MATRIXSYNTH

RIP Frankie Knuckles - The Godfather of House Music

Frankie Knuckles - Your Love Uploaded on Jul 23, 2009 Backintday·196 videos
"The original 1987 best version Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles"
[Tribute cover on a Roland MC-909 uploaded by Lee Mitchell today featured below]

The Godfather of House music has passed away. He was one of, if not the first DJ to incorporate an instrument, in this case the drum machine, into his live performances, as well as working with sound manipulation by splicing tape (musique concrete meets House).

Frankie Knuckles via this interview on Muicradar:

Regarding tape: "That probably started around the late 70s or early 80s. I'd been DJing for the best part of ten years by then, so I knew what worked on the dancefloor. I knew which bits of a song worked. I instinctively knew if the intro needed cutting or extending. My imagination was already doing its thing. I got hold of a quarter-inch Pioneer reel-to-reel machine, and that's what I used to do all my edits.

"And when I say 'edits', I really do mean edits, in the old-fashioned sense: cutting up little bits of tape and sticking them back together to make a new song. Like when I saw the video for Michael Jackson's Thriller on TV, I thought, 'Damn! That's the version I should be playing at the club.' I wanted that whole stripped-down section where the zombies do the dance. So I sat there with my reel-to-reel and started making copies of the relevant bits of music from the original song. I had a rough tape copy of the video version and worked out every bit I needed to recreate that zombie dance backing track.

"In the end, I had a gazillion little bits of tape – some no more than half a second of sound – all stuck together. You know something? It worked! I pieced it all together and I had my two-and-a-half-minute breakdown. And it was perfect – even if I'd been just a few milliseconds out with one of those edits, it would have thrown the whole thing. I was a master of rhythm. A master of editing." [Be sure to see his note regarding the manipulation of sound for effect in The Chicago Tribune quote below]

And on the drum machine: "It wasn't really a drum machine. It was just one of those rhythm boxes that you get on home organs. Y'know… a boom-chikka box. I got the idea because there was always a metronome sitting in the DJ booth at the Warehouse. I never really understood the metronome, but I eventually started messing around with it and used to have it running while I was DJing – it would be tick-tocking just in the periphery of my vision. Eventually I started locking into this thing– locking the tunes and the metronome together, understanding the idea of beats per minute and the number of bars."

"One day my friend gave me this Rhythm Maker box, and I had it plugged into the auxiliary inputs of the mixer. It sounded great. The crowd loved it, and it was very handy if you had a problem with a record or one of the decks. You'd just fade up the Rhythm Maker and people would carry on dancing."

The 909 and the birth of House music followed:

"That was a few years later – I'd say 84 or 85. Derrick May and his friends would come down to my new club, the Power Plant. One night he was carrying a bag, and inside was something wrapped in a towel. I asked him what it was and he just said, 'Oh, I got you something very special – but you got to wait till the end of the night.'

"After I finished my set – which was about 11am the next day – we went into the booth and he pulled out a box with some buttons on it. I said, 'Wow! That looks great, but what the hell is it?' Derricksaid, 'This is a Roland 909 drum machine, and it's going to take us to the future. It will be the foundation of music for the next 10 years.'"

via The Chicago Tribune

"Knuckles bought his first drum machine from a young Derrick May, one of the founders of techno music, who regularly made the trip from Detroit to see Knuckles at the Warehouse..."

"He would extend mixes of soul and R&B records and turn them into dance tracks, introduce new singles being produced by fledgling house artists and incorporate drum machines to emphasize the beat. In addition to building dynamic ebb-and-flow sets that would keep his dancefloor filled from midnight to noon on weekends, he would create theater-of-the-mind scenarios with inventive sound and lighting. 'Sometimes I’d shut down all the lights and set up a record where it would sound like a speeding train was about to crash into the club. People would lose their minds.'”

And via Wikipedia: "Frankie Knuckles (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014) was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer.[1] He was born Francis Nicholls [2] in the Bronx borough of New York City and later moved to Chicago. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the 1980s when the genre was in its infancy. In 2005, Knuckles was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievements.

Due to his importance in the development of the genre, Knuckles was often known as 'The Godfather of House Music',[3] and as such the city of Chicago named a stretch of street and a day after Knuckles in 2004."

You can find some previous posts featuring music inspired by Frankie Knuckles here.

Frankie Knuckles Your Love Published on Apr 1, 2014 Lee Mitchell·83 videos

"ROLAND MC909 COVER OF YOUR LOVE BY FRANKIE KNUCKLES...RIP HOUSE LEGEND...."

Red Panda Particle pedal w/ Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano

Published on Apr 1, 2014 bigcitymusic·320 videos

"In this video, a MIDI sequence is tracking the Critter and Guitari Pocket Piano which is being run through the Red Panda particle in various modes.

00:00 - Experimenting in 'rnd' , time randomization, delay time and freezing

01:00 - Experimenting in 'dens' , pitch shift and grain density

01:56 - Experimenting in 'rev' , delay time and direction probability"

Sismo Instruments - New Synth Manufacturer from Brazil

sismo-qadrox from sismo on Vimeo.

"Features
- Create powerful noisy rhythms and unpredictable sounds
- Portable design in wood and acrilic
- Sync by Clock, lead or follow the pitch
- CV output
- Stereo oscillators output"

sismo-qad4 from sismo on Vimeo.

"The Sismo Qad4 is a portable squarewave generator with four analog oscillators, ajustable by pitch potenciometers, built in amplifier and output, powered by batery or external power source.

Features
- Create a drones, noises and atmospheres
- Record to make a sample bank or play alive at your home studio, stage or any other place
- Low current design extends battery life
- Built in amplifier and speaker"

You'll find Sismo on eBay here.

via http://www.sismo.net.br:

"Sismo is a collection of analog tools and conceptual instruments. Uniques. The materials used for its construction are diversified for each collection.

Sismo’s instruments combines the process of creation in new media art, centered more on a sound experiences than a technique, datasheet or schematics.

The main idea reminds in 2004 by the artist Cristiano Rosa (http://panetone.net) when started developing modular synths and in his journey discovered a new family of instruments. Low current sequencers (0 – 5V), low consumer devices, and portable systems. Sometimes power by battery, solar cells or external power source.

Designing for live-performance, audiovisual installations, educational practices and experimental interaction.
Sismo creates instruments for artist by artist."

"The Sismo Qadrox is a squarewave generator with four analog oscillators built in eight step sequencer, input to external clock, CV and sync outputs.

The audio outputs have two options, one mono by the 3/4 inch (guitar plug) and RCA stereo, split the oscillators two per each side. Front panel have nine potenciometers, is the CV sequencer (0-5 Volts) controlling the sound generator.

The potenciometer in the middle is the sequencer pitch control.The lower panel have an external clock input and the clock output, internal or external and the CV sequencer output. The one switch change completely the sound generator, increment some sweeps, noises and lfos, charge and discharge capacitors. The another switch is a sequencer reset.

Features
- Create powerful noisy rhythms and unpredictable sounds
- Portable design in wood and acrilic
- Sync by Clock, lead or follow the pitch
- CV output
- Stereo oscillators output

Specifications
Polyphony: monophonic
Oscillators: Four fixed oscillators square/pulse
Control: CV in-out, Clock in-out
Power source: 12 Volts (center positive) (Not included)

IMPORTANT SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS!
- Do not exceed a 15VDC wall wart
- Make sure the wall wart has at least 300 to 1000mA capacity

Weight: 500g
Dimensions: 10,5cm(H) x 13cm(D) x 13cm(W)"

"The Sismo Qad4 is a portable squarewave generator with four analog oscillators, ajustable by pitch potenciometers, built in amplifier and output, powered by batery or external power source.

Features
- Create a drones, noises and atmospheres
- Record to make a sample bank or play alive at your home studio, stage or any other place
- Low current design extends battery life
- Built in amplifier and speaker

Specifications
Polyphony: monophonic
Oscillators: Four oscillators square/pulse
Power source: 9V Battery or 9VDC adapter (center positive) (Not included)

IMPORTANT SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS!
- Do not exceed a 15VDC wall wart
- Make sure the wall wart has at least 300 to 1000mA capacity

Weight: 500g
Dimensions: 8cm(H) x 5,5cm(D) x 9cm(W)"

Instant EWI Pro for Logic Pro X

Published on Apr 1, 2014 Bernie Kenerson·235 videos

"Instant EWI Pro for Logic Pro X has arrived. Now with Smart Controls! With Instant EWI and Smart Controls its fast and easy to dial in presets for expressive EWI control and playablilty. Order from the 'Instant EWI' page at www.berniekenerson.com"

1985 Ensoniq's "This is a Mirage. This is not." Ad

via Retro Synth Ads where you'll find the full write-up & additional scans.

"Ensoniq Mirage "This is a Mirage. This is not." page and a half black and white advertisement from page 66 and 67 in the July 1985 issue of Electronics & Music Makers magazine."

Braids sound module (Mutable instr), PCB for DIY synthesizer module and displays

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

via this auction

"Hi for sale is a new PCB for Mutable instruments Braids synthesizer / sound module, it is only the board that you are buying, plus the two displays required (as a bonus) and will suit electronic / synth enthusiast, requires obtaining components (mostly SMT) and assembly and also compiling and flashing the firmware etc, bill of material and source codes available at Mutable Instruments web page [here & here]

This is a complex project, even though the board is not big and not huge number of components, it is for those who know what they are doing and are willing to do building from scratch rather than buy a full module, the module is priced @ ~ 300 Euro.

I only sell the PCB (made in Australia), and the two display modules with this board, as this was for my project, no longer interested in doing synths, doing other hobbies now, I do not provide any technical assistance or troubleshooting or anything else, it is all up to you to obtain components and build it and set up, all the info is at the site - link above, again it is complex project and requires hard work and knowledge - you are only getting a PCB from me.

Please only bid if you know what you are buying and know how to use it."

Klee Cats

via Paul Appliancide on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

"Uglysound Electronics complaint department."

New Synthrotek Miami Booty Bass Eurorack Modular Synth Module

Published on Apr 1, 2014 synthrotek·128 videos

http://www.synthrotek.com

"Only at synthrotek.com will you find the Miami Booty Bass Eurorack Module. 25 classic 24 bit Miami Bass samples with CV control over:
-bass
-ass
-booty
-depth
Gett deep into this module, out in late 2014.
$799 MSRP - Due to license fees. Worth Every Penny. Only Available at the Muff Wiggler Store online."

Synthrotek Optical Theremin COMPLETE UNIT Noise Zombie Graphics w/ EKO

Published on Apr 1, 2014
http://store.synthrotek.com/Evil_Eye_...
Synthrotek on eBay

"Check out our demo of the completed Synthrotek Optical Theremin Console. Pitch and Volume optical and knob controls in this handy performance ready package, makes any Noise-Hound screech for joy. Takes 9V center Negative AC Adapter and 9V battery ready. 1/4" cable out, for easy use with your guitar pedal and amp lineup. Buy now."