Inner Circus - original synth prog rock

YouTube via hamsterdunce.
"Here's a snappy little tune in a not very dance-able 11/8. I stuck a few more solos in there than there really should be. If you like this kind of nefarious note-noodling you'll love my Parallax CDs on umop.com/parallax.htm"

Moog Opus3 Demo

YouTube via legionhwp.
"Demo of Moog Opus3 organ/strings analog synthesizer. From: http://www.HelpWantedProductions.com.

Electronika EM-25

Title link takes you to shots via this auction. The auction appears to be via the great Ruskeys site. If you haven't checked out Ruskeys yet, do it.

Details:
"SOVIET CCCP RARE VINTAGE ANALOG SYNTHESIZER IS LOOKED LIKE ROLAND JUNO! VERY HARD-TO-FIND NOW, IN VERY GOOD CONDITION! EM-25 HAS VERY IMPRESSIVE SOUND - WARM FAT STRINGS, SOLID ORGAN, VINTAGE BRASS, SMOOTH LEADS AND POWER FX SOUNDS...INSTRUMENT CAN BE SYNCHRONIZED FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES (CV MONO/POLY)

DESCRIPTION: EM-25 is 49-note (C-C) polyphonic string / brass / organ keyboard. Control of string and organ envelopes. Brass section has ADSR, LFO with vibrato delay and rate control, filter with awesome resonance. Single or multiple triggering of envelope. Sliders ranged along the panel behind the keyboard, with three integral-LED switches in centre. Roland-like modulation wheel, keyboard splittable. Made in the Moscow electronic factory.

EM-25 HAS 6 MAIN SECTIONS OF CONTROL:

POWER - on/off switch
STRINGS - attack, sustain, global sustain mode on/off; registers 16", 8", 4" - left, 8", 4" - right
ORGAN - registers 16", 8", 4", 2"/ 8", 4", 2"
SELECTOR - strings; organ; brass on/off
BRASS - vibrato; 16", 8", 4"/ 8", 4"; LFO rate, delay; filter ADSR, multi trig on/off, filter LFO deptch, mod, cut off, resonance
TRANSPOSER - detune, slide time, interval, octave, main volume, pitch wheel

CONNECTIONS - phones; stereo out, mono (0dB, -20dB), ext control in - mono, poly; pedal (for volume & pitch shift)

Demos via ruskeys.net:
sound1 - sweep pad
sound2 - layered strings
sound3 - cosmo FX
link to scanned manual/schemes"

EMS VCS3

Title link takes you to shots via this auction.

Details:
"Beautiful vintage Electronic Music Studios VCS3 synthesizer. This is a pretty early one in amazing condition. Very minimal cosmetic wear and works like a charm. Has a complete sent of pins. I bought replacement silver caps for the knobs that are missing them that will be included in the sale. There is one modifiaction that was done in the 70's by the university that purchased it or by EMS for the University. It is a pitch inverter which I have not played around with."

Plan B Cases and Plan B Goes to College

via the Plan B list:

"Along with the Synthbox Spacecase solution, Plan B will be releasing a desktop system of their own. The yet-unnamed chassis is a desktop unit which consists of three 25 1/4 inch rows and a total capacity of 630 HP (roughly 5 1/2 standard Eurorack rows). An optional top-mounted expander will provide an additional 25 1/4 inches of mounting space. The system will be powered by a single ultra low-noise DC power supply with an external transformer so that VCOs and other temporature-sensitive devices may be mounted anywhere. Further noise-floor safeguards come from a specialized motherboard configured with direct routing of all ground signals (no daisy-chaining).

The top and bottom rows will have an additional 1.75 inches (1 RU) of vertical capacity each, which will be used for mult strips, an extensive I/O patchbay for routing from and to the case itself and in time, touch keyboards for driving the Model 21 Sequencer."

Also:
"We're pleased to announce two Plan B college installations currently in production - one at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. and the second at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA. While the Evergreen instrument takes more of a large scale 'frankensynth' configuration, consisting of other manufacture's products along with ours, the installation at CalArts will consist entirely of Plan B goods and the first to be shipped in our new case which will available for purchase in the fall of 2007. More info will be posted on these systems as it is available."

My Wife Rocks!

I wasn't planning on posting anything regarding my birthday today, but after an excellent lunch (Pho and some stir fry) we headed back home for presents! I got one of those Radio Shack 200 in 1 electronic kits which I've been wanting for some time now. Gotta start somewhere... and it just looks like some fun to be had building sirens and crap. After the gifts and cards she puts a blind fold on me and tells me not to peek. Her and my daughter come back singing happy birthday with this! I could not believe it. A Matrix birthday cake, green on black with my first and favorite synth, the Oberheim Matrix-6. So awesome... She has been 100% behind me, the blog and my synth habit since day one. They are out there guys. : )

I love my wife!

I of course took a ton of shots of the cake for posterity's sake. You can find them here.

And no, she does not call me Matrix on a regular basis. : )

John Foxx - Theres No One Driving Top of the Pops

YouTube via Elektrapunk. Via sequencer.de where you will find one more vid.
So are those Yamaha CS60s or CS80s? I see the ribbon so the CS50 is out. I don't see the two rows of patch bank buttons on the CS80, so I'm guessing they are CS60s.

The Frankenbox

"The Frankenbox is essentially an all-in-one synthesizer built for making distorted screeches, growls, and other awful noises. It includes two oscillators, a built in microphone, two audio inputs, a voltage controlled amplifier with ringmod capabilities, a voltage controlled lowpass filter, an LFO, and a sequencer. One oscillator includes a photocell and the other can be modulated by the LFO and the sequencer. There is a joystick that allows for frequency modulation of the oscillators. Each component was specifically designed with the intention of creating loud, rumbling sounds with crackling distortion over the top. The entire box, down the knobs, case, and LED color, was created exactly as requested. With 41 knobs and hundreds of ways to make the device interact with itself, an almost infinite number of sounds is possible."

Title link takes you to more devices including samples of The Frankenbox and others. Via Colin of Experimentalists Anonymous Custom Electronic Devices.

An Early Dave Smith

This is actually the cover to a DVD titled "Dave Smith: Synthesizer Pioneer." Title link takes you to more info on the Dave Smith Instruments site.

via sequencer.de.

The New Reason

As you all probably know by now, the new version of Reason is out, featuring Thor. Title link takes you there.