Kinektron K-DSC-1 Digital Synth + Sequencer Cubes

"The K-DSC-1 Digital Synth + Sequencer is a self-contained music production machine with unique physical gestural parameter manipulation, a ‘cool lo-fi’ yet feature rich approach, and an interaction\pattern sequencing methodology developed by musicians, engineers, and designers with decades of collective experience performing and recording with sequencing synthesis devices.

While the K-DSC-1 has a familiar sound source, the General MIDI sound set, it is utilized in a new way – providing a ‘simple yet refined’ toolset and sonic results that are valued in the modern genre-bending music performance and production world. Stellar when paired with ‘stomp box’ delay, loop or distortion effects, the K-DSC-1 allows musicians to quickly work up exciting musical sequences with up to 8 parts, chosen from over 128 sounds including an entire drum kit.

The Kinektron Synth Cube System

The Kinektron Cube Synth System is a compact, portable, ‘semi-pro’ music production and sound experimentation kit. In addition to the K-DSC-1 described here, Kinektron will be introducing additional modules on a regular basis – with several currently in development. Upcoming modules include the K-ASC-1 Analog Synth Cube, the K-APM-1 Analog Percussion Module, the K-DSP-1 Digital Signal Processor, and a MIDI interface\audio mixer cube, the K-MAMC-1 MIDI & Audio Mixer Cube. The K-MAMC-1 will allow syncing of Kinektron Synth Cubes with standard MIDI equipment.

K-Konnect ‘Open Protocol’ Interface

At Kinektron, we believe strongly in transparent and open practices as much as possible. For this reason we have developed an Open Protocol, K-Konnect, which is based upon an industry standard device communication protocol. With auto-negotiation, bi-directional, master-less communication, and other great features, this protocol is what connects the various cubes together. We will be providing example code to allow Arduino, Parallax Propeller, and similar micro-devices to interface and communicate with K-Konnect devices.

Product Features

Self-Contained general MIDI synthesizer engine and 16-step step sequencer
Similar in programming workflow to classic step sequencer based equipment such as x0x boxes and similar analog or early digital step sequencers
Well integrated gestural controls enabled by built in accelerometer
Unique, Infrared programmability - program your K-DSK-1 from any web enabled computer or mobile device which supports java and a minimum refresh rate*
8 Patterns at a time
32 Voice Polyphony
Pattern Save\Recall
Several Programmable Parameters for each step
MIDI sync and other MIDI features will be available via
Expandable via future cubes
No menu items deeper than 2 button presses.
Easy color-coded interface is intuitive to learn with little study
Web based pattern sharing and creation with our unique 'light based' pattern programming protocol, K-IRP.
Hidden game will become playable as more modules are collected (and firmware updates are distributed)"

http://www.kinektron.com/products/kinektron-synth-cubes/

Quad Nand Mood Cube Oscillator synth

via this auction
"An ambient light source and square-wave nosie maker.

The synth is based around a 4093 quad nand gate CMOS chip.
Capable of hideously beautiful beepy noise.
The 4 cascaded oscillators interact with each other to create a relentless range of synth tones.
The power starve dial adds further modulation and manipulation of the oscillations.

The noise-making circuit is built into a Mood Cube I got from RED5.
The Mood Cube lights up using 3 LEDs. I hacked the circuit to affect the rate of the light cycle.
I also added a voltage starve for this circuit too. The reason being this; when the LEDs are on full power,
they drain power from the 4093. This in turn adds further lovely modulation to the tones.

The controls are as follows:
* 4 dials on top to control the rate and tone of the oscillations.
* 1 dial on the left side for the 4093 power starve.
* 2 dials on the right side. 1 for LED rate and 1 for LED intensity.
* 2 switches on the front. 1 momentary push button and 1 toggle switch.
* 1 output jack located on the back side.
* 1 on/off switch and 9v battery holder on the underside of the cube.


The cube fits well into the palm and can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for harsh, grinding noise terrorism and pretty colours.
It's powered by a single 9v battery which is housed in the bottom of the cube.
There's a 6.35mm jack socket for hooking up to your amp/mixer/effects.
There's no internal speaker!"

Mood Cube Quad Nand Synth

YouTube via TheZombiest | January 27, 2011 |

"A 4093 quad nand synth built into a mood cube from Red5.
The 4093 is 4 cascaded oscillators. It has a voltage starve dial with an LDR in parrallel so the LEDs of the mood cube will modulate the oscillations. I didn't expect when I first made the circuit that the mood cube LED circuit would affect the 4093, but it does. I added a voltage starve to the LEDs and a cycle rate dial."

Dirty Electronics Twin ICA Synth Cube

Dirty Electronics weekend at the ica
YouTube Uploaded by anatbendavid on Feb 23, 2011

via this auction 2nd video at the auction and previously posted here.

"Dirty Electronics Twin ICA Synth Cube from the makers of the Mute Synth

The ICA Synth is a feedback based noise / rhythm instrument, it was commissioned and designed for a week long residency / workshop / installation / performance at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London as part of the Live Weekends : Notation and Interpretation event in February 2011.

This special edition features 2 ICA boards linked together and housed in a wooden cube. Cube is made from high quality Ash plywood with rubber feet and battery compartment in the base.

Each board features 2 oscillators, feedback, low pass filter and a sequencer/pulser, touch controls and 6.35mm jack output.

The 2 boards are linked together by a ribbon cable, the sequencer circuits interact creating more complex rhythms.

Requires 9v battery.

Only 100 of the ICA Synth boards were made and only 4 of this cube version by Stu Smith (A.S.M.O)

ICA board designed by John Richards ( Dirty Electronics )"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Percussa Synthor Digital Modular Synth Demo #1

Published on Aug 16, 2015 Percussa AudioCubes

"Quick demo of the new Synthor digital modular synth for the Percussa AudioCubes.
https://www.percussa.com/2015/08/16/h...

Synthor runs on Macs and PCs as a standalone audio application and communicates wirelessly with the AudioCubes hardware interface. When cubes are placed next to each other, new patch connections are created, and moving cubes closer and further away change parameters such as modulation depth. Synthor is a free download for all AudioCubes users! Learn more at http://www.percussa.com/"

Some additional info via the Percussa News Letter:

"You can see different synth cubes in action: red/orange cubes are wavetable oscillators, purple one is a step sequencer, green ones are LFOs (frequency and amplitude modulation) and the cyan one is a toggle noise cube (white noise with variable frequency). The wavetable oscillator cubes are set to do frequency modulation, the step sequencer does frequency modulation, as well as the noise cube. There is also a waveshaper and state-variable filter (SVF) which are not demo'ed in this video but will be in upcoming videos.

The Synthor synth runs inside MIDIBridge so there is no additional software needed beyond our MIDIBridge software. There is an audio settings control panel now in MIDIBridge which lets you select the sound card driver to use (CoreAudio, ASIO, etc) as well as the sample rate and buffer size to use. The processing in Synthor is all done at audio sample rate, so you have really fast and smooth modulation possibilities and low-latency.

In Synthor, you first assign a synthesizer module to a cube (oscillator, LFO, noise gererator, etc) and decide what other cubes it can modulate. As soon as you’ve done that, you can start putting cubes together to create a modular synth patch.

As soon as cubes are placed next to each other, a connection is made between the synthesizer modules linked to the cubes. So for example, if you configured two cubes to be oscillators, one oscillator will start to modulate the frequency of the other oscillator (you can also set it to modulate amplitude if you prefer). It works the same way when you place multiple cubes together: even if you are only placing one cube next to a group of cubes, you will be creating multiple connections! All without needing real hardware patch cords. Try doing that in a traditional hardware modular synthesizer with only two hands.

Synthor also automatically scales parameters as you move cubes closer together: If you have two oscillator cubes next to each other, the modulation depth will change depending on the distance between the cubes. This is done completely automatic without you having to configure anything. Parameters can also be set using sliders in the Synthor user interface if you need to set them to specific values.

Last but not least, the signal output of each of the synthesizer modules is automatically connected to the brightness of the colours of the cubes. This way you can see how fast your LFOs are running for example, or you can see the steps of the step sequencer as they play back.

I’ve also built a default patch into Synthor / MIDIBridge, such that when you start the software and connect your cubes, they are all set into Synthor mode and a synthesizer processor has been linked to each cube (oscillator, noise, etc). This way you can immediately start making sound with the cubes without having to configure anything (don’t forget to set up your sound card - you only need to do this once). If you customize the default setup of Synthor you can save your settings and load them using the LOAD/SAVE buttons in MIDIBridge.

Bonus tip: if you go play live with Synthor, you can load different settings files for different songs, and each of those settings files can assign the cubes to different synthesizer modules! This is like having 10 different modular synth setups with you which you can instantly switch to within a few seconds. Impossible to do with a traditional hardware modular synth.

I need your feedback on the above video

I’ll be adding more synthesizer modules to Synthor over the next month. I have plans for granular processors, mixers, delays, etc. It’s going to be super exciting working on this. Please reply to this email and send me your feedback about the above video!"

You can contact Percussa at https://percussa.com/contact

Cube Synth Pro - DeepStrings II | Endless Delay | Weird Pad

video by virsyn

"Additive Synthesis can't give you the nice warm sound of vintage gear ?
Look and hear for the opposite to be true.

Cube Synth Pro gives you the ability to mimic the behaviour of the sound characteristic of vintage polyphonic synths by modelling the slight deviation from perfection which are inherent of analog systems."

Cube Synth Pro - Endless Delay
video by virsyn

"What's a synthesizer without full fledged Effects on board ?"

Cube Synth Pro - Weird Pad

video by virsyn

"Cube Synth Pro allows complex spectral sound transitions due to its unique frequency domain filter techniques."

Vince Clarke & THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SYNTH GURNING COMPETITION

Vince Clarke demonstrates Synth Gurning

Published on Jul 17, 2013 erasureinfo·63 videos

"Erasure's Vince Clarke demonstrates the art of 'Synth Gurning' as part of his introduction to The First International Synth Gurning Competition which is currently running on his website here..."

And a new Synthe Meme is born. I do think the seals have him beat, and the sea, definitely the sea.

Richard EIS demonstrates Synth Gurning


Details: http://www.vinceclarkemusic.com/interact/synthgurning.php

"We all know about ‘Air Guitar’ (a form of movement in which the performer pretends to play rock or heavy metal-style electric guitar) and ‘Beatboxing’ (a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, using one’s mouth, lips, tongue, and voice).

But what about ‘Synth Gurning’? Synth Gurning is defined as the art of producing synth sounds or effects using just the voice whilst pulling a funny face.

In order to give this little known artform the attention and respect it rightly deserves, we’re launching the worlds first International Synth Gurning competition..."

Update: the first user submission I've seen:

Gurning the Cube

Published on Jul 19, 2013 cscairney·13 videos

"My submission for the International Synth Gurning Competition. Enjoy."

Quad Nand Mood Cube Oscillator synth

via this auction

video at the auction and previously posted here.

"An ambient light source and square-wave nosie maker.

The synth is based around a 4093 quad nand gate CMOS chip.
Capable of hideously beautiful beepy noise.
The 4 cascaded oscillators interact with each other to create a relentless range of synth tones.
The power starve dial adds further modulation and manipulation of the oscillations.

The noise-making circuit is built into a Mood Cube I got from RED5.
The Mood Cube lights up using 3 LEDs. I hacked the circuit to affect the rate of the light cycle.
I also added a voltage starve for this circuit too. The reason being this; when the LEDs are on full power,
they drain power from the 4093. This in turn adds further lovely modulation to the tones.

The controls are as follows:
* 4 dials on top to control the rate and tone of the oscillations.
* 1 dial on the left side for the 4093 power starve.
* 2 dials on the right side. 1 for LED rate and 1 for LED intensity.
* 2 switches on the front. 1 momentary push button and 1 toggle switch.
* 1 output jack located on the back side.
* 1 on/off switch and 9v battery holder on the underside of the cube.

The cube fits well into the palm and can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for harsh, grinding noise terrorism and pretty colours.
It's powered by a single 9v battery which is housed in the bottom of the cube.
There's a 6.35mm jack socket for hooking up to your amp/mixer/effects.
There's no internal speaker!"

Quad Nand Mood Cube Oscillator synth CIRCUIT BENT

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
YouTube Published on Jul 1, 2012 by TheZombiest


via eBay UK

"An ambient light source and square-wave nosie maker.

The synth is based around a 4093 quad nand gate CMOS chip.
Capable of hideously beautiful beepy noise.
The 4 cascaded oscillators interact with each other to create a relentless range of synth tones.
The power starve dial adds further modulation and manipulation of the oscillations.

The noise-making circuit is built into a Mood Cube I got from RED5.
The Mood Cube lights up using 3 LEDs. I hacked the circuit to affect the rate of the light cycle.
I also added a voltage starve for this circuit too. The reason being this; when the LEDs are on full power,
they drain power from the 4093. This in turn adds further lovely modulation to the tones.

The controls are as follows:

4 dials on top to control the rate and tone of the oscillations.
1 dial on the left side for the 4093 power starve.
2 dials on the right side. 1 for LED rate and 1 for LED intensity.
2 switches on the front. 1 momentary push button and 1 toggle switch.
1 output jack located on the back side.
1 on/off switch and 9v battery holder on the underside of the cube.


The cube fits well into the palm and can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for harsh, grinding noise terrorism and pretty colours.
It's powered by a single 9v battery which is housed in the bottom of the cube.
There's a 6.35mm jack socket for hooking up to your amp/mixer/effects.
There's no internal speaker!"

Percussa presents: A conversation between 2 AudioCubes

Published on Jan 24, 2016 AudioCubes by PERCUSSA

"In this video we show the new SOLO mode in synthor, our digital modular synthesizer which integrates seamlessly with the wireless audiocubes interface. Using this mode it's possible to interact with multiple cubes which are each linked to a different synthesizer module inside synthor. The cubes sense distance to your hands, allowing you to control 4 synth parameters independently, all wireless. In the video we use 2 oscillators, the green cube is linked to a sine osc while the red cube is linked to a square osc. For each cube, two of the 4 faces are linked to pitch and amplitude."

https://percussa.com


PERCUSSA SYNTHOR MODULATIONS #1 CAP

Published on Jan 24, 2016 AudioCubes by PERCUSSA

"Gestural sound modulation and patching using distance and rotation
https://www.percussa.com/2016/01/12/g..."


wireless audiocubes visualization in synthor #2

Published on Mar 12, 2016 AudioCubes by PERCUSSA

"in this video we show the new network visualisation feature of the wireless audiocubes, together with synthor, our new digital modular synth which is included for free with every audiocubes system."

"For those of you who don’t know SYNTHOR yet, it’s a modular synthesizer application we're working on for the AudioCubes. It lets you patch simply by placing wireless AudioCubes next to each other. By changing the distance between the cubes, the amplitude of the modulation signals between the modules can be changed. This allows the user to patch wirelessly and change synthesis parameters simultaneously, simply by moving cubes relative to each other. SYNTHOR is currently in BETA and available for free download on our website.

The cube network visualization feature which we integrated into SYNTHOR lets users visualize the location and orientation of the AudioCubes in the network. As you can see in the video below, each time a cube is added or removed from the network the changes are automatically reflected in the visualization window.

We're planning a patch recall feature, such that if you load a preset file in MIDIBridge containing all SYNTHOR settings, the connections between the cubes and distance will also be recalled, which lets you continue with your modular synth patch and cube setup where you stopped the day before, a feature that’s not or rarely available on traditional hardware modular synthesizers."

Vintage Synth Scans

Click here for pdf scans of various synth brochures and articles. I tried to list all models below. Apologies for the long list but if you are searching for this stuff via your favorite search engine, this is the only way it'll come up, and finding that oddball rare scan can be absolute gold.


Roland
JX-8P and PG-800, JX-3P and PG-200, Jupiter-6, Juno-106, Synth Plus-60 (HS-60), SH-101 and MGS-1, EP-50, MPU-101, MPU-103, TR-707. TR-909, TR-606, TB-303, CR-8000, CR-5000, SBX-80, MSQ-100, MSQ-700, JSQ-60, BOSS Dr. Rhythm DR220A and DR-220E, Alpha-DRUM DDR-30/PD-10/PD-20, Alpha Juno-1 and Alpha Juno-2, DEP-5, DG CMU-810 Compu Synth, Juno-106, Juno-6, Super JX JX-10, MKS-100, MKS-50, MKS-7, MKS-70, SBX-80, SDE-3000/1000/2000, TR-505, Octapad PAD-8, TR-727, Jupiter-8, MC-8, System 700, CPE-800, VCA-800, System 100M, System 100, Jupiter-4, Promars, SH-2, SH-09, CSQ-600, CSQ-100, SH-1, SH-5, SH-2000, SH-7, SH-3A, SH-1000, VP-330, RS-09, RS-505, SA-09, SIP-300, SIP-301, SPA-240, SPA-120, SPV-355, SVC-350, SBF-325, SDD-320, SPH-323, SMX-880, SRE-555, RE-502, DC-30, DC-20, CR-78, CR-68, TR-66, MKB-1000, MKS-30, MKB-300, MKS-10, MKS-80, MPG-80, JX-3P, MC-4, MM-4, MC-202, MIDI-DCB, MTR-100, CV Interface, Piano Plus-400 HP-400, Piano Plus-300 HP-300, RE-150, RE-501, RT-1L, MPU-104, MPU-105, Cube-100 (CK-100), Cube-60 (CK-60), Cube-40 (CK-40), KS-2, KS05, KS-6, KS-11, KS-1000, TB Series Carrying cases, PSA AC Adapters, KS-1100, SC series soft cases, AB series resin-molded cases, MR-1, RH-10, DP-2/6, FS-1/2/3, M-16C/64C, BR-2/3, RD-1000, MKS-20, MKB-200

Yamaha (note the documentation adds the - in the descriptions. So you CS70M in the title, but CS-70M in the body). I thought that was interesting.
CP-30, CP-20, GS-1, CP-10, CP-11, CS-70M, CS-40M, CS-20M, MQ802, CP-80, SK-50D, SK-15, CS-15D, CE-20, CS-01, CS-15, CS-5, SK-30, SK-20, SK-15, SK-10, GS-2, CE-20, MA-10, MM-10, MH-10, KS-50, KS-100, E1005, E1010, MQ802, CP-80, CP-70B, CP-35, CP-25.

Korg
PS-3300, PS-3200, PS-3100, PS-3010, PS-3040, PS-3050, PS-3001, VC-10, MS-10, MS-20, MS-50, SQ-10, MS-03, MS-02, MS-01, 800DV, 700S, 900PS, M-500SP, PE-2000, PE-1000, KA-180, FK-3, FK-1, V-C-F, Mr. Multi, SE-500, SE-300, EM-570, SP-2035, SM-20, Mini Pops 120W 120P, Mini Pops 7, Mini Pops 45, Mini Pops 35, Mini Pops Junior, Korg Quartz, WT-10A, GT-6, RT-10,

Vintage Synth Story - magazine scans
Crumar DS2, Sequential Circuits Pro-One, RSF Kobol, Roland TB-303 and TR-606, TR-808, PPG Wave Computer, PPG Wave 2, Oxford Synthesizer Company OSCar, EMS Polyvoks, Oberheim OB-X, Octave-Plateau Voyetra Eight, EMS Polysynthi, Moog Minimoog, LinnDrum, Korg PS-3100, Korg MS20, EMS Synthi AKS, ELKA Synthex, ARP Sequencer, ARP Quadra, Korg Polysix, Korg PS-3200, Moog System 3P, Korg Trident mkII, Moog Liberation, Memormoog, Mutron Bi-phase, Oberheim 2 Voix, Oberheim Xpander, PPG Wave 2.3, Roland CR-78, Roland VP-330, RSF PolyKobol, Moog 960 and 961, Sequential Circuits Prophet 10, Vox Super Continental, Yamaha CS-15, ARP, Chroma, Sequential Circuits Drumtraks, EMS Vocoder 5000, E-MU Drumulator, Korg Story, Yamaha CS70M, Korg, Synton Syrinx, Roland MC-4, Oberheim 6 voix, Simmons SDS V, Simmons SDS.3, PolyKobol RSF, Keyboards Synthe Story Part 1 and Part 2.

Audiovisual Modular Synth: Synthor Demo 3

Audiovisual Modular Synth: Synthor (Demo 3, Part 1)

Published on Nov 4, 2012 by Percussa

"Synthor is a hardware and software modular synth consisting of 8 audiocubes and software for mac and PC. Watch all four videos!

Green cubes are oscillators, red cube is the stereo out, purple cube is an envelope generator and amplifier, and the blue cubes are step sequencers.

The blue cubes have the capability of triggering and controlling cubes 2 steps away, the other cubes can only send their signal to nearby cubes. The black lines indicate outputs (opposite sides are inputs).

Learn more about audiocubes and synthor at http://www.percussa.com/

Get pricing and shipping info and ask questions at http://land.percussa.com/how-to-buy-audiocubes"

Audiovisual Modular Synth: Synthor (Demo 3, Part 2)


Audiovisual Modular Synth: Synthor (Demo 3, Part 3)


Audiovisual Modular Synth: Synthor (Demo 3, Part 4)

Published on Nov 4, 2012 by Percussa

My Favorite Retro Synth - The ConBrio ADS 200

"THE ADS (Advanced Digital Synthesizer) 100 was a high end (there was no given price when the 100 system was introduced) analogue synthesiser, probably most well known for providing the sound effects for 'Star Trek' TV series. The first model 100 system was a dual manual splittable keyboard (microtonally tuneable) ,a video display for envelopes, 'control cube' disk drive with computer hardware, and a multi-coloured buttoned front panel for 64-oscillator additive synthesis and real-time sequencing."

Title link takes you to more on the ADS 200 on Synthmuseum.com. Both the ADS 100 and ADS 200 were digital. Only two of the ADS 200 were ever made and one sold for $30,000.

Update: I remember hearing how the ConBrio ADS 200 would look home on the original Star Trek series. Well, according to 120 Years, it's bigger predecessor, the 1978 ADS 100 was actually used in Star Trek the TV series.

Update: I should change the tagline of this blog to "The Snopes of the synth world, debunking Urban Synth Legend." See the comments for much more. The ADS 100 was not around when Star Trek the TV series was aired. I'm going to shoot 120 years an email on this to see if they know something we don't. Thanks all.

Update: Looks like Retro Synth found the answer to our little mystery. The ADS 100 was used in Star Trek, The Motion Picture. Now that sounds more familiar to me, but who knows, it's all a blur. Too many synths, too little time... : ) As for my favorite digital synth, why it would also be the Wave... But, it would be the Crimson Wave with matte finish. The ConBrio is my favorite Retro Synth, focus on Retro. I had a TV that looked just like it when I was a kid. Warm memories... : ) image via wikipedia.

The Crimson Waldorf Wave

Update on the original Star Trek via the comments: ""Star Trek burst upon T.V. screens in the summer of 1966. The guiding genius behind this massive effort was Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry recruited a hand-picked technical crew to create the incredible series which became a legen in its own time. The challenge of finding and creating the multitude of sound effects was of particular interest since no television series of this magnitude had ever been attempted before. Virtually all the sound effects were created exclusively for the television series, i.e.: the pneumatic doors of the Enterprise were actually the sound of an airgun played in reverse. Spock's viewing machine was in reality the thump of a torpedo firing pin played backwards.

The final result is a unique library of brilliantly futuristic sound effects that were created principally by Jack Finlay, Douglas Grindstaff and Joseph Sorokin. Grindstaff is one of Hollywood's finest sound editors and the recipient of many awards and is currently the department head of Lorimar Post-Production. Sorokin also works at Lorimar and is the sound editor of "Knots Landing." Jack is now retired.

Just imagine what they could have created for Star Trek if they had access to today's high-tech electronic equipment!""

percussa wireless audiocubes digital modular synth demo 2

Published on Sep 8, 2015 AudioCubes by PERCUSSA

"In this video a wireless AudioCube is linked to a Noise processor in Synthor, inside MIDIBridge. The frequency and amplitude of the Noise processor can be controlled using two of the four AudioCube sensors.
https://www.percussa.com/2015/09/08/G..."

Some additional info via the Percussa newsletter:

"In the video above, you’ll see a Macbook laptop running my latest Synthor build (email me if you’d like to try the latest version). The laptop is connected to an AudioCube PRO via USB, which is the base station for the AudioCubes PRO network (you can use up to 16 cubes wirelessly). The AudioCube we hold in our hands is fully wireless and communicates with the base station cube. It’s all plug-and-play, no drivers necessary, and you can also hot plug the cube network, and swap cubes around if you like (any cube can become the base station cube, all without restarting software or stopping or starting audio).

In the video the wireless cube is linked to a Noise processor in Synthor, inside MIDIBridge. The Noise processor generates white noise, but with variable frequency and amplitude. The sound is passed through a reverb section which is now also built into Synthor. The frequency and amplitude of the Noise processor can be controlled using two of the four AudioCube sensors. The other two are unused in this demo, but I have some exciting plans to map those to two other parameters of the processor :-)

What’s cool about this demo is that you can see how gestural you can get with this simple setup and the variety of results you can get. You can also see the green bar graphs on the laptop in the back which show the distance sensing in real time for the 4 sensors of the AudioCube. All you need to replicate this setup is a Mac or PC laptop, two Wireless AudioCubes PRO and our free MIDIBridge software (includes Synthor). You don’t need any other software or hardware."

Skull-Face 4093 oscillator synth

via this auction
"SKULL-FACE QUAD NAND SYNTH.

An ambient yet horrific light source and square-wave nosie maker.

The synth is based around a 4093 quad nand gate CMOS chip.
Capable of hideously beautiful beepy noise.
The 4 cascaded oscillators interact with each other to create a relentless range of synth tones.
The power starve dial adds further modulation and manipulation of the oscillations.

The noise-making circuit is built into a Halloween skull toy.
It was supposed to have a flickering red LED in it, but I swapped it for another, more exciting lighting circuit,
This circuit has several different single-colour options as well as a colour cycling mode.
The controls are as follows:

4 dials on top to control the rate and tone of the oscillations.
1 dial for the 4093 power starve.
2 switches; 1 momentary push button and 1 toggle switch to start the noises.
1 momentary push button to cycle through the LED colour options.
1 output jack located on the back side.
1 on/off switch on the underside of the cube.
A PP3/9v battery holder on the back.


The SKULL-FACE fits well into the palm and can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for harsh, grinding noise terrorism and pretty colours.
It's powered by a single 9v battery which is housed in the holder at the back of the SKULL-FACE.
There's a 6.35mm jack socket for hooking up to your amp/mixer/effects.
There's no internal speaker!"


YouTube Uploaded by TheZombiest on Nov 26, 2010

'a lovely 4093 quad nand synth inside a cheapo halloween skull.
4 cascaded oscillators and a voltage starve as standard. A colour changing LED which can be switched on and off and a trigger button and switch for making the noises happen."

Musikmesse: πλoytec (Ploytec) πλ2 (PI L Squared) Demonstration

Musikmesse: πλoytec (Ploytec) πλ2 (PI L Squared) Demonstration (20130411) from ICON on Vimeo.
Musikmesse: πλoytec (Ploytec) πλ2 (PI L Squared) Demonstration (20130411)

Anyone know what this is? That's a Yamaha KX25 MIDI controller so I'm guessing it's software.

Update via Bob Borries in the comments: "It looks to me like the cube plugged into the midi port is a tiny analog hardware synth. It's powered by the voltage in the midi cable and has one audio output. Amazingly small, yet has a big sound. I wonder how you edit the sounds for the 64 user presets?"

Update2:

MESSE13: Ploytec Pi L Squared (Pi Lambda Squared)

Published on Apr 12, 2013 FrequencyTestSystem·72 videos

"This Synth is already a favorite of mine! Nice raw 8bit-ish sound. Crazy idea.

I will do an english subtitle in the next few days. analog OSCs, digital musical filter, analog HF-Signal lilter, duo phone, Square waveform with variable width."

Update3:

MESSE13:KeyFob Sized MIDI Synth with Analog Filter

Published on Apr 14, 2013 sonicstate·493 videos

"MESSE13:KeyFob Sized MIDI Synth with Analog Filter Ploytec Pi L Squared - 2 Voice MIDI Powered Synth"

Update4: via Slujj in the comments.

MESSE13: Ploytec πλ² ( pi lambda squared a.k.a. Pi L SQUARED) German presentation

Published on Apr 13, 2013 FrequencyTestSystem·73 videos

"Ploytec πλ² ( pi lambda squared a.k.a. Pi L SQUARED) German presentation video by developer Markus Medau, himself."

iPad Music App: Cube Synth

Published on Oct 10, 2013 musicgearvideos909·162 videos

"This is great for creating random presets. The results are amazing.
Go here for review and info: http://synthuniverse.com/cube-synth"

iTunes: Cube Synth - VirSyn

iPad Cube Synth Demo

Published on Jun 2, 2016 Israel A.

"Cube Synth is an app for producing music and sound effects."

iTunes: Cube Synth - VirSyn

Percussa Cubes basics

Percussa Cubes basics from Livid Instruments on Vimeo.
"Impressions and demonstration of using the Percussa Audio cubes with the tutorial Ableton Live set. The center cube detects the faces of the other cubes to send MIDI notes to Live to change loops. This video was originally made for an article for createdigitalmusic"


Percussa Cubes with Resonant Synth from Livid Instruments on Vimeo.
"Using the distance sensors on the audio cubes, I'm controlling synth parameters with one cube to "shape" the sound with my hands, then using another as an "exciter" to make the sound happen by waving my hands in front. Much as a violin needs a bow to excite the string to vibrate, and a flute needs air to make its sound, this synth I programmed in Cycling '74's Max/MSP (based on CNMAT's "resonators" object), relies on a virtual breeze from my hands to make sound."


Scratching with Percussa Cubes from Livid Instruments on Vimeo.
"I set up four loops in an audio looper program I've been working on for future release by Livid Instruments. I'm using the speed of my hand gestures as detected by the four distance sensors on the audio cube to change the playback speed and direction of the loops, similar to scratching a record."

Luna cube

YouTube via grandtippler | January 09, 2011 |

"http://www.etsy.com/listing/65614630/ The Luna Cube is a small hand held synth that makes a large range of electronic noises."

"The Luna Cube is a small hand held synth that uses light to make a large range of electronic noises.

The light sensor inputs allow you to get a full range of sounds very quickly, they work as fast a you can move your fingers across the sensors.

Main controls:
Pitch: the pitch control allows you to make, 127 tones and 127 white noise variations using the right hand light sensor as an input. For crazy effect use a small LED torch that has a strobe function.

Chopper: The chopper control changes the frequency of the sound up and down. The speed of these changes is dependent on left hand side light sensor. The more light that enters the sensor the faster the sound moment, until the point where sound is chopped up.


The output is via a 3.5mm stereo socket which can be plugged into earphones, a computer sound card, mixer or amplifier.

I hope that gives you a basic idea about how the Luna Cube works, if you have any questions please feel free to convo me.

Happy noise making,
RareBeasts"

mini-modular squarewave digital synth

YouTube via lacolumnadurruti | October 27, 2009 | 3 likes, 0 dislikes
via this auction
"the technological terror is a one-off, cmos-based, digital synth. there are nine patchable modules that include a number of single oscillators, a dual input oscillator, two synchronized oscillators, a 4-stage shift register (summed output), a resonant low-pass filter, simple arpeggiator, two external inputs (one for low level instruments [e.g. guitar, microphone, etc] and one for other square wave devices like atari punk consoles and photo-theremins), a 4-channel mixer, and a master ouput/volume.

this clip demonstrates the 4 of the 6 single oscillators, the dual input oscillator, the two sync'd oscillators, and the 4-channel mixer.

no external effects were used. output goes directly into a roland 15x cube practice amp."

mini-modular squarewave digital synth (demo 2)


mini-modular squarewave digital synth (demo 3)