MATRIXSYNTH

at 11/05/2007 09:27:00 AM

at 11/05/2007 09:15:00 AM

via Clavia. Follow up to this post. It looks like the Nord Wave is now shipping.

"The Nord Wave is built on a legacy of making virtual analog synthesizers for almost 15 years. Virtual means “not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so”. Nord synthesizers are digital, but behave, feel and sound like analog synthesizers. An analog oscillator is limited to generating a few basic waveforms, and though we can add LFOs, EGs, and different filter types to make the patch more complex, the foundation of the sound is limited to what the oscillator can produce. Think of it like a highway - you don’t get more lanes by adding lots of access ramps. On the Nord Wave we have not only added a fast lane, but rebuilt the entire highway into a roller coaster. The magic is in the Wave’s oscillators, which produce far more than standard analog waveforms. This is a concept we have been working on since the first Nord Lead synthesizer introduced in 1995, and currently includes: - Traditional analog waveforms such as Square, Triangle, Saw and Sine; -

Frequency Modulation, or FM-synthesis, generating very complex and metallic waveforms; - Wavetables: single cycle waveforms with large variations in tonal character; - Sampled waves: Sampled acoustic instruments turned into wavetables with the attack portion of the sample intact; - User replaceable samples: standard .wav-files used as oscillator sources in a virtual analog environment; Filters are great for shaping your sound. We have included not only the basic filter types, but some really interesting multimode filters as well, including a Comb filter and formant filter. The ultimate form of sound-shaping, though, is Morphing: the ability to assign multiple sound parameters, each with custom ranges, to a single performance controller, such as the modulation wheel or a control pedal. It is a very intuitive and extremely powerful feature (just the way we like it), and will change not only your playing but also your approach to sound design. Featuring the ability to use any type of sampled waveforms, the Nord Wave is a sample player and an analog synthesizer in one - and anything in between. Like driving a Ferrari Enzo on the open Autobahn, tangible response and brilliant sound just can’t be described in words - you just have to experience it. More information at the Product pages."

at 11/05/2007 09:05:00 AM

flickr by nakedintruder.

"identifying information redacted - full announcement on thursday or friday"

The Harvestman mystery module.

at 11/05/2007 12:08:00 AM

via Carbon111, via this VSE thread where you will find more images and info.

"I was privileged today to have given John Bowen's Solaris a test drive in my studio! Though its not quite finished yet and there are some re-designs in progress, I can honestly say its a programmer's as well as a player's dream!

It sounds absolutely wonderful and is very powerful! It took a few minutes for the interface to sink in, but once it did...wow! Flexible, deep and yet relatively easy to program due to the excellent UI despite the huge number of available parameters and choices. Most parameters are not buried in menus and are easy to access and tweak.

There are a ton of audio-rate modulations available on this thing, none of which generate any artifacts or aliasing at all...lots of FM possibilities, linear as well as exponential. The Moog-style filter was as warm and squelchy as one could want and could be run in other modes besides LP! The "Obie" clone was a good state-variable emulation. The oscillators were plentfull in both quantity and variety. Each patch has a unique architecture, essentially a massively parallel yet integrated "multi" unto itself.

I was suprised at how organic and non-digital it sounded! A one-on-one "taste test" against my analog gear proved this thing has that elusive low-end "beef". Its no slouch as a complex wavetable synth either, holding its own easily against my Waldorf Microwave XT and Ensoniq Fizmo.

You can do FM, physical modeling, subtractive, wavetable and vector synthesis on it as well as the warmest VA I've yet heard.- I'm really blown away! Time to start saving...or figuring out what will have to go"

Also check out the official John Bowen Synth Design.

Some specs via this thread on the John Bowen Synth Design Forum (BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE THREAD FOR MORE including clarifications):
"The hardware Solaris has the equivalent of approximately 6 Scope boards (the 14 DSP cards), so 6 x 14 = 84 Scope generation DSPs - but remember, you would have to be running your Scope Project at 96 kHz as well...

We have lots of software to finish, so I can't report exactly as to the polyphony count, but here are some of the other specs:

CLICK FOR MORE »

at 11/05/2007 12:07:00 AM

ConBrio ADS200 lightshow II

YouTubes via bdufdiskc. via Brandon Daniel in the comments of this post.

"Control panel lightshow on a ConBrio ADS200 digital FM/Additive synthesizer, taken at the 10th Vintage Computer Festival" Listen closely and you will hear that it has 64 notes of polyphony with 16 oscillators per note. This means you could have up to 1024 oscillators at once back in 1978 or shortly after. :)

For those that want real audio, word from an anonymous reader is that it is not 100% yet, so there was no audio actually coming from the synth - just recordings playing in the background.

Update via Devo in the comments:
"Just wanted to clarify... The sound that was heard of the Con Brio at the VCFX this weekend WAS indeed coming from the synth itself. It is true that the synth isn't 100% functional (yet), but the parts that need to be made "whole" still, are the connection from the keyboards to the "brain" (mostly), which will be sorted out soon, hopefully. The sounds that were heard consisted of existing sequences on the original 8" floppys, coupled with existing sound-patches from the same orig. disks (of which, the OS is derived). BTW: the Con Brio sounds as good (or, dare I say, BETTER) than it looks. Awesome! I hope this info helps. Much kudos to all (past and present) involved! "

at 11/05/2007 12:06:00 AM

YouTube via bdufdiskc.
"Everything you hear is being generated by the modular, including the clock timing and the waveform on the scope.

It's also a pretty good demo of what the Analogue Systems delay can do, as much of what you're hearing is a single snare hit into the delay whose time is being modulated by the doepfer sequencer.

Longer, higher quality mp3 of the sound you hear is here:
http://www.fdiskc.com/aud/RS290.mp3"

at 11/05/2007 12:05:00 AM

YouTube via fizzydiodes. via fizzydiodes on the Matrixsynth Forum.
"Zyklus Mps midi sequencer ROUGH demo !"
Update: link to pdf of manual via dlmorley.
Update via esaruoho in the comments: "AnalogGuy has posted a 3 part video on YouTube with the original Zyklus Demotape:" posted here