Modular Music Days 2015: Patrick Pulsinger Performance

Published on Sep 18, 2015 Synth Anatomy

"Modular Music Days 2015 was a modular Synthesizer event in Linz (Austria).

This is a part of the performance of Patrick Pulsinger. He used the Formant Modular Synthesizer and also the Nord Micro Modular"

X1L3 - circuit bent - synth mod - yamaha DD-10 drum machine with midi

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated. X1L3 - Circuit bent Yamaha DD-10 - evolving percussion

Published on Jun 26, 2015 manufacturedZ3R0 .

"Improvised percussive set utilising the internal sounds and the additional oscillators that have been added. The oscillators can be set to drone or to follow the amp envelope of the output as shown here. A very simple drum pattern in order to show how much this can do on such a basic foundation."

X1L3 - Circuit bent Yamaha DD-10 - power electronics / noise wall

Published on Jun 26, 2015

"Improvised set of PE / noise wall and ambience generated with the embedded oscillators and fx in the DD-10.

Since the DD-10 is near 'unbendable' and seeing a modified one is a rarity i thought i'd give it a go and see what i could come up with."

via this auction

"Circuit bent - midi retrofit - yamaha DD-10 drum machine.

Modifications and embedded circuitry:

Analogue resonant filter with high pass and low pass bands
Gain, resonance, low pass/high pass toggle and cutoff
A nice warm filter based on the synthacon.
Lot's of resonance and a unique character of it's own.
Violent, squelchy and crunchy when overdriven in this machine.


Digital 'death industrial' delay
Rate, noise, feedback, off/on toggle
This delay variant is based on the formula applied and the output of circuit bent delay pedals which have been sold in the past.
A versatile and if desired aggressive set up that can drift between ambience, echo and all out harsh noise wall and power electronics.

Analogue distortion
Dual mode distortion with diode clipping, filter and gain.

PSU - DC hum suppression circuitry
A regulated psu is now built into the machine.
This gives a stable and quiet power supply to both the drum machine and additional circuitry as well as
providing a quiet output and excellent noise floor.
Input voltage is +12V tip positive running 2 amps.
Please be aware of the amp rating of your adapter. It MUST run 2 amps or above.
Suitable adapters are available at low cost on ebay.
If shipping within the Uk i will suppply and adapter free of charge.

Master pitch control
Gives a large global pitch range - demonstrated in the demo videos The pitch has a high and low setting and a coarse and fine control. The fine control gives you conventional pitching of the drums, the coarse will take them down to vicious noise, droning and glitching. The drum machine now serves not only as a percussive instrument but a generator of abstract sounds and textures.

2 X Drone oscillator section.

The oscillators can be set up as drones or as amp envelope followers. In the first instance they turn the machine into an interesting drone and noise synth, with the features of the FX chain at hand to liven things up. In the second mode they add a tone to the drum patterns which will follow the amplitude of the pattern envelope and add a low end growl to the pattern when the distortion is engaged. Both modes are demonstrated in the videos below.

External input and mixer section.

An external input has been added which has line level and pre amp selection. You could if you wanted to plug a guitar or microphone into it now and apply the effects to the incoming signal. You can also mix this external signal in with the drum sounds and oscillators via the mixer section. Everyhting can be faded in and out as desired.

Cnc machined aluminium panel work with black anodize and engraved text and graphics

The DD-10 comes with midi as standard. It has a good and varied range of sounds and although it can't glitch as with a lot of other old DD drum machines it's been reworked here with a number of additional features to give it a warped character which can hold it's own when put side by side with the machines which are open to rom glitching. It's quite unique in how it behave and sounds now. They're something of a rarity in modified form due to how difficult they are to modify. With some forethought and synth diy application it can now hold it's own amongst the most unruly and bizzare of circuit bent instruments.

Watch the demo videos below for some examples of what it can do.

The first video is a very simple percussive pattern. Intentionally simple in order to show what the machine can do with something very basic. The second video is an improvised noise set. Constantly shifting and evolving. Quite violent at times. It shows what the DD-10 can now do outside of the confines of it's original drum machine format. Harsh noise wall, ambience, fx and power electronics are all within it's grasp."

Sequential Circuits Pro One Synthesizer

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Anyone know who that is in the background?

Sequential Circuits Pro One SN 2056

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via this auction

"It is a lower serial number with the better J-Wire keyboard

Everything works, sounds awesome, starting at a fair selling price...only one issue, you can see the plastic shielding is coming off a little bit on the power cable where it goes into it, not a big deal, I have seen pro one's with much bigger problems sell for this much."

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Roland D-50 Linear Synthesizer

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Ritm 2 Rhythm Raw Rare Analog Soviet Synthesizer

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Vintage PAIA Strings N Things Analog Synth

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Spitfire Audio Introduces EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS for their EMS VCS3 Inspired Virtual Instrument

Published on Sep 3, 2015 Spitfire Audio

"Spitfire Audio adds another ‘off-grid’ twist to evolving, EMS VCS3-inspired VIs for its Producer Portfolio

LONDON, UK: Spitfire Audio, purveyors of the finest virtual instruments from the finest musical samples in the world, is proud to announce availability of PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS, the latest creative chapter in its evocatively-named, evolving EVO GRID series of ‘off-grid’ sample-based virtual instruments initially inspired by the trailblazing late-Sixties-vintage EMS VCS3 portable analogue monosynth and perfectly executed for the Native Instruments KONTAKT platform-compatible Producer Portfolio range — itself launched to satisfy repeated requests for drier-sounding, more manipulative samples for more non-orchestral material, as of September 18…

Following on from the success of Spitfire Audio’s prototypical PP017 EVO GRID 001 STRINGS and its phenomenal PP020 EVO GRID 002 STRINGS followup, as implied by name, PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS takes the so-called ‘Evo’ concept from its inception in strings into the wonderful world of woodwinds. What is an Evo, exactly? Evos are hyper-long, sample-based articulations that evolve — sometimes subtly, sometimes severely — over time before looping. These are then organised on a grid so users can plot which evolution or ‘Evo’ sits on which key range, resulting in a GUI (Graphical User Interface) inspired by the breakthrough British EMS VCS3, which made musical history upon its introduction in 1969 by being the first commercially portable synthesiser available anywhere in the world, thanks to its innovative modular matrix-based patchboard dispensing with the telephone exchange-like cabling of other (much larger) modular systems in favour of making space-saving connections with (removable) coloured pins.

PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS heads on a similarly flexible sonic bearing, but within the computer-hosted context of a truly 21st Century sample-based virtual instrument fit for ‘off-grid’ minimal musical explorations. Employing some of the UK’s finest, most progressive, and avant-garde woodwind players performing beautifully-orchestrated long notes that increase in intensity and expression, evolving into out-of-this world soundscapes, this eclectic collection of woodwind evolutions designed by Ben Foskett foster an exceptional edge to anyone’s musical endeavours. Returning to record at the ultra-dry, yet warm-sounding surroundings of Central London’s Air-Edel Recording Studios using the finest vintage microphones, Neve preamps, and the last Cadac studio console ever built, ‘Foskett & Co.’ set about creating a product that oozes originality and positively provides inspiration to all that use it. The result? 3,312 superlative samples — some 18.5GB of uncompressed .WAV files — that do just that by doing things with woodwinds that are totally unexpected, yet uniquely musical in execution.

At Air-Edel Recording Studios two subtly different performing lineups — Band A comprising FLUTE (3), ALTO FLUTE (1), BASS FLUTE (1), CONTRA BASS FLUTE (1), Bb CLARINET (3), and Bb BASS CLARINET (3); Band B comprising OBOE (3), COR ANGLAIS (2), Bb CLARINET (2), Bb BASS CLARINET (1), Bb BASS CLARINET (1), BARITONE SAX (1), and BASSOON (3) — led Spitfire Audio to ultimately provide PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS users with a nuanced selection of sounds. Some are more reedy-sounding, others more flutey. This time the resultant Evo count stands at a healthy 48 spread across 12 pitch regions — including an additional five grids of wonderfully-warped, saturated, and totally transformed versions of each and every Evo — resulting in an almost infinite number of possibilities. Pressing the save button is important… all the more so given the many randomisation options that are also provided!

Fortunately for (potential) PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS purchasers, Spitfire Audio has helpfully seen fit to carefully curate those extraordinary Evos into a number of spring-right-out-of-the-box-style patches — from seemingly-simple tutti-type affairs, featuring all Evos evenly spread across the keyboard, through to various diagonal patterns, as well as a handy feature for randomly creating pinned patterns from the near-infinite number of configuration possibilities — perfectly demonstrating not only the tense and extreme elements of the library but also the effortlessly-engaging ‘episodic’ Evos! Easily-accessible front panel-positioned FX controls (for Reverb, Delay, and Tape Sat.) help make this into a tool truly designed for producers — hence the Producer Portfolio range association, as well as composers, editors, and sound designers alike. Anyone needing a spellbinding solution from the moment they touch the keyboard, in other words! Like the self-explanatory SIMPLE TENSE SCARY subtitling of the PP017 EVO GRID 001 STRINGS and TRADITIONAL EPISODIC EXTREME subtitling of PP020 EVO GRID 002 STRINGS before it, PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS can be as time-saving as the trailblazing EMS VCS3 was once space-saving.

Saying that, PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS perfectly compliments that recently-released PP017 EVO GRID 001 STRINGS sample-based virtual instrument — an extraordinary collection of long, evolving chamber strings orchestrated by Ben Foskett before being given Spitfire Audio’s adventurous Evo treatment — and its PP020 EVO GRID 002 STRINGS sibling. Says Spitfire Audio Director Paul Thomson: “We’ve got a collection of incredible players here — very progressive, avant-garde wind players, playing beautifully-orchestrated long notes from Ben Foskett that evolve with increases in intensity and expression and different techniques to give you a really beautiful series of long, evolving tones that you can use to work with in a similar way to the STRINGS EVO GRID releases. The EVO GRID GUI is the same as before, so you’ll recognise all of the controls. There are lots and lots of possibilities — millions of possibilities, in fact, so it’s a really creative tool. We’re very proud of it. It’s very different from the strings evolutions that we’ve put out so far, but it’s very, very useful.”

Indeed it is. In this day and age of delivering more musical content against a backdrop of diminishing deadlines and budgetary constraints, composers are often asked to engage the listener by doing very little — least of all changing notes, all those EVO GRID releases represent Spitfire Audio’s masterplan for providing them with a solution to this taxing conundrum. Just ask award-winning composer — and fellow Spitfire Audio Director Christian Henson. Commissioned to write 13 hours of music for a sprawling, epic TV series, but with no budget for orchestra and only three months in which to do it, a quick string sampling session subsequently ensued, during which he fortuitously recorded a series of greatly differing long strings evolutions. Staggered by the resulting sample instrument, where the chaotic nature of different evolutions placed over different intervals made for exciting and unexpected results, he semi-seriously stated, “I could literally hit a big C minor chord, hold my sustain pedal down, reach for my sandwich, and the thing would still be writing itself a minute later while I was wiping mayo off my beard!” From the smallest seed… and all that jazz.


PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS and its PP017 EVO GRID 001 STRINGS and PP020 EVO GRID 002 STRINGS sample-based virtual instrument siblings can be purchased and downloaded directly from Spitfire Audio for £179.00 GBP (subject to VAT within the EU) from here:
http://www.spitfireaudio.com/products-page (Note that Spitfire Audio’s free Download Manager application for Mac or PC allows you to buy now and download anytime while a full version of Native Instruments KONTAKT 5 is needed to run these Producer Portfolio products.)


For more in-depth info, including an ear-opening audio demo, please visit the PP025 EVO GRID 004 WOODWINDS webpage here: http://www.spitfireaudio.com/pp-evo-grid-4-woodwinds"

Moog Modular Build Time Lapse

Published on Sep 17, 2015 robotmakers

"The last steps in a long project to bring some 1990s vintage Moog modules back to life. Cabinets expertly built by EMWhite. Moon Modular modules for signal distribution. First recordings from the synth are heard."

Yamaha Reface CS Review - Virtual Analog

Published on Sep 18, 2015 sonicstate

"In our look at the second synth in the range from Yamaha, we take a look at the Reface CS an 8 voice virtual analog with the AN1x engine at its core, but it does it have a certain something?"

https://yamahasynth.com
Reface on eBay