James Husted of Synthwerks at PNW AES

"James Husted of Synthwerks took the PNW AES Section through the history of Synthesis, with particular emphasis on Modular Synthesis. Today's modulars are related to early patchcord synthesizers such as the Moog 900-series, Buchla, and Arp instruments. It took instruments like the MiniMoog or the Arp Odessy to bring synthsesizer sounds to the performance stage, but these instruments, since their capabilities are predefined by the manufacturer, play a minor role in today's modular scene."  Read the full post at AES here.

Seattle - GRAMMY MusicTech Summit 2012 with MMTA Synth Petting Zoo

This is the PNW SynthFest Petting Zoo coming June 2 previously posted here. It will be part of the GRAMMY MusicTech Summit 2012. Note the Petting Zoo is open and free to the public.

Details via The Recording Academy - Pacific Northwest Chapter on Facebook:

Saturday, June 2, 2012
9:00am until 5:00pm

"GRAMMY MusicTech Summit focuses on the current state and evolution of digital music, visuals, and performance. Some of the nation’s most dynamic music and technology leaders will participate in brief conversations focusing on a single topic or concept, lively discussions, hands-on workshops, and demonstrations throughout the EMP Museum.

Panels will include:

SOUND AND VISION - cutting edge sound quality and visuals for recording and performance

OPTIMIZING SOCIAL MEDIA - new ways to expand audience and create revenue streams

TOOLS AND APPS - innovative user interface in a saturated market

MMTA’s SYNTH PETTING ZOO - all day, hands-on demonstrations of DIY circuit bending, modular gear, keyboards, rack and desktop synths, and more.

The 2012 Keynote Speaker will be announced in the coming weeks!

FREE FOR RECORDING ACADEMY MEMBERS * $100 FOR NON-MEMBERS (Can be put towards membership)

TO RSVP EMAIL pacificnw@grammy.com OR CALL 206.834.1000

For up to date event details, like the PNW Chapter: FACEBOOK.COM/TRAPNWCHAPTER"

MMTA: http://www.mostlymodular.com/

2011PNWSynthFest_PettingZoo.mov

YouTube Uploaded by slosynth on Nov 6, 2011

"Random synths from the PNW Synthfest Petting Zoo room"

Remember to see the PNW Synthfest label below for more.

Division-6 at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting

YouTube via matrixsynth

http://division-6.com/
"Scott Rise of Division-6 goes over Midify and new Division-6 Filtare SEIII VCF and Multiplicity XV Eurorack modules at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting at MS Studios."

Some of my favorite videos featuring Midify (click here for all posts):

Cooking with MIDI

YouTube via Modd3d (previously posted)
"I installed a MIDI port in my microwave and now I use it to cook corn dogs.

Mostly I was testing out my new Midify board and wanted to see if you could use it to control home appliances. It turns out you can.

If you want to find out how to Midify stuff go to http://www.division-6.com."

Pumpkin & Skull Choir

YouTube via Modd3d aka Division 6, maker of Midify. Midify'ed pumpkins. (previously posted)
"This is from my Halloween 2008 display. I'm testing out some new show control software."


MIDI-Controlled Skull Sings A Tune

YouTube via Division6Labs (previously posted)
"MIDI-Controlled skull will sing or say anything. Find out how at http://www.division-6.com/p..."

Pacific Northwest Synth 2009 - Red Martian

YouTube via matrixsynth. (previously posted) animated skulls come in at 1:21
http://redmartian.com http://division-6.com/

The harvestman at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting

YouTube via matrixsynth.
http://www.theharvestman.org/
http://flightofharmony.com/
http://monorocket.com/

Scott Jaeger of The Harvestman goes over Harvestman and flight of harmony modules in a Monorocket case at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting at MS Studios. The video starts with the hertz donut followed by the piston honda, flight of harmony Choices Joystick module, harvestman tyme safari, and zorlon cannon.

Be sure to click the PNWAES label below for more coverage of the event.

Pacific Northwest Synth Gathering

via David W. Skinner on AH:

PNW Synth 2008

I just heard from John Marshall. The date and time are: October 25th, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

As before, it will be at Renton Technical College, 3000 NE 4th St., Renton, WA. But, it will no longer be in building "C". This year the meeting will be in the K-Quad, K203 and K204..

Great people, great synths, great pizza. Be there!

David W. Skinner"

click here to see some images and video of prior years' events.
Search tip: if you search on events plus a location, posts for events in that location should come up. In this case "PNW events", not "Seattle events", so if the first search doesn't work, try an alternative.

New Wave Modular Synthesizer Meeting - AES PNW

YouTube via matrixsynth

"Brief walk around the New Wave Modular Synthesizer Meeting at the PNW division of the AES, at MS Studios in Redmond WA. Manufacturers represented:

http://www.theharvestman.org/
http://flightofharmony.com/
http://mattsonminimodular.com/
http://synthwerks.com/
http://division-6.com/

Modular cases by:
http://synthwood.com/
http://monorocket.com/
http://doepfer.com/

Performances by http://redmartian.com/

More vids of the event will follow."

PNW 2007

"The next Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting:
(Is this the fourth year or the fifth year?)

September 29, 2007
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Renton Technical College
Building C, Room 111
3000 NE 4th St
Renton, WA 98056

A new economical modular synthesizer may be announced and demonstrated.

The now happily married Jim Patchell may come up again from SB. (We gotta do some serious string pulling.)

Too bad we can't talk Cynthia into visiting the Pacific Northwet with modules.

Bulgarian Pizza will be served at Noon as usual. (Please contribute $$)

James hair will be the color of Carbon111 this year.

I will post additional information on my website soon. The old information gets you on the right track.

Please RSVP with requirements.

Take care,
John
www.sound-photo.com
www.antenna-farm.com"

You can see images and videos of previous PNW Events here.

John L Rice at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnLRice

"John L Rice Goes Over his 5U Modular System at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010. Note this is a module overview, not a music demo. There is some brief modular audio at the end of Part 2 and in Part 3. See John's YouTube channel for what he creates with his modular systems. BTW, I spoke to John at the gathering and he only had one and a half hours of sleep prepping his system before the event. Crazy man! LOVE THE T! :)"

PNW Synthesizer Meeting On Halloween!!!

The next ?? Annual PNW Synthesizer Meeting:

Saturday, October 31st
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, doors open at 9:00 AM

Renton Technical College
Building C, Room 110
3000 NE 4th St
Renton, WA 98056

Theme this year: Haloween Sounds/Music

RSVP
wa7bsr *at* gmail.com
Take care,
John

Red Martian at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting

YouTube via matrixsynth.

Note his comment on orchestrating it. The laptop plays the sequence while Stephen edits the four voices in real time - listen for the subtle tweaks. The laptop only plays MIDI notes. The patches and editing are done by Stephen. In later videos he plays the Syntar. Be sure to see this post for more classical pieces featuring the MMM by Stephen and of course try a search here on MATRIXSYNTH on Red Martian or redmartian for more.

http://redmartian.com
http://synthwood.com
http://mattsonminimodular.com
http://www.myspace.com/bluelightcurtain
http://www.facebook.com/bluelightcurtain

"Stephen Jones of Red Martian, Blue Light Curtain, and Synthwood performs the PMS Syntar and Mattson Mini Modular at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting at MS Studios."
Be sure to click on the PNWAES label below for all posts covering the event.


Don't miss the Syntar demo in the video set above.

CLICK FOR MORE »

David Skinner with Synthesizers.com Q171 and Q172 at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010

http://synthesizers.com/
"David Skinner with Q171 Quantizer and Q172 Quantizer Aid at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010. The Q171 provides three quantization channels. The Q172 adds a fourth channel with expanded features including CV to MIDI conversion."

Note the audio on this one is pretty low. Be sure to turn your volume back down after this one. I had to switch to my iPhone 4 as I ran out of space on my Canon T2i at this point. Unfortunately I missed the KORG MicroSample demo which was pretty fun. Remember these videos are meant to give you a feel for the event if you couldn't make it. Nothing is scripted. Just a bunch of people getting together to talk about and appreciate synths. See the pnw2010 label for all posts in the series.

SYNTHWERKS at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting

YouTube via matrixsynth
"James Husted of SYNTHWERKS goes over the FSR-4 and MG-1 modules at the New Wave Modular Synthesizer PNW AES Meeting at MS Studios."

Note the FSR-4 is pressure sensitive, not capacitive, so it actually reacts to physical pressure. The circles you see in the image below each column of knobs is a membrane resting on the surface of the metal faceplate. You do not need to make skin contact with them like other faceplate controllers. You can use sticks to trigger them, or if you happen to be wearing gloves, they will still work.

AH Bay Area and PNW Synth Gatherings This Saturday

AH Bay Area Gathering Info
"There *will* be a raffle with the proceeds going to the Moog Foundation, and they have some goodies that they're sending out as raffle prizes. If you have anything you'd like to donate to a good cause, please bring it, I [Brandon] will have Moog Foundation thank you notes that can be filled out if you need proof of donation. Bring some cash for raffle tickets!

There will be a few new modules making their debut at this event, so don't miss it!"

It will be at:
TechShop
120 Independence Dr
Menlo Park, CA 94025
10AM-7PM

PNW Synth Gathering (Pacific Northwest in the Seattle Area)
"This year the meeting will be in the K-Quad, K203 and K204. Original post updated."

The Mattson Mini Modular (MMM) will make an appearance - a few systems will be there.

PNW Synth DIY 2008

flickr set by matrixsynth. Click the pic to bring up the controls and flip through the pics. I actually ran out of space on my video camera, which led to me switching to my camera for video, which let to me running out of space. I took a ton of images and video, but not as much as I would have liked to. The turn out was big this year with MMM, flight of harmony, harvestman and John Bowen as far as manufacturers. Tons of cool gear and tons of cool people. Be sure to check out the images in this set. Jim Patchell was there with his DSM1, FPGA synth with a whopping 512 oscillators. Big thanks goes out to John Marshall for being a more than gracious host this year as usual. P.S. It looks like I reached the limit for labels (20) for Blogger.

CLICK FOR MORE »

PNW Synth Meeting 2006 Images and Video

Uploaded on Oct 22, 2006 matrixsynth

This year's Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting was a blast. I want to thank John Marshall of Sound-Photo for organizing the event and for the pizza. Good stuff! I really enjoyed the pace of the event this year. It was pretty laid back, and I met a lot of great people. Even some that read Matrixsynth! : ) The meeting started at 10:00 AM. I was about half an hour late. When I got there people were just hanging out, talking and playing synths. Once everyone was settled in, we did a show and tell where each person talked a little about themselves and what they brought. Halfway through we stopped for pizza and after pizza, we continued on. All of the talks were great. There were a few funny moments and surprises including some Sequential Circuits history from John Bowen. This year I took a ton of video and unfortunately neglected the camera a bit. The title link of this post will take you to the shots I did take. As for the video, I took over 3 gigs worth, so they will go up over time. This first video is a pan of everyone at the event. You can hear the synths talking to each other in the background. : ) BTW, I want to say thank you to everyone I met. All great people in my book. As for those of you that want the synth content, the vids are coming. I'll be posting all of them over the next few days, and I'll make sure to call out they are from PNW 2006. There is one caveat though: the max file size for YouTube is currently 100M, so some of the larger videos will have to wait. Note that not long ago the limit was 50M, so hopefully it won't be too long.

PNW Synth Meeting This Saturday

Just a reminder that the PNW Synth Meeting is this Saturday. Title link takes you the previous post with some pics.

Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting

Saturday, October 21, 2006
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Renton Technical College
Building C, Room 110
3000 NE 4th St
Renton, WA 98056

No charge. (Contribute for the Pizza) Free.

There will be several more first time visitors this year. Please bring
synths that you have brought in the past. Don't forget power cords, patch
cords, adapters. I am planning on having a small Mackie mixer and powered
speaker for your use.

Performances are welcome.

Talks are welcome.

Lookers are welcome.

Good Lookers are welcome.

Jim Patchell will not be coming this year. A pending marriage takes
priority.

More information at www.sound-photo.com

Take care,
John
www.sound-photo.com
www.antenna-farm.com

PNW Synth Meeting Oct. 21, 2006

For those of you in the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting is on! I'm looking forward to this years get together as I wasn't able to attend the full event last year. The shot to the left is from last year's event. You can see more shots in Toby Paddock's Flickr Set. BTW, you might recognize Toby from this post.

Via John Marshall:
"PNW Synth meeting is:
October 21, 2006, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Renton Technical College, Room C-110
I hope to see you there for some Sergery."

Here are some posts from last year's Pacific Northwest Synth Meeting: 1, 2, 3.

George Mattson and Jason Stiles at the PNW Synth Gathering 2010

YouTube via matrixsynth | July 27, 2010

http://mattsonminimodular.com/

See this post for more details on the one of a kind floor system Jason is playing. This entire performance was done real time with guitar, bass and two 2-cabinet MMM’s run with their feet.

The following is another version of the piece performed by George Mattson and Jason Stiles. The main line in A minor is an old classical guitar piece by an unknown composer. If anyone does know, feel free to comment or shoot me an email - contact info is on the bottom right of the site.

matrixsynth · GeoJas Etude Am

Note: if the player doesn't work, try refreshing or click here.

Update via ThisGuyFrritz on YouTube: "The original piece is 'Asturias' by Isaac Albeniz."

Steve Fisk's Yamaha CS60 for Sale

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

Steve Fisk wrote in to let me know his Yamaha CS60 is for sale in Seattle. If you are interested contact him at shfisk@gmail.com. For those of you not familiar with Steve Fisk, he's a Washington based audio engineer, musician and producer of quite a few bands including Nirvana, Soundgarden and more. Check out his Wikipedia article for the full list. Steve's involvement with synths goes back to the USC Moog studio circa 1973. He also gave a talk on the ARP 2600 at the 2011 PNW (MMTA) SynthFest (video posted here).

As for the CS60, here is what Steve has to say about it:

"YAMAHA CS-60 for sale. Excellent condition. Keyboard sliders, switches and ribbon controller all working great. No legs or pedal. The door to the powerchord storage nook is funky. Currently this synth's tuning is out of adjustment. It needs to have the oscs calibrated with these sensitive little trim pots. Its close to intune when you warm it up. Still the bug is the voice swapping and the individual oscs drift away from each other as it heats up. Even when its tweaked to spec there's a jankyness to the sound from the oscs flipping under your hand. If you play a C chord 4 times each one sounds different. The tuning knob helps. The tuning tweak can be upwards of $200 and needs to be done fairly often if you plan to use this live. If it sits in a studio or home the tuning should hold for a year or more. Its pretty sensitive for being so heavy. It likes to be moved flat. This all helps keep the tuning. Also heat and cold throw it out of tune. I give it a good warm it up for a half hour before I record with it. The Cs-60 got used in my bands Pigeonhed and Pell Mell and many other things I produced.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE CS80, the CS60 is the one osc version of the CS 80 (two oscs) and while that may not seem like much, it's a big diff. 2 oscs bring the chorus and warble where the one osc CS 60 is fat and huge it don't chorus and waft like the CS 80. Somebody pointed out on virtualsynth.com that a double tracked CS 60 gets you in CS 80 territory for under $10,000, an odd but valid point. Also I suspect the CS 60 is less buggy and more stable because it has fewer things to go out of tune and less internal heat too by dint."