KORG M500

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Details:
"The M-500 was the first preset analog synth released by Korg. Features: -32 keys -portamento -6 preset banks, 30 preset tones -traveler modulation -vibrato -attack and sustain adjust -fine tuning pitch control."

Oberheim OB-8

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Roland HS-60 SynthPlus

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Yamaha SY-1

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Details:
"1975 Yamaha SY-1 vintage synthesizer. All keys, knobs, sliders, and outputs function. This was yamaha's very first entry into the synthesizer world. The Very First! This keyboard came out before the popular CS series. This monophonic VCO synthesizer has 28 presets all of which can be edited, but not saved. NOTE: This synth is old and shows signs of use. This does not affect the playability or control in any way. Please take this into consideration when bidding on this item. Aside from that, this keyboard is in great shape and very rare.

Yamaha's first keyboard synthesizers, the SY-1 (pictured above) and SY-2 are monophonic single-VCO analog synthesizers with preset sounds and limited programmability. There are 28 great preset sounds which can be slightly edited using the 8 sliders to the right of the small 37-note keyboard. There's an analog low-pass / high pass resonant filter, analog VCA envelope and a slide effect. There is no sign of MIDI, CV or Gate control but the compact design and wood-case make this a fun synth to mess around with. Some crazy analog sounds can be formed. These are fun little synths with plenty of 'Vintage' status and fun live-performance-ability."

Au Revoir Simone

Title link takes you there.

via Ray

genoQs OS V1.0 Released

"Dear all,
more than a year ago we were proud to announce the general availability of what was to become quickly a quite desirable piece of gear.. says the continuous feedback we get about the Octopus.

Needless to say, we are not only proud, but deeply satisfied to see that what has started as a labour of love and passion has found greatest appreciation by users and users-to-become alike, many of whom we knew and respected highly long before they knew about us.

The feedback, ideas, thoughts and commitment that we have seen in return have helped build a machine that today we are ready, proud and thankful to present to you. We are ready to launch Octopus OS v1.00

This is a key moment in the life of Octopus, and one much anticipated, by many, and for many reasons. Once again, our sincerest thanks go to all who have contributed to the effort that went into creating Octopus what it is today - we leave the description out but would explicitly like to get your feedback on what you feel that
Octopus is to you!

Now - we are listing below an exerpt of our list of new things in OS v1.00..

All the other details are up on our web site.

Enjoy!!

Gabriel Seher + Marcel Achim
________________________
http://www.genoqs.net

In the following, we use the following mark convention:
(***) for new features,
(**) for evolved functionality, and
(*) for minor changes.

FREE TRACK CHAINING (***)
Tracks in a Page may be chained according to any
configuration desired by the user.

TRACK PROGRAM CHANGE (***)
Tracks now retain the MIDI program change information
as a track specific value.

EDIT TRACK DIRECTIONS (***)
Directions 6-16 are freely editable by the user, including
re-trigger and randomize options.

STEP GROOVE ATTRIBUTE (***)
A step may be delayed at playtime by a random amount
of time in multiples of 1/192 of a note.

GRID-TRACK MODE (***)
Up to 90 tracks are mapped to Matrix buttons and act as
virtual track selectors allowing for direct track operation.

STEP-NOTE RECORDING (***)
Notes may be recorded directly on pre-selected positions
in a page, irrespective of timeline and chase-light position.

PAGE SCALE CAD (***)
Changes to a scale may be set to affect the pitch values of
the tracks in the page. Whenever the scale is modified, the
track pitches are aligned to the new scale, modifying the
harmonic structure of a page in a musical way.

VAST MIDI-IN CONTROL (***)
Apart from recording MIDI data, MIDI IN ports can be
used to control various functions of the machine via MIDI IN
signals. This includes selecting grid sets and toggling grid pages
via program change messages, or even creating and modifying
scales on the Octopus - all at runtime of course.

VIRTUAL MIDI CHANNELS (***)
Provide an internal wiring of tracks to the Octopus MIDI in.
In this way, Octopus tracks may be used to leverage the
capabilities of MIDI IN control, right on the Octopus.

MAP FACTORS (***)
Each relevant attribute map now has a map factor, which indicates
the amount to which that map is applied to the current output.

EXPORT CONTENT TO SYSEX (***)
Memory content may now be exported as MIDI system exclusive
streams, providing a means to store machine state data outside of
the Octopus.

PITCH BEND HANDLING (**)
Now pitch bend data can be recorded and worked with, similarly
to any other MIDI controller data.

TRACK FLATTENING (**)
The FLT mutator has evolved to new semantics. It is now applied
to two or more tracks to create a "stacked" version of that track
selection into a single track.

NEW EFFECTOR STATE (**)
Tracks can now take on an additional state with regard to the
Effector. In addition to being unaffected, a sender, or a receiver,
tracks may now be receiving senders.

CC MAP LEARNING (**)
In addition to programming CC maps, you can now have them
learn by listening to MIDI IN input. Saves time and comes in handy.

FORCE TO SCALE INPUT (**)
Externally played notes can be passed through the Octopus and
forced to the scale of the current page.

TRACK SPEED MULTIPLIERS (**)
Octopus now features additional track speed multipliers.
These include: 1.5 (for direct creation of triplets), as well as the
following: 1/1.5, 1/8, 8, 1/16 and 16.

BANK CHANGE MESSAGES (*)
In addition to sending program change messages Octopus now
also sends bank change messages."

Ambi-J's DIY sequencer in progress

YouTube via waveshaper. Via Dennis.

Wolfram Franke on The Blofeld and Legacy Support

Many on the Waldorf mailing list have been discussing what the new Blofeld and Stromberg synths will be as well as OS updates for the previous Waldorf synths. As for the Blofeld, the consensus was it was either and updated Micro Q or a new synth based on the Nano plug-in for the CME plus more. If you caught the Gearwire interview with Wolframe Franke (posted here), you might have caught a few details on the new synths. One, the Blofeld is basically an updated Micro Q, and two, the Stromberg will support both the architecture of the Q and the XT/Microwave in addition to the hardware plug-in capabilities with an analog filter in line. Check out the video for yourself.

Wolfram popped by the Waldorf list today with the following on the Blofeld and addressed support for previous Waldorf products:

"Regarding the Blofeld: yes, the Blofeld basically has the architecture of the Micro Q. This can easily be seen when you look at the spec list on the Blofeld product page. It will certainly have some new features, among them more than 1000 sounds or the cascade filter types. We might add further features but I won't go into detail about them right now.

Colors: the Blofeld is almost white. We chose this color because it simply looks cool combined with the aluminum controls.

Updates for old products: we really understand the need for taking care of some issues that are bugging you, like the Aftertouch bug in the XTk. But please give us a chance to get a financial foundation first. We are, however, *talking* about the bugs. Only, finding a time slice to work on that is not possible right now. I hope you understand that. And please, no emotional discussions about that. We are aware of it and we try to find a way to take care of it."

Surfin' Kangaroo Studio Step Sequencer Messe Vid on Gearwire

Title link takes you there.

John Bowen Podcast on SonicState

"Messe proved a feeding frenzy for synth lovers – at least those who’ve followed the career of John Bowen – and you’d need to have been around some to be there from the start!

Starting in the 1970’s as a fresh faced Moog clinician, John presented himself at the door of another legendary synth designer Dave Smith – you know Prophet 5, MIDI, that sort of thing – on a mission to blag some free gear to feed his own musical needs – and use in his work as the Moog clinician. From there a fruitful relationship ensued, with the outcome being many classic Sequential Circuits Inc synths, sequencers and drum machines, and the rest as they say, is history.

In a brief lull between Musik MESSE and pre flying back to the US to continue development of the new hardware synth the Solaris, we talked to John about the past, the present and the future."

Title link takes you to the podcast.