Off Topic: Lunar Eclipse is Happening Right Now

If it's night time where you are at you can probably see it. Go look now. It's on the way out but you still have some time. Thanks goes to KHeck73 on the AH list.

The Rocky song Remixed

YouTube via ronaldjenkees, via Mr. Array.

And one more:

'disorganized fun' on a REALLY REALLY fun beat!!

"my current CD: http://www.ronaldjenkees.com/music-store (this beat will be on my next CD)

it cut me off when I said hello youtubes! not sure why it did that.

THIS IS FUN!!!!! I don't have much done on this beat, but like usual, I thought I would upload the beginnings of it. It's been one of my favorite beats to work on so far. It'll be on my next CD for sure.

I'm super-thankful for all the comments, subscriptions, and for those that check out my CD.

FYI: I made the beat using FL Studio (software) and the Yamaha Motif XS8. Again, I like this new keyboard, but I discovered I'm not a fan of weighted keys (except for piano stuff). I'll probably trade down to the XS7 eventually."

Absolut Machine Updated

I added a few videos to the post below. BTW, whenever you come to the site, be sure to look for a red Update: in posts you've already seen. I often update posts as new info comes in. If the post is off the main page I will put up a new post letting you know about the update, however if still on the front page I usually won't so always check. If you check back a day later, be sure to click on the Older Posts link at the very bottom of the page to get to the prior day's posts.

DrumFire DF-2000 aka Frontline x-2

images via this auction. via paleface in the comments of this post where you can find the details.

Puremagnetik Releases TeeBee

"Puremagnetik Releases TB-303 Micropak for Ableton Live, Kontakt & Logic

February 20th, 2007 - Brooklyn, NY

Puremagnetik has released TeeBee, a collection of instruments and loops sampled from the Roland® TB-303 synthesizer. Meticulously programmed to flawlessly emulate the original synthesizer, Puremagnetik has employed many of the new features in Live 7, Kontakt 3 and Logic 8. Instead of using the DAW's built-in effects to emulate sounds, Puremagnetik has actually sampled the unique filter and envelope stages of the original TB-303. The TeeBee download includes 24-bit 96khz sample content and over 50 looped phrases styled after classic TB-303 articulations. For Ableton Live users, Puremagnetik has developed a version for Live 7 and a "light" version for Live 6.

TeeBee for Ableton Live 6 & 7
• Extensively programmed multi-sample instrument for Live 7 with Sampler
• TeeBee Light for Live 6
• Over 50 Live Clips with integrated Ableton effects
• Macro controls that faithfully emulate the original Roland® TB-303

TeeBee for Kontakt
• Multisampled instruments for Saw, Square and Accented modes
• Custom KSP easy edit user interface panels
• Over 50 Beat Machine looped phrases with integrated Kontakt effects and automatic tempo sync

TeeBee for Logic & GarageBand
• Multisampled instruments for Saw, Square and Accented modes
• Over 50 SIAL instrument loops with TB-303 modulation stylings
• Multi level zone and group modes

Puremagnetik subscriptions start at $5.75 per month.
Please visit www.puremagnetik.com for more info."

THE ABSOLUT MACHINES

via Christian:
"Hi Matrix!
Christian from Stockholm here. I'm working with the ABSOLUT MACHINES project that ABSOLUT VODKA is doing in collaboration with MIT Graduates Dan Paluska/Jeff Lieberman and Swedish studio Teenage Engineering. You might have heard of it already, but now we've got new images of the machines, new info and the New York gallery has opened.

Paluska/Lieberman have made a large-scale multi-instrumental installation that is quite spectacular. It is called ABSOLUT QUARTET and will be shown at a guerilla gallery on 186 Orchard Street in Manhattan, NYC during until the end of April.

Teenage Engineering’s machine is a robotic choir with an advanced speach synthesis function in the back end. ABSOLUT CHOIR is shown at Restaurant Publik in Stockholm until the end of April.

Both machines are really amazing and all about exploring artificial creativity and what happens when technology meet art, design and music. Online users from around the world can interact with the machines and create music with them at http://www.absolutmachines.com."

The press release:
"A TRULY PIONEERING TECHNOLOGY PROJECT FROM ABSOLUT
Interactive ins tallations let online visitors create mu sic with intelligent machines ABSOLUT is presenting a project that explores what happens when cutting-edge technology meets the creativity of art, music and design. To emphasize its deep commitment to the subject, ABSOLUT turned to some of the greatest technology visionary teams of our time, and asked them to create the ABSOLUT MACHINES. The result is two artificially creative and highly interactive music-making machines, as visually stunning as they are technologically pioneering.

The ABSOLUT MACHINES are shown in New York and Stockholm - and online user from around the world can interact with the machines at absolutmachines.com. This project marks the first collaboration between premium vodka brand ABSOLUT and cutting-edge visionaries from the world of technology. The ABSOLUT MACHINES are designed by Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman, both with a background from MIT in Boston, and Teenage Engineering, a Swedish studio in the fields of media, art and technology. “Technology is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and is a key driver for
contemporary culture. With the ABSOLUT MACHINES, we explore how technology merges with creativity, and we are thrilled to have such fantastic visionaries with us on this journey”, says Ulrika Lövdahl, responsible for trend communications at V&S Absolut Spirits.

The ABSOLUT MACHINES will be launched globally in early February 2008. Users from around the world will be able to interact with the machines over the Internet. The input from online users will be processed by the machines, which will respond with a unique musical composition – co-created by man and machine. The machines will immediately perform the songs, and their performances will be live-streamed to a global audience at absolutmachines.com.

For the ABSOLUT MACHINES, Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman have created the “ABSOLUT QUARTET”, an automated multi-instrumental orchestral machine, which does not look like anything you have ever seen before. It is a large-scale electromechanical sculpture consisting of three instruments and thousands of parts, working together to create one piece of music. The main timbre is a marimba played by balls shot from a robotic cannon. Other components include a series of wineglasses played by little robotic fingers and an array of robotic percussive instruments. “ABSOLUT has collaborated with great artists such as Andy Warhol, Tom Ford and Louise Bourgeois. ABSOLUT has the tradition of the past masters as well as the vision to do something new.

Of course we were excited when they asked us if we wanted to be part of a project exploring artificial creativity”, says Dan Paluska.

Teenage Engineering has constructed the “ABSOLUT CHOIR”, a multi-channel robotic choir, made up by 22 singing characters of various shapes and sizes. It is an architectural installation with an advanced framework of speech synthesizers and artificial intelligence software at the back end."

Update: a video on the project
Absolut Machines Intro<
YouTube via GustavoZilles

And examples of how the results may sound made by users:

Stockholm machine:
Absolut Music Madness


New York machine:
absolut machine LES


http://www.absolutmachines.com/

Donkey's new keyboard rig

This one via Dave of umop:

"Here's an entertaining drawing for your readers today... a sneak peek at Donkey's new keyboard rig for the upcoming 20th installment of Retarded Animal Babies! :o)

The foreground synths are 100% autobiographical (including the "Frankenstands"), but the background, not so much (yet). Maybe someday!


Look for the new episode to be out by Easter, I hope.

Older episodes (very NSFW!) on Newgrounds: link"

See if you can ID the specific synths. This one should be a breeze. Labels as hints below.

BTW, the Retarded Animal Babies are in need. Check out Muff Wiggler for more - no money involved. Update: also check out Eric Barbour's (Metasonix) blog.

Update: the episode is now up.

The S-101-x Synthesizer

"The S-101-x is a monophonic analogue synthesizer built by me over the course of some three-four years. I started planing to build a semimodular prepatched synthesizer sometime in the late summer of 2004 and it was more or less built, set up and properly tuned in January 2008."

You can find more info here. via David via the Synth DIY mailing list and via /kroffe in the comments of this post.

Gator

No, not the new Serge Gator of course. This one appears to be a DIY device. You can find more info here.

"The Gator is my implementation of an AM based synthesizer.

4 "suboscillators" with variable wavefom (saw / square) and range (LFO to above audio frequency) amplitude-modulate each other in a sequencial order. They form a chain of AM'd oscillators with a very complex output waveform which can be non periodic, i.e. never repeats itself - based on the interaction of the 4 underlying suboscillators.

The Gator features two of these chains (of 4 suboscillators each). For less chaotic results these chains can be synced in a special manner, still maintaining enough individual variations.

Frequencies of all 8 suboscillators can be controlled by knobs or via light dependent resistors. Special routing switches and knobs allow to dynamically change the way of AM - with an attenuating pot to define the amount of AM.

The signals of both oscillator chains pass through a 5 band equalizer - one independent EQ for each chain. Optionally a passive, coil/transformer based ring modulator can process the signals before sending them to the output socket on the rear."

via Sendling.

Weltmeister Basset on KAADA WRONGROOM

Remember the Weltmeister Basset? KAADA WRONGROOM as a post up on it with a few more pics including one of the inside. My prior post linked to above also has more images.