The Harvestman Interview

You can find the full interview on electromusic.com here.

"electronicmusic.com: When did you decide to create The Harvestman?

Scott Jaeger : I started design work in summer 2006 and made an academic thesis out of several early designs. After getting out of there in 2007, I was building small numbers of these devices on a custom basis with no business motivation whatsoever. Some overwhelming persuasion from my US Distributor convinced me to revise the Malgorithm design for easier construction, and start supplying him with devices. Soon after that I arrived at an agreement to license the Polivoks filter design from Russia, and I found a very receptive audience. That was all the support I needed to continue development of newer devices...

My "company's" tagline is "digital audio electronics" because I have the naïve belief that "digital" will one day stop being a dirty word when it comes to music synthesizers..."

Scott Jaeger of The Harvestman will be presenting at the PNW AES synth meet this coming Wednesday. Doors are open to the public and entry is free.

MFB SEQ-01 Drum-Sequencer

via http://www.mfberlin.de

"Complementing our new DRUM-modules, MFB announces SEQ-1. A trigger-sequencer specialized on creating rhythmic patterns.
SEQ-01 allows to build 16 patterns each consisting of up to 32 steps. All patterns can be saved and consist of 12 tracks. Patterns offer switchable A/B-parts that can also be used as 2-bar-patterns. Each step of the 12 tracks can be programmed in one out of three accent values.
„Pattern +“ and „Pattern –“ inputs allow switching to adjacent pattern by trigger signals.

Start/stop and tempo (Clock) can be accessed directly on the module but also be controlled through external signals. Vice versa, the SEQ-1’s clock output and start and stop functions can be used to control other modules.
RESET allows resetting the selected sequence back to step 1.

SEQ-01 is not only useful to control drum and percussive sounds. Modular synthesizers offer lots of options for trigger-based control like sample & hold, switches, clock-dividing, sequencers, logic modules, envelopes and more. An example: while standard S&H or clock divider modules are usually fed by a linear clock, the SEQ-1 turn this into rhythmic triggering! And because the SEQ-1 offers 12 trigger outputs you will surely have some spare outputs for special purposes beside triggering your drum-modules.

The module has a width of 100 mm (20 TE)"

MFB OSC-02 Triple VCO

via http://www.mfberlin.de

"OSC-02 may look like OSC-01 but is a very different beast inside. Unlike its hybrid brother OSC-01, the OSC-02 uses fully analog technique taken from MFB Synth II model. Three oscillators with all benefits and the typical character of analog construction in a single compact module.

OSC-02 offers a variety of notable functions: Beside a common CV-control voltage for all VCOs, all oscillators can be individually controlled by CV-sources, e.g. by different tracks of a CV-sequencer like Doepfers MAQ-16/3 or the AS Oberkorn. VCO 1 can be synchronized to VCO 3, individually or paired with VCO 2. The same goes for external hard-sync. The additional CV-inputs allow for common and individual modulations.

Three outputs allow for summed and individual audio outputs. A separate outputs carries a digital ring-modulated signal of OSC 1 and 2 (configurable to OSC 1-3 by jumper).

The module has a width of 80 mm (16 TE).


MFB products are sold at your musical instruments dealer. If you can´t find any reseller closeby we will also sell the OSC-02 directly within Germany. The price is 199 Euro (incl. VAT plus 10 Euro shipping, cash on delivery)."

You can find more MFB modules here. Note the English link at the top of each page.

MFB SEQ-02 Step-Sequencer

via http://www.mfberlin.de

"MFB’s new Step-Sequencer SEQ-02 is the perfect companion to our synthesizer- and DRUM- module range. SEQ-02 is specialized in rhythm- and sequence programming.

SEQ-02 can be used as a sequencer with 6 CV- and 6 gate-outputs. Alternatively, it may also be used with either 12 CV- or 12 gate-/trigger-outputs.

SEQ-02 allows creating 16 sequences with up to 32 steps each. The sequences can be stored and offer 6 or 12 tracks. In addition, an A- and B-part allows building 2-bar-sequences using the A/B-switch.

Use trigger impulses at inputs “Sequence +“ and “Sequence –“ to switch to adjacent sequences.

Start/stop and tempo (clock) can be either controlled directly at the module or remote-controlled through external signals. Of course, SEQ-02’s start/stop and clock can act as a master for other sequencers. The RESET-input allows switching the current sequence back to step 1.

Beyond using SEQ-02 to trigger drums and envelopes, there are countless options for trigger-impulses in a modular environment. These may be used for sample&hold, switches, clock-dividers/sequencers or logic-modules. This allows to create rhythmic events, where usually a straight clock would be used for triggering, e.g. in S&H- or clock-dividing-modules. Thanks to the big number of CV- and trigger-tracks, SEQ-02 will always allow for some extra assignments beside the drum-groove.

The module has a width of 100 mm (20 TE).

MFB products are sold at your musical instruments dealer. If you can´t find any reseller closeby we will also sell the SEQ-02 directly within Germany. The price is 229 Euro (incl. VAT plus 10 Euro shipping, cash on delivery)."

IMG_0064

flickr by ianworang

Minimoog

DMS

flickr by glacial23

"This may figure into my bela dubby performance on Friday."

Apple DMS

Circuit Skills: Circuit Board Etching

YouTube via makemagazine. See more synth centric makemagazines posted here.
"Making your own printed circuit board can be a truly satisfying process, tying together electronics and the handmade craft of etching. It's the most accurate way to build a circuit short of sending away to a PCB manufacturer and it's a lot more fun (+ cheaper too!)."

K5MP Kawai K5 Editor and Noise Reduction

via Kyle Weiss in the comments of this post.

"This link has a noise-reducing modification that I'm going to give a try..."

The link also mentions an old DOS based editor called the K5MP. The link appears to be from Sound Doctorin, who I'm guessing is this sounddoctorin.

"K5MP FEATURES:
* Runs on any IBM compatible with DOS 3.2 or higher, floppy DD
and an MPU-401 compatible (UART) midi card.

* Eases the process of becoming K5MP proficient, by providing
COMPLETE MENUS, which prompt for all options available.

* Allows you to create custom MACRO LIBRARY files, which help
you generate complex sounds in minutes! A library file for
each "page" of data on the K5 can be accessed. Just imagine
selecting your favorite piano timbre without searching your
patch libraries for the sound that contained that timbre, and
then extracting it into your working patch. Setting up these
libraries as you please will allow you to remove the obstacle
which has kept your imagination from running wild on the K5!

* Takes out the guess work when editing delays and envelopes
by letting the user enter real times. (eg. trend of 4.2 sec.)

* Provides logical and imaginative tools for creating timbres, a
very efficient discrete harmonic entry utility, and a waveform
plot utility.

* Patch can be sent to or received from the K5 with one keystroke."

Lady GaGa - Telephone (Acoustic) & Dance In The Dark Live at the Brits 16/2/10 HQ

YouTube via JORDANMERRITT. Crazy custom keytar with embedded MPC right after 2:27.

Ham Heart Analog Synth Noise Box

via this auction
"This is a handmade Ham Heart analog synthesizer.

It features 1 squarewave oscillator, which can either be free running in drone mode or triggered
by the green pushbutton in trigger mode.

The green toggle switch selects between 'drone' or 'trigger' mode.

The green button allows you play the device rhythmically or in short bursts.

The large knob sweeps the frequency of the oscillator.

The yellow LED displays the rate of oscillation, and changes as you sweep the pitch.

6.35mm (1/4 inch) audio output
2.1mm 9v DC input (tip -)

Rubber feet
Metal faceplate painted caution yellow with high gloss clear coat.
Hand painted wounded beast hamheart logo.

hamdust at gmail or hamheart dot com for sounds."