2016 Synth-Fest Coming to Nantes / Frankreich with Yves Usson, Deep Forest and More

I received the following invite in German via email. You can find the Synth Fest 2016 site in French here and Googlish here. You'll find a Googlish translation of the email below:

"Die französische Organisation Patch Work Music (www.asso-pwm.fr) organisiert zu Ostern 2016 das dritte Synthesizer Festival "SYNTH-FEST"

Es gibt wieder Gelegenheit viele Gerätschaften anzutesten oder vorgeführt zu bekommen (z.B. auch die Laser Harp).

Yves Usson, der Erfinder des MiniBrute und MicroBrute wird genauso auf dem Festval erwartet, wie Michel Geiss, Frédéric Rousseau, die bekannt sind als Musiker und Techniker für Jean-Michel Jarre/Vangelis.

Zudem gibt es CDs zu kaufen, eine Tombola und die Möglichkeit mit Musikern sich auszutauschen.
Das Synth-Fest ist offen für jeden, der sich für Vintage Geräte und neue Synthesizer interessiert.
Vorführungen von Vintage Keyboards und auch ganz neuer Technologie werden an allen drei Tagen auf der Bühne präsentiert.

Deep Forest gibt ein Konzert am Samstag.

Wann?: 25. - 27. März 2016
Wo?: Dix, 10 place des Garennes in Nantes, Frankreich
Eintritt: 1,- Euro Das Deep Forest Konzert kostet 5,- Euro

Weitere Infos bei den Veranstaltern Olivier Briand und Bertrand Loreau:
http://asso-pwm.fr/synth-fest-2016/

contact@pwm-distrib.com

Vielleicht interessiert euch das selbst oder ihr könnt das an Interessierte weitergeben?

Danke und Viele Grüße

Lambert Ringlage
www.sphericmusic.de"

Googlish:

"Hello,

the French organization Patch Work Music (www.asso-pwm.fr) organized at Easter 2016, the third synthesizer Festival "SYNTH-FEST"

There is another opportunity to test or demonstration to get (as well as the Laser Harp) many equipment.

Yves Usson, the inventor of Minibrute and Micro Brute is just expected on the Festval as Michel Geiss, Frédéric Rousseau, known as a musician and technician for Jean-Michel Jarre / Vangelis.

There are also CDs for sale, a raffle and the opportunity to musicians to exchange ideas.
The synth festival is open to anyone who is interested in vintage equipment and new synthesizer.
Demonstrations of vintage keyboards and also completely new technology will be presented on all three days on stage.

Deep Forest a concert on Saturday.

When ?: 25 - 27 March 2016
Where ?: Dix, 10 place des Garennes in Nantes, France
Admission: 1, - EUR costs The Deep Forest Concert 5, - Euro

Learn more at the organizers Olivier Briand and Bertrand Loreau:
http://asso-pwm.fr/synth-fest-2016/

contact@pwm-distrib.com

Maybe you interested either itself or you can pass that on to interested parties?

Thanks and best regards

Lambert Ringlage
www.sphericmusic.de"

Minilogue XD "laser harp" sound tutorial...

Published on Oct 28, 2019 hammondeggsmusic

"Without using any custom oscillators, you can generate a "laser harp" type sound with your minilogue XD...!

The settings are roughly (see video for details)
OSC1 Full amplitude, 2nd octave square wave at 50%
OSC2 1/3 amplitude, highest octave square wave at 25%
- OSC2 pitch also a fifth above (+700C)
Sync on ring off
EG no attack decay 700-800 or so, INT 17-18%
Filter cutoff ~600, maybe a little resonance
Use the LFO as a second EG, by selecting 1-SHOT mode, and use the sawtooth shape for an attack only sound.
LFO Rate 600, LFO int +300.
A chorus added (I used my "hera" chorus as it is somewhat similar sounding) and you should be done!

See video for more details..."

NAMM 2019 XERXES Synthesizer - Laser Harp sound with Linnstrument via MPE

Published on Jan 28, 2019 MrPandoman

"Paul Schilling trying the Black Corporation's Xerxes Synthesizer with Linnstrument via MPE for the very first time, using the Ring Mod patch #46 (Laser Harp)."

Tetris Theme on Laser Harp

YouTube via conquerearth | November 29, 2010 | 55 likes, 1 dislikes
Theremin Hero LIVE! Finale - Gamecity 5 Nottingham
"Tetris theme (my own remix) on Laser Harp.
The final part of my gig at GameCity 5, 28/10/10. More highlights in this video: (video upload pending)

www.thereminhero.com"

XILS-lab Synthix - JMJ Laser Harp (Elka Synthex) Sound Test

YouTube Uploaded by ozashikiTECHNO on Jun 24, 2011

"XILS-lab Synthix でJean Michel JarreのLaser Harp (Elka Synthex)のサウンドに迫れるかテストしてみました。
音源は http://youtu.be/zLOq-BUtjFQ を参考にしました。"

Laser harp in the microkorg

YouTube via cmatsuoka
"This is my first attempt at creating a program for the microkorg, so I picked up a sound that is easily recognizable. This is certainly not the best Synthex "laser harp" sound recreation around, but it should provide a good start for tweaks and improvements. The idea should work with any two-oscillator analog or analog-modeled synthesizer with oscillator sync, filtering and some kind of pitch envelope for the sync sweep. Actual values used in each parameter are shown in parentheses."

Update: a slightly different version via Tjoppy.

A bit of Jarre on MicroKorg

YouTube via Tjoppy
"A little bit of Jarre on the MicroKorg, the fat bass-like synth sound from rendez-vous 2. It sounds different from the original Elka Synthex sound; a bit more acid/dirty."

Bike Wheel Laser Harp

"Demonstration of the simplest use of my Bike Wheel Laser Harp: straight-up bass oscillator"

YouTube via Studio271. Sent my way via Frederic.

Laser Harp Fully Functional

YouTube via shobley. Update: see this post for how he did it an more.
"Finally got the bugs worked out with the sensor. The harp is connected to the impOSCar VSTi software synthesizer, the TAOS sensor array sits on the floor in it's own stand. The array above the harp i is just made up of fs mirrors for added p'zazz. (www.stephenhobley.com)"

Solfelectro [Solfeggietto by C.P.E. Bach]

Published on Aug 7, 2015 Piano in a Living Room

Thought this was an interesting one. Note the "laser harp" sound comes from the Analog Rytm.

"Solfeggietto in C minor (H 220, Wq. 117: 2) (yeah they used to name music like we name software) composed in 1770 by C.P.E. Bach, son of J.S.

Skinny Pete plays it in the music store scene in Breaking Bad season 5 episode 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQlAmt...). [below]

The instrument is a Kawai VPC1 controlling a Clavia Nord Stage 2 using a sampled Clavinet D6, a simulated Farfisa organ, and a few touches of dark virtual analog synth. The beat and "laser" sounds are from an Elektron Rytm controlled via a Yamaha MFC-10 pedal board.

Better sound: https://soundcloud.com/didlybom/solfe..."



Skinny pete piano C.P.E. Bach - Solfeggietto Breaking Bad

NORTEC: Arpa Laser / new Machine for Bostich+Fussible

YouTube via pepemogt
"We are building a Laser Harp from a design made by stephen hobley(thanks), Luis Vargas our technician guru is in charge of making this instrument work, the plan is to use it on our live presentations for controlling our synthesizer, here is a preview, coming soon in our Bostich+Fussible 2009 tour."

ACE Harp

Published on Oct 15, 2015 Urs Heckmann

"'Laser Harp' patch done with ACE, compared to original preset in Elka Synthex. Pretty close. Uses audio rate PWM (VCO1 to VCO2), hard sync and some workarounds to compensate for ACE' lack of digital ring modulation. Download here, to use in ACE: http://www.u-he.com/downloads/ACE/LAS...

Enjoy,

Urs + Howie"

AJH Synth Patch of The Week Videos

video uploads by AJH Synth Official

Videos by supoorting member, DreamsOfWires.

Playlist: 1. Patch of The Week: The Sonic XV's Wave Folder - So many tones from just 1 VCO's Triangle wave

'Sonic Arps': The Sonic XV Transistor Diode Ladder Filter has a built-in Wave Folder, and in this video I'm using an arpeggiator in random mode to show the many subtle flavours of sound it can achieve from just a simple triangle wave from a single VCO. I will also pull a huge variety of timbres from a sine wave in a similar fashion.
The filter is a re-creation and expansion of the VCF from the Musonics Sonic V (5) synth of the 1970's (predecessor of the Moog Sonic Six), and shares a similar character to that of the EMS Synthi and VCS3, also being early diode filters. Bearing that in mind you might expect it to produce aggressive tones and chaotic feedback, which it can do well enough, but you might not have expected that it can also be very subtle, organic and warm in character, particularly well-suited to melodic arps/patterns and percussive sounds. With the added wave shaping functionality that wasn't present on the original, along with 24dB and 6dB low pass modes, and band pass filtering, this module packs a lot of tone shaping into 14hp.

Index:
00:00 'Sonic Arps'
00:34 Introduction
01:01 Assembling the patch
01:39 Sounds & Settings
04:33 Patch Sheet

A PDF file of the patch can be downloaded here: https://kvisit.com/8AE/xfUG

Patch notes:
Green dots show approximate pot and switch positions. Where a pot has two dots, this illustrates the range I move them during the video. Pots and switches that do not have green dots are not used in this patch, and should be left at their zero or off positions.
I'm using the VCA as a mixer so that I can use the outputs from both the BP and 6dB outputs of the Sonic XV. Notice in the video they are set at different volumes at different points depending on the sound - you will need to adjust this too, as different combinations of IN LEVEL, IN MIX, IN WAVE, and filter settings can make a significant difference to volume levels.
Modules used from left to right: Vintage Transistor Core VCO, Sonic XV, Contour Generators, Discrete Cascaded VCA.

2. Patch of the Week: 'Schulze School' - Melodic Eurorack performance + 'how-to' guide & patch sheet

This week's patch makes use of the V-Shape wave shaper/wave folder to sculpt the great analogue tone of the MiniMod VCO to create some delicate timbres that reminds us of Klaus Schulze's mesmerising sounds created on his sequencer-driven Moog modular synth systems in the 1970's. It also makes particular use of the Ring SM as a sub oscillator generator, and the rich tones of the Sonic XV diode filter.

Check out the AJH Synth playlists for more 'Patch of The Week' videos, which will be either performances or 'how to' guides detailing a range of sounds, some familiar, some less so, and each containing a patch sheet at the end to show you how to construct it for yourself.

3. Patch of the Week: 'Singing Gemini' - Dual Analogue VCF as a Dual Sine Wave VCO How to & patch sheet

This patch uses each of the 2 analogue filters of the Gemini as a dual VCO, self-oscillating, so that they produce sine waves and can be sequenced melodically using the Korg SQ-1 or any analogue step sequencer. This guide shows you how to make this patch, along with a patch sheet at the end. It is one of the many ways you can use just a couple of Eurorack modules to make music, as modular synthesis can be rewarding even with a minimal gear list.

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"Dark Signals" by Mark Mosher (Live Rehearsal Video)

"Dark Signals" by Mark Mosher (Live Rehearsal Video) from Mark Mosher on Vimeo.

"'Dark Signals' is a song from my album I Hear Your Signals. This video is in HD and I captured the audio full fidelity right from my sound card in real-time and made note edits. It's one of my favorite songs off the album and is becoming a crowd favorite at live shows. A dark original electronica song with driving big beats, bit-crushed high-hats, a dash of ambient texture, and tasty distorted synth leads. Checkout the rippin' synth solo at the 1:42 mark performed live from a Tenori-On matrix controller sending notes to a virtual synth running in Ableton Live. The Moog Etherwave Theremin signal is being converted from analog back to digital and is driving virtual synths as well.

You can buy the album name your prices ($0 for Free) over at markmosher.bandcamp.com.

Mark Mosher
MarkMosherMusic.com"

"Alone" by Mark Mosher played on AudioCubes (Rehearsal) from Mark Mosher on Vimeo.

"In this video I'm playing my original instrumental electronic music song "Alone" from my album REBOOT markmosher.bandcamp.com/​album/​... .

I'm about half way through arranging and programming the synthesizers and controllers so I can add this song to my live set. I'm making great progress so I thought I'd share a rehearsal video.

It's such an organic piece, I decided to play the entire song from Percussa AudioCubes using only spatial hand movement. Ableton Live is playing back the pulsing drone, but almost all other elements are being played live via the AudioCubes. The AudioCubes are in "sensor" mode so placing my hand in front of a cube face plays a note on a virtual synthesizer hosted out of Live - almost like a Laser harp.

I only use the Novation Launchpad to change which tracks are armed thereby allowing me to switch which synths I'm playing on-the-fly throughout the song.

At the 2:00 minute mark I start playing chords by using multiple faces simultaneously.

Mark Mosher
MarkMosherMusic.com"

Yamaha Tenori-Ons on Ebay

Vintage Elka Synthex SN 867

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

via this auction

"This Elka Synthex is in in excellent condition.Refurbished by Retrolinear in 2014 for $2250(see receipt ).
Includes the original pristine operating manual and midi break out box attachment.Comes with all original 80 factory patches(yes, it has the laser harp).

Exceptional sound capabilities that almost all other analog poly synths of the 1978-1983 era can't quite produce due to their lack of BPF/HPFs. There are plenty of websites to research this synth: Sound on Sound, Vintage Synth Explorer, Great Synthesizers, and plenty of videos on You Tube on this incredible synth.

For the novice, the Synthex contains the following:
Keyboard-61
Voices-8
DCO- analog oscillators with digital control ,2 per voice. Tri/Saw/Square/Pulse/Ring Mod
Noise Genetator-white/pink
VCF-Curtis analog24dB LP, 12dB HP, 12dB & 16dB BP
VCA- analog ADSR
LFO-Tri/Square/Rising and falling ramp with routing to osc/filters, and amps
Glide/portamento control
Sequencer-4 track with pulse or real time programming 128 notes
transpose function
Split/layering keyboard
BBD Chorus with 3 modes
Mono/stereo selector with L/R panning
Service included:

cabinet stripped and finished
installed high grade wide range linear PSU which eliminates the need for a fan(operates 30degrees cooler which minimizes the damage risk to the expensive Curtis chips). For a snapshot of the new "silent Synthex", do a search for "Elka Synthex great synthesizers" and click on Elka Synthex-a polyphonic classic/Greatsynthesizers.Scroll down and see the new German manufactured PSU for the Elka Synthex that allows for cooler and quiter playing. Well worth the $750 these new PSUs go for! The same PSU was installed in this unit in 2014.
all electrolytic capacitors replaced
all logic chips on keyboard contact strip replaced
replaced ROMS with latest software upgrade
replaced RAM ICs
rebuilt joystick controller and repaired analog joystick readout circuitry
reapired faulty solder joints on keyboard and sequencer control boards.
cleaned all keyboard contacts, switch contacts,and controls
calibrated all oscillators and filter trims"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Deftaudio Laserharp интервью с разработчиком (RUS), Infox

YouTube via DeftAudio — April 09, 2010 — "Интервью от 16 Марта 2009г агентству Infox где разработчик рассказывает о создании лазерной арфы. Полная версия доступна по ссылке: http://infox.ru/science/tech/2009/03/..."
"Interview on 16 March 2009, the agency Infox where a developer talks about creating a laser harp. Full version is available at: [link]"

Jean-Michel Jarre at The Paramount Theatre Seattle

Above you'll find a photo stream of some pics I took at the Jean-Michel Jarre concert last night at The Paramount Theatre in Seattle (mouse over the image and use the controls on the left and right to flip through). Apologies for the quality of the pics as I only had my iPhone at the show. I was there to enjoy it, not to document it. That said, I of course couldn't help but take some pics and video. I still need to review the videos, so they may come in follow-up posts if they do JMJ's fantastic performance justice - see this post for a couple of videos from the San Jose concert for now - there are others on YouTube as well. I will say the concert was an absolutely incredible experience. If you ever get a chance to see Jean-Michel Jarre perform live DO NOT miss him. P.S. There are still two dates left for the tour in Southern California, Coachella tonight in Indio, and the Spreckels Theater in San Diego. Seriously, if you can make either, just go. The majority of the light show was all lasers and LED panels that moved across the entire stage. The effect was 3-dimensional. Jean-Michel frequently spoke to the audience and gave insight and background to many of the classic and new tracks they performed. I was fortunate enough to have Stephane Gervais, who performs with JMJ, invite me to the show. I was able to meet one of my personal heroes, an incredible influence on my life, early years, and now as an adult. I literally have Jean-Michel Jarre to thank for getting me into synths. It either was that or drums! :) Drums were not an option where I lived and I loved listening to Rendez-Vous when I was just 16. I ended up purchasing an Oberheim Matrix-6, brand new, and the rest his history. Thank you to Stephane and Jean-Michel for being such incredible people. Your music makes the world so much better.

P.P.S. Some synth spotting included Roland gear, an EMS SYNTHI, MacBeth Elements, ARP 2600 MKIII Orange and Black, and a GRP system.

Update: videos added below. These were taken with the iPhone so not the best; per above I was there to enjoy the show not capture it. I zoomed in while filming so the set in person was about 4x larger that what it looks like in these videos. I did see it all in person. The ceiling you see above is actually the underside of the second floor balcony seating. It was truly amazing to see, and it sounded pristine. The iPhone just isn't capable of capturing it unfortunately. Regardless, these videos should give you a sense of what it was like to be there.



Playlist:
Jean Michel-Jarre Équinoxe 4 Live at Paramount Theatre Seattle 2018
Jean Michel-Jarre The Time Machine w/ Laser Harp Live at Paramount Theatre Seattle 2018 (stable after :30)
Jean Michel-Jarre Stardust Live at Paramount Theatre Seattle 2018
Jean Michel-Jarre Oxygene 17 Live at Paramount Theatre Seattle 2018
Jean Michel-Jarre Brick England Live at Paramount Theatre Seattle 2018
Jean Michel-Jarre Fourth Rendez-Vous Live at Paramount Theatre Seattle 2018

You can find the setlist for the show here.

Also see:
Jean Michel-Jarre - Oxygene Pt. 8 Live in San Jose
Roland Keyboard Rigs - On-stage with Stephane Gervais (Jean-Michel Jarre)
Roland Keyboard Rigs Jean Michel Jarre

Rendez Vous II on Xils Synthix and AudioCubes

Published on Oct 11, 2012 by Percussa

"Jean Michel Jarre's Rendez Vous II Laser Harp Theme played on Percussa AudioCubes using Xils Synthix VST synth (hosted in Ableton Live) and Percussa MIDIBridge - learn more at http://www.percussa.com/"

ELKA SYNTHEX - Sounds, Patches & Ambient Soundscapes | Synth Demo

synth4ever

"Elka Synthex analog synthesizer demo, featuring various sounds, patches and ambient soundscapes. This Elka Synthex synth demo showcases various Elka Synthex sounds including pads, leads, resonant sweeps, organs and more. Filmed at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Oakland, CA.

Manufactured from 1981-1984 in Italy, the Elka Synthex is a lush sounding classic 8-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer. It was conceived by independent Italian designer Mario Maggi and has 30 knobs, 6 sliders, 80 switches and a joystick, as well as a 4 track sequencer. Later versions implemented basic MIDI functions.

The Elka Synthex utilizes 2 DCOs per voice, each with multiple waveshapes: triangle, saw, square, pulse, PWM and ring mod. It also has a lovely multimode filter with frequency, envelope control, resonance and keyboard tracking, as well as lowpass, two bandpass options, and highpass filter modes.

The Elka Synthex also has 2 LFOs, multiple envelope generators, multiple chorus modes as well as oscillator cross-modulation and oscillator sync capabilities. LFOs can be routed to osc1, osc2, PW1, PW2, filter or amp and waveshapes include triangle, saw, ramp and square. Voices can be split, dual or layered, and it also supports footswitches for advance, glide, hold and release and direct onboard glide/portamento.

The Elka Synthex sequencer offers four different tracks which can have different length and sounds (Upper/Lower can be allocated to different tracks), and supports rests between notes as well as length of notes. In addition, 2 of its tracks can output MIDI data.

Instead of traditional pitchbend/modulation wheels, the Elka Synthex has a joystick which provides real-time control over the two LFOs, oscillator and filter modulation. The 6 sliders beside the joystick assign what (LFO, osc and filter) goes to the joystick.

Overall, the Elka Synthex is an extremely lush sounding synthesizer with many famous artists such as Tangerine Dream, Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) and Jean Michel Jarre having used it. It is probably most famous for its "laser harp" sound.

The Elka Synthex is a beautiful machine, quite large in size, and can put out some amazing pads and timbres. The chorus and ensemble effects are particularly lovely, as they add an incredible shimmer to the sounds. The Elka Synthex is quite rare these days and commands hefty prices on the second-hand market, but if you have the opportunity to try one, do not hesitate as it is an experience like no other."

RENDEZ VOUS 3

video upload by JOSEF KLANG

"LIVE VERSION OF RENDEZ VOUS 3 WITH MATRIXBRUTE AND NORDWAVE 2"

Update:

SYNTHEX PROGRAM ON MATRIX BRUTE

video upload by JOSEF KLANG

"PROGRAMMING SESSION FOR LASER HARP PRESET ON THE MATRIXBRUTE ARTURIA"

Elka Synthex with MIDI SN 1045

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

via this auction

"Up for grabs the legendary Elka Synthex! Are words even necessary? Jean Michel Jarre’s laser harp synth.

36 knobs, 84 buttons, 6 levers and 1 joystick of pure analog goodness! One of THE greatest polys ever!

This synth is in excellent condition (according Reverb terminology), the panel is flawless and has no dents or scratches - you can tell this has been a well-looked after instrument that lived its life in a smoke-free home studio. The sides have very minor signs of use typical for the age but nothing crazy as you can see from the pictures. It has MIDI, which can also be seen from the pics.

This baby weighs an impressive 30kg so that means shipping will be a bit more expensive"

CLICK FOR MORE »