Pro Synth Network LIVE! - Episode 208 - 4th Anniversary Episode - SPECIAL GUESTS!

video upload by

SynthAddict's MATRIXSYNTH cap from 19:05 on gets the post. :)

"Music Technology Discussion with Kent Spong, Andrew Longhurst & Rob Puricelli!

It's our birthday!! 4 years ago, we decided to start doing a livestream and here we are, 4 years and 208 consecutive episodes in! Join us as we celebrate 4 years of mayhem, nonchalance, sarcasm, wit, vim and vigour and the occasional discussion about synths and music tech!"

MATRIXSYNTH Cap at Alessandro Cortini and Richard Devine Public Works SF Performance

Nice pic in via Synth Addict :)

"Hell of a show on Sat.night in SF, and the Matrixsynth custom cap was representing. I saw several Matrixsynth official t-shirts there as well.

We are legion... :-)

Cortini had a great Buchla, etc. set synced with some very artistic videos.

Devine was sheer madness, as expected."

And for those of you more interested in the performance (sheesh!), Synth Addict took some video but has yet to review and upload them. "Videos will be posted soon if they actually turned out OK."

Note this is a custom hat and I do like it! You can find a smaller font military style hat here, original baseball cap here, and finally, a trucker hat here. More MATRIXSYNTH bling here.

A Note to Patreon Supporters of the Site

It looks like Patreon is changing their processing fees and that might affect you. See this post on Engadget for some details. For what it's worth I do think Patreon is a great thing. It just might not be the best for smaller donations.

That said, unless you want to be listed on Patreon, I'd recommend supporting the site directly via the Paypal links below. The site will get more, it costs you less, and you get the same site benefits, including being listed with your links on the supporting member page. If you do switch, let me know via matrixsynth@gmail.com so I know where to keep your spot on the list. Also, you can cancel and/or change your subscription amount anytime. Thank you to all my supporters! You make a huge difference in keeping this site running. Knowing that people appreciate and support the site makes ALL the difference in the world. It is humbling and appreciated more than you know.

You can find the supporting membership page with benefits here. The following are the direct PayPal links for those that just want to sign up:

$1 a month (member benefits)
$2 a month (member benefits)
$3 a month (member benefits)
$5 a month (member benefits + a MATRIXSYNTH T-shirt, cards & magnet in addition)
$10 a month (member benefits + the MATRIXSYNTH T-Shirt, cards & magnet, & an exclusive MATRIXSYNTH baseball cap!)

If you sign up, please be sure to let me know how you'd like to be listed on the member page. Thank you!

Jean-Michel Jarre Live Synths and a MATRIXSYNTH Baseball Cap

This one in via Synth Addict:

"A great Jarre show a couple of weeks ago in Berkeley, with lots of analog goodness and lasers.

ARP 2500 and many more synths were spotted.

In the souvenir area, the most coveted item wasn't for sale. :-)"

Nice MATRIXSYNTH hat! That would be Synth Addict's, not JMJ of course. He's never asked me for one. :) Cool to know it was at the show! Thank you Synth Addict!

Quick Note: the baseball cap was actually made by Synth Addict. The ones for $10 supporters of the site are a different design as you can see here. Just want to be sure anyone that does sign up for the cap, knows which one they are getting.

New Knobs For Sequential Circuits Prophet Line of Synths

via new MATRIXSYNTH Member, techsmechs. Click here for details on how to order them.

"I bought a Prophet-5 where the black caps were painted black… it looked absolutely awful. Searching the web for replacement knobs (like I’m sure many of you Prophet owners have) only turned up extremely expensive old stuff, which usually was “out of stock” anyway. I did get hold of some original replacement knobs, but these were pretty scratchy and worn too.

I decided to fix this! I had a company re-manufacture the aluminum cap to the exact original dimensions. (I also looked into making the plastic knob part, but then I realized most people already have these and they usually look ok).

The old caps are easy to replace, they basically pop off with the help of a knife blade. There is a little dot of glue in there that doesn’t provide much resistance:)

Now, only the more high end SCI gear (Prophet-5, Prophet-10, T8 etc) had the fancy knobs with aluminum caps. The more low end stuff (Pro-One, Prophet-600 etc) only had the plastic part of the knob, with a simple painted white indicator line. The best part is that now you can pimp these models too! As far as I know, ALL vintage (80s) Sequential Circuits gear used the same plastic knobs, with this cap being the only difference."

1st Shot of the MATRIXSYNTH Baseball Cap In the Wild

You might remember the pic of the MATRIXSYNTH trucker hat. Here's the first of the MATRIXSYNTH baseball cap donned by MATRIXSYNTH Member, Joel Braverman (SoundCloud, YouTube, Twitter), along with a MATRIXSYNTH T-Shirt of course.

via Joel:

"Red vs Blue guitar-synths & MatrixSynth swag (pic), Casio MG-510, Roland G-300 & gr-505, also in pic because I'm running out of room for it all, k5000s and Mininova.

Nothing recorded yet with these two wonderful instruments though, soon.

And of course, thanks for the awesome hat!"

Huge THANK YOU to Joel, and all MATRIXSYNTH Members, for supporting the site! It helps in more ways than you know!

Update: second pic added with the blue Roland G-505 guitar synth controller.

Elka Synthex original joystick cap

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

via this auction

A unique item from MATRIXSYNTH Member rosynth. Be sure to see their other listings. Remember, supporters of the site are free to send in eBay items related to synths.

Wall of SIMMONS Electronic Drum Brains on MATRIXSYNTH CLASSIFIEDS

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on Mar 28, 2015 Gerald Stevens

"My collection of SIMMONS electronic drums: the legendary SDS 8, the under-recognized SDS 400, and the Digital Clap Trap. Fantastic analog drum goodness. I'm selling 'the wall' over on Matrixsynth classifieds. I just don't [use] them enough."

via MATRIXSYNTH CLASSIFIEDS

"I'm selling my "wall of SIMMONS" - fantastic analog drum machines. If you're looking at this, you're already familiar with what they are - knobby, bassy, awesome. Brains only (no drum-pads - but includes a midi interface). Priced less than equivalent set on e-bay. Comments on condition:

SDS 8 - missing one blue knob cap - light surface rust here and there, and a few scratches (visible in pictures). Functions / sounds fantastic. A beast!

SDS 400 - (personal favorite) - great shape. Missing two rubber "feet" - get them from digikey if you want (not hard to replace). This one is packed with CEM3394 goodness - more versatile than the SDS 8, and 100% analog too unlike other later models. The "second skin" (ring mod?) The chips alone are worth $200 - they're used in the Doepfer Dark Energy and other synths.

Digital Clap trap - Fantastic shape - fantastic sound. You really need this for your 80's double clap.

MIDI SDS - a simple 8 channel midi (CH6) interface. It can't trigger all 10 voices that I'm selling, but close enough. Nice thing about this unit is that a sustained note sends a sustained trigger to the SDS, allowing super-long analog notes to be played on the SDS 8. Just play staccato notes if you want drum hits to sound like drum hits and not the mothership's engines roaring.

These are used - and sold AS IS. Video shows that they're working well. Buyer pays actual shipping. US only - they weigh a bit. I'll keep shipping as low as possible, while packing very well."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Blue Lantern Asteroid Mini Synthesizer 20 HP Eurorack Module

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

"The sale includes, M3 panel screws, and the ribbon cable to power up the module.

Free shipping to celebrate release on this product.

[Audio demos here]

Asteroid Mini Synthesizer
------------------------------
Format: Euro Doepfer compatible, 3U height (5.05")
Power Current Consumption: +108mA, -83mA

Depth: less then 45mm

Circuits involved: VCO, VCA, Envelope Generator, Sub Harmonic Generator, Noise Generator, and trigger striking circuit.

VCO
-------------------------------------------------------------
-VCO type: Triangle core, transistor discrete design.
-VCO waves: Triangle, Sine, Square, Sub Harmonic pulse.
-Noise Generator flavors: White and High Pass White Noise.
-VCO modulation sources: (2) Direct input CV's labeled 'PCV',

(1) Hi spectrum Linear FM input, (1) Variable sync input, (1)

Attenuated CV labeled 'Mod CV'.
-Internal hard wired modulation: Bi-polar Decay source, and 'Pop CV' trigger spike. The Pop gives a small punch to the sound.

Envelope Generator
--------------------
Timings: 1uf Capacitor charge, 9.7uf cap, or middle position is 0.47uf cap timing. These effect the snappy feel of the decay. Middle position of the switch is best for drum and short percussive sounds.

-Trigger Striking System: The internal trigger conditioning circuit allows from 2.5v to 10v input for successful triggering of the envelope generator. The internal trigger voltage is about 12v. This allows for big drum sounds, and strike effect. There is a 'Thru' jack to pass the input signal to another Asteroid Synth for daisy chaining.

Mixer
--------------------
There is a summing mixer with direct output (pre vca and pre booster), this makes the module act like a normal vco for you to patch to a filter, etc. You also have a mixer input jack so that you can mix another vco or two Asteroid Mini Synths together.

VCA and Analog Delay
-----------------------
The vca can be patched directly into, bypassing the internal summing mixer. This is great for send and return. You would patch from the Asteroid Mini synth's 'Sum' to a filter for example, then patch back into 'Ext VCA' to return the processed sound. The booster knob will boost signals also

patched into the Ext VCA jack.
-The Delay has modulation for: Repeat, Time, and level.
-The VCA is a high quatity cool audio v2164 based vca with its own attenuated 'MODV' cv input.

Final Output
-------------------------
You get a Dry post vca synth level output, and a 'PERC'

output. The difference is the 'Perc' output can have the

delay fx mixed in.
There is a line Level 1/4" output jack.
All outputs can be used simultaneous.

***Some odd ball notes about the module
----------------------------------------
In order to use the Square wave as a sound source you have to patch from the jack above the toggle switch and select the Sqaure wave, and patch that into the Mixer input 'Mix'. One interesting patch is to patch the square wave into a CV input to create a Saw wave. I did this because I wanted to give you the option. If you wanted only the square wave sound source after you did the mix in patch, you can turn off the triangle or sine wave as that has no level knob. You can also use this method to make noise bursts with no vco waves mixed in. The noise generator does not have to be patched like the square wave, it is internally routed to the mixer. Just use the Noise Level knob to adjust the noise level. On the Direct Noise ouput, the level knob does not change anything, it is a direct out."

Mercurius FM - Mixmas 2013

via Borigard Mercurius on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

"Here's my MIXMAS 2013! Happy Holidays to all the Synth Lovers!"

"Welcome to Mercurius FM Mixmas 2013! First of all, I wanted to thank you all for a great year and wish you a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! I created this Merry Mixmas to give you some fun bumpin' tunes to enjoy. I am also introducing 2 new artists in this mix, both of which will be on my (rebooted) label, Broken Synth Recordings. First is Mother, a techno and house dj and producer out of South Auckland, New Zealand. The next artist, is Wizard Death Squad, which is a new artist who produces "nu-disco" with an emphasis on the disco. More info to be announced on my label soon, which will not only sell music in popular digital stores, but also distribute music in new and exciting ways.

Le Knight Club - Santa Claus
Miami Horror - Holidays
Panama - Always (Wave Racer Remix)
Disclosure - Voices feat. Sasha Keable
Le Knight Club - Holiday On Ice
Maelstrom & Louisahhh!!! - Make It Happen (Playgroup cover)
Fukkk Offf - Boston Dynamics
Mother - Triumph and Torment (Mercurius FM Remix V1)
Kanye West - Send It Up (Craig Williams Remix)
Brodinski - Let The Beat control your Body (Maelstrom & Louisahhh!!! Remix)
Seymour Bits - Christmas At The Booty Bar
Wizard Death Squad - Ice Cap Zone (Sonic 3 Cover) Demo
Queen - Thank God It's Christmas

Follow Broken Synth...
Twitter.com/BrokenSynth
@BrokenSynth
Facebook.com/BrokenSynth
BrokenSynth.com

Follow Mercurius FM…
Twitter.com/MercuriusFM
@MercuriusFM
Facebook.com/MercuriusFM
MercuriusFM.com

DJ Booking: booking@brokensynth.com

Mother & Wizard Death Squad news will be posted in January.

Please SHARE if you like what you hear!"

How to Make Your DSI Mopho Sound "Better"

via Tony of Oakley Sound Systems on Muff's (via Daniel Nikolaj Sand on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge):

"I've got a Mopho keyboard and it's a great little thing. But one thing puzzles me; when listening to any patch using a pulse wave, I notice the overall sound somewhat dirty sounding. It's not very nice really.

You can hear what mine sounds like here:

http://www.oakleysound.com/Mopho&Pulse.wav

I popped the hood and found that it is caused by the internal CVs to the voice chip that control the pulse wdith having some sort of randomised voltage added to them.

However, it is not only the pulse width control voltages that have this unwanted randomisation. All of the CVs do, but it is most noticeable on the pulse widths. What got me onto the right track was the fact that all the CVs had worse noise when they were set to high values. This points the finger towards a noisy reference voltage to the system's DAC.

The DAC used on the Mopho Keyboard appears to use a 5V reference derived from the +12V supply. Now, the 12V supply gets tainted by noise from the other parts of the electronics of the Mopho - but in particular from the -5V charge pump power supply which generates horrible 80kHz perturbations.

However, the real problem is that the Mopho creates the 5V reference by simply dividing the +12V rail with a pair of resistors (R67 and R71). This divided down signal, complete with a portion of the noise from the +12V rail, gets sent to a voltage follower (U18b) and then sent to the DAC. Oh dear... because this noise now ends up on the CVs. The higher the CV the more noise gets through.

Solution: Filter the +5V reference voltage before it goes to the voltage follower. I did it with a 10uF tantalum cap soldered directly across R71. The reference voltage is now nice and quiet. The Mopho behaves better, not only with respect to the pulse wave, but also seems smoother in general tone too.

The Mopho Keyboard is primarily built from surface mount components using lead free solder. This makes it slightly more awkward to work on than older through hole designs. However, it is quite possible to do a nice job if you take care.

You'll need one 10uF, 16V tantalum capacitor. You can use a decent quality electrolytic if you wish, and in that case, a 10uF, 25V will suffice.

Solder the cap across the resistor R71. With the keyboard to the front of the unit, the positive terminal of the cap should be facing left. That is the negative end should go to the ground plane which is attached to the end of R71 that is nearest to the number 1 of its name.

Don't pull too hard on the cap once it is soldered in place because you might pull off the solder pads of R71.

For the Mopho Desktop:

This seems to be built in much the same way with the DAC reference being taken off the +12V line. I am guessing it too will have the same unwanted noise on the DAC reference. However, the board is different in several other respects and the parts numbering is different.

Now I haven't tried this but from online photographs I can assume that you will need to solder the 10uF cap across R52. This is situated, again above the DAC, near U12. The negative pin of the cap should be soldered towards the front of the unit, ie. the positive pin will be mounted nearest the R52 legending."

MATRIXSYNTH Baseball Cap!

This one in via KingVidiot:

"From Siggraph, the show that debuted the Tenori-on prototype... it's not all for graphics and movies, kids.

Paying tribute along with some synthy tom foolery amidst the colorful water fountain."

Note these are not available. At least I don't think so. :) This is a one off from KingVidiot.  It's the first time I'm seeing it myself.

Electro-Harmonix HOG Octave Generator Synthesizer Guitar Effect

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated. via this auction
I was going to pop this one up on MATRIXSYNTH-BB, but figured it was an interesting reminder of what else is out there in the synth world. Electro Harmonix pedals tend to cross over to the synth realm not only with their dedicated synth pedals like the HOG, but others as well. See the EHX label at the bottom of this post and scroll through posts for more.

"Generate everything from extreme sub bass to powerful multi-octave chords with this harmonic octave generator!

Blast off to a whole new universe of sounds with the Electro-Harmonix HOG, a polyphonic guitar synthesizer with NO special pickup required. It gives you complete control of up to 10 interval pitches including fifth and third intervals, glistening filter sweeps, and insane pitch bends. Dedicated filtering and envelope control, with numerous setup options, make the HOG a must-have performance instrument.

The HOG can simultaneously generate multiple octaves and harmonics from your input signal. Whether you play single notes, arpeggios or full chords, the HOG will track every note you play. In addition, the HOG has seven expression modes that enable you to modify your sounds using the included expression pedal, a MIDI controller, or the expression button on the HOG itself. There is also an amplitude envelope and a 2nd order low-pass filter with resonance. The optional EH Foot Controller (I am listing separately) allows you to store and load six presets.

You have control over the HOG's basic audio circuitry with an input gain slider (with clip LED), a dry output slider, and a bypass switch. Audio I/O includes 1/4" Hi-Z input, 1/4" output, and a buffered direct output jack. The voice controls let you access the polyphonic synthesizer section. There are 10 voice sliders on the HOG, each with a white cap with a black line that controls the output volume for its voice. The ten sliders let you generate notes two octaves down, one octave down, the incoming signal, a fifth up, one octave up, an octave up plus a fifth, two octaves up, two octaves up plus a third, three octaves up, and four octaves up. The selectable envelope section controls the amplitude attack or decay of the voices, with separate sliders for the lower five voices and upper five voices.

The Spectral Gate button activates circuitry that emphasizes the loudest frequency or harmonic and reduces the volumes of all other present frequencies and harmonics. The filter frequency slider controls the cutoff or peak frequency of the low pass filter, while the filter resonance slider controls the Q or peak of the filter.

The HOG's seven different expression modes are selected consecutively by the expression mode switch: bend one octave, bend one step, volume, freeze plus gliss, freeze plus volume, wah-wah, and a filter. There is also an expression reverse mode and you can control the expression modes externally with an expression pedal or modulate any of the expression modes using MIDI pitch bend.
Features

Polyphonic guitar synthesizer
No special pickup required
Includes expression pedal
Tracks single notes, arpeggios, or chords
10 interval pitch voices controlled by sliders
Dedicated filtering and envelope control
7 expression modes controllable by expression pedal or MIDI
Spectral gate frequency emphasis
Input gain slider
Dry output slider
Bypass switch
1/4" Hi-Z input
1/4" output
Buffered direct output jack
MIDI input"

Myagi - Making of Ape and Essence - Home Made Talk Box Demo

YouTube Uploaded by myagi303 on Mar 30, 2012

"Myagi - The Making Of Ape And Essence - Home Made Talk Box P2 2 - Talkbox Test

How to build a talkbox for about 50 bucks - as used in the track "Viper" taken from the Myagi album "Ape and Essence." Tested using Roland SH-7 and Korg Monotron Duo.

Parts list:
Plumbing Cap
Hose Nozzle
Vinyl Tubing
Compression Driver

Ape and Essence is available as a remixable edition for the iOS through Soundtrends - http://www.soundtrends.com

CD Available at
http://www.myagimusic.com
http://www.facebook.com/myagimusic"

Myagi - Making of Ape and Essence - Home Made Talk Box

Uploaded by myagi303 on Mar 27, 2012

"Myagi - The Making Of Ape And Essence - Home Made Talk Box

How to build a talkbox for about 50 bucks - as used in the track "Viper" taken from the Myagi album "Ape and Essence."

Parts list:
Plumbing Cap
Hose Nozzle
Vinyl Tubing
Compression Driver"

via Myagi on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

buchlaBones

YouTube via matrixsynth

via vgermuse:
"Put on your silly cap! I created this simple little wacky self-propelling 200e patch today and dubbed it into the accompanying video from youtube -- pretty silly!
enjoy!

best,
vgermuse"

the original youtube video:
trombone drama

YouTube via wmtcompany

image via vgermuse