DIY Buchla Controller

via Important Records

"Modeled by the dude [Dave Wilson] who runs the New England Synthesizer Museum."

Update: Via Dave: "The controller in the pic is a stock Buchla Model 112 controller, not custom or DIY in any fashion. I don't know how many were made, but this was the standard controller for the model 100 Electric Music Box."

PAiA 2700 Series Schematics

"The following book contains ALL of the PAiA 2720 series schematics and design explanations except for the 2720-2A improved linearity VCO and the 2720-9 Glide/Retrofit for the
2720-8 keyboard. It also
has the Gnome schematics and all of PAiA's really early kits (Synthespin, Infinity Plus sustain, etc)

Electronic Music Circuit Guidebook by Brice Ward
TAB books #743 ISBN Hardcover 0-8306-5743-6 Paperback 0-8306-4743-0
Library of congress card # 75-20843

David Hillel Wilson
Curator,
New England Synthesizer Museum
DWilSynth@aol.com
_www.synthmuseum.com/nesm_ (http://www.synthmuseum.com/nesm)"

Restoring Patches From Tape

Good tip from David Hillel Wilson, curator of the New England Synthesizer Museum.

"There is an issue with downloading synth patch tapes from the Internet, and it goes like this: The Human ear can't hear absolute phase, so that an up sawtooth sounds exactly like a down sawtooth. However, the cassette input circuits on most synths CAN hear absolute phase. Many of the .WAV files are inverted, either by the sound card the poster used to digitize them, or the sound card you used to play them back. The answer here is crazy, but it works: After trying with no success for several hours to load up an OB-Xa from an Internet wave file, I tried this: I took two alligator clip leads and an extra patch cord, and used them to swap the ground and the hot on the EAR output jack on the cassette tape recorder. It loaded on the first try! You can also run the sound through any inverting mixer (such as on the ElectroComp 200). I have tried to send this info (and the Sequential Split Eight factory sounds as an .SYX) to the website that hosts these files, but my messages keep bouncing back."

Update via swissdoc in the comments: "Why not just inverting it in your soundeditor before saving from the soundcard to tape?"

SYNTH

Cool red Corvette with SYNTH license plate.

via Dave

BTW, if you know of other synth license plates, feel free to comment. Dave Wilson of the New England Synthesizer Museum has one with SYNTHE. You can see it in this post sitting on top of the ARP 2500. And then there's Mike Walters' POLYMOOG plates.

SOUNDMIT 2020 - LIVE STREAMING - DAY 1

SOUNDMIT

Check this post for updates throughout the day.

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An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

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Abandoned Synths

via Nicholas Keller on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge. Pics via http://imgur.com/a/JNNpm

"The story behind this is that a chap's parents evicted a tenant who then disappeared leaving this stuff behind. The lucky chap is a teacher who has kept this in his drama classroom for use as props not knowing its collectibility and value. Now he is trying to identify what he has and get it serviced or on to a good home that will fix up, preserve, and appreciate it..."

DIY modular on top, EML 101 & Poly-Box, Korg MiniKORG 2, Elka 490 String Synthesizer & Univox Echo Chamber EC-80A.

This made me wonder what ever happened to the gear at the New England Synth Museum when David Hillel Wilson passed away. I was fortunate enough to visit the collection once.  The site is still live: http://www.synthmuseum.com.

Update via Nicholas in The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge:

"From the lucky folks that found the stack:

"Hey guys, here's the end of this crazy story.

A friend set us up with another friend at Perfect Circuit Audio.
http://www.perfectcircuitaudio.com/

They collect, restore and resell vintage synths. He came over and we sawed open the crazy custom cabinet. It was secured with lots of bolts, braces, and wood glue, the original creator of this monster never intended to swap out or upgrade anything. The patch bay on top was all custom. However this kept the insides totally clean and nice. We agreed on a good price and he took all the units as-is. They are going to be restored and may end up in the showroom, where lots of folks can enjoy them, so that makes me happy!

Here's a few more pics of the disassembling:

http://imgur.com/a/ffQRN

Thanks to everyone's info and research, I feel we got a great price and it was cool to be in touch with a little bit of music history.

Cheers!""

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Alphasphere

YouTube Uploaded by 90secondstv on Mar 9, 2012

Don't miss the performance in the TEDxBRISTOL video below. Musikmesse videos below as well.

"The AlphaSphere is a new musical instrument and controller, which you can use with your computer or synthesizer.

It enjoys a unique spherical design, optimising the experience of composing, producing and performing music.

Infinitely programmable, a range of scales, sounds and sequences can be mapped around the AlphaSphere.

http://alphasphere.com/

Video produced by 90 Seconds.
Have you got your 90 Seconds?
http://90seconds.tv/"

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EMS THE PUTNEY VCS3 SN 382

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

via this auction - learn how to sell on eBay here

"UP FOR AUCTION IS THE TRULY HISTORIC EMS (Electronic Music Studios) VCS3 MODULAR SYNTHESIZER MADE IN ENGLAND CIRCA 1972/1973. THIS HAS BEEN WELL CARED FOR BY MAJOR LABEL RECORDING STUDIO FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THIS IS A RARE MUSEUM CALIBER PIECE - IT WAS THE FIRST AFFORDABLE MODULAR SYNTH. THIS WAS ONE OF TWO OF THESE UNITS THAT WAS ORIGINALLY PURCHASED NEW BY OBERLIN COLLEGE DIRECTLY FROM EMS. PURCHASED BY PRODUCER FROM THE COLLEGE IN 1993. SCARCE TO SAY THE LEAST.

TOTALLY ORIGINAL AND UNRESTORED - MECHANICALLY SOUND..."

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