Kiwi-106: Sound Demo 2 (HD)

Published on Feb 6, 2014 Syntegrator·368 videos

"What happens when a Kiwi-106, Packrat Dave, Syntegrator and the immensely riff-tastic Andrew Colyer get together late one Sunday night after the 2014 NAMM show has finally closed? Witness the results, if you dare... ;-)"

All parts here.

Kiwi-106: Firmware Upgrade Wizard

Published on Jan 29, 2014 Syntegrator·364 videos

"Late Saturday night, down at NAMM 2014, Syntegrator and Packrat Dave forgo hanging out with the gang partying at the Hilton in order to... Upgrade the firmware of his Kiwi-106!

Hey, we did say we were nerds in the last video... Look at this video as the proof! ;-)"

All parts here.

The Packrat's Juno-106 Arrives at NAMM

See the update in this post.

Packrat's Patches: The Conversion

Published on Jan 23, 2014 Syntegrator·362 videos

"Recorded in the final hour before I packed up the gear for the 2014 NAMM show, here is the conversion process for getting Juno-106 patches into the Kiwi-106 format."

You can watch all parts of the service performed on Dave's Juno-106 here.

Update: and apparently this is now a NAMM post. :)

Namm 2014 Part 1 1

Published on Jan 23, 2014 Syntegrator·363 videos

BTW, the series of videos linked above is as extensive as it gets for synth repair. Highly recommended if you are interested in what goes into keeping our vintage synths alive.

Happy New Year! The Year in Synths 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a busy year it has been in the world of synths.

This is going to be one doozy of a post, so bear with me. This post is a review of the year in synths for 2013. We begin with Tributes to Those We Lost This Year, followed by New Manufacturers & Makers, Older Manufacturers Added to the Site, New Gear Announcements, Top 10 Posts by Traffic,  My Standout Posts for the Year, and finally This Years' Synth Events. I did my best to keep things as short and concise as possible.

Let's begin with the hardest part of the post.

Tributes to Those We Lost This Year

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer
Lou Reed RIP
RIP Dick Raaymakers aka Kid Baltan
RIP George Duke - DreamWeaver
RIP Ralph Dyck, Sept 28, 1941 – May 20, 2013
RIP Ray Manzarek

All missed and never to be forgotten. Take a moment to remember them.

------

New Manufacturers & Makers

Starting last January, I decided to keep a running list of every new manufacturer and maker introduced to the site during the year.  This is something I haven't done before and I thought it would be interesting to see how many there were in the year.   It's easy to focus on the big synth announcements throughout the year, but what about all the new makers and brands? I shouln't have to go considerably into the significance of new designers on the scene, so I'll just say two things regarding them.  One, the number of new makers is a direct reflection on the interest in our scene, and two, these are the creators of new gear which directly translate into new designs not previously available to us.  Think about that for a moment.  These are makers and designs that did not exist before.  They are part of our synth history.  So what is the total count of new synth designers for the year? A whopping 113. Think about that a bit. One hundred and thirteen new synth designers and brands this year alone.

Here they are (note a handful date back to 2012, but 2013 marked their momentum and availability):

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Packrat January 2014

via The Packrat on Facebook

"The Packrat comic strip for the first Keyboard Magazine of 2014! Thanks to Jeff Shea for help with the idea, based loosely on (his) real life. The eyeball didn't pop all the way out. No, it wasn't Jeff's eyeball; he was the Packrat in this scenario!"

KIWI-106 Upgrade for the Roland Juno-106 Now Available

via Kiwitechnics

"It's been a long two years to keep things quiet, but it's time for Kiwitechnics and Psicraft Designs to let everyone in on the big big secret: Kiwi-106 is now shipping! Guided by such gear luminaries as Dave Lovelace (the creator/author of Keyboard magazine's Packrat comic) and the YouTube channel Juno-106 expert Syntegrator, Kiwitechnics and Psicraft have brought this beloved synth classic out of the 80s and put it where it belongs: The heart of your 21st century studio. An expanded synthesis architecture with dual envelopes and multi-waveform LFOs is only the tip of the creative possibilities that any Juno-106 can now possess. Comprehensive routing of controls, high resolution parameters, and eight groups of 64 patches expand the Juno-106's synthesis capability many times over, but this we're not done yet. Add in a six voice polyphonic 124 step sequencer and a pattern generator to the mix and Juno-106 becomes a new class of instrument. Now design and implement a totally modern MIDI implementation suited for modern stage and studios and provide a free Vyzex professional instrument Mac/Windows editor/librarian along with the price of admission and what do you have? Modern Brains and Vintage Brawn, baby. The Kiwi-106!"

"The Kiwi106 Upgrade features:-
•512 Patches can be stored and edited. 128 Factory Patches are preloaded
•Patches are stored in Flash memory so no battery is required.
•Bend Controls (DCO, VCF Bend, LFO Mod Level & Portamento) are stored with the Patch
•MidiCC & Sysex support for all parameters and Midi Sysex support for Patch Dump & Load
•NRPN & Sysex variable parameter control supports 12 bit for 4096 parameter steps
•Patch Editor Control of Parameters (PE firmware v5.2 or higher). Free PC/MAC editor is available from Kiwi-106.com
•Key Assign Modes are Poly I&II, Unison Legato & Staccato, Mono Legato & Staccato
•Pedal & Front Panel Button Note Hold modes
•Portamento in Unison, Arp & Chord modes
•DCO Key Assign Detune available in all key modes except mono
•Internal Clock that can be used to clock the Arp, Sequence and/or Pattern and can optionally generate a midi clock
•Two independent envelope generators. Each ENV Mod can select from ENV 1 or 2 and be Inverted or Normal
•Two independent Low Frequency Oscillators with 6 waveforms each. LFO2 random2 wave can be clocked from the Internal clock. Each LFO Mod can select from LFO 1 or 2. LFOs can be plus and minus base note or plus base note only. Each LFO Mod can be inverted.
•Aftertouch, Modulation Level and Dynamics via midi. Dynamics can optionally control the VCA and/or VCF. The Dynamics have been modeled on the Juno-2 with both the VCF & VCA mod turned on by default for a more natural and expressive play. This brings new life to every patch in the Kiwi-106.
•Arp/Seq/Pattern Clocks can optionally display on the KeyT LED and LFO 1 and LFO 2 clocks can optionally display on the Group lights
•Key transpose allows transposition to any key with a range of plus 2 or minus 1 octaves. Sequencer key can be shifted while playing
•Compatible midiCC control set for all Kiwitechnics products
•Comes with metal LabelCHORD MODE
•Any chord with up to 6 notes can be set and played from any keyARPEGGIATOR
•The Arpeggiator can be independently clocked from the Internal or External Clocks, LFO2, Pattern Output or midi clock divided by 3,4,6,9,12,18,24,36,48,72,96,128,144,168 or 192.
•Arp modes are Up, Down, Up and Down, Random, 0 to 3 octaves
•Arp can be Started, Stopped & Continued using Midi Commands
•Arp state is saved with a Patch. This allows the Arp to play automatically when a Patch is loaded
•Appeggiator will Output Midi DataSEQUENCER
•8 separate 124 Max step Polyphonic sequences can be created and stored
•Sequences can be edited
•Sequencer can be Started, Stopped & Continued using Midi Commands
•The Sequencer can be independently clocked from the Internal or External clocks, LFO2, Pattern output or midi clock divided by 3,4,6,9,12,18,24,36,48,72,96,128,144,168 or 192.
•Sequence state is saved with a Patch. This allows the Sequencer to load and play automatically when a Patch is loaded
•Sequencer will Output Midi Data and can have an independent midi channelPATTERN GENERATOR
•8 Pattern Generator patterns can be saved and edited. The pattern can be any length between 2 and 16 steps
•The Pattern Generator can be independently clocked from the Internal or External clocks, LFO2 or midi clock divided by 3,4,6,9,12,18,24,36,48,72,96,128,144,168 or 192.
•Pattern Generator can be Started, Stopped & Continued using Midi Commands
•Pattern Effect can be faded from no effect to full effect.
•Pattern state is saved with a Patch. This allows the Pattern Generator to load and play automatically when a Patch is loadedEDITOR
•A comprehensive editor (PC & Mac) is supplied with the upgrade and can be downloaded here. This has been developed by Psicraft under the Vyzex brand

December 2013 The Packrat Comic Strip

via The Packrat on Facebook

"Here's the December, 2013 comic! Another great year of Packratting comes to a close. I just drew an eye-popping January, 2014 comic today... 2014 doesn't even sound like a year to me... more like a model number or some kind of building address. In other news, according to this comic, I still think of Simmons drums as edgy and cool-looking. I'm old!"

November 2013 Episode of the Packrat Shout Out to Italian Fans

via The Packrat on Facebook

"Packrat and Buddy discuss the nature of synth nerdiness for the November edition of Keyboard Magazine! A shout out to all the Italian Packrat fans!"

http://umop.com

October 2013 the Packrat

via The Packrat on Facebook

"The comic for Keyboard Mag's October edition digs deep into the Packrat's psyche. Maybe a little bit too deep."

Packrat's Juno 106 - Part 29

Published on Aug 28, 2013 Syntegrator·358 videos

"In this video I complete the calibration of Dave's completely reconditioned and repaired Juno-106. Is this the end of the playlist? We'll have to wait and see... ;-)"

All parts here.

http://umop.com

Packrat's Juno 106 - Part 27

Syntegrator·356 videos Published on Aug 27, 2013

"Now that Dave's Juno-106 has been completely rebuilt, let's give it a calibration to finish the game! Here's the first of three parts that document the process... although you might need a drink or two to get through them all... ;-)"

All parts here.

The Packrat September 2013

via The Packrat on Facebook

"Keyboard Magazine's September 2013 Packrat comic strip!"

You can find more episodes on http://umop.com

The Packrat August 2013

More episodes at http://www.umop.com.

The Packrat July 2013

via http://umop.com/packrat.htm (click through for more episodes).

Packrat's Juno106 - Part 26

Published on May 18, 2013 Syntegrator·355 videos

"The complete video guide to dismantling, cleaning and final reassembly of a Juno-106 keybed.

All time lapse music is called 'Neutronium', copyright Syntegrator Music 2013 - It's one of my compositions used under permission from myself as you probably already know from the earlier videos in this playlist..."

You can find all parts here.

The Packrat - June 2013

via The Packrat on Facebook

Be sure to check out The Packrat Sampler book!

ARP 2600 on a Napkin

via The Guvnor

"Basically, my ARP 2600 has been in pieces about 10 years, since I took it apart to service it. The disaster happened when my basement was cleared out and I lost the service manual for it. The online service manuals found on the popular sites do not have the circuit/wiring diagrams for all the PCBs so mine was not included. Recently I have located my original service manual after 10 years, and I am now ready for the great 2600 rebuild and resurrection. The napkin was intended to show the years of angst through the eyes of PackRat himself when the only 2600 I had was made by Arturia!"

Get your own at AnythingNapkin.com

Lord of the Rings Meets Modular on AnythingNapkin.com

via The Packrat on Facebook

"Here's an Anything Napkin for a fan of not only the Packrat but Lord of the Rings, lightning bolts, modular synthesizers, and lots of other cool things I'm sure. What can I draw for you? I will draw anything you want for FIVE BUCKS (and up, depending on complexity). Go here: AnythingNapkin.com and let your dreams come true (on a napkin)."

Vyzor Patch Editor for Roland Juno-106 Video

Packrat's Juno-106 - Part 8

Published on Mar 28, 2013

"Now that Dave's Juno-106 has a new clip-mounted battery to power its CPU board's patch backup memory, it's time to restore the patch set we saved earlier using Vyzor Juno-106."

According to the Vyzor forum the editor is coming soon.

All parts to Packrat's Juno-106 repair here.