Casio VL-1 VL-Tone Synthesizer ADSR Mode Programming Tutorial

Published on Feb 7, 2017 peahix

"Quick improvised tutorial on how to program sounds in 'ADSR' mode on the Casio VL-Tone. I forgot to mention that the sound selector has to be set to 'ADSR' for this to work. Also, once you've programmed your sound in, it will be held in memory until you change it, even if you power the unit off."

EML ElectroComp 101 Analog Synthesizer Demo Tracks

Published on Jun 26, 2016 peahix

"All sounds except for drums made with an EML ElectroComp 101 Analog Synthesizer. Recorded in Cubase using an audio clock pulse to trigger the sampler on the EML."

Playlist:
EML ElectroComp 101 Analog Synthesizer Demo Track 1
EML ElectroComp 101 Analog Synthesizer Demo Track 2
EML ElectroComp 101 Analog Synthesizer - Noodlings

Roland MC-8 Sequencer Malfunction w/ Sequential Pro-One Synth

Published on Feb 22, 2016 peahix

"My MC-8 is ailing at the moment, which means that when I turn it on, it does it own bit of 'micro-composing.' Here it is connected to my Sequential Pro-One synth."

5'32". Take that 4'33"! Most exciting sequence ever. It's definitely putting a ton of thought into it.

Depeche Mode - NOTHING TO FEAR - Transcription / Re-Creation by Peahix

Published on Nov 25, 2015 peahix

Another great cover by peahix of http://optigan.com. Details on the synth parts below.

"Here's the latest in my periodic series of Depeche Mode song re-creations. I don't really call these "covers," because I'm not doing any sort of creative interpretation. The goal is to get as close as possible to the original recording by not using ANY samples or sound material from the original recording itself. So really, this is a technical exercise more than anything. As usual, I used the original album mix and the surround mix as reference points, and I also was able to hear a few details in DM's live recording. There are differences between these versions, so where I found conflicting parts or mix issues, I deferred to the original album mix. It's a pretty accurate transcription (probably the only one you'll find that gets the bassline right!), though there are some details that are buried in the mix of all the different versions, so I had to make some educated guesses for a few things, or I just fudged them. I sequenced this in Cubase with just two different soft synths- Retrologue and a PPG Wave freeware emulation I found online (http://www.hermannseib.com/english/sy...). Drums are Simmons SDSV samples I found online . Many of the effects on this track come from the PPG synth, so I did my best to get some sounds from the soft synth version that got in the ballpark. I didn't slave over every last patch, so some of them are closer to the mark than others. Probably could have worked on the drum sounds and the mix a bit more, but oh well, life's too short. Enjoy."

retrologue:
-bass
-lead
-sequencey riffs
-noise sweeps
-noise perc

ppg wave:
-choir
-keyboard riff (near beginning and end)
-bell-like sound
-glitchy wavetable sounds
-chord riff in bridge

all drums are simmons samples except for the hi-hat, which is 808 high-hat samples.

Peahix Vintage 1980s YAMAHA DX100 SN 42407

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via this auction

Peahix is the man behind optigan.com and he brought us a number of great synth vids. Note this DX100 does have problems so this one is likely for the DIY or circuit bending crowd:

"Currently powers up, but enters a glitchy state where the display flashes random characters, and sometimes it makes garbled/glitchy sounds, either on its own, or sometimes responding to the keyboard and/or MIDI. Most likely there's just a loose chip or some other connection inside. I have not attempted to repair it or trace the source of the problem myself. Could probably be fixed pretty easily by someone qualified to work on this type of electronics, otherwise this would make a great circuit-bending candidate. The data slider cap is missing, and there's some minor scuffs & grime, but otherwise it's in good shape cosmetically. Please see pics for further details."

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They Might Be Giants - CHESS PIECE FACE - Recreated w/ Casio CZ-101

Published on Jul 7, 2015 peahix

"I was messing around with my CZ-101 this evening and decided I'd go ahead and re-create "Chess Piece Face" by TMBG, because it was done entirely with three of the Casio's preset sounds- Violin, Crispy Xylophone, and Elec. Organ. The trickiest thing was getting the sliding portamento violin parts, so basically I just approximated that. I really couldn't justify spending too much time on this thing. But hey, if you need a karaoke track, this will do the job."

Yazoo - DON'T GO - Re-created w/ Moog Voyager OS

Published on May 3, 2015 downsampling

"This video demonstrates and documents Pea Hicks‘ Sequential Circuits Pro-One synth patches, inspired by the work of Vince Clarke on Yazoo’s Don’t Go. [posted here]

I make it with a Moog Voyager Old School.
HH, Clap = Miami Drummachine, Snare = XBase09.

Thanks to peahix

justforfun :-) downsampling.de"

Korg SQ-1 vs Yamaha CS01II by peahix

"here's some jamz i made with a Korg SQ-1 sequencer and a Yamaha CS01II (retrofitted w/ CV/Gate jacks)."

Korg SQ-1 Sequencer controls Yamaha CS01II Synth & a Guinea Pig

Published on May 30, 2015 peahix

"Just got this Korg SQ-1 and did some noodling with it and my Yamaha CS01II analog synth (which has had cv/gate inputs installed). The nice thing about the SQ-1 is that you can switch it to Hz/V, which is what the CS01II takes. The first part covers the different waveforms with a musical sequence, and the second part is drums done with filtered white noise. The synth was recorded direct with no FX or processing."

Mooquencer

Published on May 31, 2015

"Guinea pig Moo jams on her new Korg SQ1 sequencer while fending off hostile aliens."

This might be the first guinea pig post on the site unless you count this one.

King Beat 7 Analog Drum Machine Beatbox Demo

Published on May 26, 2015 peahix

"Quick run-thru of the different beats this machine puts out!"

Follow-up to this post on one currently for sale. Peahix saw the post and shared the video. Awesome! Thank you Pea!

Vintage King Beat 7 Drum Beat Machine - 7 Different Beats

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via this auction

"Machine was made in Japan and features 7 Different Beats: Slow Rock, Latin, Twist, Fox Trot, Waltz, Mambo and Go-Go. Also features volume and tempo control dials."

I don't believe I've ever seen or posted one of these before. If anyone knows who made it feel free to comment. Giving this one a new King Beat channel label for the time being.

Update: video courtesy of peahix posted here.

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Found 8mm Film - Halloween

Published on Oct 31, 2014 peahix

"music by me."

peahix is the man behind optigan.com and has been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH numerous times with some amazing one synth covers. If you follow his YouTube channel, you'll notice a number of videos he's posted of long lost Super 8 mm films he's found at various garage sales. They are a fascinating look back in time.

Remember to keep an eye on the HALLOWEEN channel for more Halloween posts. I added a link in the site links above.

Depeche Mode - PHOTOGRAPHIC - Re-created w/ Arturia Arp 2600V

Published on Aug 19, 2014 peahix

"For the latest in my series of Speak & Spell era Depeche Mode re-creations, I decided to do 'Photographic' as an excuse to learn a bit about the ARP 2600 via Arturia's software emulation, the 2600V. The original track was done mostly, if not entirely with an ARP 2600, so I wanted to see how close I could get to the original sounds. The answer? Not very. I'm sure much of this is due to my lack of programming skills on the 2600, which I'm just learning. But I also suspect alot of it has to do with the shortcomings of the 2600V. Either that, or Daniel Miller & EC Radcliffe compressed the hell out of those sounds (or something)! The basic issue is that I couldn't get the 2600V's envelopes to sound anywhere near as snappy and punchy as the sounds on the DM track. I could get the patches in the ballpark, but mine all just sounded too mushy and wimpy. The kick drum in particular gave me trouble- I couldn't figure out how to get anywhere near Mr. Miller's famous 2600 kick. If anyone knows how to get it on the 2600V, please enlighten me!

Anyway, the one thing I am really proud of here is my reverse-engineering of the little randomized sequence heard throughout the track. Since the 2600V also has an emulation of the ARP 3601 sequencer (which was used extensively on the original track), I delved into the old user manual for the 3601 and worked out how this sequence was put together. The still image in my "video" shows the patch for this sequence. I was actually going to transcribe the entire part from the original (which would have been twice the job, since there's two passes of this sequence in stereo), but despite being able to hear it clearly much of the time, it was drowned too much in the mix at other times, so I said screw it. I decided instead it was actually more interesting to work out the 3601 sequencer settings for this part, even though inevitably the random notes that my sequence played are different from the original track. The note series is the same, though, which is the same note series as the little riff that plays under "I take pictures," making the random sequence a variation on that sequence. The gate switches are set such that half of them don't re-trigger the envelope, so you get note changes in the decay tails. I transcribed enough of the original part to verify that every other note in the sequence is switched differently. Plus, I got the actual 2600V patch reasonably close for this sound. The squelchy little hi-hat type sound runs on the same sequence just with a different patch.

OK, that's all I feel like typing about this one. Kinda lukewarm on it, given that in theory I should have been able to get alot closer with the 2600 sounds. But oh well. Let me know if you'd like my patches- maybe you can improve upon them!"

More by peahix

1970s Yamaha EM-130 Mixer w/ Beatbox Demo

Published on Aug 12, 2014 peahix

"This is an early Yamaha mixer with a built-in beatbox. I couldn't find any other audio demos of this thing online, so I figured I'd make one. It only has a few different preset beats, but as with most drum machines of this era, you can press multiple buttons at once and combine the beats to get more interesting patterns. The mixer also has a spring reverb, which the beatbox isn't hard-wired to, but you can get around that by patching one of the outputs to a channel input and turning up the reverb. I demonstrate this in the second part of the video. At the end I add in a little bit of the tuning knob."

Yazoo - DON'T GO - Re-created w/ Sequential Circuits Pro-One Synth

Published on Jul 23, 2014 peahix

Another one from Pea Hicks. Don't miss the Yazoo Only You cover, and his Yamaha CS-01 Depeche Mode covers. Click here for all posts featuring peahix.

"By special request, here's another Yaz track re-created w/ the Sequential Circuits Pro-One synth. The original actually has a fair amount of ARP 2600 in it, which means that the sounds in my version are a bit hit-and-miss, but I was able to get reasonably close with most of the sounds. My starting point for this was four patches posted at http://www.unease.se/proone.htm which I modified to get closer to the original sounds. The kick is the same patch from the Vince Clarke magazine article that I used on "Only You." All the other sounds I programmed from scratch. Everything was sequenced in Cubase, and the Pro-One sounds were recorded one at a time via a Kenton Pro Solo MIDI/CV interface.

Note that, as with 'Only You,' the original recording is actually pitched a bit sharp. I've decided to record my versions at concert pitch (A440) for the sake of keeping things standard.

The snare, clap (heavy reverb), and hi-hat (heavy flanging) are all 808. The kick and toms are Pro-One.

For the record, I don't view these re-creations as "covers" or creative projects. They're more like jigsaw puzzles to me. A way to challenge my ear, a way to find out the limits of my limited gear, and a way to try to get into the head of musicians/producers I admire. Otherwise, they're relatively pointless and aren't meant to be creative statements in and of themselves.

Here you can download my midi file and patch sheets if you want to have a go and make your own version. Just let me know and give me a mention if you post your version anywhere. https://www.dropbox.com/s/s5342gtfi6o...

Thanks again to frankperri.com for the blank patch sheets!"

Yazoo - ONLY YOU - Re-created w/ Sequential Circuits Pro-One Synth

Published on Jul 19, 2014 peahix

"Some friends needed the backing track of this song for their wedding, so I took the opportunity to geek out with it. The original is well-known by synth nerds as having been produced by Vince Clarke using only a Sequential Circuits Pro-One monophonic analog synthesizer. So, since I have a Pro-One, and there are scans of an old music magazine article online which show the settings for some of the sounds Vince used on this track (https://www.flickr.com/photos/8478882...), I figured I'd have a go at re-creating it.

First I transcribed the music (sequenced with Cubase), using soft-synth sounds as temporary stand-ins for the Pro-One. Then I had to dial in all the Pro-One sounds one-by-one and record each part via a Kenton MIDI-CV interface. I found that all of the patches from the article needed adjusting to get them in the ballpark, plus I had to create the other sounds from scratch (I've credited each patch accordingly). Having done so, I'm not convinced that every single sound on the original is actually a Pro-One. The "Tinkle" sound, for instance, sounds more bell-like on the original, so it could possibly have been something like a PPG. I don't think Vince had his Fairlight yet, otherwise I'd say it was that. Also, the string line toward the end of the song sounds like it might have been played on a polysynth, ie maybe the Jupiter 4 which Vince used alot at the time. Of course, there's also the snare, which was an 808.

In any event, I think I got pretty close with my rendition. Of course the effects and mix are going to be different, and some of the sounds are closer than others, but whatever.

If you want to give it a shot yourself, you can download the MIDI file and the patch sheets here (be sure to let me know if you make your own version, and give me a shout out if you post it online!): https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfn3vb1pxwq...

One tip: the cutoff of the "Wobble" sound varies a bit, getting slightly brighter during the chorus, etc. The only way to do this is manually while recording. I tried to use automation for this via the Pro-One's filter CV input, but doing so cancels out the Keyboard Amount setting, which is crucial for this sound, so I simply adjusted the knob in real-time.

If you liked this re-creation, check out my other videos for four "Speak & Spell" tracks that I re-created using only a Yamaha CS01-II synth.

Thanks to FrankPerri.com for the blank patch sheets!"

Yamaha CS01 II

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The listing has a demo video by peahix. Peahix also made some incredible Depeche Mode covers using only the Yamaha CS01 II. You can check them out here.

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Yamaha CS01II Plays BIG MUFF by Depeche Mode by Pea Hicks Cubase Capture

Yamaha CS01II Plays BIG MUFF by Depeche Mode - Cubase Screen Capture

Published on Dec 4, 2012 by peahix

"I've had several skeptics weigh in on my various Depeche Mode covers done all on my Yamaha CS01II synth, so I thought I'd make a screen-cap video showing the Cubase session for my rendition of "Big Muff." Here's the mastered version I posted previously: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IiZlvr7fXs [posted here]

In this version, you can see all my parts, and I solo all the different bits throughout so you can hear how it all comes together. Note that for several sounds there are actually two different tracks that play together to form a composite sound. The CS01II is a pretty limited synth, and in order to more accurately achieve certain sounds, I had to split things into their component parts. The channels that remain muted throughout are just the MIDI parts, which aren't outputting to anything here, since each MIDI track was recorded one at a time via the CS01II to an audio track. Anyway, hopefully this is useful or interesting to someone!!"

Click here for a search on "Peahix Depeche Mode" that will bring up more covers featuring only the Yamaha CS01 mkII.

More Info on the Psych-Tone Composer Synth via Bugbrand & Peahix

See the update in this post.

Vintage SWTPc Psych-Tone Composer Synthesizer

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via this auction

Update via Bugbrand in the comments: "Here's linkage to some details about the project. A Don Lancaster design via Popular Electronics. Looking through, they mention that the Psych-tone is quite similar to the Triadex Muse. (cue drooling from people perhaps?!). The chips inside seem old-irregulars but they're standard things like flip-flops and logic gates so perhaps someone could make a modern version (no, I'm no putting myself forward)"

And via Peahix: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/SWTPC_Catalog_1972_Page15.jpg [info sheet - added below]

"Warning: Operation of this device in the presence of anyone over thirty may be hazardous to your health."

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