Artesia

theres alot of m1000's about (only people are to some degree hanging onto them right now) ..probably one of oberheims most sucessful synths ..in the 90's it was the cheapest way to get access to loads of classic analog sounds for not much money.. this was the day when peoples studios where dominated by alot of preset sound machines & samplers which people tended to load preset librarys into ..so to them a minimalistic preset analog machine made sense.

well its much the same argument with the matrix 1000 as it is with the commodore computers ..theres alot of people from the computing world which would object with horror at old commodores being completely trashed for a sound chip. whereas adding a module to a m1000 in a way which it could be removed if it was really desired is pretty non destructive. and going the route that requires the original hardware, could help prevent the remaining stock of spare chips for the synths drying up so quick. unfortunately speeding up the program alone wouldnt work, amoungst other things, the timing specifically relates to the midi & chip bus rates & without finding out where their ratio flags are; it would completely knock everything out of sync & out of touch. far easier to take note of the 3396 or multiplexer chips (if fast enough to be useful) communication protocols & work a mios implementation from there.. which allows for the addition of things like boatloads of envelopes & modulation sources :) tho yeah ..what they got those chips to do in the first place was pretty impressive for the money.

well.. theres 'tons' of m1000/m6rs about ...and it would be no bad thing to make a mios module to drop straight into the current cases and hijack the hardware in the least destructive manner possible.. and yes, alot more could be done with those 3396 chips.. it should be possible to actually make something which is in programming terms at least an equal to an expander/m12 ...only that the exp/m12 will still be a notch above in sound ;) its something peeps here should be encouraged to look into ...we've done the yamaha ym-262, mos sid chips ..so how about oberheim 3396's next ? ;) id do it myself, only i have other things to grapple with rn & i have yet to fully get to grips with the coding required ...the logic behind the language heracy & module structure still confuses the hell out of me !

the poly evolver is a dirty little beast ;) ..one of the fattest modern 'analogs' about.. a firm fave & a descendant of the original prophet synths. brb ..gotta dash to the local b&q wharehoouse before it closes.

im on the hunt for anything from the yamaha cs series, in any condition, working or not ..particularly the cs80 or cs30 (or gx1 ;) ...however they seem to change hands very rarely lately. and by the time one does ..i maybe able to afford fronting up the money again. other than that, the original waldorf wave would round up the collection nicely; only there was a meer 300 made. some other things maybe.. but i cant recall rn. no q+ rackmount... i would have one if they made them as avoiding loads of keys has kept the physical dimensions of my studio manageable. ..mind the q+ now looks sweet ;) if you can do without the analog filters ...you may wish to consider waldorfs Blofeld ..which incorporates all of their prior synthesis methods in a little tabletop box with a graphical interface ...and they sell for a bargain 300 ukp odd. a friend is getting one soon, so ill let you know what i think of them comparitively. yeah that q+ patch is gargantuan ...its best used against short percussive sounds & things of that nature.

cleches indeed they are.. tho i like to discover new things.. or failing that; re-invent them a little :) ah yes the old goa and psy trance.. got dribs and drabs of it here on the playlist one particularly memorable song/mixset by some european chap who ran flying rhino ? ..records ..and was arrested for something to do with consuming large quantity of mushrooms not long after i had it ..meh ! :) ah yes.. if you can modulate the feedback time on the delay ..try modulating it very slightly with a fast random/sqr envelope for even more fatness. ..also could try this with pitch on the oscillators ..but may not work as well ..when its not 4am here again ..ill turn the keys on and have another crack at that here :) yup, unison used correctly can get bone crushing results out of a good analog :) well.. iv'e put off getting a voyager just yet ...as they arent exactly rare (still in production of course ;) ) ...and a good friend has one which i can use when i need to. ..i used to have a moog prodigy ...but i sold it out of annoyance at not being able to save patches/remember sounds i found ...heh so spoilt with current tech ;) ..the money went towards the Andromeda. Will have my own voyager at some point as it is quality ...but a very, very expensive machine for what it has to offer. modulars.. i think ill be passing on them ..way, way too big for monophonicness ..tho maybe a battered arp 2500 that needs nursing back to good heath ;)

the vinttage market wont completely fold in much the same way that itll be a looong time before djs ditch vynl. also whats curious is that analogs 'imperfections' are what makes it sound amazing.. whereas digitals imperfections usually only serve to make them sound weak & confused.

ah yes ..that detuned virus trance string sound ...something which the andromeda i found is also rather good at ;) ..but its abit of an overused cleche right now ...abit like 303 squarbles ..kind of thing best used sparingly ..if at all :)

ahha... well the only hardware va synths that have tickled my snobbish standards where the waldorfs ..the q & xt with its waveshaping tools are so easily coaxed into sounding monstrously fat ..without feeling like you maybe missing out on something :) curiously enough, i went to see Jean Michelle Jarre perform his opening night performance of his world tour afew days back at birmingham symphonic hall. He's touring with all his old analog synths (tons and tons of them) and performing oxygene as a live and somewhat improvised performance. ...pretty amazing sight as well as sound it was ;) but getting to the point, on his opening speech he mentioned how he just didnt get that emotive feeling & the sound he liked with modern digital synths; with exception of the ones made by waldorf ! :) ..yay. theres a demo of a patch i hacked up for the q+ on the page with it on.. other stuff consists of me working on and with other peeps stuff.. and its down to their own bickering as to when that stuff ends up finished & online rather than just performed live. There are bits i have been working on myself, but with everything else going on, and more time spent programming patches than anything else ;) ..i've not got my own bits finished yet to a state that im happy with. ...soon with abit of luck :) selling it on later... well i personally couldnt care if the synths end up worth a mansion or a tin of baked beans... its just classic sound making equipment id like to have access to :) ..so much better than buying some shitty overpriced painting which all you can do is stare at it as it stands and go ...'gee thats pretty'. id be buried with these in my morseleum ;) ..however its abit of a crime to prevent such instruments from making more music once im gone :) chopin ...showoff ;) linux ..well i use (ubuntu) linux on my werb pc ..and xp for music ...dont think alot to vista tho. hmm... only if those VA makers stopped concentrating on polyphony ..and instead concentrated on making the dsp power punch out a handful of really, really impressive notes ;) yes.. im quite surprised about how some of the factory programmers have managed to coax certain sounds out of synths ...its a good way to learn a trick or two ...mind for most synths the factory patches arent all that amazing ..and usually sell a synth short on the incredible potential that some have.

within Leicestershire county in the the UK :)

hi, yes a number have passed this way.. the only ones ive not kept where the access virus ti & nord lead keyboards which i had on loan whilst a shop took for ever and a day to service my alesis andromeda.. frankly they didnt tickle my fancy ..especially considering their asking prices on all digital synths which can relatively easily be walked all over by much cheaper plugins. i have a real like of vintage & unusual hardware synthesis & ive been building up a little collection for a while; as right now the ones id like to have to hand for projects are still within reach of my pockets & not quite super, super hard to come by just yet. so i figured id get the acquisition of these things out of the way, whist i could still afford & find them... In anycase, if i loose interest in it all in the future ..it shouldnt be a loss & could turn out to be a good investment on financial grounds ...aside of these bits of kit sounding fantastic in ways software struggles to get close to; they are also fast becoming rare antiquity's ;) yes, you can use chain mode to get 12 note & greater polyphony out of the m1000 (the expander & m12 also do this)... tho just how one would play 12 notes with 10 figers ill never know ;) the polyphony is mainly useful for layering up parallel sound elements into a single, bigger sound. the m1000 can sound like the m12... though its just not a beefy and silky.. its voice structure isnt as complex & it sbased on DCO's ..not VCO's.. also the matrix 1000 ocillators also behave oddly, breaking up into some bizarre grittiness in the low registers.. this doesnt happen on the dcs m12. you an program quite complex voices for the m6/1000 ..however they dont offer asmany options as the m12/expander (see comparison list) ..also the polyphony isnt so much agout how many notes you can bang out ..as much as having the option to layer voices for a more complex overall tone :) ..and dealing with sustained notes. tho theres no reason you cant cheat in the studio situ by layering many oberheim elements ontop of eachother in your sequencer/recording device ..making it sound like you have a gazillion not polyphony ;) ...also some complex layers can be achieved that way ..only that you are limited by the number of modulation routings for each take :) yeah the matrix editors leave alot to be desired ..im thinking of programming my keystation to map it as completely as possible. yup theres alot of really good factory patches on the m1000, only theres a small risk some of them may well be over used by now ..however who ares depends on what youre audience has been exposed to ;) matrix 12: + 12 voices each consisting of: * 2 VCOs, VCOs syncable, * 15 VCA's * 5 LFOs, * 5 ENVs, * 3 Tracking Generators, * 4 Ramp-Generators (mini envelopes), * 1 lag processor * 1 fm mod generator. * mod matrix - 27sources, 47 destinations. (20 assignable on each individual voice) * 6 keyboard layering zones * Multi-mode filter: LPF,HPF (1-4 Pol), BPF (2 & 4 Pol), Notch, Phase (3 Pol), and Combinations: HPF (2-3 Pol)+LPF(1 Pol), Notch (2 Pol) + LPF (1 Pol), Phase (3 Pol) + LPF (1 Pol) , Filter FM and Oszillator FM modable matrix 1000: + 6 voices each consisting of: * 2 DCOs, syncable, * 2 VCA's * 2 LFOs, * 3 ENVs, * 1 Tracking Generators (?) * 2 Ramp-Generators (mini envelopes), * mod matrix - 20 sources, 32 destinations. * 2 keyboard layering zones * 4 pole low pass filter only.

new stuff uppped as above ...had to tear myself away from playing with it long enough to write that ;) ...hope this is of interest to some :) ** Looks around ...hmm no one curious about the Obie ? ;) ...must all be out partying ..well not me tonight it would seem ;) **

and so i ordered a matrix 12; and the sight below greeted me: . . . . . . . . . ....no, no ..that one silly ! quite a front panel.. a 8 megapixel slr struggled to capture the fine artwork on the front panel for a one shot overview: panel closeups: Link To Larger image: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nausicaa.valley/ucapps/ob_matrix12/M12_003_L.jpg Link To Larger image: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nausicaa.valley/ucapps/ob_matrix12/M12_006_L.jpg rear panel funnily enough ...btw the jack sockets on these things always lack any form of nut on them ..even though they are threaded for it ! aah VFD's ..not enough synths adorned with these things ;) insides of course.. the immense stack of circuitary for the 12 voices ...they dont pack em out like this anymore ;) Link To Larger image: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nausicaa.valley/ucapps/ob_matrix12/M12_013_L.jpg on the voice boards: cem3374 - dual VCO cem3372 - variable mode/state filter ..mistaken on the web at times for being only low pass ! TL084/82/81cn - the lower cost TL series opamps.. most are probably for just dealing with modulation stuff. tl074cn - higher performance, low noise TL series opamps ..proabably used on the audio end. other chips and bits im too lazy to document right now.. have a look for yourself ;) each of the six voice cards is controlled directly by its own dedicated cpu, in this case Hitachi HD68b09p The control surface and front end has an entirely sepperate & somewhat more bulky cpu board to string it all togeather ..patch memory and such is on here too. uses battery backup (not thedays of flash ram when this was out ;). the cpu here is hitachi hd68b09p again. power supply with an odd improvisation regarding a small step up transformer to provide the VFD dispalys withthe 55v or so they needto work. Various sections of the top surface boards...weird infinate rotarys knobs based on resistive technology here: final overview ofthe main cpu board. some info: The Oberheim Matrix 12 is essentially 2 Xpanders stuffed into one box with a keyboard attached. its a 12 voice instrument and sported an impressive 15 mode filter & was the first (?) synth to fully implement the powerful matrix modulation system. its amazingly programmable & for the most part easy and intuitive to do so.. and sounds pretty fat :) i particularly like the 3 pole (close to that classic roland filter sound), 1 pole & phase filters this synth has ..they have an interesting timbre without stiking their necks out too far when being abused somewhat :) The only real niggles are that the keyboard could be abit more responsive & the paddle controls arent great.. then again these things can be changed and tweaked for fairly minimal hassle if depended on. Also contemplating playing with some ofthe new higher performance TL series compatible opamps to 'improve' the sonic character of the synth ..tho i may well just leave it be for now.. as its quite enough as it stands :) btw anyone got the absolute final ROM versions for this synths voice & cpu boards ? ...its a meer one step behind. If you arent too fussy, you can get pretty close to the capability's and sounds of this synth ..with the matrix 1000 units ..which sell for 1/10th the price typically ...only they lack any controls other than patch recall, dont respond to changing parameters in realtime quickly at all ..and have a distinctly shrill bite to their low pass only filters which although sometimes works in your favour and at others hinders a completely comfortable rendering of certain sounds. bought this one from tonetweakers.com; they service & sell vintage instruments restored to full working order/calibrations. Took a chance on ordering from these guys on spotting a matrix 12 ..they were polite, patient & most important the order arrived as expected, and as described on their part. Go take a look sometime, they sell tons of kit & you might find something you'e been looking for. Riiight ...whos got a cs80/cs30 they want to part with ? ;) UPS ...and the fun we had..: all went pretty well... however UK UPS managed to really piss me off. But then again, thats not been unusual for them in my area... friends keep on getting packages arrive severly battered & in one instance a farnell delivery had a whole bunch of serviets shoved in it to hide the fact that its entire contents had bounced around & was 'lost wherever.. USA side UPS seemed to be pretty efficient... the parcel got thru in 25 hours & as you might expect it took afew days to drip thru customs. then the fun started... the delivery date was quoted on the online tracking as being on the 25th.. the tuesday after the easter break. Overnight in the wee hours they changed their mind & tried to deliver it when i was far from expecting it on friday 20th ..and i missed them.. having not happened to be available upon the first time they decided to randomly visit was the start of the problems... i phoned up their single national number for the uk to find out about the fact that no customs charges had been noted on the missed delivery form.. they told me there was nothing to pay ..and they didnt seem to be able to provide me with an example of standard procedure where customs is due ..the staff just didnt know this ! the next point of inquiry with them was where was the local sorting office & what where the opening times. i said if i managed to arrange transport and it wasnt too far; id go with a friend to collect before easter landed.. but -NOT- to change the delivery options;i stated that i may not be able to collect in person and therefore not to change any of the delivery details. ...guess what ..turns out tamworth was too far an no one was available ..they canceled my 2 remaining delivery attempts ..defaulting to 5 days hold & return if i didnt appear ! what really rubbed it in, was that only after 4 very cool headed and clearly stated phone calls did the several different staff i spoke to finally get booking it back in for delivery again ..the first one on confirming my reuest for re delivery managed to press a button that just puts it on hold again ...is this computers, people or both ? ...honestly. i only got it sorted propperly when i managed to get them to forward me to the local sorting depo.. (no public phone nmber for them (unlike royal mail)) ...this was then somewhat reluctantly sorted by them there. next on this one; the delivery arrives on this thursday, nice enough guy working on their delivery rounds :) ...he hadnt noticed the automated slip that stated the customs duty to collect immediately in person til i mentioned duty fees.. and somehow, despite that info being available on ups systems.. the call center wasnt able to inform me of it ..or to be aware of it ! ..funny considering the customs fees are sorted for them by someone on the uk side they emply to do this ! ..and they didnt inform me of how they dealt with customs ...even though there was that pink slip sitting there, printed by them ..in the uk ! the delivery chap said... yep they are always doing this ...they never tell us ..or the customer about customs charges. furthermore, the delivery drivers aren't actually insured to collect customs duty for them ..royal mail couldnt get renewed insurance for theirs ...so they canceled cash on collection in preference for people paying over the phone to clear parcels for delivery/ relying on them turning up with cash at the depo in person. ..but at least royal mail have the decency to send out a letter stating the required fee ..rather than demanding a fee out of the blue on your doorstep ..and if something you werent expecting arrives levying customs duty from someone like ups ..theres a fair chance they wont let you know what it is first before forking out... also not having all the money to hand for the duty meant that the guy had to come back the following day..this friday before we were able to close the deal.. which resulted in a spoofed 'closed for business' thing being left in the system ..making me look even more of a prat in paperwork terms.. .needless to say ...i dont like ups. tho somethings we have to put up with occasionally ..and if not anywhere else ..the midlands sorting office sucks. Package Progress Location Date Local Time Description TAMWORTH, GB 03/28/2008 12:31 P.M. DELIVERY 03/28/2008 6:19 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY 03/28/2008 6:19 A.M. IMPORT SCAN TAMWORTH, GB 03/27/2008 2:48 P.M. THE RECEIVER'S LOCATION WAS CLOSED ON THE 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 3RD DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE 03/27/2008 1:04 P.M. DELIVERY 03/27/2008 4:17 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY 03/27/2008 4:17 A.M. IMPORT SCAN TAMWORTH, GB 03/26/2008 6:25 P.M. DELIVERY RESCHEDULED TAMWORTH, GB 03/25/2008 4:58 P.M. THE DELIVERY CHANGE REQUEST FOR THIS PACKAGE WAS MODIFIED / THE PACKAGE IS BEING HELD FOR FUTURE DELIVERY. UPS WILL ATTEMPT DELIVERY ON THE DATE REQUESTED 03/25/2008 8:03 A.M. THE DELIVERY CHANGE REQUEST FOR THIS PACKAGE WAS MODIFIED / AS REQUESTED, THE RECEIVER WILL PICKUP AT A UPS FACILITY AT THEIR CONVENIENCE. THIS MUST BE WITHIN 5 BUSINESS DAYS TAMWORTH, GB 03/20/2008 3:15 P.M. A DELIVERY CHANGE REQUEST FOR THIS PACKAGE WILL BE PROCESSED / AS REQUESTED, THE RECEIVER WILL PICKUP AT A UPS FACILITY AT THEIR CONVENIENCE. THIS MUST BE WITHIN 5 BUSINESS DAYS 03/20/2008 1:43 P.M. THE RECEIVER WAS UNAVAILABLE TO SIGN ON THE 1ST DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE 03/20/2008 6:20 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY 03/20/2008 6:19 A.M. IMPORT SCAN EAST MIDLANDS AIRPOR, GB 03/20/2008 1:20 A.M. IMPORT SCAN 03/20/2008 12:01 A.M. IMPORT SCAN EAST MIDLANDS AIRPOR, GB 03/19/2008 2:49 P.M. REGISTERED WITH CLEARING AGENCY / SHIPMENT SUBMITTED TO CLEARING AGENCY 03/19/2008 2:49 P.M. REGISTERED WITH CLEARING AGENCY / RELEASED BY CLR AGENCY. NOW IN-TRANSIT EAST MIDLANDS AIRPOR, GB 03/18/2008 9:55 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN **2, US 03/18/2008 11:17 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN 03/18/2008 10:34 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN 03/18/2008 2:39 A.M. EXPORT SCAN 03/18/2008 12:50 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN **1, US 03/17/2008 9:09 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN 03/17/2008 8:41 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN US 03/17/2008 6:41 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

but... do they make coffee ? :)

its more or less a quick showcase of some of their skills i guess ..didnt ask of its significance if any... its just the 'splash screen' for the linked site above... btw cant remember if i pasted it before.. though heres one of our earlier & smaller subwoofers... scuse the less than glossy brochure shots ;)

Is a sound engineer & music technologist who seems to get roped into doing everything from providing pa, engineering peoples tracks, working on the music, working on the sounds ..tweaking everything. making the teas, & building folks websites and so on... Has been very busy developing a number of 'secret' ;) projects with the formation of a proper audio business between me and some friends on the virge of coming together this year.. rather than just me freelancing everywhere. Which is why iv'e not been here much lately & dropped afew things i was musing at the time.. Have spent the last 10 years researching and developing PA speakers, due to a dislike of whats commercially available & we now feel we've got it nailed. Also very fortunately have some good contacts and connections in the industrial audio manufacturing sector who are more than willing to help us setup properly.. ...even if we dont sell alot to other people ..we will sure as hell be hiring and using this kit ourselfs ;) ...also is in the middle of researching & making some beautiful noise making equipment which has a big fat analog heart.. and should in the not too distant future be available :) heres something visually more interesting mind: http://www.tenfivedesign.co.uk/ thats my younger bros graphic design business.. & a site we threw together in a weekend for it :)

Antlers. (what else they for...)

them

not many ...about 10 (...unless the Alzheimer's is getting a head start on me :) ) iv'e not caught up on midibox alot til recently; been waylaid by some evil projects which needed all my time.. i still dont quite know what this thread is all about; as iv'e been far too lazy to bother finding out in detail.. evidently due to the response from other people, itd probably be of huge interest to me if i stopped for a moment ...eh well :)

22 pages, 3172 views, 320 replys.. yup ..i'd say people are interested.

oh.. btw.. if you ever want to see a recent 'documentary' where a bunch of spiritualists try to abuse the hell out of totally mis-interpreting quantum physics; in aid of recruiting people to religion; any religion.. Then look for "what the bleep do we know ?" ....a curiously ironic title for people traditionally known for refraining from expletives; hinting at them for their own reasons is probably a sin too ;)

t'was 'in search of schrodinger's at' by john gribbin... tho funnily enough the book didn't quite put it like that & id figured those points out for myself looong before i read the book ;) also, iv'e not heard the self refining chaos point referred to; tho it must be ...S.R.C. Is white noise fed into the sweetest ever multi-tap Resonant Filter With feedback & delay :) ...sounds like a dubbist's dream ;) besides.. nothing i pointed out has anything so far to to with the quantum dithering cat :)

LOL ! kitten huffing :) aah ..Schroeder quantum cat :) ..been reading some quite fascinating books on quantum physics lately, oddly enough.. all matter is just energy dancing with itself in a ying-yang of self opposition. all information is frequency vibrations of energy. all the order in reality is self refining chaos.. ..and if you arent looking, that cat is probably reading the sunday paper behind your back n' blowing a rasberry. ..oh and of course, music is the best damn frequency vibrations of energy there are ;)

i fail to grasp the relevance ..tis not offensive :) ...ah right i get it ..the wwf thing.. no bitter intentions; just noting that its easy to confuse the matter in such a way; that it could be thought that a panda was waiting to give you a chronic spanking...

something else with its tongue out: http://www.funlol.com/funpages/screen-lick.html the screensaver: http://www.nuganics.com.au/2008/02/24/cat-licking-screen-cleaner-screen-saver/