Sync Tab for ARPIE

Published on Sep 13, 2017 midierror

"A neat device to sync your pulse clock devices to the ARPIE and an external clock. Works with Pocket Operators, Monotribes, Volcas and more!"

The synchtab for arpie was introduced in 2015. Note it's spelled both synchtab with an h as you can see here, and synctab minus the h here where you can order one.

Setting up your Sync Tab

Published on Sep 13, 2017

"This video shows how to set up your Sync Tab and ARPIE with external Pulse clock devices! Works with Pocket Operators, Monotribes, Volcas and more!"

Stylophone Gen X-1 Pre-release Sound Demos by midierror

"All sounds you can hear are generated by the Stylophone Gen X-1
(apart from the 808 drums that is...)"

Gofundme for TheSynthFreq

Many of you will be familiar with TheSynthFreq from previous posts here on MATRIXSYNTH. MATRIXSYNTH reader midierror wrote in to let us know she has a Gofundme page up for anyone that would like to help her out.

From the Gofundme:

"Most of us in the synthesizer world have at one point or another come across Danielle Morales AKA TheSynthFreq's Youtube channel. It's full of the quirky demos, tips, and music of a woman that obviously loves her synths. What may not be as obvious because she doesn't make it clear in her videos is that she has some fairly serious, life long medical issues. Danielle is deaf-blind, and has been in and out of the hospital many times over the last few years, suffering through strokes that have left her partially paralyzed. Her Facebook feed is a story of endless struggle, yet I have never seen her ask for help or fish for sympathy, she takes it all in stride as best as she can. It is simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring to watch.

Last night she made a post on Facebook asking for advice on how to sell her gear, because during her most recent ICU stay she needed an emergency intubation... and during that process nearly all of her front teeth, top and bottom, were knocked out, and her insurance is refusing to cover the cost of dental prosthetics. She has described to me the way she looks now with no front teeth as "shocking". This is unacceptable. She absolutely should not have to trade her music for the ability to leave her house without appearing "shocking". I contacted her after seeing her for sale post to ask if she was comfortable with a fundraiser, and she is, so I ask you- my fellow synth nerds across the planet- if you have even a dollar to spare to help this ridiculously strong woman get some sense of normalcy back to her life without losing her music in the process, please help her out. 100% of whatever is collected will go straight to Danielle, I have assigned all financial control of this account to her. Also, if anyone reading this is a dentist/owns a dental lab/ has any relevant connections in the Austin, TX area and would be willing to donate professional services, please feel free to contact us."

New PC-2 Clone - Analog Percussion Synthesizer from midierror

Published on Dec 20, 2016 midierror

"A little demo of the analog Percussion Synth from sxityfourpixels! Available as a kit here: https://www.tindie.com/products/hotch...

Triggered by a built in Piezo, or by external CV. Space on the PCB for mods...and a eurorack version on the way!"

Details:

"A clone of the Boss PC-2 / Amdek PCK-100 for bleeps and bloops galore!


PCLONE2 is a recreation of the (now rare) PC-2 percussion synthesizer which was made by Boss during the 1980s (and also released in DIY kit form under the Amdek brand name as the PCK-100)

The PCLONE2 kit is based on the original schematic (with a couple of changes due to the scarcity of some now obsolete components).

The kit includes all the parts neccessary for the build; printed circuit board, electronic components, wire for internal connections, potentiometers, knobs, switches, sockets, fitting screws etc. It includes a custom designed, laser-cut, case (made from 3mm acrylic sheet with 5mm acrylic side cheeks) and a laser etched acrylic laminate fascia.

Assembly by soldering is required! I would describe this as an intermediate complexity kit for experienced solderers, if you are a novice I would recommend getting some experience on simpler kits before you build this one.

This is a completely analog synthesizer with a single VCO. There is a pitch sweep function, a decay envelope and an LFO with rate, depth and wave shape (triangle/square) control. Unusually for a percussion synth there is no noise source, but you'll soon realise this isn't your typical percussion synth!

Sounds are triggered by an input pulse (5V-9V works fine) or by tapping on a piezo sensor which is mounted behind a pad on the front panel.

There are three unconnected 3.5mm sockets labelled CV1, CV2, CV3. These, together with a prototyping area on the PCB, are to make the box easily mod-able. I will be documenting some simple mods I have already found (including a pitch CV input using a single resistor), and plan to get a growing list of mods together.

The box has the following controls:

TRIG LEVEL - Sets the sensitivity of the trigger input. The voice circuit responds differently depending on the intensity of the trigger pulse (this is especially nice when tapping it with a finger). The TRIG LEVEL knob controls this response.

PITCH - Sets the basic pitch of the oscillator. This works alongside the SWEEP controls.

DECAY - Controls the decay of the volume envelope (so how long the sound takes to fade out after it is triggered) and also controls the sweep time. Sweep, pitch and decay interact in ways that reward experimentation.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Tubbutec Juno 66 and Ableton Max4Live

Tubbutec Juno 66 and Ableton Max4Live

Published on Dec 2, 2016 midierror

"A brief look at a Max4Live patch I'm working on to control the Juno 66 - a modified Juno 6.

The Juno 66 mod is available here https://tubbutec.de/juno-66/"

midierror Fundraising for Youth Music with new EP

midierror who has been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH numerous times, has a new fundraiser EP out to benefit Youth Music. The following are some details on the project:

"midierror has been going without alcohol for the whole of 2016 in order to raise money for Youth Music, who fund valuable workshops with youngsters who would otherwise have no access to musical expression. From organising, running and evaluating music workshops - he cannot emphasise enough the incredible impact that these music sessions can have on young peoples lives.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/midi-error

But he has raised a pitiful amount of money so far! So he decided to create an EP featuring four tracks which he's enjoyed making and playing live over the past year. Described as dark and sort of cinematic, he says they loosely based around the idea of the human race moving out into space. Expect to hear some electronica, jungle and idm..BUT if those aren’t to your taste there is a secret, more poppy bonus track for people the rest of you!

https://midierror.bandcamp.com/

The EP has four tracks and a bonus chemical brothers cover, with Emma Harrop on vocals. Please name your own price (above £2), and give generously!"

Korg ER1 MaxMSP Controller

Published on Sep 15, 2016 midierror

"First days work on a ER1 editor....all functions functional!

Audio is in MONO, so no panning for you!"

Arturia PolyBrute - Polyphonic Minibrute

Published on Apr 1, 2016 midierror

"Minibrute owners should know you can change the Arp mode to a sequencer using SYSEX..but what you may not know is that another command gives the minibrute 3 note polyphony.

You can find the Sequencer / Arpeggiator SYSEX information from the beginning of the video here here http://hackabrute.yusynth.net/index_e..."

What is interesting about this is the Minibrute is a single oscillator analog monophonic synth with sub oscillator so you wouldn't think this is possible. The single oscillator does support three simultaneous waveforms, saw, pulse, and triangle. I'm curious what it's doing. Divide down paraphony, somehow playing each waveform separately? An easy way to test that would be to see if the waveform controls for one wave-shape affects all notes or just one.

LE STRUM - MIDI Chord Controller

Published on Jan 13, 2016 midierror

"A unique control surface designed by uber-human Jason Hotchkiss. Le Strum functions something like a cross between a Stylophone and an Omnichord.

Available here: https://www.tindie.com/products/midie..."

An interesting side note is that I own an Oberheim Strummer. It might have been the first if not only piece of kit you could use to generate guitar like cords with your synth. The problem with it was that it wasn't super intuitive to use. It didn't have any strum controls but was rather just a desktop box with a button based menu system where you selected what chords you wanted to use. LE STRUM looks like it would not only easily replace it, but can be used more as a physical controller for your synths. Very, very cool.

"A unique control surface that functions something like a cross between a Stylophone and an Omnichord. Comes FULLY CONSTRUCTED!

Connect LE STRUM to your MIDI synthesizer or computer running synth software, hold down a combination of buttons to select a chord, then use the stylus to play MIDI notes by touching the contact pads on the top right of the board. As the name suggests, you can strum across chords using the stylus, providing an unique and expressive MIDI controller.

LE STRUM's 36 chord buttons give you immediate access to 84 different chords (maj, min, dom7, maj7, min7, aug, dim for 12 root notes). You can also play sus4, add6 and add9 chord variations. It is great for learning about chord progressions and can be a helpful songwriting tool.

LE STRUM has several performance modes which are accessed by holding the MODE button while pressing one of the top row of chord buttons:

Mode+C : Basic mode - Stacked triads mapped across all 16 pads
Mode+D : Guitar strum mode - 6-string guitar open chords used (maj/min/7)
Mode+E : Guitar sustain mode - as above, but chord held after buttons released
Mode+F : Organ buttons - As Basic mode but chord triad plays on MIDI channel 2 as soon as button is pressed
Mode+G : Organ buttons with additions - as above but with sus4/add6/add9 options
Mode+A : Organ buttons with retrig - as above but chord buttons retrigger
Mode+B : Load User Patch
Mode+Bm : Save User Patch
Mode+B7 : MIDI Panic - All notes off
Mode+Strum Pad: Set MIDI velocity (16 levels)

User patch can combine settings for: play on make/break, damp on make/break, guitar voicing /stacked triads, additional guitar octave, enable added 4/6/9 notes, enable guitar chord bass notes, keep chord selection after chord button release, common note sustain on chord change, map chromatic/diatonic/pentatonic scale to pads, enable organ buttons on midi channel 2

LE STRUM has a special 6 string guitar mode, which knows basic major, minor and seven open chord fingerings for guitar. It can be used to lay down strummed guitar MIDI tracks without a MIDI guitar, and in a more convincing way that you could get from a keyboard. It's more than a toy, yessiree!

Designed for hackability (e.g. solder wires to the provided holes on the pads to make proper "strings" to pluck)
Transmits on MIDI Channel 1 for stylus activity and MIDI Channel 2 for Chord Buttons.
Output is to a standard MIDI 5-pin DIN socket.
A PP3 battery is required
Size 98mm x 75mm x 45mm (incl MIDI socket) Weight approx 120g with battery

An optional stand is available, please contact me for more information.

Please note that synthesizer hardware or software is required to make sound. LE STRUM is a MIDI controller and does not make any sound by itself!"

Note: I created a new midierror channel label for midierror moving forward. You can find previous posts by doing s a search on midierror. The creator of LE STRUM is Jason Hotchkiss.

ARPIE Midi Arpeggiator + Sequential Circuits Pro One

Published on Jan 11, 2016 midierror

"A short video recording the synth direct, no effects.

Via an Arturia Minibrute for MIDI to CV"

x0xb0x with overdrive

Published on Nov 24, 2015 midierror

"A couple more mods done to the x0xb0x this time with overdrive and vca decay knobs. See the other video [here] for more"

x0xb0x [TB303 Clone] Modifications

Published on Oct 26, 2015 midierror

"Beefed up x0xb0x thanks to the Subatomic glue guide. Lots of easy bends, and quite comfortable to house everything.

http://www.subatomicglue.com/x0xl0g/m..."

Update:

CLICK FOR MORE »

ARPIE - MIDI Arpeggiator [Main Features]

Published on Sep 25, 2015 midierror

"The ARPIE is a harware arpeggiator designed by Jason Hotchkiss. It has an insane amount of features as covered in the ARPIE online manual http://six4pix.com/arpie/manual.html

Currently available in kit form, it is soon to be available as a finished product. Watch this space!

These are some of the main ones."

Waldorf Pulse Editor for Renoise

Published on Sep 14, 2015 midierror

"Short of a screen-grabbing program, here's a video showing basic functionality of my Waldorf Pulse editor for Renoise.

http://forum.renoise.com/index.php/to...

http://www.renoise.com/tools/guru

Using the guru tool, you can edit, load and save synth presets!"

Powertran Transcendent 2000 Overview & Demo by Midi/Error!!

Published on Aug 28, 2015 midierror

"A look at the features of the Transcendent 2000 synthesizer, designed by Tim Orr and used most notably by Martin Hannet and Joy Division."

Powertran Transcendent 2000 [ demo ]

Published on Aug 28, 2015

"Messing about with the Transcendent 2000 through a Lexicon reverb/delay unit."

Yamaha DX7 vs ARPIE - MIDI Arpeggiator

Published on Aug 28, 2015 midierror

"Giving the ancient synthesizer a new lease of life with the ARPIE from Jason Hotchkiss! Check out his other goodies here https://www.tindie.com/stores/hotchk155/

Synth Explorer DX7 is available here http://www.loopmasters.com/genres/81-..."

Yamaha PSS-570 vs Warp Factory Vocoder

Published on May 28, 2015 midierror

"Running the 1987 FM BEAST through the Electrix vocoder unit. The keyboard is a little dusty.

Triggering some sounds, making some tweaks. This is recorded direct form the vocoder, no FX!"

Warp Factory vs TR505

Published on May 24, 2015 midierror

"Sounds of the Roland TR505 ran through the formant filter on the Electrix Warp Factory Vocodertron. Controls are: Gender, Q, Order, Pitchshift and Noise. There is also a freeze function which holds the current sound - similar to granular synthesis."

FM SYNTHS [Sample Pack] FREE DOWNLOAD by midierror

Download here:
rekkerd.org/midi-error-releases…synths-sample-pack/
www.audiobombs.com/items/1091/fmsynths

"Created on 3 classic FM synths (Tx81z, fb01 and dx7/tx816), midierror resurrects the sounds of the 1980s before contorting their descent into the sound systems of 2015. This pack contains all you need to beef-up your sound; with hard, evil synth tones, grizzly bass hits and twisted sound fx.

Containing in excess of 200 Oneshot sounds, FM Synths has over 150 loops; featuring FM lead elements, backing rhythmns and modulated FX at tempos to suit the modern electronic artist. Also included are over 100 FM Drum Hits and 13 Multi-Sampled instuments recorded over 5 octaves, enabling you to play the synth patches as they were originally.

Each of the sounds have been recorded direct from the hardware, with no processing or after effects - making them mean, clean and raw. Modulated loops have been recorded with live parameter changes for a living, organic quality.

Oneshots:
152 x Synth
124 x FX
51 x Bass

Loops
87 Drum Loops @ 90, 120, 140 175BPM
73 Modulated Synth Loops @ 90, 120, 140 175BPM
40 x Synth Loops @140bpm

Drum Hits:
14 x Cymbals
23 x Glitches
32 x Kicks
28 x Perc
23 x Snares
16 x Toms

Multi-Samples
13 x Multisampled Synth Sounds (217 individual samples)

All samples are 48000Hz, 24-Bit Wave files."

Arpie MIDI Arpeggiator vs Roland TR626

Published on Apr 30, 2015 midierror

"Arpie is a build-it-yourself MIDI arpeggiator with loads of features.

http://six4pix.com/

Great fun to build, and a new lease of life for old MIDI synths!"