Best of CASIO CZ-101

video upload by

"(c)2007-23 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

❤️ Support #RetroSound​ channel: https://retrosound.creator-spring.com

The Best of Casio CZ-101 Synthesizer
all synthesizer sounds: CASIO CZ-101 (1984)
drums: Boss DR-55, Roland TR-707, Roland TR-808 , Linndrum, Simmons SDS-8

Setlist:
0:06 Intro
0:16 Dancing
0:48 80s Music Party
1:03 Strange
1:14 Machine Run 1
1:40 Mobility
1:53 Islands
2:08 Machine Run 2
2:22 Take A Break
2:35 Waverider
2:44 Alert
2:56 Cut Off
3:11 Swimming
3:23 CZ Duett
3:33 Sub Bass
3:48 Oberheimi
4:12 Drama
4:20 DCW Sweep
4:27 Wave Police

The CASIO CZ Synthesizer from the year 1984 is a very interesting synth. Here can you find the full CASIO CZ playlist with single sound demos, sound tutorials and one synth demo tracks. Enjoy.
The CASIO CZ playlist:"

The Best of Polivoks

video upload by RetroSound

"(c)2007-23 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

❤️ Support #RetroSound​ channel: https://retrosound.creator-spring.com

The Best of:
Polivoks Synthesizer (USSR 1982)
drums: Simmons SDS-8, LinnDrum, Boss DR-55, Roland TR-808, Roland TR-707, Korg KR-55B

0:06 Erstmal warm werden
0:24 Jetzt aber....
0:40 Mischka hat schlechte Laune
1:09 Radiowellen um uns herum
1:26 Schlechte Verbindung
1:43 Der Tanzbär
2:03 Heute fliegt die Kuh
2:37 Ferner Osten
2:52 Ein besonderer Wunschtitel
3:06 Blutgruppe 0
3:28 Besuch in der Anstalt
3:49 Diagnose: Unheilbar
4:20 Willst du mit mir spielen?
4:33 Ich hab Kopfschmerzen
4:46 Die Party ist in vollem Gange
5:04 Mischka hat gute Laune
5:15 Mischka sagt Danke!

The Polivoks is my favorite analog mono synth.
Here can you find the full Polivoks playlist with a lot single sound demos and one synth demo tracks.
The Polivoks playlist:"

Gretsch ED700 Electronic Drums module demo

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

via this auction

"For sale an extremely rare analog Drum Machine a beautiful piece in the retro 80's style" sounds warm and organic! In the style of the famous vintage Rhythm Boxes, but with its own personality. 'Drum Machine Vintage 80' TR-808 TR-909 Syncussion SY-1 Sinsonics Simmons SDS Tama Techstar Analog Ultsound DS-4 Elektron Machinedrum Synthesizer Vermona"

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Simmons SDS-2000 SN 000900

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

via this auction

"Looks and sounds great - quite punchy. And MIDI!

This versions is without the optional Reverb DSP.
It's a digital module triggered by external drum pads. Mainly based on samples derived from the big SDS X sampler. The SDS-2000 is the last drum brain from the company before the closure.

Each channel have own volume and a label:
-channel 1 bass
-channel 2 snare
-channel 3 hi tom
-channel 4 low tom
-channel 5 mid Tom
Each channel can be tuned to +/- 7 semitones (some sounds limited to 5)

Sounds can be triggered by Midi input.
Midi can also act as a trigger to midi converter.
Also a Midi THRU port.

The brain manages up to 5 analog inputs to trigger the internal sounds. The relative pad sensivity can be set using the "SENS" button.

TIP: you can trigger sounds using these combo: "VU METER" + "UP" + "DOWN" at the same time."

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GSi Drum-80 - 80s Drum Emulator

video upload by Genuine Soundware

"GSi Drum-80 is the new plugin from GSi that recreates the typical drum setup of th eearly 80's where an electronic drum set was used along with acoustic cymbals."

https://www.genuinesoundware.com/



"We all know and use electronic drums today, but at the beginning of the 80's the first electronic drums were a real novelty that revolutionized not only the sound of music of those years, but also the workflow in the recording studio. Many producers preferred to record the sound of electronic drums rather than acoustic drums because it saved time and money, avoiding having to mount microphones, find the right positions, spend hours equalizing and correcting the recorded material. With an electronic drum set it was quicker: it was enough to connect the cables and maybe find the right sound for the song, which was a perfect scenario especially for many low-cost productions, for example those of pop music.

The first electronic drums were completely analog, they generated the sounds of the drums using only a few elements such as an oscillator and a white noise generator, plus a couple of envelopes and a filter. The sound wasn't exactly realistic but it was peculiar, and perfect for creating certain sounds never heard before.

The downside was that electronic drums could only generate the sound of drums but not cymbals. For this reason, the sound of real cymbals was recorded alongside the sound of electronic drums. This kind of setup was also used live quite often. It was common to see a drummer on stage playing the typical hexagonal pads but combined with a set of real cymbals.

GSi Drum-80 reproduces that exact scenario. It contains two separate sound engines that can play at the same time. One engine recreates the sounds of the famous electronic drum module known as the Simmons SDS-V (very similar to the later SDS-8 model); at the same time, the exclusive GSi WLF Engine plays a multi-sample of real cymbals recorded exclusively for Drum-80.

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TAMA TECHSTAR TAM500 SN 200183 w/ Original Box

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

via this auction

"TAMA TECHSTAR TAM500 Analog Drum Synthesizer Trigger Signal Electronic Voice Module with Original Box and a set of cables.

ultra rare Tama Techstar Tam 500, drum synthesizer and trigger made in Japan (1985)

Fully working in very good conditions, totally analog, with really fat and super cool sounds.

Each channel can be sound by trriger signals so you can use this unit with EURORACK modules.

The best Drum Synth of the Techstar TS series and the most difficult to find. Suitable for electronic, percussive and acoustic sounds!

One of the best drum synthesizers that follow the success of the Simmons Drums like the SDS V.

The unit has 5 dedicated channels:
Snare, Tom 1, Tom 2, Tom 3 and Bass.

It also has 7 different areas for each channel:
Sensibility, Attack, Decay, Noise, Bend, Tune and Tone / Noise!

It has one trigger input for each channel, separate outputs, mix out and headphone output.

A real gem for producers, DJs and drummers"

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Tama - Techstar TS305

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

via NOISEBUG Reverb

"This listing is for the full Tama TS-305 kit including all 5 drum pads and drum stands.

The TAMA TS-305 is a 6 channel drum synth module.
It can be used as a desktop module or a massive 7u 19" Rackmount. Each channel is a mini analogue synth drum module, capable of producing a wide range of electronic drum sounds, and since every parameter is defined by a knob, it's highly tweakable.

Modules on the TS-305 are:
SNARE / RIM SHOT / TOM 1 - 3 & BASSDRUM

Each channel has 10 controls (9 knobs & 1 switch).

From the looks of it, it is designed with the Drummer in mind - to be used with Electronic Drum Kit triggers.

It looks very similar to the Simmons SDS-8 Drum Brain.

All the drum tones are actually individual analogue drum synths."

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SIMMONS SDS-3 DRUM SYNTHESIZER MODULE by MUSICAID c1978 SN 0124

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

via this auction

"Simmons SDS-3 drum synthesizer module that was made for the Musicaid brand.This early drum synthesizer was the first purpose built machine by Dave Simmons from 1978.The synthesizer is in good clean condition and it all seems to work fine."

You can find a demo of the SIMMONS SDS-3 here, and additional posts mentioning the SDS-3 here.

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The Roland Paraphonic 505 - A Rare Synth Delicacy

video by Alex Ball

"A synth a lot of people have requested that I finally managed to borrow! Thank you to the owner.

The RS-505 or Paraphonic-505 was released in 1978 and was so called because it could make numerous sounds in parallel. The term "paraphonic" has been reappropriated in recent years to refer to instruments (like the 505) that were polyphonic, but that only had one filter and one amp.

0:00​ Intro
0:53​ Bass Sounds
3:02​ What Roland meant by "Paraphonic"
5:06​ Polyphonic Sounds
6:53​ All Sounds Together
7:35​ External Audio
8:02​ Thoughts & Summary
10:36​ Contextual Demonstration

Gear Used:
Roland Paraphonic-505
Roland System 100m
Roland System 500
Ryk 185
Korg SQ-1
Roland SH-2
Roland SH-1000
Musicaid Simmons SDS-3
Oberheim DX (used but not filmed)
Ibanez Jem 7DBK"

SDS AutoPlay Piano Music Box!

freshnelly

"This project is a 1-off gift for my parents. It began as an experiment with the SDS Accord Melisma module's core. Outside of a module rack the hybrid synth must provide all of the signals you would normally patch, in the way they might be patched allowing autonomous operation as a stand-alone composition.

The piano also has a fairly large Flash memory and sequencer system similar to the Accord Sequarallel module (some of the SW was stolen from the Sequar!) in order to play recognizable songs that have been recorded in. I included a couple of Sequarallel's FX, and would have added more if time permitted, but as is usually the case, time ran out and I had to wrap it up and send it on it's way in time for Chrissy.

The piano has some settings, primarily the "mood" selector which will bias randomization of song types toward this selection. i.e. Mood=Summer, then there's a good chance a Beach Boys tune will start playing, followed by "Sunny Days" or "La isla Bonita". Like Christmas, "Melisma" is one of the moods and will either compose it's own music from banks of progressions in any one of the 8 PROG memories, or will take an existing song and apply Sequarallel FX to it, thus completely changing the way it sounds. (It's the perfect plagiarism tool I'll tell ya!)

On top of all of this, the keys on the piano animate thus making it a player piano! I'll be honest, the keys don't match actual chords even though the original design was for just that. Due to circumstances beyond my control parts didn't arrive so I had to wing it with what I had around the workshop. It would have been nice, but only to someone that plays piano, I doubt anyone else would even notice!

The project wasn't without disastrous goof-ups though. I managed to fry most of it by passing 12 volts through everything, AFTER recording in over 200 songs. Luckily I had backed up over 100 songs so it only took 2 days get the rest in. Then there was the "I have no idea how electromagnets interact" crisis which was a result of making a bad decision under stress from Canada post losing my order or whatever happened. That's covered in the video.

All in all this was a fun & challenging project which pulled me away from the intense programming I had been slaving on for 3 months prior, thus offering a holiday without leaving the farm, which is double bonus these days. Wow am I ever refreshed and ready to just back into it, both feet tippy toes down.
Cheers!
Enjoy the video!"

Simmons SDS 8 "Electronic Drums" Analog Drum Synthesizer (1984) User Drum Set & Sounds

RetroSound

"(c)2007-20 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

Simmons SDS 8 Electronic Drums from the year 1984

- 5 channel analog drum synthesizer with bassdrum, snare and 3 toms.
- each channel features a factory sound and a user sound.
- same analog filters of its predecessor SDS-V
- sequencer input, single outputs, stereo out, pan
- factory drum preset and user drum set

I show the user drum set in this demo

RetroSound synthesizer demo videos since january 2007.
All is for free. If you like my work, so can you support me with a donation or a purchase of my synth shirts or music albums. Thank you!

RetroSound Merch Shop: https://teespring.com/de/stores/retro...
RetroSound Home: https://retrosound72.wixsite.com/home"

Simmons SDS9 6-channel Drum Synthesizer Made in the United Kingdom

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

via this auction

"This is the drum brain, SDS-9.

The SDS9 is a 5-drum kit, comprising bass, snare and 3 tom-toms, triggering up to 40 complete “drum kits” (20 factory and 20 programmable presets).

Hitting a specific pad triggers the corresponding channel on the ‘electronics’. A microprocessor controls the dynamic (or volume) of each individual ‘hit’ giving a sensitivity to playing previously unheard of in electronic drums: a ‘real’ drum feel, in fact!

The Simmons SDS9 gives you the sounds, feel and control of acoustic drums plus all the sounds and advantages of electronic drums.

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Aphex Twin's Old Synth

Alex Ball

"A brief look at an early Theis Modular Synthesizer (TMSS) from around 2002. This particular unit was originally owned by Richard D James / Aphex Twin.

0:00 Intro
0:23 Aphex Twin
1:09 What is the Theis Synthesizer?
2:06 Raw Demo Sequence
3:52 Summary
4:28 Contextual Demo

Other gear used in this video:
Roland System 100m
Roland System 500
Ryk 185 Sequencer
Roland Juno-6
Roland TR-707
Roland TR-606
Roland CR-8000 (samples)
Korg KR-55B
Yamaha DX7
Simmons SDS-3
Pollard Syndrum Twin
Fairlight CMI Drum Samples
Ibanez RM-80 Mixer"

Alex Ball synth vids

See the Theis label for more.

70s Synth Strings from Italy - The Crumar Multiman-S

Alex Ball synth vids

0:00 - Opening demo
0:35 - The String Synthesizer
2:44 - Paraphony
4:11 - The Crumar Multiman-S
4:32 - Basic Strings Demo
5:42 - Low Strings Ensemble Demo
6:07 - Phased Strings Demo
6:34 - Brass
7:46 - Piano
8:17 - Clavichord
8:31 - Bass
9:01 - The Multiman
10:11 - Outro Disco Bonanza

"Today we take a look at the Crumar Multiman-S, an Italian string synthesizer from 1977.

We also look at the concept of a string synthesizer in general; an instrument that served as a stop gap, but that forged its own identity due the distinctive sound and the records they were used in.

Originally conceived by Ken Freeman, others saw the impending gold rush and got their instruments out. When I say there was a 'string synth heyday', I'm not exaggerating. Here's a list of just some of them:

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Oberheim DPX-1 Sampler Sample Playback Rack Mount Synthesizer

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

via this auction

"Large 5.5 & 3.5 Floppy drive may or may not be working. Most are upgraded to a new Floppy emulator for unlimited possibilities in sample playback. These are easily available for $80+ depending upon 3.5 or 5.5 floppy emulator sizes.

Had the 5.5 cardboard floppy protector in the drive. Excellent physical condition. Has a few built in tomes that are clear when activated using your external midi devise to key samples.

This is being sold as it du to not having correct discs to load and modern floppy emulator provide the right enhancement to this classic machine.

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The WASP - A Very British Synthesizer

Alex Ball

"The WASP is an iconic British synthesizer designed by Electronic Dream Plant in 1978.

EDP were Adrian Wagner (yes he was a relation), Chris Huggett and Steven Evans. They only traded until around 1982, but that wasn't the end of their synth story. Chris Huggett in particular has had a prolific career in the industry, founding the Oxford Synthesizer Company in 1983 and releasing the (also iconic) OSCar and subsequently (after work with Akai), he joined Novation, who are still trading to this very day.

Back to 1978, the concept of the WASP was to build a powerful, low cost synthesizer. That seemed to have worked as one of the original reviews I found uses the headline "The Synth we can all afford" but still dubs it a professional instrument.

I also found a Moog price list dated June 15th 1978 and it lists the Minimoog as $1,995, the Multimoog as $1,495 and the Micromoog as $895. Assuming they sold for about the same in the UK, the equivalent prices would be approximately £1,090, £820 and £490 respectively. The aforementioned WASP review also states that an Odyssey is still over £1,000 in 1978, so with the WASP priced at £199 this demonstrates what a bargain it was at the time.

In fact, I had a brief conversation with a friend who remembers running out to buy it the moment he heard about it in 1978 and he still has his. It was also the first synth of Dave Stewart and Nick Rhodes among others.

In this video I breakdown its features and use it to make a short track.

0:00 - Intro
0:42 - The WASP
2:07 - The Keyboard
2:59 - The Oscillators
3:40 - Noise
4:03 - The Controller Oscillator
5:06 - The Filter
6:08 - The Envelopes
6:30 - LINK
7:11 - Internal Speaker
7:32 - Demo Track
9:21 - Outro

Gear used:
EDP WASP (1978)
Simmons SDS-3 (1978)
AMS DMX 15~80S (1978)
Roland CR-78 (1978) samples

Some original brochure scans stolen from the wonderful Retro Synth Ads blog:
http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com"

Alex Ball synth vids

Roland SVC 350 Vocoder | Where You Lie

Published on Apr 1, 2020 Alex Ball

See the Behind The Mix walkthrough below.

"In 1979 Roland released one of the most famous vocoders of all time, the VP-330, but some may not realise that it had a lesser known sibling; the SVC-350.

The 350 is essentially the same vocoder found in the 330, but in rackmount format and without the synth parts. That said, it does have some unique features that don’t appear on the 330.

The 350 went on being made quite late into the 80s and the serial of this particular unit dates to July 1985 which ties in with Roland’s move towards rack mount and module-based gear at that time.

Here’s a 1980 article on “The Roland Rack”: http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com/201...

SVC-350 features: Starting on the left there’s a microphone input section (xlr and jack) which is the modulator and then an instrument or guitar input section that acts as the carrier. The Guitar input also has a “harmonics” knob to balance the incoming sound.

Your modulator and carrier then run through the 11-band vocoder that has 11 corresponding sliders that can boost or cut that particular band to sculpt the sound. These are labelled “voice character control”.

There’s then a balance knob to blend between the direct modulator signal and vocoder as well as quite comprehensive outputs and remote (footswitch) controls for different live or studio applications.

In also has the classic Roland stereo ensemble.

My original intention was to do a talkthrough of its features and also compare it to my Seekers Voice Spectra vocoder which I absolutely love. I started trying out some test sounds for that video and was laying them down and multi-tracking for comparisons and basically I wound up making a whole track so, I decided to follow where that was going and abandon the original talkthrough idea.

There is already a talkthrough video here anyway: https://youtu.be/cOO6xTXTeiA

At the very start of the demo you actually hear a Juno and Seekers Voice Spectra (a bit weird I know, but it was intended as a comparison and this video unfolded in an ad-hoc manner). From 28 seconds we overdub with the SVC-350 and you can hear its mellower sound which compliments the more crystal-like Spectra.

From about 41 seconds I ran a Roland System 100m through the 350 with its own noise generator as modulator and an oscillator as a carrier which gave a slightly unusual texture to the ostinato I’m playing (controlled by the SH-101).

From around 55 seconds I tried a lower part singing an alternative melody and used a sawtooth from the Sequential Pro~One. I also ran a Sequential Drumtraks through the 350 as the modulator with a guitar as the carrier. The cymbals with the guitar created some particularly interesting sounds I thought (heard on the downbeat of every other bar).

As a contrast, in the middle things go acoustic in terms of voices and guitars. I quite like that moment as it’s as though we come out of electronics and into more natural sounds.

Gear / Sounds used:

Roland SVC-350 Vocoder (1979)
Seekers Voice Spectra Vocoder (1999)
Roland System 100m (1979)
Roland SH-101 (1982)
Roland Juno-6 (1982)
Sequential Circuits Pro~One (1981)
ARP Odyssey Mark II 2813 (circa 1976)
Musicaid Simmons SDS-3 (1978)
Sequential Circuits Drumtraks (1984)
Roland TR-606 Hi-Hats (1981)
Alvarez Baritone Acoustic
Squier Jagmaster Vista (1997)
AKG C414S
Stagg SDM-50
G-Force Software MTron Pro (Flutes)
G-Force Software VSM (Solina)
Spitfire Audio Joby Burgess Percussion (Orchestral Snare / Rain Sheet)
Fairlight CMI III Drum samples (end solo only)


Mixed by Jakob at Sonic Peak Studio.

In fact Jakob has done a walkthrough of the mix of this track:"

Behind The Mix : "Where You Lie" by Alex Ball

Published on Apr 1, 2020 Sonic Peak Studio

"In this video I'll take the viewer through most of the work that went into creating this mix and master. It'll also form the basis for future videos in the series.

1:15 Playthrough with soloing and un-grouping
5:30 Basic EQ details
9:58 : Parallel Compression - more on that later
11:56 : Compression/Limiting/Transient Designing/Clipping
17:33 : Vokal Processing
18:34 : De-essing
18:43 : Dynamic EQ
19:32 : EQ
19:39 : Limiting
20:01 : Bus Compression/Limiting vs "Normal" Compression/Limiting
20:54 : Acoustic Guitars, bussing and processing
21:39 : Send/Returns
21:55 : A Word of Warning....
22:35 : Parallel Compressor
22:45 : Chorus
24:34 : Tal Chorus demo using acoustic guitars
25:10 : Waves Doubler
26:50 : Short Reverb
31:24 : Long Reverb
32:48 : Automation of Reverbs
36:27 : Delay
38:16 : Mastering"

Origins of a Legend - The Simmons SDS-3 Drum Synthesizer from 1978

Published on Feb 28, 2020 Alex Ball

"A look at the original Simmons Drum Synthesizer, the SDS-3 from 1978.

This instrument was built by Dave Simmons when he was working for a company called Musicaid in the late 70s and it served as the precursor to famous SDS-V with its distinctive hexagonal pads that cropped up on many hit records in the 1980s.

Free sample pack: http://bit.ly/SimmonsSDS3

Thank you to EvilDragon for scripting the Kontakt patches

Check out Simmons Museum which is a great online resource on the Simmons story: https://www.simmonsmuseum.com/

Here's the 2017 interview cited in the film: https://drummagazine.com/dave-simmons..."

Additional Alex Ball posts

SDS Digital Melisma Percussa LHAND Mode

Published on Feb 3, 2020 freshnelly

"This is the long-awaited Percussa tutorial video! I'm certain that there's been some head scratching out there so hopefully this clears things up some. It's really quite simple and if not, then it's a lot of fun to use!
Just gotta know some of the basics ;)"

SDS MIDI Merge Build 3x3 Arduino-based

Published on Oct 24, 2019 freshnelly

"At last, I got around to making a MIDI merger!
It did take 4 days of programming and even after filming this video I found 3 more bugs (well during the video as they always show up then!)

It's a nice little unit with Clock routing, channel re-defining, 3 way keyboard split on each input, up to 10 user configurations can be saved, Input to Output blocking of transport messages, Program changes, and CC's.

The SPLIT is the really cool part as instruments (PC) can be assigned to each region, note offsets (start note) per region, any channel, any output per region, and a 0 to 14 note upward overlap setting. One SPLIT can be assigned to each input so theoretically, you could have 3 splits fanning out to 9 synths.

The output drive is 25mA so hard wire splitting between 2 MIDI synths is easy. I have tried 3 but you get one that's a pig and it's game over ;)

I will be posting the .ino, 3D Print .stl, and some diagrams & data on parts etc. It's really simple as there's hardly any parts.
The OLED is i2c (wire) 128x32 chinese type.

The whole thing is guitar pedal powered but also runs for a long time on a 9 volt battery... well several hours, not really sure

Links:
Program:

http://www.freshnelly.com/midimerge/M...

3d Print files (obj & stl):

http://www.freshnelly.com/midimerge/3...

Info & manual (doc):

http://www.freshnelly.com/midimerge/S..."