Today marks the seven year anniversary of MATRIXSYNTH! The original matrixsynth.com actually launched way back in October of 1997 as MATRIX SYNTH. I never took it down, BTW.
Click here to see it in all it's old school glory. If you thought there was too much green on this site, just check that baby out. BTW, check out the manufacturers list under MFG. I stopped updating it about the time I started this site in 2005. You can see what modular manufactures, and of course others were around back then. It's an interesting look back in time... Kind of why I started this version of the site actually. I'll get to that further below.
Last year I skipped the site stats and kept the anniversary post relatively short. I used to post stats for the site and a general blurb on what makes the site tick, but it began to feel redundant so I skipped it last year. Well, I kind of missed it, and I know some of you enjoy the stats thing, so I'm bringing it back. And CatSynth did it for their six year
anniversary post yesterday, so there you have it. Actually I was planning on including stats before I read that post, but I do like CatSynth. The site has grown quite a bit and we have a ton of new readers who don't really know the background of MATRIXSYNTH so I thought I would share some of that as well. I've also had a few people ask me to do personal interviews. I always turn them down as I do my best to keep myself out of the site so I don't ruin it for anyone. It's kind of like the whole Wizard of Oz thing. Enjoy the Oz in MATRIXYSNTH, and don't let the wizard ruin it for you is my only advice. That said, I decided this year to reveal a little more about my synth history than I normally do. Don't worry though after this post that's it. This site is about the gear only. I see it as my job to bring it to you unbiased and get the heck out of the way. Seriously though, I really do my best to present what is out there free of bias for you to consume and form your own opinion. I do this for three reasons; one, out of respect for the person that created the content, two, so I don't accidentally prevent you from getting your own experience out of the post, and three, because of how much goes up on a daily basis - it saves you and me time.
But, in the anniversary and New Years posts I do tend to make up for my lack of words big time, so bear with me or just skip to what you like.
Before I begin with the stats I do want to give a big thanks to everyone that visits, supports and contributes to the site. THANK YOU!!! It really is a tremendous amount of work, so all the kind words and support make a huge difference. Every single post you see here is hand posted. There is no automation. The site takes roughly four to eight hours on average a day (closer to eight) and sometimes up to ten hours. This is every single day, including weekends. Out of the seven years running the site I have only missed one day (by accident - more on that below), and the only day I take off is Christmas day when I put up only one post, which surprisingly can be torture in not posting. The posts you see here are a combination of stuff I find out there on my own and stuff people send in, which is quite a bit. The site started as a hobby and has fortunately grown into a small business with the help of sponsors. Note sponsors are always on the right. In the history of the site there has never been a paid post on the main site, and if there ever is, I will be sure to call it out in the post. That said, THANK YOU SPONSORS! It's one thing if the work only consumed my time, but it in turn consumes my family's time, so every little bit helps. THANK YOU! You make the site possible!
First the stats!
We still haven't reached world domination. Everything you see with a shade of green is a visit to the site. Check out Africa! The few in white mean no visit came in. The top map is for the seven year history of the site and the bottom is for this last year. Click on each for the full size shots. As you can see they are pretty much the same. Still no hits from North Korea.
On the other hand we had 122 visits from Syria within the last year along with traffic from other war torn countries. Incredible! Please keep safe out there! You are in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.
The top 10 visits by country:
1. United States 982,943
2. United Kingdom 258,070
3. Germany 183,138
4. France 168,649
5. Canada 142,553
6. Italy 109,605
7. Japan 84,202
8. Sweden 76,948
9. Australia 73,881
10. Netherlands 72,680
And the overall stats:
Source: Google Analytics for the year (July 20, 2011 - July 20, 2012):
6,364,538 pageviews
2,838,084 visits
972,065 unique visitors.
Source: Site Meter for the life of the site:
32,734,610 pageviews (18,557 average per day)
15,658,114 visits (7,822 average per day)
Google Analytics (started April 5, 2006):
30,795,628 pageviews
14,313,210 visits
4,258,879 unique visitors.
Note unique visitors can be a bit misleading as I believe it's based on the individual browser and cookies vs. IP Address or individual, so for people checking in on multiple devices and even multiple browsers on the same machine, each one counts as a unique visitor. The numbers are likely lower.
Unfortunately I do not see a top posts for the last year in Blogger so we will have to go with the top posts for all time:
New Schmidt Analog Synth Debuts at the Musikmesse
Apr 5, 2011, 22 comments 13,412 Pageviews
RIP Mr. Tsutomu Katoh - Founder of KORG
Mar 15, 2011, 6 comments 12,542 Pageviews
New Tom Oberheim SON OF 4 VOICE
Jan 25, 2011, 10 comments 7,811 Pageviews
M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada
Mar 23, 2011, 6 comments 7,186 Pageviews
New KORG Monotribe In the Flesh
Apr 4, 2011, 26 comments 7,149 Pageviews
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Update 12/4/12: I just realized this could be a prototype color mentioned in this post. The purple one just went up here.
via this auction
VOYAGE TO NEW SONIC FRONTIERS
Miniraze is a powerful yet approachable wave-slicing virtual synth that offers you sounds for the future, inspired by the past. Featuring MOK's patented wave-slicing engine, Miniraze gives you the ability to splice waveforms into utterly unique sounds you won't hear anywhere else, while the straightforward East Coast-style layout makes it easy to craft complex tones quickly. Create anything from warm, retro analog vibes to aggressive, futuristic sounds that have literally never been heard before.
via this auction
First the stats!
On the other hand we had 122 visits from Syria within the last year along with traffic from other war torn countries. Incredible! Please keep safe out there! You are in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.
