"i opened up an old cheap bontempy pcm synth, started a rhumba beat and started having fun."
Friday, February 17, 2006
Kraenk's First Circuit Bending Project on YouTube
Cool. Kraenk posted a link to a video on YouTube of his first circuit bending project in the comments section of this post. Title link takes you there. Impressive. Thanks for posting this kraenk.
"i opened up an old cheap bontempy pcm synth, started a rhumba beat and started having fun."
"i opened up an old cheap bontempy pcm synth, started a rhumba beat and started having fun."
Seiko Drum Machine Watch
I was looking for more info on the Seiko rhythm machine in my previous post, and I ran into this. Trip. It's a drum machine watch. Title link takes you to more shots. I also stashed them here in case the page goes away when they sell it.
Toxygene - New Flickr Set
Title link takes you to the set. Anyone know more about this piece? It looks like some sort of rhythm machine by Seiko. Update: turns out it's a tuner. See the comments section of this post.
Manuel Clement - Paysages
According to this HC post, the music on Manel Clement's Paysages is all Dave Smith Polyevolver. If anyone can confirm please do. You can definitely hear evolver on it. Pretty interesting showcase of the evolver and good listening.
Vintage Synthesizer Breakout
Yep... Title link takes you there.
"Do you want to play Moog System 55, Oberheim 8 Voice, Yamaha CS80, SCI Prophet 5, Roland TB-303 and many other vintage synthesizers? Free? Without any time limit? Yes, of course you can do that, you are at Sound Of Music now - everything is possible now! Download Vintage Synthesizer Breakout 1.0 (4.67 Mb) and start to play with your favorite vintage synthesizers. The game, including the "game music", is programmed by Torbjörn "Toby" Frisk, Sound Of Music. There are no Mac version. There's a small hint: Avoid the corners if possible (we don't have the solution for that yet). The program is an exe-file, so you can play direct without install the program (nice if you are at public places such a library etc)."
"Do you want to play Moog System 55, Oberheim 8 Voice, Yamaha CS80, SCI Prophet 5, Roland TB-303 and many other vintage synthesizers? Free? Without any time limit? Yes, of course you can do that, you are at Sound Of Music now - everything is possible now! Download Vintage Synthesizer Breakout 1.0 (4.67 Mb) and start to play with your favorite vintage synthesizers. The game, including the "game music", is programmed by Torbjörn "Toby" Frisk, Sound Of Music. There are no Mac version. There's a small hint: Avoid the corners if possible (we don't have the solution for that yet). The program is an exe-file, so you can play direct without install the program (nice if you are at public places such a library etc)."
Sound of Music
Title link takes you to the Sound of Music site where you will find Julie Andrews, oh wait, not that Sound of Music. Bwahaha. Hopefully that either resulted in a cringe or a laugh. Take two. Title link takes you to the Sound of Music site where you'll find a load of vintage goodies including Vintage Synthesizer Breakout. Saving the shot for that on my next post (above), so I can put the following beauty up.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Well Worn Workshops
Title link takes you to the Well Worn Workshops site, home of this modified Roland TR-808 and more. Click on the machines link for more. There is also a modified TR-606 on site.
Scams/Trolls on Craigslist
First there was the $350 Minimoog in the Seattle area. Then there is this. The Moog Model A from the Audities Foundation for $30 in Columbus. Yeah... Title link takes you to the post on Craigslist while it lasts. Image and details below.
"I am Selling a moog Key Board. It is a little beat up but it still works. Can't Find a model number on it. Used to be my Dad's Key Board, I don't know how to play it. It has several slots labeld "RA MOOG" and some of the labels are just paper stuck on. This would be a good Key Board for your child or someone getting started with music.
this is in or around hilliard"
Update: Via the comments, looks like that $350 Minimoog could have been real:
"For what its worth, I had emailed the Craigslist ad for the Minimoog (it was actually $350). He replied that I was the third person (ugg!) to email him but had already agreed to sell it to a person who emailed him first and lived a few miles away. He said he would call me if it didn't work out between the first and second person who emailed him.
He seemed straight forward in his email and seemed to know by all the replies he received that he had asked too little but felt that was the amount it was worth and was oblidged to sell it for what he listed it for.
He mentioned he was going to try to delete the ad as soon as the person picked it up to avoid any more emails in his in-box ( and probably so he wouldn't have reminders or regrets that he could have sold it for more).
On a side note, that listing was a slap-in-the-face reminder that I was spending way too much time surfing Craigslist, Ebay, etc. for things that I don't really need. I went cold turkey from those sites and am putting that precious time into finishing my bathroom remodel and getting ready for the upcoming gardening season.
M. Dunbar
Seattle "
"I am Selling a moog Key Board. It is a little beat up but it still works. Can't Find a model number on it. Used to be my Dad's Key Board, I don't know how to play it. It has several slots labeld "RA MOOG" and some of the labels are just paper stuck on. This would be a good Key Board for your child or someone getting started with music.
this is in or around hilliard"
Update: Via the comments, looks like that $350 Minimoog could have been real:
"For what its worth, I had emailed the Craigslist ad for the Minimoog (it was actually $350). He replied that I was the third person (ugg!) to email him but had already agreed to sell it to a person who emailed him first and lived a few miles away. He said he would call me if it didn't work out between the first and second person who emailed him.
He seemed straight forward in his email and seemed to know by all the replies he received that he had asked too little but felt that was the amount it was worth and was oblidged to sell it for what he listed it for.
He mentioned he was going to try to delete the ad as soon as the person picked it up to avoid any more emails in his in-box ( and probably so he wouldn't have reminders or regrets that he could have sold it for more).
On a side note, that listing was a slap-in-the-face reminder that I was spending way too much time surfing Craigslist, Ebay, etc. for things that I don't really need. I went cold turkey from those sites and am putting that precious time into finishing my bathroom remodel and getting ready for the upcoming gardening season.
M. Dunbar
Seattle "
Nuorogg - New Flickr Set
Title link takes you to the set. Check out this shot of the Access Virus Reback.
J Marimba Ponies
Title link takes you there. Check out the Sabre Dance video for some phat bouncy Moog Bass. Via Music Thing.
Using an Analog Sequencer on YouTube
Nice. I hope we start seeing more of this on YouTube. Title link takes you there.
Casio VL1 - Da Da Da Meets DM
Title link takes you to a post on VSE by DX covering Depeche Mode's Everything Counts with the Casio VLTone. Enjoy, or not. : )
Image via sequencer.de
Image via sequencer.de
GetLoFi Builds a 4 OSC Synth with Atari Joystick
"Yet another variation on the 4093 oscillator design, this one uses 4 directions of the stick for patching the outputs from off to on." Title link takes you to more details, images and video.
Mort Garson
In via j. Title link takes you to a post on Post Punk Junk on Mort Garson with mp3s. Some interesting stuff. "Standing alonside the pioneering greats of ’60s electronic music such as Jean-Jacques Perry and Walter/Wendy Carlos, Mort Garson let forth a stream of concept albums in the late ’60s through the mid-’70s that always tickle me." Thanks J!
seesselberg synthetik 1
In via PhilT. "thought you might be interested : http://insectandindividual.blogspot.com/ is hosting mp3s of a long deleted 73 album by seesselberg called synthetik 1. it's "electronic experimentation on homemade synthesizers" and sounds pretty good, if a little tentative. you have to use rapidshare to get it so follow all the prompts carefully for free downloading. it's got a pic as well.regards,
philT"
Prevoius posts on seesselberg including this video mentioned by dream chimney in the comments.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Buchla Responds
There was a two part review of the new Buchla 200e in the December 2005 and January 2006 issues of Sound on Sound. There was a bit of buzz about them as the first of two was not very favorable, specifically regarding the build quality. I'm still waiting for these articles to come up on the non subscription SOS site. Well, it looks like Don Buchla responded to the review and his comments are available online. Title link takes you there. Enjoy. "Hopefully, I leave your kind and tolerant but inquisitive and deserving readers with a slightly better sense of what we're all about. Reliability is of the highest concern to us, and we intend to continue making instruments of unimpeachable quality. We do our best to build fine instruments at fair prices, but we promise to avoid the cheap. Fame, fortune and financial success are of secondary importance, and we'll happily flail about in "the backwaters of the music industry" for a long time to come." Don Buchla on SOS.
Sampler anti-aliasing and pitch-shifting comparison
Interesting page testing a number of samplers. Samples, results and more listed. They also have an interesting analogy of audio aliasing and film (see below). Title link takes you there. Via the mighty Moogulator blog.
"It's easiest to describe aliasing in terms of a visual sampling system we all know and love - —movies. If you've ever watched a western and seen the wheel of a rolling wagon appear to be going backwards, you've witnessed aliasing. The movie's frame rate isn't adequate to describe the rotational frequency of the wheel, and our eyes are deceived by the misinformation!"
"It's easiest to describe aliasing in terms of a visual sampling system we all know and love - —movies. If you've ever watched a western and seen the wheel of a rolling wagon appear to be going backwards, you've witnessed aliasing. The movie's frame rate isn't adequate to describe the rotational frequency of the wheel, and our eyes are deceived by the misinformation!"
BeauSoleil - Prison Made Modular
Fascinating. Title link takes you to the full story. Charles Manson ties below.
"BeauSoleil got his first hands-on exposure to electronic music during the recording of the soundtrack. "I needed to enhance the sound palette of the basic rock instrumentation we'd used. I read Polyphony magazine [which later became Electronic Musician] and a couple of books by Craig Anderton to learn how to build my own circuits and instruments. From there, I graduated to building modules from scratch using parts from electronics surplus houses, and I used the modules to create new sounds." Thereafter, he studied audio electronics for several years in a prison vocational electronics program. This learning phase gave him the opportunity to develop skills he has put to good use ever since as a synth programmer and engineer. In 1984, he persuaded Jerry Kovarsky of Casio to loan him a CZ-1 synth in exchange for developing sounds for the instrument. (Kovarsky is now with Korg.) This was BeauSoleil's first experience with digital programming, but because the instrument was based on an analog architecture, he was able to complete several volumes of sounds. He is also a guitar player, so Casio later provided him with a PG-380, a MIDI guitar synth that he still uses as a stand-alone instrument. Actual programming of the PG-380 had to be done on Casio's rack-mounted VZ-10, from which patches were transferred on a data card. This programming experience and his connections at Casio later led to programming gigs with Ensoniq for the KT-76 synth, Kawai for the K4 synth, and Kurzweil for the K2000."
Update via the comments:
"Robert Beausoleil was also a member of the Manson Family before his imprisonment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Beausoleil"
From Wikipedia:
"He met Charlie Manson in Topanga Canyon in 1966 and later went on to be one of the group who killed Hinman, allegedly for defaulting in a drugs deal. Accompanying Beausoleil that night were Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner, both later involved in other murders."
"BeauSoleil got his first hands-on exposure to electronic music during the recording of the soundtrack. "I needed to enhance the sound palette of the basic rock instrumentation we'd used. I read Polyphony magazine [which later became Electronic Musician] and a couple of books by Craig Anderton to learn how to build my own circuits and instruments. From there, I graduated to building modules from scratch using parts from electronics surplus houses, and I used the modules to create new sounds." Thereafter, he studied audio electronics for several years in a prison vocational electronics program. This learning phase gave him the opportunity to develop skills he has put to good use ever since as a synth programmer and engineer. In 1984, he persuaded Jerry Kovarsky of Casio to loan him a CZ-1 synth in exchange for developing sounds for the instrument. (Kovarsky is now with Korg.) This was BeauSoleil's first experience with digital programming, but because the instrument was based on an analog architecture, he was able to complete several volumes of sounds. He is also a guitar player, so Casio later provided him with a PG-380, a MIDI guitar synth that he still uses as a stand-alone instrument. Actual programming of the PG-380 had to be done on Casio's rack-mounted VZ-10, from which patches were transferred on a data card. This programming experience and his connections at Casio later led to programming gigs with Ensoniq for the KT-76 synth, Kawai for the K4 synth, and Kurzweil for the K2000."
Update via the comments:
"Robert Beausoleil was also a member of the Manson Family before his imprisonment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Beausoleil"
From Wikipedia:
"He met Charlie Manson in Topanga Canyon in 1966 and later went on to be one of the group who killed Hinman, allegedly for defaulting in a drugs deal. Accompanying Beausoleil that night were Susan Atkins and Mary Brunner, both later involved in other murders."
OP-X
Reaktor based Oberheim OB-X soft synth. Title link takes you there. Via VSE.
Update2: Via the comments:
"Anonymous said...
I hope they sue the guy, he's been spamming his wares on just about every thread of every forum.. gr...
10:29 AM
Hamilton Lovecraft said...
Yeah, what anonymous said -- these guys spammed all over the KVR fora recently. Don't give 'em any press."
Update: Via Wiglaf in the comments: "Keep reading that thread, the person who made that could be in some trouble." The risk is Gibson coming after them for the likeness of the Oberheim name. Gibson owns it. Thanks Wiglaf, I might have missed the updates - only so much time in the day feeding this site along with everything else. : )
Some choice snips from the thread:
"spookyman, I would take Bitexion's advice and tell your friend to either make it free or remove all references to Oberheim.
Why? ... well for the reasons already given, but also because I too have first-hand experience with such issues. Look at the last 2 softsynths mentioned in my sig. I am part of a developing team called Voltkitchen, we released these 2 emulations last year and we almost immediately received cease and desist e-mails from Arturia, as well as a less-nasty but inquiring e-mail from Moog Music.
However, Arturia's threats did not amount to anything because our product does not copy anything from their software. Arturia are just another company making emulations, not the original hardware (and they don't own the Moog or Arp name). So they had no case. But they were VERY nasty and threatening toward us for the obvious reasons (market share being taken away).
With Moog Music, their concern was not the softsynth itself but the "use" of the Moog legacy in the graphical layout and general appearance. I know calling it MiniMogue was a little bit of a sly side-step, but at least they were okay about it in the end after conversing with them via e-mail. Since Moog Music makes hardware (Voyager, etc.), they weren't concerned at all about market share, there's no comparison between a hardware real-analog Voyager and our free software.
However, Gibson is a HUGE company and might not be so nice. They've been known to throw lawsuits around like confetti. Tell your friend to be VERY careful."
Followed by:
"heheee.... thanks for your work on MinimogueVA! I work for Moog and own a Voyager, and guess what? I love MinimogueVA and use it on tracks side-by-side with the Voyager. It really sounds good. Not better and certainly there are many areas where they don't overlap... but I am not interested in comparing A to B as much as I am into really good sound... and MmVA is one of incredibly few VSTi's that really sounds good to my ears. The fact that it can even keep up in a mix with the V'ger and my Jupiter is quite telling. Keep up the good work... "
Update2: Via the comments:
"Anonymous said...
I hope they sue the guy, he's been spamming his wares on just about every thread of every forum.. gr...
10:29 AM
Hamilton Lovecraft said...
Yeah, what anonymous said -- these guys spammed all over the KVR fora recently. Don't give 'em any press."
Update: Via Wiglaf in the comments: "Keep reading that thread, the person who made that could be in some trouble." The risk is Gibson coming after them for the likeness of the Oberheim name. Gibson owns it. Thanks Wiglaf, I might have missed the updates - only so much time in the day feeding this site along with everything else. : )
Some choice snips from the thread:
"spookyman, I would take Bitexion's advice and tell your friend to either make it free or remove all references to Oberheim.
Why? ... well for the reasons already given, but also because I too have first-hand experience with such issues. Look at the last 2 softsynths mentioned in my sig. I am part of a developing team called Voltkitchen, we released these 2 emulations last year and we almost immediately received cease and desist e-mails from Arturia, as well as a less-nasty but inquiring e-mail from Moog Music.
However, Arturia's threats did not amount to anything because our product does not copy anything from their software. Arturia are just another company making emulations, not the original hardware (and they don't own the Moog or Arp name). So they had no case. But they were VERY nasty and threatening toward us for the obvious reasons (market share being taken away).
With Moog Music, their concern was not the softsynth itself but the "use" of the Moog legacy in the graphical layout and general appearance. I know calling it MiniMogue was a little bit of a sly side-step, but at least they were okay about it in the end after conversing with them via e-mail. Since Moog Music makes hardware (Voyager, etc.), they weren't concerned at all about market share, there's no comparison between a hardware real-analog Voyager and our free software.
However, Gibson is a HUGE company and might not be so nice. They've been known to throw lawsuits around like confetti. Tell your friend to be VERY careful."
Followed by:
"heheee.... thanks for your work on MinimogueVA! I work for Moog and own a Voyager, and guess what? I love MinimogueVA and use it on tracks side-by-side with the Voyager. It really sounds good. Not better and certainly there are many areas where they don't overlap... but I am not interested in comparing A to B as much as I am into really good sound... and MmVA is one of incredibly few VSTi's that really sounds good to my ears. The fact that it can even keep up in a mix with the V'ger and my Jupiter is quite telling. Keep up the good work... "
The Lambdoma
Title link takes you there.
"The Lambdoma Matrix is attributed to the philosopher Pythagoras (500 bc) who spent over twenty years as an Egyptian initiate. The concept of the Lambdoma Matrix in the present age is relatively unknown, and is not cited in most dictionaries. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a mathematical multiplication and division table. On a closer look however, it bears a one-to-one relationship to musical intervals in a very specific harmonic series. Because of its numerical framework of ratios, it can be translated into frequencies of audible sound. The Lambdoma bears relationships to aromatics, chemistry, crystallography, cybernetics, art, music, geometry, all of which may be explored by those interested in the above disciplines. The Lambdoma bears mathematical relationships to Issac Newton, the Diophantine equations and the Farey series, as well as in the present century to Georg Cantor."
"My dream was to realize the application of my theories in the health and musical domains. Recently I have accomplished a breakthrough in making the lambdoma a oncrete instrument of healing and auditory pleasure. With the help of engineers, software programmers, musicians, and electronics manufacturers this dream has materialized in the Pythagorean Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (PLHK). Based on early prototypes of this revolutionary instrument we have demonstrated its unique effects on human well-being and musico-spiritual evolution. Articles and testimonials from well-known authors on sound healing, microtonal composers, and university professors are available upon request. "
"The Lambdoma Matrix is attributed to the philosopher Pythagoras (500 bc) who spent over twenty years as an Egyptian initiate. The concept of the Lambdoma Matrix in the present age is relatively unknown, and is not cited in most dictionaries. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a mathematical multiplication and division table. On a closer look however, it bears a one-to-one relationship to musical intervals in a very specific harmonic series. Because of its numerical framework of ratios, it can be translated into frequencies of audible sound. The Lambdoma bears relationships to aromatics, chemistry, crystallography, cybernetics, art, music, geometry, all of which may be explored by those interested in the above disciplines. The Lambdoma bears mathematical relationships to Issac Newton, the Diophantine equations and the Farey series, as well as in the present century to Georg Cantor.""My dream was to realize the application of my theories in the health and musical domains. Recently I have accomplished a breakthrough in making the lambdoma a oncrete instrument of healing and auditory pleasure. With the help of engineers, software programmers, musicians, and electronics manufacturers this dream has materialized in the Pythagorean Lambdoma Harmonic Keyboard (PLHK). Based on early prototypes of this revolutionary instrument we have demonstrated its unique effects on human well-being and musico-spiritual evolution. Articles and testimonials from well-known authors on sound healing, microtonal composers, and university professors are available upon request. "
OBX-a Soundscapes
More by Heath Finnie. Should have known. This peices reminds me a bit of the dreamy soundscapes you'd expect from a Yamaha CS80. Title link takes you there. Beautiful stuff.
Not Breathing
I previously posted about the Sedona Custom Synth on the Not Breathing site. I just purused the site again and thought I'd put up a post on the site in general. There a sections on DIY, Circuit Bending, Noise Makers, Drum Machines and more. Definitely worth checking out. Title link takes you there.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Happy Valentine's Day - New Flickr Shot
This one via Brandon Daniel. Make sure to check out the rest of the shots in the set for some vintage goodness. That's a Korg OASYS btw. Thanks Brandon!
A Synth Valentine Day
No title link. Just an image I found. Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Don't forget to give your synth a hug today. ; ) Matrixsynth title in Red to honor the day today.
Keytar V1 Video on One Blue Monkey
Title link takes you there. Finally get to see one in action. Video link under data under title.
Creamware Modular Site
Title link takes you to a really nice Creamware Modular Site. It's laid out with a top nav like the software, so you can easily review all modules available in the Creamware system. Via Moogulator.
More Synth on Retro Thing
Philip Taysom's Extreme Home Synthesis Studio is featured. Title link takes you there.
Roland TR-909 through ARP 2600 Sound Clip
Another via Heath Finnie. Title link takes you to the post on VSE.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Multi-Touch Interaction Research
This one is making its rounds. Title link takes you there. Impressive indeed.
Wiard 300G
G as in Gold. Nice. Title link takes you to a few more shots. Sent my way via Matt. Thanks Matt!
G2 Audio Controlling a Korg MS10
Title link takes you to a post on electro-music.com sent my way via Luca Capozzi. There are a couple of videos by Axiom (Luca) tracking a Korg MS10 with the audio out of a Clavia G2. Crazy. : ) Thanks Luca!
Merleon Cedraeon - Elecktroplankton Compositions
Title link takes you to Merleon Cedraeon with a set of compositions made with Elecktroplankton. Enjoy.
The Meyermoog
Now this is something I bet a lot of us think of doing. Jason and Bob Meyer took a Creamware ASB Minimax, an M-Audio Keystation 49e, some wood, and built their own poly Minimoog, complete with a hinged control panel. I've always wanted to do this with a stack of Waldorf Pulses. Pretty cool. Title link takes you to more shots. The details of the project from Jason are below. Thanks Jason!
"i just thought i'd share with you the fake moog that i built. it's built from the new-ish creamware minimax asb and an m-audio keystation 49e. the keystation was gutted and the lower five keys were removed. both the keystation and the minimax can use the same ac adaptor, so i hard-wired them both to the same ac adaptor which is wired to a PC style power plug port. the ac adaptor and all the power wiring is hidden in one of the small compartments that are connected to the sides of the minimax to make it the correct width for the keyboard. now it uses a standard PC style power cable instead of the cruddy wall-wart. i soldered a midi cable directly to the internals of both units, to not have to bother with a midi-cable. my dad cut all the wood for the case for me (out of oak), from plans i drew up using the original dimensions of the minimoog. i assembled and stained it a dark walnut color. the top panel is hinged just like the original. i'm still working on a left-hand controller with wheels, so there is a temporary controller in it's place with knobs for pitch and modulation. though i definitely plan on replacing them with wheels, having knobs instead is kind of growing on me. the minimax asb was $800, the keystation was something i already had, but can be bought new for $100. the wood and other supplies were about $100, and it took about two weeks of a couple hours every night to build it. so about $1,000 for a polyphonic minimoog that won't ever need adjusting and that i don't have to be afraid to take out of the house.
thanks for a cool blog, i hope you find this interesting!
-jason meyer"
Definitely interesting! Thanks Jason.
"i just thought i'd share with you the fake moog that i built. it's built from the new-ish creamware minimax asb and an m-audio keystation 49e. the keystation was gutted and the lower five keys were removed. both the keystation and the minimax can use the same ac adaptor, so i hard-wired them both to the same ac adaptor which is wired to a PC style power plug port. the ac adaptor and all the power wiring is hidden in one of the small compartments that are connected to the sides of the minimax to make it the correct width for the keyboard. now it uses a standard PC style power cable instead of the cruddy wall-wart. i soldered a midi cable directly to the internals of both units, to not have to bother with a midi-cable. my dad cut all the wood for the case for me (out of oak), from plans i drew up using the original dimensions of the minimoog. i assembled and stained it a dark walnut color. the top panel is hinged just like the original. i'm still working on a left-hand controller with wheels, so there is a temporary controller in it's place with knobs for pitch and modulation. though i definitely plan on replacing them with wheels, having knobs instead is kind of growing on me. the minimax asb was $800, the keystation was something i already had, but can be bought new for $100. the wood and other supplies were about $100, and it took about two weeks of a couple hours every night to build it. so about $1,000 for a polyphonic minimoog that won't ever need adjusting and that i don't have to be afraid to take out of the house.
thanks for a cool blog, i hope you find this interesting!
-jason meyer"
Definitely interesting! Thanks Jason.
The BRONTOLOGIC
Another interesting piece. Details below by Stephen of parsick.com. Title link takes you to Codex flores, what appears to be the home of the BRONTOLOGIC. Thanks Stephen!
Unfortunately I couldn't find a bigger shot. Update: bigger pic below.
"The Brontologic was designed by a certain Werner Lambertz who had originally made a fortune selling jeans trousers (of all things...) in Germany in the 1970s. The first instrument was presented around 1979/1980. Lambertz´ idea was to design a musical computer that automatically produced good music, without any faults that musicians would create. Later, Kurt "Pyrolator" Dahlke of Germany´s proto electro band Der Plan (The Plan) wanted another machine like that as he felt this was something he could push the limits with, thus he started building a second Brontologic, assisted by Lambertz, in around 1980/81.
Basically, it was a sequencer which had several counters running in parallel, synced to a master clock. It was capable of producing up to six (I think) sequences at the same time, all running at different rates, having different numbers of steps, and all could be set up to different cycling modes independent from each other. I never quite figured how pitches were determined as it had no pots for adjusting voltages, just half a million of banana patch sockets. I guess each patch point in a horizontal row represented one pitch while the sequencer progressed vertically from the top to the bottom (though I have no evidence for that). It allowed the user to interact with the sequencer patterns, have one play backwards, have another stop at a certain point, or have yet another one shift its start and end points continously during playback. When fully patched up, it looked like "Spaghetti Bolognese" as Dahlke once pointed out. As an external controller the operator used some thing called "DIGitarre", made of stainless steel tubing and shaped vaguely guitar-like with loads of switches which allowed control over certain parameters of the Brontologic. Dahlke later admitted it was sort of bizarre to use this controller which clearly resembled the traditional rock´n´roll-type guitar while they were trying to get away from these overused r´n´r clichés.
In a 1993 interview with Germany´s KEYBOARDS magazine, Dahlke briefly explains the Brontologic. He used it to control his Korg MS-20 and later, he had an Emulator One interface built into it. Functionally, Dahlke compared the Brontologic with Buchla´s Thunder which allowed for similarly complex interactions with parameters and sequences on a MIDI level. I´m sorry I don´t have this issue available right now, maybe some fellow AHer could look it up for me (May 1993 issue, I think).
In my view, this device was sort of a comedy of errors. It must have been immensely expensive, and it was huge (about 2.5 metres square). It had an intimidating user interface, and it took ages to patch up. I think something along these lines could have been made in a simpler manner (like having a Serge Touch Keyboard Sequencer) but at that time Serges weren´t hugely popular in Germany. Neither were Buchlas. It seems to me that the Brontologic was best-suited for fractal-like sequencer patterns.
There is a nice track (180°) by Der Pyrolator on a compilation called "Verschwende Deine Jugend" (waste your youth) which sounds very much like a blueprint for the Node track "Alternator", all done on Korg MS-20 and Emulator One, most probably controlled by the Brontologic.
Sorry not to have more info,
Stephen."
Update via marcel: "on http://gesellschaftsinseln.de/punkbuch/fotos_78.html you'll find one bigger pic of the bronto, and much more old punk pixs
site is made from the author of "verschwende deine jugend", a book about punk and new wave in germany, juergen teibel"
Update via pyrolator in the comments:
"I found this article, not all of it is correct, but nevertheless thank you for talking about it. The Brontologik2 is now standing in a museum and I decided to write it in Max/Msp with a few further modifications, which was called the bronotlogik3. About two years ago I saw the monome and the potential to be the perfect controller for the brontologik4, which is written for the monome256.
More informations:
http://brontologik.blogspot.com/
http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=app:brontologik4
best wishes
pyrolator "
some vids:
a composing system
6 layer sending midi data (pitch, velocity and 2 controller)
1 layer starting clips in ableton live
8 variations each layer
8 modes (for each layer) to manipulate and arrange pitch, velocity, controller, scales, transpose, key, pattern length, randomness and probability of playing.
load and save single pattern or complete data
This is the first public-beta now.
This is Donationware and will be availible at:
brontologik.blogspot.com/"
Unfortunately I couldn't find a bigger shot. Update: bigger pic below.
"The Brontologic was designed by a certain Werner Lambertz who had originally made a fortune selling jeans trousers (of all things...) in Germany in the 1970s. The first instrument was presented around 1979/1980. Lambertz´ idea was to design a musical computer that automatically produced good music, without any faults that musicians would create. Later, Kurt "Pyrolator" Dahlke of Germany´s proto electro band Der Plan (The Plan) wanted another machine like that as he felt this was something he could push the limits with, thus he started building a second Brontologic, assisted by Lambertz, in around 1980/81.
Basically, it was a sequencer which had several counters running in parallel, synced to a master clock. It was capable of producing up to six (I think) sequences at the same time, all running at different rates, having different numbers of steps, and all could be set up to different cycling modes independent from each other. I never quite figured how pitches were determined as it had no pots for adjusting voltages, just half a million of banana patch sockets. I guess each patch point in a horizontal row represented one pitch while the sequencer progressed vertically from the top to the bottom (though I have no evidence for that). It allowed the user to interact with the sequencer patterns, have one play backwards, have another stop at a certain point, or have yet another one shift its start and end points continously during playback. When fully patched up, it looked like "Spaghetti Bolognese" as Dahlke once pointed out. As an external controller the operator used some thing called "DIGitarre", made of stainless steel tubing and shaped vaguely guitar-like with loads of switches which allowed control over certain parameters of the Brontologic. Dahlke later admitted it was sort of bizarre to use this controller which clearly resembled the traditional rock´n´roll-type guitar while they were trying to get away from these overused r´n´r clichés.
In a 1993 interview with Germany´s KEYBOARDS magazine, Dahlke briefly explains the Brontologic. He used it to control his Korg MS-20 and later, he had an Emulator One interface built into it. Functionally, Dahlke compared the Brontologic with Buchla´s Thunder which allowed for similarly complex interactions with parameters and sequences on a MIDI level. I´m sorry I don´t have this issue available right now, maybe some fellow AHer could look it up for me (May 1993 issue, I think).
In my view, this device was sort of a comedy of errors. It must have been immensely expensive, and it was huge (about 2.5 metres square). It had an intimidating user interface, and it took ages to patch up. I think something along these lines could have been made in a simpler manner (like having a Serge Touch Keyboard Sequencer) but at that time Serges weren´t hugely popular in Germany. Neither were Buchlas. It seems to me that the Brontologic was best-suited for fractal-like sequencer patterns.
There is a nice track (180°) by Der Pyrolator on a compilation called "Verschwende Deine Jugend" (waste your youth) which sounds very much like a blueprint for the Node track "Alternator", all done on Korg MS-20 and Emulator One, most probably controlled by the Brontologic.
Sorry not to have more info,
Stephen."
Update via marcel: "on http://gesellschaftsinseln.de/site is made from the author of "verschwende deine jugend", a book about punk and new wave in germany, juergen teibel"
Update via pyrolator in the comments:
"I found this article, not all of it is correct, but nevertheless thank you for talking about it. The Brontologik2 is now standing in a museum and I decided to write it in Max/Msp with a few further modifications, which was called the bronotlogik3. About two years ago I saw the monome and the potential to be the perfect controller for the brontologik4, which is written for the monome256.
More informations:
http://brontologik.blogspot.com/
http://docs.monome.org/doku.php?id=app:brontologik4
best wishes
pyrolator "
some vids:
brontologik4 for monome 256 (quick walkthrough) from pyrolator on Vimeo.
"brontologik4 for monome 256a composing system
6 layer sending midi data (pitch, velocity and 2 controller)
1 layer starting clips in ableton live
8 variations each layer
8 modes (for each layer) to manipulate and arrange pitch, velocity, controller, scales, transpose, key, pattern length, randomness and probability of playing.
load and save single pattern or complete data
This is the first public-beta now.
This is Donationware and will be availible at:
brontologik.blogspot.com/"
The SALMAR CONSTRUCTION
Interesting piece. Title link takes you to more. "In 1969, Salvatore Martirano along with a group of engineers and musicians at the University of Illinois began work on the design and construction of a musical electronic instrument. The instrument, named the SAL-MAR CONSTRUCTION, is a hybrid system in which TTL logical curcuits (small and medium scale integration) drive analog modules, such as voltage-controlled oscillators, amplifiers and filters.
The performer sits at a horizontal control panel of 291 lightable touch-sensitive switches (no moving parts). The two-state switches are used by a performer to dial sequences of numbers that are characterized by a variety of intervals and lengths. A sequence may then bypass, address, or be added to other sequences forming an interlocked tree of control and data according to a performer's choice. The unique characteristic of the switch is that it can be driven both manually and logically, which allows human/machine interaction. The most innovative feature of the human/machine interface is that it allows the user to switch from control of macro to micro parameters of the information output. This is analogous to a zoom lens on a camera."
Digital Performer 5
Title link takes you to a pdf of the full press release with more detail.
Six New Instrument Plug-ins:
BassLine™ is a one oscillator, two-waveform monophonic bass synth that lets users quickly dial up that perfect analog bass sound. With a streamlined design consisting of two waveforms (saw and square), one low-pass filter with cutoff and resonance, simple decay envelopes for the filter and amplifier and several additional classic analog synth features, BassLine is an easy and enjoyable instrument that delivers great analog bass sounds with just a few turns of its dials.
PolySynth™ is a polyphonic synth with a distinct look that harkens back to the classic Roland Juno 106. PolySynth is capable of a much wider variety of sounds than BassLine, thanks to its digital controlled oscillator (DCO), which can be adjusted with varying amounts of de-tune, triangle wave, sawtooth, rectangle (square) wave, sub-oscillator 1 & 2 and noise. The single LFO can modulate pitch (for vibrato), pulse width (for the square wave and sub-oscillators) or filter depth (for the classic "wah" effect, among others). The resonant low-pass filter is equipped with frequency and resonance controls, key tracking, velocity control and an ADSR envelope, which can also be applied as an overall envelope for each note. Chorus and distortion provide plenty of punch for the thickest of pads and searing lead lines.
Modulo™ significantly raises the subtractive synthesis stakes by providing two oscillators plus noise, 58 available digital waveforms for each oscillator (including sine, square, saw, rectangle, etc.), oscillator phase and symmetry modulation, two LFOs, a resonant multimode filter, three envelopes (for the amplifier, filter and general purpose modulation) and a 5x7 modulation matrix, which supplies five sources applied to up to seven possible destinations. With built-in bank and patch management features and dozens of clearly organized presets, Modulo provides users with accessible yet limitless possibilities for analog synth sounds.
Nanosampler™ allows users to drag and drop any sample (up to five seconds long) from anywhere in DP (or from the Mac OS X Finder) into its graphic sample display and then set a start time, end time, loop (if desired) and crossfade. A multimode filter, amplifier envelope, filter envelope and LFO provide all of the essential features needed for basic sampler programming. True to its name, Nanosynth is highly CPU-efficient and the user can open as many instances of it as they need during a project to play back an infinite variety of sampler sounds.
Model 12™ is a twelve-part drum module. Hundreds of supplied drum sounds and dozens of drum kits can be quickly loaded into its twelve drum parts, which can be individually programmed with controls for pitch (formant corrected or conventional pitch shifting), time stretch, duration (decay or gate), volume & pan, two sends, and a resonant multimode filter with drive. Modulation of many of these controls is available by dragging controls in the virtual LCD display at the top of the window. Drum tracks are now easier to program than ever before.
Proton™ is the sixth and final instrument plug-in included with DP5. Proton is a two-operator frequency modulation (FM) synthesizer that delivers classic, bright, shimmering and expressive FM synth sounds that serve as a perfect compliment to the rest of DP5's new instrument lineup. The pioneering Yamaha DX7 delivered a wide range of sounds using only sine waves with six operators. Proton delivers an equally broad palette of sounds with a streamlined 2-op architecture driven by a simple wavetable knob, instead of the added overhead and complexity of additional operators. As such, Proton may be the most easily programmable FM synth ever created. A real-time display in the center of the window shows the user the spectral content or periodic waveform being generated by the current settings. Additional controls include an FM LFO, modulation pitch envelope, FM amount envelope and overall ADSR envelope.
Six New Instrument Plug-ins:
BassLine™ is a one oscillator, two-waveform monophonic bass synth that lets users quickly dial up that perfect analog bass sound. With a streamlined design consisting of two waveforms (saw and square), one low-pass filter with cutoff and resonance, simple decay envelopes for the filter and amplifier and several additional classic analog synth features, BassLine is an easy and enjoyable instrument that delivers great analog bass sounds with just a few turns of its dials.
PolySynth™ is a polyphonic synth with a distinct look that harkens back to the classic Roland Juno 106. PolySynth is capable of a much wider variety of sounds than BassLine, thanks to its digital controlled oscillator (DCO), which can be adjusted with varying amounts of de-tune, triangle wave, sawtooth, rectangle (square) wave, sub-oscillator 1 & 2 and noise. The single LFO can modulate pitch (for vibrato), pulse width (for the square wave and sub-oscillators) or filter depth (for the classic "wah" effect, among others). The resonant low-pass filter is equipped with frequency and resonance controls, key tracking, velocity control and an ADSR envelope, which can also be applied as an overall envelope for each note. Chorus and distortion provide plenty of punch for the thickest of pads and searing lead lines.
Modulo™ significantly raises the subtractive synthesis stakes by providing two oscillators plus noise, 58 available digital waveforms for each oscillator (including sine, square, saw, rectangle, etc.), oscillator phase and symmetry modulation, two LFOs, a resonant multimode filter, three envelopes (for the amplifier, filter and general purpose modulation) and a 5x7 modulation matrix, which supplies five sources applied to up to seven possible destinations. With built-in bank and patch management features and dozens of clearly organized presets, Modulo provides users with accessible yet limitless possibilities for analog synth sounds.
Nanosampler™ allows users to drag and drop any sample (up to five seconds long) from anywhere in DP (or from the Mac OS X Finder) into its graphic sample display and then set a start time, end time, loop (if desired) and crossfade. A multimode filter, amplifier envelope, filter envelope and LFO provide all of the essential features needed for basic sampler programming. True to its name, Nanosynth is highly CPU-efficient and the user can open as many instances of it as they need during a project to play back an infinite variety of sampler sounds.
Model 12™ is a twelve-part drum module. Hundreds of supplied drum sounds and dozens of drum kits can be quickly loaded into its twelve drum parts, which can be individually programmed with controls for pitch (formant corrected or conventional pitch shifting), time stretch, duration (decay or gate), volume & pan, two sends, and a resonant multimode filter with drive. Modulation of many of these controls is available by dragging controls in the virtual LCD display at the top of the window. Drum tracks are now easier to program than ever before.
Proton™ is the sixth and final instrument plug-in included with DP5. Proton is a two-operator frequency modulation (FM) synthesizer that delivers classic, bright, shimmering and expressive FM synth sounds that serve as a perfect compliment to the rest of DP5's new instrument lineup. The pioneering Yamaha DX7 delivered a wide range of sounds using only sine waves with six operators. Proton delivers an equally broad palette of sounds with a streamlined 2-op architecture driven by a simple wavetable knob, instead of the added overhead and complexity of additional operators. As such, Proton may be the most easily programmable FM synth ever created. A real-time display in the center of the window shows the user the spectral content or periodic waveform being generated by the current settings. Additional controls include an FM LFO, modulation pitch envelope, FM amount envelope and overall ADSR envelope.
Impact of Safety Regulations on the Sale of Vintage Synths
Interesting. Remember that post on Japan banning the sale of vintage synths due to a law prohibiting the sale of older electronic equipment that does not meet current safety regulations? Well it looks like there is a similar law in the UK. Not sure how long this law has been in effect and the impact it has on the sale of vintage gear. If you know, feel free to share.
Via Tony of Oakley Sound on AH:
"Now there is a law that prevents any unsafe object being sold in the UK.
Some old synths and many 1960s amplifiers would not pass current UK
safety legislation. Thus to sell these items for the customer to use in
a powered up state would probably be illegal or, at least, in breach of
one's liability insurance.
For example it is is very rare to see charity shops selling electrical
goods because the staff do not usually have the training to the test
these items to ensure their safety.
It is quite common to see items that have failed safety tests to be
rendered inoperable. This usually means taping off the mains inlet or
removing the mains plug. This should include stuff being dumped into
landfill since there is a likelihood that the items could get back into
the public domain.
Of course, tape may be removed and plugs rewired, but this then is the
new owner's decision and not the shop where you bought it from. The
shop, maybe this includes private individuals too, must then always
ensure that the buyer is aware that the unit is not to be powered up as
it is.
This also applies to the UK repair service centres as well. No item
returned to the customer must be allowed to be powered up if it has
failed the safety test. Repairing home made stuff is a nightmare in this
respect.
Most items can be modified in such a way as to make them perfectly safe
without affecting the look and feel of the unit.
Tony
www.oakleysound.com"
Followed by:
"I can give one example in the Synth world. The Synthi AKS. It has an illegal [in the UK] mains plug on its front panel. Does one replace this with an IEC [or other arrangement] or leave it as it is? That is a question for the owner to decide."
Via Tony of Oakley Sound on AH:
"Now there is a law that prevents any unsafe object being sold in the UK.
Some old synths and many 1960s amplifiers would not pass current UK
safety legislation. Thus to sell these items for the customer to use in
a powered up state would probably be illegal or, at least, in breach of
one's liability insurance.
For example it is is very rare to see charity shops selling electrical
goods because the staff do not usually have the training to the test
these items to ensure their safety.
It is quite common to see items that have failed safety tests to be
rendered inoperable. This usually means taping off the mains inlet or
removing the mains plug. This should include stuff being dumped into
landfill since there is a likelihood that the items could get back into
the public domain.
Of course, tape may be removed and plugs rewired, but this then is the
new owner's decision and not the shop where you bought it from. The
shop, maybe this includes private individuals too, must then always
ensure that the buyer is aware that the unit is not to be powered up as
it is.
This also applies to the UK repair service centres as well. No item
returned to the customer must be allowed to be powered up if it has
failed the safety test. Repairing home made stuff is a nightmare in this
respect.
Most items can be modified in such a way as to make them perfectly safe
without affecting the look and feel of the unit.
Tony
www.oakleysound.com"
Followed by:
"I can give one example in the Synth world. The Synthi AKS. It has an illegal [in the UK] mains plug on its front panel. Does one replace this with an IEC [or other arrangement] or leave it as it is? That is a question for the owner to decide."
MiKo Open Labs Video on One Blue Monkey
Title link takes you there. Video link under date, under title when you get there.
Studio and Modular P*rn Fest
No title link; all links below. People are posting their modular and studio shots on AH. Definitely drool worthy. I'll add to the list as they come in so be sure to check back. Below is a fantastic shot of the Waldorf Wave by Rikard. Make sure to check out this specific shot of the back of the Wave next. I didn't realize how thin their control panels were. Amazing.
Rikard Latvala: http://www.itsahit.com/rikard/studio2/
AH Bay Area Gathering: http://www.cubanpetemusic.com/gallery/AH-Bay-Area-Gathering
James R. Coplin: http://www.ticalun.net/music/Studio.aspx
Jason Proctor: http://www.redfish.net/red_fish_modular.jpg
daddio: http://www.tapewarm.com/pix
Cyndustries Gallery: http://www.cyndustries.com/gallery.cfm
Doug Terrebonne: http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/dougt55/mymodulars02-06.jpg
bbob: http://www.fluxmonkey.com/fluxinfo.htm
Scott Pfifer: http://www.bigsynth.com
Also linked by Scott Pfifer:
http://www.synthesizers.com/gallery.html
http://www.synthesizers.com/artists.html
Four Serge shots from Carbon111:
http://carbon111.com/serge.jpg
http://carbon111.com/rusty4.jpg
http://carbon111.com/photos/serge_close2.jpg
http://carbon111.com/photos/serge_close1.jpg
Update:
Jason Proctor: http://www.redfish.net/red_fish_modular_new.jpg
"the rack is a Middle Atlantic RL10-38 with accompanying cantilever
base extension and i can't recommend it enough. it solved all my
ergonomic issues and is damn stable and quality to boot (and there's
about 8U left over!). i got mine from Sacramento Audio Supplies and
the combo was $180 plus tax & ship. after selling all the puny little
racks it replaced, i should come out ahead!"
Daddio:
www.tapewarm.com/pix/doepfer.jpg
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/id14.html
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/id13.html
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/fripper.html
Rikard Latvala: http://www.itsahit.com/rikard/studio2/
AH Bay Area Gathering: http://www.cubanpetemusic.com/gallery/AH-Bay-Area-Gathering
James R. Coplin: http://www.ticalun.net/music/Studio.aspx
Jason Proctor: http://www.redfish.net/red_fish_modular.jpg
daddio: http://www.tapewarm.com/pix
Cyndustries Gallery: http://www.cyndustries.com/gallery.cfm
Doug Terrebonne: http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/dougt55/mymodulars02-06.jpg
bbob: http://www.fluxmonkey.com/fluxinfo.htm
Scott Pfifer: http://www.bigsynth.com
Also linked by Scott Pfifer:
http://www.synthesizers.com/gallery.html
http://www.synthesizers.com/artists.html
Four Serge shots from Carbon111:
http://carbon111.com/serge.jpg
http://carbon111.com/rusty4.jpg
http://carbon111.com/photos/serge_close2.jpg
http://carbon111.com/photos/serge_close1.jpg
Update:
Jason Proctor: http://www.redfish.net/red_fish_modular_new.jpg
"the rack is a Middle Atlantic RL10-38 with accompanying cantilever
base extension and i can't recommend it enough. it solved all my
ergonomic issues and is damn stable and quality to boot (and there's
about 8U left over!). i got mine from Sacramento Audio Supplies and
the combo was $180 plus tax & ship. after selling all the puny little
racks it replaced, i should come out ahead!"
Daddio:
www.tapewarm.com/pix/doepfer.jpg
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/id14.html
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/id13.html
www.tapewarm.com/muzikfrommarz/fripper.html
JH PolyKorg Clone and The Secret Life of Trees
I previously posted about the JH Synthi Clone. Here's a JH-3200 PolyKorg Clone. Pretty amazing. While there, be sure to also check out "The Secret Life of Trees."
Oberheim Xpander Shots
Sent my way via Loscha of Edmaro. Title link takes you to high-res shots pulled from this auction. Thanks Loscha!
2 Voice Oberheim FVS
Title link takes you to shots pulled from this Craigslist post. The price at $1200 seems too good, but you never know. If found a pristine Yamaha CS60 on Craiglist for $375. For deals like this, I'd do local pickup only with checking it out first.
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MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
