Waldorf Pulse

images via this auction.

broken knob

Yamaha DX7 Operation Manual

via this auction.

ThingamaWEEN - "The modern Prometh-o-lux"

Limited edition Halloween Thingamagoops at Bleep Labs!

flickr by Dr. Bleep.

click here for more.

Arturia Analog Factory Experience

Saw this on The Gas Station.
"Arturia has announced Analog Factory Experience, which they describe as "the first hybrid synthesizer". By combining a native software application and a dedicated controller-keyboard, Analog Factory Experience offers a straightforward, innovative and enjoyable experience.

Based on Analog Factory 2.0, a software instrument offering 3500 legendary synthesizer sounds, Analog Factory Experience includes a high quality 32-key MIDI keyboard. Just plug the keyboard in via USB and launch the software. From there you can put your mouse away, everything is easily controllable from the keyboard. The user experience is the same as on a traditional Hardware synthesizer, except that Analog Factory Experience brings more sounds, better integration within DAWs, at a far better price.

Hybrid synthesizer based on advanced Software/Hardware combination: Analog Factory 2.0 inside the box. 32-key Universal MIDI keyboard built by CME. Plug and play: the Hardware and Software is instantly recognized and offers perfect integration. Analog Factory 2.0: 3500 synthesizer sounds that have shaped modern music production. All preset are carefully selected from the Arturia Classic Synths: Minimoog V, Prophet V, ARP 2600V, Moog Modular V, CS-80V and Jupiter-8V. Smart preset manager: fast filter the presets to your requirements, by instrument, type, characteristics. Straightforward editing: only the key parameters are accessible to modify the sounds. Full compatibility with major formats and hosts on Mac OS X and Windows XP or Vista (VST, AU, RTAS). The Analog Factory Keyboard: Developed by CME and based on the U-key technology. Ultra-thin aluminium and wooden case. 32 semi-weighted keys with velocity response. Everything you can do on the Software is easily achievable on the Hardware: Allows to select sound categories and browse presets, to modify each sound, recall snapshot sounds, save snapshots, etc.

Works as a Universal 32-key MIDI keyboard. Analog Factory Experience is compatible with Windows XP / Vista and Mac OS X.2 or higher (Universal Binary) and supports Stand-alone (ASIO, Direct Sound, Core Audio) VST, Audio Units and RTAS (ProTools 6 and 7).

The anti-piracy system is based on Syncrosoft's new native solution. No USB port required but an Internet connection is necessary.

The retail price will be £249 / €299 / $349 and it is expected to be available in November 2007."

Alesis Andromeda

via this auction.

via jeffc

Billy Corgan and Lisa at the MOOG Factory

Lisa plays keyboards for The Smashing Pumpkins

Lisa regarding the most memorable experiences on tour:
"There are sooooo many but, I would have to say visiting the Moog keyboard factory in Asheville, NC. I was like a kid in a candy store; playing with the theramin and all of the cool effects pedals. Anyways, I went there with Billy just to "check out" the factory and I went home with their brand new Minimoog Voyager keyboard!! I just had to have it!"

click here for more.

Related post: Billy Corgan joins effort to create Moog museum

Update: I just posted an all electronic piece ("Eye") by the Pumpkins on Synthwire [direct link]. If anyone knows what synths were used, feel free to comment there.

Tweaking the MOS-LAB System16

YouTube via yusynthman. via Yves of yusynth.
Videos are from the Franco-Swiss meeting (previously posted here).
The last video is a jam session featuring the MOS-LAB and other synths.
Descriptions (in order of videos):
"Our friend Push-pull discovering the magic of a modular synthesizer (MOS-LAB system16) in Oryjen's magical music cave. The system is driven by an external CV/GATE played by our host Oryjen.... yusynth patching and tweaking the MOS-LAB system16 in Oryjen's magical music cave.... yusynth (blue t-shirt) and oryjen (red shirt) blasting the loudspeakers with some untamed cross modulation !!!! The Memotron beneath the modular is crying for some strokes... Push-pull refines the settings of the bass sequence then Spookyman and Oryjen start a jam session :-)"

BTW, check out the MOS-LAB link under MORE: directly below for previous posts. I tag everything that goes up so you can always get more info by clicking on the tab or doing a search on the upper left search box on the site. Search for anything.

Nyle Steiner CONVERTED EVI

via this post on Patchman Music where you will find more wind controllers. via Evan

"Here is a very special item. This is an EXTREMELY RARE hand-converted EVI done by the inventor Nyle Steiner. The controller began life as an EWI and was custom converted by legendary EWI / EVI inventor Nyle Steiner into an EVI brass type controller. Steiner no longer offers this service so this is definitely a collectable EVI as well as an amazingly expressive instrument. Also included with this custom EVI is an Akai EWI3020m sound module in superb condition- it even still has the removable protective plastic sheet on the LCD! Since the EWI3020m module is true analog, it has a super-smooth, fat, and warm sound. This system is in great shape with just a small amount of dings and scratches from normal use. This EWI3020m module has been updated by adding a backup battery clip and a backup battery in the Patchman Music Wind Controller lab (www.patchmanmusic.com). This system has been professionally checked out by wind controller expert Matt Traum. The EWI3020m has excellent chord capabilities. It can trigger four-note user-programmable chords externally via MIDI. Internally, the EWI3020m has 2 REAL ANALOG oscillators, a REAL ANALOG filter with resonance, 2 fabulous FORMANT filters for more realistic solo string and woodwind sounds, a REAL VCA, an LFO, and 2 EGs per patch! The sound of this system is super-smooth and expressive and it is capable of exceptionally fat analog leads and basses. Click here to visit the Patchman Music EWI3020m soundbanks page and hear this module in action! Patchman Music offers two soundbanks for this unit and they are included with this package (a $90 value). 50 patches in the EWI3020m are permanent and 50 are user-editable. The EWI3020m has jacks for Line Out, External In, Headphone Out, Program Up and Down footswitches, MIDI IN, MIDI Out, and MIDI THRU. The External In jack allows you to control ANY synth or sampler with the EWI3020m's REAL ANALOG filter and VCA. This provides SUPER-FAST and SUPER SMOOTH RESPONSE since the modulation is via direct control voltage and not MIDI! There is also a front panel knob for adjusting the Ext In level. This unit responds so fast you can actually hum or growl into the mouthpiece to modulate the sound. The EWI3020m has extensive matrix modulation capabilities. This sale includes the converted EVI brass-style wind controller, the EWI3020m analog sound module with original box!, the special connecting cable, Patchman Music EWI3020m soundbanks Volumes 1 and 2 on floppy disk (a $90 value- specify PC or Mac format), and a copy of the printed EWI3020m manual."

A Bit of ARP History

Link to full story

"Christopher had been introduced to me by Michael Suchoff. Michael was a brilliant engineer who helped program the first computerized electronic music synthesizers at ARP Instruments in the early seventies. ARP founder Alan R. Pearlman called me one day to suggest I work with Michael. Our collaboration included my electronic games for Parker Brothers and the ill-fated iXO Telecomputer. Chris designed the graphics for our prototype Microterminal.

He helped me design special models of our prototype, including a European model that we took to ITT headquarters in Brussels, where it successfully logged in to our computers back in Cambridge.

Christopher introduced me to membrane switches from Chomerics. They had been put into ARP synthesizers like the Chroma and Omni. Chris did graphic designs for the Omni and Axxe. At ARP he worked with Philip Dodds and Paul DeRocco, the project manager and engineer for the main ARP synthesizers. When ARP collapsed in 1981, Phil talked CBS into taking over the Chroma and hiring him as the project manager."

Traxxpad beat2

YouTube via sanhozeezee.

Mouse over the thumbnails for more at the end of the video.

Crumar Performer

images via this auction.

Olivier Grall Wurlitzer Page

This one in via adrien. No, it is not a synth, but for anyone interested feel free to check out Olivier Grall's new Wurlitzer Page.

Roland SH 1000 with Guyatone delay pedal jam

YouTube via filtersweeperVCO. via Nusonica.
"A 16' square wave is emmitted by the roland SH 1000 while being played through a Guyatone delay pedal, and sweeping though the frequencies with the frequency cutoff slider to create a dreamy sound. I love that keyboard!"

Alesis Ion Micron Wiki

click here to get to the Wiki.

elmacaco on the Alesis A6 Andromeda

elmacaco posted the following on AH. I asked him if it would be alright to put this up here and he gave me the a ok. As an A6 owner myself, I have to agree with his assessment. What's interesting is the behavior of the envelopes always stood out to me as being less direct compared to my other synths. I never thought about how the range for each step might be the reason. The A6 is an incredibly deep synth. That said, here are some words from elmacaco.

"I have to say, I love my Andromeda. I didn't like it when I first tried it in the store, but unseen forces brought it to my attention and about a year and a half ago I got one. It's been my main synth since then, never really messed with the presets, always making sounds on it. The first couple of months I would get lost in playing it and not record much, same thing happened with my wurlitzer, which is a good sign. It has such flexibility that it even can fix my modular jones most of the time (and I have a modular for that).

I think what throws a lot of people is that with it, you have to think about more than with the classics. The range of the controls is huge, and that changes a lot for most people. This is particularly true with the envelopes. A pot that goes from zero to 10 seconds has a different feel than one that goes from 2 seconds to 10 minutes, and can make it less imediate. Envelopes are usually an aspect that you don't have to think too much about, but with the Andromeda it becomes more complicated, which is a double edged sword, and one aspect i don't like so much, I wish I could limit those controls to a more usable range for me. Same with the mixer levels, once you get a bit of a handle on it it becomes part of the process, but it is none the less an extended process, which won't be to the liking of many people.

As for the comparion to older polies, well, they all have something, the andromeda is much more broad, so t can be a lot of things, but it wont be breezy to get it like them, but there is more. I remember after a year of having one I would play P5's and memorymoogs at friends houses, which i love in so many ways, but I would be locked into some avenues that used to seem broad but now I see as rather narrow.

The sound of those synths can make you need a variety of synths, to get out of it, but the Andromeda has a way of taking over, other synths will sound better in some places, but head to head, unless that is something you always need, the Andromeda can cover that territory pretty well. Which makes comparisons difficult, because it can more easily cover all your bases than any other synth. I've only recently began to mess with my xpander again, since the A6 can just take over. I have synths I prefer for bass, but I can get something great out of the Andromeda so staying in front of it can be very appealing. I remember thinking the osc tone was better on the roland mono's, then I tried to match them, and I actually matched them closer than i have matched anything else simply by filtering them imperceptively, remember the moog filter on the Andromeda goes up to 40,000Hz, drop it to 20k or 18k, and the high end sheen is gone but is still sounds like a raw waveform, I was pretty astounded at what I didn't know, and that happens a lot.

Realisticly speaking, even if you have a bunch of other synths, the Andromeda can satisfy the needs of a broad range of synthesists regardless of what they are, better than any other analog poly can. Just an andromeda for music means so many more possibilities than just a JP-8, or just a Memory Moog.

Just the multitimbrality coupled with such a deep engine alone puts it into a class of its own. But it will require more thought, it's one of the synths that will make you feel like you are not the bad ass synthesist you think you are, whereas sitting in front of a Jupiter-8, Prophet 5, CS-80, or memorymoog, a good working knowledge of synthesis is enough to explore all the dimentions of it infinitely. Not everybody likes that experience, kinda like how serge and buchla can be like learning a new language and force you out of your comfort zone. The Andromeda can make you feel like a novice again, I still get the sense that I won't ever fully grasp all its features in decades, but what I do grasp gives back in spades."

Ableton Live 7

Click here for the full announcement.

"New Ableton Instruments

The new add-on instruments are the result of Ableton's collaboration with leading industry partners. The palette covers physically modeled electric pianos, analog synthesizers and string instruments as well as multi-mic/multi-layer sampled acoustic drums, drum machines, orchestral strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. The instruments integrate tightly with Live, both in terms of workflow and resource management.



Tension is a physical modeling string synthesizer that allows you to create incredibly accurate reproductions of real instruments or design otherworldly hybrids.

Electric offers the sounds of classic electric pianos through physical modeling synthesis, allowing you to dive inside and play with the guts of the instrument.

Analog emulates the unique circuitry and irresistible tweakability of vintage analog synthesizers. Able to produce everything from silky pad sweeps to earth-shaking bass."

Billy Corgan joins effort to create Moog museum

"Billy Corgan is lending a hand to preserve the musical legacy of electronic synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog by creating a museum about his life and work.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman is working with the Bob Moog Foundation to establish the museum and scholarships in his name.

'I believe Bob Moog to be one of the great visionaries of our time," said Corgan in a statement.

'His ideas far transcend use in just music, and to this day continue to have impact in everything from rock to rap to quantum physics. I strongly believe many people all over the world would benefit from being able to interact with the thoughts, ideas, inventions, and life of Dr. Moog.'"

full story on NME

Update via minimi123:
"according to a very reliable source, bon harris of nitzer ebb fame did the synth programming on billy corgan's album thefutureembrace, and they used a lot of doepfer a100 and roland system 100 as well as analog drum machines.
i really like this album, which is quite different from corgans work with the smashing pumpkins. his involvement in this moog museum comes as no surprise to me.

here's an article on bon's work with the smashing pumpkins from back in 98:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug98/articles/bonharris.html"

Thomas Ankersmit's Serge Modular

via Michael

"this is one of a few shots I took of Thomas Ankersmit's Serge modular with custom interface. The pics are from the Adventures in Modern Music festival in Chicago last week."

Update: one more image below.

Laurie Anderson - O Superman

YouTube via bchfj. Anyone know what synths and vocoder she used for this track?
via Phoebe.
"Aside from making music, she is also credited with a couple of inventions: the tape bow violin, and the talking stick, which uses granular synthesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_anderson#Inventions"

Update:

MINIMOOG Keychain

via :::Wetdragoon:::

"Minimoog Keys Holder, merchandising item from Arturia. Made of soft rubber, this pretty stuff is very well made and detailed. Strange pots however!"

Minimoog Key ring

silkworm

YouTube via tn800. Follow-up to this post, via daddio.
"in a box with supercollider" via skatter: "That's Takeko Akamatsu"

Theremin's cello meditation

YouTube via sidecars
"Engels Theremin Cello recreation set to an Indian drone. I didnt practice.... I Just improvised along to the drone. Really just something so you can see and hear something about this instrument."
BTW, the Theremin Cello made an appearance at this year's PNW Synth Gathering. You can see pictures of it here and some of the other sets posted here.

The medical effect of nukes

YouTube via sidecars.
"1950's film on what not to fear about nukes. New soundtrack using malletkat, tbk1 from h-pi.com and pc2r. The TBK-1 allows reassignment of notes and pitches. I had the settings "wrong", but it gave the film the warbly soundtrack of a broken film from the 50s. Cool device. I also used a continuum from Haken feeding a v-synth xt."

Roland GR-700 Guitar Synth

YouTube via Analogger.
"I've been meaning to do this for awhile. I scrolled thru some of the factory presets. I'm not really a guitar player but I got the GR-700 to do ambient textures and fat pads, etc. The GR-700 has the same synth engine as the JX-3P but has a more "organic" sound because each string can send pitch bend so you can get a really nice slight de-tuning. Two digitally controlled oscillators per string and a fat 24db analog filter. I used the G-707 guitar controller. The only effect was some dealy from an Alesis Quadraverb."

Also see:
Roland GR-300 guitar synth
Super Fat Analog Roland Guitar Synth Video

Blacet VCO 2100

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland System 100m

images via this auction.

Note this is a zero feedback auction so as always be careful. I did not see the images prior to this, so they went up. Be sure to check them out full size.

2x191J 5 module rack (220 volts power)
1x100 VCO/VCF/VCA
1x112 Dual VCO
1x121 Dual VCF
1x130 Dual VCA
1x140 Dual EG & LFO
1x150 Ring Mod/Noise/S&H/LFO
1x132 Dual CV/Audio Mixer & Voltage Processor
1x131 Output mixer/oscillator/Headphone Amp
10x1,5 mt patch cords included

ARP Odyssey

images via this auction.

"Produced between 1974-76. The Odysseys I and II look and feel virtually the same. The main difference between them are the addition of CV/Gate control and a new black and gold color scheme. The 2810 introduced a beefier 4-pole VCF. This filter was similar to the Moog filter and did not last. While a persistent rumor that Moog sued ARP over this, no suit ever occurred. Arp and Moog came to an amicable agreement and a small licensing fee was paid by ARP for units previously manufactured. ARP soon after designed their own four-pole, low-pass filters. They came up with the 4075 filter which was used in subsequent Odyssey models. The similar 4072 was featured in the 2600, Omni, Axxe, Solus, and others. visit arpodyssey.com or vintagesynth.com for more details."

ARP Little Brother

images via this auction.

"The ARP Little Brother, produced from 1975 to 1977, is a keyboardless monophonic expander module, used with another ARP synthesizer. It has a single oscillator and LFO, controlled using other ARP synths to "fatten up" their sounds. It was commonly sold with the Axxe model, however could be used with any of ARP's synthesizers."

Yamaha CS01

images via this auction.

"Producer Series" manual

MOOG Opus 3

images via this auction.

Wurlitzer Omni 3500

images via this auction.

If you know more about this one, feel free to comment.

Audio Damage Vapor

click here for more info and samples on Analog Industries.

"As to what Vapor is, that probably requires a bit of explanation. What I need is a word that can describe the effect, since it's sort of a New Thing. Mentally, I use "psychosomatic frongulator," but obviously that sort of nonsense won't Increase Shareholder Value. It needs to be a word like "chorus" or something, a simple word that says what it does.

And what does it do? It has delay modulation, like a chorus, but it has diffusors, like a reverb. More or less. This is a semi-unstable network, and at extreme settings can make Intergalactic Robot Noises; it can also give a nice sheen to most any sound at more temperate settings, or knock the corners off pretty much anything. I'll put up some sound samples later today, but we're still touching up the code a bit, so these might not be 100% indicative of the finished product."

Modified Moog Prodigy

YouTube via moogfreak.
"This video shows my selfmodified Moog Prodigy Synthesizer. It is played by a little software step-sequencer (seq-303) on my windows-computer, together with a Doepfer MCV4 Midi-to-CV/Gate-Interface. One row of the sequencer controls the pitch, another row controls the cutoff-frequency of the filter. This little Moog is also shown in the german musicians-magazine "Keyboards" 09/2006. On the magazines added DVD you can find another audio-example and some samples I`ve recorded."

Heiko`s Synthi-Bude

"Hello, this is my little Synthesizer-Studio. The audio-sequence is done with my selfmodified moog prodigy, which is midi-controlled by a little step-sequencer-software called seq-303."
YouTube via moogfreak.
"Hello, this is my little Synthesizer-Studio. The audio-sequence is done with my selfmodified moog prodigy, which is midi-controlled by a little step-sequencer-software called seq-303."

Lea with dad`s minimoog

YouTube via moogfreak.
"My eight years old daughter Lea love to improvise on my 30 years old Minimoog to the s&h-sequence from my Korg MS20."

ORQUESTRA MODULAR

YouTube via dinoboxe.
"Performance em tempo real,música e imagem.FILE 2007 Sao Paulo BRASIL."

"Sequenced Moogs" with TR606 and MS20

YouTube via moogfreak.
"Here you can hear my Minimoog and my Moog Prodigy, which both are controlled from the little nice softwaresequencer Seq-303. The Minimoog plays an 8-note-sequence and the Prodigy an 16-note-sequence, which both are repeating at the end. The MIDI-signal comes from my windows-computer into a Doepfer MSY-1 MIDI-to-Sync-Interface, which triggers my modified Roland TR606. From the MIDI-thru of the MSY-1 the MIDI-signal runs to another Doepfer-box, the MCV4 - a MIDI-to-CV/Gate-Interface, which controlls the Moog Prodigy. From this Interface the MIDI-signal went finally into the Lintronics-MIDI-Interface, which is build inside of the Minimoog. The soundeffects you can hear are a reverb-program from my Zoom RFX1000 and a delay-program from my Alesis Quadraverb."

Simmons Clap Trap

via this auction.

"You can trigger the clap sound with the button on top, an external trigger or an internal trigger with an adjustable rate like a metronome. There is a humanizer feature which gives each clap a bit of variability."

NajNaj tutorial

YouTube via larsby.

The Danny Carey Mandala Drum - Preset 00 - Filter Synth

YouTube via metopia69.
"Here's a demo of preset #00 out of 83 total. It's a synth sound and I turned on the pan delay effect. Also, a filter opens up as the sticks hit from center to edge. All sound is straight from the Mandala Pad and Brain."

The Danny Carey Mandala Drum - Preset 10 - Lea's Harp

"This preset is a harp sound. The Mandala plays different notes in different scale patterns depending on where and how hard you hit the pad."

Be sure to check out the others via the thumbnails at the bottom of the player when done.

Synesthesia Mandala Drum

"LAUREL CANYON, Calif. (Oct. 3, 2007) – It’s a drum, it’s a harp, it’s a guitar, it’s a marimba… it’s all of those things, and much, much more – at once.
Musical ingenuity once again emerges from the hills of Laurel Canyon, as Synesthesia today announced Mandala™ 2.0 – a new version of its wildly popular, patented high-def drum and synthesizer, co-developed with professional drummer Danny Carey of the progressive rock band Tool.
Now a computer peripheral – its USB cable plugs into PC or Mac – the Mandala 2.0 is the only electronic drum that truly emulates an acoustic drum. It offers drummers and musical explorers the only drum pad that knows exactly where it’s hit and how hard, across seven assignable zones – with an immediate trigger delivering the fastest-traveling sound possible.
A new kind of synthesizer, the Mandala 2.0 packages a musical range so wide it simultaneously offers players the top of the line, most accurate model of a physical drum (via 3,000 professionally created, proprietary samples of the Black Beauty Snare Drum) – along with a library of sounds derived from more than 100 other instruments. In all, the Mandala 2.0 features four gigabytes of sound samples. It’s a synthesizer with drumsticks, with a drum pad so sensitive it responds even to a fingertip touch.
"The Mandala helps people find their rhythm – whether it's the beat of a drum, or of a sound they haven't yet created," said Vince De Franco, Synesthesia founder and CEO, and inventor of the Mandala. "Use it as a compositional tool, or to create any sonic reality your heart desires. It's got percussive sounds down cold – and that includes percussion instruments like the piano, the vibraphone and the triangle. Its range gives people a rich, satisfying way to experiment. It literally will be a different product for everyone who buys it. It's the smartest thing you'll ever hit with a stick."
Whereas most electronic drums have one zone in the middle that detects the strike, Mandala’s creators invented and patented a technology that enables the drum pad to detect the exact location and strength of every point of contact across the entire pad. With 128 concentric rings from the center to the edge – each offering its own sound variation – the Mandala offers unprecedented musical breadth. This high-def drum and synthesizer is bringing to percussive music-making the same kind of high resolution experience that HDTV has brought to viewers.
The Mandala 2.0 retails for $349, and is available November 1 online at http://mandaladrum.com and www.musiciansfriend.com. Each Mandala is hand-crafted and thoroughly tested before it is shipped. Expect two-week delivery.
Other key features:
• The accompanying software lets players synthesize a host of new sounds and expand their drum kits and sample libraries at will. The software automatically accommodates up to five separate drum pads. It’s also designed to inspire and facilitate composition – along with the included instruments, players can add their own samples to the library, and use the effects to mold and create their own sounds.

• The Mandala 2.0 works seamlessly with most major music software, including Apple GarageBand, Ableton Live, and Native Instruments Battery and Reaktor.

• Mandala’s easy-to-use software comes with more than 100 presets for out-of-the-box functionality. Players also can create their own configurations as they explore and discover its astonishing audio range.

• One pad can accommodate from one to seven different zones of sound – each of which can be configured as a separate instrument, with an array of specialized settings. Players can have a snare, a bass and a cymbal (or a harp, marimba or organ, or any other instrument) – all in the same drum head, all at the same time. One Mandala can act as one drum, as an entire drum kit, or as an eclectic combo.

Drummer Meets Physicist
Inventor and physicist Vince De Franco developed the Mandala with professional drummer Danny Carey from the progressive rock band Tool. Carey uses seven Mandalas every night on stage because, he said, it’s “the only way I can trigger and control all the sounds I want to play.
“I told Vince I wanted an electronic drum that would trigger immediately, and that would let me load a gigabyte of sound samples,” said Carey. “What he created is the most advanced electronic drum I’ve ever seen. And now this new version blows the last one away.”
Carey used the Mandalas to trigger many of the sounds on the band’s latest album, 10,000 Days. Every percussive sound in the track, Intension, is produced as a result of hitting a Mandala. Other professionals using the Mandala include Pat Mastelotto of King Crimson; Will Calhoun of Living Colour; Lol Tolhurst, co-founder of The Cure; and Matt Chamberlain – who has played with Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Tori Amos, and many others. "

[link]

Wersi String Orchestra

Listed for sale on the Matrixsynth Forum. More info on this piece here.

Update: it is now up for auction

Casio MT-400V Filter Tweak

"The Casiotone MT-400V may not be a serious, professional synthesizer, but thanks to its true analog lowpass filter section, it is seriously fun to play with. Having realtime sliders on a "toy" synth is completely unheard of in recent products and rare in 80s-90s products as well.

That said, the MT-400V's filter falls a bit short on the resonance side; it just doesn't make it into the "squinky" realm of self-oscillation when the resonance control is pushed to the max. But, with a simple tweak, it can!"

[link] via best in the comments of this post

Synthi Anton

"A comic from the year 1977, created by Klaus Schulze (text) and Harald Grosskopf (drawings). The story was one of Klaus' many efforts to tell and explain to the world: What is a synthesizer? This was still necessary in 1977. More than twenty years later we have digital equipment and computers..."

[link]

via Till "Qwave" Kopper

Tron - Light cycle sequence (1982)

YouTube via allertonoff.
"Among the all time great science fiction classics. The first feature film to make extensive dramatic use of CGI. It still looks fresh today, with a wonderfully retro score by Wendy Carlos. Sheer industrial delight and magic. Highly reccomended."

via Wikipedia:
"The background music for Tron was written by pioneer electronic musician Wendy Carlos, who is best-known for her album Switched-On Bach and for the soundtracks to many films, including A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. The music featured a mix of an analog Moog synthesizer and GDS digital synthesizer (complex additive and phase modulation synthesis), along with non-electronic pieces performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (hired at the insistence of Disney, which was concerned that Carlos might not be able to complete her score on time). Two additional musical tracks were provided by the band Journey. They were originally going to be recorded by British band Supertramp. The soundtrack album was released on record and tape by CBS Records. It has been recently re-released by Walt Disney Records."

ARP 2600 Vintage Modular Analog Synthesizer Video Demo 2

YouTube via 123synthland. Demo 1 here.
"We deal in vintage synths, so we get to play a lot of fun toys. One of our favorites is the ARP 2600. We've sold many of them over We deal in vintage synths, so we get to play a lot of fun toys. One of our favorites is the ARP 2600. We've sold many of them over the years, and each one sounds different. This is a video of 1 of a couple short "jam sessions" I had with the we just put up for sale. Its knobs are off as we were wrapping up cleaning and servicing this unit. We've got a keyboard for it but it wasn't used for this noisemaking session. ARP 2600s are well known for their filter instability. This one in particular is quite unstable - the filter clips really easily when the resonance is low, to the point where the sound can sometimes disappear, so it's great for distorted noises. Simply altering the volumes of the signals going into the filter and VCA can cause some very interesting rhythmic effects. Because of its unique sound, we decided to leave the filter the way it is rather than tweak it or replace it with a "better behaved" one. This video is a departure from my normal 10 second clips, so hopefully this won't bore you guys to death. :) Enjoy. Email us anytime at minime123@onebox.com"

Zeit in the Box

via Robert

Note this Zeit is not yet completed hence the lack of knobs.

The New Mellotrons on Radio 4

via Nelson:
"UK national speech station Radio 4 reported on the new Mellotrons today:
Link to the realaudio segment. The relevant sequence begins at 11m40s. in case that link doesn't work here's the link for the show. The relevant segment being 7:30-8:00. I don't know how long these links will work!

Cheers,
Neltron"

The Red Room NW

flickr by The Red Room NW

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Prepare to get Wave:d

"As the development process of the new nord wave is about to be finalized, we would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the astonishing sounds that has been flying around the office the last couple of months. The latest nord invention closes the gap between analog and digital; now you can use digital samples in an virtual analog environment. That means that you can take a sampled sound and tweak it into something completely different. Here is an example using a sampled trumpet - the sound is tweaked in real-time. The nord wave has a classsic analog synthesizer set-up with filters, LFO's and envelopes plus a massive oscillator section capable of producing classic analog waveforms (with sync), FM-synthesis, wavetables, sampled waves (wavetable with attack), noise and other miscellaneous waveforms as well as - yes - samples. Plus, oscillator modulation allows you to modulate one oscillator with the other; for instance a FM-sound modulated by a sampled sound - the character of the sample is applied to the FM sound - this example uses a sampled persian santur, as well as a classic analog lead. At the end, the lead is tweaked into a drone like sound as it is modulated by a sampled accordion(!). Every sample in the nord wave can be replaced. You can use your own samples - simply map any standard .wav-file in the nord wave manager software (for Windows and OS X) and transfer via USB. Here is an example using a custom loop with some filters and overdrive, and adding some analog stuff as well as a some oscillator modulation using a Mellotron violin sample (multi-track recording). Since the nord wave uses flash ROM to store samples, even user samples are constantly available at power-up - no external loading media is required! The nord wave has a few more weeks to go in developement - more information to follow!"

more info on the Clavia website.