Isla Instruments Caladan - Dual OPL3 card test..

video upload by Isla Instruments

"SPEAKER WARNING:
A VERY rough demo just messing with the onboard filters and synthesis of our OPL3 caladan card."

OPL3

Isla Instruments Teases new Caladan Synthesizer

via Isla Instruments

"From now on, I shall be known as...
Muad'Dib

Well, today is a milestone, everything is ready and has been sent off to fabrication to make the first hardware prototypes.

Caladan is (will be) an 8-part multi-timbral polyphonic analog / digital hybrid synthesizer.

We are carrying on the legacy of a fantastic, groundbreaking synthesizer called the 'Parva' by FutureSonus. Building on its DNA, we are putting our own twist on it to make it the perfect partner to the S2400.

Same form factor, same aesthetic (yes, same wood sides if you want)

It will bring polyphonic playback of multi-sampled instruments (SF2, SFZ, +) out of the box.
But the special sauce is the 8x expansion slots inside the case which will allow me to go completely fucking nuts with add-in voicecards.

OPL3, SID, SEM, SH-101, MiniMoog, Pro-1, etc etc... all these flavours can be realised on expansion cards and all accessed by a common UI.

Voicecards can of course be analog OR digital. The intention is to open this side of the synth up to allow 3rd party developers to create cards also.

I'm literally creating MY 'Dream Synth' and I want to take you along for the ride.

First hardware should be here in a few weeks!!

Here's a couple of renders of what the prototype will look like.

FUCKIN YES!!!!!"

Twisted Electrons BlastBeats SN BB10244

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

via this auction

"A really cool FM groovebox based on the YMF-262 chip (OPL3) used in the SoundBlaster soundcards of the 90s. 10 tracks (6 drums, 4 synth). Very unique."

You can find demos in previous posts here.

CLICK FOR MORE »

SUPERBOOTH 2022 - Twisted Electrons - Blast Beats

video upload by sonicstate

"Blast beats brings back the sound of the DOS era with this 10 voice groovebox powered by the OPL3 (YMF262) FM chip from the 8 bit game era.

Alex from Cre8audio and Twisted Electrons showed us how Blast Beats gives total control over this chip, so we can make the 6 drum tracks and 4 synth tracks sound warm and beautiful, or utterly dirty, all with that 8 bit vibe. and each of the 56 faders can be automated per step, with all patterns and kits saved to the SD card.

Blast Beats is available now price: 589 euro"

Additional posts here

OPLoid FM-Synthesizer — Recreating the sound of the MS-DOS era in Ableton Live (Teaser)

video uploads by Leise im Kran

Playlist:
OPLoid FM-Synthesizer — Recreating the sound of the MS-DOS era in Ableton Live (Teaser)
OPLoid FM-Synthesizer — Prototype Demonstration (OPL2, OPL3, YM3812, YMF262, AdLib)
Leise im Kran — Döbeln Nord | Waldorf Blofeld + OPLoid | early 1990s 3D visualisation

"░░░░░░░░░░𝙾░𝙿░𝙻░𝚘░𝚒░𝚍░░░░░░░░░░
▒▒▒𝙵▒𝙼▒-▒𝚂▒𝚢▒𝚗▒𝚝▒𝚑▒𝚎▒𝚜▒𝚒▒𝚣▒𝚎▒𝚛▒▒▒

◆◇◇◇◇

The OPLoid will go on sale on 31st March 2022 at:
https://leiseimkran.gumroad.com/

◇◆◇◇◇

The OPLoid is an instrument for Ableton Live.

It adopts the synthesis principles of the Yamaha YM3812 (OPL2) and YMF262 (OPL3) FM chips. These chips were widely used on IBM PC-based sound cards in the late 20th century (e.g., AdLib and Soundblaster) and defined the sound of the "MS-DOS era".

The OPLoid is not an accurate emulation of the OPL 2 or 3, but rather a synthesizer on its own. It closely mimics the OPL 2 and 3 in their principles of operation to stay true to the original chips' characteristic sound and to make it accessible in a modern music production environment. Nevertheless, some parameters have been slightly modified to allow for more flexibility in sound design.

While the OPLoid might be useful for all genres of electronic music, it is probably especially suitable for genres from the Vaporwave spectrum, Dungeon Synth and Chiptune.

◇◇◆◇◇

Features:
- close imitation of the 2-operator FM algorithm from the Yamaha OPL2 and OPL3 sound chips
- 8 waveforms
- monophonic and polyphonic mode
- up to 64 voices of polyphony (depending on CPU power)
- 4 LFOs (vibrato, tremolo, FM depth, panorama)
- pitchbend and modwheel support (up to 6 parameters independently mappable to modwheel)
- over 100 factory presets
- cloud patch database for sharing patches among users

◇◇◇◆◇

Demo track: Awareness Boys - Awareness Theme (arranged for OPLoid by Leise im Kran)

◇◇◇◇◆

More from Leise im Kran:
Streaming: https://bit.ly/3FDakpN
Physical release: https://monikereggplant.bandcamp.com/...

#Soundblaster #AdLib #OPL2 #OPL3 #YM3812 #YMF262 #FMsynthesis #OPLoid #Vaporwave #Maxforlive #Abletonlive #MaxMSP #msdos"

New Twisted Electrons BLASTBEATS

WALKTHROUGH video upload by Twisted Electrons

Twisted Electrons BlastBeats Sound Demo (no talking)
video upload by Limbic Bits

0:00 Electronica
0:48 True Electro Part I
1:50 Hang on
2:48 4am
3:52 True Electro Part II
4:45 Ambient & Bass
5:40 minimal
6:36 90s IDM
7:17 Space Night
8:20 Not a bonus sequence at all

Some effects have been used here and there to add some delay and reverb (Valhalla DSP Vintage Verb / Delay)"

via Twisted Electrons

"At the heart of BlastBeats is a vintage FM chip called YMF-262 also known as the OPL3 chip & previously found in computer sound cards of the early 90s.

These chips were notoriously hard to program and were rarely used to their full potential. However, they can produce surprisingly rich beautiful and utterly dirty sounds with a bit of exploring...

By putting so many parameters within easy reach BlastBeasts makes it fun and easy to master the signature sound of the DOS era!

RYTHM & SYNTH
BlastBeats is a 10 voice groove box offering 6 drum voices and 4 synth instruments.

The many faders offer full control over the parameters of the instruments and can be automated and modulated per step ​

Beats and melodies are a pleasure to program thanks to the high quality illuminated buttons"

CLICK FOR MORE »

GM Showdown

analoq

"I always click on synth showdowns when I see them, especially General MIDI ones, so I thought I'd make my own.

00:22 - Yamaha OPL3
01:42 - Roland MT-32
03:19 - Roland SC-55 mkII
04:54 - Yamaha QY-100
06:29 - Roland XV-2020
08:04 - Korg X-50"

Theme Ospital soundtrack - Remix with Roland Jupiter 6

Published on Mar 22, 2020 mima14031985

"This is a different video compared to the others I usually do. I did a complete remix of the Theme Ospital's game soundtrack, using custom sounds that I made with my Roland Jupiter 6. For the drum tracks I used the GM drumset of my Roland RD700GX digital piano. My reference on how these tunes sound is them being played by a Yamaha OPL3 FM synthesizer, driven with the standard Windows driver's GM set, this reflects a bit on how some sounds are made. The electric piano and some basses are examples of that. For other sounds I preferred a more classic analog vibe, brasses and strings/pads are typical of the analog world.

To record the soundtrack I used the game's original MIDI files. I imported them into Reaper and did one track a time by driving the keyboards via MIDI and recording back the audio coming from them. To make the final result easy on the ear I added a bit of reverb to the master mix. You'll notice that some parts are in stereo (mainly the electric piano lines and background pads/strings), for these I recorded the same MIDI track two times, with the Jupiter's master tune a little different each time, and hard panned each of the two parts to left and right. This allows to achieve a cool "wide stereo spread" effect.

For those who own a Jupiter 6, here's the patch dump: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q86wd8d7m4a...

To make the video I chose to do a multitrack oscilloscope show, and I made it using the SIDWiz2 program, made by Rolf R. Bakke and RushJet1. This is a neat little piece of computer jargon! Check their Youtube channels, they're full of those awesome multitrack oscilloscope shows.

Here's the playlist:

00:09 - 1) Steady Pulse
03:34 - 2) 6's and 7's
07:02 - 3) Night Shift
10:10 - 4) Atlantis
13:28 - 5) Fortune
15:49 - 6) Doctor Frog
17:21 - 7) Candyfloss
18:47 - 8) On The Mend

As always, I hope you like it. Please feel free to comment :-)"

FIVE MINUTES With Akemie's Castle

Published on Oct 25, 2019 sonicstate

"Akemie's Castle is a 4-operator FM, Dual VCO module. It has a Yamaha YMF262 aka (OPL3) chip inside. One of the VCOs can be set to preset chords making it an interesting module for filling out a modular soundscape."

Sammich FM synthesizer with Yamaha YMF262 OPL3 sound chip

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

via this auction

You can find details and videos at the listing previously captured here.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Sammich FM synthesizer Un-assemble DIY kit Yamaha YMF262 OPL3 sound chip

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

via this auction

You can find some videos featuring the YMF262 in the archives.

"The Yamaha YMF262, also known as the OPL3 (OPL is an Acronym for FM Operator Type-L), is an Frequency modulation synthesis Sound chip released by Yamaha Corporation in 1988. It is an improved version of the Yamaha YM3812 (OPL2). It was used in a number IBM PC soundcards including Sound Blaster 16 and Pro AudioSpectrum (16bit). It adds the following features:

The YMF262 improved upon the feature-set of the YM3812, adding the following features:[1]

twice as many channels (18 instead of 9)
simple stereo (hard left, center or hard right)
4 channel sound output
4 new waveforms (alternating-sine, "camel"-sine, square and logarithmic sawtooth)
4 oscillator mode, pairing 2 channels together to create up to six 4 oscillator FM voices
reduced latency for host-register access (the OPL2 had much longer I/O access delays)
subtle differences in the sine-wave lookup table and envelope generator to YM3812 (e.g. the modulator waveform on YM3812 is delayed by one sample, whereas both carrier and modulator waveforms on OPL3 are properly synchronized)[2]
YMF262 also removed support for the little-used CSM mode, featured on YM3812 and YM3526.[2]

The YMF262's FM synthesis mode is configurable in different ways:[1]

Its basic mode provides 18 two-operator FM channels.

One setting, common to the OPL line, converts 3 of the FM channels into a 5-channel percussion set.

Another setting, introduced with this chip, causes 12 of the channels to be paired up into six four-operator channels. This trades in polyphony for more complex sound formation.

The two settings can be used separately or in conjunction, resulting in four total modes:

18 2-operator channels
15 2-operator channels + 5 drum channels (drum setting on)
6 2-operator channels + 6 4-operator channels (4-op setting on)
3 2-operator channels + 6 4-operator channels + 5 drum channels (both settings on)
Like its predecessor, the OPL3 outputs audio in digital-I/O form, requiring an external DAC chip like the YAC512."

Doom E1M1 on Digitone

Published on Mar 1, 2018 0F.digital

"Just got a Digitone! Another awesome synth/sequencer from Elektron.

I decided to set a challenge for myself, to find my way around the machine, and FM synthesis in general.. The challenge was to create a close approximation of the OPL3 sounds in Doom, mostly for that great "chuck" snare that I've loved since I was a kid.

One thing led to another, and I found myself programming the note data in as well.. so here it is, plus a long jam of me playing with various sound settings.

I really love this synth so far, it has a sound so much more lush than any other FM synth I've used."

OPL3 instruments on a diy synthesizer, YMF262 controlled by an Arduino

Published on Oct 9, 2017 DutchBigEd

"4 operand opl3 sounds played by an Arduino controlled YMF262"

DIY Modular Synthesizer by DutchBigEd

Published on May 30, 2017 DutchBigEd

Playlist:
Arduino controlled Midi interface for my modulair synthesizer
Arduino controlled Midi interface for my modulair synthesizer
Arduino controlled VCA, Sample & Hold, Random Module
Arduino controlled Opl3 YMF262 module for my diy synth
Trigger Module doing Euclidean Rhythms
Euclidean Trigger Sequencer using Arduino
Triple PT2399 Reverb
my synth so far... 19 aug 2016
PT2399, delay controlled by Arduino and AD5144
my synth so far
Its a start... Drumsequencer
Drumsequencer
Sequencer for homebrew synthesizer
Homebrew synthesizer using multiple arduino and dds
On the RUN, multiple arduino diy synthesizer
Sequencer Using Tempo Setting
Sequencer Audiomode
Sequencer Intern Clock
Sequencer Audiomode 2
clock devider / sequencer
weird sounds with PT2399 board
My first drone (?)
...

NERDSYNTH DEMO 2015

Published on Dec 3, 2015 firestARTer

Audio comes in at :35. Additional audio demos below. The NERDSYNTH was first posted here on MATRIXSYNTH back on March 16 of 2014. The engine then was based on the ATMegatron from Soulsby Synthesizers. There's no mention of it below, so I'm not sure if that has changed.

Prototype image to the left. Render below.

"The Nerdsynth is a hardware analogue and digital synthesizer, groovebox, sampler, tracker, visualizer, digitizer, music instrument and experimentizer in one machine.

This video shows the recent development stage around december 2015. The Nerdsynth has 6 polyphonic tracks which are connected to several soundchips/synthesizers. 1 Track to the internal Nerdsynth soundchip, 1 ( with 4 sub tracks ) is used as sampler. The 4 other tracks are connected to external sound cartridges which are inserted in the Nerdsynth. Those are the synthesizer cores and soundchips of the ATMegatron, Meeblip Anode, DSP-G1 and Soundgin. More cartridges are in development like a SID cartridge, YM/AY, OPL3 and several analogue and digital synthesizer designs.
The aim is to make the Nerdsynth a real product but there is still alot to do hard and softwarewise.

ONE MUSIC PRODUCTION TOOL FOR ALL YOUR DESIRES!
The Nerdsynth is a analogue and digital synthesizer, groovebox, sampler, tracker, visualizer, digitizer, music instrument and experimentizer in one machine.

tracker style sequencer (inspired by LittleSoundDJ / LittlePiggyTracker)
6 mono- and polyphonic audio tracks
several tracks free configurable with different sound cartridges (eg. SID, YM/AY, OPL3, online DIY synthesizer projects, digital and analogue)
multi track sampler
dedicated visual track for experimental visuals (video out)
easy workflow, parameters are realtime accessable through several knobs, rotary encoders and a X/Y touchscreen
internal mixer and effect unit
stereo line out, headphone out and dedicated track line outs per track
midi In/Out
portable (with internal accu) and studio use
They are many more features which make the Nerdsynth a perfect music production and experimentation tool not only for trackers but for every musician!"

http://www.nerdsynth.com

Reverse Engineered Yamaha OPL3 FM Synthesizer in an FPGA playing Descent & Doom

Published on Jul 26, 2015 dagoatful

"The OPL3 was a popular FM synthesis chip used in most PCs in the 90s. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_...

OPL3 FPGA code written entirely in SystemVerilog RTL. Music is played back via a port of imfplay from DOS to the ARM Cortex CPU on the Zynq FPGA (running bare metal C++). Music is stored in DRO format captured by running the original games in DOSBox (its essentially register dumps of the OPL3 every 1ms). This particular song is from Doom level 1.

See my github page at:
https://github.com/gtaylormb/opl3_fpga

The 4 LEDs are connected to the first 4 (of 18) channel key on registers."

Yamaha YMF262 OPL3 programming using Evolution UC-16 and Yamaha V50

Yamaha YMF262 OPL3 programming using Evolution UC-16 (J.S.Bach Brandenburg no. 3)



Published on Jun 28, 2014 Richard Atkinson·59 videos

Yamaha YMF262 OPL3 programming using Evolution UC-16


"A demonstration of my software for programming the sounds of the Yamaha YM3812 OPLII / YMF262 OPL3 FM synthesizer chip. The notes are played on a Yamaha V50 (being used as a MIDI controller) while the programming of the sounds is done on the 16 control knobs of the Evolution UC-16 control surface.

The PC contains a SoundBlaster AWE64 card which is controlled by a custom piece of software. The Yamaha V50 keyboard is plugged into the PC using MIDI and sends MIDI note on and note off messages. The Evolution UC-16 control surface is plugged into the PC using MIDI over USB and sends MIDI controller change (CC) messages. The custom software receives both types of messages and writes OPL3 chip register changes to the AWE64 card.

The controls are:

Carrier: multiple, level, attack, decay, sustain, release, waveform
Tuning
Modulator: multiple, level, attack, decay, sustain, release, waveform, feedback

A future version of this program may implement amplitude modulation (AM), vibrato (VIB), two envelope generator types (EG-TYP), key scale rate (KSR) and key scale level (KSL)."

An Interview with Denis Cazajeux of OTO Machines

Denis Cazajeux is the man behind OTO Machines. His first product was the OTO Biscuit, a bit crushing effects unit with a multi-mode analog filter, waveshaper, delay, pitch shifter, step filter, vibrato, envelope filter, "tube" clipper, and 2 octaves down rectification. He later released DER OTO, a free monosynth with 16 step sequencer upgrade to the Biscuit. The following is my interview with Denis. You'll find some insight into what influences this unique maker of electronic gear along with his work with Olivier Gillet of Mutable Instruments (Shruthi-1). uCApps MIDIBox gets a mention as well. You'll find a pic of Denis' workplace below. The interview:

1) How did the world of synths start for you?

"When I was 15 (in 1986), I started to listen to every electronic music I could find in my country (near the french Alps, in the south east of France): Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Space, Wendy Carlos, Laurie Spiegel, White Noise, Klaus Schulze, etc. At that time, everybody was using a Yamaha DX7 but I was more interested in the Oberheim Matrix 6, Jupiter 8 or Memorymoog, even if I did not have enough money to buy any of these synths. It was a good time for vintage analog synth lovers, they were outdated and cost almost nothing! So I bought a Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, and Korg MS-10. I really love hybrid synths, like the Roland JX series, the Korg Poly-800, Oberheim Matrix-6 or the early 8/12-bits samplers (Ensoniq, E-mu). The sound is generated by a digital counter chip (called a DCO) or a DAC, and then passed through an analog filter.

In 2002, I wanted to build my first little synth and I tried the MIDIBOX SID, based on the MOS 6581 chip, which is also a hybrid synth built in a chip. It was fun but the sound was too '80's video games' (for good reasons!) for me, and the SID chip had a permanent hiss on its output. By the way, Ucapps (home of Midibox) is a very fascinating website for DIYers. I particularly love their FM synth based on the Yamaha OPL3 chip. If you mix this chip with an analog filter, you'll end up with a warm sounding and powerful synth. When I designed the first Biscuit prototype in 2006, I played with the assembly code to generate sounds through the 8-bit DA converters. It was a very simple synth: only 2 waveforms (square and sawtooth) with digital VCA, and the Biscuit filter controlled by an ADS envelope generator. The sound was surprisingly good, halfway between a SID chip and an analog monosynth. The sample frequency was 30 kHz and because waveforms were not band-limited, I got a lot of aliasing with notes above C3. So I raised the sampling frequency up to 156 kHz to solve this aliasing problem, but then I did not have enough processing power to finish the synth with all the required features (LFO, pitch modulations,...). I gave up and I went back to work on the Biscuit. But I kept in mind that the Biscuit could be a synth one day."

2. Regarding the synthesis work that you initially worked on for the Biscuit, is this what's going into the Der OTO update? How did you manage to work around the processing power?

"I didn't keep anything from the initial work on the Biscuit prototype. My first synth needed a 156 kHz sampling frequency in order to play waveforms without aliasing (I think the SID 6581 also used a very high frequency to solve this aliasing problem). With a standard 40 kHz sampling rate, the sound was good on bass notes, but too dirty for the medium notes and nearly unusable for the high notes. 40 kHz was the upper sampling limit for Biscuit. Biscuit uses a simple 8-Bit PIC microcontroller, clocked at 10 Mhz. This processor has many things to do each second: scanning and computing switches & pots, digitizing audio, receiving and sending MIDI, lighting the LEDs, doing some signal processing (bit manipulation, waveshaper, pitch shifter,...), sending information to the 8-bit DACs, digital pots and analog filter, etc…. So, for the synth upgrade, I had no other choice than to use band-limited waveforms, with interpolation and octave crossfading between wavetables. It was quite complex for me, I'm a self taught guy and I don't have the knowledge to do that kind of stuff. Then I remembered that 2 years ago, I was in touch with Olivier Gillet, creator of the Shruthi-1 monosynth (http://mutable-instruments.net/). I listened to the Shruthi demos and found that the sound was very impressive for a simple 8-bit monosynth. It was, like Biscuit, 8-bit processing, conversion to analog and an analog filter. Olivier helped me to include band-limited waveforms (Saw and Square) with octave crossfading, FM synthesis and pitch modulation into Biscuit's hardware. He's a brilliant guy, and has a strong knowledge of synthesis and microcontroller programming. It's funny anyway because in the end I added the first raw waveforms to the band-limited ones, to give the choice between a full spectrum playability and a bassy and dirty sound. Dirtiness is useful sometimes!"

3. How much overlap is there with the Shruthi-1?

"Not much. The 2 synths are very different in many points: user interface, number of parameters available, audio path... Der OTO uses 8-bit DAC and Shruthi use a 1-bit 10 MHz PWM. Der OTO got the special 12db/Octave filter that gives Biscuit its particular sound. Shruthi has a 24dB/Oct filter with several choices, Der OTO has a digital VCA instead of its analog counterpart in the Shruthi,... I think that these 2 synths are complementary. Some of our users have both."


4. What made you decide to offer the synth upgrade for the Bicuit for free?

"We wanted to be kind with our customers! It's an anti-capitalist way of doing business, and we love that. Der OTO users can buy the 'Der Mask' overlay, that helps us to fund the development of Der OTO."

5. What is your take on the current world of synthesis and how do you see Der OTO in that world? What inspires you?

"I dream of a simple-low cost-good sounding-polyphonic analog or hybrid synthesizer, that I didn't see yet! OTO is not really in the world of synthesis yet, and Der OTO is maybe just a start, who knows... I think synthesis is like cooking, you need several ingredients to make a good meal. Nowadays, you create loops with a computer, you treat them with analog processors, mix them with an old synth, and then you edit everything in your computer using plugins. It's fusion cuisine, it's very powerful and exciting. I think that 'Der OTO' is a new ingredient for your music. It's not a digital synth, it's not an analog synth, it's between these 2 worlds. When I listen to 'Der OTO', I think it's really musical, wild and its defects are touching!"

6. Anything else you'd like to share with the readers of MATRIXSYNTH?

"I'm just an electronic luthier, I'm waiting to listen what Biscuit users will do with that upgrade!"

7. Speaking of an electronic luthier, Bob Moog always stated he built tools for musicians and wasn't a musician himself. I remember reading he claimed to be first and foremost an engineer. Where do you see yourself? Do you get time to play with your creations and other synths for that matter? When you do, what is a typical session like? Some explore sound and create music in the process, and some pursue music directly.

"It's a very interesting question. I'm not sure if it's possible to be a good engineer and a good musician at the same time. Making (good) music, or designing new musical products takes a lot of time and energy. It's a passion which occupies most of your thoughts. It's the same thing in the world of classical music: the luthiers are not musicians and vice versa. Very few musicians have built their electronic instruments (Raymond Scott, Oskar Sala,...), but their creations were unique and mainly designed for their own use. I used to make music but unfortunately I don't have enough time for that. By the way, I'm not a very good musician! So I see myself more as an engineer, even if I don't have any diplomas in electronics."

I'd like to end this with a big thank you to Denis Cazajeux of OTO Machines for taking the time out for this interview, and for making the Biscuit. I own one and I can wholeheartedly say it is a fantastic machine.

FrankenKorg 800 Demo

FrankenKorg 800 Demo - Toshiba Libretto and Alesis Nanoverb inside a Korg Poly 800 synthesizer!

YouTube Uploaded by opl3toshiba on Feb 24, 2012

"This Korg Poly 800 keyboard is modified with the Moog Slayer mod, FM 800 mod, 12/24 db filter switch, VCF external audio in, an Alesis Nanoverb, and a Toshiba Libretto laptop computer. An Alesis Nanoverb and a Toshiba Libretto have never been built into a Korg Poly 800 synthesizer, until now. In this video I play the FrankenKorg to demonstrate most of its features and sound possibilities. Every sound is generated inside the FrankenKorg; no external effects were used. At some points during the video, I use a foot pedal I designed that connects to the synthesizer and controls the internal VCF cutoff. The video was recorded with a Sony DXC-327 and the audio was recorded with Pro Tools. A Toshiba Libretto 50CT laptop was designed to fit where the programming decal was on the original Poly 800. The Korg's midi out is connected to the input of the MPU-401 controller in the Libretto and the audio output of the Libretto is switchable to either the VCF ext. in or the input of the Nanoverb. In this video, I used the software wavetable and OPL3 FM synthesis chip in the Libretto. The Alesis Nanoverb circuit board sits underneath the Libretto's keyboard inside the FrankenKorg. Controlling the Nanoverb is accomplished through five of the eight added knobs on the Korg's casing. The Nanoverb's audio out can be routed through its original 1/4 inch outputs as well as the headphone output of the Korg. The Nanoverb provides reverb, delay, flange, rotary and chorus effects."

via ComputerMusicGuide

Building DIY SammichFM 2011

YouTube Uploaded by Synthnl on Dec 10, 2011

"This year I build a Wilba SammichFM DIY synthesizer kit. It is bases on the famous Yamaha OPL3 sound chip that was also used on the famous Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 and SoundBlaster 16 ASP sound cards. It is a 4 voice FM synthesizer that sounds a lot like the famous Yamaha DX series. During the construction of the synthesizer I filmed the whole process. This movie is an excerpt of the 4 hours total build time. I made the 3D animations myself in Cinema 4D. The music you hear in the background in a track called 'thermosphere' from my 'AtmoSphere' album that I released in 2008. More information on the album on http://www.synth.nl/AtmoSphere. If you are interested in the whole build process of the SammichFM you can read that back on my blog on this URL: http://synthnl.blogspot.com/search/label/sammichfm"