Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone, or rather, Happy New Decade!

I want to thank everyone who visits the site, supporting members, and the sponsors you see above and to the right. You all make this site possible. So, thank you! I am humbled and grateful every day. The site will be going 15 years strong in 2020. Since then there has only been one single day w/o a post when I had no idea there would be something to post every single day. Every single post has gone up by hand, so the support is more than appreciated.

In 2019 we had a total of 13,069 posts. That comes out to an average of 35.81 posts a day, all by hand. We had 819 products new to the site, including 112 new makers, and 64 older items never featured before. You can find a breakdown of some categories here.

In 2019 we lost the following people: Alan R. Pearlman, Mark Hollis, Mike McGrath of Muff Wiggler, Philippe Zdar of Cassius, John Blacet, Carl Matthews, and Gershon Kingsley. I keep hoping for a year we do not lose anyone. These are always the hardest posts to put up for so many reasons. They never feel good enough.

---

That said, synth history continues to be made and I hope to be able to continue to capture it here on MATRIXSYNTH. The good and the bad...

I'm going to keep this post relatively short this year. I'm guessing most of you reading it are daily visitors and are more than familiar with what has, and continues to go up throughout the year. Know as long as posts go up, I am always here and I will always be a daily constant for you as long as I am able. I hope the site brings some pleasure in your daily routine. Consider the site family, but one that hopefully doesn't bother you too much. :) But don't worry, aside from the occasional post like this one, I do my best to stay out of posts, and let the content speak for itself.

Thank you for all the support! You have no idea how much it truly means. I do exist, and you all help keep me and the site moving forward.

Happy New Year everyone! Happy New Decade! :)

cheers,
matrix

“Muffwiggler” Mike McGrath - Waveshaper TV Ep.12 - IDOW archive series

Published on Apr 24, 2019 Waveshaper Media

"We go back to the I Dream Of Wires archives for our next episode of Waveshaper TV - a 2011 interview with "Muffwiggler" Mike McGrath, founder of the quintessential modular synthesizer forum/community Muff Wiggler, who passed away on April 23 2019. We put this video together on short notice as a tribute to Mike, the day after his passing. R.I.P. (1976-2019)."

Mike with Don Buchla at NAMM from Instagram.


Also see:
cdm
TRASH_AUDIO
Failed Muso
Synthtopia

RIP Mike McGrath of Muff Wiggler

It's come to my attention that Mike McGrath, founder of the Muff Wiggler forum, has passed away. I am in complete shock. I don't know what to say, what to post. As most of you know, Mike created the de facto modular synth forum on the internet, Muff Wiggler, and he did it in a way that put members first. He created a platform for makers and users of synths to come together and engage directly with each other.

Some personal history:  Mike reached out to me years ago, before starting the Muff Wiggler forum. He actually had a couple of blogs including Muff Wiggler before the forum. That image to the left is the first image of his I posted here back on Dec 4, 2006 (he also had a classic blue Wiard modular system that was the envy of many synth enthusiasts). The last post from Mike went up back on July 30, 2018 when he gave away a Buchla Music Easel to save a life.

I met Mike at NAMM, and at the opening of the Muff Wiggler store in Portland back in 2014. We chatted off and on over email over the years and he was always supportive. He was real and down to earth. I was looking forward to reminiscing with him on the "old days" and what it was like for him to run the best modular (and synth) forum on the net. He once corrected me when I said he ran the best modular forum - he said the forum covered synths too! :)

I just can't believe he is gone. As the host of this site, I feel like I lost a fellow compatriot. Someone I had history with through the ups and downs. Running a site can be a challenge, and just knowing he was out there doing his thing helped. I am going to miss him and the lost experiences we would all have had with him around.

Mike McGrath of Muff Wiggler Giving Buchla Music Easel Away to Save Two Lives

via @muffwiggler

"Please help me save two lives. Time is running out. Please repost everywhere. Thank you."

And an update via Mike McGrath:

"Update: thank you everyone for your kind words, love and support. We now have a candidate in Toronto being assessed and a backup in Ottawa ready to go if the current candidate doesn’t meet the bill. Things are looking up. I cannot thank you enough. ❤️❤️❤️"

Reach out to Mike if you want to be on the list in case the two candidates do not work out for whatever reason. I'd be happy to relay to Mike if you are not on Twitter or Facebook.

Muff Wiggler Launches Online & Brick and Mortar Storefront

As most of you know Muff Wiggler is THE forum when it comes to modular synth gear and more. Mike McGrath of Muff's has teamed up with Cyrus Rex and launched both an online shop and a physical storefront in Portland, OR. The grand opening will be held at the TRASH_AUDIO Synth Meet at the store on May 24.  You can find their website at http://store.muffwiggler.com. You'll also find their banner here on MATRIXSYNTH on the right.


via Mike McGrath:

"I have partnered up with Cyrus Rex, and together we have created a company, Muffwiggler, LLC. We have invested a significant amount of cash and will be opening the MuffWiggler Store today.

Initially a webstore, we will be opening a physical storefront as well later this month manned by Steve ‘ignatius’ Westbrook, Ned Wahl, and Rico Loverde. We have a building in Portland, Oregon (that's right Cali and other out-of-state Americans, HUGE TAX ADVANTAGES!), fulltime staff to check, test, carefully package and quickly ship your order, and an absolutely astounding inventory of some of the very best gear ready to ship immediately.

We are very proud and flattered to have incredible support from our launch partners, and are currently stocking gear and adding inventory this week from the following:

CLICK FOR MORE »

MODULO - A New Documentary on Modular Synthesis

MODULO from Travis Boisvenue on Vimeo.

"A musical documentary and tribute to Hugh Le Caine.
The story of early electronic instruments, and the nearly forgotten Canadian music pioneer who created the first synthesizers. As told through interviews with three modern-day modular synth musicians.

Shot and edited by me. Produced by Ryan Gibson. Funded entirely out of our pockets, so consider the Tip Jar button!

Listen to the CBC radio version produced by Ryan Gibson:
https://soundcloud.com/user5746720/modulo-ottawas-synth-secret

Featuring:
Arturo Brisindi (AKA Hard Science)
Edmund Eagan
Mike McGrath (AKA Muff Wiggler)

Thanks to the CBC, Soshal, The Library and Archives Canada, The Science and Technology Museum, Artengine, CHUO, Weird Canada.

Thanks, Mere."

Muff's Wiard Modular

via Mike McGrath of http://www.muffwiggler.com on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

"My Wiard rules the universe and all the other places too."

Blacet with two Cynthia Zeroscillators on top and an Evenfall Mini Modular on top of that.

Muffwiggler 2/22/2010 STG Preparations

YouTube via donaldjasoncrunk

"a short film documenting our preparations for the February Muffwiggler gathering put on by Xart studios & trash_audio. song is "Chillicothe thug lyfe" - beats & chorus by STG, hot flows by me. you can see us making schwag & giveaway stuff, visual aids, world's second shittiest eurorack cabinet and the STG logo banners that didn't quite turn out how i wanted them to."
See this post for some video of the events.
Don't miss On The Jazz with the STG Team
http://www.suitandtieguy.com/
http://stgsoundlabs.com/
http://muffwiggler.com/forum/

Some fun trivia: For those wondering what Muff Wiggler is, Muff's Forum has become THE forum for boutique modular gear. Users and manufacturers are active on the forum and many manufactures have their own sub-forums. It is run by Mike McGrath and originally started as a blog back on November 23rd of 2006. The first time I announced Muff Wiggler was back on December 4th, 2006 in this post. Prior to that I put up two posts featuring Mike, one on July 10th, 2006 and one on July 18th, 2006. Note in the modular world there are boutique manufacturers that sell pre-assembled modules, some that sell both modules and kits, and then those that design modules and provide schematics and instructions for the DIY crowd. I think the crown for the longest/oldest running company would be PAiA, who just started selling module kits again. Note Muff's forum has a DIY section, however the bulk of DIY seems to be on the electro-music.com forums along with probably the biggest Clavia Nord Modular forum.

Muff Wiggler

via Muff Wiggler, Mike McGrath's blog which he promises will feature "95% electronic music (software plugins, synth hardware, modular stuff in particular....)" Currently you will find posts on an AH Metasonix ad, a Blacet/Wiard Miniwave review and this Metasonix Teaser. BTW, you might remember Mike McGrath from these two posts: 1,2. I'm subbed. : )