Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Truth - A modified Roland TR-77, some Buchla & Euro.

A new remix from Cobramatic using a modified Roland TR-77, some Buchla & Euro modules.
The TR77 (In the form of the earlier Bentley Rhythm Ace 8 with sync mod),
There is a bit of Roland CR-68 in here too plus a short sample off the TV  where the guy says "just tell the truth!". The voice was pitched down and reverse reverb added..

Buchla and Euro inc. 808 modules and a CR68.
Remix in Ableton (voice sample added), EQing and Synth track added.                                                                                  
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New Sound Waves Performance - 21st March, 2015

A New Sound Waves live performance at 107 projects, Redfern, Sydney AUSTRALIA
Sorry for the poor audio & video.
Here are a few snippets of video taken on the 21st March, 2015 in Sydney Australia.

 
Festival Details: http://107projects.org/event/open-107/

This was part of The New Sound Waves crew performing live modular audio and video synths.
 http://nswaves.tumblr.com
 https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Sound-Waves/1481454512067136


NSWaves have their own blog on Tumbler
Here is the link to their meeting on the 21st March:
http://nswaves.tumblr.com/post/113773249199/new-sound-waves-performance-meet-this-coming

Video 3:
Live Video performed by Cobramatic using Roland V8 mixer, P10 clip launcher, ex security camera, Video Sythersiser and modules: LZX, MVIP and Geiskes 3TrinRGB+1c 
Video synth is synced to the Eurorack sound modules.



Video 4:

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Thursday, 26 March 2015

Korg PS 3200 sq1 & volca beats - upload 2

Playing Around with the Korg PS 3200.
It's been midified. The SQ-1 is a great little sequencer.



The full unedited version is here:
http://youtu.be/Ge53NtsYXJA
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Sunday, 22 March 2015

Roland Phrase Lab - MC-09

The Roland MC-09 "PhraseLab" was first manufactured in 2002.
Roland describes it as a TB-303 emulator featuring an effects processor, a step sequencer and a 4 part phrase sampler.

It's basically a single DSP monosynth. .... ie, it's a digital synthesizer that uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds.There are bass (TB-303 emulator), lead and drums parts. There are six control knobs for tweaking the sounds.
They control tuning, Env Mod, Accent,cutoff, reso & decay for the lead & bass.
The rhythm section is the drum. The bottom 3 knobs set the volume for the bass drum, snare & high hats

There are 4 DSP effects : filter, Isolator, Phaser, Slicer.
You can apply these effects to any of the four audio loops (or to live inputs).in real time by tweaking the knobs C1,C2 & C3.

The audio looper is a bit limited in length (6 seconds) but it makes for excellent sounding one-measure techno.



You can either capture audio internally (from the bass, lead & rhythm sections) or externally via the RCA jacks. Once in the looper, the sounds can be layered and effects applied, live.

 Pattern sequencer for up to two measures with 16 beat per measure resolution

Midi in & out. (not thru).  Smartmedia storage. 

If you purchase a SM card make sure it meets these requirements:
Power Supply Voltage : 3.3V
Capacity: 2MB - 128 MB

RCA connections - a bit low quality.

Links
1.  Roland MC-09 Original Demo
2.  Manual download

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For more info on the history of Roland Drum Machines click here
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Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Travel Postcards - Jondent - Index

Travel Postcards - Index 

My travel postcards are all over this blog.  They are sometimes hard to find. So I thought it would be good to put them into some sort of order. Thus this index:

* Australia  
     - Fremantle - Western Australia (Historic Convict jail) 
     - Tathra (Southern NSW) 
     - Bodalla - old cheese factory NSW
     - Tilba Tilba (NSW)
     - Joadja Distillery - NSW Southern Highlands 
     - Skydiving Mission Beach - Queensland , AUSTRALIA
     - Mission Beach - Queensland
     - Barrington Tops , Cape Tribulation Queensland
     - Cairns to Darwin - Bus trip - (CAIRNS TO CROYDON) - Day 1  
     - Cairns to Darwin - Bus trip - (CROYDON TO MT. ISA) - Day 2
     - Cairns to Darwin - Bus trip - (MT. ISA to Cape Crawford) - Day 3  
     - Cairns to Darwin - Bus trip - (CAPE CRAWFORD TO Darwin) - Day 4
     - Devils Marbles - NT
     - Western Australia, Tree top walk  
     - Pemberton WA - Fire Lookout Climbing Trees
     - Kakadu National Park - Northern Territory Australia  
     - Bundenna to Otford hike - NSW
     - Tasmania, Australia - Lake Lilla Track  
     - Rack & Pinion Steam Railway - Queenstown, Tasmania
     - Nelson Falls - Mt Field - Tasmania  
     - Wine Glass Bay - Freycinet National Park, Tasmania
     - MUdgee - NSW  
     - Maria Island - Tasmania, Australia
     - Port Arthur - Tasmania  
     - Thredbo - NSW - Ski fields
     - Sydney Northern Beaches  
     - SAAB EMS
 

*  Bolivia
     - Lake Titicaca 
     - La Paz & Bowler hats 
     - Tiwanaku Ruins

* Burma - Myanmar
    - Golden Rock
    - Shwenandaw Monastery - Mandaly, Burma
    - U-Bein Bridge

*  Cambodia
     - Angkor Wat


* Croatia
     - Zagreb - part 1
     - Pulla _ Croatia - 1 


*  Cuba 

    - Havana 1
    - Havana 2
    - Havana Cuba 3
    - Manaca Iznaga Estate - Sugar & Slaves
    - Disco Ayala - the cave nightclub in Trinidad Cuba 
    - Santa Clara - Train, Che Guevara Mausoleum
    - Camaguey - Cuba


* Egypt
   - The Great Pyramid (Cairo)
   - The White Desert Camp
   - Karnak Temple (Luxor)
   - Luxor Temple
   - Balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings (Luxor)
   - Medinet habu - Luxor
   - Philae Temple - Aswan Dam
   - Temple of Kom Ombo 
   - Abu Simbel - Aswan
   - Felucca - Nile boat
   - The Step Pyramid - Saqqara
   - Mt Sinai - hike up the mountain (St Catherines)

* Germany
    - Garmisch-Partenkirchen in snow - part 1  

* Greece
   - Kos - Greece - part2
   - santorini 6


 * India  
     - Kumbhalgarh Fort - Rajasthan
     - Akbar's Tomb - Agra
     - Udaipur - India 
     - Flying Fox - Jodhpur - India 
     - Amer Fort - Jaipur,  Rajasthan - India 
     - Jodpur Markets - Rajasthan, India
    - The Tower of Victory - Chittorgarh Fort - Rahasthan
    - The Baby Taj - Agra
    - Fatehpur Sikri - Uttar Pradesh near Agra
    - Chittorgarh and the legend of Lady Padmini

    - Mehrangarh Fort - Jodhpur, India
    - Hawa Mahal - Jaipur 
    - Jantar Mantar - Astromomy - Jaipur


 * Israel
     - The Separation Wall - Israel/Palestine
    - Israel - Golan Heights - Mt Bental
    - Masada - Israel
    - The Herodium - "Herod's Tomb"
    - Bethlemen - Street Christmas lights
     - Bethlehem - The Palestinian Territory - West Bank
    - The Church of the Nativity - Bethlehem
    - cAESAREA - Med coast
    - aCRE - Akko 



Ireland


   - Yoyogi park - tokyo 2019
   - Shibuya, Tokyo - crossing
   - Fukuoka 2
   - Nagasaki - Suwa Shrine 
   - Nagasaki - Battleship Island -  Gunkanjima


*Jordan
    - Petra

 * Malaysia
    - Sabah
    - Borneo #2


* Mexico
   - Teotihuacan - "birthplace of the gods" 
   -  Monte Albán
   -  MUSEO FRIDA KAHLO
   -  Palenque
   -  Uxmal

*Morocco
  - Essaouira
  - Safi
  - Morocco - Sahara Desert - sandboarding, camels, building mud houses  


*New Zealand
   - New years eve 2016 NZ
   - Petone (Hattersley Loom) - a early sequencer
   - Franz Joseph Glacier (South Island)



* Peru
   -  Cusco
   -  Inca Trail
   -  Machu Picchu
   -  Lake Titicaca
   -  Nazcar Peru - Chauchilla Cemetery
   -  Arequipa - NYE celebrations 2011
   -  Acclimatizing to high altitudes

*Russia
   - Moscow 1
   - Moscow 2 
 
*Scotland

  *Singapore
   - Marina Bay Sands hotel view
   - Clifford pier

*Spain
    - Ibiza Town

Sri Lanka
+ Sri Lanka 8 Colombo Dutch museum
+ Sri Lanka 10 - Colombo Town Hall


* Syria
   -  Aleppo (1999)
   -  The Baron Hotel - Aleppo Syria
   -  Palmyra (the Roman City)
   -  Ugarit - Ancient ruins.
   -  National Museum of Damascus & army museum
   -  Tartus - Syria - seaside city 
   -  A'en Darah - Ain Dara - Syria - Lion of Afrin


*Thailand
    - Chiang Mai - Temples

*United Kingdom (UK)
 
*USA


*Vietnam
    - Ha Long Bay NYE 2019
   -  Hanoi 1 - Vietnam
   -  Hanoi 2
   -  Vietnam's first capital - Hoa Lu
   -  Ninh Binh - Tam Coc - Vietnam
   -  Hue - Imperial citadel 
   -  Han Van Pass
   -  Hoi An - Day Pics
   -  Hoi Ann - night pics
   -  My Son - Hindu Temples
   -  Saigon - War Remnants Museum
   -  Saigon Central Post Office

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Seven Minutes - Buchla, Euro & a CR-8000

This track heavily features the Roland CR-8000 with some glitch.
Also very present is the Buchla 208r and Eurorack Braids. 
It's a mostly live performance which has then been tweaked and enhanced in Ableton.


Also used is the Abelton formant filter on some random recorded TV conversation.
---- it is almost unrecognisable as human voices.


The majority of the drums is the modded CR8000 with some extra Ableton glitch added here
and there for good measure. Individual outs have Boss Echo
and Reverb pedals applied. The CR-8000 is manipulated in real time.


 Extra percussion is  provided by the Tiptop 808 modules processed through the Buchla 267e band pass filter utilising random voltages - they no longer sound like an 808!.


Trigger Riot is slaved to the CR8000 (on 16 pulse out mode) and controls the 808 modules and timing of the 208, 262v and also pulse's Braids.




The main Sequencer is the 208r on 5 step mode but tapped separately on the 208 and the 262v harmonic Oscillator, which is processed by the 288v Time Domain processor - that is that deep echoing sound.

The choices joystick is modulating the 208 and Braids.
Braids itself is used in a number of modes which are switched live on the fly.
Including the pulsing 'chord' sound and the Vowel setting.
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Tuesday, 17 March 2015

Roland MC 505 - Groove box

The Roland MC 505 came out in 1998.
This is much larger & heavier that the MC-303 which kicked off the
GrooveBox family for Roland in 1996. It's starting to become collectable.
I picked up this on Ebay for $300.
There is a long list of notable users such as Beck, Radiohead & New Order.

The 505 has 64 voices (the MC 303 had 28) and the sequencer has 714 preset pattern,
200 user patterns, 50 user songs.

There are also 256 user sounds & 26 rhythm sets which include some picked from  Roland classics such as the CR-78, TR-808, TR-606, TR-909, TR-707 and R-8.

I use mine mainly for its 8-track MIDI sequencer. You can record up to 32 bars per pattern.
As a midi controller it's quite flexible. The sequencer is easy to program and can be recorded in real time or step time.
You can input notes three ways : from the MC505's own black/white keyboard, the D-Beam controller or from an external MIDI keyboard.  All knob & fader movements can be recorded just like in today's Elektron synths. --- all this knob & fader tweaking can be "exported" via midi to external gear, making this a very powerful midi controller.  Ie, the 505 transmits MIDI Controller & System Exclusive data. WOW !!!!
(The MC-303 didn't have this function).

The heart of this synth is a 64 voice polyphonic digital subtractive synthesis engine that is based on the Roland JV-2080. It's all based on samples & is actually a compact version of the Roland JX-305 Groovesynth without the full set of 61 keys. There are 251 different oscillator, acoustic and drum sample waveforms.


There is built in Reverb, Delay and 24 different EFXs - they are not too bad.
 The verb & delay are pretty standard. The Verb has the usual settings of Room, Stage and Hall. An interesting delay effect occurs when you sync your delays to the patterns.
The EFX includes a 4-band EQ,  compressor, overdrive, phaser,  chorus, flanger, etc etc.
I quite like the phono setting which adds pops & crackles - like on a vinyl record. There are 33, 45 and 78rpm settings.

The nfrared D-Beam controller for hands-free sound modulation is very cool. You can tweak you sounds in real time by passing your hand over the beam. You can control one parameter (eg filter cutoff, pan resonance) at a time. The movement can be recorded into a Pattern - its a bit like the parameter locks you will find in most Elektron gear.


The mixer section is very useful. The faders let you control the volume of the 8 sequences.There are 7 synth sequences & one drum sequence
R = rhythm / drum part. 
The faders also control panning, keyshift and effects. At the bottom of each fader channel is a select/mute button



....
There is a a headphone socket and six outputs.
You can use these as three stereo pairs or as six individual outs.

RAM card slot at the rear (2Mb or 4Mb SmartMedia cards).
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more info on the history of Roland Drum Machines click here
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Nazcar Peru - Chauchilla Cemetery

Nazcar is famous for two things:
The Nazcar lines (more about this later) and the Chauchilla Cemetery.
The Chauchilla Cemetery contains mummies - some dating to 200AD.
The bodies are well preserved due mainly to the dry climate 

Much was plundered over the centuries. It's protected by Peruvia law.

The bodies were clothed in  cotton and then painted with a resin. it's thought that the resin slowed decomposition.

The tombs are made from mud bricks.





2000 year old corn.

Fresh Corn. And it's white - we don't see this variety in Australia.



 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for more travel postcards
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Saturday, 14 March 2015

Ace Tone / Roland - Rhythm Ace FR-2L

This beautiful drum machine was produced in 1967. It was the second drum to be manufactured by Ace Tone, which was destined to become Roland (1972). The Rhythm Ace was developed by Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Ace Tone.


In 1967 the Hammond Organ Company also distributed Rhythm Ace products under the Hammond brand. The Ace Tone FR-2L was also sold as the Hammond Auto (1972).
The Cymbal, Claves & Snare buttons are very useful on the FR-2. In comparision the FR-1 had voice cancelling buttons for Cymbal, Clave, Cowbell and Bass Drum.

The sound of this machine is wonderful. It's very closein tone to my FR-1. It's warm analogue tones are as beautiful as any of my drum machines ... even the CR 78 and TR-808. The circuit boards are all discrete components.


The controls are as simple as they come. Just 2 knobs for volume & tempo.
The rhythms are all preset. You can push two buttons in at the same time to create more complex patterns.

Looks like this was meant to sit on top of an organ. It's lovely to behold.
As far as I can tell, the FR-2 came in 2 models The FR-2L which you can see above &
the Hammond Auto Rhythm FR-2D which came out in 1972. The FR-2D is almost identical to the 2L apart from having a solid wood book stand & a black face plate.
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For more info on the history of Roland & Ace Tone Drum Machines click here
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