ChucK (1.5.0.0; codename "chai") Update

This one is in via supporting member, Loscha, who had the following to say:

"A new major release of audio programming language ChucK has come out.
ChucK has been on the scene for a solid 20 years now.
Apart from general synthesis and analysis, ChucK was a big mover in the early Live Coding music scene.
The language lets you add instruments and algorithmic elements to a live performance at will.
ChucK is a very easy and powerful language to learn."

The following was made in ChucK by Loscha back in 2018. You can find the code at the bottom of this link.




Details on the update via the ChucK email list :

"A new release of ChucK (1.5.0.0; codename "chai") is here:

https://chuck.stanford.edu/
https://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/

This is a major release; additions and updates include:

* ChucK + AI (ChAI) -- a set of AI/ML tools for building interactive AI
musical instruments and systems (thanks to Dr. Rebecca Fiebrink for
blazing the trail on interactive AI for music; thanks Yikai Li and the
students of Music AI):
https://chuck.stanford.edu/chai/
https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/reference/ai.html

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Loscha Opens up a Pollard Syndrum Quad!

video upload by Edward Jones

"This is going to be a long restoration!

The drum triggers go into the unit on a five pin Latched XLR, not a DIN as I said in the video.

The power supply is in an external box that has a mains transformer, and a voltage regulator, only to have it regulated again inside.
twice.

The MM5837 appears to be a no gp (I have a spare) but the real issue is that the faders and switches are all corroded and jumpy.

I did end up taking the panel board off, and the faders seem to be like the contemporary ARP kind. Plastic body, moving wiper body."

Loscha Opens: Roland 100m 180 CV/Gate keyboard.

video upload by Edward Jones

Inside a Roland 100m 180 CV/Gate keyboard controller.

Roland Brochures - Juno-60, RS-09, SA-09, TR-808, & VP-330

These are in via Loscha, previously listed here.

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JVC & Lowrey Keyboards KB-500 KB-700 Micro Genie

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

via this auction

Note these are from supporting member, Loscha.

The are listed for parts. Note the smokey transparent music stands, that also act as front panel covers when not in use, on each of them.

"Of Note: all of these keyboards have the smoke grey plastic music stands, and they don't have the tabs broken off!!!!! These are quite rare in any condition as they fall off if you carry the keyboard at an awkward angle, and can shatter.

Despite my vague notes here about the keyboards partial functionality, the only one I can be sure of is that the KB-700 actually was making good noise, accompaniment played, voices switched, etc.

Updated to add: the winner of the auction will receive the KB-500 service manual via email. I had to purchase this separately.

NO RETURNS ACCEPTED -- THESE ARE SOLD AS IS, AS STANDING.
JVC KB-500 White Keys - no sound, doesn't power up
JVC KB-500 Black Case Silver Keys - no sound, doesn't power up
JVC KB-700 - this one works except for tempo slider.
Lowrey Micro Genie V-120 "Mach Plus" (rebadged JVC KB-700) only a few keys worked a few times, I think the drums worked however
Lowrey Micro Genie V-105 with MIDI - doesn't turn on at all. Has a cute little cartridge that stores the accompaniment patterns.

These are collection ONLY from Neill St Carlton, Melbourne, Australia."

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Sequential Circuits Six-Trak & Drumtraks User Manuals & Warranty Cards

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

via this auction

"Sequential Circuits Six-Trak; has unfilled warranty card included. A few of the pages in the back of blank patch or preset sheets and loose. There is some lose paper on the spine, I haven't repaired this, but this will be packed very carefully so it doesn't get worse.
Sequential Circuits Drum-Traks - Full colour four panel, ie one A3 sheet folded"

Note this is supporting member, Loscha's listing.

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Casio CZ-101 CZ-1000 SZ-1 User Manuals w/ CZ Sound Data Book for 101/1000

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

via this auction

Note this is supporting member, Loscha's listing.

Casio CZ-1000 (CZ-101) Operation/User manual, English and Spanish.
Casio CZ Digital Synthesizer Sound Data Book - 48 sounds for you to experiment and learn from. Has original MIDI spec stapled into the back cover
Casio SZ-1 Digital Multi-Track Sequencer. Operation/User English and Spanish. - Has MIDI implementation chart (a single page) included
Casio SZ-1 Digital Multi-Track Sequencer. European Manual. German, French, Italian, Dutch - Has MIDI implementation chart (a single page) included"

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Roland GR-300 GR300 Guitar Synth User Manual

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

via this auction

"Has the information and patch examples you'd expect."

Note this is supporting member, Loscha's listing.

Original Roland Synthesizer Brochures

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

via this auction

Roland TR-808 - B&W one A4 sheet
Juno-60 - Full colour four panel, ie one A3 sheet folded
SA-09 - B&W one A4 sheet (has a cheeky little Kraftwerk Man Machine cover on bottom corner)
RS-09 - B&W one A4 sheet
VP-330 - Colour front, B&W reverse, A4 sheet

Note this is supporting member, Loscha's listing.

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Yamaha Portraits Of An Artist Digital Instruments Catalogue & More

Supporting member, Loscha wrote in to let us know he's uploaded some vintage Yamaha sales books, catalogs and brochures that you can find here: https://archive.org/details/@loscha.

Pictured is the cover of Yamaha Portraits Of An Artist Digital Instruments. Also uploaded:

Yamaha Professional Equipment from 1989

What's the Smartest Choice You can Make In An Electronic Keyboard? from 1988 featuring the PSR-80 and PSR-90

Yamaha Electronic Keyboards PK-06 from 1998

Yamaha Digital Catalogue from 1989

You can flip them at the link above.

Loscha presses Play: Yamaha PSS-270 Demo 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓙𝓸𝓮𝓵 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓦𝓪𝔂 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓐𝓻𝓮 has VERY weird instruments

video upload by Edward Jones

"The Yamaha PSS-270 is from the FM Synthesis line of keyboards.
The audio generation is handled by the YM2413 OPLL chip.
The OPLL is very well documented. Please look here for more information - https://www.smspower.org/Development/...
This chip has direct audio out, no DAC required.
One output is the Main voice out, and the other is the Percussion out.
On this unit, the Percussion and Main are both routed through the chorus unit. The chrous is MN3102 and MN3206, controlled by a fixed LFO. There is no feedback on the chorus. This could be added for a much more flangier effect."

Electronic Musical Projects Sood BPB 1998

This one is in via Loscha. Click the right and left arrows on the bottom right of the player to flip through.

You can download a scan of the publication via the links on right here.

"Today we have a scan from my paper book archives.; Electronic Musical Projects by P K Sood, published by the Business Promotion Bureau of India - a company still producing educational material for IT.

These books were reasonably common in Australian Electronics Parts stores in the early 2000s. They were cheap, and there were several in the series.

Today I present Electronic Musical Projects, but I also have Practical Timer Projects, 555 Timer and its Applications and 41 Projects Using 741 I.C.

These books, particularly the musical one, has an almost Zine feeling to them. They're crooked, the schematics are lovingly hand drawn.

I have never built any of these musical instrument projects,

A previous scan of this books exists, but, it is unusable"

Description from the download link:

"A collection of electronic musical projects.
Book by P K Sood

The book provides circuit diagrams and an explanations of circuit theory for the below listed projects.

01 - Transistorised Audible Metronome
02 - Drum Beat Simulator Metronome
03 - Audio Visual IC Metronome
04 - Accented Beat Metronome
05 - Guitar Practice Accompaniment Drummer
06 - Bass Booster For Electric Guitar
07 - Treble Booster Preamplifier
08 - Presence Booster For Musical Instrument
09 - Connecting Pickups To Guitar
10 - Simple Preamplifier For Electric Guitar
11 - Multi Tone Control For Guitarists
12 - Complete Guitar Preamplifier
13 - Guitar Practice Power Amplifier
14 - Guitar Envelope Control
15 - Guitar Fuzz Box
16 - Simple Waa-Waa Circuit
17 - Electromechanical Echo And Reverberation
18 - Guitar Tremolo Unit
19 - Simple Sustain For Guitar
20 - A Single Transistor Phaser
21 - Professional Mini Phaser
22 - Four Piece Electronic Bongo
23 - Electronic Percussion Box
24 - Electronic Steam Whistle
25 - Marine Diesel Sound Simulator
26 - Rain Effects Simulator
27 - Wind Sound Generator
28 - Novel Sounds Generator
29 - Wailing Siren Generator
30 - Build This Opto Electronic Organ With Tremolo

I paid $6.50 AUD for this book on 2003-04-16. I have enclosed a scan of the receipt as a little bonus item.
Many other BPB publications were commonly seen in Australian Electronics parts stores, particularly Jaycar Electronics and their stockists. Please check my uploads for further titles in the series."

PAiA A Schematic Symbology For Synthesizer Patching Arrangements 1974

Use the left and right arrow controls to flip through.

This one is in via Loscha

You can find a PDF download here.

You might recognize it from this previous post.

Update via Yusynth in the comments: "this notation has been extended and usable PNG and SVG files of these are made freely available by PatchAndTweak at http://patchandtweak.com/symbols/"

Synth Rorschach #83: Nuns and Synths

This one is in via Gerard P.

Reminiscent of Every Nun Needs a SYNTHI, and Pin Electronics more risque version.

Update from Loscha in the comments:

"That is Sister Mary Keller.
A very important woman.
First person to get a computer science Ph D.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller"

Clean-Up Raves in Ukraine

This one is in via Loscha, who spotted it on ABC News Australia. Click through for some video.

Left: The DJs play techno music as volunteers continue clean-up efforts. (Reuters: Viacheslav Ratynskyi ) - Note the Waldorf Blofeld, M-Audio keyboard controller, and what appears to be a Lumatone keyboard with accordian style keys.

"Buildings destroyed by Russian invasion become 'clean-up raves' for volunteers missing Ukraine's techno festivals

A bombed-out building in northern Ukraine has been turned into a rave for more than 200 people just months after the region was devastated by the Russian invasion.

The daytime 'clean-up rave' was organised by young Ukrainians who have been using dance parties to aid the recovery effort.

'Techno parties, especially rave festivals, it was our lifestyle before, when we met with friends and spent time," one of the group's organisers said.

'Last summer, every weekend festivals (were) here in Ukraine, in Kyiv.

'So, we miss it and we want to come back to normal life but our normal life now is volunteering.'

Shovels in hand, the volunteers tossed piles of debris into the loader of a tractor from the remnants of the centre, which was destroyed by a rocket strike in March.

Ukraine's vibrant club scene was brought to an abrupt halt with the Russian invasion on February 24.

A night-time curfew in the capital Kyiv forced lovers of Ukraine's party culture to combine the fun and freedom of a festival with rebuilding their homes.

Most of the Yahidne volunteers, primarily in their 20s and 30s, came from Kyiv, about two hours' drive away.

Others have come from the western city of Lviv and nearby Chernihiv, while some foreign volunteers have arrived from Portugal, the United States, Germany and elsewhere.

The clean-up was the group's eighth event so far, restoring the centre and 15 homes in the village."

Left: Ukraine was known for its vibrant techno scene before war broke out. (Reuters: Viacheslav Ratynskyi )

Left: Many of the volunteers are young people combining their passion for music and love for their country. (Reuters: Viacheslav Ratynskyi )

The Reverse Engineers were going to star in "Getting to Bent" 2008 docco that was never completed

video upload by Edward Jones aka Loscha

March 1980 Roland "We Design the Future" Vol.3 - Volume 3 Brochure Catalog / Magazine

These are in via Loscha

You can view them here by clicking on the images or you can download them via Loscha's links here:

195mb PDF (made with PDF24)

Higher quality single pages in a 281mb ZIP files

Per Loscha: "I was loaned this by a friend to scan. I had to set up a custom scanning table area so I could lay the book flat so as not to crease or damage the piece, as it's quite fragile. I used my flatbed LIDE scanner, and built up walls of books on either side until they were exactly the same height as the scanner bed."

Enjoy!

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Pacific Model Railroad Mail Sound & DC Power Transformer for Model Railroads SN 02959

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

via this auction

This one is in via Loscha. It's a sound machine for model railroads. You can find a demo of one here.

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Australian CASIO MIDI Users Club Newsletter 3., CZ Patches & Rock School Courses

Additional scans in via Loscha, who brought us the MIDI PRIMER scans earlier today (higher res pics added there BTW).

The first 11 are the CASIO MIDI Users Club Newsletter 3 featuring the AZ-1 keytar on the cover. Below that are some CZ patches followed by Rock School course agendas. To be there at the time... It made me think of the New York School of Synthesis (if you haven't seen it, don't miss it).

Featured:

Australian Casio MIDI User Group Newsletter 3 (higher res PDF here)

Advertising about Australian (Melbourne) Synthesizer and guitar workshops

Handwritten patches from an attendee of one of those workshops.

If anyone has any further editions of Australian MIDI Users Club newsletter, please email loscha@gmail.com.

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MIDI PRIMER Everything You Need to Know to Profit From The Most Dynamic Musical Technology of The '80s

October 1985 article from The Music Trades in via Loscha.

Click the pics to read each page
(Update: higher res pics added - PDF here).

Synth Ads featured:

Opcode MIDIMAC Interface, Sequencer, and Patch Libraries

DX7 RAM from The Musician's Service

AKAI S612 Sampler - Finally Sampling Made Simple!

Ensoniq "the the Mirage"

Affordable MIDI Switching DATA-LINK 5 from DIGI-TRON

SYNSONICS DRUMS - Fred Gretsch Enterprises

Syntech MIDI Software, Ram Cartridges, Midi Interfaces

It's worth noting this is the first post to feature DIGI-TRON. Makes you wonder how many unknown synth related companies are out there. In over 15 years of running this site they still come up. See the New Old label for more.

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