"Up for auction is an excellent example of an ARP Pro Soloist Analog / Digital Synthesizer. These are very rare and almost impossible to find in this condition. I am the second owner. The first owner put it in storage in the early 1980's and it has been there until a couple months ago when I purchased it. Since then I have replaced all the keyboard bushings with new (not NOS) and properly lubed bushings so the keyboard action is like new. I've also properly cleaned and lubed all the sliders and cleaned all the contacts. All functions work and the synth sounds excellent. Cosmetically it is in outstanding condition for its age. The wood end caps are original and are tight and have no major scratches or gouges. It has the original slider caps as well as all the originals switches. Even the bottom is clean and unmarred." More info at the listing...
Hard Sync is a popular feature on a lot of vintage analog synths. The technique involves using one oscillator to 'force' a second oscillator to reset its cycle (no matter where it is in its own cycle) to share the same base frequency - putting the two oscillators in sync, as it were. By itself, this doesn't sound like much, but when one alters the frequency of the synced oscillator dynamically (by modulating its pitch using an envelope or LFO), it results in an aggressive 'barking' timbre that can be quite a lot of fun to play around with. The synth leads in the Cars hits "Let's Go" and "Hello Again" are probably the most well-known examples of this type of sound. Old schoolers will also recognize Jean Michel Jarre's famous 'Laser Harp' sound as being a hard sync lead as well. This is not a feature you're going to find on every synth. It's not quite as common to see around today as it was back in the 80's, so your best bet for finding it in software form is to look for emulations of old synths such as Native Instruments Pro-53, Gmedia's Oddity, or Arturia's Jupiter-8V. I'll be demonstrating this technique using Oddity today. The exact steps will vary a bit depending on what synth you're using, but the general technique is the same: select sync mode and modulate the second oscillator's pitch. 1. Call up an instance of Oddity. It should default to the 80's Bass sound, but if not, load up that sound from the factory bank as your starting point. 2. This particular sound has the second oscillator tuned down a fifth, so the first step will be to slide the COARSE FREQUENCY slider of OSCILLATOR 2 up to +0.00 so it is in tune with OSCILLATOR 1. 3. Next to the FREQUENCY controls for OSCILLATOR 2, you will see a little switch for turning SYNC on or off. Move it to the ON position. Right now it doesn't sound very interesting because we're not modulating the FREQUENCY of OSCILLATOR 2. You can play a few notes and move the COARSE FREQUENCY slider on OSCILLATOR 2 and hear the effect in action, but we're lazy electronic musicians, so we're going to automate the process. 4. Before we do this, go to the lowpass filter and open it up by sliding the VCF FREQ all the way up so we can hear the effect more easily. 5. Now, right below OSCILLATOR 2's FREQUENCY settings, you'll see the FM controls for OSCILLATOR 2. FM stands for 'frequency modulation', which in this case refers to simply modulating the pitch (aka frequency) of the oscillator. This is where you might add vibrato, for example. Push the yellow slider here all the way up, and select 'ADSR' on the switch directly below it. This is telling the synth that was want to change the pitch of the second oscillator using the ADSR ENVELOPE. 6. Head over to the ADSR envelope and set the SUStain level about 1/3 of the way up (-17.5 dB), the RELease value all the way down to 0, and set the DECay value a little over halfway up to around 585 ms. Play a few notes and you should hear your new hard sync lead sound! There is a lot to experiment with when programming these types of sounds. Different waveforms will produce different timbres, different envelope settings will have great effect, different modulation depths in the FREQUENCY MODULATION section change the timbre, as will messing around with different frequency settings on your oscillators. Note too that you can use an LFO to modulate the pitch instead of an envelope. To get closer to the famous Cars sound, lower the COARSE FREQUENCY of OSCILLATOR 1 by an octave (-12 semitones), change the waveforms of both oscillators to a SQUAREWAVE (the switches marked VCO 1 and VCO 2 under the AUDIO MIXER section) and bring down the yellow slider under OSCILLATOR 2's FM section to about a third of the way up. (You can click on the picture above to enlarge it and copy the settings). If you've followed along correctly, here's what it should sound like:
Just a quick note to let my readers in the U.K. know that there is a documentary called "Moog: The History of the Synthesizer" that begins airing on SkyArts this Friday. More info and times of other showings available here.
I love ugly synths, and they don't get much uglier than this. It looks like a candy raver threw up on it! Based on Ray Wilson's designs from www.musicfromouterspace.com
In case you've never seen it before, the UK's Sound On Sound magazine is, in my opinion, one of the best magazines on the topic of recording and electronic music making there is. It's not cheap to get in the U.S., but well worth it if you can find it or afford a subscription.
Many years ago, they did a series of articles called Synth Secrets which discusses the synthesis techniques used behind emulating different types of sounds. It might be a little advanced for total noobs, but they're still some of the most thorough and well-written articles I've seen on the topics. And lucky for you, they're all available to read for absolutely free on Sound on Sound's website!
"• This auction drum synth was made in February 1990 in USSR. Serial number 5082. • Synthesis System - Analogue subtractive.
• Built-in metronome, that you can assign to one or two osc.
• Oscillators: VCO x 2 + Noise x 2, Oscillators Waves: sawtooth, square.
• Controls on rear panel for each channel: Gain, Tone, Attack, Release, Filter. There is also switch and balance between noise & tone generators and master level.
Connectors on on the rear panel - 4 trigger audio inputs and main audio Out on standard 1/4' jack, sequencer input,and phones output MONO on 5-Din.
• Power Supply: 220/240 V.
• No MIDI. You can trigger it from any audio output - synthesizer, drum machine or virtual instrument from analog output of Your soundcard."
Here is the 2006 album from my project Nerve Filter for you to stream for free. Lots of Reaktor and Logic instruments on this one. If you like it, buy it on or head on over to http://www.assemblage23.com/store.html#linear to buy the physical CD!
Product: Gladiator 2 Manufacturer: Tone2 Type: AU/VST synthesizer Support:http://www.tone2.com/html/tone2_support_help_contact.html Platforms: VST for Windows 95 or later, VST & AU for OSX 10.3 or later. Price: $199 Demo: Available at http://www.tone2.com/html/gladiator_2_vsti_au_synthesize.html Although Tone 2 isn’t exactly a household name in the world of music software, you are probably familiar with their work, as they were the brains behind the ubiquitous Vanguard softsynth released by ReFX a few years ago. Part of the appeal of that synth was its ease of use, but with that ease of use came a lack of flexibility that might be frustrating to hardcore sound designers. Anyone who felt that frustration with Vanguard would do well to check out Tone2’s latest creation Gladiator 2. I somehow missed the first incarnation of this synth, so I can’t really comment too much on how the new version differs in use, but there is a PDF file that comes with it explaining what has been updated. In brief, the updates include new waveforms, higher quality over-sampling , improved filters, additional unison modes, new effects, improved modulation capabilities, and more. INSTALLATION After running a standard installer, you copy a key-file sent to you by Tone2 to your plug-ins folder and you’re ready to rock. It doesn’t get much more simple than that. Hooray for no dongles! THE MANUAL Gladiator 2 comes with a very thorough PDF manual that not only explains the functionality of the synth very well, but even includes a number of tutorials to guide you through using the different functions. I think this is the best way to learn a new synth, so I applaud their inclusion. Although I will note that in the Welcome Tutorial, they instruct you to use the ‘Spec Formant’ modifier on a waveform and, at least on my machine, that resulted in no sound whatsoever. Actually, going through the presets, it appears that I don’t get any sound out of any patch using the Spec Formant modifier. A bug perhaps? SO WHAT IS IT? Gladiator 2 uses a kind of synthesis Tone2 has dubbed HCM synthesis, which stands for Harmonic Content Morphing. A bit similar to wavetable synthesis, each waveform in Gladiator 2 is actually a series of harmonic ‘snapshots’ that can be played back in varying orders and patterns. If you think of how a note on an acoustic instrument sounds, you’ll realize the initial attack is usually very bright, and the harmonic content of the sound evolves as the note decays. HCM attempts to mimic this and apply it to synthetic sounds (although it can do acoustic sounds, this is definitely not its strength). The result can be anything from a subtle, organic-sounding harmonic shift to more radical, artificial-sounding rhythmic loops and wavetable effects reminiscent of the PPG or Waldorf Microwave synths. THE INTERFACE Gladiator 2 is a seriously deep synth, but rather than hide everything behind heaps of menus or pages, Tone 2 manages to fit everything all on a single page. The layout takes a little getting used to, but once you have a feel for where everything is, it’s quite logical and easy to navigate. It is big, though. So big, in fact, that when I tried to use it on my 15” Macbook, it didn’t fit on the screen. Perhaps the addition of a scroll bar or something to the interface for people using smaller screens might be a nice addition. As it is now, there was no way for me to see or reach the parameters at the bottom inch or so. That said, let’s have a look at what’s on offer. At the very top of the interface is the category and preset browser. These work about as you would expect and helpfully include an INIT button to initialize a new sound and a RANDOM button for generating random sounds as starting points to your own programs. The results from this are generally quite good, although occasionally they resulted in either no sound at all, or dangerously loud sounds (the manual recommends inserting a brick-wall limiter on the Gladiator 2 channel when you are using the RANDOM function). Next to this are settings for volume, quality (for setting the amount of oversampling to prevent aliasing), FX MIX, and Microtuning (which slightly detunes notes in a chord for a fatter and clearer sound). There is also a HELP button here, but all it does is bring up a window telling you where the manual is. This seems rather pointless to me. If you’re going to have a HELP button, it should bring up in-program help or at least automatically open the manual. This is all you see when you first open Gladiator 2, so if you want to get into making your own sounds, you need to hit the EDIT button which opens the rest of the interface allowing you access to all the sound programming controls. Gladiator 2’s architecture is based around 2 pairs of waveform oscillators and a 5th oscillator for various types of noise and attack transients (a very nice touch). The waveforms (or more accurately wavetables… Tone2 calls them ‘morphtables’) range from your standard basic synth waveforms to vocals, pianos, strings, guitars, percussion and all manner of other acoustic and synthetic sources. From here, you can apply any of dozens of ‘modifiers’ which alter the harmonic spectra of the morphtable. There are far too many modifiers for me to list here, but suffice it to say that these can do anything from slight variations on the original timbre to all out sonic mangling. Just this ability alone expands the timbral possibilities nearly infinitely. Still more variety is available via a number of different options for combining the oscillators within a pair. Of course you can simply mix them, as on a standard synth, but you can also have them combine only the odd harmonics of one wave with the even harmonics of another and a number of other less conventional methods. Cross-modulating with FM and AM is also available. Next up are controls for the MORPHMODE, which effects how the MORPHTABLES play back and how much of the MORPHTABLE plays back. Everything from playing through one to all manner of looping back and forth are available here. You may also notice two buttons marked RESYNTHESIS and VOCODER. At the moment these do nothing, but apparently, they are to eventually become available as paid “expansions”. There’s been a lot of controversy about this online and I have to say I agree with the general consensus that one shouldn’t have to pay to add functionality to a synth they already paid for. Either include it as standard, or don’t. Below the standard PITCH and MIX settings, you’ll find OSCILLATOR 5. As mentioned previously, this is a specialized oscillator for playing back various types of noise (everything from standard WHITE, PINK, and BROWN to human breath, applause, water, etc.) and attack transients (including acoustic sounds like guitar picks or piano hammers to synthetic laser blips for adding attack to synth basses). This oscillator is much more basic than the others and lacks the MODIFIERS, but they really aren’t needed here. Everything is then routed on to the FILTER. Although there is only one filter, there are over 40 different varieties to choose from standard low-pass, band-pass, and high-pass variations to vowel filters, comb filters, filter FM and all manner of other goodies. The filters all sound excellent and impart a lot of character to the sounds. They’re also extremely fast and tight (when was the last time you played a synth with a 30 or 40db filter?!) The filter envelope is located here along with controls for altering the shape (logarithmic/exponential), key following, and velocity modulation. The velocity control was a bit confusing to me as even when set on its maximum, it doesn’t modulate the cutoff very much. This can be remedied by setting up velocity to modulate the filter in the MODULATION MATRIX, but it seems to defeat the purpose of having a VEL knob on the filter. Below the filters we find the AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE (pretty standard) and settings for DISTORTION (7 different varieties), tempo-synced delay, EQ and two effects slots which each offer several varieties of reverb, delay, chorus/ensemble, filters, distortion, and more. The quality of the effects are excellent, but don’t offer a lot in terms of programmability (only 2 parameters per effect). However, there is enough variety among the effects offered, that it is unlikely to make you feel like your hands are tied, and of course you can always apply external effects. Under the effects section, are the 2 LFOs and AUX ENVELOPES (selectable using tabs) to use as modulation sources. The AUX ENVELOPES are pretty standard, but the LFOs are more flexible than usual, offering all the conventional shapes along with rhythmic patterns and more esoteric selections. For rhythmic patterns, however, you are better off using the STEP LFO located below the standard LFOs. This is essentially a basic 16 step analog sequencer where you shape the LFO by sliding each step up or down until you have created the pattern you desire. This allows for the popular trance gate effects, but with much more flexibility (even allowing you to choose the ‘shape’ of the steps). At the very bottom is a section for UNISON and SPIRIT MODE. UNISON acts about as you would expect, stacking several detuned voices at once for a bigger, thicker sound. SPIRIT MODE is Tone 2’s attempt to emulate the nonlinearities of pitch one might find on a vintage analog. 19 different variations are available, each one affecting the sound in a different way. Next door to this, we find the ARP, although merely calling it an arpeggiator really sells it short. It is, for all practical purposes, an analog sequencer allowing you to define pitch intervals, velocity levels, and slides in between steps. It’s a lot of fun to play with and is dead easy to use. Next to the ARP is a small window for setting the range of the pitch wheel, and GLIDE settings if you want them. Finally, we have the MODULATION MATRIX which has 12 slots divided over two tabs. This works pretty much as one would expect and provides enough sources and destinations to keep any programmer happy. SO WHAT'S THE VERDICT? It didn’t take long for Gladiator 2 to become one of my favorite softsynths. The presets are mostly trance-oriented, but this synth is so much more than that. The sheer depth of possibilities for sound design contained in the oscillator sections alone are mind-blowing and the innovation and originality of some of the ways you can alter your sounds is something you’re not going to find in too many other synths. Because of some of its more unconventional features, it can take a little while to get up and running with Gladiator 2, but honestly, for me, experimenting and playing around with all the various modifiers to see how they would effect the sound was half of the fun. And as I mentioned before, the manual is very well-written and helpful in getting you up to speed. If you’re looking for a virtual analog type synth, you are going to be hard pressed to find one that sounds better than this, and with the ability to do AM, FM, Phase Distortion, and wavetable type sounds, you’re also not likely to find a synth this flexible. Some of the preset sounds suffer from the same over-brightness that plagued Vanguard, but that doesn’t seem to be across the board fortunately. At the moment, Gladiator 2 seems to be a bit of a best kept secret, but I don’t expect that to be the case for long. This deserves to be every bit as popular as Vanguard, if not moreso. Here is a demo I threw together in about 20 minutes using only factory presets and a drum loop. No external effects, compression, or EQ was used – just the sounds coming straight out of the instrument.
"The Trident is a 3 instrument ensemble type of synthesizer - String, Brass and Synth. Each section has its own unique VCO voice architecture, VCF filter types, and LFO capabilities. It features 8 voices of polyphony and 2 of the instruments can be played while in Split Keyboard mode. A unique effect included is a flanger that can self-oscillate! Flanger controls include Speed, Feedback, Intensity and Manual. It had limited 16 (mkI) or 32 (mkII) patches of memory and there is no way of externally controlling the Trident with MIDI or CV/Gate without modifications. But it sounds very nice and warm and analog. It has been used by Rick Wakeman and Joe Zawinul." - (Description from Vintage Synth Explorer)
Softsynth manufacturers Spectrasonics have finally released the eagerly anticipated 1.7 update to the already excellent Stylus RMX. The update includes the ability to change the time signature of any loop, to automatically create intellegent variations on existing loops based on musical rules, new effects, and more. This update is free to registered Stylus RMX users.
Amazon MP3 is running a special for today only where you can buy the new Prodigy album "Invaders Must Die" for only $1.99 (and a day before the official release date). I'm downloading as we speak, but the clips I've heard made it sound like a return to form for them...
When Radiohead'sKid A came out, there was a lot of speculation on various recording forums as to how they created the odd, glitchy vocal drone of Thom Yorke's voice at the beginning of "Everything In Its Right Place". As it turns out, it was created using the scrubbing function in ProTools. If you're unfamiliar with the term, scrubbing is the ability to play audio by dragging the playhead across a file in real time. It's a bit like fast forwarding or rewinding tape with the play head engaged. It's useful mainly for finding specific portions of an audio file, but it also opens the door to some interesting sounds if you have the patience to work with it. Everything from 'record spin-down' and scratching effects, to grainy digital drones and alien soundscapes are possible. Here's how to do it in Logic. 1. Load up some audio and place it on the arrange page. Any audio will do, but obviously the source material will make a difference in the timbre of the sounds you can get out of it. 2. Although not required, it's a good idea to zoom in a bit so you can scrub smaller portions of audio at a time. 3. Press the PAUSE button on the transport at the bottom of the arrange page. 4. Using the little green triangle at the top of the playhead, slowly drag the playhead back and forth over the sound file. Note how dragging at different speeds slows down or speeds up the audio. You can set maximum scrub speed and scrub response to taste under the AUDIO PREFERENCES. If you decide there are some interesting sound design options for you here, you'll then need to use a program like Rogue Amoeba's excellent Audio Hijack Pro to record the output for further editing and sampling. Note too that any effects assigned to the track you are scrubbing will play back when you scrub as well, but only for as long as you are holding down the mouse over the playhead . Like most unconventional sound design techniques, experimentation here is the key. Not everything will sound great, but sooner or later you are bound to come up with something useful.
Sort of a lower-cost alternative to the Prophet-5, although not as beefy sounding. Still, a very underrated synth that often gets forgotten among Dave Smith's other creations.
The name Tim Conrardy might not spark instant name recognition with you, but if you've purchased a softsynth in the past few years, chances are good you are familiar with his work. Mr. Conrardy created presets for a number of instruments, most recently, Camel Audio's Alchemy. He was apparently on a hike, passed out and never regained consciousness. My condolences to his wife, friends, and family. Though he is gone physically, his legacy will go on in the music people create with his sounds.
"Up for auction is an excellent example of an ARP Pro Soloist Analog / Digital Synthesizer. These are very rare and almost impossible to find in this condition. I am the second owner. The first owner put it in storage in the early 1980's and it has been there until a couple months ago when I purchased it. Since then I have replaced all the keyboard bushings with new (not NOS) and properly lubed bushings so the keyboard action is like new. I've also properly cleaned and lubed all the sliders and cleaned all the contacts. All functions work and the synth sounds excellent. Cosmetically it is in outstanding condition for its age. The wood end caps are original and are tight and have no major scratches or gouges. It has the original slider caps as well as all the originals switches. Even the bottom is clean and unmarred."
". As it turns out, it was created using the scrubbing function in ProTools.
Posts
