Serge for Sale

You might have seen this one over at Analog Industries. Blogger had a major burp today so I haven't been able to put this one up until now. So... Looks like Carbon111 is selling his Serge panel. That's blasphemy in some circles. Title link takes you to more shots. I don't think the ant is included.

Details
1) ADP - 4each 1/4" to Bannana adapters
2) PRNV - A Preamp and Envelope follower, 2 linkable sections
3) PCO - Precision Oscillator with lots of modulation i/o, very stable,
linear and exponential FM available
4) RING - Ring Modulator, voltage controlable, very quiet
5) EQ - Resonant EQ, A fixed filter bank with boost, cut *and*
adjustable resonance
6) AMX - 4x1 audio mixer with 3 attenuators
7) UAP - Universal Audio Processor - dual VCA, Panner, crossfader,
voltage controlled AM
8) 2RVG - Dual Random Voltage Generator - smooth, stepped voltage and
random trigger sources (x2 of each - not linked) Voltage controllable rates.
9) QUAN - Quantiser. Either standard scale or special scales (see catalog).
10) SPRC - Scaling Processor. Voltage mixing, scaling, inverting and
attenuation, 3 sections

Send offers to carbon111 if interested. BTW, he is also selling a Polyevolver rack in very good condition for $900 + shipping.

Update via Carbon111 in the comments:

"I'm selling A Serge panel, not all of them ;)

I've still got my Animal Panel and my first custom panel...I'm basically looking to get a Serge TKB. "

Ok, there is now balance back in the world. : )

Tali and an MMM

via Carbon111 where you'll find another shot and the latest track in progress.

Update: also see:
Serge is cool for cats
Tali and Serge
All posts featuring Carbon111

http://mattsonminimodular.com/

Carbon111 Studio Revamp

You can find the details and more images at carbon111.blogspot.com.

Lost Terrain - Carbon111

"Lost Terrain contains three aural journeys powered by the mighty Serge Modular Synthesizer. These pieces are composed from self-generating modular synthesizer patches with a little manually-played synth added for good measure. These are organic, synthesized soundscapes designed to evoke lost landscapes, either "passing or past", nevermore to be seen again by the human eye."

You can download the tracks on Carbon111.

Also see Shadow

Update: note on Lost Terrain: "One interesting thing to note for people curious about the Creature/Gator M-odule pairing, the song Artic-11/25 was made entirely with only these two M-odules."

The Mattson Mini Modular on Carbon111.com

http://carbon111.com/mmm.html

Carbon111 - Stealing The Sun

A new release by Carbon111 (click for more info on the release). Note this also went up on MATRIXSYNTH-C. Posting here for the synths. See this post for what goes up where and why.

Update: Worth noting is Steve Turnidge of SYNTHWERKS mastered the release.

"Silver Thread - Ensoniq Fizmo and Waldorf Q provide backing pads, Korg Oasys is bass and string sounds while Digidesign's Boom provides percussion.

Breathing Machinery - Korg Oasys does Piano and Wave Sequencing, Weird Pads are NI's Absynth and, except for some clickety bits from Digidesign's "Boom", all the Drum Sounds and Rhythm Beds were done in NI's Absynth as well.

Subterranean Bathers - Ensoniq VFX is the voxy pad, Korg Oasys is piano, drums and everything else.

The Initiation - Lead Drones are from the SCI Prophet 600, Piano is Nord Stage, Pads are provided by Nord Wave, and Metallic Stabs and Drums are Korg Oasys.

Luna - The Nord Stage is on "distorted lead", Nord Wave on "grungy Santur" and Oasys on drums and "ambiance".

Walden - Waldorf Microwave XT is synth lead, Nord Stage is all pianos, Absynth4 and Alchemy provide ambient beds and Korg Electribe ES-1 is drums.

Stealing The Sun - All pianos and synth sounds are Nord Stage, drums are Korg Electribe ES-1.

The Big Room - Sync lead is Nord Wave, Grungy synth organ is Nord Stage, Pads are Korg Oasys and Drums are Digidesign's Boom.

Strangeness - Drums are provided by Korg Electribe ES-1, everything else is Waldorf Q.

No Time - All sounds provided by the Korg Oasys."

Carbon111 on AnythingNapkin.com

via James Maier on Facebook.

"Dave nailed it! :D"

http://www.carbon111.com
http://anythingnapkin.com

Spot the synths...

Luna - Carbon111

"The Nord Stage is on 'distorted lead', Nord Wave on 'grungy Santur' and Oasys on drums and 'ambiance'. The vox is all me and, hopefully, I'm not too rusty."

You can find the track here. It reminded me a bit of Brian Eno actually.

Carbon111 has been on a roll lately. Be sure to see his free all Serge release, Lost Terrain, and his latest commercial release Shadow.

PNW Synth Gathering 2010 Pics

flickr set by matrixsynth (click here for a full screen slideshow - 127 photos)

It was a great event this year. Speakers included John Bowen with the Solaris, Dougcl with a Buchla 200e, Aaron of Analog Bytes with the Atari Pokey module, Carbon111 with the Yamaha VL1, David Skinner with new modules from Synthesizers.com and the Korg MicroSampler, Scott Jaeger of The Harvestman, Scott Rise of Division 6, John L Rice and his massive modular, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular, Sonja of flight of harmony, James Husted of Synthwerks, Computer Controlled with the Bitchen Sync and other gear, Jeff Sanys with the OLPC, Lorne with various noise makers, and Dana Countryman with the Ondioline and his DIY pitch controller based on the Ondes Martenot.

This was also the last PNW Gathering to be hosted at the Renton Technical College by our gracious host John Marshall. Carbon111 and Laura picked up the cake below for him.

Videos of each talk will follow through the week. I took 23.7 G of pics and video. Big thanks to John L Rice for his 16 G memory card! And Jarett for loaning me his PC to move pics and vids off my memory card.

The Performance Music Systems Syntar

Click here for a post Carbon111 just put up on The Performance Music Systems Syntar, on Synthwire. Realize, this was the first Keytar ever, BEFORE the MOOG Liberation. There's a shot of Bob Moog and a younger George Mattson, creator of the Syntar, showing Bob the syntar at NAMM. Seriously, check this out. It's a fascinating bit of synth history. I was fortunate enough to play the Syntar and it is a very nice sounding synth with some extremely expressive and versatile controls on the neck. This is a very rare and unique synth along with the SWAN (more info on Carbon111's site). Hmm... I think I actaully took this shot. As always check out previous posts via the MORE tags below each post.

A Syntar Family Shot

The Syntar, SWAN and Mattson Mini Modular Pheonix Series. All three were designed by George Mattson.

The Syntar was the first keytar ever produced. It had a unique extended controller on the neck that essentially consisted of nine small wood blocks you could increasingly press for varying degrees of modulation. It's like having nine assignable pitch bends not limited to pitch.

The SWAN is the Syntar Without A Neck (the only one in existence).

The Pheonix is the new Mattson Mini Modular risen from the ashes of the Syntar.

If you've been following the site, you will know that the SWAN and a Syntar are up for auction on VEMIA. Click on the links for each to get to the posts.

If you have seen the posts already, check out the updates. Someone actually listed the SWAN on Ebay! It was of course a scam as the only one in existence is available on VEMIA. There was some heated discussion on AH.

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the history of the Syntar on Carbon111. There are some fascinating bits concerning MOOG and NAMM. You can also find an interview and some history here. Finally you can click here for all posts featuring the Syntar. If you appreciate synths you will appreciate this unique, rare bit of synth history. It really is a fascinating story. A bit of MATRIXSYNTH trivia: I remember the first time I saw the SWAN. It was at George Mattson's place and Carbon111 was going to borrow it for bit. We drove it back to his place and when doing so, I thought how crazy it was that the only SWAN in existence was floating up the I-5 in the back of my CRX. It was a surreal moment for me. And yes, we took extremely good care of it. We all love synths.

Analogue Solutions Leipzig-SK Pics from James Maier aka Carbon111

Some pics via James Maier on Facebook (click through for more). James runs Carbon111.com a great resource for synths. You'll find pages dedicated to the Waldorf XT, Serge modulars, the Fizmo Fix and tons more, including his music, so do check it out.

Ashes by Carbon111

Instruments used:
Yamaha VL1, Vermona '14, Dreadbox Abyss, Dreadbox Nyx, Acidlab Miami

released June 26, 2018

Carbon111's Pro-One Restoration Project

Inside a Sequential Circuits Pro-One.

"A few months back I got very lucky on an eBay auction. Someone had listed a Sequential Circuits Pro-One in a slightly strange category with an absurd "buy it now" price and I snagged it for less than $200, shipped!

When it arrived, I realized it would be a bit of work. It was really filthy with layers of dust and someone had marked his favorite knob positions on the panel with ruby sparkle nail polish! The key bushings were dried out pretty badly, the output jack was damaged and there were some scratchy pots and coarse-moving switches. Worst of all, the pitchwheel was broken in half!"

You can find the full post on SYNTHWIRE via Carbon111.

Pacific Northwest Synth 2009 - Carbon111

YouTube via matrixsynth

http://carbon111.com/
http://mattsonminimodular.com/

Carbon 111 goes over the rare Sequential Circuits Pro-8 which later became the Split-Eight with a new color scheme similar to the Multi-Track.

Part 2

click here for all PNW 2009 coverage.

Rare Performance Music Systems Syntar via VEMIA

"Vintage rare Performance Music Systems Syntar [Update: this predated the MOOG Liberation - see Carbon111's page linked below for some interesting and controversial history regarding the two] with documentation and flight case. The original “Keytar” is being offered for auction from original owner/inventor George Mattson [of the Mattson Mini Modular]. The package includes a Syntar Series I analog monosynth with power supply, connector cable, owners manual, a pad of patching charts and service documentation. The package also includes a flight case with a royal blue crushed velour interior. The Syntar has been in the possession of the owner since manufacture in 1981 but never been in circulation. George has recently replaced the capacitors and tuned up the system. The condition is very good with some minor signs of wear and age. The mylar graphics have stressed over the years and wrinkled as shown in the pictures. Overall, the system operates 100%. Information about the Syntar can be found at Carbon111 - including a nice picture of Bob Moog playing it. [VEMIA note: this has to be one of the rarest well-known synths ever entered into VEMIA, and to have it serviced and sold by the original designer is pretty nice too.] NB Like all of the lots so far in this particular auction, it is being sold as a non-VAT registered item. But if you import anything from outside the EC into the EC, you may be liable to VAT as a form of import tax."

You can find it listed on VEMIA - click on Auctions, Search, and then search for 5880.

An Unauthorized User Manual for the Serge Modular Creature

via Carbon111:

"A really cool manual for the Serge Creature by Ken Tkacs"

Also check out Carbon111's Serge page for additional resources.

R.I.P. Tali

Tali and Serge

The coolest of the synth cats has passed away. I had the great fortune to meet Tali on several occasions. It pains me to think she is gone. She was the coolest, sweetest cat I ever met, with the most loving, caring friends. Tali is pure magic. I will miss her deeply. via Carbon111

Update: some more pics of Tali (Circle Cat) and kind words on Harmony Central here.


Serge is Cool for Cats


Tali and MMM


Tali and Carbon111

KORG Lambda ES-50

images via this auction
"This Korg Lambda ES-50 was made in 1979. All of the keys can sound at once which means it is fully polyphonic.

Here is a link to the owner's manual: On Carbon111

Here is a neat links to more information: On Carbon111

Carbon111 - Shadow Bridge

Carbon111 has a new album coming out. You can find more info including one of the tracks featuring a Nord Wave, Nord Stage, and Roland Juno-60 on SYNTHWIRE.