My big DYI synth project for this winter/spring is putting together the Arp 2600 clone TTSH (Two Thousand Six Hundred). First phase was done yesterday – finishing the three analog oscillators. Next up, soldering the 4012 filter.
It’s a new year and I thought I’d just write a few words about the last one. 2016 may have been a strange year for the world but for me personally it was a pretty good one. For starters, I got to travel a lot. I visited Barcelona twice, then Sardinia, Amsterdam, Manchester and made some new friends in the process. It’s been a fun year with lots of positive energy.
Musically, I continued on my quest to finish an album with what I believe is great electronic music. I’m almost there and feel hopeful that it’s all done in the next couple of months. I also changed a few things in my studio – updated the eurorack modular and such. Sold the Monomachine since I didn’t use it that much.
So what else is up for 2017? Well in a week I’m starting a new job. It will be closer to what I enjoy working with which is interaction/UX/UI design for e-commerce. Also it will be much closer to home.
I will also attempt to build a TTSH, an Arp 2600 clone. More about that later.
There have been a lot of new exciting products this year but so far only one that truly trigger my GAS. I’m talking of course about the first synth from Behringer, the DeepMind 12. Just listen to this new demo, showcasing just a few of the things this beast can do.. wow! And then there’s the recommended price for it. $999. Wow again.
Looking around my studio I realize I’m probably a bit of a Roland fanboy. Or not, really. Over the years I’ve just naturally gravitated towards the sounds I like the best. It’s not so much about what company actually made the hardware.
Anyway, tomorrow is 909 day and Roland will officially present some new exciting products. We’ve already seen the leaked pictures of a Boutique version of the TR-909 drum machine and TB-303 bassline. Personally I’m hoping for a even smaller version of the TR-808. Let’s see what they have in store for us.
My GAS level went up a bit for this new module from QU-Bit. The Chord is a four wave oscillator with individual and summed outputs. All voices are tuned together, allowing for quick and easy sequencing of chord progressions. Lets see if I can find a place for this little beauty in my modular rack.
Throwback tuesday!! A couple of years ago I did a live recording of my 1975 analog synth Roland System-100, where I used the sample & hold function to create loops and noises. Everything was recorded in one take and only some reverb was added afterwards.
Check it out if you like phat analog bleeps and bloops.
Lots of fun toys to play with…
Check out the details on my Studio page.
File this one under utterly uniquely sounding analog synthesizer.
The Onde Magnétique OM-1 is a device with which you control a modified cassette-player. Into the player you put various pre-recorded cassettes (flute, vox etc) and by playing the buttons on the controller you set the speed of the cassette motor. Which in turn produces notes in different pitches. Really cool concept. Like the bastard child of a Mellotron. Check it out!
The OM-1 costs $285 and can be ordered from their web site.
Over 10 years ago I got this idea that I would make some new chip tunes, so I bought an old Nintendo Gameboy and a cartridge with an early version of Nanoloop.
(Had to look, it’s version 1.2.)
No new chip tunes were actually made but I did manage to use some of its crunchy sounds in a couple of my early dance music releases, like A brand new world. The noisy crunchy loop you hear in the intro was done on a Gameboy with Nanoloop 1.2, with some sampled congas put on top of it.
Anyhow, the latest version of that awesome little sequencer is now 2.7 and apparently there is another type of cartridge on the way called Nanoloop Mono.
It’s a three channel analog synthesizer cart for the original monochrome Gameboy models, and judging by the video it sounds pretty damn good. I might just get one of these and fire up the old beige boy one more time.
Hmm.. I should make a youtube video playing Nanoloop 1.2. There doesn’t seem to be many on the tube.
I’ve finally had some time to sort through all the pics I took at this years Sonar festival. Here are some of them. Check it out.
Big accreditation area screen.
Chilling in the accreditation area.
Hey you want a beer?
Mobile beer
Cowboy dudes.
A girl trying out VR.
Nick trying out VR.
The VR at Sonar+D.
Staff at the accreditation restaurant.
Sonar by day.
The outside accreditation area.
Something something.
The Sonar+D levels.
Elektron gear.
Overbridge from Elektron.
Cenk from Elektron touching stuff.
A mechanical drum machine.
The Touch Board.