Heavy Metal - Taarna (1981)

YouTube via laggos. Follow up to this post.
This is from the Spanish version of Heavy Metal. The English version is up but the audio quality wasn't as good. BTW, if you haven't seen Heavy Metal, see it.

Moog Touch Plates

via Peter Forrest:

"Three interesting Bob Moog touch plates from Felix Visser via the VEMIA auction - showing how Bob moved from a very Moog-like box to a much more Big Briar thing in three stages. Almost certainly all his own handiwork."

Matrixsynth by Gattobus

flickr by gattobus

Korg AM8000R

Access Virus Ti Desktop

click here for more shots including some of the inside, via Gattobus.

Yamaha DX7 Voice ROMs

Follow up to this post. I commented that I was curious to know what the others looked like, and DC, who has the complete collection, was kind enough to send in a shot of all of them. Thanks DC!

Update: SoundSets 107 and 108 below via Eric.

So that makes:
- VRC-101 Keyboard Plucked & Tuned Percussion Group
- VRC-102 Wind Instrument Group
- VRC-103 Sustain Group
- VRC-104 Percussion Group
- VRC-105 Sound Effect Group
- VRC-106 Synthesizer Group
- VRC-107 Special Selection "David Bristow"
- VRC-108 Special Selection "Larry Leuenberger"

7hz-studio-big

flickr by Nik K.

full size

"Akai mpc, Roland Jupiter 6, Technics 1210, Sequential Pro One, Arp Axxe, Korg MS10, Yamaha 01v96."

Bert Smorenburg - Motif XS

YouTube via DaiLafing. via Nusonica.

"Bert from Yamaha playing the Motif XS7... Alss Demonstrating the connectivity to Cubase AI4"

SEAMUS Goes Retro & Modular Format Chart

The October 2007 SEAMUS newsletter goes retro. click here for the pdf. It includes a full analog modular round up written by John Loffink of The Microtonal Synthesis and The Wavemakers Synthesizer web sites. Pictured in the article: Modular formats, left to right: Mattson Mini Modular, Eurorack (Plan B), FracRack (Blacet), Serge, Buchla 200e, MOTM, Moog (Synthesizers.com), Modcan A, CMS, Wiard 300. Be sure to click the image for the full size shot.

From the Editor, Kurt Stallmann:
"As we celebrate 50 years of musical computing we can’t help but notice that the analog technology that many predicted would be outmoded and replaced still hasn’t died! Not only that, in recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in analog instruments in popular music and among many young instrument builders. New designs of analog modular synths have been released, some of which hybrid sophisticated digital control with analog sound engines (like Buchla’s recent release of the 200e). It is along these lines that we asked Chapman Welch to conduct an interview with German improviser/composer, Thomas Lehn, whose sole setup consists of a classic analog Synthi. We also asked the Austin-based Wavemaker specialist and analog enthusiast John Loffink to give us a quick overview of a few current analog synth makers. Going even farther back, and in response to our July interview with Max Mathews, David Mooney contributes an article tracing the history and influence of Henry Cowell’s Rhythmicon on a current generation."

via Grant Richter of Wiard on the Wiard list.
Update via John Loffink: "Article has a typo, mentions Analogue Solutions as having Bode FS and Putney tribute modules, should be Analogue Systems. That will be corrected in an errata."

Visual Tour of Native Instruments KORE 2

Create Digital Music has an extensive look at KORE 2.

"Native Instruments says KORE 2 is a ground-up recode of the first KORE, with a new development team in place. It also involves a substantially redesigned hardware interface, minus the audio features but with some important improvements. It’s too early to judge the full outcome of these moves without more hands-on time, but we can at least show you what the results look like and some of the new features." Click here for the full article on CDM.

Rhodes Chroma Voice Board Test Controller

"This is a preliminary description of a Rhodes™ Chroma™ voice card test and repair fixture that I have built. It is a hand wired prototype; no circuit boards have been designed, and there are currently no plans for production, although that may change. Meanwhile, if you work on lots of Chromas, you can build your own from these schematics." [link]. Note this device was built by Dave Wilson of the New England Synthesizer Museum.