Tesseract Modular Tukra, FranKinksTides, & Radioactive Eurorack Modules

Playlist:
1. Tukra - audio examples

All audio recorded directly from Tukra's stereo output.
00:00​ - Intro
00:06​ - Drum synth used for melody & bass
00:55​ - Master filter
01:18​ - Triplets and micro grid
01:55​ - Bass line with the drum synth
02:28​ - Pattern with different track length
02:58​ - track 6
03:40​ - Filter & bit crusher
05:21​ - Pattern with a different drum kit on each track
06:41​ - Bye

2. TUKRA - introduction video

This is a brief overview of TUKRA, an eurorack trigger sequencer with audio and midi.

3. TUKRA - basics

Basic edit tools (copy, paste, random, clear)
Encoder's secondary function is always track selection, click it to switch the function.

4. TUKRA

TUKRA playing the same pattern with different songs (each song has it's own settings for the drums, mixer, modulation...)

5. Making melodies with FranKinksTides as function generator
6. Tesseract Radioactive Demo 2

Radioactive is a small but powerful 14-bit analog modelling voltage-controlled digital sound source: a complete voice Eurorack module in 6HP.

See https://www.tesseractmodular.com for more. Modules featured above:

TUKRA is an 8 track eurorack trigger sequencer with audio and midi.
This module can be an ‘all in one’ solution for drums in your rack, but it also has great integration capabilities with other gear (eurorack modules, drum boxes, DAWs, midi devices and midi surface controllers).
There are no submenus, all functions and views are accessible all the time.
Brief overview:
Up to 64 steps per pattern, 64 patterns, 64 parts and 16 songs per project. 64 projects in the microSD card.
Play mode, clock divider, length & choke settings independent per track & pattern.
Step value (can be used for modulation, to define the midi velocity, midi note & drum synth pitch or sample selection).
32 HP

FranKinksTides is a 18hp dual Tides (based on the Swirls pcb layout) with the max/min circuit from Kinks and some switches for sync, quadrature, pll and fm operation . It can be a double/complex oscillator, a dual function generator or any combination of oscillator, Lfo and Envelope generator with lots of cv control plus some interesting cross-modulation and sync features.
some improvements in version 1.2:
-Mix output is now buffered, no signal bleeding on single outs.
-Mix pot controls also the balance of the signals sent to the max/min circuit.
-Uni/bi switch now also determines the signal sent to FM1.
-Clock/sync switch has now a center OFF position, no need of plugging a dummy cable in the Clock1 when using Sheeps firmware to avoid ultra fast sound bank changes.
small improvements for DIY:
-Bigger font size on the pcb.
-Parts renumbered for easy DIY.
original design by Émilie Gillet

Also see the demo by Stefan Tretau here.

Radioactive is a small but powerful 14-bit analog modelling voltage-controlled digital sound source: a complete voice Eurorack module in 6HP. It consists of 3 simultaneous independent oscillators, voltage-controlled AR/ASR transient generator, voltage-controlled pitch slew (glide) and voltage-controlled waveshaper with 5 different modes, but that's just the beginning. Its forte consists of selectable gate/trigger/constant envelope timing signals, rather unique 3-voice polyphonic mode, semitone-quantized mode, voltage-controlled waveform selection, on-the-fly selectable 10Vpp CV input range with offset (except for Pitch), a few experimental features, and then some.
Under the hood, it's a chiptune-inspired wavetable-gnawing sound cruncher with a mind of it's own, and oh boy it's dirty. It could be described as raw and untamed, but it would probably be an understatement.

Also see the Tesseract Nutella demo by Quincas aka Synth DIY Guy here.

Nuclear Musicians: Radioactive Orchestra at TEDxGöteborg

Published on Nov 2, 2012 by TEDxTalks

The audio demo starts after the 11:00 mark.

"Radioactive orchestra is a cross-boundary collaboration of nuclear physicists, a DJ and one media artist. The project wishes to inspire young people to learn about the natural sciences, but it also has an artistic aim to find new musically interesting patterns. By giving every radioactive isotop its own sound based on scientific algorithms they turn nuclear science into music, hence making a world available to us that our senses can not otherwise percieve."

Solartron Atari Axe Synth Theremin

images via this auction.

"Up for auction is " Solartron ", a custom built, one of a kind, Experimental Synth Theremin Midi Controller. I recently sold Solartron's big brother, " Zontar ", here on Ebay for $ 1,500, so for those of you who missed Zontar, here is your chance. The band Mute Math uses a much simpler version of this device, and this unique proto-type is being offered to the most discriminating electronics collector. Solartron is actually two separate electronic devices which can be controlled independently, or simultaneously for additional sonic madness, all housed in a space-aged frame.

The first function of Solartron is as an experimental Midi Ribbon Controller. These controls are located in the middle section of the device. The black knob on the left hand side of the front panel is the Midi Rate, or Speed knob, which also provides Arpeggiator-Type patterns. The black knob in the middle is the Master Volume control. The green push-button to the right of the Master Volume is the " Rate Burst " control. This control instantaneously increases the Rate or Speed. The green button on the lower portion of the middle front panel is the Power On/Off Switch for the Midi Controller, and the black knob on the right hand side of the front panel is the Midi Patch Selector, which allows you to switch the Midi Patch Program on the fly. The Midi Controller section is powered by a 9-volt battery, located on the left side panel, an LED light indicates that it is powered up, and the Midi Output Jack is located on the right hand side panel.

The second function of Solartron is a Light Sensitive Photocell Theremin. The Photocell Theremin is housed in a small Red Dome, located in the top portion of the device, directly above the Midi Controller section. The green button to the left of the Red Photocell Dome is the Photocell Theremin On/Off Switch. The Photocell Theremin operates off of the same 9-volt battery as the Midi Controller section.

A third feature of " Solartron " is quite unique, and was not offered on " Zontar ". The lower section of Solartron features a Red Radioactive Symbol on clear plexiglass, and behind the plexiglass are Red Flashing LED lights. The upper portion of Solartron also features a row of Red Flashing LED lights behind a clear plexiglass panel. A green button on the left side panel near the Theremin Controller activates the Red Flashing LED lights, and are independently powered by a 9-volt battery located on the left side panel. A large Black Knob is located on the right side panel, and with this knob you may control the rate, or speed at which the Red LED Radioactive Symbol and row of LED's flash. This is a very cool feature, which allows you to sync up the rate of the flashing Radioactive Panel and LED lights with the rate or speed of notes generated by the Midi Controller Ribbon or Photocell Theremin. This would be quite effective visually in live performances, yet can always be shut off with the power button if not required.

Solartron features guitar strap lugs, which enables the user to strap Solartron on like a guitar. Solartron is approximately the length of a guitar, yet weighs less due to it's lightweight, aluminum housing. Solartron features a silver/gray post on the left-side of the neck which is decorative in nature, but also serves to stabilize and balance the neck portion of the device. Please note that Solartron sounds and reacts differently with each Midi device, which can be considered part of it's charm. If you wish to hear sound samples of Solartron, please send an e-mail, where I can direct you to the appropriate site."

If anyone has the link, feel free to comment.

nervoussquirrel's Ore-some Volts

via nervoussquirrel

"A Eurorack synthesiser module that generates truly random control voltages, gates and triggers.

Radioactive events from a jar filled with uranium ore can be used to control compositional parameters.

First batch now shipping as of Tuesday 25th April 2023.

A borosilicate glass jar filled with uranium ore is mounted in front of a Geiger counter, which detects ionising radiation emitted by the rocks.

The timings of the radioactive events are mapped to a control voltage output and a number of gate/trigger outputs.

These can be useful to create truly random unpredictable variations in your synth patches.

Features and controls

There is a trigger output that creates a pulse whenever an event is detected, and also a group of six outputs that can be set as either triggers or gates. The group of six outputs are activated again depending on the activity from the ore. A relatively long pause followed by two clicks in quick succession will activate output number 1, for example.

There are three knobs for adjusting the CV output:

RANGE: Sets the range of the voltage from 0 to 10Vpp. Adjust this to create subtle variations or dramatic jumps.

OFFSET: Sets the area in which the control voltage operates. For example, if range is set to max then the offset can be used to set the voltages to operate from -5V to +5V or from 0V to 10V.

GLIDE: Sets the amount of glide between the changes in voltage levels. Set to max and remove the jar to create slowly drifting voltages triggered by background radiation.

The jar is removable, but pushes into place with a fairly tight fit, to prevent it falling out of portable modular systems. The activity of the module changes when the jar is removed. Take care when removing or replacing the jar.

The lid of the jar has been glued shut. Please do not attemp to open the jar - handling/inhaling/swallowing dust or fragments of the ore must be avoided.

A switch has been provided to turn off the internal Geiger counter click.

How it works

The system initially waits for three clicks, and then uses the position of the middle click to set the proportional level of the CV output. For example, if the central click occurs relatively close to the first, the voltage will be lower.

The system then waits for the next click to replace click 3, and re-assigns the previous 2 and 3 to the new 1 and 2.

On radioactive music 1: Ray of Light MCA/s

Published on Feb 11, 2019 Giorgio Sancristoforo

"In this first chapter I illustrate my work on the sonification of radioactivity using gamma spectrometry.
Ray of Light (Muti Channel Analyser/Synthesizer) is a music software written with Max8 and uses a modified version of the FFT analysis and 512 sinusoidal oscillators. The software analyses the pulses coming from a Gamma Spectacular SG-1100 Pro Spectrometer with a 1.5" NaI(Tl) scintillator.

The work was presented for the first time, at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra - Italy, during the Datami A.i.R. Residence on February 24th 2019."

radioactive

ROBOT TOILET THEREMIN MACHINE OF DOOM - JUNK ROCK TV

video upload by LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER

"In this weeks episode of JunkRockTV i go round London, and made a musical toilet.
JunkRockTV was a passion project @Youth Hymns Dirty Films and I did a few years ago and we are very pleased to finally show you it!"

Don't miss the radioactive module previously featured here. You can find additional gear featuring radioactive material scattered throughout posts here.

Warp Records WXAXRXP 30th Anniversary Novation Bass Station II

via Novation

"Warp Records celebrate their 30th anniversary with three-day NTS Radio takeover, including exclusive mixes and giveaways.

For the past 30 years, UK based label Warp Records have been consistently setting the bar in the electronic music world, always pushing the boundaries of the genre and thrilling music fans worldwide.

Founded by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell in the back of a record store in Sheffield in 1989, Warp has become the pioneer of its genre with a unique yet reliable catalogue of electronic music. Responsible for bringing to the world the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher and Nightmares on Wax, plus loads more, Warp have also more recently ventured into film, art installations and their own online independent record store, Bleep.com.

This weekend, Warp are set to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Partnering with NTS, they’ll bring together their legendary roster with a packed out 100-hour schedule of music, including exclusive mixes, tributes and giveaways.

As part of the celebrations and in honour of the release of our recent Bass Station AFX update, listeners will have the chance to get their hands on a very limited edition Warp Records x Aphex Twin x Novation Bass Station II, 1 of only 5 made. For a chance to win, simply sign up for the WXAXRXP mailing list following the link below [bottom of page here].

LISTEN NOW

We’ve also compiled a selection of our favourite Warp releases spanning the past thirty years. With so many releases, we could have kept this list going on for ages, but here are ten particular highlights from the past three decades chosen by some of the team over at Novation HQ:

CLICK FOR MORE »

ERD Brings Dirt (Literal Earth Soil) to Your Modular

"Unedited recording from the ERD/ERD (Earth Return Distortion) module released 23 September from micro_research. In this recording a sine from RS-95e is passed through earth and modulated in ERD/ERD by a triangle living VCO."

Also see the ERD/SIR further below. ERD is a new modular maker.

You can swap out the dirt with other compositions!

via ERD:

"ERD/ERD (Earth Return Distortion) is the first and most extreme expression of the ERD philosophy, seeking to literally put the earth back into circuit with technology. All world electricity travels through the earth and nearly all electronic circuitry and devices are extracted and refined from the earth. ERD/ERD puts a small block of forest earth into the Eurorack circuit, allowing control and audio signals to be distorted and amplified as they pass through the earth block. It can be viewed in conventional terms as an earth conditioned VCA (amplification factor by knob control or CV) and distortion. Local electrical and atmospheric signals can condition and distort the earth signal. Two jack connections are also included, optionally switching out the local earth block in favour of routing through local earth piles and forest sites. Discounts are available in return for earth samples (eg. Edgar Allen Poe earth from Baltimore, vampire earth from Transylvania or Whitby)."

"The ERD modular eurorack series, from the creator of the Black Death and Dark Interpreter noise synth devices,aims to infect and contaminate the world of Eurorack with a radical, new artistic sensibility.

ERD/ERD (Earth Return Distortion) and ERD/SIR (Susceptible, Infected, Recovered) are the first ERD releases of 2015. All ERD modules are supplied fully hand assembled and totally Eurorack compatible (+ and -12v supplies). Each series will be sold in a limited, strictly numbered edition of 40 modules each. Future modules planned for 2015 and early 2016 include: ERD/γ, a radioactive source and true random voltage generator, and ERD/WORM speech synthesizer and vocoder."

"ERD/SIR offers a fully fledged viral computation unit including a central plague unit [CPU] acting as interpreter for selected instruction sets which operate on the interior cells or sound-generating individuals (the simulation of a medieval village within the synth). Instruction sets include masque (of the red death, courtesy of E.A Poe), brainfuck, redcode, plain plague and SIR (susceptible, infected, recovered).

ERD/SIR is a digital/analogue module which can be used as a stochastic, chaotic pattern and waveform generator. The three knob controls and CV can be used to change the speed of simulation and output voltage, the selected plague and instruction set, and to actually input instructions, live coding style, into the simulated plague processors or CPUs."

New Digitone DS1000 Ad & the Digitone Teclado 44RT

This is not click bait, I swear! ;) For those looking for new Elektron products though, this is not it. That said, this might be just as interesting. Well, for those that find vintage-synths-long-lost-in-the-annals-of-history interesting, at least.

To the left you will find a ROCK STAR vintage ad for the Digitone DS1000. Below you will find a video for the Digitone Teclado 44RT. How did we come across these gems?

This is actually a follow-up to this post from back in 2011 for a different ad. The description that went with that post stated it was a DS1000 Giannini Programmable polyphonic synthesizer. Turns out it wasn't. According to a new comment from wmoecke in the comments section of the post, "This synth was created and sold exclusively by DIGITONE, a company owned and operated by Mr. Christóvão Batista da Silva. It never had anything at all to do with Gianinni." Gianinni was another Brazilian brand that re-packaged Siel synths as you can see in these previous posts.

I did a quick image search for DIGITONE DS1000 and found this new, old advert for it. See the previous post for the other ad, and some details. I'm guessing the details are correct minus the mislabel for Gianinni of course.

I then did a quick search for Digitone -elektron for other products and found the 44RT video below. Note the logo is the same cursive style Digitone with the ® on the e as on the DS1000.

If anyone knows more about the Digitone brand and any other products they manufactured, synths or other, let us know!

As I did not know the brand was Digitone prior to this post, I created a new label for them below. I'm also giving this post the New Old labels.

It looks like there was a DIGITONE before Elektron.


Teclado Digitone 44RT Published on Jun 4, 2019

This one appears more preset organ synth with rhythm section than synth. What's BLUMP?

Update via Marcelo Self in the comments:

"As far as I know, yes, Giannini had the license from italian companies. They made a Siel DK60 synth, renamed as GS7010 and Crumar string machine. Digitone was a division of Blump ( or vice versa) which made some preset organs, this synthesizer, DS1000, also comparable to the Poly800 ( or Siel DK60, Giannini GS7010) or Suzuki SX, but without the sequencer, and finally, a hybrid of splitable organ with autothythms and synthesizer section, the Poly SS61. They even thought about relese a system to compete with MIDI, based on paralel port, not serial. Specifically the SS61 sounded really good, rhythms , presets and poly synth part, but according to a local seller, were really not durable. Company stopped to make keyboadrs soon and I never heard about them after. Another Brazilian company which made organ with (solo) synthesizer section ( good) was Gambitt. And Gamasonic produced for a while a small 2 and 1/2 octave mono one with really few parameters, something more like a Prosoloist."

And via vito_mf:

Some years ago I bought a beat-up analog preset drum machine from digitone/blump. It need some heavy cleaning and whatnot so I took it to be serviced. The technician got really exited and he saw it. Turns out he worked at Digitone in the 80's. Last week I took it for some maintenance to another technician who ALSO worked at digitone. He told me they used to make robot pool cleaners in the 80's. But stopped because of poor sealing material. He said digitone instruments were not clones, he designed them himself and kept the schematics in a vault. About 5 years ago, by coincidence, I've met Mr. Batista's daughter. She told me some amazing stories: When he learned that R2D2 was operated by an actor with dwarfism he wrote George Lucas proposing to build a actually working robot. George Lucas wrote him back! (declining). He also built the robot who helped removed and discard the radioactive material in Gioânia in the 90's in what was one of the worst atomic incidents in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident). He did it on his own (no commission etc). When he asked for some compensation the government gave him a pat on the back. He went bankrupt soon after.

Düsseldorf Sound Bank for Miniraze

video upload by MOK

"The Düsseldorf sound bank includes 75 Kraftwerk-inspired sounds from Mark Hoffmann, German sound designer and recording artist with the synthesizer duo Pegasus, and solo modular electronic project UTAMOH! Let these faithful re-creations of neon leads, rezzy basses, radioactive pads, robotic sound effects, and synthetic percussion instruments, inspire you to create your own landmark electropop songs.

75 Kraftwerk-inspired Miniraze sounds - $17 MSRP

Available now in the MOK Store: https://mok.com/store.php

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The Düsseldorf Sound Bank is exclusively for MOK's Miniraze Wave-Slicing synthesizer. Learn more about Miniraze here: https://mok.com/miniraze.php"

::vtol:: metaphase sound machine (video 2)

::vtol:: metaphase sound machine (video 2) from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.

"The Metaphase Sound Machine is a kind of homage to the ideas of the American physicist Nick Herbert who in the 1970s has created both Metaphase Typewriter and Quantum Metaphone (a speech synthesizer). These were some of the first attempts to put the phenomenon of quantum entanglement in practice and one of the first steps towards the creation of a quantum computer. The experimental devices, however, had not confirmed theoretical research, and Herbert’s obsession with metaphysics resulted in the publication of several of his works on the metaphysical in quantum physics, that have led to a serious loss of interest to the ideas of quantum communication. One day, in a course of his experiments, Herbert has hacked into an university computer trying to establish a contact with the spirit of illusionist Harry Houdini at the day of the centenary of his birth.

In his device Herbert in order to achieve a quantum entangled state used as a source radioactive thallium, which was controlled by the Geiger radiation counter. The time interval between pulses was chosen as conversion code. Several psychics had participated in the experiments. They tried to influence the endless stream of random anagrams arising from a typewriter or cause "the ghost voice" to be heard out of metaphone. Scientists also have conducted sessions to bring about the "spirit" of a colleague who had recently died, and who knew about this typewriter. In 1985 Herbert wrote a book about metaphysical in physics. In general, his invention and articles quite severely compromised the ideas of quantum communication in the eyes of potential researchers and by the end of the XX century no any substantial progress in this direction was observed.

The Metaphase Sound Machine is an object with 6 rotating disks. Each of the discs is equipped with acoustic sound source (a speaker) and a microphone. Each of the microphones is connected via computer and the rotary axis to the speakers on the disks. Also in the center of installation a Geiger-Mueller counter is set, that detects ionizing radiation in the surrounding area. The intervals between these particles influence rotation velocity of each of the disks. Essentially the object is an audio- and kinetic installation in which a sound is synthesized based on feedbacks, produced by microphones and speakers on rotating discs. Feedback whistles are used as triggers for more complex sound synthesis. Additional harmonic signal processing, as well as the volatility of the dynamic system, lead to the endless variations of sound. The form of the object refers to the generally accepted symbolic notation of quantum entanglement as a biphoton - crossing discs of the orbits.

more info - http://vtol.cc/filter/works/metaphase-sound-machine"

::vtol:: msm mk2

::vtol:: msm mk2 from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.

2nd version of my Metaphase sound machine.

more info - vtol.cc/filter/works/metaphase-sound-machine

Snip:

"The Metaphase Sound Machine is a kind of homage to the ideas of the American physicist Nick Herbert who in the 1970s has created both Metaphase Typewriter (Fig. 1) and Quantum Metaphone (a speech synthesizer). These were some of the first attempts to put the phenomenon of quantum entanglement in practice and one of the first steps towards the creation of a quantum computer. The experimental devices, however, had not confirmed theoretical research, and Herbert’s obsession with metaphysics resulted in the publication of several of his works on the metaphysical in quantum physics, that have led to a serious loss of interest to the ideas of quantum communication. One day, in a course of his experiments, Herbert has hacked into an university computer trying to establish a contact with the spirit of illusionist Harry Houdini at the day of the centenary of his birth.

In his device Herbert in order to achieve a quantum entangled state used as a source radioactive thallium, which was controlled by the Geiger radiation counter. The time interval between pulses was chosen as conversion code. Several psychics had participated in the experiments. They tried to influence the endless stream of random anagrams arising from a typewriter or cause "the ghost voice" to be heard out of metaphone. Scientists also have conducted sessions to bring about the "spirit" of a colleague who had recently died, and who knew about this typewriter. In 1985 Herbert wrote a book about metaphysical in physics. In general, his invention and articles quite severely compromised the ideas of quantum communication in the eyes of potential researchers and by the end of the XX century no any substantial progress in this direction was observed."

::vtol:: metaphase sound machine

::vtol:: metaphase sound machine from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.

"The Metaphase Sound Machine is a kind of homage to the ideas of the American physicist Nick Herbert who in the 1970s has created both Metaphase Typewriter and Quantum Metaphone (a speech synthesizer). These were some of the first attempts to put the phenomenon of quantum entanglement in practice and one of the first steps towards the creation of a quantum computer. The experimental devices, however, had not confirmed theoretical research, and Herbert’s obsession with metaphysics resulted in the publication of several of his works on the metaphysical in quantum physics, that have led to a serious loss of interest to the ideas of quantum communication. One day, in a course of his experiments, Herbert has hacked into an university computer trying to establish a contact with the spirit of illusionist Harry Houdini at the day of the centenary of his birth.

In his device Herbert in order to achieve a quantum entangled state used as a source radioactive thallium, which was controlled by the Geiger radiation counter. The time interval between pulses was chosen as conversion code. Several psychics had participated in the experiments. They tried to influence the endless stream of random anagrams arising from a typewriter or cause "the ghost voice" to be heard out of metaphone. Scientists also have conducted sessions to bring about the "spirit" of a colleague who had recently died, and who knew about this typewriter. In 1985 Herbert wrote a book about metaphysical in physics. In general, his invention and articles quite severely compromised the ideas of quantum communication in the eyes of potential researchers and by the end of the XX century no any substantial progress in this direction was observed.

The Metaphase Sound Machine is an object with 6 rotating disks. Each of the discs is equipped with acoustic sound source (a speaker) and a microphone. Each of the microphones is connected via computer and the rotary axis to the speakers on the disks. Also in the center of installation a Geiger-Mueller counter is set, that detects ionizing radiation in the surrounding area. The intervals between these particles influence rotation velocity of each of the disks. Essentially the object is an audio- and kinetic installation in which a sound is synthesized based on feedbacks, produced by microphones and speakers on rotating discs. Feedback whistles are used as triggers for more complex sound synthesis. Additional harmonic signal processing, as well as the volatility of the dynamic system, lead to the endless variations of sound. The form of the object refers to the generally accepted symbolic notation of quantum entanglement as a biphoton - crossing discs of the orbits.

more info - http://vtol.cc/filter/works/metaphase-sound-machine"

Fukushima 50 - nuclear echoes in our hearts

YouTube Uploaded by TouchedByInspiration on Mar 28, 2011
On the gear: "Nord Wave, and a very old tube-driven tape echo, produced by a german company called "Klemt" in the late 60's. As far as I know, this company finally became the german company 'Dynacord'. We recorded the piece with the Fostex LR16 and two Neumann mics for the piano. The mic signal was fed into the tape echo via an aux bus. Christiane was controlling the feedback of the tape echo manually while playing the piano. The recording was mixed afterwards in Logic 9."
follow-up to Sendai - Improvisation for the japanese people

On the performance:
"Piano-Performance by Christiane Dehmer.
The disaster in Japan still occupies me. The earthquake and the Tsunami are over now. But Fukushima and what it means for our world will remain.
In this video I play a piece of music that I have dedicated to the "Fukushima 50 ". When the disaster took its course in Fukushima, 50 workers remained in the damaged nuclear power plant, to avoid that the situation gets completely out of control. With primitive means they fought under the most adverse circumstances against the radioactive danger and put their lives to risk. The catastrophe of Fukushima and the actions of these people show once again that bravery, courage and personal commitment in the face of the complete failure of high-technology is the only reality that we have. Security, however, is an illusion.
The piece was recorded live during the night of 24.3.2011. I played piano, synthesizer and vocals. In addition, I used a more than 40 years old tube tape echo (Echolette S) which produced pretty crazy sounds from the piano. This ancient device and its distorted sound symbolizes in a special way, how outdated and not very controllable some of our technologies became.
Listen to the echoes in our hearts...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Die Katastrophe in Japan lässt einen so schnell nicht los. Das Erdbeben und der Tsunami sind vorrüber. Aber Fukushima, und das was es für unsere Welt bedeutet, wird bleiben.
In diesem Video spiele ich ein Stück, das ich den "Fukushima 50″ gewidmet habe. Als die Katastrophe in Fukushima ihren Lauf nahm, blieben 50 Arbeiter in dem havarierten Atomkraftwerk, um zu verhindern, dass die Lage völlig außer Kontrolle gerät. Sie kämpften sie unter widrigsten Umständen gegen die radioaktive Gefahr aus den Reaktoren uns setzten dabei ihr Leben aufs Spiel. Die Katastrophe von Fukushima und das Handeln dieser Menschen zeigt einmal mehr, dass Tapferkeit, Mut und persönliche Hingabe im Angesicht des vollständigen Versagens von Hoch-Technologie die einzige Realität ist, die uns bleibt. Sicherheit dagegen ist eine Illusion.
Das Stück ist live aufgenommen am 24.03.2011. Gespielt habe ich Piano und Synthesizer und Gesang. Zusätzlich habe ich ein mehr als 40 Jahre altes Röhren-Bandecho (Echolette S) verwendet, das aus dem Piano recht abgefahrene Sounds produziert hat. Dieses altertümliche Gerät und sein verzerrter Klang versinnbildlichen auf besondere Weise, wie überholt und wenig kontrollierbar manche Technologie mittlerweile ist.
Höre die Echos in unseren Herzen..."

Amazing Singing ALTAIR 231, russian minimoog, analog formant vowel synthesis - **Must hear!!**

Published on Dec 16, 2014 NoiselabCH

"The ALTAIR 231, a minimoog copy built in former sovietunion is a real 3-OSC synthesizer beast if not a monster! While trying out some extreme settings I found this formant vowel like sound. I thought a bandpass filter is necessary, but there's none on the ALTAIR 231 or ESTRADIN 230 (exactly same schematics) !

It's combination of OSC crossmodulation and high filter resonance. And it's just one crazy sound this great vintage analog monophonic synthesizer can produce.

No external effects or dynamics added, just pure analog synthesis!

One third of the vid is the singing ALTAIR 231, then the Abyss follows periodically, mostly squeezing, crunching, bubbling, rumbling, haunting, crashing, 1000-saws-try-to-break-the-safe-like, splashing interrupted by somewhat smoother intermezzos. Be aware of the angry bees...

Here's a vid I made a while ago using the midi-retrofit in our ALTAIR 231:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex78F... [below]

A vid with our ALISA 1387 (another amazing russian synth):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlP5h... [posted here]

Darth NoiseLab and Darth Digital Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leTV... [below]

Be the synthforce with you..."

Altair 231 - Soviet Synthesizer in action - Russian Mini Moog! Amazing Estradin Synth!

Published on Mar 9, 2013

"Just a short vid, badly recorded, about the ALTAIR 231 Synthesizer (Estradin factory, Zhitomir). This one is from 1986 (maybe radioactive ;-) and has a retrofit Midi in !!
Midi-Arpeggio from Yamaha AN1X, first test with midi. This Synthesizer has similar options as the minimoog model D, it's a kind of soviet copy, however it's not a moog (I never had one, so I can't compare), but it sounds really amazing.
Same circuits as the Estradin 230, but in a more moog-like look.

Don't argue with me cause of dirty fingers, bad tweeking, shitty vid and sound-qualitiy. I don't see a lot af vid of the Altair 231 here, so a cheap one won't hurt ;-)"

And the Darth Digital Playlist:

Prototype: Neon Control Circuit for "Moment" [Geiger Counter Sequencer]

YouTube Uploaded by pixelform on Dec 7, 2011

"Music: Ah! by Oval

Revisiting an old idea for a light installation using neon tubes. The video documents initial testing for neon control circuitry that converts radioactive events detected by a Geiger counter into wavelets of light."

Hans Vegner Studio Panorama

Click this one for the full size shot.
via Hans Vegner on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge
"Here's a pseudo pano shot of our studio.we'll be releasing short videos of some old gear in the upcoming weeks on elektrobahn.com... thanks Matrixsynth" "...we've got a request to do a show which involves geiger counters triggering our gear with Yves Amu Klein on Friday." Note the custom Pro-One minus keys on the right.

Update on the Pro-One: "it's a couple of Pro Ones i joined together it's a work in progress. already it's capable of cross modulation and we're working on unison and a few patch points."

The synth to the right of the desk is a Crumar Spirit. For those not familiar with the Stratus, it was designed by Bob Moog, Jim Scott and Tom Rhea. Via Hans: "yes the fabled Spirit. this radioactive show just popped up but afterward we're starting a small video section. and we'll have a go at the Spirit. if you've never played with one, they are truly unique. between the filter section and the mod routing, disturbing..."

Ambiente Oscuro & Distorientation -- Sound Packs for Modal Craft Synth 2 0

video by Human Oversynth

"This sound pack is a collection of 64 dark ambient / SciFi presets for your Modal Craft Synth 2.0 synthesizer. Like a child waiving out the back window of the last spaceship leaving a dying planet, these sounds are at once harsh and hazy, somber and sinister, noisy and barely in tune. The patches in this sound pack will turn your Craft Synth 2.0 into device for generating deeply mysterious sound textures and unexplained alchemic tones.

Sound packs and overlays for Modal Craft Synth 2.0 and Skulpt available now from: https://www.oversynth.com"

Distorientation Model Skulpt Soundpack

"This sound pack is a collection of 64 dark ambient / SciFi presets for your Modal Sculpt synthesizer. Like an impossible memory of a dystopian future, these sounds are at once dirty, noisy, barely in tune, warm, harsh, dreamy, and nostalgic. The patches in this sound pack will make your Skulpt sound like a modular synth that was dropped in a in radioactive saltwater ocean and forgotten about for a hundred of years (but in a good way)."

World 1st Radioactive Synth Module?

Geiger counter synth module with uranium ore

Published on Jan 13, 2017 thenervoussquirrel

Update: see the comments below for the answer.

You'll be twisting those knobs with stubs for fingers in no time!

"Produces random voltages by comparing the time between clicks. Initially counts three clicks, then takes the time between 1 and 3 as the overall range mapped to 5V, and click 2 as the voltage level. It then waits for the next click to replace click 3, and re-assigns the previous 2 and 3 to the new 1 and 2, if that makes sense.

The 5V is converted into a control voltage signal, with adjustable range and offset, adapted from Ken Stone's joystick schematic. Glide has also been borrowed from a CGS module. Also produces a trigger output every time the geiger counter is activated."

Arduino Piggyback Synthesizer Demonstration

Published on Mar 11, 2014 Pieter van der Meer·1 video

"Explanation about and demonstration of the Arduino Piggyback Synthesizer (aka "Piggy").

Credits for the adapted material:
- "The Last V8" - Rob Hubbard
- "Addict" - Radioactive Man (http://radioactiveman23.tumblr.com)

www.tastychips.nl"