MATRIXSYNTH

Testing out my Vermon DRM 1 Mrk3 Seq by electribe MX

YouTube via H4NDCRAFTED
"Just testing out my new Vermona DRM Mrk3.
Just did some tr style sequencing with my electribe.
No effects and no electribe sounds."

A QUICK BREAK KORG ELECTRIBE MX

YouTube via H4NDCRAFTED. "JUST A LITTLE BREAK I DID ON THE ELECTRIBE WIP"

Oxygene Part 2 (re-recorded with freeware VSTi's)

YouTube via SplitTheBeam
"This was an experiment to find out if I could re-create Jarre's Oxygene Part 2 using only freeware VSTi plugins (this is a recording I made using Cakewalk Sonar 4). None of the sounds I have used come from commercial applications, they are all freeware and cost me nothing. My respect and admiration goes out to the people who created these plugins. There are NO samples taken from the original recording. This recording runs about 5 bpm faster than the original.

For the general Pad sound I used the J M Jarre Pad setting on the SuperwaveP8 VST.

The string sound is also a SuperwaveP8 preset called (not surprisingly) J M Jarre Strings. The trick with the Jarre string sounds is the phaser effect you apply to them. Jarre used an Electroharmonix Small Stone phaser, I found a pretty good emulator called the Classic Phaser* (see TECH UPDATE at bottom of page). There is also a short mixed back delay to give a feeling of openess to the sound.

The Wind sound was generated by the NK1001 VST analogue synth emulator.

All the laser shot FX were generated by using the retrofex setting on the NK 1001 then adjusting the LFO frequency pot manually to create the desired effect. Using this method you can recreate the short pings as well as the long descending tones you hear prominently in the intro. To complete the effect I passed it through a stereo delay, dry sound 100% to the left, delay feedback 100% to the right. This makes the laser sound skip across the speakers like the original.

The bass sound was created using a VST called Transcender with a short delay so the bass notes bounce back. This underpins the rhythm.

The intro sequence was created using the KaoS VST sine-pad. However, three notes from the sequence are picked out and played on the Transcender bass set up only in a high octave, this sound is run through a delay to give it the spacey beep you can hear mixed in with the main KaoS sequence. The advantage of this is you can keep the beep going after the intro sequence has faded out.

The pizzicato (or 'pluck') style sound used for the main melody in the first half is an Eminant 310 sound font played through a sound font player. The font came from a thread on BlahBlah café, a discussion forum dedicated to Jarre and his music. The font player I used was the Fontaminator.

BlahBlah Café was also the source for the Korg Minipops 7 wave files. This came as a complete set of individual sounds that I loaded into the SR 202 drum machine VST.

The flute sound used for the main theme in the second half is created by the Synth1 VST. This uses a similar delay to the bass sound only slightly longer causing the main sound to hang back off the rhythm. The effect of this is a more organic feel to my performance. The real genius of Jarre is his ability to make electronic music sound so expressive.

The french horn type sound under the flute in the second half of the track is made by the Crystal1 VST.

The Mellotron choir at the end is made by the MellowSound VST, an excellent Mellotron emulator.

The sea-shore effect under the second half of the track is the General MIDI standard sound preset 122, any number of freeware synths will give you this effect. I simply used the MIDI voice on my sound card.

The key to creating Jarre sounds is in the work you do to the finished track. Once you have got the sounds close enough you can add effects and EQ, also the final mix will change how they interact and behave sonically. Dont be afraid to experiment and try things out but most of all, enjoy.

*TECH UPDATE: If you are looking for the Jarre string sound I've found some great resources. The Nomad Factory have ceased support of their 'Warmer Phaser' and have made it available as freeware. It has an adjustable valve simulator which creates fantastic warm tones just like the Electroharmonix Small Stone phaser. Used in conjunction with an Eminent 310 string sound font or the Stringer VST (also freeware) it's possible to create an exact sonic replica of the sound Jarre used on Oxygene.

Eminent 310 soundfonts can be found at www.perkristian.net/Eminent_310_Unique_S oundfonts.htm

(the Oxygene pt. 2 'pluck' soundfont can also be found here).

A BIG thank you to the wonderful people involved with this project for keeping the 310 sounds alive, I strongly recommend you check out the rest of the website dedicated to the E 310!"

Making Analog Drums using the Z3000 and Z5000

Making Analog Drums using the Z3000 and Z5000 from GM on Vimeo.
"Simple patch, having the Z3k's doing the Bass drum and Snare drum, The two Z5000 are saturated making the HH's. MFB Drum sequencer clocked by LFO triggers the sounds. All the outputs are then mixed with the Plan B mixer, playing the switches to open and close the sounds. Tight!!"
Update: I think I'm going to save the larger embedded videos for the HD ones.

Eminent Unique 310

via Jos: "I finished the repair of my Eminent Unique 310. You can read the reports in my blog [Eminent Unique 310 Restoration]. It took me a lot of work. I had to exchange 5 germanium diodes, 2 shorted capacitors, and a fried resistor. Cleaning the key contacts was very time consuming."

Ant---onE Tout Seul!!! Ben oui ça arrive!! Suis tombé lol

YouTube via axc909. "(Ant---onE)C ça la teknik!!!!!"
Quasimidi Rave-O-Lution starts it. KORG EM-1X. Roland MC-909.
Check out the thumbnails or click here for more.

dirtbag

via Baghead's sounds channel
"starts off with Novation Bass station preset 09 with a touch of spring reverb , then around 30 seconds I add the ElectroHarmonix Bi-Filter with triangle CV sweeps from the Moog MP201 , then at 55 seconds it gets really dirty with a Frostwave Sonic Alienator in the FX loop of the Bi_FIlter and at that point it makes the Bass station rack a righteous bass machine ....dirrrrrtyyyyyyyyy!! - then at 2:12 backwards to the preset and ends with drums which is a very basic Microtonic preset. - enjoy!"

Digitana Micro Punk Console as a modulation source for analog synth

YouTube via DigitanaUK. Note the Micro Punk console is available on Ebay.
"A demo of me showing the Micro Punk Console being used to modify the sounds of a Moog Little Phatty.

In the video I am using the Filter CV and Pitch CV inputs at different times to show some of the possibilities. Any analog synth with CV inputs could be used in place of the Moog, such as a modular synth or a MS10/20 etc.

All the audio is unprocessed direct out from the Moog, see my other videos for sounds of the Micro Punk Console.

Hope you enjoy it and please subscribe if you do!"