Oberheim OBXa evolving dark tones

Published on Apr 1, 2019 synthlegends

"Some dark evolving pads most in dual mode and tweakied filter, resonance, LFO, portamento ... I used effects, on both stereo channels BOSS Chorus Pedals and in line Strymon Big Sky reverb."

MIDERA | Berkeley Paradox

Published on Apr 1, 2019 MIDERA

Elektron Analog Keys
Korg ESX

Ess and the Digitone - King of FM! #TSR19

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Gaz Williams

"I am a self confessed Elektron nut and it was my great pleasure to chat with Ess from Elektron about the Digitone FM synthesizer. Although not new (it was released last year), I felt that the way the Digitone offers a fresh look at FM it deserved another look. Ess also makes superb music that reminds me of the early 90s electronic music scene I was part of.

This video is from Thomann's fabulous Synth Reactor event that I took part in.

Ess's music can be found here: https://auvrel.bandcamp.com"

SYNTHPLEX Pics - Minimoog Prototypes & Hybrid System with 8 SEMs, Minimoog & Taurus Pedals

A few pics and short summary in via an anonymous reader.

"So I went to Synthplex on a complete whim this year. I originally wasn't going to go but one of my coworkers convinced me to check it out. I'm very glad that I did!

I arrived just in time for the BT keynote, which is where my friend was waiting for me. I had no problems with getting a seat right near the front. The talk was very nice, and mostly focused on the subject of appreciating synthesizers as instruments, as opposed to using them as preset banks.

Afterwards we headed to the popup synth museum, which was adjacent to the halls which held the keynotes. The museum was a bit out of the way and so it wasn't too busy and it was relatively easy to get in front of a synth. In terms of keyboards, it was my first time with a CS-80, MemoryMoog, and Jupiter 4. I really liked all of them! The Jupiter 8 which they had was also very nice.

The one surprise for me was the EML Electrocomp 101. Wow that thing is fun! Too bad that used prices on them are a bit out of control at the moment :-\

After that we finally made our way to the vendors halls. You've seen the video by now [see here], but there was a guy there with some very early Moog prototypes. Holy cow, I never expected to see those there.

Other highlights were the Waldorf Kyra at the Waldorf booth, which now had quite a few presets added to it, and a Moog 3p at the Noisebug booth. The latter, I would totally buy in a heartbeat if I could. What an inspiring beast. I might take a trip out to Noisebug to check it out. I was a bit disappointed/surprised that Moog didn't have a booth though. I was looking forward to finally trying out the Moog One in person.

Finally, the single coolest thing that I saw was this beast at the Rosen Sound booth.

8 voices of Oberheim SEM, plus a built in MiniMoog Model D, and Taurus pedals. Wow what a sound. After playing that thing and the CS-80 in the same day, I would take an Oberheim 8 voice over the CS-80. It makes me more than a little sad that Tom Oberheim wasn't able to get his 4 voice synth out the door.

Overall, I'm super glad that I went, and being there put me in a better mood in regards to my music hobby. I actually feel like making music again. I'm already looking forward to next year's event and am planning on spending more time there, especially in regards to the keynote speakers and concerts. It might be something that you would enjoy as well :D"

Update: image of Rush's Geddy Lee with the system sent my way via @analogsteve. I thought that looked familiar. Here's another image of the system with the top SEM section separated.

Update2 via @Chris_Randall of Audio Damage: "It wasn’t the real one. It is a “cover version” he made. Virtually identical, though."

Hexinverter Mindphaser At SYNTHPLEX 2019

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Perfect Circuit

"The Mindphaser is a new type of complex oscillator with analog phase modulation. The first part of this video you can hear the Mindphaser as the synth voice with some of the Hexinverter drum modules. This is all sequenced by a Digitakt and Mutant Brain combo which is a powerful way to sequence your eurorack modules. In the second part of this video you can hear the Mindphaser droning and modulating itself.

Hexinverter products available here: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/hexinv..."

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Supporters of MATRIXSYNTH get %10 off at Perfect Circuit!

Mystic Circuits Pfrsilator LoFi Video Oscillator SYNTHPLEX 2019

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Perfect Circuit

"Mystic Circuits is working on a new lofi and glitchy video oscillator called the Pfrsilator that made all of these beautiful color patterns in this video. The sounds in the video also feature Mystic Circuit modules including the new Portal which is a wave wrapping distortion/waveshaper.

Mystic Circuit modules available here: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/mystic..."

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Supporters of MATRIXSYNTH get %10 off at Perfect Circuit!

LambdaSpeak & LambdaDrum for the Amstrad CPC

LambdaSpeak 3 - Simple 10 Track Pattern Sequencer / Drum Sequencer

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Michael Wessel

You might remember the Next-Generation Speech Synthesizer for the Amstrad / Schneider CPC 464 from Michael Wessel. Here are a three new videos featuring the LambdaSpeak & LambdaDrum for the Amstrad CPC, in via Michael Wessel. The LambdaDrum is a High Quality 10 Track 4 Channel PCM Pattern-based Drum Computer for the Amstrad CPC (a feature of the LambdaSpeak 3.0 Speech Synthesizer).
Related: Also check out the Amstrad CPC - Vocal synthesizer by Techni Musique (1986).

Video description for the above:
"A simple 10 track pattern-based drum computer for LambdaSpeak 3 (written entirely in BASIC).

This is a demo of 4channel polyphonous PCM sample playing with LambdaSpeak 3. Here, up to 4 channels of 8 Bit 16 kHz PCM are being played in parallel.

The LambdaSpeak 3 board has a socket for an (optional) vintage GI SPO256-AL2 speech chip, which is being used in this demo as well. The SPO256-ALs has its own channel (8) and track (11), and is being used for random allophones here."

LambdaDrum CPC Drum Computer Demo - 4 Channels of 8 Bit PCM @ 16 kHz

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Michael Wessel

"Spent some more time optimizing the PCM playback capabilities of LambdaSpeak 3. By now I have 4 channels of high quality 8 Bit PCM.

In this video, 16 kHz drum samples are being used. 16 kHz are a good compromise between size and quality. The samples are from the Boss DR 660 drum computer, and can be found online. Combined, these 10 samples are about 120 KBytes in size - a good fit for LambdaSpeak's 128 KBytes of PCM EEPROM sample memory!

Some ome pre-processing needs to be applied to the samples before they can be used with LambdaSpeak - first I am using Audacity for PCM editing (cutting, fading, normalizing, ...), then the Switch Sound File Converter for conversion to 8Bit 16 kHz PCM, and finally a program to remove all file and PCM headers from the PCM files.

The resulting PCM files are then put on a standard CPC DSK file and being uploaded into LambdaSpeak's EEPROM memory using a simple CPC BASIC program (a MC program would do the 120 KByte upload in a few seconds).

The drum computer program shown here is a simple BASIC program - all the actual PCM playback is done by LambdaSpeak, not by the CPC. The CPC would be incabable of serving PCM of that quality over its databus (insufficient CPU band width and clock speed)."

LambdaDrum Pattern Sequencer in BASIC

Published on Mar 25, 2019 Michael Wessel

"A simple pattern-based drum computer in BASIC, demonstrating the polyphonous high quality PCM sample playing mode of LambdaSpeak 3.

The PCM samples are from the Boss DR-660 drum computer and have been been uploaded from the CPC into the 128 KB SPI EEPROM of LambdaSpeak 3, from which they are also being played back in realtime. The EEPROM is a standard, inexpensive 25LC1024.

The recording is direct line-out; no further audio post processing. The DAC is done by the ATmega and a simple RC; no further audio circuitry is being used.

The on-the-fly mixing of different PCM channels (for polyphony) still requires some fine tuning; there are still some artifacts."

Update: also see: LambdaSpeak 3 - Amstrad / Schneider CPC MIDI IN Synthesizer Demo

See the Amstrad label below for more.

Intellijel Tête (Tetrapad Expander), Quadrax & Palette At SYNTHPLEX 2019

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Perfect Circuit

"Intellijel showed us the Tête expander for the Tetrapad which adds features including sequencing and motion recording. They also had an updated version of the Quadra, the Quadrax which is a quad envelope and LFO with CV controls and a built in modulation matrix. All of this is housed inside of their new Palette case which is a compact 4U 62HP case with a few built in utilities and connections.

Intellijel products available here: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/intell..."

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Supporters of MATRIXSYNTH get %10 off at Perfect Circuit!

Analogue Solutions Impulse Command Stereo Synthesizer Demo

Published on Apr 1, 2019 rezfilter

"Here's another (extended) demo of the Analogue Solutions Impulse Command synthesizer. This demo shows the extreme stereo capabilities of the synth, so headphones are required (naturally).

Yes, we're talking DUAL filters and the ability to modulate these across the stereo field in ferociously musical ways!

Impulse Command is a stereo analogue synth / sonic realiser. Perfect for melodic and percussion loops. Very easy (and fun!) to create modular style analogue loops. It’s a complete sound track all by itself!

It’s wrong to call it a synthesizer (in fact a new word needs to be invented) because then you get preconceived ideas about what it does. It’s a whole lot more than a synth. It’s also part drum synth, part pattern generator, part modular loop producer.

All its unique features plus the 2 independent LPFs give this machine the ability to produce stereo loops that sound like multiple synths playing at once."

Analogue Solutions Impulse Command

SoundForce introduces MIDI controller for u-he’s Repro-1 plugin

via SoundForce:

"SoundForce presents a new model to its dedicated USB-MIDI controllers product line: the SFC-1, a controller especially designed for the fantastic u-he’s Repro-1 plugin.

Features
With a whopping total of 51 pots, 41 slide switches and 6 tactile switches, you can control every single MIDI-mappable parameter of the plugin in analog fashion. The awesome effect chain is also fully-covered on the bottom section of the controller.

Every control is assigned to a default CC number, but that can be changed using our control panel app in Google Chrome. A shift button unlocks an alternative channel for each pot, allowing you to control potentially 51 extra parameters. Even more user-specific controls are possible with the extra set of user-assignable switches and pots.

Build quality
The enclosure is made of 100% sheet metal. The case is made of bent steel and powder coated in black. The front panel is aluminium, also powder coated and screen printed with scratch-proof white ink. Please note that the final product will have a plain black powder coat, not structured like the pictures are showing. Discrete and minimalistic wooden pieces of 6 mm thickness are added to the sides. Dimensions are: 380 mm x 173 mm x 55 mm (Length x Width x Height).

The SFC-1 is a boutique controller manufactured in small batches in the Netherlands. A lot of operations are still performed by hand and automation is used when possible to improve quality and processes.


Shipping & pricing
The controller will start to ship in June. You can come check it out at Prolight+Sound/Musikmesse in Frankfurt (on Thursday and Friday only, in Hall 8 Booth B10 - Audio Maker Square) and Superbooth in Berlin (Booth O501). 100 pieces will be made in the first batch. The price will be 329 euros including VAT for EU-customers and 271 euros outside the EU. Pre-order now on the webshop: http://sound-force.nl

3 other SoundForce MIDI controllers are still currently available : SFC-Mini (for Minimoog plugins), SFC-60 (for the TAL Juno 60 emulation plugin) and SFC-5 (for the P5 plugins)."