MATRIXSYNTH

Making Music With Sound Squares - iPhone App

"SoundSquares — April 28, 2010 — Check out this music made with the Sound Squares application. Sound Squares is a revolutionary polyphonic synthesizer for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch that puts a grid of musical squares right at your fingertips"

Note this is the iPad app featured in this post.

on iTunes here:

Super Mario Brothers Theme Played On iPhone/iPad - All Voices!

"April 05, 2010 — Here is me playing the Super Mario Brothers Theme on my iPhone using the app 'Sound Squares'

Here is the pattern:
G2 G#/Ab2 A#/Bb2 C3 D3 D#/Eb3 E3
F3 F#/Gb3 G3 G#/Ab3 A3 A#/Bb3 B3
C4 C#/D4 D4 E4 F4 F#/Gb4 G4
G#/Ab4 A4 A#/Bb4 B4 C5 D5 D#/Eb5
E5 F5 F#/Gb5 G5 A5 B5 C6

Check it out here: http://www.markvapps.com/soundsquares"

on iTunes here:

Pre-Acid 303 - Early Roland TB-303 Tracks

The subject of a TB-303 revival came up on the Analog Heaven mailing list. The discussion lead to some sharing the first tracks featuring the 303, including of course pre-Acid tracks. The following are a few of them including a couple by Alexander Robotnick I tracked down. They are in order of release by year ending with Phuture's "Acid Tracks", credited as the first Acid track ever, for good measure. Wikipedia on Acid. If you know of any others pre 1987, feel free to comment or shoot me an email and I'll add it to the post. I know there was a track which used the 303 as a traditional bass guitar, but I forget what it was.

Update: Two from Heaven 17 via Pea in the comments added to the top:

Let Me Go (12" version) - Heaven 17 - 1982

YouTube via 4urlisteningpleasure — April 11, 2009 —

non embeddable 2006 digital remaster here

Update: new Crushed by The Wheels of Industry vid (old one here if interested)

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Thickening Up the Moog Voyager

Thickening Up the Moog Voyager from Calvin Cardioid on Vimeo.

"bit.ly/9grthM

FROM CL516 BLOG."

Morphine Part Ten - Stand Alone Mode

YouTube via imageline — June 08, 2010 — Morphine Part Ten - Stand Alone Mode
See all parts here.

YAMAHA TX7 EXPANDER FM TONE GENERATOR MIDI SYNTHESIZER

via this auction
"The TX7 was the table-top 'expander' version of the phenomenally successful DX7 synthesiser. As well as acting as a synthesiser in its own right, it provided extra storage for 'performance' patches for a DX7, which only has one global performance setup. The intention was that the DX7 and TX7 be linked together via MIDI so that the TX would download performance information to the DX as patches were selected. The TX7 had a front-panel editing interface for the performance data, but not for the onboard patches. Other than that, the voice architecture was identical to the DX7's. There are literally 1000's of sounds available for this module online for free." You cannot fully program a TX7 on it's own.

SMS Mars & Planet7 (P7) Analogue Modular Synthesizer

via this Noisebug auction
(click the image for the full size shot)

"SMS Modular. Plant 7 and Mars module, new in box with manuals and cables at an amazing price of $799

The MARS & PLANET7 is a complete Modular Analogue Synthesizer taking up 4u of 19” rack space. The system has been designed for easy
expansion & can be started with a single MARS unit, with an additional MARS & P7 module completing the system.
The combined system is a powerful Analogue Modular Synthesizer incorporating:

* Two VCLFO’s * Two temperature compensated 1V/Oct VCO’s with waveform morphing *l Two 24dB/Oct Transistor Ladder VCF’s * Two Log/Lin VCA’s
* Two ADSR Envelope Generator’s * One 3 way Multi * One 3 way Buffer * One 2 Channel Mixer with +/- outputs * One Sample & Hold with Integral Clock
* One Lag Processor * One DC Level Shifter/Voltage Source * Four Bi-polar Attenuators * One high quality Ring Modulator * 3 Colour Noise Source.

Sound On Sound magazine article
Please check manuals for specifications"

Yamaha SY-2

via this auction

"The SY-2 was used by the BBC radiophonic workshop on Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, and more! It was also used in Close encounters of the third kind (last picture, played by none other than mr François Truffaut!)."

Simons Clap Trap

via this auction

"This is an old Simmons Electronics Digital Clap Trap made in Albans, Herts, England."

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Rick Powell Collection - MOOG Rogue

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Rick Powell Collection - Gibson Maestro Sound System for Woodwinds

via this auction

"This unit is part of the Rick Powell Collection. Rick was a musician, a major producer and a contemporary and close friend of Bob Moog, among others, and often received original units from manufacturers to test in the studios...

This is a vintage Maestro Sound System for woodwinds (It allows a choice between clarinet and sax at the input). It's a "sort of" synthesizer that will take the input from your woodwind pickup and allow you to select from a bank of sounds that it emulates as you play. Seems really simple to operate, which is good because we don't have the manual for this. So let's say you pop in your clarinet and select Baritone Sax... it comes through the speaker an octave lower with a nice growl. Same with Tuba, etc. It's in fine condition - really good condition. You can ALSO do combos of sounds as you play. Very interesting piece of gear. These are the sounds: