The SMS 2000 - New Flickr Shots

flickr by synthfan_bob. Title link takes you to more.

Update: New touched up shot via Elhardt in the comments.
Update: Note the name on the badge. Thanks Elhardt. : )

NI-Versary and Price Drops

"For a period of 10 weeks over the summer we are offering up to 66% off on some 30 NI products! A number of full versions have been reduced, virtually all the major updates, Sound Line products as well as attractive new bundles and a whole lot more are all on offer. " Title link takes you there. via Synthtopia. Also an FM7 II is coming according to sequencer.de.

MOTM Updates - Will No Longer Offer DIY Kits

Title link takes you there.

Summary:
# Synthesis Technology/MOTM is changing the product mix
# MOTM kits are being discontinued Dec. 31, 2006
# Some MOTM modules will be discontinued as stocks are depleted (both kits and assembled)
# Future MOTM modules will be assembled only, and will be shipped from stock (zero wait time)
# Existing MOTM modules, that will be offered only assembled beginning 2007, will be shipped from stock (zero wait time). There are no plans to discontinue these modules.
# The AudioEngine will allow unheard of (literally!) modules to exist that combine CV/MIDI control with 32-bit RISC processors and vast digital logic.

accross the street - New Flickr Shot

flickr by devowski. Title link takes you to more. synth mattress

Moog.jpg - New Flickr Shot

flickr by Sound Team Flickr.

Yamaha AN1X Samples

Title link takes you to samples via elmosexwhistle on this VSE thread. Also backed up here.

What always fascinated me about the AN1X is that you can hear Yamaha CS80 in it. More so than any other VA. Yet, I don't remember Yamaha ever touting that it had that character to it. My guess is that they did not want to box it in. Going through this set, I'm amazed at the diverse reange of sounds this synth is capable of. BTW, check out the nes triangle mp3 in the set for a treat. Another fascinating bit about the AN1X was that the UK Yamaha release the Roland JP8000 factory presets for it. I A/Bed the AN1X to a JP8000 and the presets were spot on for the most part. It was pretty amazing.

Conny Plank's Studio For Sale

Synths include: ARP Sequencer model 1611, Roland JD800, Emulator II, Yamaha DX7-II, Oberheim OBX-a, ARP Odyssey, OSCar, and Korg VC10 vocoder as well as a Fender Rhodes Mark I and Leslie 760 solid state.

Via Music Thing (via this auction). Pics saved below for posterity.

More on Conny Plank on Wikipedia. I first heard of Conny Plank via Ultravox. Some excerpts:

"During the 1970s Conny Plank produced and/or engineered many of the most important recordings by significant German progressive/experimental music acts (given the derogratory label krautrock by the UK music press at the time), including Kraftwerk (Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2, Ralf und Florian, Autobahn, and the precursor album Tone Float), Neu! (all their recordings), Cluster, Harmonia, Ash Ra Tempel, Holger Czukay (Can), and Guru Guru. His long association with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster began in 1970 and endured until his death."

"Plank, via Bowie and especially Eno, in turn had a strong influence on many acts of the New Wave period in the late 1970s and 1980s. Neu!'s Hero is said to have been a major influence on John Lydon's work with his post-Sex Pistols group Public Image Limited. Eno produced an album for DEVO (another overseas act strongly influenced by Plank's work) and enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Talking Heads and David Byrne, followed by an even longer and more successful partnership with Irish band U2. The earlier work of Australian band Hunters & Collectors also showed unmistakeable signs of familiarity with Plank's production techniques, and they were one of many international acts who recorded with him.

Plank's other production credits include Echo and the Bunnymen, Les Rita Mitsouko, Einstürzende Neubauten, Annie Lennox, Astor Piazolla, The Damned, Miranda Sex Garden, DAF (including the classic single Der Mussolini) and Nina Hagen."

"In the eighties Plank remained in high demand with the new generation of electronic pop and New Wave artists, including DEVO, Ultravox! (Systems of Romance, Vienna and Rage in Eden), Freur and The Tourists (Luminous Basement)/Eurythmics (In the Garden). He also worked on pop and rock productions with artists such as The Scorpions, Clannad, Killing Joke, Play Dead, and Gianna Nannini (Latin Lover, Sogno Di Una Notte d'Estate, Tutto Live and others, also credited for music)."

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Roland Offers Zero Down for a Year Program

"Los Angeles, CA, June 23, 2006—Roland Contemporary Keyboards is proud to announce the Keyboard Acceptance Program, the latest consumer financing program offered by Roland U.S. With this new zero-down, zero-APR-for-one-year offering, Roland breaks new ground in the digital keyboard marketplace."

Title link takes you to the press release. Just be sure to pay it off before that year is up. : )

Novation XioSynth

Compact MIDI contoller with built in synth and step sequencer. Title link takes you to more on CDM.

roland system 100m - New Flickr Shots

flickr by hinotori mortal. Title link takes you to more shots of Five-G in Japan. Five-G is a vintage synth shop. You might recognize Five-G from the poster in this SMS 2000 shot.