Sunday, September 09, 2007
Demo of Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 Drum Machine
YouTube via submodern.
Demonstration of the sounds and preset rhythms of the Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 drum machine, dubbed "the funk box" by Sly Stone and used on his classic album "There's a Riot Goin' On"."
via Art who also put up a page here with samples.
Barry Schrader Site Updates
The following is just an excerpt of some of what Barry has updated his site with. Note he will be performing "I've added a second page of Downloads on my web site. The first page, crammed as it is, remains the same, and I'll be adding new files to the Downloads 2 page. I'm starting off this month with a new download of the first part of an interview I did with the noted music radio host Martin Perlich. Part 1 deals with the work Ravel for piano and electronic sounds, and you can access this file by clicking here."
He will also be playing at the Electroacoustic Juke Joint on November 9 & 10.
Hands On Tenori-On
Title link takes you to the full review on CDM."Literally what TENORI-ON means in Japanese is "sound in your palm" but what I came away feeling after hearing Toshio Iwai’s story and later experiencing this innovative musical device for myself at Yamaha’s UK Launch event last Tuesday was more akin to the Richard-Dreyfuss-Close-Encounters quote. Never mind that the light-and-audio-synched performances can bring back visions of that film’s alien jam session.* I may not be articulate enough to explain fully why or how I was so affected by my short time with this snazzy gadget (my logical working-musician-self keeps on telling me that, measured by today’s music hardware standards, this is still just mashed potatoes, albeit in a very cool shape) but I do consider myself self-aware enough to appreciate the very real visceral impact it had on me. I’ve a sense the TENORI-ON is important, but not in a way most of us can fully appreciate today or probably anytime soon."
Moogerheim 2.0
via Boele on the Waldorf list:
"http://www.synthmusic.info/mp3s/moogerheim202.mp3
Sequence: Memorymoog (preset 74, little slower, with delay) Oberheim-alike pad: PPG 2.0 Resonance sound: Jupiter 4 upset stomich sound: SH-7 PPG alike lead: Oberheim Xpander
Boele
Something Completely Different
http://www.synthmusic.info"
"http://www.synthmusic.info/mp3s/moogerheim202.mp3
Sequence: Memorymoog (preset 74, little slower, with delay) Oberheim-alike pad: PPG 2.0 Resonance sound: Jupiter 4 upset stomich sound: SH-7 PPG alike lead: Oberheim Xpander
Boele
Something Completely Different
http://www.synthmusic.info"
DSI Prophet '08 Samples via Seth
Update:
"Two more samples. These aren't full tunes, they're more like examples of what you can do with the Prophet '08.
http://www.boxoftextures.com/prophet08/music/
The two snippets are called Heavy Sequence and Light Arpeggios. Heavy Sequence is rude and impolite and is done in a single patch. It's also, uh, a little rough around the edges as well. The sequencer is running on one layer and the lead is on the other. I did cheat a bit because I couldn't do two stereo channels at once into my Mac, but it more or less could have been done in one pass with only two hands (if you ignore the pitch bending, that is).
Light Arpeggios is much more polite and gentle. Both arpeggios are again done in a single patch and were recorded in a single pass live.
I then put in a lead-ish type patch on top of that to make it a little bit more interesting.
Seth"
........
"http://www.boxoftextures.com/files/choppersoverhead.mp3
Four tracks, recorded in Live:
1 - Arturia Minimoog V - arpeggios
2 - G-Force Mtron - texture chords
3 - Prophet '08 - fretless bass
4 - Prophet '08 - lead
Notes:
1 - no effects in Live, but the Minimoog V's internal chorus and echo were used as part of the sound
2 - dry
3 - a lot of reverb while it's playing alone for the first few bars at the beginning, then just a little reverb
4 - a bit of reverb
So these were my first two sounds I programmed on the Prophet '08. If you're wondering why the glide in the tune above sounds so different then what you might be used to, it's because each oscillator has its own glide knob (!) so you can set each one for a slightly different glide speed (or a greatly different speed, for that matter). This makes them reach the target note at slightly (or greatly) different times, and the sweep through the intervening frequencies happens differently for each one. Also, four LFOs is fabulous. I used one for vibrato, one for each of the oscillator's pulse width modulation, and I still had one spare.
While programming the bass sound, I held three notes and then latched the arpeggiator down. I then proceeded to spend about half an hour playing with all the controls. Man, that was fun! I wish I had recorded that on video for YouTube. I haven't touched the sequencer yet, but it looks like it'll be just as much fun. Plus, I think you get four sequences as modulation sources and can send then anywhere you want, not just for notes. How about one sequence for notes and then another for pan position? You could have each note happen in a different position in the stereo field and with a different pulse width and cutoff frequency. Add some slapback echo in your outboard gear and you're in for some real fun. You can have the thing chugging along sending notes flying all over the room. Uh, I'm patenting that one, so don't go using the idea, OK?
Oh, and just by the way, all four LFOs can be set to sync with the sequencer. Not only can you put different notes in different places in the stereo field, but you can move them once they're there.
Madness!
The knobs are - different. Not bad by any means, but I'm still getting used to them. The most fabulous thing in the world is that you can touch a knob and turn it, and when you do, the sound changes the way you expect it to. There's no jump, no turning it back and forth until you pass the stored value, they just work. On the other hand, you can't just look at a knob to see what the value is. This feels really odd when choosing waveforms, for example. Again, it's not a bad thing, but it definitely feels different than what I'm used to. On a "normal" synthesizer (i.e., a Minimoog) you look at the knob to see the values. On the Prophet you first find the knob, then you have to find the display to see what's up. It'll take a little getting used to.
Same thing with the envelopes. I've always wanted DADSR envelopes, and now that I got 'em I have to get used to them. I always pictured a steady volume for the initial delay, then the normal envelope.
Problem is, there isn't any steady volume before the ADSR portion, it's just a delay. Totally useful, but definitely not what I'm used to. There's a VCA level control, so you can have the VCA always open a little and have the envelope work the way I expected it to work, but then the VCA is always open even when you don't expect it to be.
Again, none of this is a problem with the Prophet, it's more a problem with me. I can see an incredible amount of things you can do with these, and I can also see using up the four modulation routings in seconds on a lot of patches, and I can see it may take me a little while to wrap my head around it.
In re-reading this I can see that I've said "I have to get used to it" about five times. Hmmm. I guess I'll come back to this post in a week or two to see how I feel then. I've only been knob twiddling for about three hours last night. Six months from now everything I'm noting as different will probably feel completely natural.
So, in my few hours of sound programming I ended up being surprised by what the thing could do so many times that I just can't believe it. Is this why people rave unconditionally about the Evolvers? I've always wondered why. If so, I may just have to pick one up. So much thought went into the Prophet '08. Little things like individual glide controls. Such a simple idea, but a completely unique sound.
Imagine something like oscillator sync, except that now you can apply glide to only -one- of the oscillators. Four LFOs, three envelope generators, four sequencers. Heck, you can even modulate the modulation amounts as all four modulation amounts are also modulation destinations!
The thing is brilliant. That's all I can say.
Seth"
via AH.
"Two more samples. These aren't full tunes, they're more like examples of what you can do with the Prophet '08.
http://www.boxoftextures.com/prophet08/music/
The two snippets are called Heavy Sequence and Light Arpeggios. Heavy Sequence is rude and impolite and is done in a single patch. It's also, uh, a little rough around the edges as well. The sequencer is running on one layer and the lead is on the other. I did cheat a bit because I couldn't do two stereo channels at once into my Mac, but it more or less could have been done in one pass with only two hands (if you ignore the pitch bending, that is).
Light Arpeggios is much more polite and gentle. Both arpeggios are again done in a single patch and were recorded in a single pass live.
I then put in a lead-ish type patch on top of that to make it a little bit more interesting.
Seth"
........
"http://www.boxoftextures.com/files/choppersoverhead.mp3
Four tracks, recorded in Live:
1 - Arturia Minimoog V - arpeggios
2 - G-Force Mtron - texture chords
3 - Prophet '08 - fretless bass
4 - Prophet '08 - lead
Notes:
1 - no effects in Live, but the Minimoog V's internal chorus and echo were used as part of the sound
2 - dry
3 - a lot of reverb while it's playing alone for the first few bars at the beginning, then just a little reverb
4 - a bit of reverb
So these were my first two sounds I programmed on the Prophet '08. If you're wondering why the glide in the tune above sounds so different then what you might be used to, it's because each oscillator has its own glide knob (!) so you can set each one for a slightly different glide speed (or a greatly different speed, for that matter). This makes them reach the target note at slightly (or greatly) different times, and the sweep through the intervening frequencies happens differently for each one. Also, four LFOs is fabulous. I used one for vibrato, one for each of the oscillator's pulse width modulation, and I still had one spare.
While programming the bass sound, I held three notes and then latched the arpeggiator down. I then proceeded to spend about half an hour playing with all the controls. Man, that was fun! I wish I had recorded that on video for YouTube. I haven't touched the sequencer yet, but it looks like it'll be just as much fun. Plus, I think you get four sequences as modulation sources and can send then anywhere you want, not just for notes. How about one sequence for notes and then another for pan position? You could have each note happen in a different position in the stereo field and with a different pulse width and cutoff frequency. Add some slapback echo in your outboard gear and you're in for some real fun. You can have the thing chugging along sending notes flying all over the room. Uh, I'm patenting that one, so don't go using the idea, OK?
Oh, and just by the way, all four LFOs can be set to sync with the sequencer. Not only can you put different notes in different places in the stereo field, but you can move them once they're there.
Madness!
The knobs are - different. Not bad by any means, but I'm still getting used to them. The most fabulous thing in the world is that you can touch a knob and turn it, and when you do, the sound changes the way you expect it to. There's no jump, no turning it back and forth until you pass the stored value, they just work. On the other hand, you can't just look at a knob to see what the value is. This feels really odd when choosing waveforms, for example. Again, it's not a bad thing, but it definitely feels different than what I'm used to. On a "normal" synthesizer (i.e., a Minimoog) you look at the knob to see the values. On the Prophet you first find the knob, then you have to find the display to see what's up. It'll take a little getting used to.
Same thing with the envelopes. I've always wanted DADSR envelopes, and now that I got 'em I have to get used to them. I always pictured a steady volume for the initial delay, then the normal envelope.
Problem is, there isn't any steady volume before the ADSR portion, it's just a delay. Totally useful, but definitely not what I'm used to. There's a VCA level control, so you can have the VCA always open a little and have the envelope work the way I expected it to work, but then the VCA is always open even when you don't expect it to be.
Again, none of this is a problem with the Prophet, it's more a problem with me. I can see an incredible amount of things you can do with these, and I can also see using up the four modulation routings in seconds on a lot of patches, and I can see it may take me a little while to wrap my head around it.
In re-reading this I can see that I've said "I have to get used to it" about five times. Hmmm. I guess I'll come back to this post in a week or two to see how I feel then. I've only been knob twiddling for about three hours last night. Six months from now everything I'm noting as different will probably feel completely natural.
So, in my few hours of sound programming I ended up being surprised by what the thing could do so many times that I just can't believe it. Is this why people rave unconditionally about the Evolvers? I've always wondered why. If so, I may just have to pick one up. So much thought went into the Prophet '08. Little things like individual glide controls. Such a simple idea, but a completely unique sound.
Imagine something like oscillator sync, except that now you can apply glide to only -one- of the oscillators. Four LFOs, three envelope generators, four sequencers. Heck, you can even modulate the modulation amounts as all four modulation amounts are also modulation destinations!
The thing is brilliant. That's all I can say.
Seth"
via AH.
Vako Orchestron
Title link takes you to shots via this auction. via swissdocDetails Google translated:
"A rare Model from the 70ern. I believe this concerns the model C.
A Orchestron “is loaded” with so-called Optical Discs on those different traces with the tones such as saxophone, Pipe organ, floods, Choir, solo French horn etc. is present.
I have several from this Discs. I give one (saxophone) also in addition, which to
others I will September-guess/advise in auction will offer, since also which are doubly present.Optical condition: Very much to property, see pictures. I marked the remarkable places by yellow arrows, but nothing really bad. With 2 the sliding control is missing the Plastikknubbel.
The equipment functioned, I attached it times to PC loudspeaker and one hears the different tones, as I finds however that however somewhat quiet can also because of the loudspeakers be. However one says anyway not the highest audiophilen requirements to the equipment after (diplomatically said; -).
But I do not believe therefore really go it with this equipment also. Power station has probably at that time the Orchestron with the motorway project used and also a current musician has believes I CD with a Orchestron on it brought out."
Yamaha GX-1 Coming up for Auction
Via Peter Forrest of Spheremusic. For those of you that do not know who Peter Forrest is, he wrote the excellent "The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers" and he runs the Vemia Auctions on Spheremusic which once had Brian Eno's gear listed. You can find the A-Z books in the book section on the right of this site.
"The superb ex-Mickie Most Yamaha GX-1 complete with its two tube-amped speakers will be coming up for auction on VEMIA at www.spheremusic.com , November 3-10.
It might seem a bit early to publicise it, with the auction finish two months away - but it's going to have a reserve of around 15000 UK pounds, so people will need time to organise selling the grandmother or yacht or doing the odd hour of overtime.
It's in the UK, and unlike one or two of these rare monsters, it's in very good condition.
I'll know more in a few weeks' time.
Peter F"
"The superb ex-Mickie Most Yamaha GX-1 complete with its two tube-amped speakers will be coming up for auction on VEMIA at www.spheremusic.com , November 3-10.
It might seem a bit early to publicise it, with the auction finish two months away - but it's going to have a reserve of around 15000 UK pounds, so people will need time to organise selling the grandmother or yacht or doing the odd hour of overtime.
It's in the UK, and unlike one or two of these rare monsters, it's in very good condition.
I'll know more in a few weeks' time.
Peter F"
SCREAM 2007: ANALOGLIVE!
Tickets are now on sale. Title link takes you there.Note: There are a couple of errors in the event listing as follows: Thighpaulsandra is credited as a percussionist and pianist. While there may be piano involved in his performance, he is part of the evening's analog ensemble, as is Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails, who's name was mistakenly omitted from the Redcat event listing. Both of these errors will be corrected early next week.
"Prized for their vibrant sounds and the physical immediacy they allow performers, analog synthesizers are combined here with acoustic instruments and kinetic video sculptures in the annual concert presented by the Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music. This performance features an unconventional six-member ensemble comprising film composer Gary Chang, composer and sound designer Richard Devine, composer and instrument designer Peter Grenader, composer and instrument designer Chas Smith, pianist and percussionist Thighpaulsandra, and multimedia artist and video sculptor Paul Tzanetopolous."
Pictured here is Thighpaulsandra who has actually dropped by a few times to comment on Matrixsynth. Also note Peter Grenader of Plan b.
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© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
