Korg 800DV - New Flickr Shots

Click through for more shots.

MIT Ionosphere - Sounds of the Atmosphere

Via Engadget via digg. Building 54 at MIT has been turned into a giant speaker. : ) Click through title link for more. Funny that it's building 54 as in studio 54.

Another SoundLab Custom Design

I posted about the SoundLab on 8/30. Here is another design that cropped up on electro-music.com. Pretty nice design especially with Halloween just around the corner. : ) Title link takes you to more.

Kosmophone - Space Age Midi Controller - literally...

Sent to me by Charles Vestal. Thanks Charles! Click through for more info, shots and samples. Amazing.

That silver cylinder in the rack is the Kosmophone.


"The Kosmophone is a gamma-ray spectrometer operating in the range of about 3 to 7 million electron-volts (MeV) controlling a MIDI music synthesizer.

This octave of the electromagnetic spectrum, about a million times higher frequency than the octave our eyes respond to, contains very little energy that originates in our solar system. Almost all of the energy in this band is a result of unbelievably energetic radiation coming from the far reaches of the universe, 'Cosmic Rays'. Fortunately, they tend not to make it all the way through the approximately 100 miles of air over our heads. As they smash their way through the atmosphere the collisions produce energetic emissions and it is these secondary emissions the Kosmophone responds to. The energy level of each detected event is measured and that information is sent to the MIDI control port of a music synthesizer. The 'cosmic data' is not altered or supplemented in any way and would be presumed to be completely random.

The measured distribution of energy values is indeed very uniform and the rate does not vary from local day to night. Apparently the normal output of our sun contains no significant gamma rays (which is a very good thing for us!) but they are produced in bursts during solar flares. "

Update via the comments:
"Many thanks for your interest and kind words, but please note the silvery cylinder at the bottom of the rack is just the detector; a 3" Teledyne Isotopes 4Pi-well-type NaI scintillator previously owned by a government weapons laboratory. The 1RU panel above it is the Pulse Height Analyzer and of course above that the synth and power amp."

Analog Solutions Modifications Page

I was searching the net for more info on a Moog Prodigy Modular picture I have. I came across Analog Solutions' Modifications Page. I didn't realize how many modifications they had for vintage analog synths. Title link will take you there with more shots.

Listed Mods as of this post:

Roland SH101 modular upgrade
Roland SH101 cut-down modular upgrade
Roland MC202 modular upgrade
Roland SH09 keyboard removal
Roland SH09 keyboard removal
Roland SH3a modular upgrade and keyboard removal
ARP Axxe modular upgrade and keyboard removal
ARP Odyssey modular upgrade and keyboard removal
SCI Pro 1 modular upgrade
Moog Prodigy modular upgrade
Moog Radio Shack MG1 basic CV upgrade
EDP Wasp rack mounting
EDP Wasp modular upgrade
Roland TR606 / TR303 blue LED mod
Roland TR606 / TR303 blue LED mod
Roland TB303 BORG modification
Roland TB303 BORG modification
Roland TB303 BORG modification
Roland TR606 separate audio outs
Roland TR606 tonal mod (extra pots)
Roland CR78 tonal mod (extra pots)
Roland TR808 tonal mod (extra pots)
Roland CR8000 tonal mod (extra pots)
Roland TR808 MIDI kit

Analog Solutions Four Voice

Analog Solutions produced the SEMblance Oberheim SEM clone. Well it looks like they are now coming out with a Four Voice. Title link takes you to the Analog Solutions site.

Analog Solutions Four Voice Prototype

WP-20 Mini Synth

Another from GetLoFi. How about I just post a pic and say click through to GetLoFi for more. Back to scrounging the net... : )

Yamaha Gear List and Timeline

Via GetLoFi. Kick ass find by Circuit Master. The list also includes key technology introductions like PASS (Pulse Analog Synthesizer System for the CS series). Wow! I never knew they refered it to PASS. Some key points below just in case they delete the list on us (have fun spotting your favorites : ).

1962 Fist product on their list
D-2

1966 Silicon transistor
E-2, A-3

1970 IC (Integrated Circuit)
EX-42, B-6E, B12, B-12R, E-3R, YC-20, YC-30

1975 LSI (Large Scale IC)
VCO, VCF, VCA (Voltage Control Technology)
GX-1, CSY-2, BK-2

1977 PASS(Pulse Analog Synthesizer System)
E-30, E-50, E-70, EX-1, EX-2, A-40, A-60, B-40, B-60, B-45, C-40, C-60, D-80, CS-50, CS-60, CS-80, CP20, CS-10, CS-30, CS-30L, SS30

1981 FM Tone Generator (Frequency Modulation System)
E-75, E-45, 6000, PS-10, PS-20, PS-30, GS1, GS2, CS-70M, CP11, CP25, CP35, SK15

1982 CD
A-505, B-205, B-405, B-605, B-805, C-405, C-605, 7000, HS-200, HS-500, PS-30B, PS-3(I),(S), PC-100, PSS-30, MP-1, HS-400, HS-501, PS-300, CE20, CS01, SY20, CE25, CP11W, CP7

1983 VLSI (Very Large Scale IC) MIDI
FX-1, FX-3, FX-10, FX-20, FS-100, FS-200, FS-300, FS-500, MR-1, PC-50, PS-35, PS-35S, PS-55, PS-55S, PC-1000, MK-100, YP-10, YP-20, YP-30, YP-40 · DX7, DX9, PF12, KX1, DX1, PF10, PF15

1987 AWM Tone Generator (Sampling System)
HS-4, HS-5, HS-6, HS-7, HS-8, HX-1, HX-3, HX-5, CHX-1, CVP-10, CVP-6, CVP-8, CLP-500, CLP-100, CVP-100MA, CVP-100PE, PSS-130, PSS-470, PSS-570, PSR-22, PSR-32, PSR-12, PSS-370, VSS-30, PSR-80, PSR-90, DSR-1, RX17, DX7S, TX802, ARM1, QX3, DX7-2C, WX7, RX7, V2, PF85, TX16W, TX1P

1991 GM MD
EL-30, EL-50, EL-70, EL-90, CVP-55, CVP-65, CVP-35, CVP-45, CVP-75, YPP-15, YPP-35, PSR-31, PSR-100, PSR-200, PSR-400, PSR-500, PSS-102, PSS-104, DD-11, PSR-6700, RY30, SY99, TG100

1993 VA Tone Generator (Physical Modeling System)
EL-20, EL-27, CVP-25, CVP-83, CVP-85, CVP-87, DD-3, PSR-110, PSR-210, PSR-300, PSR-310, PSR-410, PSR-510, PSR-1700, PSR-2700, TG300, VL1, CBX-K3, CBX-S3, CBX-D5, CBX-302

1996 SoftSynthesizer
CLP-311, CLP-411, CLP-511, CLP-611, CLP-811, CLP-911, DD-50, PSR-190, PSR-220, PSR-230, PSR-78, AR-100 · G1D, G50, P50m, QY700, VL70m, CS1x, CBX-PCC10, MU90, MU90B

1998 FS Tone Generator (FM + Formant Shaping System)
EL-900, CLP-810S, CLP-820, CLP-840, CLP-860, CLP-880, CVP-600, PSR-195, PSR-225, PSR-79, PSR-D1, EX5, P-200, EX5R, EX7, WX5, FS1R, CS2x, EX5S, RM1x, SU700, CBX-K2, MU100B, MU128, MU15, SW1000XG

2004 Internet Direct Connection
ELS-01/01C(STAGEA), CVP-309, CVP-307, CVP-305, CVP-303, CVP-301, PSR-3000, PSR-1500, PSR-450, PSR-295, PSR-293, PSR-175, DGX-505, DGX-305, DGX-205, DGX-203, DD-55C

A little Oberheim SEM P*rn on a Tuesday Afternoon

Came accross the following two Oberheim shots in my synth p*rn collection. Not sure where I got these. If you know please post and I'll update this with info. Title link takes you to bigger shots.

Modded Oberheim SEM Tower



Two Oberheim Four Voices side by side. This is just plain classy. Ga. Ga. Ga...

History Channel piece on Drum Machines

Update: From the source. It aired on More Gadgets on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00pm ET. You can purchase the DVD for $25 or wait for it to show up On Demand cable if you have it.


In via Ben Vehorn on AH. Title link takes you to History Channel's Modern Marvels page, but I couldn't find the piece. Maybe it hasn't made the site yet? Will need to keep an eye out on it.

Ben Via AH:
"The show "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel just did a piece on
the history of drum machines. Though it wasn't ridiculously in-depth
(8-10 minutes), it was pretty accurate and cool to see. They started
with metronomes, then showed a Wurlitzer drum machine (I think it was a
Sideman), then went into the home organs and analog drum machines (Korg
55, TR-808). They talked about how sampling changed everything and had
some guy demo-ing a Linn 9000 (though no LM-2, which seemed an
oversight), then went into V-drums and grooveboxes."