MATRIXSYNTH

Lainhart Updates and New Music Available

via the forum:
"Friends: some more news on what's turning out to be an active new year.

First, there's a new interview with me on Tokafi here concerning my "White Night" release, a work from 1974 for Moog modular synthesizer.

Next, "White Night" is now available in the US from CDeMUSIC. (In Europe, it's available directly from the Ex Ovo site, along with a sample of the work.)

Finally, I've added two albums to my MusicZeit store. "The Beautiful Blue Sky" is a release of all-new electronic landscapes for Buchla 200e analog modular synthesizer and the Haken Continuum, all performed and recorded in real time. "These Last Days" is a re-issue of my first CD from 1987, available again after 20 years. You can hear samples of all the tracks for any album by clicking on the album's image on the main page to go to the CD's own page. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks!

_________________
Richard Lainhart
http://www.otownmedia.com
http://www.downloadplatform.com/richard_lainhart
http://www.airglowmusic.com"

Rick Wakeman - Sir Lancelot and The Black Knight ( Wembley)

YouTube via Patrickillian. via Analog Suicide.
"Sir Lancelot adnThe Black Knight performed during King Arthur on ice at wembley in 1975"
Rick Wakeman on Ice.

New toys arrived.

flickr by kernelslacker
(click for more)

full size

Circuit Bent 2004

BENT 2004 from Derek Sajbel on Vimeo.
via dalas

Fender Rhodes Chroma Polaris II with Service Manual

images via this craigslist post.
via Robert.

Yamaha CS5

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

images for this auction, via jan.

909 and Amiga Sounds in Flash and Flash Based Music Production

CDM has a great post up on Flash based music environments. Do check it out.

One of my favorite Flash based sites is Audio Playground's Virtual Drum Machine page, a virtual collection of vintage drum machines you can play online. If you haven't done so already, just check it out. It's pretty amazing.

On a separate note, CDM is having a bit of a fund raiser at the moment. The site unlike Matrixsynth runs on it's own servers and thus costs a bit of money to keep running. When I had Matrixsynth on my own servers I ran into this problem quickly so I know the pain. CDM is a great resource and Peter Kirn, the man behind the site, is a great guy. Peter and CDM has supported Matrixsynth in a number of ways including promoting me on CDM, and helping me privately via email when I ran into site issues myself. Peter had enough faith in Matrixsynth to ask me to write CDM's This Week in Synths column which was kind of a best of for the week on Matrixsynth. I unfortunately had to give it up due to the problem many of us have - lack of time. For me it's the blog, day job and family. We run the sites on our own free time and for the love of the subject matter. That said, if you want to help me out, help CDM out. Peter is also author of the book Real World Digital Audio, you can find my review of it here. If you donate the list price of the book to CDM, Peter will send you a copy. I couldn't think of a better time to get the book.

So, why aren't I asking for support? Matrixsynth runs on Blogger which is 100% free. How can you support Matrixsynth? Don't be afraid of the ads. If want to buy something through Amazon, Ebay or other, click on the links to them here and buy. It doesn't cost you more and it helps support the site. You also don't have to buy what's listed here. If you buy anything at one of the sponsored sites, after clicking through here, a small amount goes to Matixsynth. Treat yourself to something and know you are supporting the site while doing so.

Allen Strange RIP

Sad news in via vgermuse:

"I just received an email letting me know that Allen Strange passed away yesterday in Seattle. What a deep loss on so many fronts."

You might remember that Allen Strange recently had to cancel a performance in the Seattle area due to illness. If you do not know who Allen Strange is and his impact to the world of synthesizers, read this short bio (source of image and excerpt below) and then take a look at these previous posts; be sure to check out all the links to more info. He was a pioneer of electronic music and wrote a number of books on the subject. This is a sad day.

The following is a brief excerpt of his accomplishments:
"He received two grants from the San Jose State University Foundation (1969 and 1974) for research into electronic music and in 1970 became professor of music and director of the electronic music studios at the university. In 1973 he attended Chowning's music seminar at Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Center. Strange is one of the leading authorities on analogue electronic music; his Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls (1972) is now a classic text. He also wrote Programming and Meta-Programming the Electro-Organism (1974), the operations manual for the Buchla Music Easel and has documented the 200 Series synthesizers made by Buchla. He co-founded two performance groups, Biome (1967--72), in order to make use of the EMS Synthi, and, with Buchla in 1974, the Electronic Weasel Ensemble. He was president of the International Computer Music Association (1993--8) and has appeared as a guest artist-lecturer throughout the world. With his wife, Patricia, they have recently published The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques."

Update via Robin in the comments:
"From the Family of Allen Strange.

Just wanted to thank you all for your kind words. Allen will always be remembered as a loving father, husband and musician. There will be a memorial reception at the Bainbridge Island Music Guild on March 1st at 4 pm. Directions and information can be found at http://www.islandmusic.org/. We are also planning a life celebration for Allen in the Bay Area of California in the next few months, I will be sure to post that info when it gets planned."

Update via the comments:
"The Family of Allen Strange is having a memorial celebration in San Jose on September 13. For more information please see: http://www.allenstrange.com/ and if you plan on attending please RSVP at http://allenstrange.blogspot.com/

-Robin Strange"

A-106-6 XP Filter

In case you missed the Trash_Audio filter below, Doepfer is coming out with a filter based on the Oberheim Matrix-12 15 stage filter. You can find it and more new modules on the Doepfer website.

"Module A-106-6 is a multimode filter that is based on the filter circuit of the Oberheim Xpander. The module features 15 different filter types (those filters of the A-107 that were available in the Xpander) with 8 filters available simultaneously. A toggle switch is used to switch between 2 filter groups."