flickr by stretta

Roland PG-1000 --- BTW, I'm listening to New Order's "Temptation" as I put this up, and this shot just captures it for some reason. Amazing shots. Title link takes you to more. Via Matthew.


analog studio dark


analog studio lit

Update via phloem in the comments: Looks like the PG-1000 is up for auction. Shot's grabbed here.

Hampshire Jam 5 - Redshift excerpt

YouTube via utdgrant. Sent my way via frederic.

Matrixsynth by Prana

..and the Mellotron unraveled

flickr by zyphichore.

Kinetic Sound Prism Demo?

Remember the Kinetic Sound Prism? Title link takes you to a 3.99M demo according to Elhardt. The question mark? Well Elhardt is the man who brought us the Bahn Sage, and is suspect number one on the SMS 2000, so...

"The following excerpt is a mp3 I recorded off of the Prism demo tape. As
can be heard, it's probably a better advertisement NOT to spend $30K on this
synth. It doesn't seem to be making any kinds of sounds that couldn't be
done on something like a Prophet-5, except that with the polyphony and
multitimbral capabilities, maybe it can be done without multitracking. And
by the time the Prism appeared, NED had added sampling to the Synclav, and
there was the Fairlight. Both with demo tapes that made you want to buy
them. If I can find somebody to host large MP3 files, I can record those
demo tapes too.

I should point out also, that bubble memory was not a useless or obsolete
technology. It maintains memory on power down without battery backup, just
as my Apple ][ bubble memory card has been doing for the past 25 years, and
might be able to do so even with an EMP from a nuclear bomb. Bub mem was
still being sold up into the 90's in the form of RAM Disc computer cards.
Maybe still is."

Mike Ford Synth Sculptures

"This is a sculpture that produces electronic synthesiser sounds and precussion. I used to see the old photographs ow ww1 submarines and the "talking tubes" that connected the various areas of the submarine."

Via Mike Ford. Title link takes you to more of his incredible work. Absolutely beautiful. Mike also tells me he will be putting up some videos of his work on YouTube. I can't wait. I'll be putting up posts as soon as they come in.

Circuit Bent Casio SK-1 Site

Title link takes you there.

via Gijs.

Waldorf Nano

Here's a shot of the Waldorf Nano card for the CME range of MIDI controllers. The image was grabbed from an animated gif on this site. Sent my way via aves.

Virus Polar TI

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this VSE thread. Note that it's for sale.

Gwyo

flickr by basilb.

EMS Synthi A

flickr by basilb.

Title link takes you to more synth shots.

Update via one of the anonymous in the comments:
"This one is also on the Hinton modification page: link1, link2.
It belonged to a band called Zorch."

Synapse

flickr by tvvork.

Title link takes you to more cover shots in the set.

BTW, you can download issues of Synapse magazine off of the Cynthia website under the goodies section.

Museum of Techno Halloween Video

Title link takes you to the video on the Novation Xio Synth site, or watch it teeny tiny here.

flickr by djvartan

Gleeman Pentaphonic - Clear


Gergo Palatinszky Synth


Ginos Buchla

Title link takes you to the set.

PNW06: John Bowen Compares Prophets

John and Stephen play with a Creamware ASB Pro-12 and Prophet 5 at this year's Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting.

PNW06: Stephen Talks About his Custom Wood Cased Pro One

Stephen Talks About his Doepfer Ribbon Controller


Two more via this year's Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting. You can see the Prophet T8 minus keys that Stephen refers to here. You can find Stephen's custom woodwork on Synthwood.

PNW06: David Skinner Demos his Synthesizers.com Modular

Two more of David Skinner and his Synthesizers.com modular at this year's Pacific Nortwhest Synthesizer Meeting. Click here for two previous posts.

Ondioline

Click here for shots pulled via this auction.

via Dave.

More on the Ondioline on 120 Years.

Via wikipedia: "The Ondioline was a vacuum tube-powered keyboard instrument, invented by Georges Jenny, which was a forerunner of today's synthesizers.

The Ondioline was capable of creating a wide variety of sounds. Its keyboard had a unique feature: it was suspended on special springs which made it possible to introduce a natural vibrato if the player moved the keyboard from side to side with their playing hand. The result was an almost human-like vibrato that lent a wide range of expression to the Ondioline. The keyboard was also pressure-sensitive, and the instrument had a knee volume lever.

Jean-Jacques Perrey first acquired an Ondioline in the mid-1950s [1], and used it on all his older albums from the late 1960's."

You might recognize the name Jean-Jacques Perrey from these posts (you can see him playing it in the first post). I saw him play live with Dana Countryman and he had the Ondioline with him. It sounded just like a theremin. Jean-Jacques Perrey stated that the Ondioline was his favorite instrument.

Stupid Trivia

So in the comments of this post on Synrise, dan s. calls out that Synrise has had the same site design since 1999. It occured to me that I might actually hold the record for the synth site with the oldest original design! I know, exciting stuff. The original Matrixsynth, which is still up, btw, has had the same exact crappy design since Oct. 1997, when I originally put it up. If anyone knows of another synth site with an older design that is still up, feel free to comment. And yes, the blog link is new, but the overall site really has been the same since day one minus adding and updating links. Appropriate title, huh?

tower

flickr by saftpackerl. Title link takes you to more.

EMS Synthi Sequencer 256

Click here for shots pulled via this auction.

Details:
"You are bidding monstrous EMS Synthi Sequencer 256 (formerly known as Synthi Moog Sequencer), very rare separate version of the Synthi 100 sequencer . Very few of them were produced back in the very early 70's. Designed by David Cockerell. Features the following options:

-Layers with 2 Control Voltages plus Key Parameters
-Fourth Key only Layer
-Five Octave Velocity Sensistive Keyboard
-256 Event x 42 bit Memory
-Each event comprises 2 x 6-bit Control Voltages and 13-bit Start & Stop times
-Internal (0.1 - 200 Hz) or External Clock
-Plays Forwards and Backwards
-Editing

Classic piece of electronic music history, it was surely the most sophisticated sequencer of the early synth years. List price in 1974 was $6500 in the States or 2500 pounds in UK. Looking incredibly cool. Every picnic would need a Synthi like that. The world would be different. I would not sell it I have not to. Cosmetic condition is very good (some traces of being used in the studio during the years, see the pictures; never on the road), working condition should be very good either , however sold as is because of the age. It was originally part of the one of the few modern electronic music studios fully based on EMS equipment founded in 1973. Serial number 6023, what means it is probably 23-rd unit ever produced. I guess not many more than 50 units were produced in general. Power plug included. To be picked up from Hayes, London or I will ship everywhere, however it might be expensive as the unit is quite big and heavy (more than 40 lbs)."

More info:
http://www.ems-synthi.demon.co.uk/emsprods.html#seq256
http://members.tripod.com/werdav/vosyn100.htm
http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/ems/index.html


Sent my way via Johan.

The Davolisint

This image popped up on AH today. The synth in the center is the Davolisint. Title link takes you to a page dedicated to the synth with specs, samples and more shots. Anyone know what the synth below it is?

Clear Moog Etherwave Theremin

Title link takes to shots pulled from this auction.

Deatails:
"This is a one of a kind Moog Etherwave Theremin. It was built for display to show the insides. Now thats cool and the fact 4 total clear units ever made is even cooler, But this is the only one that had a strobe light and a LED back light made for this Clear Theremin. Its one of a kind. Its electronics are made by Bob Moog. It works and comes with the two Theremin Videos to show how to play. The videos are new. The Theremin mounts on a standard mic stand. And when played on stage its LED light shines a beam of light across the stage, and you turn on the strobe it lights up the player and the electronics to the audience, but the eyes of the thermin player are sheilded by the PC board of the theremin. It looks great on stage. Its a 110 volt power. It has 1/4 audio out. all the same controls of the Moog Theremin : Volume, Pitch, Waveform & Brightness controls and an extra power switch for the strobe. Here is the amazing Moog Etherwave Theremin designed by the legendary, Grammy Award winning Theremin and synthesizer designer, Robert Moog! Dr. Moog's Etherwave Theremin is of the same high quality as his earlier designs from the 1950's and 1960's, with 3/8" nickel-plated brass antennas. It completely puts the imitators to shame! The Etherwave has an enormous pitch range that allow the player to shake the room or play notes that Celine Dion would have a hard time following. You can plug it into your stereo, mixer, or guitar amp, and sounds amazing with reverb or delay added. It comes complete with two video tutorials : "Clara Rockmore: the Greatest Theremin Virtuosa", and "Mastering the Theremin", featuring Lydia Kavina."

Custom Paia Synth

This one came in via AH. According to Harry Bisell:

"From the names of the modules and the number of jacks on each... its a re-packaged PAiA 2720 synth. The LPF, BPF, and "Sine Converter" modules are dead guiveaways !!!"

VEMIA Auction Nov 4

Via Peter Forrest. Note the VEMIA auction usually has some pretty interesting stuff. Last year some gear from Brian Eno including his DX7 were included. Definitely worth taking a peak. Here are some previous posts mentioning VEMIA.

"Next VEMIA auction has some good stuff coming, including 22 lots (actually probably nearer 40 or 50 lots) starting at 22 uk pounds with no reserve.

Some items are already up online at www.spheremusic.com

They include an ARP 2600 (but that's already had some keen bidding); an Obie 4-voice (at 110 pounds at the moment); some Metasonix items - two already listed; and, to come, a Moog Taurus, a MIDI'd Odyssey module, and quite a few other interesting pieces.

No hidden reserve on anything in the auction - one bid gets it if no-one bids higher. 10% buyer's premium, but you get personal service and protection for that, plus the ability to pay in a variety of ways for free. Auction ends Saturday Nov 11.

Thanks! Peter Forrest"

Vintage Monophonic Analog

Here's an interesting one off of the bay. Looks like a DIY synth. Love the label. : ) Title link takes you to more shots pulled via this auction. If you know more about this particular synth please feel free to comment.

Details (not much):
"Here is a Vintage Vintage Monophonic Analog Synthesizer . I can not find a name on it, maybe a Korg ??. The item powers up and made some different noices, but that is all I can test. I do not know how well or if it works. I do not know how to use all the functions. I got this from an estate of a person who had a one man band. sold as is"

Roland Juno-106 and MSQ-100 Sequencer

I just like this shot via Voynich.

Moog Taurus II Bass Pedals

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Roland V-synth demo

YouTube via nordlead3. Sent my way via frederic.

MidiMOOG vs synthesizers.com

YouTube via tonno16. Sent my way via frederic.

MIDI Ribbon Controllers

Minimoog & 1150 Ribbon Controller


MIDI Ribbon Controller with MOTIF ES 7


YouTube via interlogic.

Memorymoog patch selection

Not the best audio and video, but there you have it. YouTube via interlogic.

Moog Multimoog

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this auction.

Boss Dr.Rhythm DR-110

YouTube via 123synthland,

Roland CR-8000 CompuRhythm

YouTube via 123synthland.

PNW06: Idiotboy Plays the Mono/Poly

Idiotboy plays with the Korg Mono/Poly at this year's Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting.

Monochromatic Monophonic

flickr by .:Space Trucker:.

Synrise

I just realized I haven't put up a post for Synrise yet. I've referenced the site in a number of posts but never put up an actual post on the site itself. So here you go. If you haven't been there before, do check it out. It's one of the original synth sites out there. tipped via sequencer.de.

Lightner's Sliders

Via Reed: "We recently replaced the sliders in my Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator with beautiful, new, well-lubricated ones obtained at a reasonable market value from Kevin Lightner's parts store. The best part for us: Kevin & Monica offer sliders which haven't been pre-cut down to the insanely short Arp standard length. Anyone with Arp synthesizers & sequencers, Buchla Marfs, Easels or Comb Filters should look no further than Synthfool for all their impossible-to-find part needs."

Click Buchla 200 image for much larger shot.

Music for Robots

via Simon:

"An old record called ‘Music For Robots.’ The first side seems to be mostly narrative, but the second side, ‘Tone Tales of Tomorrow’, is all vintage synth wackiness."

Title link takes you there with a direct link to download the record for free. I love this stuff. You guys get to hear it first, as I need to step out for a bit. Thanks Simon! BTW, check out other posts on Scar Stuff for more.

music for well tempered touchscreens

Via porchka66.

Roland JD Synth Competition

Title link takes you there.

via Don Solaris.

New from Trogotronic

Model 655 Analog Generator/Effect $135.00
A little sister to the "665", the Six-FIFTY-FIVE adds an oscillator but looses a pre-amp chip, a few knobs and $45 off the sticker price. Hear samples on the website alone and effecting poorly played guitar and really bad digital drums.
CV Controller Joystick $165.00
Necessity is the mother of invention: frustration with an interface born before the light bulb between myself and an analog modular synth' begat the "Iron Cross CV". It is an Analog Synthesizer Controller�Joystick� compatible with any synth' rig that uses the control voltage standard and is available in right or left handed configurations. Hear a quick and extremely dirty demo of one working out with a real nice PAIA on the website.


Iron Cross 2.0 Audio Controller $200
Yeah, we know, 200 bucks is a lot... But it's also a lot LESS than 300+ bucks that it cost to buy version one... Those who bought one then have never looked back and "won't leave home without one". Those who still don't have any idea what this thing is about might be a little closer to finding out:
The stick itself is a premium, heavy duty Japanese job with�action�and feel�superior to anything available here in the states. Problem is the the best materials are cumbersome and expensive to import.
So we refined the design and chassis materials to make the unit easier to use, easier to build and cheaper to produce... everybody wins including the curious and elusive grandpa selling the best joystick on earth in his 2 square meter shop in Nippon.
For the first time at Trogotronic.com there's a sound sample (thanks to the fellas in Geronimo) of the Iron Cross in action.

Land Mine "True" Bypass $50
Claymore Super Bypass $100
Since we recommend NOT jumping feet first on any of the analog generators that we sell we offer sturdy little stomp-boxes to take the hit.
LAND MINE is as simple as can be: one stomp is "on", one more is "off". "On" routes the signal through the effects send jacks, "off" bypasses the effects loop altogether. Or it can control a signal by ignoring the bypass altogether and using the box alone as an on/off switch.
CLAYMORE�works the same but has two extra switches... the switch on the right works the same as the Landmine's but the one on the left is a momentary, only "on" as long as you step on it. The middle switch selects which of the two is being used, and the indicator lamps tell which of the two is active.
Both are passive 'true" bypass designs (to make sure the sound you put in is the sound you get out) and both are compatible with any gear that uses 1/4" phono plugs... so you could route signal to an auxiliary amp' or to and from your Barbarian with a tap of the toe.


All of these things are at Trogotronic.com and all are hand built by Free-Range, non organic Smog-Breathing Troglodytes in LBC, USA.

New Audio Damage Product Teaser from Analog Industries

Something new from the wizard is coming. Filters and beats, oh my!

PNW06: James Demos His Roland CMU-800

Continuation of this previous post. James Gallant demos his Roland CMU-800 at this year's Pacific Northwest Synthesizer Meeting. No title link. Unfortunately I cut the last video short thinking I better keep the video small to upload. The tune ends, James takes a bow, and we all laugh. Hard work James. : )

Matrixsynth Search Engine

You might notice a new search box on the right frame of this site. Google just came out with custom search engines. In short you can create a custom search engine that favors particular content based on keywords you specify along with websites to give preference to in your searches. I used the list of sites on my old site along with synth, synthesizer, analog, modular and sequencer as the keywords to start. I wanted to keep it basic and general and even thought about removing analog modular and sequencer, but then thought synth and synthesizer might skew towards synthetic materials. BTW, the search will include other sites as well. The sites and keywords are meant to help make the results more relevant. Take a look at the list of URLs in the left frame of my old site and feel free to suggest URLs to add in the comments. But, please make sure you verify the URL is not on the list first. I don't want to do that work for you. : ) Title link takes you to the homepage of the Matrixsynth search engine, but something tells me it will be too difficult to remember, so... Just use the search box to the right.

juris lieblingsspielzeug

flickr by toke vamos.

The Polymonster - E-MU Voice Board Based Modular

You are looking at a custom modular built by Dave, consisting of eight E-MU boards. Links: gallery 2, gallery 3, E-MU demo board scans.

Via Dave:
"Each board had 2 ea. SSM 2030 VCO, 2 ea. SSM 2050 EG, 1 ea. SSM 2040 VCF, and 1 ea. SSM 2020 dual VCA. It was basically equivalent to a Rev 1 Prophet voice, but without the extra VCAs necessary for computer control."

Via the site:
"Polyphony became possible (though expensive) when E-MU released their 4060 microprocessor keyboard. I bought the 14th one ever made. It had 16 channels and a 2000 note sequencer built in. I built an 8 voice synth using E-MU's voice demo boards, which used the legendary SSM chips. This thing sounded like an 8 voice rev 1 Prophet. It was also gigged on the road for several years. It was sold to the Audities museum to finance my latest modular system."

Make sure to check out the rest of the site for more modular goodness. I previously posted SuperMoe which is another one of Dave's projects.

Update: More on the board and a link to the Polymonster on The Emulator Archive.

Update via Phil in the comments:
"any more info on the developers?
I've always thought my poly modular may have been a prototype for this board.
although it's four SSM 20X0 boards,
all 3xVCO, VCF, 3xVCTG(ADSR). stereo VCA.
this thing
best,
phil"

EMS Synthi 100 Shots

No title link. Two shots via an anonymous reader.

"This one is in xtremely good condition (BTW:there are way more than 3 funktional)and more as 24 build to. The matrixes are as new on this one. Amazing Its very confusing to patch this monster,I don’t like it at all,if you like to patch analog computers,you will be happy to work with this synth. The sound is identically to an AKS. Perhaps I could buy this one for 16000$ or so,but im not interested to do the effort,and BTW iv not the place at home! Note that it seems (and also on this model) the sequencer never have working correctly (on any models) The guy told me that when the have buy the instrument new I din’t worked,and a few times (on request) a tec from EMS have come on location to try fix it,but never was able to. The second pic matrix is from the synth museum book." Check out the books on the right pane of this site for the Museum of Synthesizer Technology.

Automatic Tubular Bells

Wow, this is pretty cool. Via Jordi B:

"I often visit your page, and I think that the new MIDI device I am building could be of your interest. It is a set of MIDI controlled Tubular Bells. I’m still working on it, but I think it will be ready soon. I send you this video in case you’d like to post it. It shows the device being tested playing the musical scale notes. It can play one octave melodies ( C,C#,D,D#,E….) and can be controled through a PC or a MIDI secuencer ( I’m developing this option now )."