone synth.

FX : Roland Space Echo RE-501 (tape delay, chorus, spring reverb), Roland DC-30 (analog chorus-echo), Roland Dimension-D Analog Chorus.

Mixer : Tascam M308b"

Update: some additional info:

"If you're interested, the system 100 is doing all the drums, the moog is doing the atmospheric pad chords (as heard from the very beginning), the ARP is doing the stabs which are heard from very near the beginning, the system 700 is doing both the deep sub bass growls, and also the big ominous stabs in the middle build-up section (the MS-20 is just acting as a distortion unit for those), the system 100 standalone synth is doing the reese sound (as heard in the last bar before the drop), and the Buchla is doing all the main theme sounds which you can see if you look closely at the Buchla sequencer's timing lights during the main part.
The MC-4 is sequencing the drums and the reese, the MC-8 is sequencing the Moog and 700, and the QX-1 is sequencing the Buchla and Arp.

The whole project took almost 2 weeks, but nearly half of that was spent getting all the gear set up, synced up, talking to eachother nicely etc. Each day quite a bit of time was spent re-tweaking the sounds after the synths cooled down overnight, also the MC-4 program takes about 15 minutes just to load, (30 minutes to save including verify) and on top of that, the MC-8 refused to save at all, so I had to organise it so I could do all of the MC-8 programming and recording in one day. Next time it should take less time, since now I've got the setup all figured out."

The PPG 1003 "Sonic Carrier" - World's First Programmable Synth?

via Wolfgang Palm on Facebook
Be sure to see the video below.

"This was the first programmable synthesizer (1977)."

Programmable as in patch memory. The 1003 was a programmable monophonic synth with two oscillators, digitally controlled keyboard, and it was duophonic.

But was it the first?

Excerpts via Part 4 of the PPG Story:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Buchla 700 - working!

flickr By rick604
(click for more)

PROJECT PRESET - Omnisphere Bob Moog Tribute - ARP + Rhythm 1

YouTube Uploaded by Torley on Apr 2, 2011

"Torley plays every preset from http://www.spectrasonics.net/products/tribute/

700 Inspiring Sounds - 45 Amazing Artists - One Great Cause
All New Sounds
Produced by Eric Persing, the new Bob Moog Tribute library features over 700 stunning new sounds for Omnisphere - created by more than 40 of the world's top synth artists, remixers and sound designers, including:

Hans Zimmer | Vince Clarke (Erasure/Depeche Mode) | Jean Michel Jarre | The Crystal Method | Jordan Rudess | Money Mark (Beastie Boys/Beck)
Bernie Worrell (P-Funk/Talking Heads) | Larry Fast (Peter Gabriel/Synergy) | Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Air/Fiona Apple) | Ryuichi Sakamoto (YMO)
Morgan Page (Madonna/Katy Perry) | Keith Shocklee (Bomb Squad/Public Enemy) | Steve Porcaro (Toto) | Fredwreck (Snoop Dogg/50 Cent)
Jan Hammer (Jeff Beck/Mahavishnu Orchestra) | Danny Elfman | Michael Boddicker (Michael Jackson) | Richard Devine (Schematic/Warp)
Patrick Moraz (Yes/Moody Blues) | Eddie Jobson (UK/Roxy Music) | Diego Stocco | The Moog Cookbook | ...and many more!

Creative Approach
The new soundsources were developed using highly creative processing techniques with exotic gear like rare Buchla Modulars, Jean Michel Jarre's EMS Synthi AKS, Hans Zimmer's massive Modular Moog (including 1027 round robin Moog Drum samples!) and even Eric Persing's one-of-a-kind OMG-1. With so many different world-class artists contributing, the library is very rich in style and filled with inspiring, cutting edge sounds!
Benefit for the Bob Moog Foundation
100% of the proceeds from this library will go to supporting the innovative projects of the Bob Moog Foundation including their MoogLab student outreach program, the creation of the future 'Moogseum', and their efforts to preserve and share Dr. Moog's extensive and historic archives. The Foundation honors the legacy of synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog through its mission of igniting creativity at the intersection of music, history, science and innovation."

Synth Museum book NOS 1994

via this auction

"This was produced to celebrate the opening by Bob Moog of what was then the biggest synth museum in the world. The foreword is written by Bob Moog.

Full colour large-format paperback, laminated cover, 118 pages, full of excellent pictures of the great synths in the collection.

As the Museum doesn’t exist any more, it’s highly unlikely that the book will ever be re-printed. I believe I have the last brand-new copies available.

Instruments covered include: ARP Solina, Pro/DGX, Solus, Little Brother, Omni, Omni II, Blue Meanie, 2500, 2600, Sequencer, Odyssey;

Buchla 100, 200, 700;

E-mu Modular, Emulator II;

EDP Wasp Special, Gnat, Spider;

EML 101, 200, 300, 400, 401, 500;

EMS VCS3, AKS, Pitch-Voltage Converter, Synthi 100;

Korg PS3100, 3200, 3300;

Moog Liberation, Sonic 5, Sonic 6, Bode frequency Shifter, Syn Amp, Vocoder, 12-Stage Phaser, Modular 3c, 15, 35, 55, 3P, Memorymoog, Micromoog, Prodigy, Minimoogs, Multimoog, Polymoog, String Filter;

Oberheim 2-Voice, 8-Voice, Matrix-12, Xpander;

Polyfusion modulars;

Roland System 700, VP330, System 100M, MC4B, MC8, MC202, TR808, TR909, TR55, Revo 30, TB303, JP4, JP8, SH-5, Chorus & Space Echoes;

Sequential Prophet 5, 10, Split 8, Pro-One;

Birotron, Chroma, Ondioline, Kobol Expander, PPG 2.3 & Waveterm B; Gleeman Pentaphonic, Synthex, Wavemakers, OSCar, Formant, CS-80, etc..

Who's selling: my name's Peter Forrest. I've been writing about synths, keyboards, effects and recording gear for nearly 20 years now, and I run an internet auction called VEMIA (Vintage Electric Musical Instrument Auctions) which specialises in synths, drum machines, effects, and so on."

Peter has a number of other items up for auction here.

Uber Studio

via sequencer.de where you will find more.

Check out the red Synton Syrinx minus keys, Blue Syrinx, and the Buchla wall!!!

Three 200es, a System 100 and the uber rare Buchla 700 on top of a Rhodes Chroma.

I spot an Oberheim OB-Mx in the rack as well.

What is the synth in the stand behind the red Synton Syrinx, under the Yamaha VL1? It's not a Waldorf Q.


Update: vid Brandon:It's an Alesis Andromeda A6. Gleeman Pentaphonic clear to the right of the Syrinx's

Memorymoog behind the VL1.

Japanese Synth Meet

via D60

MOOG 3P
Roland SYSTEM 700
ARP 2500
BUCHLA 100
Roland SYSTEM 100M

via leave luck to heaven

Japanese Synth Gathering

Anyone know more about this one?

SmartAV Tango Control Surface 2

YouTube via audiomidicom.

Not directly synth related, but I'm curious if anything is assignable.

"Houston Haynes demos SmartAV's large-format touch screen surface mixer controller with Steinberg Nuendo. Part two of two. Call audioMIDI.com at (866) 286-4601 for more info!"

reminds me of the Buchla 700 - similar color scheme

SmartAV Tango Control Surface

What do These Have in Common?

Oberheim OB-Mx and Buchla 700

Note the OB-Mx pictured is the original pre-production design.

Update: aside from both of them being designed by Don Buchla.

Update: quad and rick got it in the comments. The connection is:

Lynx Crow

Scroll down to the two posts with the corresponding individual image. The other posts mention Lynx as well.

Buchla 700 Preservation Page

The page includes newly added source code for the Buchla 700: "Source code for the Buchla 700, courtesy Lynx Crowe. This code is provided as-is with no guarantees of completeness or correctness; it's a compilation of various bits of relevant code that Lynx found going through his archives. If you want to delve into this, you are "on your own." Development was done with an Alcyon C compiler on an Atari 1040ST, although it should be feasible to find a modern compiler that will handle this code. Knowledgeable people with time on their hands could potentially do all sorts of neat things with this, such as (a) create some sort of hardware/software upgrade to the 700 that would allow users to bypass the trouble-prone and difficult-to-find video chip, (b) add features to and fix bugs in the software, and (c) create a softsynth rendition of the 700. It's also a fantastic chance to look at the design of a synth OS by one of the pioneers in the field. Please give Lynx proper acknowledgement on anything you do this this. If you have any commercial aspirations, i.e. you plan to actually sell anything based on this, you should contact Lynx to talk about some sort of licensing arrangement."

click here and scroll to see prior posts on the Buchla 700 including video.

Ode to Gravity: Introducing the Buchla 700 (March 21, 1988)

"Donald Buchla's newest synthesizer, the 700, is introduced to the San Francisco community at a gathering held at the Sake Factory. Charles Amirkhanian interviews the inventor as well as numerous local composers about their experiences with Buchla's creations while we hear in the background people trying out the newest version."


via http://www.archive.org/details/OTG_1988_03_21 via ghostdog