MATRIXSYNTH

GestureLong - Buchla 200e Sample

Title link takes you to the sample via Chris Muir on the Buchla 200e list.

Grant Richter on Cutting Down Modular Costs

Update: Adding a shot from this previous post on what this could look like. The shot is an Elby Designs Steiner VCF via cray5656's flickr set.

Via Grant Richter on the Wiard list:

"If the public could change their perception of how a synthesizer module must be constructed, we could have a renaisance unlike anything in the past. The single most expensive component in a synthesizer is the aluminum faceplate. There is only one source for turnkey faceplates in the US and they are obscenely expensive. I pay $70 each for 1200 series faceplates. Your only other option involves using 4 different vendors. One to get the metal blanks, one to put the holes in them, another to anodize them and another yet to silkscreen them. Each step is a chance for errors to creep in. Also, there are 5 shipping charges to move everything from place to place or lose the whole batch. Or drop the box...

The people who make printed circuit boards are used to doing most of these operations to a higher degree of precision and more quickly and cheaply than machine shops. If the buying public was willing to accept faceplates made from fiberglass instead of metal, it would open the floodgates to new module designs.

You can hardly see the difference either, the fiberglass is painted and silkscreened just like the metal. Plus fiberglass is lighter and stiffer. I have heard this idea repeatedly from many people, but no one believes people will buy modules with fiberglass faceplates. It is not historical.

There are also design advantages to PC material faceplates. The faceplate can become part of the circuit. Touch switches for triggers or mode selects are essentially free. Things that are expensive in metal, like slots for linear pots or perforated grills for speakers, now cost a few pennies instead of a few dollars.

It is a practical idea, but the world is not yet ready for it."

FiRsT GuiTaR iMpRoViSaTiOn

Bleep Labs Thingamagoop

Title link takes you to the post on SoNiCbRaT.

Roland JX-3P

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

AKAI AX73

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Resting Shoulders

No title link, just the shot and details via this auction. Maybe they are all trying to figure out their next move.

Details:
"Truly a legendary vintage synth, produced between 1973 and 1981 (now, that’s vintage!).

The SH-1000 has the distinction of being (according to Roland) the first keyboard synthesizer made in Japan. "It is a weird synth from a time when synth manufacturers were probably trying to figure out the best way to market synths to people outside academia. The SH-1000 thus has many color tabs on the front of it just like Grandma's organ. It even has two little holes drilled in the top so you can put in a little music stand. It's not quite a preset synth though. It does have 10 presets that are not editable other than to add vibrato or tremolo. But it also has tabs for creating your own sounds from scratch. You could select 32' square or ramp, 16' pwm, etc.

To edit the wave form, on the left side of the keyboard (where the chord buttons would be if it were Grandma's organ) are most of the controls for editing. It has an EG [envelope generator] with one slider each for ADSR. Its VCF section has a slider for both "freq" and "cut off". However, they work differently depending on whether or not you've chosen to flip the colored tab on front labeled "ADSR". This is in the section of tabs labeled "Spectrum (V.C.F.)". Other choices are, of course, "growl" and 'waw'."

Akai AX80

No title link, just the shot pulled via this auction.

Guess the other synths.

Resting Heads

No title link, just the shot via this auction. Roland Juno-106 and TR-909.

Yamaha DX-200

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Details:
"From the Manufacturer- Combining a 6-operator 16-note polyphonic FM synthesizer with over one hundred rhythm sounds & a 16-step analog-style sequencer, the DX200 is one of the most unique "groove boxes" available today. Thanks to its realtime control knobs, you can easily get inside this once-forbidden FM architecture & effortlessly tweak the voice parameters to come up with totally bizarre sounds that have never been heard before. Many hip-hop and techno producers are already hip to the punchy bass sounds & radical metallic textures that can be created with FM, and now you can, too! If you've been looking for some fresh new electronic sounds for your dance tracks, the DX200 is your new secret weapon.

SPECS:
Main Synthesizer:
Method- FM
TG Specs- DX7 compatible, 6 Operator FM, Filter (FEG), Noise
Max. Polyphony- 16
Multi Timbre- 1

Sub Synthesizer:
Method- AWM2
Max. Polyphony- 32
Multi Timbre- 3

Effects: 13 types

Step Sequencer:
Type- 16 steps x 4 parts per pattern
MIDI CLOCK- Internal/External
Preset Pattern (Voice)- 256
User Pattern- 128 (Selection taken from preset patterns)
Song- 10

Other Features:
Free EG- 4 tracks per pattern
Scene Memory- 2 scenes per pattern

Hardware:
Display- 4-digit, 7-segment LED
Connectors- PHONES, STEREO OUTPUT (L/MONO & R), MIDI IN/OUT, DC IN
Controllers- Knob x 16, Switch x 51, Encoder x 1
Yamaha AC Power Supply Included"

More Details
Owners Manual
Review on emusician