John Bowen Solaris - New Presets and Demo

Published on Mar 2, 2017 Stephen Hummel

"Volume 8 of the 'Circuits and Strings' series of studio jam videos from subtractiveLAD aka: Stephen Hummel.

My usual musical meanderings were pleasantly interrupted by the arrival of John Bowen's Solaris synthesizer in my studio.

I made some of the factory preset patches for when the synth was originally released years ago. Having it around again has been great and I've pretty much been lost in patch-making heaven since it got here. I thought it would be fun to show you the patches that I have made so far, with short little musical pieces to help demonstrate each preset. Some of the modulation stuff is more exaggerated than what I would normally do in a track but it is to show some of what the synth is capable of. Most of the preset demos feature music that I recorded as MIDI data which is then sent back into the synth from Reaper - just wanted my hands free for the joystick and ribbon, etc.

All sounds are from the Solaris only, no other effects or processing, with the exception of a little Verbzilla on the Blade Runner patch...

I feel like I've only scratched the surface on this thing and new ideas keep crowding my brain.

PS: The wooden end cheeks are taken off of this unit as it was being used for programming updates before coming to me."

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Rare Ultimate Percussion K2-x

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via this auction

"Ultimate Percussion K2-X Analog Synthesizer System
8 Channel drum/synth with built in sequencer.

Nice analogue drum module. Very different to Simmons and Tama units. Has 8 individual channels/sounds. Can be triggered by a CV sequencer or other drum triggers (not included). Each channel/sound has its own input trigger and individual output. It also has a stereo output. There is a stereo EQ for the output also. The onboard preset sequencer is very basic, not programmable, just has a few preset sequences that can play. The Ultimate Percussion K2-X is a very unit, I have two of them, the one I am selling is the same as the one in the pictures. There's a link to a youtube video I made a while back testing it with a 707 as the trigger. Not a great deal of info around about this one, a few of them pop up on matrix synth from time to time.

Pros, good bass, really nice white noise and pure analogue snares and hat type sounds. Toms are what you would expect from an analogue drum module. Used by PLAID (apparently)
Cons, it's very green. It's big.

Good condition. It's a vintage unit so comes with a few bumps and scratches here and there but overall is in great condition. Looks good. All the knobs have their caps.

more info: 8 trigger inputs
Individual outputs + stereo main outputs and headphone output
One special Bass drum channel
One special Snare channel
Six completely tuneable oscillator synth channels
All channels have these controls - Level, Pan, Trigger Sensitivity, Decay, Bite, Noise Filter, Noise + VCO mix, VCO pitch and VCO Sweep
All channels have Pulse button - Pulse generates an in tempo trigger."

Only a handful of these have been featured on the site.

Vintage Yamaha CS-30 Keyboard Synthesizer w/ Original Box SN 2633

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via this auction

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Buchla

Published on Mar 2, 2017 Cray

An MPC Before the MPC? DYNAMIC DRUMS by New Wave Software for the Amiga

Amiga Demo - DYNAMIC DRUMS by New Wave Software Published on Mar 2, 2017 peahix

Thought this was interesting. It's a video demo for DYNAMIC DRUMS by New Wave Software for the Amiga. Notice anything familiar? The UI is a standard MPC style drum grid. Only thing is, according to this site, and the copyright date on the back of the box, this software came out in 1987. You can see the date in the image below. The first MPC to be released from Akai? The MPC-60 in 1988. This software predates it. Wasn't the MPC-60 supposed to be revolutionary for introducing the grid-based pad layout? Does anyone know of any earlier hardware or software that used this format? I'm sure there will be something I forgot and totally overlooked, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. A funny side note: If this is the first time the classic grid-based drum pad layout came out, then virtual predated actual in this case.

Video description:
"Back in the late 80s I used to use this obscure drum machine program on my Amiga called Dynamic Drums (later Dynamic Studio). I noticed that hardly anyone else used this thing or remembers it, so I thought I'd make a little video of it playing its factory demo songs via WinUAE. I always liked the lo-fi punchiness of the built-in drum samples, and I used them on alot of tracks back in the day, usually synced to my Ensoniq ESQ-1. There's a glitch in the video which causes the screen to go black a few times, but I couldn't be bothered to go back and redo it so sorry about about that."

Pics of the box, description and discs for DYNAMIC DRUMS via Amiga Future.

Update via gwenhwyfaer in the comments: "The Boss DR220(A or E) had its pads in a grid layout in 1986. It may well not have been the first."

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Volca Circuit Sunrizer Poison 202 House Classics Session 2 - 808 State Pacific State

Published on Mar 2, 2017 014london70

"A basic rendition from memory of this house classic. On listening back I realise it's out of key, but hey ho :) Circuit is Sequencing Sunrizer and Poison 202. Recorded to iPhone via a Behringer Xenyx mixer and mastered in Final Touch."

Moog Source Sync Interface Document & Accessories Price list Including DEVO Presets & Painter's Cap

SOURCE Addenda - Software Revisions 3.2 and above, covering the Sequencer, Cassette Interface, Digital Board Modifications, Digital Board Wiring, and Source Software and accessories.

An interesting and useful bit of synth history in via Matt who spotted this previous post of a Moog Source with the DIN Sync In mod.  It's meant to be used as a Drum Interface for clock sync.

"Your article is one of the few that pop up on the net when you search for info on it. I found the attached document which is a pretty cool memo from Moog. It includes information about how the interface works and a catalog of accessories that were available at the time."

The doc as you can see if from 1983. You can click on each image for a larger more legible version.

Check out the last price list page with the following:

Cassette of factory programs.
Cassette of programs by Jan Hamer.
Cassette of DEVO programs by Mark Mothersbaugh
Cassette of programs by Gary Wright.
Various Cables and Cords
White Painter’s Cap for $5
Source T-Shirt with "May the Source be With You" for $6

I'm curious what the hat and T looked like.

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Bamboo - Moog Mother 32 and Eurorack Generative Patch

Published on Mar 2, 2017 ann annie

"A self generative patch with the Moog Mother 32 and Sputnik Modular Coast Random Source in the Eurorack. Recorded in one take using no computer. Reverb and delay from JHS Alpine and MXR Carbon copy, as well as the Delta Labs Effectron III for texture synthesis.

Using the KORG SQ-1 as a clock generator and mod source.

If you'd like to download the track, head here: https://annannie.bandcamp.com/track/b..."

RyuX CEM3320 VCF Filter Eurorack Modular

Published on Mar 2, 2017 RyuX

"Highpass Filter Design based on CEM3320"

Metasonix S1000 Prototype Tube Based Analog Synth in Custom Cabinet

S1000protoincab Published on Mar 2, 2017 Metasonix Metasonix

"This is the previously mentioned prototype S-1000 in its massive custom cabinet. Yes, thanks to the Synhouse MIDI-CV it is 'playable like a musical instrument' more or less. This was a failed prototype, we have already found a buyer for it. Just showing that it all works. And yes, it literally sounds like this, the mic in the camera is a pretty good one and is not fooling you."