"Details and demos of both the Roland SR-JV80-04 Vintage Synth card highlighting the GR-300 emulation, plus a demo of a new Native Instruments GR-300 patch based on Scott Summer's original Roland patch."
"#7 (of 12) from my 'Oberheim Etudes'. 'Etude' simply means 'study', and in music is used to describe a piece written to challenge/develop a specific technical/musical difficulty. This work focuses on phase displacement. When the actual performance finishes, there's a short section illustrating what is happening in the work at a technical level, i.e. 3-note LH phrases against 4-note RH phases. Skip to 3:47 for the explanatory section.
What makes this work difficult is twofold:
1) Playing evenly/metronomically for 3 1/2 minutes (in this performance I'm slowing down at certain points to emphasise new phrases, but I've indicated on the score that the piece can also be played entirely evenly - it all depends on desired effect)
2) Thinking two thoughts at once/holding two thoughts in the mind for the entire duration of the work.
Playing this work is the equivalent of having two arpeggiators running in upward sequence motion.
On a musical level - and with respect the title:
Sometimes it is best when a composer doesn't explain titles, as doing so can 'explain away' the secrets of a work - and leave nothing for the listener to discover. However, this work being a study, I feel it is best to give some insight:
'Twins' refers to the two lines running throughout - both are harmonically 'of the same family'.
'Ascending' refers to the upward arpeggiation sequences.
'Descending' - this one is slightly less obvious, but the actual harmonic phrasing/direction of the work is in descent i.e. chord 2 is lower than chord 1, chord 3 lower than chord 2 etc. The work is based around 4-bar harmonically descending sequences. This is likely obvious to the ear at the staccato section (1:57). So - whilst the sequences are ascending, the overall movement is one of descent.
PS take note what I'm playing isn't 'polyrhythmic'. Phase displacement is occasionally erroneously described as 'polyrhythmic', when polyrhythms refers specifically to different note divisions per beat i.e. 3 notes per beat against 4 notes per beat.
I'll possibly upload one or two more from this set over the next week or so.
Demo of the YAMAHA YS200 digital synthesizer (frequency modulation synthesis) from 1988. All sounds and all effects came from the YS200, no additional effects were used. I play mostly some strange pads and ambient-like sounds, which I like most on this synth.
The YS200 is an interesting synth with FM synthesis (frequency modulation) with 4-operators and built in 8-track sequencer and built in effects (reverb, delay and distortion, all editable). The desktop version of the YS200 is the Yamaha TQ5 module, which also has an unique design :-)
The YS200 is easy to program thanks to its "EASY EDIT" parameters, which are very effective for sound tweaks. I love its design and sound!"
"Continuing my personal torture to determine if one of my poly synths is surplus to requirements, here is a video looking at simple polyphonic patch creation with the Novation Peak."
And with the original synth, the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5:
Synth Sounds of Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight" | Reverb Synth Sounds
Published on Dec 7, 2017 Reverb
"Can you feel it coming? William Kurk takes on this Phil Collins classic by exploring the rhythms and tones that make this jam an instantly recognizable classic using both vintage drum machines and modern software. Welcome to the #SynthSounds of... Phil Collins."
"Roland Jupiter 8 analog synthesizer demo. Playing sounds on vintage Jupiter-8 synth from Roland including arpeggiator, PWM, white noise and LFO tweaks.
The Roland Jupiter 8 an 8-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer from Roland which was released in the early 1980s. The Jupiter-8 was Roland's flagship synth at the time, and features discrete analog circuitry including 2 VCOs, 2 LFOs, a 12/24fb LPF, HPF, 2 ADSR envelopes, osc sync and cross-mod, portamento and arpeggiator.
The Jupiter-8 has a sweet analog sound, a colorful and inviting front panel layout, and is an all around versatile analog synthesizer. The Roland Jupiter 8 synthesizer has attained legendary synth status and has been used by countless musicians and has been played on many hit songs over the years. The Jupiter 8 commands very high prices on the second hand market these days.
This Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer demo was filmed at the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Oakland, CA."
arpeggiator module demo #1 - percussa ssp Published on Sep 30, 2018 PERCUSSA
"2 arpeggiators driven by the step sequencer module on the ssp, each arpeggiator sending a pitch signal to a different sine wave oscillator. The 2nd arpeggiator is choosing randomly between step increase/decrease. Learn more about the ssp at www.percussa.com"
Signal input - feed a signal into this input from which the arpeggio will start (e.g. a pitch signal such as the L1 output from the step sequencer)
Clock input - feed a clock signal into this input, which will be either multiplied or divided internally by the arpeggiator’s internal clock divider/multiplier (e.g. the clock output of the step sequencer)
Reset gate input - feed a gate signal into this input to “reset” the arpeggiator to the level present at the signal input (e.g. the G1 output of a step sequencer)
The module has the following outputs:
Out - the output of the arpeggiator
Gate - a gate signal going high for each arpeggio “step”
Clock Multiplier Out - the divided/multiplied clock created using the clock input, internally in the arpeggiator.
As you can see, you can use the arpeggiator module also simply as a clock multiplier. Just feed it a clock and grab the multiplied/divided output from the arpeggiator’s clock multiplication output.
The parameters of the arpeggiator:
Step - this is the value that the arpeggiator adds to the input signal each time it advances a “step”. Can be both positive for a climbing arpeggio or negative for a falling arpeggio. The output of the arpeggiator will wrap around, which means that if the arpeggio is long enough to “clip” the signal it will wrap around and show up at the bottom of the signal.
Length - the number of “steps” in the arpeggio
Ratio - clock division / multiplication factor
Rand - will randomly add/subtract the step value on each arpeggio “step” so you get a randomly climbing/falling arpeggio."
"ARP PRO-DGX Vintage Digital Synthesizer. Good working condition. Can not gaurantee everything is working at optimal level. All keys and effects seem to be working fine. Has not been serviced. All original parts still intact. May need looked over by a service professional to ensure everything is working at an optimal level. Produces amazing sounds that can be heard in recordings from the 1970's to early eighties. Solid metal housing. Dimensions 33.25 in. x 13.5 in. x 4.75 in. Weighs approx. 32 lbs.
Preset sounds:
Bassoon, English Horn, Oboe, Clarinet, Flute, Tuba, Trombone, French Horn, Trumpet, Cello, Violin, Bass, Piano, Banjo, Fuzz, Guitar 1, Buzz Bassoon, Sax, Space Reed, Telstar, Song Whistle, Noze, Pulsar, Comic Wow, Mute Trumpet, Steel Guitar, Harpsichord, Space Bass, Steel Drum, Country Guitar, Fuzz Guitar 2"
"ARP PRO-DGX Vintage Digital Synthesizer. Good working condition. Can not gaurantee everything is working at optimal level. All keys and effects seem to be working fine. Has not been serviced. All original parts still intact. May need looked over by a service professional to ensure everything is working at an optimal level. Produces amazing sounds that can be heard in recordings from the 1970's to early eighties. Solid metal housing. Dimensions 33.25 in. x 13.5 in. x 4.75 in. Weighs approx. 32 lbs.
