"TRINITY is a 3 channel Digital Drum Synth Array packed into a 20hp eurorack synthesizer. Effectively, Trinity performs as 3 powerful drum voices packaged into one beastly drum module with a few tricks up its sleeve.
The name Trinity refers to the 3 drum channels and tips its hat to the core elements of any modern beat driven composition which is typically Kick, Snare and Hat. Trinity takes this simple idea and flips it on its head with 3 channels and an array of drum synth algorithms that use various types of synthesis (Subtractive, Additive, FM & Noise) allowing for a wide array of drum design capability that achieves and reaches far beyond the conventional."
Modbap Trinity Introduction
Press release follows:
Modbap Modular expands Eurorack module lineup with Trinity debuting as a DIGITAL DRUM SYNTH ARRAY at Knobcon Number Ten
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA: black-owned Eurorack modular synthesis and electronic musical instrument manufacturer Modbap Modular is proud to debut Trinity — the fourth entry in its expanding Eurorack product lineup as a three-channel DIGITAL DRUM SYNTH ARRAY, as the appropriate wording on the distinctive-looking, triple-colour-highlighted-branded front panel in reference to effectively performing as three powerful drum voices packed into a 20HP module with a tip of the proverbial (electronic hi-) hat to the typical (kick, snare, and hi-hat) core elements of any modern beat-driven composition subtly suggests, albeit with some neat production tricks thrown into the musical mix — at Knobcon Number Ten, a one-of-a-kind synthesizer convention now in its tenth year, held just outside of Chicago, IL, USA, at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, September 9-11…
“Trinity has evolved over time to become what it is today.” Modbap Modular founder/owner/designer Corry Banks is perfectly positioned to introduce Trinity to the musical masses, historically highlighting its interesting journey getting there thusly: “I wanted a drum module that would allow me to have a simple-yet-smacking kick, snare, and hi-hat in one module. I also wanted to play outside of that simplicity with malleable percussion synthesis. Trinity had to have a degree of hands-on control, together with a good deal of CV and/or MIDI control. I get into sound design, too, so Trinity had to serve me well in that area, and it does not disappoint. Trinity is all of that, while finding a way to introduce a few interesting and fun quirks as well.”
With that being said, Trinity takes the simple idea of tipping the proverbial (electronic hi-) hat to the typical (kick, snare, and hi-hat) core elements of any modern beat-driven composition and flipping that on its head by combining its three channels with an array of drum synth algorithms that use various synthesis types — namely, BLOCK (analogue-inspired drum synth building blocks featuring a sine and triangle core; great for traditional electronic drum creation), HEAP (additive drum synth with 12 partials; great for fun, natural sounds and pitched, percussive sounds), NEON (FM drum synth engine; great for high-quality FM drums, clangorous metallic percussion, and more), and ARCADE (quirky noise generator synth, reminiscent of classic Eighties-era arcade games with zaps, crashes, explosions, and more; great for claps, hi-hats, and even some vinyl noise approximations, as well as all sorts of fun percussion and degraded noises) — to allow for a wide variety of drum design capability that achieves and reaches far beyond the conventional. Clearly living up to its front panel-positioned DIGITAL DRUM SYNTH ARRAY wording, which immediately steers its users into a certain way of thinking, Trinity’s array of digital drum synth algorithms are very malleable, thanks to the seven sizeable knobs and four mini-pots positioned in the upper half of that distinctive-looking, triple-colour-highlighted-branded front panel. Put it this way: each control a specific parameter and characteristic — PITCH, SWEEP, TIME, SHAPE, GRIT, DECAY, EQ, CLIPPER, HOLD, VOL (volume), and, of course, CHARACTER — for each drum voice. The three — DRUM CV1, DRUM CV2, and DRUM CV3 — channels each have their own TRIG (trigger) and V/OCT (one-volt-per-octave) inputs in addition to extensive CV input options, all available for front panel-positioned patching purposes.
Trinity takes its capabilities several steps above and beyond anything comparable in the modular Eurorack world with cyclical (C. MODE) options offering round robin and random playback, as well as two STACK modes. Musically, round robin cycles through the drum algorithm types one after another with each trigger, while random randomises the parameters of a channel’s chosen drum algorithm type with each trigger. Those STACK modes are inspired by the characteristics of chopped breaks where drums tend to overlap and fan out, depending on the content of the chopped source material. Trinity’s take on that allows the second and third drum channels to be triggered by the primary channel’s TRIG and V/OCT inputs; in addition, ‘secondary’ STACK SPREAD functionality allows for fanning out the stacked drums to taste.
Trinity’s uniquely performable and switchable OUTPUT matrix allows for the routing of each drum channel’s output to the MIX output, the individual — DRUM1, DRUM2, and DRUM3 — output, or ALL. As such, easy performability, mutability, parallel processing, or side chaining are all perfectly possible.
Thereafter, Trinity’s USB MIDI connection allows for MIDI control over various parameters via one USB cable. Clearly, USB MIDI makes instant integration a cinch by simply connecting one USB cable from Trinity to a groove-box or computer.
All in all, then, Trinity packs a hefty percussive punch, weighing in at a 20HP width with 11 knobs, three drum channels, three trigger buttons, four drum algorithms based on four different synthesis types, 24 CV inputs, three-output switching with three individual outputs, a mix output, and MIDI-over-USB connection belying its 26mm depth. Concludes Corry Banks: “I think we’ve achieved a good deal more than we even initially set out to do with Trinity.” That’s really saying something — all the more so since the truly talented individual concerned holds an Associate’s Degree in Electronics, a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology Management, and a Master’s Degree in Project Management! After all, Trinity truly is a percussive powerhouse of synthesis — so much more than a simple-yet-smacking kick, snare, and hi- hat in one module, but rather a Eurorack module like no other... one which is bolstered by its inclusion of a bunch of really dope-sounding synth algorithms with which it does not disappoint.
Duly making its debut at Knobcon Number Ten, a one-of-a-kind synthesizer convention now in its tenth year, held just outside of Chicago, IL, USA, at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, September 9-11, anyone wishing to see (and hear) Trinity in action in advance of shipping should seriously consider checking it out there — assuming, of course, that they are in the general vicinity or prepared to travel at short notice if not already attending.
Expected to ship in mid-October 2022, Trinity is available to preorder at an MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) of $549.00 USD via San Clemente, CA, USA-based distributor Electro Distro’s growing global network of dealers (https://www.electro-distro.com/dealers) or directly via its dedicated webpage (which includes more in-depth information) here: https://www.modbap.com/products/trinity
"If you are looking for a tweakable, uncomplicated and great-sounding source of electronic drum sounds, the Syncussion might be worth its weight in gold.
Sparkling analogue drum sounds are what you need to turn your tracks to gold, Germany's Touched By Sound company may have the answer in the form of the DRM1 eight-piece analogue drum module.
"In this video I run different patches and sounds through these three mixers by Feedback Modules in an attempt to highlight the sound differences between them.
MIX BX, MIX CR and MIX KM have gain to spare and excel at saturating sounds, but they can do clean sounding mixes as well. The channel strips host an equaliser, a gain knob, two auxiliary mono sends (with stereo returns), a panning knob, clickless mutes and a volume control.
For a detailed overview of the features of the MIX BX (which has the same features as the other two mixers) you can take a look at this extensive playthrough video:"
"In this video I do a complete rundown of all the features this 6 channel eurorack mixer by Feedback Modules (a eurorack maker based in Romania) has to offer.
The MIX BX is perfect for making submixes for your drums or mix (and glue) together synths that benefit from some nice sounding saturation.
I demonstrate how to chain 2 channels to make hardstyle(?) kickdrums and how you can make use of the 2 aux sends to create a bus for parallel saturation.
At the end of the video there's a long 'no talking' segment where I systematically run through different sounds while tweaking the parameters... this might feel like an unnecessary boring part of the video but I really think getting to know what it sounds like is the most important thing... feature-wise the MIX BX is 'what you see is what you get' so there's not a lot of fancy tricks that you can pull of with it, apart from adding tons of character to anything you put through it.
correction: it is capable of amplifying line level signals to modular levels but there's no guarantee that the signal will stay clean
0:00 intro 0:31 hi 2:08 front panel features 12:55 distorted kickdrum trick 18:27 parallel saturation 24:13 no talk runthrough
I was thinking about what to type between 'MIX BX' and 'extensive playthrough' and the things that came to mind were '6 channels of bonkers', 'eurorack 90s grunge mixer', ... but none of that really serves the MIX BX justice. It does all the glue, grit and grime of the Boss BX era range of mixers, but the thing that stood out to me the most, compared to other eurorack mixers I've tried, is the amount of low end on this thing (what I would consider as 'warmth').
You can support my channel at http://ko-fi.com/BRiES - there's some exclusive content and downloads. This includes several patch breakdowns and some designs I made. There's also a seperate shop where I sell virtual instruments (ableton live) and sample packs. If you're interested in getting one on one feedback, guidance, in-depth explanations, etc please contact me at briesmodular at gmail dot com - I just started doing this 1 on 1 thing so it's still very much in its infancy. Send me a message if you're curious!
DISCLAIMER: Andrei from Feedback Modules sent me this mixer because I insisted that he should make some kind of demo to showcase the character (sound) of this mixer, since that's its main feature. I was genuinely interested in the MIX BX and I'm really happy I got the chance to make this video so everyone out there wondering about how it sounds can watch my video and at least get some idea about what it's capable of."
Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
video upload by hi there its me
Note this video is from 2019. The listing below is for another. This is the first video of one to be featured on the site. BTW, if you saw this post earlier, that post was lost in an edit. This is a new post. Also see the update in this post for some additional info on the Wersivoice fx cards.
"Vintage drum computer fully programmable
- recorded thru stereo out with preset pan and pad volume
- no effects added
- 8-10bit (?) sound, full pitch with beautiful digital artefacts when playing lower notes
- one analog Sound (Synth Tom)"
Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in. New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process. If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com. This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!
Pictured to the left is Professor William Hoskins (via). What you see there is not the mystery Moog, but his Moog modular system. This post is about another Moog synth, one most likely based on the Sonic VI. If you have any information on what this synth might be after reading this, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly. My contact info is on the bottom right of the site. I have already contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew author of Kaleidoscope Eyes A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper, as well as Trevor Pinch, author of Analog Days [Amazon hardcover & paperback, preview on Google books], and featured in this exclusive post. I also contacted James Husted of Synthwerks, George Mattson of Mattson Mini Modular, Steven Jones of Synthwood, and Carbon111, all of whom know their synth history. None were familiar with what the synth might be.
The story: I was recently contacted by a Paul Rego with the following:
"I've been searching the Internet for over a year now and have not been able find a specific synth. Since you seem to know and work with every type of synth known, I thought I'd ask you...
Around 1973 - 1974, I took private synthesizer lessons at Jacksonville University (Florida). The instructor was Professor William Hoskins and the synth was a custom Studio Moog assembled by Professor Hoskins.
One day, Professor Hoskins showed me his personal, portable synthesizer. He brought out what looked like a brown suitcase. When he opened it, I saw a Moog Sonic VI.
This is nothing new. I've seen lots of images of this synth on the Internet. The one aspect of this particular synth, that I cannot find anywhere, is that it had a touch-sensitive keyboard. The keyboard was made of plastic and had a gray / brown color. Outlining the keys (showing the location of the 'white' and 'black' keys) was an almost medium blue color (about an eighth-inch thick). (He and I tinkered with this synth for about a half-hour to an hour.)
Professor Hoskins passed away several years ago, so I can't ask him about it. I did contact his family but they don't remember anything about this synth.
I do remember Professor Hoskins telling me that he and Bob Moog had 'gone to school together'. I think he was referring to electronics school but I never asked him more about it. I thought I had read somewhere that Professor Hoskins and Bob Moog had briefly worked together on a Sonic VI prototype but I don't know if that's true. (Even if what I saw was a prototype, someone has to own it now and should be proud enough of it to post some photos somewhere.)
I thought the background story might help in your own research on this.
Basically, I'd just like to know if this synth ever existed or am I just not remembering it correctly.
Thank you for your time and attention."
My first obvious guess considering the blue was the Buchla Music Easel or separate Buchla touchplate keyboard modded into the case of a Sonic VI. I sent Paul a couple of links to various images.
Paul replied: "the synth I saw didn't look like the Buchla Easel. Good call though.
The 'blue', which outlined the keys on the Sonic VI I saw was a bit lighter in color than the blue in your photos and maybe had a bit of green in it (closer to turquoise). There was no red or other color on the keyboard (that I can remember) and the entire keyboard seemed to be one piece of plastic with only the blue / green outlines separating the 'keys'.
I also read a story recently about the time when Musonics bought Moog and had a synth ('Sonic V'?) of their own, at that time, but I haven't research this too much yet. One thought I had was the synth I saw was something from Musonics but was never officially released (until it had the 'Moog' name placed on it). I'm pretty sure the synth I saw had the 'Moog' logo and the word 'Sonic VI'. (Not 100% sure but it seems clear in my memory.)"
I also sent Paul images of the EMS Synthi AKS. Paul replied it was the closest, but definitely not it.
I contacted Michelle Moog-Koussa and Brian Kehew to see if they knew of anything. Michelle replied: "...I can tell you that we have several of William Hoskins reel-to-reel tapes in the archives, so there was obviously a significant professional relationship between he and Bob.
I don't ever remember reading anything about the Sonic VI, but maybe Brian does. One thing I can tell you for sure is that Dad began working with John Eaton in 1970 on the Multi-Touch Sensitive keyboard [left via]. The main component of the MTS was the touch-sensitive keyboard, of course. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Dad would have used his work with John to push boundaries on another project."
Brian replied: "Bob didn't design or build the original Sonic V (from Musonics before they bought Moog) that was Gene Zumchak: The Sonic V did have a brown wood style. It's even unlikely Bob did much on the Sonic Six as it was the same thing with a new outer case.
The Sonic VI was the version Moog made in 1972 and later, in a plastic suitcase version. Many of these were made vs the very few Sonic V's. So one might think they saw a Sonic VI when it was the V (same front panel and features). But the brown suitcase and colored keys and touch sensitive thing are ALL unusual. I know a little about Prof Hoskins from the paperwork of the past, but no mention of this synth. Definitely unusual to have keys like that anywhere, anytime!" Followed by: "And there IS touch (velocity) sensitivity on Wendy Carlos' synth by 1971 for Clockwork Orange, but it's used under the normal keyboard. THIS velocity was very possible, but would not make the keys look different. Again - maybe a Sonic V was retrofitted with a cooler keyboard later in the 80s, but why not do so on a BETTER synth!?" :)
On a separate thread, Trevor Pinch got back to me with the following: "Bill Hoskins was important in that he was one of the first people David VanKouvering approached about minimoog reiail sales etc. I have a good album of his somewhere! I think he may have been Bob's favorite composer for a while.
I have no idea about the touch key board but I'm in touch with Gene Zumchak the guy who designed the Sonic Six, so I'll ask him. (I guess you know the joke that the Sonic Six was known by Moog engineers as the Chronic Sick!)
Actually its story might be kinda interesting - Zummy (as he is known) told me that it was made with 741 op amps and in many ways was more advanced than the minimoog.
Maybe it has had an unfair press. I never heard one or saw one for real."
James Husted sent me the image of Professor Hoskins at the top of this post. I sent it to Paul to see if maybe it brought back any memories that might help.
He replied: "The custom Moog modular in that photo is the same one I took lessons on. However, this is an early photo and when I saw that Moog modular, Professor Hoskins had already added a top layer to that cabinet — which included a Moog sequencer. (I have a photo of it, that I took around 1990, but the top part of the photo, showing the upper section, is cut off.)
The reason you didn't see Professor Hoskins' 'Sonic VI' is... I'm guessing that he didn't bring it to the university very often. When I saw it, I was at his home. He had invited me over one Saturday afternoon to see HIS custom Moog modular. It was in his garage, which he had made-over into a nice studio. It also had a two-manual organ, at least two reel-to-reel tape decks and LOTS of recording tape. Later, during that same session, he said 'There's something else I want to show you. Come inside.' We went into the living room and I sat on the couch. He said 'I'll be right back.' After about a minute, he came back carrying a brown 'suitcase'. He set it on the coffee table in front of me and sat down on the couch. He opened it up and... Whoa! I had never seen one of these and it was the first time I had seen a Ring Modulator!
---
I remember seeing Professor Hoskins play his Sonic VI during a live performance of his album 'Galactic Fantasy / Eastern Reflections'. The Jacksonville University orchestra played most of his composition but at one point his Sonic VI was brought out and he played it while at center stage. I could see it clearly from my seat but, of course, I could only see the back of it, which simply looked like the back of a brown suitcase.
---
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Since I think this is important, I thought I'd try to recreate the 'Sonic VI' I think I saw. I 'Photoshopped' a production Sonic VI and attached it to this message. It's the best image of what I think I saw.
Modifying the image forced my memory to go into more detail. Here's what I'm fairly certain of:
• The outer color of the "suitcase" was almost dark brown.
• The outer shape was more square than the production Sonic VI.
• The thickness of the top and bottom sections was thicker than the production Sonic VI model.
• The keyboard was made of slightly textured plastic, otherwise completely flat, was brown / gray in color and had a vibrant blue outline between the keys. (I'm not 100% sure if the "black" keys were outlined or solid blue.)
• The background color of the back panel and the area surrounding the keyboard was almost dark brown. It looked like it was made out of either pressed cardboard or thin wood. It really reminded me more of the thin 'wood' used in old, tube televisions and radios (during the 1960s).
What I'm not 'fairly sure' of:
• I can't remember if it had a Mod Wheel.
• I think there was more space between the modules.
• I think it had two speakers (placed on the left and right side of the back panel). Each might have been the size of the center speaker-grill in my photo.
• I can't remember if there were any connectors, switches or knobs on the keyboard section."
Update: via Aaron aka theglyph in the comments: "Holy shit! That's the guy from JU. There was an electronics repair/pawn shop here in Jacksonville called Active Electronics that had a bunch of synths back in 90's. The owner had a sign in the store explicitly stating that the synths were not for sale and that customers were not allowed to walk up and look at them or touch them. I walked in day and walked close enough to notice that the MiniMoogs had very low serial #'s. It wasn't until I read Analog Days that I found out that the earliest Mini were sold here in Jacksonville. There so much more to this story that I don't know where to begin but I can say that I did an obscure Moog at the store that I've never seen photographed since and I simply thought I was loosing my mind recollecting it. WOW!
Cheers,
theglyph"
Update: Above, Brian originally mentioned Bill Hemsath as the person that designed the Sonic V. He meant to say Gene Zumchak. This has been updated.
Updates: via Dorothy in the comments:
"HI, as a Hoskins kid, I watched Dad perform on the synthesizer and I know we had the Sonic but I thought it was a "V". Dad had several custom modules built for him by Bob Moog. They were friends but didn't go to school together -- Dad went to Trumansburg NY to work with Bob on the synthesizer that they got for Jacksonville University (in 1969, I think). I will have to go digging in the Will Hoskins letters that I have. Those of you who knew Dad know that he was very meticulous about writing up the components that he bought and what they were for.
Late in Dad's life, when he was basically letting go of most composing effort except for revising existing scores, Bob helped Dad find a collector (in Germany, as I recall), who bought all of Dad's big home synthesizer. I think some of the smaller units were in the hands of Steve Smith, who was Dad's right-hand man at the JU studio for some years. Whatever happened to them, I don't think Dad would have cared as long as someone was using them to create music. He wouldn't have collected synthesizers as museum pieces, he actively used everything he got from Moog until he was ready to let it go."
Followed by: "BTW, that last time I spoke to Bob Moog was after Dad died, when Bob came to Rochester NY http://www.esm.rochester.edu/news/?id=132 which is near where I live now. Bob spoke very fondly of working with Dad, because Dad cared as much about the science of music synthesis as any composer Bob knew. Dad did some work with him on modulators and other components for JU and the Hoskins home studio."
Followed by: "Hoskins synth photo --not a Sonic -- in news article 1970 [link]"
Update 6/6/2010:
Some more interesting bits of Moog history:
Trevor Pinch checked with Gene Zumchak who had the following to say:
"I am not aware of a touch sensitive keyboard on the Sonic V or 6. It did have a two-note keyboard and the highest key pressed and lowest pressed could be routed to Osc 1 and Osc 2.
They removed the keyswitch bus and superimposed a highpitch (100KHz?) tone on the voltage string. This might have been the source of a whine that some users complained about that wasn't present in the Sonic V."
via Josh Brandt: 'Okay, I did hear back from David Mash [VP of IT at Berklee and friend of Bob Moog], who says that the story he was telling me several years ago was about a keyboard Bob was building for John Eaton. I asked about the story he'd told me and if the pictures you posted could be of the instrument he'd been talking about, and he said:
"The story I was no doubt telling was definitely about the keyboard Bob built for John Eaton [middle pic above]. Bob was going to show us the completed instrument (which my friends Jeff Tripp and Paul Derocco helped complete), but we never got to see it due to the way the conversation turned over dinner. I did see the instrument several times during the design/build stages and again later after it was complete.
The keyboard was simply a controller and not a synth, so definitely not the portable synth the blog is referring to. I know Brian, and was involved briefly with him and a bit more with Michelle Moog on the NAMM Museum exhibit, and they used a couple of my photos for the exhibit. They're great people and working hard to preserve Bob's legacy.'"
Update via WmJHeart in the comments:
"Thanks Matrix, for hosting this page. I own a copy of Will's Galactic Fantasy & Eastern Reflections (my personal favorite) recording on vinyl. But I also discovered and listened to the entire album on YouTube recently! Here:"
Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections (1979)[Full Album]
video upload by
Published on Jul 12, 2017 TheHomecoming
"Rare electronic/synth/moog private pressing LP
TITLE 'Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections'
William Hoskins, "Galactic Fantasy, Eastern Reflections" [CP-158]
TRACK 01 AUDIO TITLE "Overture : Stars Are Suns" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 00:00
TRACK 02 AUDIO TITLE "Intermezzo : Interplanetary Communique" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 06:39
TRACK 03 AUDIO TITLE "Star Nocturne" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 08:11
TRACK 04 AUDIO TITLE "Scherzo : Comets" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 16:35
TRACK 05 AUDIO TITLE "Beyond Beyond" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 18:54
TRACK 06 AUDIO TITLE "Prolog : Theme and Variation" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 23:40
TRACK 07 AUDIO TITLE "Lower Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 27:55
TRACK 08 AUDIO TITLE "Song : Open Skies" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 31:22
TRACK 09 AUDIO TITLE "Drum Chime" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 35:28
TRACK 10 AUDIO TITLE "Upper Heterophonie" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 39:41
TRACK 11 AUDIO TITLE "Epilog : Processional" PERFORMER "William Hoskins" INDEX 01 41:30
A1
Overture: Stars Are Suns
A2
Intermezzo: Interplanetary Communique
A3
Star Nocturne
A4
Scherzo: Comets
A5
Beyond Beyond: An Entropy Study
A6
Eastern Reflections
Eastern Reflections
B1
Prolog: Theme and Variation
B2
Lower Heterophonie
B3
Song: Open Skies
B4
Drum Chime
B5
Upper Heterophonie
B6
Epilog: Processional
Criminally under-rated set of Early American Moog Modular Synthesizer Music - the sole release by composer William Hoskins, the 'Director of Electronic Music and Composer-in-Residence at Jacksonville University in Florida.' Issued in 1979 by the Harriman, NY-based Spectrum - a 'Division of UNI-PRO Recordings, Inc.' the LP consists of a pair of discrete pieces, with each taking up a side of its own."
Update via Kimberly S Beasley in the comments:
"Hello, everyone. I am the current chair of the Department of Music at Jacksonville University and I have the original Sonic VI manuals and one of Hoskin's Moogs....happy to share photos tomorrow."
Kimberly sent in the images with the following:
"This has been in the possession of our Professor Emeritus Dr. William Schirmer as it was given to him by Hoskins. Hoskins' granddaughter Dorothy is also aware of the instrument. We also have a large collection of manuscripts of Hoskins.
There is also a mini-Moog we just refurbished in our recording studio."
You can see WM. Hoskins written on the top right of the manual. Note "Home Copy" on the blue cover. It's kind of neat to think of him perusing through the manual in the comfort of his home.
"Vintage Chorus/Vibrato from the late 70s
- demonstrated with Ableton's Operator (Sine/Squarewave)
- no effects added
- beautiful to warm up your digital synths
- also works great with guitars, vocals..."
Note the video above is not for the listing below and it actually uses a different card. See the update from Ohm Studio below. There were different versions of the PCBs used by Wersi. Read on for details.
"These WV30 rotor/string cards are used and tested from a Wersi Arcus and are suitable for all CD range organs. Not suitable for any DX range organs."
Update: I asked Ohm Studio if this was the same model card used in his custom design. He replied: "It’s not the same pcb I use or used in the Wersivoice FM76 above (the only standalone manufactured model they made). It’s from a more recent design and uses different bucket brigade devices, Panasonic MN3004 instead of the Philips TDA1022 used in the Wersivoice, Bohm and most of the Italian string synths and organs from the late 70s on (the Farfisa effect I built was also designed around those).
Earlier ensemble fx used TCA350 BBDs like the Eminent Solina, Logan string melody, Crumar Stringman etc.
American and Japanese designs tended to use Panasonic (Roland used the MN300x a lot. Like in Juno choruses too).
I never really notice a real difference in sound between those BBDs IF the circuit is more or less similar and based on the Solinas, ie using 3x BBDs modulated by 2 lfos, one at 6hz and one at 0,6hz.
Roland ensemble fx do sound very different than the rest, but IMO it’s not because of the uses of Panasonic BBDs but because of the circuit design that is not based on the classic eminent design.
I do think however that the Bohm Phasing rotor and the Wersivoice are the lushest you can get (except, most probably for Jurgen Haible Triple Chorus, which unfortunately I never had a chance to hear. From what I've read the Bohm was a huge influence in his design).
So to make a long story short: no it’s not the same but I’m quite sure it would sound nice because it looks like it’s the classic design."
"Warp Records celebrate their 30th anniversary with three-day NTS Radio takeover, including exclusive mixes and giveaways.
For the past 30 years, UK based label Warp Records have been consistently setting the bar in the electronic music world, always pushing the boundaries of the genre and thrilling music fans worldwide.
Founded by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell in the back of a record store in Sheffield in 1989, Warp has become the pioneer of its genre with a unique yet reliable catalogue of electronic music. Responsible for bringing to the world the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher and Nightmares on Wax, plus loads more, Warp have also more recently ventured into film, art installations and their own online independent record store, Bleep.com.
This weekend, Warp are set to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Partnering with NTS, they’ll bring together their legendary roster with a packed out 100-hour schedule of music, including exclusive mixes, tributes and giveaways.
As part of the celebrations and in honour of the release of our recent Bass Station AFX update, listeners will have the chance to get their hands on a very limited edition Warp Records x Aphex Twin x Novation Bass Station II, 1 of only 5 made. For a chance to win, simply sign up for the WXAXRXP mailing list following the link below [bottom of page here].
We’ve also compiled a selection of our favourite Warp releases spanning the past thirty years. With so many releases, we could have kept this list going on for ages, but here are ten particular highlights from the past three decades chosen by some of the team over at Novation HQ:
A few CL scams were reported on the Analogue Heaven mailing list today. I thought I'd put a post up for new buyers. Always be careful out there. What I found interesting about the scams was when I think of Craigslist, I think of local pick-up only. I would never buy something from CL unless I was able to pick it up and try it out in person. I wondered what the seller might do if I were to state I'd like to pick it up and/or test it out. The following is an actual reply a list member, Mati, received from a seller:
"Hello,
My name is Sandra Cooper and I am now in London UK, the reason why I listed this ad in your local area is because a friend told me that I would get a better price and faster deal there than here in London and I am more than happy to ship it to you for free. The item is in perfect condition barely used for a few hours so I wouldn't mind calling it brand new. Obviously we need a safe way to complete this deal without worrying about the safety of your money or my item. The best way I could think of is to use a shipping company that will also act as an escrow service and found one with quite a good name. I chose to use TNT WorldWide Transaction, a subsidiary of the well known(at least here in europe) TNT. Using their services your money will be safe with them until you receive and check the product and I will rest assured that I'll get paid if you like and decide to keep the item. Also the company will provide you with 5 to 7 days to test the item and make sure you're making the right decision. Please let me know what you think so I can explain to you the transaction steps in detail.
Thanks for your time, Sandra."
The images in the listing were pulled from a valid Ebay auction.
A rule of thumb for Craiglist is to simply not buy unless you or a friend in the area can pick up and test the item in person. Make that clear to the seller, and if it's a scam the seller will most likely back out. And of course be careful meeting up with people. You never know what's out there. I'd pick a public place with outlets to test the gear. Bring headphones. Note Ebay is full of scams as well, review a seller's feedback, ask the right questions and be very careful. Also I try to filter out multiple scammers on the Ebay links on this site. If you catch any feel free to let me know and I'll review them for removal as well, but be careful, there are first time sellers out there and not everything suspect is a scam.
Update via Paul on AH: "Hi all. Don't want to beat a dead horse, but there are a few methods by which you can suss out the type of scams we've been seeing on CL: 1. Do a google search on some of the text in the posting. I did that on the recent 909 scam and it returned clone ads in HongKong and Athens. I searched for the string "This is the one and only Tr-909. Nothing beats it! I had one a long time ago that wasn't as nice as this one." and google found some of the ads. 2. Another way is to use the jaxed service: http://jaxed.com/cgi-bin/mash.cgi?cat=mus&itm=roland&loc=&fil=tr-909&ys=&ye=&submit=++++go++++ I just tried it now, and it shows the same 909 ad in over 30 cities now! These people are more spammers than scammers, it seems. They spray ads like bullets and hope they hit someone. Small chance anyone here will be taken for a ride, but it's nice to have some tools to help spot these kinds of scams. Again, sorry if I'm out of line here, but if it prevents people from posting about a great deal on CL the next time this happens, it will have served its purpose."
" SYNTH DIY GUY - Featured Builder - Vinicius Brazil
Q - Hi Vinicius! V - Hi
Q - All good? V - All great!
Q - Tell us a little bit about your path, how you got started with electronics and music.
V - I arrived at electronics thanks to music. When I was a kid, 15 years old, I got my first guitar, and in Brazil it was very expensive to acquire guitar pedals. So I started to take some of my friends’ pedals and study their insides, this was in the 60 ́s, and from there I started making my own pedals. Copying at first, then creating muy own solutions. This got me excited and I went on to study Electronics and graduate college as an Electronic Engineer.
Q- Cool, and what kinds of pedals did you make at first?
V - All were guitar pedals. I started of course with fuzz and distortion, then on to more sophisticated things like flangers, phasers and delays. This was during the 70 ́s. In the end of the 70 ́s synthesizers started attracting me. That ́s when I built my first semi modular synth in 1978/79.
Q - Do you still have that synth?
Update: some pics and details captured. I made the mistake of trying to capture them all and then realized how many were listed. :) I ended up switching to the more esoteric models. Quite a few have never been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH before. What's a little bit interesting, is only two new labels were needed, one for Domino and one for Side-Kick-Er. All other brands have been featured before. See the labels at the bottom of this post. Side note: Blogger limits the number of characters to 200 for labels, so I wasn't able to capture them all for this post. You can always search for the brand names featured for more. I assume most do this anyway. The labels are more for maintenance and for finding posts that may not feature brand names in descriptions.
This one is via an anonymous reader. Full release notes below.
Regarding PPG Waveterm Transitions Reply:
"I always dreamed of PPG Waveterm Transitions replay. So there are they here in
M! Now in classic mode one can use the second oscillator as a PCM oscillator and
play one of the 64 transitions, saved into internal flash. They could be loaded
from the SD Card to the M and used for your patch. So you can make 4 channel
Drum Machine with analog and digital VCF on each channel. Or multisample layered
patch. And the OSC1 stays free to play its own wavetable. So I am very curious,
what you can introduce with this new feature."
"You can load up these old samples and use your M as if you had a PPG Wave +
WaveTerm combo."
New filters: Notch 12dB / Oct, LP 24dB/Oct, BP 24 dB/Oct,HP 24 dB/Oct, Notch 24 dB/Oct, Sin Waveshaper + LP 12 dB/Oct, Dual LP/BP 12 db/Oct, BandStop 12 dB/Oct. Almost all of the MicroWave 2 XT's digital filters are now available on the M.
"A musical demo of the Roland Promars Compuphonic from 1978.
This guy accompanied the release of the Jupiter-4 and is basically its monophonic sibling, although it has some differences.
The Promars has a “dual VCO” and it works as follows: The master VCO has sawtooth, square, variable pulse, sub oscillator and separate white noise. There is a second VCO (which also has its own sub oscillator) which is slaved to the waveshape and modulation of the master VCO, but can be tuned independently.
There’s a switch to the bottom right of the instrument that flicks between'“A-Tune, off and B-Tune' for VCO 2. These are two manual tuning settings for the second oscillator and a mute in case you just want one VCO. An example would be tuning the second oscillator up an octave and turning on the sub oscillator which would give you three octaves of a note with the middle note being duplicated. You can also create some very cool detuned sounds that really reminded me of the Prodigy (listen the pitch-bent lead line in the verse sections of my track).
There’s the usual Roland resonant low-pass / basic high-pass combination and then two envelopes (one is invertible), which makes the Promars more flexible than the Roland SH synths of the era. You can overload the VCA for drive too, which is a welcome feature.
The LFO is excellent on the Promars with a very wide frequency range. There’s four waveshapes available: sine, square, sawtooth and inverted sawtooth.
There’s also the familiar performance section to the bottom left of the synth which can be used to modulate VCO, VCF and VCA with bender or LFO. Portamento is found in this section as well as a “hold” switch that sustains a note indefinitely. I used this in the breakdown section where Carl Sagan joins us.
The “Compuphonic” name refers to the fact that it has eight memory slots. There’s also ten pretty terrible presets available, but they have their charms.
On the rear it has mono output, headphone output, CV/Gate in and out and external control of the bender if you wish to connect a foot pedal.
I created as many sounds as possible on the Promars including most of the drums with the exception of the hi-hats, cymbals and claps that came from the TR-606 and TR-808 respectively. I also made a subby kick on the Promars and then layered a filtered kick from the TR-707 to add a click to it in certain sections.
In the chorus section of my track I tuned the VCOs in intervals for some stacked chords. One pass was tuned in 5ths, the next in 4ths, the next a major 3rd and the next a minor 3rd. You have to be careful about what you’re playing in each part, but you get some interesting chord voicings and interactions that you wouldn’t be able to play on a poly in the normal manner.
It’s only the second time I’ve played a Promars and it’s a really cool synth and it certainly looks the part!
Sounds used:
Roland Promars Compuphonic (1978)
Roland Juno-6 (1982) into Seekers Voice Spectra Vocoder
Roland TR-606 (1981)
Roland TR-808 clap sample (1980)
Roland TR-707 (1984)
"In the 1990s, I have designed an "Interpolating Scanner", a CV-controlled linear crossfade over a certain number of VCAs, to be the center module of my JH-3 modular synthesizer. You can read all about it here, including a block diagram, schematics using now obsolete SSM chips (not recommended any longer for building), and a glimpse of its widely varying applications such as a voltage controlled crossfader, a wavefolder with dynamic breakpoints, a tracking generator with voltage controlled breakpoints, or voltage controlled non-harmonic modulator." More info including links, images and samples here.
Update: Ordering info from JH:
"Hi,
I have sucessfully built and tested a prototype of my new PCB project, and I'm starting to take pre-orders for these PCBs now.
To avoid any confusion: There is *one* PCB that allows to build two different projects:
(1) 9-Stage Interpolating Scanner Module with onboard VC LFO
(2) Emulation of Hammond Scanner Chorus / Vibrato
I've sent out two separate mails for the two applications, but it's based on the *same* PCB.
So if you want to build three Interpolating Scanner modules plus two Chorus / Vibrato devices, simply order 5 "Scanner PCBs", using the order form below.
Like the previous Tau project, the PCB allows the connection of a mains transformer + fuses if you are skilled in working on mains voltage, or the connection of an AC wallwart of about 16 ... 18V (AC), or you can power it from a clean +/-15V Dual DC power supply.
For the latter, you'll have to solder in wires, however. There was no room for a MOTM or synthesizers.com power connector.
One word to possible MOTM customers:
You can build a full-fledged Interpolating Scanner, using this PCB.
Paul has announced an Interpolating Scanner (which I've also designed) several years ago, and fairness demands that I mention this, as there is a possible overlapping customers base for the two projects.
What I'm offereing is strictly DIY (you're buying the PCB and you have to build it and fit it into your system somehow). OTOH, with a module of 9 inputs, you'll always have a bigger than standard sized module. (A 19" 2U panel with a row of 9 input jacks and 9 potentiometers above these jacks might be a good solution.)
But then again, it's an open secret that this is my personal favorite of all modules I've ever done and my motto is "You can never have enough Interpolating Scanners in a Modular" :) , so there will be room for a DIY project now, *and* (maybe) a ready made, 6-input, MOTM version later.
A description of my _first_ Interpolating Scanner (with 8 inputs and SSM VCAs) is also still online:
You might find this useful because of the description of possible applications and the block diagram. The new one is slightly different, with 9 inputs, and an on-board VC LFO (!). No "scan left" CV input, though.
plus EUR 4.00 for shipping and handling per order.
There may be addional tax and / or customs fees in my country - these will be paid by me (the buyer), not by the seller.
I'm aware that I'm only buying a blank PCB that may help me building a Scanner module - I'm *not* buying a diy kit, not a "project" - just a pice of FR4 with copper traces. By placing my order, I agree to these terms.
My adress is:
[Full shipping adress, as it will appear on the envelope for sending you the
(Don't forget the email subject line with the number of PCBs ! )
Looking forward to hear from you,
JH." you can find JH's contact info at the very bottom of this page. There's a pretty cute shot of a young one starting early at the bottom of the page. :)
We are slowly maturing... :) Today marks the 10 year anniversary of MATRIXSYNTH! It's hard to believe 10 years have gone by since I started this format of MATRIXSYNTH. If you are curious what the original version of MATRIXSYNTH looked like, take a look here. That was a portal to all the sites I used to visit. I started the site back in October of 1997. Some people might falsely think the matrix alias and site name came from The Matrix movies, but the first movie did not come out until 1999, two years after matrixsynth.com went live. Did I have the foresight to predict the name, or were the Wachowski's a fan of the site and computer terminal green? :) The truth is the matrix alias and name of the site actually came from my first synth, the Oberheim Matrix-6. I could have gone with a blue on black theme, but my favorite color is green and I liked the retro terminal look, so green on black it is.
Every now and then I get some confusion as to what exactly is the point of this site. Is it a professional news media outlet or just some guy's blog? The truth is it's a bit of both. It started as "some guy's blog" sharing everything he came across in the world of synths and eventually it caught on and grew. It's now a mix of official press releases, demos, videos and everything else I find out there as well as what people send in, with some rules. I promised myself I did not want to fall into the trap of becoming a media outlet only. There is one reason this site exists - to share the world of synthesizers from a synthesizer's perspective. Think about what that means. Nothing else matters. A few days ago I updated the intro to the Post Guidelines. I think it sums up the spirit of the site:
"MATRIXSYNTH is a daily glimpse into the world of synthesizers with the focus on specific, individually identifiable synths. Every single post on the site is created manually, by hand. The current format of the site launched in 2005 at the birth of sharing platforms like Blogger, YouTube, Vimeo and Flickr. SoundCloud wouldn't launch until 2007. Facebook wouldn't open to the public until 2006. Prior to these platforms the only way everyday users of synths could share what they were doing was by having their own dedicated website. Sure there were forums where people could talk about synths, but to upload videos, audio demos, and hi-res pics, you needed your own website. Print publications were dedicated to professionals in the industry, rarely featuring non-professionals, and media was limited to static images. MATRIXSYNTH is meant to compliment print by showcasing what us, the fans of synthesizers, do with our gear on a daily basis. The site is a mix of what I (matrix) find out there and what readers send in. The content is balanced between press releases, official demos, and what everyday users of the site are doing with their synths, along with a glimpse of the used synth marketplace. The site evolved over time to meet both the needs of readers, and to maintain the overall spirit of the site. Imagine if we were able to capture what users of synths were doing back in its infancy. Much of that time may be lost, but we can capture synth history moving forward!"
So how many posts have gone up to date? A whopping 127,448 including this post. Every, single, post, is edited and posted by hand. The sad thing, is because of format changes over time, along with Flash going by the wayside, I have had to start the long process of updating the majority of posts in the archives. It will be slow, but MATRIXSYNTH is a labor of love and I think it will be worth it. The site has received over 46,832,215 pageviews to date. Some question why I chose Blogger as a platform. The reason is because I want the site to live on long after I'm gone. Blogger is free and is owned and hosted by Google, so that's about as safe as it will get. Someone will need to switch the the URL back to matrixsynth.blogspot.com so the site doesn't disappear when/if the matrixsynth.com domain name expires, but hopefully I'll be able to take care of that ahead of time, when I am much, much older. :)
I don't want to take too much time in this post, so I'll cut it short. I just want to say running MATRIXSYNTH has been quite the experience. As with everything there are good days and bad. I feel a sense of ownership and identity when it comes to the site, almost in a parental sense. The site has become my best friend and has been a constant companion over the last ten years. BTW, in the last ten years I have only missed a single day of posting back on August 6, 2005, the first year of running the site, when it definitely was just "some guy's blog". I had no idea there would be something to post every single day of the year moving forward. Think about that a bit. There is something to share every single day. What an wonderful world of synths we live in.
I want to end this by saying thank you for an incredible ten years. I want to thank everyone that has supported the site in their own little way. I am humbled that others love the site as much as I do. THANK YOU!!!
On to another 10 years!
Update: Thank you to everyone who has wished me a happy anniversary in the comments below, on Twitter , and Facebook (and here), email and websites - thank you Palm Sounds! Below is a screen grab of the initial post from @chris_carter_ (wikipedia) and a cool little image from Audio Hoarder made on his phone. Thank you!
Update: Some comments with additional info from Ken below. Click on comments at the end of this post.
Wow. Josue Arias sent this to me. You can put this on the list of the rarest of the rare. I'm not one to benchmark rarity against, but I've never seen or even heard of one of these before. The only thing that comes up on Google is this site with a brief reference of the Driscoll. The Analog Heaven archives come up dry as well.
Josue refers to the Driscoll as a Driscoll/Serge modular. He states, "the 'serge' part is just because the similar modules in it (Slope generators, Random voltages, cv processors, Analog shift register,...) and because my system even have a serge 5 stage sequencing programmer!, but driscoll designed the same functions than the serge modular using another electronic aproach and design, so is not a clone(!)"
The Driscoll was built in the 70s by Australian composer/designer/engineer Julian Driscoll. Josue, believes the original Driscoll was a 10-12 panel system.
As for the sound?
"The sound for this synth is incredible, its really "organic", it sound like creatures more than electronics : ) I have it next to my 4 panel serge and I really like the driscoll sound a lot more."
http://www.cyndustries.com/bugmusic/17.mp3
"All the water drops/woodblocks/marimba/rithms, comes from the driscoll. I think it show the organic qualities. I`m ataching you a couple of photos but they are from my old studio"
Wow. Thanks for sharing this Josue.
Update:
Josue gave me the ok to post the following thread. Thanks Josue! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I`ve found some of the conversaions I had with australian composer
Warren Burt, He used the Driscoll and even it have a CD now for sale
made with it!:
"Hello Mr. Burt,
I`m Josue Arias, a musician and sound engineer from Madrid(SPAIN)
I just got the old Segemodular tape from 1983, and I`ve found you have
a nice piece there called "You want, maybe, something a little intense
diatonic?"
This one is in via swissdoc and indirectly via Florian Anwander on the AH email list. This is not the new analog Elka Synthex clone from the new Finnish Generalmusic. This is however from the creator of the original Elka Synthex, Mario Maggi, and it is all digital. An interesting side note mentioned below is that Mario Maggi owns the Synthex name. Not sure what impact if any this might have on the upcoming Generalmusic Elka Synthex remake.
An Update: via swissdoc. It appears a filing for the name SYNTHEX was made on April 29, just three days ago. The filing is under category 15 which covers: "Electronic musical instruments; Electronic synthesizers; Electronic musical apparatus and instruments; Electric and electronic musical instruments; Mechanical, electric and electronic musical instruments; Electronic apparatus for synthesising music [musical instrument]."
"Hello to everyone,
my name is Enrico Cosimi, I'm the author of the text on ACM concerning the Synthex 2. I have been in touch, here in Rome/Italy, with Mario from the late Eigthies and, from the mid Nineties, I'm working with Mario on his "version two"; as you can imagine, Mario is a very very very busy kind of genius, who conceived and realized a lot of third party non-musical items (especially for telecommunications and health). I am not allowed to reveal all the data concerning the new Synthex 2 (b.t.w., it will be a digital equipment: would you dare to conceive an analog instrument with 128 LFOs and 64 EGs in the same box?), but - trust me - when it will be done, it will be a GREAT machine.
"My opening set for electronic jam band Chachuba at Kenny's Westside Pub in Peoria IL May 5 2023.
Since I was opening for a high energy (not to be confused with Hi-NRG) electronic jam band, I decided to keep my set as low-key as possible. My personal gravity is extremely strong with ambient dub, so I went with that. I would really like to explore this dynamic more in these circles. Hopefully this gig wasn't the end of it.
Something that has bothered me about my live music over the past 15 years or so is that I have wanted an extemporaneous approach, but the tools I chose were more suited to improvisation than composition, because flexibility is more important to me than structure.
What this means is that with very specific exceptions, I've been playing electronic free jazz for 15 years and the stress level hit a point where I just didn't even enjoy playing any more. I would spend my entire gig having a slow-motion panic attack, terrified that what I was doing was boring and made no sense whatsoever.
I started using a tool called The Force by a brand which used to be a division of a legendary Japanese home audio company but is now in the brand basket of an MI corporation that has many faces. I spent years working with it as a sound design tool but never live, and late last year I threw up my hands in frustration with a Very Complicated live rig I spent years building and chucked it all in favour of this thing ... and I can now do TUNES again. This silly looking, horribly typecast box lets me finally interact with an electronic composition in a way that I could do as a bandleading organist with tight relationships with a drummer and a guitarist.
I have some plans to re-incorporate "electronic free jazz" into my sets but I have to build a new (smaller) live rhythm section and it will require that I design and engineer at least three new products.
In the meantime, I'm pretty happy. I had no music-related anxiety about this gig. All of my visible stress was because my Suburban suffered a transmission failure right after leaving my studio, which delayed me 2 hours, but I still started on time. I also had forgotten how to use the Pigtronix Infinity 3 loopers, because their UX sucks, and they should be ashamed of themselves. I'll be designing my own MIDI controller for them soon which will solve some of its problems but those clowns need to get their act together. I think I wasted the first five minutes of my timeslot trying to figure out why they weren't doing what they were supposed to do. (I cut that part out. It was embarassing.)
Like all of my sets, there is an intro, incidents, and interstitials. This is a tracklist:
0:00 - Intro - Suitscape in Abm 4:00 - National Suicide: Military Aid to the Soviet Union (Ebm 70 BPM) 23:00 - Suitscape in Bbm 24:53 - Dub Force Rising (70 BPM Fm) 37:55 - Suitscape in Cm 40:33 - Summertime: Temporary Love (80 BPM Gm) 50:58 - Outro - Suitscape in Dm
I'd like to thank Chachuba for insisting that I open for them, and Kenny's Westside Pub staff for being so hospitable and their owner for being gracious and generous to me. Kenny's also shot and recorded this gig, and livestreamed it. That is so damn cool.
Also, I am contractually obligated to mention periodically, but not constantly, that I am a Hammond USA company artist. They make great stuff like the XK-1c I'm playing at this gig and if you're using anyone else's products for digital Hammond sounds you should probably re-evaluate your choices. I have been playing vintage Hammond consoles since 1998 and ever since I got the XK-1c I haven't felt that hole in my electronic music that existed before, where I had no connection to my roots. I could write paragraphs about this but I need to go to bed.
YouTube via BugBrand "Time to start doing some simple demonstrations. This shows the sounds that two of the SYN2A VCOs can make when cross-modulating one another, first using Triangle waves and then Square waves.
Each oscillator's output feeds both the Output mixer plus the other osc's CV input - changing the modulation depth results in varying sound, with total chaos ensuing when both oscs have their FM depths set to maximum.
For further BugModular details, please check the main Bug site:::: www.bugbrand.co.uk"
BugMod Feb09 DualVoiceDelayMods
"This is a self-running patch which begins with a little power-starvation experimentation using the big variable transformer (variac) on the right-hand-side. This takes the 'mains' supply voltage from about 50v up to 240v - roughly 200v is where the PSU begins to run at 'full-power'.
This uses two oscs, opened up by two looping envelopes. Modulation is provided by the PRC2 BugCrusher module running at S/H rate and it is also self-modulating itself - the output is fed back to the Rate CV control. The S/H output controls the speed of envelope looping + the delay time of the PRC1 delay.
[Note that I tried out 'proper' audio recording (rather than just using the audio straight off the camera) and things don't seem to have worked out properly in AVID - its hard to tell though 'cos the patch is so slowly evolving - you get the picture at least!]"
Also, the Bugs'o'February newsletter: "Hi All,
Just a quick mail this month..
As I mentioned in last month's mailout, the new BugModular works are going to be a major focus for me these coming months (and all systems are now spoken for), but I won't be forgetting the possibilities of standalone devices - I know there have been many requests for more BugCrushers and I am working on bringing something new & improved to life (don't hold your breath just yet though..!). I have pretty much entirely ruled out using standard cases/boxes now (due to time considerations) so there are no plans for any further stomp-box designs, only desktop. Let us see what the future holds.
The main thing to say now is that the new BoardWeevils have been updated and are in full production - I hope to be able to keep these regularly stocked from now on. >From last month when I release a few of the Initial versions, the Boards have been slightly updated - the onboard silk-screen text is now nicely legible (in yellow), there is a bit more space around the dials and everything now comes packed in a custom cardboard case with decent instructions. Have a check here (the new website links are not so easy to follow! You can always just go to:: www.bugbrand.co.uk -> Shop -> BoardWeevil)
A couple of little other nuggets: - there's now a BugForum, kindly hosted by MuffWiggler - and there are a few new bits on the BugBlog --- this includes mention of a screening & party this Wednesday (18th Feb) at the Cube Cinema, Bristol, to celebrate the fantastic winning of a BAFTA Award by the short film 'September' on which I helped with some sound and music. - and a couple more BugModular YouTubes That-be-that - thanks for listening and best wishes to all! Tom"
Modbap Modular expands Eurorack module lineup with Trinity debuting as a DIGITAL DRUM SYNTH ARRAY at Knobcon Number Ten
