Polivoks Synthesizer sequenced MIDI via Dotcom modules

Published on Oct 7, 2015 alternatingbitmusic

"I still intend to do a full Polivoks demo but I was having fun with this sequence so I had to share. I love the vibrato-like modulation I used on oscillator one. This Polivoks has a MIDI IN / THRU mod, and I'm using the Synthesizers.com quantizer bank aid Q172's MIDI out to transmit CV for pitch via the Q119 sequencer."

Modular Jam #21 - Frantic

Published on Jan 30, 2015 DivKidMusic

"Frantic beats with a dark ambient droning backdrop! :)
FULL PATCH DESCRIPTION BELOW

Hit like and subscribe for more videos every week and check out the link below to see how you can support my channel and me making new videos everyweek.

http://www.patreon.com/divkid

PATCH NOTES

Kick
Intellijel Dixie sine with the Erica Synths Polivoks Envelope Generator sending a sharp envelope to the Intellijel Dixie Controller exponential FM input (attenuated) to sweep the sine's pitch to create the kick. No VCA was used to cut off the sound as the pitch goes so low into the mixer is pretty inaudible in this patch.

Clap
Erica Synths Polivoks Modulator white noise into the Intellijel uVCA with modulation of the VCA from the WMD Multi-mode Envelope. This then goes into the Livewire Frequensteiner filter in band pass mode to shape the noise before going into my mixers.

16th note cymbal
Mutable Instruments Braids with the new 1.7 firmware in the new cymbal CYMB mode. The filtering/timbre and noise/oscillator blend along with tuning was moved manually in the video. Braids internal envelopes control the level before going to my mixer.

Offbeat hi hat
A mult. of the Polivoks Modulator noise going into the Erica Synths Polivoks Filter in band pass mode then into the Erica Synths Polivoks VCA with the trigger from ALM's Pamela's Workout going to modulate the VCA. The trigger worked out at a nice length with an envelope for the sound.

Main percussion
Mutable Instruments Elements gate rhythm triggered and generated from Pamela's Workout. I have the Polivoks Modulator LFO output modulating the Strike's Mallet type, one channel of Mutable Instruments Peaks modulating the damping of the resonator, LFO 2 from Synthesis Tech's E355 dual wavetable LFO modulating the resonator's geometry and a Frequency Central Ultra Wave modulating the resonator's position. I manually adjusted Elements coarse tuning, Blow (volume, and air flow) and space parameters. If all that sounds confusing check out the Elements page on MutableInstruments.net there's a great manual and material on their and … more importantly cough cough … go watch my overview video on my channel.

Drum mixing
Drums were mixed in the Erica Synths Polivoks Mixer and also the Manhattan Analog CP3 Mixer before going into a single channel of a Bubblesound VCA4- which I'm using as an output mixer.

Bass
Neutron Sound - Orgone Accumulator as a bass drone with modulation of the FM index from Peaks in LFO mode. This then goes into a VCA4p channel.

Drone
This is how the patch started, someone asked me about Synthesis Tech's E350 and more specifically FM on the E350. So the sound source is the E350 with FM modulation from a TipTop Audio Z3000's sine wave. The Z3000's 1V/oct is modulated by the Frequency Central System X Sample & Hold (with a lot of onboard lag/slew). The E350 shines with subtle modulation of it's wavetables so the E355 LFO2 is modulating the X wavetable position. The E350's output then goes into a Mutable Instruments Ripples (which is modulating from a different LFO from Peaks) before going into Mutable Instruments Clouds (realtime granular processing). Clouds sample/playback position and grain size are modulated from both of the Peaks LFO channels, grain density is modulated from the System X Sample & Hold and Texture is modulated from LFO1 on the E355. The output then goes into one channel of the Manhattan Analog MA35 filter and is also split into the Flame FX6. The Flame FX6 is in Reverb mode and that output then goes into channel 2 on the MA35. The filtering (low pass) and input volume of the MA35 is modulated live as well as the Bubblesound uLFO sending it's shaped sine output to modulate the MA35's cut off. As with the use of Elements in this patch … If all that sounds confusing check out the Clouds page on MutableInstruments.net there's a great manual and material on their and … more importantly cough cough … go watch my overview video on my channel."

Mutable Instruments to Ramp Down DIY

via Mutable Instruments

"Please take the time to read this...

After careful considerations, I have decided to progressively ramp down the production of most of Mutable Instruments’ DIY line.

=== The reasons ===
* Some of these products are getting old and/or are not as successful as I thought they would be, and it doesn’t make much sense to keep them in inventory when only a couple units are sold in a month - while their price has been decided at a time they were produced in batches of 100s.
* There’s little overlap in the way Mutable Instruments’ as a maker of modules, and Mutable Instruments’ as a maker of DIY kits operate; to the point that it really feels like I’m running two companies; dealing with two groups of suppliers, two ways of managing accounting or keeping track of stock etc. Some decisions related to growth (small things like formalizing procedures through software, or big things like relocating or hiring…) can’t really be done in a way that would serve both missions. I have reached a size at which a choice must be made, and the ratio of things I like to do / annoyances is higher when it comes to the kit business.
* I no longer agree with some of the design decisions (be they aesthetic or technical) defining these products. It just feels wrong to me to sell products I would not personally buy.
* I’d like to explore a few (non-music and/or non-electronics and/or non-DIY) projects and I badly need to make room in my life for that.

=== The consequences ===
I do not plan to produce new batches of the following products:
* MIDIpal. There are currently 55 units left in stock. I’m keeping a small stash to serve warranty requests. As time passes, I’ll get rid of them (without warranty).
* Shruthi XT kits. There are currently about 50 kits left in stock.
* Anushri (as a kit and as a PCB set). There are currently about 100 kits left in stock. I only have 40 Euro panel sets, so I might do a small run of them to prevent the last kits from being sold naked.
* Shruthi filter boards. I have in stock (or on order for the Polivoks and Yellow magic) about 50 pairs of filter boards. The digital filter board is already out of production.
* Ambika (as a kit and as bare PCBs). I currently have 50 kits being sorted, which will be available as a bundle with Adrian’s case in november or early december. I still have a big stash of PCBs – so this one will take more time to disappear.

I do plan to produce new batches of the following products:
* Shruthi kit. There’s really nothing quite like this little beast. I might narrow it down to one or two flavors (like vanilla = kit+plexi case and vanilla-caramel-choco-chips-cookie-dough = 4PM kit + metal case).
The fate of the following products is unknown:
* CVpal.
* Module tester.

=== And after that? ===
Some of you might want to organize small community-runs of PCBs to keep one of these products alive – just as it has been done for the Sidekick. I’m fine with that, but obviously I won’t provide any support.

Keeping the DIY line alive through a commercial initiative is something that requires more thought. If this happens, and I am currently exploring several paths for this to happen, this has to be done in a way that does not involve the Mutable Instruments name, or only as a sort of quote or tribute."

Rainy Day Eurorack Drone Music (w/ DR-OM on iPhone, MicroBrute, Volca Beats) #TTNM

Published on Jul 22, 2014 The Tuesday Night Machines

"Playing with the DR-OM drone synth app again. Also, I'm using the Expert Sleepers Disting as a second quantizer besides the uScale, for more layered melodies - all sequenced by the Turing Machine and MicroBrute sequencers. Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...

Questions or comments? Go ahead and post them below! :) Thanks for watching! Check out my channel for more Synthesizer Music.

MORE INFO:

Gear used in this video:
- Eurorack Modular Synthesizer (with Malekko Wiard Anti-Oscillator, Intellijel Dixie, Koma Kommander, Plague Bearer, Ataraxic Translatron, Erica Polivoks VCF, Klangbau Wavetable VCDO, etc. see: http://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/vi...)
- Arturia MicroBrute (analog synthesizer)
- iPhone 5C with DR-OM drone synthesizer app
- Korg Volca Beats (drum machine)
- Zoom R16 (recording, reverb & mastering)

Filmed with a Canon EOS 550D (Rebel t2i)."

The Harvestman Polivoks eurorack modules... vs. manmademadman

Published on Jun 4, 2014 manmade madman·16 videos

"Brief demo of the new modules from The Harvestman.
These include the R-1983 oscillators, HMR1987 modulation source, R1982 filter, and R1985 VCA/envelope.

During the demo, it is being sequenced by the Acidlab Autobot in TAP WRITE mode.
Together, these modules are filthy sounding- just like my old Polivoks was- but without the tuning issues and general unreliability. On FM, they sound huge. Very inspiring and lots of tone to be had inside here. I'm only scratching the surface of what these can do."

Tiptop Audio Demos by Tomio Ueda

Theres a bit more in there as well.

Playlist (remember, you can use the video controls to skip through the videos that interest you):

Tiptop Audio Eurorack Modular Jam: Office Edition Published on May 1, 2013
"another day, another modular jam at the office!
Using Tiptop Audio's (currently) unreleased Trigger Riot for sequencing and for clocking all sources, triggers, events, and particle exterminators."

Tiptop Audio: Trigger Riot Drum and Bass Demo Published on Feb 2, 2013
"change of pace and doing a simple drum and bass rhythm with the Trigger Riot....lots of shit going on here but basically everything is being clocked by the TR's internal clock and its 8 outputs in matrix mode."

Tiptop Audio Trigger Riot Techno Published on Feb 1, 2013
"Showing off how you can make basic techno patterns and rhythms with Tiptop Audio's up-and-coming Trigger Riot!"

Modular Jam 4 Published on Oct 30, 2012
"bloooooop"

Modular Jam 2 Published on Oct 18, 2012
"blooooop"

Tiptop Audio Demo at Noisy By Nature, Los Angeles Published on Aug 10, 2012
"Tiptop Audio Demo showcasing the fully analog 909 Clap and 808 Cowbell as well as the new Z-DSP Broken Silicon and Error-Codes chips."

Tiptop 808 + Z3000 Jam Published on Mar 22, 2012
"www.soundcloud.com/nonbot
simple techno jam using the bd808, sd808, hats808, and the z3000mk2"

NAMM 2012 Tiptop Audio Modular Patch 1 Uploaded on Jan 24, 2012
"www.soundcloud.com/nonbot
Messing around with Doepfer clock dividers, z3000 mk2, 3 x z8000, BD808 kick, SD808 snare, OHCH808 closed and open hihats, and the prototype of the analog polyphonic modular VCO (PVCO), and Cwejman ADSR."

NAMM 2012 Tiptop Audio Patch 2 Uploaded on Jan 24, 2012
"www.soundcloud.com/nonbot
Messing around with Doepfer clock dividers, z3000 mk2, 3 x z8000, BD808 kick, SD808 snare, OHCH808 closed and open hihats, and the prototype of the analog polyphonic modular VCO (PVCO), and Cwejman ADSR."

minipatch with z3000, Korgasmatron, Maths, ADSR-VC2, and a simple LFO.mp4 Uploaded on Aug 18, 2011
"www.soundcloud.com/nonbot
seeing what I can do with 1 stack cable and 9 wires :)
featured modules here are:
Tiptop z3000mk2
Intellijel Korgasmatron
Make Noise Maths
Cwejman ADSR-VC2
Doepfer a145 LFO
Doepfer a160 Clock Divider
Pittsburgh Audiomixer Attenuator"

unts unts unts Uploaded on May 28, 2011
"unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts unts"

Silent Way + ES-3 with Fireface 400 Uploaded on Apr 30, 2011
"After much fumbling, I've finally got Silent Way to work with my ES-3 and my RME Fireface 400 audio interface! It's insane how well it works once you get the hang of things.
As far as modules go, I'm using Silent Way to control my RS-60, Piston Honda, and Polivoks VCF which are all routed into HexVCA and finally into Mutagen.
Thank you os on muffwiggler for helping me! I'm very excited to see what this is capable of!"
Frequensteiner Demo at Big City Music Uploaded on Apr 12, 2011
Roger of Big City Music was kind enough to let me test out Livewire's awesome Frequensteiner in the store before buying it! I don't think anybody else in LA would even allow that, let alone letting you mess around with every other module they had there (including a bomb cwejman modular!). The oscillator was coming from Wiard Anti-Oscillator and routed through an Analogue Systems Modular.
http://www.bigcitymusic.com/"

FAEMI-M SN 984218 Soviet Synth

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

mechanical animals

"Manual is a transistor portable polyphonic electromusic instrument produced by Katchkanar radio equipment factory "Formanta", which is the manufacturer of such well-known makes of synthesizers as Polivoks, Formanta, Manual, Maestro etc. Faemi-M is a "young brother" of a very popular synthesizer Polivoks. It bears the same logo on the package and retains some of its most impressive capabilities.

Manual is the polyphonic organ with the 4 octave's keyboard, rhythm section and the speaker. It has 4 base and sound registers, tremolo mode and vibrato.

Control on the front panel:
— registers: 16', 8', 4', 2'
— timbre level: low, high
— post sounding - duration, volume.
— vibrato - depth, frequency
— main volume
— rhythm, ON, A, B
— tremolo: 4', 2', frequency
— rhythm, volume, tempo.

Connectors on the lateral desk:
— mains, ON
— mains' connector, safety device
— output switch (outward/inward)
— headphones
— pedal
— output.

Engineer: Vladimir Lugovets, designer: Olympiada Kuzmina (the one who designed the legendary Polivoks), produced by Urals Vector Company."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Final Set of A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers

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

via this auction

The listing is from the author Peter Forrest who states this is likely the last set.  These are great books and imo the most comprehensive.  Click on the pics to get an idea of what they are like.  Peter also has other items listed including The Museum of Synthesizer Technology and Synthesizer von Gestern II.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Elektronika EM-14 Venta SN 5108

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

via this auction

"It's a vintage synthesizer - organ (called synthorgan) with three sounds: Organ, Bass, Synthesizer. You can mix ratios of sounds between them or use only one of them. I really love bass and synthesizer sound which are unique and fat. It's not Moog, it's not Roland, neither Korg - it sounds it's own way (you probably know what I mean if you ever heard synthesizers like Elektronika EM25 or Polivoks). If you're looking for bubbling and dark bass with beautifull VCO filters (section of synthesizer is really creative, you have filters, modulations and ADS included!), absolutely vintage chorus and delay, massive leads and other here it is! As for organ sound - it's full, really dynamic sound, so if you like Hammond you'll like it very much! Ouch, it also have expression pedal which works fine!...

I'm selling this one because I have Elektronika EM-141 Venta which is similar to this (I think it's the same, the difference is only colour of case and language of menu, it's well known that soviet instruments and hi-fi had sometimes two names for one machine - one for local market, another for export)"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Soviet FAEMI M SN 1183218

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

"FAEMI M Rare Analog Organ Synthesizer from Polivoks Factory"

CLICK FOR MORE »

FAEMI-M RAREST VINTAGE SOVIET USSR ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

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

mechanical animals

"::: INCLUDES: FAEMI-M (s/n 0585183), ORIGINAL CASE, PEDAL, CABLE FOR PEDAL AND POWER CABLE :::

FAEMI-M is a transistor portable polyphonic electromusic instrument produced by Katchkanar radio equipment factory "Formanta", which is the manufacturer of such well-known makes of synthesizers as Polivoks, Formanta, Manual, Maestro etc. Faemi-M is a "young brother" of a very popular synthesizer Polivoks. It bears the same logo on the package and retains some of its most impressive capabilities.

A performer can change the timbre using knobs and the switchers of sound synthesis control. It is possible to mix the sounds of one or several octaves, which enables a performer to change the timbre smoothly and to obtain sounds characteristic for various genres, such as folk, pop, and classical music, and for organ works. Faemi-M provides the possibility of the rapid change of the sound character with the help of such effects as frequency vibrato, tremolo, and release.

Faemi-M can be used both at home and in music ensembles. It can be used as an accompanying or a solo instrument, depending on the will of a performer. The power can be applied from the mains or from the internal battery of dry elements. The volume control is carried out with the help of a pedal and the respective knob on the case of the device. The case is made of light alloys and covered with artificial leather. The upper panel is covered with a coat of enamel.

In the lower part of the case, there are 12 openings, providing the access to oscillator frequency adjustment controls. On the rear panel of the case, there are plug-and-sockets for the following connections:
— of the device to an external amplifier and for recording without a microphone;
— of an external loudspeaker or telephones;
— of a pedal;
— of an external power source.

In the pedal, there is a built-in rectifier, which makes it possible to use AC mains as a power source."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Trash_Audio Synth Meet LA 2011

flickr by Chris Randall - write-up here

"Of note, if that sort of thing interests you, were the new 808 foot module from TipTop, and Harvestman's Polivoks oscillator, both of which I'll be getting. I'm not familiar enough with that scene to know what was earth-shattering or whatever. That Buchla was really pretty. I'll say that much."

DIY Filter Demos via Crashlander42

Wasp Filter Clone YouTube via Crashlander42

"Playing with my DIY modular synth. Running 2 XRVCO's and a Yusynth VCO through a Wasp filter (Fonik Version)
Visit my music page @ http://www.myspace.com/isaciongun"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland [100M] M-121 VCF mod. for PROJECT SKYJAM

"[Replacing original M-121 cirquitry with MS20 + Polivoks VCF clones.]"

more info

via Svenn

Cwejman MX-4S, MMF-4, PH-4, PlanB, Doepfer, and Harvestman

YouTube via dkimcg
"I really liked the trapazoid generator in the last video, but it didn't quite fit my current workflow. So I replaced it with the PH-4 and a few other modules. The Cwejman PH-4 is a beautiful 4 phase LFO, it outputs 4 phases of one LFO at 90 degree invervals. It's excellent for panning. Here I'm testing out some stereo panning tricks with the PH-4. It and the Doepfer 143-1 Complex Envelope Generator/LFO are modulating the filters and the 143-1 is controlling one of the gates in the M13 Dual Timbral Gate. The Model 10 Polyphonic Envelope Generator controls the other gate. In addition to the Cwejman MMF-4, the PlanB Model 11 Evil Twin and Harvestman Polivoks filters are used. MFB Seq-01 sequences. and triggers the 143-1, Model 10, and Jomox MBase01 for the kick.

The MMF-4 is one sweet module for panning and VC for filters.

I thought the last video I uploaded was just too dorky sounding. I tried to make this one sound "cool". Put on yer sunglasses kinda cool."

music : guitar + the harvestman suitcase modular synth

YouTube via devievervlog
"http://www.deviever.com/music/

Suitcase Modular Synth thanks to...
http://www.theharvestman.org/

I decided to fuck around in the new studio. The lighting is non-existent and the sound is recorded via the camera mic, but whatever.

- The guitar set up -
Fender Strat (w/ kill switch)
Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff Pi
Crybaby Wah (fasel mod)
Boss MT-2 Metal Zone
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Digitech PDS 20/20 Digital Delay
Fender Studio 85 amp

- Synth setup -
Custom built suitcase modularby The Harvestman :
malgorithm bit crusher (unused here)
polivoks vcf
zorlon cannon
tyme sefari delay
... some other stuff
-into fender studio 85 line-in

I'm still figuring out the modular, so bear with me. Should hopefully have better lighting in the studio in a few weeks and will take pictures / more video."

Roland AX7 Gone Russian

via Don Philippo of Heimatkapelle die Darmstädter Hübsch:

"My good friend Reinier Borst introduced me to the beauty of this Russian vintage
synth a few weeks ago. I've been planning to have my beloved AX7 customized for quite a while, but I could never come up with a proper theme until I ran into this Polivoks video.

Although the Soviets had keytars such as the Junost-21, I found the overall design of the Polivoks way more appealing.

To get an idea of what my pimped AX7 would look like, I did some Babelfishing and Photoshopping to come up with the 1982-Soviet-collage. Like the real Polivoks, I want all the print on the casing to be in Russian. At the moment I am getting in touch with some Russian fellow Roland Clan members to help me out translating all the text bits on my AX7's case (link, huge jpeg alert) into proper Russian, since I found out online translation services don't know diddley about keytars.

As for me: My name Don Philippo and I'm in a band called Heimatkapelle die Darmstädter Hübsch (see http://www.hubsch.nl or http://picasaweb.google.com/dphilippo if you don't speak Dutch). The guy who is gonna help me do the makeover is Ernst Fliek. He will (have one of his guys) do the paint job. Some kind of matte black would be nice, but we have to pick a color true to the original Polivoks yet. After that we will try and fit my Kenton Midistream wireless MIDI transmitter unit into the empty spaces inside the AX7 and connect it to the AX7's battery unit. Ernst's decal guy will then turn my AI-files into proper lettering, apply it tho the AX7's body and give it a heavy duty transparent coating.

The project is planned for this summer, although funding issues might push the project towards Christmas;-). I'll let you know of any progress."

Polivoks Demo

Title link takes you to an MP3 of the Polivoks sent my way via Mr. Array.

"I noticed that some of the comments on the recent Polivoks post were asking for more sound examples. A few years back, I downloaded this Polivoks demo MP3 from the Moog Music forums. I forgot who made this, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's quite catchy!"

Thanks Mr. Array! If anyone knows where this demo is from, feel free to comment.

POLIVOKS

Title link takes you to shots and first impressions on SoNiCbRaT. You have to check out the crazy packaging for this one. : )

Update via the world of next tuesday in the comments:
"Many Soviet synths have copied Moog filters. This one doesn't. Maybe the seller just describes all his Soviet analogs like that? I'd say from what I've heard it has by far the best most original sound of anything easily obtainable. Other Soviet synths can certainly produce some good sounds too though a lot of them I'd chalk up to moog-like filters. Though there is said to be a change in sound between earlier and late filters. I have the earlier filter. The sound on mine is wonderfully overdriven though maybe not so on units built later on. It's not "thin" to me unless you set the bandpass that way rather than use the lowpass. The resonance is nasty ("without pity" says David Korn), which can be used to it's advantage, but it's not going to ever come near doing things like Moog does with resonance for better or worse. The looping envelopes combined with the LFO can do some sounds most monosynths can't do. (then again so can a decent modular but that's another topic). I wound up cleaning a lot of pots. I'm not using any chemicals because I don't know what they are made out of. I got them all working and quiet but a year later they are quite noisy again. The switches and rotary knobs can make noises too."

Polivoks Filter Clone

Title link takes you to the Polivoks Filter Clone site by Marc Bareille.

James R. Coplin built one and recorded this 261k MP3 of the clone. Check it out. It's a wicked sounding filter.

James on the filter:
"I just got done putting a Polivoks filter together on a breadboard and thought some folks might like to hear how it sounds. The filter is from Marc Bareille's adaptation and sounds like drinking vodka through broken lips and teeth must feel! A big thanks to Marc for all his help. I will be posting full details of the project with some additional adaptations that Marc told me about to use some hard to get parts. I'm thinking I need about 4 of these in my rig." "The thing has *no* caps in the filter and has a very strange resonance characteristic as a side effect. At extreme settings instead of producing a sine wave, it makes a squarish wave and eventual kind of craps out as you can hear.

The patch was just three saws running in and then out through a vca. There was *no* distortion added or sync on the osc. All that grunge is from the filter itself. I wouldn't want one as my only filter but I got to tell you, this thing is wonderful. I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm building 4 of them for my rig. Processing drums with these is lovely."