Buchla rhythm - Buchla 208 / Buchla Easel Aux Card
"My new card, the Triple Sequential Voltage Source. I wanted to make something similar to the Buchla system 100 model 123.
It's basically three 8 step sequencers with variable step length and slew.
Step length control can be linked (like on the model 123) and un-linked (each sequencer can have a different length setting).
Price will be 460 euro ext VAT (if applicable). For more info and availability, mail me at rklinkenberg(at) gmail(dot) com stating 'Triple Sequential Voltage Source' in the description."
And a video from Todd Barton:
"Signal routing switch is modulated by the 208 5 step sequencer via the Mod Expander Card.
What you hear is an alternation between the MOD oscillator, the Complex oscillator & a noise source...
For more info and availability, mail me at rklinkenberg(at) gmail(dot) com stating 'Mod Expander Card' in the description."
"An update on the development of the Great Conjunction 2op FM synth based on the YM2413 sound chip from the 1908s.
I’ve been working on a new mode where any or all of the three sequencers can respond to meeting notes on specific channels. Sequencer one and sequencer two are both monophonic, but sequencer three has seven notes of polyphony.
Playing in MIDI note mode sounds pretty bizarre when running against some of the sequencers. I’m pretty much trying this for the first time here so the sounds are abrasive and weird, but I’m sure with some fine-tuning the sequencers can become incredible modulators."
"Intellijel Cascadia is sequenced by Metropolix which in turn is synced to Ableton Live via the Midi 1U module. Output A of Metropolix (CV A) has been patched to modulate the ENVELOPE A time. It is used to shorten the envelope right when the sequence is doing a faster ratcheting. The Metropolix clock output is patched to the Cascadia S&H trigger which is used to modulate the filter cutoff.
The second Pitch output of Metropolix (PITCH B) is used to sequence VCO B of Cascadia. VCO B SAW is mixed into the first channel of the Mixer as an additional melodic layer.
The Strymon Timeline is connected to the final output for some added delay fx."
"My opening set for electronic jam band Chachuba at Kenny's Westside Pub in Peoria IL May 5 2023.
Since I was opening for a high energy (not to be confused with Hi-NRG) electronic jam band, I decided to keep my set as low-key as possible. My personal gravity is extremely strong with ambient dub, so I went with that. I would really like to explore this dynamic more in these circles. Hopefully this gig wasn't the end of it.
Something that has bothered me about my live music over the past 15 years or so is that I have wanted an extemporaneous approach, but the tools I chose were more suited to improvisation than composition, because flexibility is more important to me than structure.
What this means is that with very specific exceptions, I've been playing electronic free jazz for 15 years and the stress level hit a point where I just didn't even enjoy playing any more. I would spend my entire gig having a slow-motion panic attack, terrified that what I was doing was boring and made no sense whatsoever.
I started using a tool called The Force by a brand which used to be a division of a legendary Japanese home audio company but is now in the brand basket of an MI corporation that has many faces. I spent years working with it as a sound design tool but never live, and late last year I threw up my hands in frustration with a Very Complicated live rig I spent years building and chucked it all in favour of this thing ... and I can now do TUNES again. This silly looking, horribly typecast box lets me finally interact with an electronic composition in a way that I could do as a bandleading organist with tight relationships with a drummer and a guitarist.
I have some plans to re-incorporate "electronic free jazz" into my sets but I have to build a new (smaller) live rhythm section and it will require that I design and engineer at least three new products.
In the meantime, I'm pretty happy. I had no music-related anxiety about this gig. All of my visible stress was because my Suburban suffered a transmission failure right after leaving my studio, which delayed me 2 hours, but I still started on time. I also had forgotten how to use the Pigtronix Infinity 3 loopers, because their UX sucks, and they should be ashamed of themselves. I'll be designing my own MIDI controller for them soon which will solve some of its problems but those clowns need to get their act together. I think I wasted the first five minutes of my timeslot trying to figure out why they weren't doing what they were supposed to do. (I cut that part out. It was embarassing.)
Like all of my sets, there is an intro, incidents, and interstitials. This is a tracklist:
0:00 - Intro - Suitscape in Abm 4:00 - National Suicide: Military Aid to the Soviet Union (Ebm 70 BPM) 23:00 - Suitscape in Bbm 24:53 - Dub Force Rising (70 BPM Fm) 37:55 - Suitscape in Cm 40:33 - Summertime: Temporary Love (80 BPM Gm) 50:58 - Outro - Suitscape in Dm
I'd like to thank Chachuba for insisting that I open for them, and Kenny's Westside Pub staff for being so hospitable and their owner for being gracious and generous to me. Kenny's also shot and recorded this gig, and livestreamed it. That is so damn cool.
Also, I am contractually obligated to mention periodically, but not constantly, that I am a Hammond USA company artist. They make great stuff like the XK-1c I'm playing at this gig and if you're using anyone else's products for digital Hammond sounds you should probably re-evaluate your choices. I have been playing vintage Hammond consoles since 1998 and ever since I got the XK-1c I haven't felt that hole in my electronic music that existed before, where I had no connection to my roots. I could write paragraphs about this but I need to go to bed.
"Drew showcases the sonic polyphony of this vintage Sequential Prophet-5 rev2 16-voice poly-synth, now available at the Synth Exchange! The Prophet rev2 16-voice features twice the polyphony as the rev2 8-voice synths, plus twice the mod matrix, waveshape modulation on all waveforms, and digital effects per layer in stacked or split voice mode—all of which make this Prophet-5 an analog powerhouse!
Following in the footsteps of the original Sequential Prophet-5 released in 1978—the first electronic music synthesizer to employ microprocessors for storing sounds, making it possible to recall previous patches with ease—the Prophet-5 rev2 16-voice synth represents the second iteration of Sequential’s microprocessor-controlled polyphonic synth. Boasting the highly resonant, slightly more mid-rangy sonic characteristics of the Dave Rossum-designed SSM 2040 filter, this synth became so beloved by musicians and producers that Sequential incorporated its sounds into its latest rev4 update, both to appease Sequential enthusiasts who preferred these earlier versions and to let modern users access all the quirks of previous iterations!"
"Here's what I saw / wanted to see at #Superbooth 23, plus some impressions of the event itself. I talked with @AodyoInstruments about their line of hardware modeling synths, Anyma PHI, Sylphyo and #Anyma OMEGA (thanks again for taking so much time to walk through the features!). Also a presentation of the @GamechangerAudio #Motorsynth MKII, which I already filmed last year but never got around to turn into a video. Please forgive me if I mispronounced names / got them wrong entirely. I lost some of the business cards on the way back. My bad.
Also (not in the video), https://www.manikin-electronic.com/ - they gave me an extensive demo of their Memotron Keyboard, which as a Mellotron clone with a great keyboard. It was super fun to play, but they talked so fast and enthusiastically that I had no time to restart and set up audio recorder and camera. ;-)
Table of contents: 00:00 hello 00:38 getting there, location impressions 02:09 Aodyo Anyma 11:20 more impressions! 12:09 MPMIDI controller 13:05 more impressions! 13:40 OK200 DEGREE Eurorack Performance Controller 15:15 more impressions! 16:17 some thoughts 16:44 Motor Synth MKII (of course). 26:15 thanks! :-)"
"At Superbooth 2023, we spoke to the legend that is Scott Jaeger from Industrial Music Electronics (formerly Harvestman) about the new products he has on display. First up is the Stilson Hammer Mark III, a redesigned version of the Mark II sequencer with improved reliability and added features such as gate buttons for each track, extra gate or CV outputs per track, and an OLED display. The Mark III also boasts an improved quantizer, the ability to back up sequences to SD card, and an enhanced song mode and preset chaining. Jaeger explains that the OLED display provides immediate feedback of the internal memory states and helps with chaining patterns into a song, allowing for more powerful performance gestures and individualized style of playing.
Jaeger also demonstrated the Andre Jr., a VCA-based analog low-pass gate circuit with a dual digital envelope generator that can be modulated to develop the dynamics of a sequence through careful modulation of the envelope's velocity. However, the most significant module on display is the Volkmire's Inferno, a granular synthesizer that can load WAV files from an SD card or record from a live input. With independent pitch and playback speed control, the grain generation can be further modified with various parameters such as density and turbidity, providing a unique and customizable sound. The prototype also features a diffuser effect with a feedback loop, assignable CV inputs, trigger inputs for transport control, and a stereo spread control. Industrial Music Electronics is hoping to produce these prototypes by the end of the year.
