As a huge Korg fan I got to put together an Ensemble piece using 1978 era Korg Synths. The hero is the mighty PS3200 polyphonic synth playing homage to its big brother (and, as of 2024, soon to be re-released by Korg, the PS3300) by using the direct out of the 3200 into a MAM RS3 Resonator which recreates the famous PS3300 & 3100 modulated resonator circuit. The 3200 plays pads, base and noises.
Lead lines and extra pads via an MS20 into a VC10 Vocoder combo give a haunting breathy sound.
The SQ10 Sequencer drives the MS50 and MS20 synths for a rhythmic sequence and the MS10 with its famous pulse width modulation provides additional baselines.
Effects include the SE500 Tape Echo and the more modern Kaos Pad Mini.
All recorded on a Zoom R24 recorder.
Percussion utilises some sounds sampled from the various Korg Synths and is added in Ableton Live.
Recorded in April 2024, Wollongong courtesy of Jondent, with some additional sounds from my own original MS20 in Sydney.
The Video is mixed together bits of footage from the session but missed most of the playing and modulation action - but still it’s always nice to see some vintage Korg gear in action!
Additional notes: Some subtle detuning of the PS3200 individual notes was made possible via the Temperament Adjust mini pots. The PS3010 keyboard also provides for some interesting modulation effects via the joystick and the unique note triggering control. A Korg 3100 in the same studio verified the RS3 Resonator accuracy and the RS3 unit also is CV controllable like on the 3300. By using it with the PS3200 (which has 2 oscillators per note) it gets close to the functionality of a PS3300 but of course misses the fact that the 3300 has 3 Oscillators and 3 resonators etc. I look forward to the new PS3300FS announced by Korg at NAMM 2024.
Modulisme Session 083 by VA. Serge-O-Voxes --- voices for the Serge 5. v.1
...
Welcome to Serge -o- Voxes # 5 celebrating 50 years since the creation of the SERGE « the People’s Synthesizer». Gathering compositions made playing the system to compose an hommage, secretly, as I wanted to prepare a surprise for Serge Tcherepnin... The first 4 volumes of the « Serge -o- Voxes » series gathered 80 compositions forming the largest hommage-testimony ever made… This time offering 60 short works divided in 2 volumes, this is v.1,
Live Serge Modular performance (in 3 takes) featuring the amazing Wilson Analog Delay (WAD) and Touch Activated Keyboard Sequencer (TKB).
The WAD uses the legendary 'vintage' SAD1024 bucket brigade chips and creates beautiful filtered delay's, flanging and karpus strong type effects.
The TKB is a powerful control voltage keyboard and sequencer. Very playable and flexible offering multiple cv and gate outputs to control any part of the Serge system.
Function generators are used for clocks, lfos, envelopes and oscillators in this patch which also features the Frequency Shifter, Dual Phaser and filters.
Recorded in January 2023 in Wollongong NSW (Thanks to Jondent for the use of his WAD Panel and dining table!)
Some '4 on the floor' from Moog featuring the DFAM, Subharmonicon and Matriarch.
About 95% of the track is all MOOG goodness (with some additional percussion and processing in Ableton).
A collaboration between Allinaire and Jondent, put together from 2 live jams in Sydney and Wollongong during Feb 2022...
Part One of the shootout between the Erica Synths Syntrx and an original Synthi AKS.
Simple patches are compared highlighting a single Oscillator, FM, RingMod, Filter, Reverb & Noise.
This video simply compares Sound and Timbre, not the functionality, extras or differences in the Matrix implementation.
It's important to remember that no two original Synthi' are the same. I have a Putney & AKS and I can
never get exactly the same sounds from each even when the patch is identical.
The mechanical pins used in the matrix have different resistances .. and just these can alter the sound.
The Erica Matrix of course doesn't have these "limitations" ..... though I like to see the inconsistency of the old fashioned EMS matrix as part of its charm.
(Part Two will look at a Putney VCS3 and some more complex patches).
Thanks to Allinaire for the use of his new Syntrx.
Allinaire latest track. He told me the video was produced using a 'hacked' or modified existing Max for live video device (details to follow). Learning by experimenting with existing Max devices is a valid way of learning. Whereas other prefer to start from scratch Allinaire dives right in and stands on the shoulders of experienced programers. He calls it 'Circuit bending existing code'!
This was a live recording from Australia Day 2020 Jam for #JAMuary.
Testing a new Live Hardware setup:
Tasty Chips GR-1 Granular Synth plays all parts. 3 melodies and sounds are pre-recorded into Norns / Fates MLR App. The Monome Grid controls 6 MLR 'Tape heads': clip playback, speed, direction, cuts, quantisation and automation lanes. Roli Seaboard Block plays the GR-1 live in MPE (Midi Polyphonic Expression) mode. Aftertouch controls Grain Density, Position controls Grain Length, Lift controls spray. Elektron Model Sample is midi synced to Norns. All-Track mod mod is utilised for added expression.
Empress Zoia provides granulation/looping control on the Mixer effect send. Styrmon BlueSky provides Reverb and Shimmer.
The mixer is a zone DB4.
Excellent effects !!!!
As you can see, this is one of the rare dual Plumbutter 2's
I love the Ciat Lonbarde concept... beautiful is somewhat mysterious. But this is part of its beauty.
Back to the repair.
two jacks ... actually many of the jacks wern't working.
Much of the initial prob was that the mysterious nature makes it difficult to know if the prob is technicial or a user error.
this is part of the muffs article:
"Hi All, I’m relatively new to the Plumbutter
world but I wanted to share my initial experience with others because
the simple repair work I did this weekend has just brought a whole new
life to my PB2.
Basically, like everybody else, it takes some time to figure out what is
happening when you are patching. I mean the instrument is well known
for its unpredictability compared to so called ’traditional’ synths –
this is clearly part of its charm and appeal. I totally get that. That’s
why you get one!
Tricky thing is – when an instrument is known for its quirkiness then
how do you know something is actually working as it is intended to?? I
mean, other than reading all the posts and watching some of those
amazing videos by many of the Wigglers here, I had no clue to start
with. Then as I started to understand I wondered why some things didn’t
do what I might have hoped they would...
For example – you would expect those purple FM inputs to give you some
type of FM modulation when a jack is plugged in – but because the knob
already changes the sound on its own, and differently depending on the
direction of turn, I couldn’t be sure I was getting a result. Basically I
wasn’t getting a result!"
Rollz – I knew I should be able to mix things up
with the browns to effect the rhythms if I connected them together –
but for me several of them did nothing when connected. Blue Verso and Inverso jacks – ditto there, some of them seemed to do nothing no matter how hard I tried with them
For a while I thought it was me, then I noticed
that some jacks responded if I wiggled them juuuust right, or pushed the
nana in part way only. So finally I decided to take things apart and
have a look.
It is very easy on the PB2 to unscrew all the
front screws and then just pop out the front section and PCB from the
base to reveal the board in all its glory. If you look at the picture
here you can see that the soldering looks fine on the Jack I'm pointing
to - Nope, actually there is no electrical connection. The reality is I
had at least 8 (yes EIGHT !!) jacks that were not connecting properly
thru to the PCB ring around each hole. Presumably a cold or cracked
joint?
I pulled out the multimeter and soldering iron
and tested every one and resoldered the faulty jacks – it was easy as
pie to do. Put it all back together and it works like a dream come true –
suddenly things work like I wanted them too.
Motto of the story – if you are having any of the
problems I described, or if any of your in's or out's don't seem to
respond - then don’t be afraid to pop it open and fix it yourself. I
can’t believe how much more fun I’m having now.
-------------------------------------------
I dont personally own a ciat lonbarde but am considering getting one soon.
The Tetrax looks like a good entry point;
