MOTU Releases The Bob Moog Foundation Encore Soundbank

via The Bob Moog Foundation:

"Cambridge, MA - May 19, 2015...

MOTU and the Bob Moog Foundation announce the release of the Bob Moog Foundation Encore Soundbank, a new and exciting collection of instrument and percussion sounds produced in commemoration of Bob Moog's 81st Birthday, coming up on May 23rd. In a charitable effort to raise funds for the foundation, over twenty legendary synthesists and renowned sound designers donated original samples to assist with the creation of the sound library, which offers over 2 GB of material. Now available for purchase from the MOTU website (www.motu.com/moog-encore), the library is fully compatible with any host software on Mac or Windows that supports virtual instruments, including popular DAW software such as Ableton Live, Avid Pro Tools, Cockos Reaper, and MOTU Digital Performer. All proceeds from the sale of the Encore Soundbank will benefit the Bob Moog Foundation.

The library ships in the form of a UVI soundbank that can be loaded into the cross-platform, universally compatible UVI Workstation virtual instrument player, available for free download from uvi.net. The library can also be loaded into MOTU's MachFive 3 sampler for side-by-side integration with other MachFive-compatible soundbanks. Most of the 200+ Encore Soundbank presets are scripted to include vintage Moog-style filter and envelope controls.

MOTU is proud to support the legacy of synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog and the Bob Moog Foundation's educational and historic preservation work through the funding generated by the sales of the Encore Soundbank. The following artists generously contributed to this project: Vince Clark, Al Kooper, Jordan Rudess, Suzanne Ciani, Larry Fast, Tangerine Dream (Edgar Froese / Thorsten Quaeschning), Goldfrapp (Will Gregory), Kevin Antunes, Adam Holzman, Erik Norlander, Peter Gorges, Amin Bhatia, CJ Vanston, Drew Neumann, Kevin Lamb, Dave Spiers, Jack Hotop, Jerry Kovarsky, Kent Spong, Klaus Peter Rausch, Taiho Yamada, Michael Koehler, Chris Cox, 'Magic' Dave Roberts, Marty Cutler, Marc Doty and I Monster (Dean Honer / Jerrod Gosling).

The soundbank is released in special remembrance of Edgar Froese, who enthusiastically donated sounds for the project, but passed away suddenly on January 20, 2015. His contribution to the Encore Soundbank was one of his last musical endeavors. We are deeply grateful for his generous contribution to this project. He is greatly missed.

Sounds included in the library were created using classic instruments including various Moog modulars and Minimoogs, Buchla modular, EMS Synthi A and VCS3, Yamaha CS-80, Alesis Andromeda, Sequential Circuits Prophets, Hammond B3 organ, classic Korg synths, rare Russian Polivoks, multiple theremins and effects pedals, a rare and exotic Ondioline, and an extremely rare Moog Apollo, plus much more.*

'Bob Moog's legacy touches each and every one of us every day,' said Jim Cooper, Director of Marketing at MOTU. 'Here at MOTU, we were inspired by the milestone of his 81st birthday, to pay tribute to his lasting effect on music. What better way than with kids, and supporting the work of the Bob Moog Foundation to educate and inspire them through his life's work.'

Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation, notes, 'The Foundation is tremendously grateful to MOTU and the contributing artists who have made the Encore Soundbank an extraordinary resource for musicians across genres. The funding generated from this product will allow us to expand our educational project, Dr. Bob's SoundSchool, and to inspire even more children through the intersection of science, music, and technology.'

The Bob Moog Foundation Encore Soundbank is now available for purchase from the MOTU web site for $99 (www.motu.com/moog-encore). All proceeds will be donated to the Bob Moog Foundation.

MOTU and the Bob Moog Foundation would like to extend special thanks and recognition to Erik Norlander, Arnaud Sicard, and the team at uvi.net for their invaluable assistance in producing this project, as well as to producer Nate Donmoyer who created the audio samples for the product."

M-Audio Venom 49-Key 12-Voice Synthesizer w/Built-In USB Audio Interface

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

via this auction

See this post for a review on the Venom, including an interview with creator Taiho Yamada as well as some tips & tricks. For those that want to access deeper editing on the Venom sans computer, check out the Venom iPad editor here.

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SCI Prophet 6 - Taiho Yamada Demo

"I just completed a bank of sounds for the upcoming Sequential Circuits Prophet 6. I’m not sure how many of my sounds will make it into the factory preset banks at this point, so I’ve got my fingers crossed… Either way, I’m still very happy to have been a part of this project. The Prophet 6 is a wonderful sounding synth and a blast to program! I hope you enjoy this audio demo of my work…"

Taiho Yamada was the man behind the M-Audio Venom. He also worked on the Alesis Andromeda A6.

DSI Pro 2 - Taiho Yamada Demo

"This is a small selection of sounds from a bank that I just completed for the Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2. At the time of this writing, the Pro 2 has not yet been released. I hope my sound submissions eventually make it into the factory preset banks. Thanks to everyone at DSI for allowing me to contribute!"

Taiho Yamada worked on the Alesis Andromeda A6 and was the man behind the M-Audio Venom (click through for a review, interview and tips & tricks on the Venom).

M-Audio Venom 49 Key Analog Modeling Synthesizer

via this auction

"Awesome Bit Of Info:
The Designers Used Some Various Eurorack Modules As Source Sounds For This Synth.
This Is The First Synth That Has Some Harvestman Zorlon Cannon Sounds Included....

'Rather than rely on digital synth modeling, M-Audio has used raw samples of the original instruments to give the Venom its voice. Taiho Yamada, the designer of the Venom, wheeled out dozens of specimens from his vast synth collection (and called in a few favors from friends) to gather samples. These samples of vintage synths — Moogs, Arps, Oberheims, Rolands and the lot — form the foundation of the Venom’s sonic palette. Yamada’s team also sampled some bizarre old hardware. A Harvestman Zorlon Cannon, which employs the same kind of tone generator used in the Atari 2600, was used to achieve some chiptune flavors. An old, tube-driven Hewlett-Packard test oscillator yielded a pure and glassy sine wave. A circuit-bent Roland TR-808 supplied some crunchy drums.'"

Check out my review and interview with Taiho Yamada here. You can find an M-Audio Venom iPad editor here for TB MIDI Stuff, and a wireless one here for TouchOSC and The Missing Link.

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M-Audio Venom Virtual Analog Synth

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction
Perfect Circuit Audio (RSS)

You'll find a Venom iPad editor here You'll find an extensive review and interview with Taiho Yamada, the man behind the Venom, here. Don't miss the tips and tricks section at the bottom of the review.

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M-Audio Venom Synth Keyboard

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

via this auction

Side note: check out my review and exclusive interview with the Venom's product manager Taiho Yamada here.  You'll find some trips and tricks.  Also see this post for some alternate color designs of the Venom and a link to Taiho's Venom blog where you'll find additional tips.

via the listing:

"New and unopened M-Audio Venom Synthesizer/Midi controller/USB Audio Interface...



49 full-size keys with velocity
12-voice polyphony
Features 512 single patches and 256 multi-sound patches
41 oscillator waves and 53 drum sounds sampled from vintage analog and digital FM synths and drum machines
Three oscillators per voice
FM, sync, and dynamic wave-shaping
Three LFOs and three AHDSR envelopes
Four-part multitimbral
Four independent MIDI-syncable phrase sequencers
Two global bus effects and one inset effect per part
Classic arpeggiator
Tap tempo and top-panel BPM control
Built-in USB 2.0 2-in, 2-out 24-bit audio interface
Microphone, instrument, and stereo line level inputs
MIDI in and out via 5-pin DIN connections
Large custom LCD display
Four rotary encoders for editing and performance control
Assignable pitch bend and modulation wheels
Vyzex Venom software editor for Mac and Windows included"

Cool cat not included.

M-Audio Venom in Black

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

via this auction

Don't miss my M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada. You'll find some tips & tricks & an iPad editor. Note the iPad editor is currently mapped for the Missing Link, but the template can be ported.

Update 12/4/12: I just realized this could be a prototype color mentioned in this post. The purple one just went up here.

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VenomControl Editor and Control Surface for the M-Audio Venom

VenomControl (Editor and control surface for the M-Audio Venom synthesizer)

YouTube Published on Aug 22, 2012 by june74tube

"More info at: http://www.fabriziopoce.com/VenomControl.html

Editor and control surface for full integration of the M-Audio Venom synthesizer in Ableton Live (Max for Live required). The package provides tools for preset storage&recall, automation, full-parameter access synthesis and preset morphing, integrated in Live's native GUI.

It requires a Max for Live license in order to be used."

If you have an iPad, check out my editor here. Also see my M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada including a tips and tricks section. And finally, see the M-Audio Venom blog for more.

Related: MTribe Monotribe Editor

MATRIXSYNTH Turns 7!!!

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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NAMM 2012: M-Audio Venom Booth Pics

A couple of pics of the Venom at the M-Audio booth at NAMM. Below is Venom Project Manager Taiho Yamada. It was great to finally meet Taiho in person. Be sure to see my M-Audio Venom review and interview with Taiho. You'll find a tip and tricks section. Also see: New M-Audio Venom Blog & Alternate Designs of the Venom.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope it's a great one! 

Putting this post up between the cross over as I need to sign off for the festivities!

First of all, I'd like to say THANK YOU! for a great 2011! It was a busy one here in MATRIXSYNTH land.  The site had a record breaking 18755 posts (including this one) for the year.  That's an average of 51.38 posts every single day (not a single day missed, BTW).  I'm hoping to actually bring that number down a little. Before anyone freaks out, I'm not planning on changing much.  I plan on keeping MATRIXSYNTH exactly the same with the exception of raising the bar on what goes up just a little.   I think enough change happens in life and it's nice to have some constants you can fall back on.  I'm hoping MATRIXSYNTH continues to be one for you.   It's odd to think it's only been six and a half years!  I hope to keep the site going for many more to come.   As for bringing the number of posts down and a little history on the site...

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New M-Audio Venom Blog & Alternate Designs of the Venom

Taiho Yamada, Product Manager for the M-Audio Venom.

"My dad is cool.

One day when we were getting out of the car to visit my grandparents, my dad and I heard the sound of someone playing a synthesizer from an open window of a nearby apartment building. The sound twisted and morphed and made music in ways I’d never heard before. My dad asked me if I liked it and I said, 'Yes.' That one word changed the course of my life.

A short time later, I had my first analog synthesizer. My dad bought it for me, but I’m pretty sure that he secretly played with it after I’d gone to bed. It was a budget synth, but designed by the master himself, Bob Moog. On this instrument, I learned about Oscillators, Filters, LFOs, Envelopes, Pitch Wheels, Mod Wheels, Portamento, and Sync. I was nine years old."

Taiho Yamada, M-Audio's Venom Project Lead, has started a new blog on the Venom. Currently there are two posts up. One with an interview of Taiho and one with alternate designs of the Venom, pictured. Did you know the original color was going to be purple? According to the post it was a color not often used in the synth world and would have made the Venom stand out. "The problem with this purple was that the iridescence in the paint caused it to turn pink under certain lighting conditions, which we felt would not really help us reach our target audience."

See the direct links above for further details in each post. You can find the main feed for Venom posts on M-Audio's main blog here.

Finally, don't miss MATRIXSYNTH's exclusive review and interview with Taiho Yamada which includes a tips and tricks section as well as a custom iPad editor.

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M-Audio® Venom: Multi-tracked

YouTube Uploaded by avid on Sep 9, 2011

"A nearly six minute-long audio demo using the M-Audio Venom synthesizer as both a synth and an audio interface, with Pro Tools and Ableton Live."

Catch my review and interview with Venom Product Manager Taiho Yamada here. Also see this post for my iPad editor including video. Funny coincidence is I was planning on playing my Venom this afternoon/tonight. I can't wait after watching this video.

M-Audio Venom Synth 49-Key Synthesizer Keyboard

via this auction

" 12-voice, 49-key virtual analog synthesizer
Features 512 single patches and 256 multi-sound patches
41 oscillator waves and 53 drum sounds sampled from vintage synths
Three oscillators per voice
FM, sync, and dynamic wave-shaping"

If you have an M-Audio Venom, be sure to check out my iPad editor (video here) and my review and interview with Taiho Yamada here.

M-Audio Venom synthesizer

via this auction

Don't miss my M-Audio Venom review and interview with Taiho Yamada. You'll find links to my TouchOSC iPad template for the Venom including video.

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M-Audio Venom Videos by filoswerk

YouTube Uploaded by filoswerk
Don't miss my M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada

Playlist:
M-Audio Venom Controls
Venom Multi Part Program
M-Audio Venom Pitch Bend Range.mp4
Pro Tools playback M-Audio Venom

M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada

A quick note: This review is long. You can jump to sections that interest you vs. reading it straight through if you prefer. This review focuses primarily on the synth engine for one single patch on the Venom. The Venom supports Multi mode with up to four multitimbral parts. Not only can you layer sound programs but you can set global parameters for the set. Be sure to see the Multi mode section of "Tips and Tricks via Taiho Yamada" at the end of this post. Taiho is the Lead Project Manager of the Venom and served as my contact during the review. I want to thank Taiho for his help and enthusiastic generosity. He is a true synthesist and the Venom is his baby.

Synth connections: Taiho previously worked at Alesis on the Andromeda A6. The DSP developer of the Venom worked on Radikal Technologies' Spectralis and the Accelerator. People that contributed to the presets via sound design include Richard Devine, Francis Preve, Mark Ovenden (Avid's AIR Instruments, ProTools VIs), Joerg Huettner (Waldorf, Access, Alesis), and of course Taiho Yamada.

*Don't miss the "Q&A with Taiho" section towards the end of the review. Also keep an eye out for "Taiho's Tips and Tricks" throughout the review in grey. You can find the consolidated list below the Q&A section.

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