FOLKTEK Impossible Box Panels

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via this auction

Panels made for the impossible box created by Arius Blaze. They were never added to the final synth, and contain no electronics. Essentially panel art unless you use it for your own DIY projects.

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FOLKTEK Euphonos Field

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via this auction

You can find some demos here. The Folktek Euphonos made its first appearance back in 2013 here.

"An amazing hand made custom art synthesizer from Arius Blaze and is signed and only produced 12. And The videos up on youtube are from this unit back years ago when he posted them ( I waited so he could make them) This may be first produced.

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Folktek Impossible Box rare big modular synth art thing by Arius Blaze

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via this auction

Original offered by Folktek for $1 million dollars. It went up for auction in 2013 and reached $39,100 with 55 bids at the time of this post. You can find previous posts featuring the Folktek Impossible Box including some demos here.

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The Folktek Collection vol. 2 - instruments for Kontakt

Published on Oct 21, 2018 Sir Folktek

"Download Vol. 2 via folktek.com: http://folktek.com/digital/folktek-co...

Years after the release of the Folktek Collection, we've finally put our all into making a new, sizable collection of instruments designed for Kontakt. Recorded and designed by Big Pauper with Arius Blaze in the depths of the impossible box (the studio of Arius Blaze), this collection features new Folktek works as well as old. With Folktek's venture into the eurorack realm we were capable of exploring a new range of possibilities - Sending anything and everything through all the pathways we've had at our fingertips. Then we took our recordings and cut records in house or our record lathe, or recorded to tape to add layers of delicious, unique lo-fi character.

This collection goes in a new direction with a focus of creating deep, rich, layered atmospherics. A blend of High fidelity richness with layers of lofi crafted using dubplates and tape, all easily mixed and blended as you like within Kontakt. We've also added visual elements to the instruments, featuring custom the animations of BPMC.."

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):

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Folktek Euphonos Field

via Folktek

"The housing is made of oak and each panel is meticulously done in the style of the Impossible Box - labeled and framed is brass. The keys, lamps and switches for each panel are hand built and the provided cables are all cloth covered.

The Sound Field 2 features touch based synthesis, synth trigger section, thick reverberation, filteration, delay and looping and two sequencers. All patching can be done on board with included patch cables and all modules have 1/4" ins and outs to send to/from external gear. The sound patching can be arranged however the player likes. ie; synthesis > reverb >delay/loop >filter. Each panel has Control Voltage to be accepted from the sequencers or from any external CV covering the synth pitch, synth triggering, filter frequency, on/off of reverb or delay, delay time and loop capture. Loops can be captured in time with the sequencers (which can be synchronized to eachother optionally or synched to external clocks) and both the delay and reverb decay when turned off..."

Folktek on eBay

20 Hours to go for Folktek's Arius Blaze Kickstarter Campaign

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/164080815/permeation-a-film-by-arius-blaze

The Folktek Impossible Box is still up on eBay here. Currently at a whopping $39,100 with 55 bids. Getting beyond the Buchla range?

Folktek on eBay

New Pics of the Folktek Impossible Box

The Impossible Box is currently on eBay here.

"The funding from the sale of this instrument goes to the feature film being created by Arius Blaze. Please visit the current kickstarter to see an overview of the film concept and art works of Arius Blaze, also featuring the Impossible Box."

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FOLKTEK = Impossible Box = acoustic electronic analog modular synth art system

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via this auction

"****The funding from the sale of this instrument goes to the feature film being created by Arius Blaze. Please visit the current kickstarter; http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/164080815/permeation-a-film-by-arius-blaze to see an overview of the film concept and art works of Arius Blaze, also featuring the Impossible Box.****..."

Full details on the system at the auction listing and previously captured here.  This was initially offered at 1 million dollars.  You'll find videos and audios at the listing and captured in posts as they went up here.

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Folktek "Sound Field"

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via this auction
Folktek on eBay (RSS)

"Built in the style of the Impossible Box with custom lamps, keys and switches, all cloth covered cable patch cables, labeled and brass framed panels all built into the custom oak case with internal power supply. Designed to act as a standalone acoustic electronic bio-feedback workstation capable of entire lush compositions. All sections have tip connectors specific to the sound field, and/or each section features a standard 1/4" in and out to allow them to be used to process, sample, mangle or transform any external audio. The cloth covered cables included are also stackable to allow for a range of other possibilities. All CV control jacks are 3.5mm.

The central processing section is essentially a time machine - a piece designed to heavily alter captured loops in thousands of way by use of a magnetic patchbay with patchable keys. This section has 3 voltage clock and/or LFO voltage signals which can be used to synch the other sections via CV, or sent out to control external modular synthesis. Additionally, the 1/4" "tap out" can be sent to any equipment that recieves tap signals, or as a simple method to convert to a midi clock.

There are four acoustic elements - two garden panels, a stringed section reminiscent of the mobius harmonizer and a textured blank panel which can be used to capture micro sounds. Any of these acoustic sections can be sent into any of the other panels for processing/sampling, or they can be sent into the four channel mixer.

The mixer amplifies the signals and allows for volume control of each to be sent into any of the following;

the delay section provides delays from extremely tight to about 1.5 seconds with near endless repeats - like that ofthe micro garden. It also accepts control voltage from either the time machine section or any external CV to control on/off and time.

The wave reverb section provides lush waves like that of theLuminist Garden, but also switchable to provide analog delay like that of the illuminist Garden. It also features CV in to control on/off and has decay when switched off so there are no sudden stops in the wave. The time machine CV out will activate and deactivate the reverb in time if patched to the clocks.

The Filter section has mix, resonance and frequency control and CV in to control the frequency - also patchable from the time machine for synchronization.

The result is a piece that's capable of entire fields of sound and deep, rich and layered compositions.

Aside from the Impossible Box (Arius' own studio piece), this is the finest work by Mr Blaze to date.

Includes manual of operation and the cloth covered power cable runs to standard US style plug - outside the US will need a plug converter.

sounds will be added to the folktek site asap."

Update: some sound demos:

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Arius Blaze at Play Live With The Impossible Box 1 Million Dollar Synth

Arius Blaze (folktek) at play live with the Impossible Box (video by Big Pauper)

Published on Mar 8, 2013 Sir Folktek·61 videos

"Straight recording with Big Pauper at the video controls. To hear the complete track (9 minutes) go to Mr Blaze's soundcloud; https://soundcloud.com/arius-blaze/cr... [embed below]
More info on the impossible box here; http://folktek.com/instruments/electr..."



http://m.matrixsynth.com/2012/08/folktek-arts-one-million-dollar-synth.html

Folktek on eBay

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!!  I hope 2012 treated you well and I wish you the best in 2013!

As I do each year, I thought I'd reflect a little on the past year.  These posts are always difficult to write, and I always wing them, so bear with me.  It's impossible to justify a whole year's worth of synth coverage in a single post.  The following is just a small bit of what comes to mind when looking back.  You'll find a top ten list of posts with the most page views followed by my picks for the year further below.  Apologies if I miss anything, and of course, if you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment below.  I'm curious what you, the readers of the site, felt stood out in the world of synths this past year.

First, I want to begin this post with a HUGE THANK YOU!!!  If you are reading this it obviously means you have come to this site and some of you have been coming here for years! Thank you for sticking with me. This site is a journey I hope to continue for years to come. Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to showcase their synths, and thank you to those that share what they find! Thank you to those that link to the site and help spread the word on MATRIXSYNTH via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and your own websites! And of course, THANK YOU to all the sponsors on the right who believe in the site enough to support it!

A nod to previous New Years posts, pictured to the left is the MATRIXSYNTH world domination map. :)  I always think it's worth taking a look at who's watching the site.  Synths are global and you are looking at a map of the readers of MATRIXSYNTH.  Everything you see in green represents a visit from that country.  The darker the green, the higher the number of visits.  This is just for the year, but for the life of the site, we still haven't gotten a single hit from North Korea!   I don't know what they have against synths!  ;)   You'll find the top 10 visits by country further below.

This is the eighth New Year the site has gone through!  The focus for the site this year has been the same as previous years, and I plan to keep it that way.  This site is about showcasing specific synths, not just synths in general, and not just news and press releases.  The focus is on the individual synths that have existed throughout history, the technology behind them, and the lives they lead with their odd owners, myself included.  :)  Yes it is about the gear, their makers, and their players.  It has always been my opinion that synths in general have a tendency to be undervalued. Compared to say collectible guitars, they are often discarded and devalued in favor of next year's model, next year's technology.  It has always been my opinion that every synth has something of value to offer,  something specific and something unique that gives it its character. I built this site to showcase that.  This site is about the history of synths as their history unfolds - videos and images of synths being played and used, by both those that make them and those that play them.  Vintage synths being offered in the second hand market, being exchanged from one sonic explorer to the next. It really is a wondrous thing. Think of the magic synthesizers bring into your world. That is what this site is ultimately about.  Some posts may not seem to make sense now, but they will in time, because they will be a look back in time. A day in the life of a particular synthesizer.  I love analog and I love digital. I love all synths and this site celebrates that.

And now for a little reflection on the year. This year we had a total of 16678 posts including this one.  That comes out to roughly 45.69 posts a day.  Not a single day of the year went without a post.  So what dominated the synth year?  Mobile, modulars and a few dedicated hardware synths.

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One of One Modular Electro-Acoustic Masterwork by ARIUS BLAZE of FOLKTEK

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via this auction

Check out the price.

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Arius Blaze Folktek Impossible Box Demos & 1st Release on Folktek Records

Impossible Box Demos:



"Single take, unedited recording of playing the Impossible box (http://folktek.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-impossible-box-official-post.html), layered with a water field recording - cubensis + lost lake. sweet and cello-ish. The odd combination (the sounds of water meeting the sounds of something like a cello in a hall) make the mind reconcile the difference between two different spaces, creating one space that inevitably has form."



"dark, tense film sound from the impossible box (http://folktek.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-impossible-box-official-post.html) - processed field recording and drone"



"single take recording of the impossible box being played (http://folktek.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-impossible-box-official-post.html) = unedited and rather long."

Folktek on eBay

Two tracks recorded for the first release on Folktek Records:





"One of two tracks (the other being "Spatial Features") [below] recorded for the first release on Folktek Records - to be cut to dubplates. The 10" dubplate release is an exploration into proposed space. Both tracks are rather mellow and somewhat minimal spacial dub. Both are rather long, uncut, single take recordings of being at play with the Impossible box; http://folktek.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-impossible-box-official-post.html"

FOLKTEK ARTS One Million Dollar Synth The Impossible Box Update

via FOLKTEK ARTS where you'll find more pics. You might remember this one from this previous post. Be sure to see Folktek on eBay (RSS) for some other unique creations currently listed.

Details captured for the archives:

"It's been a long time coming and a busy summer but it's time to shed a little light on the impossible box.

I made this for myself in consideration of the fact that after making instruments and inventing oddities for ten or twelve years or whatever it's been, I was never really capable of having my own works for making music/playing with sound. So in January of last year I started compiling a list of works I've created that I've always wanted to be able to consistently work with - to get back into music with. Initially the list was a few things (a time machine, a garden, some drum synthesis and sequencing, etc) but in further consideration it occured to me that I'd be happier making multiples of those things, diving into new realms, expanding on sequencing and so on. Eventually the list was admittedly a bit out of control but rather than crossing off a few ideas, I said fuck it and went for it.

At first I was uncertain about exactly how it would all work together and I spent a solid month agonizing over all of it, drawing plans and even dreaming about the details so that when I woke I was able to write it all out. It was terrible, honestly. I was also not so confident in my woodworking skills and the box was a bit beyond me but I pieced away at it and it all worked out nicely.

The project took a year to "complete", though there are still a few things I'm working on before I can call it a done deal. It was more work than I had ever anticipated, it came out larger and more full of sound than I had considered and in the end I couldn't be happier.

details;
The folding box is oak with walnut splines - measuring about 4' wide with each inner panel (lower and upper) at 2' deep, essentially making a 4' square if it were all laid out.

Each module panel is done with player piano music paper and labeled on my Corona typewriter. This took a helluva lot of planning. The modules are also all lined with brass and I created almost all of the switches, keys, lamps and buttons.

the modules;

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Folktek Impossible Box to Cost 1 Million Dollars

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Remember the Folktek Impossible Box posted here? It looks like it's going to run a whopping one meeeeellyon dollars. Don't forget the little pinky. Maybe it will come with one.

"For those wondering...yes it is for sale. The price is 1 million US dollars. Funding goes toward the evolution of the work of Arius Blaze"

Folktek on eBay

Folktek Impossible Box preliminaria

via Folktek

Here are some preliminary photos of the masterwork by Arius Blaze, for Arius Blaze co-missioned after a year and then some of haggling over the details. It is entitled "Impossible Box". There are reasons for this, none of which will be presently disclosed.

What is it? What does it do? What does it sound like? Many many questions, none of which will be thoroughly answered in this preliminary post. geometric frequencies, resonant synthesis, general auditory deliciousness. Consider this tantalizing eye candy before the main course. Please by all means, click the photos and see them be bigger and go to folktek.com for updates."

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