RISE OF THE VIRTUAL ANALOGS-1995-2000-feat. Novation Nova II Synthesizer

video upload by Deep Synths

"Looking back at the arrival of virtual analog synths in the late 1990's. Music performed on a Novation Nova II 49 key synth from that period. A deep synths production. www.deepsynths.com"

NOVATION NOVA II Keyboard-Factory Presets Demo-Y2K Flashback!

video upload by Deep Synths

"First generation virtual analog synthesizer-the NOVATION NOVA II. Factory presets demo. The sounds of my Nova II that I purchased back in 2000, when virtual analog was the hot new thing in the synth world!"

Sequential Pro 3 Deep Synths Coastline Recordings

video by Deep Synths

"Deep Synths demos the PRO 3 synthesizer from Sequential. Focus on classic analog sounds for use in Deep House and retro productions.

A Coastline Recordings feature."

Behringer RD-9 Demo-Classic House Music

video upload by Deep Synths

"Behringer RD-9 Rhythm Designer Demo. Classic House Music style.
Recorded through Universal Audio Apollo.
Produced by Deep Synths."

Update:

behringer RD-9 Rhythm Designer drum machine. Beat Patterns (TR-909 style).


"Demo showing many of the Patterns in the RD-9 drum machine. Recorded straight with no extra audio processing. Roland TR-909 clone. Demo by Deep Synths for lovers of synthesizers and drum machines."

Moog Minimoog Voyager demo by Deep Synths

video upload by Deep Synths

"The Moog Minimoog Voyager synthesizer is used to create an entire track by Deep Synths. All parts are the Voyager except drums (from Akai MPC) and vocal. Take a Voyage with the Voyager."

ROLAND JUNO-X Synthesizer-Part 2-Filter Test with Custom Patches by Deep Synths.

video upload by Deep Synths

"JUNO-X demo part 2. Testing the 3 filter types (Roland, Moog, Sequential) with custom patches by Deep Synths.

The patches are as follows:
00:00 Intro-Saw Lead "Lead Dawg"-Juno 106
01:33 "Saw Chords"-Juno 106
02:23 "Sea Life"-Juno 106
03:35 "Donna's House"-Juno 106
04:54 "Desert Sand"-Juno 106
05:54 "Discoveries"-Juno 106
07:26 "Dark Flight"-Juno 106
08:26 "Just a Juno"-Juno 106
09:37 "Blades"-Juno 60
10:28 "Space Drift"-Juno 60
11:32 "Bubble Up"-Juno 106"

SEQUENTIAL PROPHET 10 Synthesizer Halloween Horror Special

video upload by Deep Synths

"Prophet 10/5 Synthesizer used to create a track for Halloween! Inspired by the spooky side of the Prophet synth and classic horror movies. Done with the Deep Synths' spin on it! Produced by Deep Synths."

Ampify & Novation Release Groovebox - Beats & Synths Music Studio for iOS

Groovebox for iOS // A Beats & Synths Studio from Ampify on Vimeo.

iTunes: Groovebox - Beats & Synths Music Studio - Novation

"If you love making electronic music, you’ll love Groovebox. Enter an inspiring world of music production on your iPhone & iPad.

Groovebox is a free, beautifully designed music studio app packed with inspiring synths and drum machines. In minutes you’ll be making beats, melodies, and playing with world-class instruments. Expand your own collection with more sounds and instruments available in the store. From the creators of Launchpad, Groovebox helps you produce music on iPhone & iPad.

A Beats & Synth Music Studio

Play with touchable instruments to quickly create your own beats and melodies, or draw in notes. Need inspiration? Groovebox has hundreds of patterns and sounds to get you started. Two powerful synthesisers, designed in partnership with Novation, deliver deep retro basslines and analogue harmonic melodies. The modern drum machine, with expanding drumkit library, will turn Groovebox into your go-to beat production studio.

Synths Designed in Partnership with Novation

Designed in partnership with Novation, legendary synth pioneers, Groovebox packs a world-class sound. Each instrument uses a new powerful synth engine capable of recreating classic warm analogue sounds and rich modern harmonics

Easy to start, Deep Enough to Master

Groovebox is designed to kick-start ideas, but it has serious features for artists and producers too. The advanced synth parameters* let you sculpt your own sounds. Included iPad mixer, note sequencer, key and scale modes let you control your sound. Export your sounds easily to a laptop to produce further. Sync to other apps or a laptop with Ableton Link. Connect using Audiobus, Inter-App Audio and even Export to Ableton Live seamlessly.

Features

• Three powerful instruments - Drumbox, Retrobass and Poly-8
• Discover and build ideas - Quickly explore sounds with hundreds of melody and rhythm patterns
• Play touchable instruments - Create your own melodies and beats
• Build beats - Play drum pads or keys, sequence notes or use patterns
• Sound innovation - Synths developed in partnership with legendary Novation
• Expand your sounds - Regular, fresh-content drumpacks, presets and patterns*
• Production-ready sounds - Crafted by world-class sound designers and artists
• Extendable Instruments - Expose more tweakable synth controls
• Sequence your music - Draw notes and build patterns instead of playing them
• Stay in time and key - Choose from any tempo, key or musical scale
• Mix your music - 8-track mixer on iPad. Instrument focus mixer on iPhone.
• Share your music - Easily create a mix of your music to share with others

*Requires In-App Purchase

Advanced Features

• Jam with others - Audiobus, Inter-App Audio, Ableton Link and Ableton Export
• Ableton Export - Easily send your project to Ableton Live
• Full scale support - All keys and major, minor and modes supported
• Project management - Rename, duplicate and delete
• iPad Pro support - Optimised to use the entire iPad Pro screen
• Send your ideas to a laptop - Batch export your pads as a .zip file, or use Ableton Export
• Bluetooth speaker supported

Ampify x Novation

We are Ampify, a unique innovative team formed from Novation, world-renowned music instrument pioneers. We’re responsible for some of the most popular music creation and remixing apps on Apple’s App Store. Launchpad for iOS has nearly 7 million downloads, and Blocs Wave for iOS won a number of prestigious awards. Our team, originally called Blocs, is now known as Ampify.

Supported Devices

Groovebox is compatible with iPad 4th Generation, iPad Air 1/2, iPad Pro 9.7/12.9, iPad Mini 2/3/4, iPod Touch 6th Generation, iPhone 5/5C/5S, iPhone 6/6S, iPhone 6S/6S Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus. Requires iOS 10."

And the descriptions and screenshots from iTunes:

iTunes: Groovebox - Beats & Synths Music Studio - Novation

CLICK FOR MORE »

New Nanobox Mini Synths Coming from 1010Music

video upload by 1010music

Looks like the price will be $399 for each. Note the Line In for each for processing external gear. Curious if sampling will come to the lemondrop.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Introducing the System-8 Plug Out Synthesizer

Published on Sep 9, 2016 RolandChannel

"Powerful and deep, the SYSTEM-8 delivers a vast palette of sounds inspired by over four decades of legendary Roland synths.

Its next-gen Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) engine powers an eight-voice, three-oscillator monster with stunning filters and effects, highly versatile LFOs, and a massive array of high-resolution knobs and sliders to control it all.

Support for three PLUG-OUT synths means the SYSTEM-8 can host spot-on recreations of numerous Roland classics, and JUPITER-8 and JUNO-106 PLUG-OUTS are even included with purchase.(*)

Split and layer synths for unheard of sounds, and tap into the integrated vocoder, arpeggiator, CV/Gate outs, and advanced polyphonic step sequencer to fuel endless creative explorations.

* Preloaded JUNO-106 is scheduled for release in 2017 by SYSTEM-8 update.
* Support for SYSTEM-8 on previously released plug-out synths to be available soon."

via Roland:

CLICK FOR MORE »

elmacaco on the Alesis A6 Andromeda

elmacaco posted the following on AH. I asked him if it would be alright to put this up here and he gave me the a ok. As an A6 owner myself, I have to agree with his assessment. What's interesting is the behavior of the envelopes always stood out to me as being less direct compared to my other synths. I never thought about how the range for each step might be the reason. The A6 is an incredibly deep synth. That said, here are some words from elmacaco.

"I have to say, I love my Andromeda. I didn't like it when I first tried it in the store, but unseen forces brought it to my attention and about a year and a half ago I got one. It's been my main synth since then, never really messed with the presets, always making sounds on it. The first couple of months I would get lost in playing it and not record much, same thing happened with my wurlitzer, which is a good sign. It has such flexibility that it even can fix my modular jones most of the time (and I have a modular for that).

I think what throws a lot of people is that with it, you have to think about more than with the classics. The range of the controls is huge, and that changes a lot for most people. This is particularly true with the envelopes. A pot that goes from zero to 10 seconds has a different feel than one that goes from 2 seconds to 10 minutes, and can make it less imediate. Envelopes are usually an aspect that you don't have to think too much about, but with the Andromeda it becomes more complicated, which is a double edged sword, and one aspect i don't like so much, I wish I could limit those controls to a more usable range for me. Same with the mixer levels, once you get a bit of a handle on it it becomes part of the process, but it is none the less an extended process, which won't be to the liking of many people.

As for the comparion to older polies, well, they all have something, the andromeda is much more broad, so t can be a lot of things, but it wont be breezy to get it like them, but there is more. I remember after a year of having one I would play P5's and memorymoogs at friends houses, which i love in so many ways, but I would be locked into some avenues that used to seem broad but now I see as rather narrow.

The sound of those synths can make you need a variety of synths, to get out of it, but the Andromeda has a way of taking over, other synths will sound better in some places, but head to head, unless that is something you always need, the Andromeda can cover that territory pretty well. Which makes comparisons difficult, because it can more easily cover all your bases than any other synth. I've only recently began to mess with my xpander again, since the A6 can just take over. I have synths I prefer for bass, but I can get something great out of the Andromeda so staying in front of it can be very appealing. I remember thinking the osc tone was better on the roland mono's, then I tried to match them, and I actually matched them closer than i have matched anything else simply by filtering them imperceptively, remember the moog filter on the Andromeda goes up to 40,000Hz, drop it to 20k or 18k, and the high end sheen is gone but is still sounds like a raw waveform, I was pretty astounded at what I didn't know, and that happens a lot.

Realisticly speaking, even if you have a bunch of other synths, the Andromeda can satisfy the needs of a broad range of synthesists regardless of what they are, better than any other analog poly can. Just an andromeda for music means so many more possibilities than just a JP-8, or just a Memory Moog.

Just the multitimbrality coupled with such a deep engine alone puts it into a class of its own. But it will require more thought, it's one of the synths that will make you feel like you are not the bad ass synthesist you think you are, whereas sitting in front of a Jupiter-8, Prophet 5, CS-80, or memorymoog, a good working knowledge of synthesis is enough to explore all the dimentions of it infinitely. Not everybody likes that experience, kinda like how serge and buchla can be like learning a new language and force you out of your comfort zone. The Andromeda can make you feel like a novice again, I still get the sense that I won't ever fully grasp all its features in decades, but what I do grasp gives back in spades."

Inside: Erica Synths (EB.TV Feature)

Published on Apr 9, 2018 Telekom Electronic Beats

"Erica Synths is behind a huge number of beloved Eurorack module offerings, not to mention its famous Fusionbox and Acidbox units, and we popped over to its Latvian HQ for the latest instalment of ‘Inside’ on Telekom Electronic Beats TV.

Discover the history and philosophy of this dynamic company, the passion that informs their cherished synth modules, plus the exciting reveal we can look forward to standalone synthesizers from the company in the near future.

BONUS: For all the hardware enthusiasts out there, two extra performances were captured during the Erica Synths visit showing Latvian artists putting the Erica gear through its paces."

Live in Erica Synths Garage: Marta SmiLga

Published on Apr 9, 2018 Telekom Electronic Beats

"We visited the Latvian HQ of the beloved Erica Synths for the latest instalment of ‘Inside’ on Telekom Electronic Beats TV, and as a special treat for all the hardware enthusiasts out there, we were able to capture two modular performances of Latvian artists putting the gear through its paces. Here Marta SmiLga delivers some deep ambient melodies and atmospheric drone."

Live in Erica Synths Garage: Multilux

Published on Apr 9, 2018 Telekom Electronic Beats

"We visited the Latvian HQ of the beloved Erica Synths for the latest instalment of ‘Inside’ on Telekom Electronic Beats TV, and as a special treat for all the hardware enthusiasts out there, we were able to capture two super-cool performances of Latvian artists putting the gear through its paces. Here Multilux delivers a driving live set of deep acid techno."

Making the Andromeda A6

A great thread is up on the VSE Forums on the Alesis Andromeda. I know the threads expire there, so I'll grab some of the most interesting bits here. DB below is David Bryce who worked on the Andromeda. I remember when all of this was happening. Mike Peake was on sonic states the-gas-station and AH. The guys behind the Andromeda really loved synths and they respected the rest of us enough to frequently pulled us in for feedback on the design of the synth. It was as if they were one of us, and in reality they were and still are. Mike Peake stayed active in the synth community and as you can see from this thread, David Bryce is still very active. You have to love a company that does this. Great people make a great company. I personally think Alesis has been one of the better synth manufactures to date. The Andromeda, ION and Micron, and the Fusion have all been pretty amazing synths. The price points for what you get compared to what else is out there is astounding when you think about it. Do take the time to check them out. The Andromeda is a 16 voice analog with a huge modulation matrix, dual filters, built in step sequencer and much, much more. And it sounds pretty amazing imo. Whenever I think I've heard it all, someone makes a demo that showcases a completely new character of the synth. BTW, are there any other poly analogs with 16 or more voices other than of course the fully polyphonic boards using divide down technology?

Alesis A6 Andromeda, Now where did that come from? (title of VSE thread)
---------------
CTB wrote:
Our very own Dave Bryce, who sometimes posts here and works for DSI, was involved in the A6 project. Perhaps he would be the one to ask. Smile

DB:
Actually, we just got tired of people complaining that the QS synths had no resonant filters, so we decided to make something that did. Very Happy Cool

Making Andromeda was really the culmination of a dream for a bunch of us who had grown up with the older analog synths. We had spent years working on sample based stuff, and Erik and Rob Rampley got Alesis founder (and major engineer geek) Keith Barr drunk one night and talked him into letting us make an old school American power synth. Keith actually designed Andromeda's ASICs himself, if memory serves.

One of the back stories was that we were fought tooth and nail by Alesis' sales and marketing VP at the time, who thought we were out of our minds. He once told me we'd be lucky to sell 50 total units. Guess he may have been wrong. Shocked Idea

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer if I can remember. That was a while ago...

StepLogik wrote:
I'm shocked that the marketing group fought you

DB:
It wasn't the marketing group. I was the marketing manager of the synth division, and I was certainly behind it. It was the VP.

,
Quote:
seems like they would want to distinguish Alesis from the "workstation hell" of that era.

DB:
Not just workstations - it was VA synths, too. We figured making a Real Actual Analog synth would catch some people's attention (as Bitexion correctly surmised).

Plus, we were tired of hearing that we weren't a real synth company despite the fact that our ROMplers (especially the QS8) were outselling just about everything else at the time...but there were folks who kept telling us that ROMplers aren't real synths...so we made a real synth. Idea

That seemed to do the trick... Laughing

cbjlietuva wrote:
so maybe i can get my question amswered here:

does the Andromeda have Polyphonic Aftertouch?

DB:
The short answer would be no.

theglyph wrote:
Dave, the one major question I have had and the one thing which has kept me from pulling the trigger on an A6 purchase is what will the status of the A6's ASICs be in the future? CEMs and SSMs were used in several synths from many manufacturers so those chips were manufactured to some degree in surplus as we see today (although they ain't cheap Crying or Very sad). Did Alesis make sure that the IC manufacturer made enough chips to fulfill any future failures or is the well not so deep?

DB:
Alesis is the chip manufacturer...I mean, they don't own the foundry where the chips are physically made, but they do everything else. Consequently, there's no way we can know how many of them Alesis has made/wants to make...

...unless they want to tell us, of course... Wink

Soundwave wrote:
Few questions;

Is the A6 still in production and will it remain so for the foreseeable future?

Will the support continue for the machine i.e. OS updates/fixes?

Are the first, more expensive Alesis A6’s different in any way than the later Numark ones that are apparently now made in the far east as some claim the earlier Alesis ones sound better?

There are rumours that some of the people behind the A6 were also involved in the Xpander/Matrix12 is this true?

Will there ever be an analogue successor or derivative or the A6 as the VA market has kinda reached a standstill now?

DB:
I can only answer two of those questions becuase I haven't worked for Alesis for about seven years, so I have no idea what their current plans are.

Marcus Ryle, who founded Line 6, was one of the guys responsible for the XpanderMatrix 12. He and his team had a lot to do with a bunch of Alesis products including the ADAT and the QS synths...but they had nothing to do with Andromeda.

There are a few "rev 2" Andromedas that were only used during beta. They are slightly different from the production models, but the OS in them is different enough that you can't transfer programs between, them, so they can't really be directly compared....nor, if you could, is there actually any point in doing so. Howver, all the production models are (AFAIK) exactly the same...."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it as of the time of this post. Check out the VSE thread for updates. I'll try to update this post with the historical bits so we don't lose them. Image via this post.

ROLAND JUNO-X-Demo-Journey Faithfully Synthwave version

video upload by Deep Synths

"Synthwave demo of Roland JUNO-X recreating "Faithfully" by Journey. All parts including drums and vocals from the JUNO-X. Scarface tribute. Produced by Deep Synths. www.deepsynths.com"

ROLAND JUNO-X Synthesizer-JUNO 106 sound engine-Demo Pt. 1

video upload by Deep Synths

"Demo of ROLAND JUNO-X using its JUNO 106 engine. Custom patches and scene created for demo. 80's synth pop/synthwave style.
Produced by Deep Synths. www.deepsynths.com"

SEQUENTIAL Prophet 5-Stranger Things-Kids (80's synthwave version)

video upload by Deep Synths

"'Stranger Things "Kids' reworked for the dance floor. SEQUENTIAL Prophet 5 synthesizer used for all parts except drums. Produced by Deep Synths."

Prophet 5 Synthesizer-1980's Funk Demo

video by Deep Synths

"The Sequential Prophet 5 synth was an iconic synth for many genres of music including Funk from the late 70's and 1980's. This demo is done in the spirit of that genre with only the Prophet and vintage drum samples. No effects were used. The track 'Prophet Funk' is produced by and for Deep Synths."

https://www.sequential.com/product/prophet-5-desktop-module/

SEQUENTIAL TRIGON-6 and OB-6 synthesizers-sound comparisons

video upload by Deep Synths

"I compare the TRIGON-6 and OB-6 synthesizers from SEQUENTIAL to see how similar they can sound. I create a patch on each and compare patches made for this demo. Demo by Deep Synths. www.deepsynths.com

00:00-Intro
00:45-Chapter 2-Oscillators
06:30-Chapter 3-patch 1
07:35-Chapter 4-patch 2
08:41-Chapter 5-patch 3
10:24-Chapter 6-patch 4
11:04-Chapter 7-patch 5
11:50-Chapter 8-patch 6
12:09-Chapter 9-patch 7
13:10-Chapter 10-wrap up"

Boys of Summer-Sequential Prophet 5 synth mix by Deep Synths.

video by Deep Synths

"The legendary Prophet 5 synthesizer is back and now available in a space saving desktop module. This video features sounds of the Prophet 5 and the Linn Drum samples. No effects are used on the Prophet 5 for demonstration purposes. The original "Boys of Summer" featured a Prophet 5 in the 1980's."

SEQUENTIAL OB-6-Stevie Nicks-Stand Back-synthesizer demo

video upload by Deep Synths

"OB-6 Synthesizer recreates Stevie Nick's "Stand Back" which was originally recorded with the Oberheim OB-Xa synth in 1983. All synth parts in video performed on the Sequential OB-6 by Deep Synths. A true 80's pop synth classic!"

SEQUENTIAL TRIGON-6-synthesizer-raw sounds without FX-demo part 2

video upload by Deep Synths

Part 1 here

"Demo Part 2 of the Trigon-6 synthesizer from Sequential focusing on its raw tone without its onboard effects being used. Many custom patches by Deep Synths used in demo.

00:00 Intro
00:17 Chapter 2
00:42 Chapter 3
00:57 Chapter 4
01:32 Chapter 5
02:06 Chapter 6
02:52 Chapter 7
03:15 Chapter 8
03:47 Chapter 9
04:25 Chapter 10
04:50 Chapter 11
05:14 Chapter 12
05:50 Chapter 13
06:25 Chapter 14
06:46 Chapter 15
07:08 Chapter 16
07:46 Chapter 17
08:11 Chapter 18
08:51 Chapter 19
09:33 Chapter 20
10:05 Chapter 21
10:48 Chapter 22
11:11 Chapter 23
11:34 Chapter 24
11:58 Chapter 25
12:28 Chapter 26
13:05 Chapter 27"