Synth Jams by Jay Hosking

Published on Jul 26, 2019 Jay Hosking

Spotted the first video in the playlist above on discchord.com. The Playlist contains 21 videos. You can use the player controls to skip around. Descriptions for each are below. All videos feature various gear so you should be able to get an idea of some of the capabilities of each featured. You can check out Jay Hosking's music at https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/.

Note, more will likely get added over time. The following playlist is as of this post:

1. Jam w/ Vermona PERfourMER MkII, Elektron Analog Rytm MkII, OTO Bam, Styrmon Big Sky, Fugue Machine

A live, semi-improvised performance, all on hardware, and inspired by some pretty tough news that has me sentimental.

I loved the Elektron Analog Four MkII so much that I picked up the Analog Rytm MkII. My feelings on the Rytm are mixed. On the one hand, it's missing that spontaneity and spark of units like the Arturia DrumBrute Impact and Teenage Engineering OP-Z, with no readymade performance effects, roller bar, or global randomization, and a slower workflow. On the other hand, I really like its analogue sound engines, any unused tracks can be converted into impressive analogue mono synths, it does beautiful things to samples, and like all Elektron boxes it integrates the effects into the sequencer really nicely.

As for the Vermona PERfourMER MkII, I'd been pining over it for ages, and it was fun to finally tinker with it. The Perfourmer definitely excels in the mid- and high- range, and I love how the independent voices making really interesting voices for chords.

Vermona PERfourMER MkII + OTO Bam — Three synths (left chord note, right chord note, melody)
Vermona PERfourMER MkII + Strymon Big Sky — Bass chord note synth
Elektron Analog Rytm MkII — Drums, samples, sample melody, punchy bass
Fugue Machine (iOS) — Sequencing
IK Multimedia iRig Pro Duo — MIDI out from iOS

Written and performed within a 24-hour period, and uploaded as is, with only a little sidechain compression on the Perfourmer (to emphasize the sound that the Rytm was already making), and compression/limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/

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Rare Soviet FAEMI 1M SN 0687190 POLY ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

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via this auction

"Up for sale is extremely rare Soviet vintage polyphonic analog synthesizer "FAEMI-1M". It is a compact polyphonic analog synthesizer produced by Katchkanar radio equipment factory "Formanta", which is the manufacturer of such well-known synthesizers as Polivoks, Formanta, Manual, Maestro etc. Faemi-1M is a "young brother" of a very popular synthesizer Polivoks. It bears the same logo on the package and retains some of its most impressive capabilities, for example the powerful resonance filter. The handy keyboard of the synthesizer has also remained unchanged. But unlike Polivoks, this synthesizer is entirely polyphonic (a so called "organ-string-synthesizer"), which makes it possible to merge several timbres with the addition of a timbre (Brass) passed through the filter.

Faemi-1M is housed in a compact metal body with plastic sides. It has a 4-octave keyboard (from F to E; or from "Fa" to "Mi" in Russian; their combination gives "FaeMi"). Parameter control is performed with handy knob regulators graduated from 1 to 10. The synthesizer consists of four main sections: OSCILLATOR, TIMBRE, FILTER and AMPLIFIER.
The OSCILLATOR section provides the following functions: RELEASE, FINE TUNING, GLISSANDO. The TIMBRE section (waveshape select) has four timbre volume controls - PIANO, STRING, CLAVECIN, and BRASS.
The VIBRATO(LFO) group includes the controls of vibrato RATE, vibrato DEPTH and time of vibrato DELAY. The vibrato RATE parameter is controlled by red-light indicator.
The FILTER section (red button) passes the BRASS timbre through the filter (for the other timbres it is impossible) & includes the envelope group: ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN, RELEASE. The parameters of the filter are CUTOFF, RESONANCE, and FILTER MODULATION.
Section AMPLIFIER includes only a one control regulators - for global VOLUME.

On the front connection panel, the following connectors are situated: PEDAL input for filter control (5Din), PHONES (1/4 TRS "Jack"), main OUTPUT (1/4 TRS "Jack") and input for SUSTAIN pedal (5Din).Next the POWER connector, power ON/OFF, the FUSE are situated."

You'll find some samples on ruskeys.net

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iPhone ARP ODYSSEi

Published on Nov 2, 2016 PXE02321

KORG iPhone ARP ODYSSEi
Quicco Sound mi.1

iTunes: ARP ODYSSEi - KORG INC.

MI Shruthi-1 SMR-4 MKII With Bandpass Mod!

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via this auction

flickr set here

"This Shruthi-1 was specifically built to go straight to ebay. Specs on the synth can be found here. The synth ships with the latest SMR-4 Analog Filter (SMR-4 MKII). I have added a 3 way (SP3T) switch to access the 2 BP modes.

Switch Modes

Back: BP1
Center: Normal LP (Lowpass) Mode
Forward: BP2"

Shruth-1 SMR-4 MKII Band Pass Demo by Laurentide~

PreenFM2 - FM Multitimbral Synthesizer

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via this auction

Pics of the inside below.

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Tristan Perich: Noise Patterns Coming to NYC This Wednesday, April 2

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2
Tristan Perich: Noise Patterns
Daniel Wohl w/ Iktus Percussion
Lucky Dragons
This Wednesday: a special intimate NYC performance of Tristan Perich's "Noise Patterns", with performances by Lucky Dragons and Daniel Wohl + IKTUS.
April 2, 2014 at 8:00pm
Baby's All Right
146 Broadway (at Bedford Ave), Brooklyn, NY

Info on Noise Patterns (click through for audio and more pics)

"Expanding on Perich's 1-Bit Symphony and tonal works for electronic circuits and acoustic instruments, Noise Patterns is a composition for sequenced 1-bit patterns of white noise, programmed for and performed by microchip. Instead of synthesizing definite frequencies, the code in Noise Patterns outputs random sequences of 1s and 0s. The 'notes' of Perich’s 'score' are then varying probabilities of randomness—ranging from the sound of white noise to sporadic instantaneous pops—which he composes into rhythmic patterns. In a tidal wave of 1-bit noise, the music is an investigation into the foundational limits of computation, which surface in the seemingly simple world of randomness."


And other events featuring Tristan's work:

MAR 29
Ensemble 0 performs Tristan Perich's "Observations" (with other works by Billy Martin, John Cage, Steve Reich, Angelica Negron)
Médiathèque André Labarrère
Pau, France

MAR 30
Unwind Concert Series: Mark DeMull performs Tristan Perich's "Momentary Expanse"
The Avenue, Lansing, MI

APR 2
Frontiers Festival: the festival's Resident Ensemble presents a program of works by Birmingham Conservatoire students alongside music by Tristan Perich, Anna Clyne, and Missy Mazzoli’s Orrizonte.
Birmingham Conservatoire
United Kingdom

MAY 30
FIVE: junctQin keyboard collective plays Tristan Perich's "qsqsqsqsqqqqqqqqq" (and works by Thierry De Mey, Elisha Denburg, Chad Martin, and Tomi Räisänen)
Gallery 345
Toronto, Canada

JUNE 5
Ensemble 0 performs Tristan Perich's "Observations"
Carcassonne, France

JUNE 12
Open Ears Festival: junctQin keyboard collective performs Tristan Perich's "qsqsqsqsqqqqqqqqq" (with works by Thierry De Mey, Elisha Denburg, Chad Martin, and Tomi Räisänen)
Registry Theatre
Kitchener, Canada

JUNE 21
Socrates Sculpture Park: SOUND EVENT
Socrates Sculpture Park
Queens, NY

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Preen FM2 Four Voice Synth

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

via this auction

"This is both a gorgeous sounding and gorgeous looking FM Synth.

Comes with external power but can also be powered by USB

http://ixox.fr/preenfm2/

Today’s technology in a small box.

In addition to regular FM synth features you’ll get (firmware 2.01) :

4 independent instruments. Each of them has:

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SDS_VCO+Reflex LiveLoop

Published on Feb 7, 2017 freshnelly

"This video was created during testing of the prototype SDS_VCO (3D printed black 3HP thing) connected to a Reflex for the first time. The sound from 1 little VCO is great when feeding a synced delay!

Two sequencers are in play, the ModEM-1 as a sequencer/clock source feeding the MI Frames, then CV added to the ModEM-1 sequence. All of the Frame's outputs are offset from a 10V LFO slowly (50 seconds) cycling a sine wave.

The SDS_VCO, coming soon, is set to use the MOD input to select 16 different waveforms (13 fixed + 3 custom) giving the mix a wide range of ever changing timbres. The bottom Wave knob can offset by 16. Also the CV input is set to quantize to one of the16 scales available.

I listened to this patch for hours!"

DELTA VCF + JUNO-1 (Progressive House) [Fair Weather]

Published on Aug 5, 2018 gstormelectro

"Audio and Video by G-Storm Electro c. 2018

Today I'm performing a Progressive House jam featuring my Delta VCF Eurorack Module.
The Delta VCF is a eurorack adaptation of the Korg Delta/Poly-61 synthesizers, and it's excellent for resonant bass pads!
And with resonance it will not dilute your bass frequencies like some filters do.

Delta VCF is conjuring up a Max Graham style bass pad using waveforms by the Pittsburgh Synthesizer Box PWM and Saw.
Stereo Widening using Eventide Timefactor

Synth Lead - Roland Juno-1, Big Sky reverb
Kick/Snare - Basimilus Iteritas Alter
Reverb-y Snare - Noise into Bastl Skis for a noise burst...
then my Reverb Tank Driver, then uBurst (MI Clouds)
Hats - Tiptop Hats909
Cowbell - Future Retro Transient
Sequencing - Arturia Beatstep Pro

Recorded direct to Tascam DR-05, some post processing in Cubase."

"The Delta VCF is a faithful clone of the Korg Delta synthesizer filter in Eurorack. The lowpass circuit was also found in the Poly-61. And uses the same OTA chips and dual transistor as the original Delta. It is all analog, no DSP, so it will warm up any signal run through it.

Version 2 is the same circuit, sound and features as version 1. New features for version 2!
- Revised panel design, adjustment pots are available from the front
- Module depth is now skiff- and boat-friendly
- Slightly less current draw

FEATURES
Two filter slopes: original 4-pole, and 2-pole.
Two filter modes: lowpass or bandpass.
Illuminated Frequency and Resonance Bourns Slider pots.
Mix together two different input oscillators at the input jacks w/ signal attenuation/gain pots. These inputs can overdrive the filter.
Modulate the filter cutoff with two different input control voltages w/ signal attenuation pots.
There are trim pots on PCB for adjusting frequency and resonance range. Some of you out there may want to give a little boost to the resonance trimpot on the PCB. Doing so will make this thing scream and howl a little harder.

Available exclusively in my Reverb Store at http://reverb.com/shop/gstormelectro

“I just wanted to say I'm loving this filter! It sounds gorgeous and is wonderfully constructed.” – Adam, NY
“I just wanted to let you know I got the module and I love it so much! Definitely one of my fav filters.” – Esar, GA
“Great sounding module, love it“ – Adam, Australia
“Great filter” – A.C., IAf
“awesome” – Steve, CA"

Eurorack Modular Demos by Brandon Logic

Published on Oct 2, 2016 brandon logic

Playlist:
1. Reflex Liveloop use as a sampler demo.

2. Epoch Twin Peak vs the Klangbau Twin Peak filter. Filter sound comparison.

"From 0 to 3:45 i'm filtering a square wave from the Sputnik Oscillator through the Klangbau then through the Epoch. from 3:45 to 8:40 i'm using only triggers from Mutable Instruments Grids into the audio inputs of the filters (and multing to mod a and b of the Epoch). Here, the Epoch is panned hard left and the Klangbau hard right. from 8:40 untill the end, it's back to the sputnik square and some random wiggling of both filters at onece, still panned hard left and right.

Recording is completely dry, no effects or eq. In this demo, i'm using animodule line amp as a buffered mult to split the signal going into the audio input of the epoch to also go into the peak a and peak b mod inputs of the Epoch. This is because this is similar to how the Klangbau's Tr-F1 adn Tr-F2 controls are internally wired. I am using channel two of the line amp to boost the output of the epoch because it tends to output below standard euro modular level. line amp helps boot it normal euro levels. The Epoch requires more patching for this comparison but it also has more cv inputs for modulation and is a little more flexible under cv control and is easier to fine tune with it's knobs compared to the Klangbau's joystick, which make it hard to dial in two specific filter frequencies to track with other oscillators and v/oct, although the joystick is nice for improv and performance . you might notice that the Klangbau sometimes has a little clipping or distortion. from my experience this is part of the character of the the Klangbau version, which can sound nice! it can be controlled to some extent with the input level knob. The Klangbau will consistently self resonate with the resonance all the way up, so it is capable of longer sustaining rings . the Epoch does not self resonate like this without modulation/pings."

3. Glockenspiel vs Modualr adventures in sound.

"here, i'm experimenting with running acoustic sound (glockenspiel and drum) through my synth for both audio processing and triggering sounds and events. the sound runs through the 4ms spectral multiband resonator to convert the audio into envelopes which are then converted to triggers to fire sounds in the synth and trigger random voltages (wogglebug, ura, a-149 and turing machine) which create the variety of sounds you hear. I'm using the 4ms dual dealy to create the loops. the glockenspiel loop is then going through the reflex liveloop to create the glitchy delay and pitch shifting effects. the drum loops its going the warps parasites dealy and then to clouds for more audio manipulations."

4. modular sketch 6-30-16 4ms dld dual looping delay and mutable instruments rings patch

5. First 4ms dual looping delay patch - thumb piano - sound on sound loop and manual delay manipulation

6. Modular evolving random patch in progress

7. modular sketch 4-1-16 improv jam

8. modular drum break chops jam

"jamming in real time, not quantized to a clock so pardon the imperfections.
meng qi voltage memory and intellijel planar controlling the make noise phonogene. other sound sources, mutable instruments rings and sputnik oscillator, and doepfer a 110-4."

9. One module, self patched; 4ms spectral multiband resonator

10. mutable instruments rings with music thing mikrophonie and doepfer ribon controller

"audio quality isnt perfect, just a quick cell phone recording showing how these modules can be used together."

11. modualr synth sketch 2-18-16 v2

12. wave folding comparison WMD & SSF Ultrafold, MI Warps, and ES Disting MK3

"wave folding comparison between WMD & Steady State Fate Ultrafold, Mutable Iinstruments Warps, and Expert Sleepers Disting MK3"

13. wmd ultrafold random voltage krell patch

14. eurorack modular synth drum patch #1

15. Pittsburgh Modular Foundation 3.1 system "west coast" style percussive/bit crushing effect demo

"My first demo video with my Foundation 3.1 modular synth. A 'west coast' percussive patch with some sample and hold bit crushing effects demo."

PreenFM2 - FM Multitimbral Synthesizer

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via this auction

Pics of the inside below.

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Pear

video by UncertainMusicCorps

"A duet between MI Marbles and the Stochastic Inspiration Generator (https://www.stochasticinstruments.com...​). Two quite different approaches to achieve generative outcomes.

Marbles pairs with Plaits. SIG controls Disting EX Wavetable oscillator. SWN does drone duties"

The Stochastic Inspiration Generator was first posted here with a blue face panel by Omsonic Lab. This one appears to be re-branded under Stochastic Instruments, which technically makes this the first Stochastic Instruments post.

Info on the module:

"Each event the Stochastic Inspiration Generator creates has its pitch, octave, duration, onset, offset, portamento and ratchet set by probability controls. You can exert as much or as little control over what the next event will be as you wish. This could be very simple (e.g. raise C, E, G and 1/16 to 100% and you have a random arpeggiator kicking out constant 1/16 ) or something much more interesting…

The Inspiration Generator leverages tonal harmony by exploiting its statistical hierarchy of pitches: some notes turn up a lot, some not so much, some not at all. Being ‘in’ C Major means having lots of Cs, quite a lot of Gs and Es, a few Fs, some Ds, As and Bs, but no C#s, D#s, F#s, G#s, A#s. Set the note probabilities accordingly and Stochastic will spontaneously jam in C Major. Shift the probabilities, and you morph the tonality, key or mode they define into new tonal landscapes.

It knows all the musical parameters that shape a line: you can probablise the overall octave range over which it improvises (‘register’) and the octave offsets of each note. Bass notes define harmony and inversion, so you can imply a change of C Root to C 1st Inversion by initially dropping only the Cs by 2 octaves and then swapping to drop only the Es, all in live performance. You can even set the likelihood that melodies will be stepwise or more angular. It also knows about rhythm: you can set the likelihood that each subsequent note will be any value from an 8 bar drone to constant 1/16 pulses. And Stochastic can loop: if it suddenly strikes melody gold, hit Loop, define your loop length, release, and it will loop the phrase until you suspend loop. Hit Loop again to return to the saved loop, or hold to overwrite a new one."

PREENFM2

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via this auction

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Noise Engineering BIA vs Manis

Playlist:
1. Blog: BIA vs MI Jam
2. Blog: Manis sequence
3. Blog: BIA sequence
4. Blog: BIA vs MI Algorithms
5. Blog: BIA Percussion vs MI Drone

From the blog: https://www.noiseengineering.us/blog/...

"There are quite a few things that are the same between the BIA and the Manis. They both have 9 CV-controlled parameters, they’re both 10 HP, they’re both US$360, and they’re both a lot of fun! They hey both use additive and FM synthesis to create their sounds. Both can be percussive, and both can take on duties as basslines or leads too. They are also both complete voices, meaning that they have an envelope and VCA built-in. All you need is a sequencer (or some other type of controller) and you’re off!"

Infused Candy | OP-1 and Modular Synth Jam

Published on Apr 17, 2017 Dusty Patches

"Patch notes

Voices:
Bass synth is Waveforms Saw into MI Ripples LP4
Detuned pad is Braids _|_|_|_|_ (a sine wave/comb filter) into Optomix
Clean pad is Disting Waveshaping VCO into Optomix
Clouds is in pitchshift/timestretch mode for granular synthesis
Bitbox loaded with drum samples in SY02 multimode filter
Lead is OP-1 in pulse synth engine with tremolo LFO

Modulation:
Ornament & Crime is in CopierMaschine mode, a cascaded analog shift register. It's sending pitch to all of the eurorack synth voices. A sequence from the Beatstep Pro is patched to CV1. The outputs are delayed and produces a cascading effect.

Peaks (with Dead Man's Catch) is in Bouncing Ball Envelope mode and modulating the Optomix. It's in split mode, or dual channel mode. Knobs 1+3 control initial velocity and gravity. Knobs 2+4 control bounce energy loss.

dlADSR generates an envelope for the Waveforms Saw bass and the Clouds granular synth. Two slow triangle LFOs are patched to Moddemix, attenuated, and patched to Braids Timbre and Disting Waveshaper. The sum of these LFOs are patched to FM on Ripples.

The Rest

Sequencing is done on the Beatstep Pro. Mixing is done with the K-Mix."

TipTop Audio ART Octopus, ATX1 and Vortex, MI Ripples, Warp, Torso T-1 and Teenage Engineering TX-6

video upload by Luca Longobardi

"A simple sequence as an exercise to become familiar with the new TipTop ART modules.
The most immediate thing I can tell you is that pressing a simple button to easily have the 3 oscillators perfectly tuned was a great feeling.
The three voices (2 ATX1 ART Analog VCOs and 1 Vortex ART Wavetable VCO) are controlled by the Torso T-1 via Midi through the Octopus (USB/Midi to Art Interface+Voices Manager), Ripples as filter on all three voices and delay by the Warps (alternative firmware). Reverb and mono-to-stereo magic from the TX-6."

An Interview with E-mu's Founder Dave Rossum

This one in via David Vandenborn of DVDBORN on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge. theEMUs.com has an interview up with E-mu's founder David Rossum. The following is just the first question and answer for the archives. Click through above for the full interview.

"I read on the internet once that you got inspired to build the first Emulator after having seen the Australian Fairlight CMI at the AES show in 1980. I also want to build a lot of stuff that I see – but I always fail miserably and can’t even get my head around it.
I obviously know that you build modular synthesizers and that you created the technology for keyboards for other companies like Sequential Circuits Inc. and Oberheim Electronics.

What made you so sure you could do a sampler? Had you been experimenting with digital circuitry and RAM based technology prior to this? Did you buy a Fairlight sampler to look at when developing the Emulator – or did you do it differently – from scratch?

To understand fully, you need some background: the situation in May 1980 was that we returned from AES to find that Sequential Circuits was refusing to pay the royalties they had promised, and that we had counted on to fund the marketing of the Audity - which we introduced at the show.

We needed a product soon. Scott Wedge, Marco Alpert and Ed Rudnick had been talking on the drive back from the show, and thought that the Fairlight had one and only one good feature - sampling. We had also seen a Publison Digital Delay that had a capture mode, and the captured (sampled) sound could be played with a control voltage/gate type synthesizer keyboard.

The guys came to me with their ideas, and we had the need for a new MI product quickly to replace the lost Sequential revenue stream.

E-mu was the first company to use a microprocessor in an MI product - our 4060 polyphonic keyboard and digital sequencer, introduced in 1976. We'd done all sorts of stuff with microprocessors - the Audity had a full blown real-time operating system I'd written.

We'd built our own Z-80 development system including disk interfaces, etc. The sequencer in the 4060 used 64K bytes of dynamic RAM. And as I've been previously quoted as saying, "Any asshole can design digital circuits." (Analog is a LOT harder).

We also had been consultants for Roger Linn on the circuit design for the LM-1, so we knew a bit about sampling as well. We'd played with COMDACs in the lab at E-mu as well.

The Fairlight used a separate RAM and a separate CPU for each voice. When Scott, Marco, and Ed came to me with their idea, I knew that such an approach was simply too expensive for an MI product. We'd just have another Audity-class product, competitive with the Fairlight.

So I saw that the key would be to use ONE CPU and ONE memory for all eight voices. The trick was getting the memory bandwidth to accomplish that. The solution was a combination of fast, cheap DMA chips and some FIFO buffers to give them big enough bursts so that the bus negotiation didn't hog too much bandwidth.

So the answer is that we never gave the slightest thought anything but designing the Emulator from scratch. I was revolutionizing the state of the art - building what was in my mind, not duplicating something that I'd seen. And the hardware was the easy part.

The software was the real challenge. The Audity we demo'ed at AES had about 10,000 lines of code, which I'd written in about 3 weeks. The Emulator code base was a similar size, but rather more complex in several ways. Getting both the hardware and software into a form for demonstration at January NAMM 1981 was a real challenge. And that leads to..."

Emu

Yamaha Electone C 605 P with Eurorack, Keio Minipops and Vermona Synth Demo by Nord Part 2

Published on Nov 8, 2016

Part 1 here.

"I made an other DEMO for my Yamaha Electone C 605 P home organ. I routed it through an Eurorack modular synthesizer. This time I used a sequencer (Arturia Keystep) to trigger the oscillators (MI Braids and AS RS95E VCS3 clone) and the gate of the Intellijel Dual ADSR. The sound of the oscillators and the home organ are filtered by a MI Ripples, that is modulated by a Doepfer Quad LFO and a S&H module. The sound of the Electone organ and the OSC's are the routed into a MI Clouds module. For drums I used a Vintage Keio Minipops and at the end of the demo the Electone's own drums. I also used a vintage Vermona Synthesizer routed through a Strymon TimeLine effect pedal.

For more music please visit www.nordmusic.ro and https://nordmusic.bandcamp.com/"

Yamaha Electone C 605 P with Eurorack modules DEMO by Nord

Published on Oct 23, 2016 Nord

"This is a Berlin school of electronic music style demo of the Yamaha Electone C 605 P portable analog home organ routed through Eurorack modules. No multitrack recording was used. No other instrument was recorded, only the Yamaha Electone C 605 P. It's all live recorded in Nord's studio. The sound of the organ was routed through a Mutable Instruments Ripples module followed by a Clouds module upgraded with the Parasite software. The Ripples and Clouds modules were modulated by Doepfer A-143-3 Quad LFO, Doepfer A- 183 - 1 Dual Attenuator, Doepfer A - 118 Noise/Random voltage modules. For more music and electronic music albums produced by Nord, follow www.nordmusic.ro
or https://nordmusic.bandcamp.com"

Update:

Yamaha Electone C 605 P with Eurorack, Keio Minipops and Vermona Synth Demo by Nord Part 2

Published on Nov 8, 2016

"I made an other DEMO for my Yamaha Electone C 605 P home organ. I routed it through an Eurorack modular synthesizer. This time I used a sequencer (Arturia Keystep) to trigger the oscillators (MI Braids and AS RS95E VCS3 clone) and the gate of the Intellijel Dual ADSR. The sound of the oscillators and the home organ are filtered by a MI Ripples, that is modulated by a Doepfer Quad LFO and a S&H module. The sound of the Electone organ and the OSC's are the routed into a MI Clouds module. For drums I used a Vintage Keio Minipops and at the end of the demo the Electone's own drums. I also used a vintage Vermona Synthesizer routed through a Strymon TimeLine effect pedal.

For more music please visit www.nordmusic.ro and https://nordmusic.bandcamp.com/"

NAMM 2019: Arturia MicroFreak & Mutable Instruments Plaits

Published on Jan 24, 2019 sonicstate

Update2:

via Émilie aka pichenettes (Owner, software/hardware engineer, order fulfilment, customer service and janitor Mutable Instruments) on the Mutable Instruments forum:

"Hello peeps!

There is a lot of noise on the internet regarding the Arturia Microfreak.

Let me clarify a couple of things.

First of all, Plaits’ code is open-source, which means that anybody is free to use it, as long as they credit me somewhere (it can be in a product description page, or a footnote in a downloadable manual, or an “about” dialog). This is why you can find Mutable Instruments’ DSP code in the Korg Prologue, the Axoloti, the Organelle, VCV Rack, and plenty of other bits of software or hardware. This is not stealing. Plaits’ code is a summary of everything I’ve learnt about making rich and balanced sound sources controlled by a few parameters, it’s for everyone to enjoy.

Now, regarding the Microfreak.

Arturia had been in the process of developing a hybrid synth for a while, and contacted me about using of Plaits’ code inside. I had no objection to that.

In May, they invited me to their headquarters for a product development meeting where they showed me mockups of the Microfreak. It was fairly clear at this point that it was their product. The feature set, UX, sound engine were all already decided. The product obviously followed Arturia’s graphic language and branding. My expected contribution to the project was none: Arturia’s engineers would do their own thing with my code, the tone character and sound design was their responsibility. It was pointless for me to suggest features and ideas, or spill the beans about ideas I wanted to keep for upcoming Mutable Instruments products, and this awkward event felt more like a focus group.

Arturia offered to mention something like “Oscillator code from Mutable Instruments” in the product description, which is my preferred form of citation. No monetary compensation has ever been discussed – which is fair, because I provided exactly 0 hour of work and 0 original line of code. No contract has been drafted or signed.

Arturia contacted me back last week with a photo of the finished product. I never had the opportunity to playtest it. I have not been asked to approve or veto any promotional material.

As you can see, my involvement was fairly limited.

I don’t feel wronged. It’s their product.

However, I feel uneasy when people got excited, seeing it described as a collaboration between Mutable Instruments and Arturia, because none of the technical and design choices involved in this product originate from me. I have been quite disconcerted by the private messages congratulating me for this release and achievement. I know some people have been waiting for a Mutable Instruments keyboard synth, or at least non-modular product, for a while. Well, this is not it. That’s what I wanted to say to the world. I don’t want people to associate any negative experience they could have with this product with Mutable Instruments. I don’t want people to think that I endorsed or at least authorized some aesthetic decisions regarding this product or the communication surrounding it.

With its focus on local production, open-source, deliberate lack of marketing and advertising, Mutable Instruments is an unusual company. It’s stimulating and fun, but somewhat dangerous too. Turning Arturia into an enemy – those talks of boycotts and those tweets demanding justice – is only adding fuel to the fire and increasing the risks of getting me attacked in ways I don’t expect and I am not protected against.

If you care about me, move on! I need a lot of strength and energy at the moment, and it should all be focused on finishing new products.

So please let Arturia enjoy their release party, it’s hard work to ship a product. Buy their product if you think you’ll have fun and make good music with it, don’t buy otherwise. Buy Mutable Instruments products (or the Softube clones) if you want to fund me, or build your own and give the money to charities.

Love,
Émilie"

Update1: some info on the relationship with Mutable Instruments via reddit (text below):

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