Lost Woods - Zelda Ocarina of Time - Modular Synth - Stephen Black

video upload by Stephen Black Music

"I programmed my synths to play The Lost Woods theme from Zelda. Most of the work is done with the , Korg MS-20, Moog mother 32, Knobula Poly Ciinematic.. If you like my work and wish to collaborate or contact me, the best place to do so is through my instagram @supertramp162.
https://linktr.ee/supertramp162"

Kokiri Forest - Zelda Ocarina of Time - Modular Synth - Stephen Black

video upload by Stephen Black Music

"I programmed my synths to play The Kokiri Forest theme from Zelda. Most of the work is done with the , Korg MS-20, Moog mother 32, Knobula Poly Ciinematic.. If you like my work and wish to collaborate or contact me, the best place to do so is through my instagram @supertramp162.
https://linktr.ee/supertramp162"

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal - Modular Synth - Stephen Black

video upload by Stephen Black Music

"I programmed my synths to play Michael Jacksons Smooth Criminal. Most of the work is done with the Erica Synths tube VCO, Korg MS-20, Moog DFAM and mother 32, Knobula Poly Ciinematic and a Doepfer VCA. If you like my work and wish to collaborate or contact me, the best place to do so is through my instagram @supertramp162."

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - Modular Synth - Stephen Black

video upload by Stephen Black Music

"I programmed my synths to play Bohemian Rhapsody. Most of the work is done with the Erica Synths tube VCO, Korg MS-20, Moog mother 32, Knobula Poly Cinematic. If you like my work and wish to collaborate or contact me, the best place to do so is through my instagram @supertramp162.
https://linktr.ee/supertramp162"

The Veronicas - 4Ever - Modular Synth - Stephen Black

video upload by Stephen Black Music

"I programmed my synthesisers to play The Veronicas - 4Ever. Most of the work is done by the Korg MS20, The Erica Synths fusion Vco, the Mother 32 as the melody and main clock source with the percussion from the DFAM ran through a tape machine.
If you like my work and wish to collaborate or contact me, the best place to do so is through my instagram @supertramp162. https://linktr.ee/supertramp162"

The Electronic Music Synthesizer in Mid-Twentieth-Century Science Fiction

Back on October 18, 2012 a post went up here on an article written by Nicholas C. Laudadio (of Life of Saturdays) on the role of electronic music, and electronic instruments in early Science Fiction. That article was only available to students with access to JSTOR.

Nicholas just wrote in to let us know the article is now available to everyone on academia.edu. You can find it here. Note you can scroll down to read when you get there. You do not need to login or create an account unless you want to download the PDF.

On a side note be sure to check out Life of Saturdays on Bandcamp, for Nicholas' latest release.  It's kind of cool to hear music from the author of the article.

From the article:

"'Music is born free; and to win freedom is its destiny. In the new great music, machines will also be necessary.' —Ferrurico Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music (5)

“'The growth of musical art in any age is determined by the technological progress which parallels it.' —Joseph Schillinger, 'Electricity: A Musical Liberator' (26)

Introduction.

When the ships descend on Devil’s Tower in the climactic moments of Stephen Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the humans greet the aliens not with tanks and howitzers as in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), but with a simple five-note motif plucked out on an Arp 2500 electronic music synthesizer.

Atop its formidable white-and-black dais, the large modular synthesizer not only dominates the scene visually, it soon proves itself to be the most powerful tool the humans have for communicating with the alien visitors. The synth literally establishes first contact and maintains it..."

RA Sessions: Octave One - A Better Tomorrow / The Forgotten

Published on Jul 15, 2015 Resident Advisor

Spot the synths.

"One of techno's best live acts bring the heat.

This might not seem significant on the face of it, but Octave One are the only act we've had on Sessions who wanted us to use their first take. (In fact, we had to gently persuade them to record a second.) You see, Lenny and Lawrence Burden believe that live performance is about singular moments. They've spent the last 15 years establishing a reputation as one of techno's preeminent live acts, and in the club you don't get second chances. This attitude is reflected in their setup: the Burdens are lifelong devotees of hardware. They develop their technique on synths, controllers and effects as a musician would with an instrument. They perform using a nest of gear that wouldn't look out of place at NASA, and insist on travelling with it all no matter which continent they're booked on.

The Octave One shows also have the advantage of being able to draw from 25 years of timeless techno. The Burdens were part of Detroit's "second wave," and have been releasing music on labels like Tresor, Transmat and their own 430 West since 1990. They're best know for "Black Water," a poignant classic that eventually sold over a million copies following its release in 2000. There have also been four Octave One albums, the latest of which, Burn It Down, was released last month through 430 West. With all of this in mind, we were honoured to welcome Lenny and Lawrence to our London HQ, where they performed slamming versions of two tracks from their new record, "A Better Tomorrow" and "The Forgotten."

Production credits:
Director & Editor - Patrick Nation
Camera - Sim Higginson, Stephen Dunn, Guy Clarke, Debbie Butts, Patrick Nation
Sound Engineers - Rich Cufley (Sound Services), Guy Clarke
Colourist - Adam Clarke (Absolute Post)"

Happy New Year From MATRIXSYNTH! - A Look Back at 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

I want to start by thanking everyone that comes to MATRIXSYNTH and helps make it what it is - the readers, the supporters, and of course all the sponsors on the right.

THANK YOU and have a GREAT 2015!!!

This site is a labor of love and a ton of work. This site is ultimately meant to be an testament to everything synth in the making. We have over nine years of daily synth history captured here, 119,983 published posts. I can't wait to see what the future brings us in 2015!

That said, here are a few interesting bits from 2014 in the longest post of the year. ;)

CLICK FOR MORE »

A FUNKY CELEBRATION - APPETIZER

YouTube Uploaded by blackdiamondsberlin on Mar 2, 2011

"This is a short solo-action excerpt by The Black Diamonds.
Recorded at Chester's Music Inn (Berlin), 06.11.2011
Solo artists: Sabine Wenzl (sax), Sebastian 'Ray' Strahl (keys)
Check out the Black Diamonds on their next concert: 12.03. 2011, Chester's Music Inn (Berlin)
The Black Diamonds - feinster Funk und Soul aus Berlin
www.theblackdiamonds-music.de"

Via Stephen:
"this is "The Black Diamonds" - a Funk & Soulband from Berlin / Germany.

There's a nice video with some serious synth-madness on a Virus TI Polar"

NAMM & NOT NAMM - New Products on the Synth Front

Well, it's that time of year again. Keep an eye out on the NAMM label (added to top right menu) for everything NAMM and more. More in that anything new will get the label whether it's shown at NAMM or not. It's about new gear. Updates in this post will be preceded in red. Some already in below. See "The NAMM List!" link under the Twitter, Facebook, and RSS labels on top of the right to get back to this post later.

(A note on the top site menus: I removed the iPhone and iPad labels as they go up in posts every day now so you can find them there. eBay links are on the right, so I removed it as well.)

That said, the following are some of the things to look out for. If you have any NAMM info feel free to comment and/or send it in. If I missed anything, let me know! If you are going to NAMM, feel free to send pics and video in.

On the list:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Gorillaz to Make First iPad Only Album?

via MTV
"Though the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am has been touting the wonders of recording on an iPad, Albarn said he was keen to record the world's first iPad-only album."

There have been plenty of iPad only tracks, but an entire album? I forget if any have been made. If you know, feel free to comment or shoot me an email.

Update: We might have found one. iMatik previously posted here on March 15, 2010. Thanks goes to soh_la in the comments for the reminder. Note it obviously depends on how it's defined. iPad vs. iPhone, use of any external samples and/or mixing, etc...

Update on iMatik: "[We] did use an analog bus compressor and plugins on my iPhone album, my main rule was that all sounds originate from the phone, but that I could process them a little if needed..."

Update via UK in the comments: "The first iPad album is 'The iPad Album' released worldwide by Mark Jenkins in October 2010. This was pretty widely publicized at the time and the album performed live in Holland.

The CD has been available since then internationally through

www.groove.nl

and through

www.markjenkins.co (not dot com. - this is a dot co domain)"

Update: new post on MATRIXSYNTH-C

Update: the Gorillaz iPad only album is titled THE FAll.

"iPad Applications Used: Speak It! / SoundyThingie / Mugician / Solo Synth / Synth / Funk Box / Gliss / AmpliTube / Xenon / iElectribe / BS-16i / M3000 HD / Cleartune / iOrgel HD / Olsynth / StudioMiniXI / BassLine / Harmonizer / Dub Siren Pro / Moog Filatron

Produced by Gorillaz and Stephen Sedgwick. Recorded by Stephen Sedgwick and Gorillaz, except track 11 with additional recording by Mike Smith. Mixed by Stephen Sedgwick at Studio 13. Mastered by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road Studios. Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd / Copyright Control."


YouTube via gorillaz | December 22, 2010 |

"Phoner To Arizona the first track from 'The Fall'
Head over to http://gorillaz.com from the 25th to hear all 15 tracks!
Happy Crimbo! x"

Sound Pages via Ron

Click here for a number of SoundPage Flexidiscs (flexi disk) sent my way via Ron aka nonbeing. Enjoy. The following is the full track listing:

DISK 1 (One)
1. “Cranes In Their Nest”
Arranged, performed, and produced on synthesizer by Isao Tomita (with Goro Yamasuchi on Shakuhachi)
Soundpage No. 11 (August 1985)
Flip Side: Blank

2. “My Wife with Champagne Shoulders”
Composed, performed, and produced by Mark Isham
Soundpage No. 14 (November 1985)
Flip Side: Blank

3. “Moon Machine”
Jean-Michel Jarre
Soundpage No. 18 (March 1986)

4. Flip Side of 3: “An Introduction to the Kurzweil 250”

5. “Sometimes . . . Not Always”
Ralph Grierson
Soundpage No. 20 (May 1986)

6. Flip Side of 5: “The Kurzweil 250 Rock Block – A Demonstration”
Original music composed and performed by Paul Heckert live to 2-track master using Kurzweil 250 presets only.

7. Synth Sketch for “Varying Lengths”
Lyle Mays
Soundpage No. 22 (July 1986)

CLICK FOR MORE »

Stephen St. Croix

Tim sent me a link to this Bode Vocoder up for auction along with a link to Stephen St. Croix's website. I didn't realize who he was and that he had passed until I got to the bottom of the gear page.

"Stephen St. Croix – aka Steven Marshall – professional rock-and-roll producer and guitarist, and inventor of equipment for the pro audio industry, died earlier this year of melanoma. Almost everyone has been exposed to his work through music or movie soundtracks in the course of his influential career in professional audio.
In the early 1970s, Stephen founded Marshall Electronic, under whose auspices he designed the Marshall Time Modulator, a cutting-edge audio effects device, which became a bestseller in the recording industry and was also used to create Darth Vader’s voice and many other movie special effects. He worked on numerous landmark recordings, including Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” and “The Secret Life of Plants,” having invented the device used to record the sounds of plants. Stephen also invented the ‘Revectorization’ process that he used to restore the soundtracks for motion pictures including “Gone with The Wind,” “Wizard of Oz,” “Easter Parade,” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Furthermore, he re-mastered recordings of a number of the masters, including Bob Marley, Patsy Cline, and Jerry Lee Lewis, to name a few."

You can find more about his contributions at the bottom of his gear page. It appears they are auctioning off a number of items, and will be selling more.

Bode Vocoder.

Update: Note the huge black synth over his left shoulder is a Black Oberheim Eight Voice.