Saturday, 7 May 2016

Access Virus - Basic models

This is a basic introduction to the Virus.
It's a very underrated synth. You can still pick up second hand ones on ebay
for under 1,000 AUD. 
I think it's a classic and should be part of any studio.
 

I have a rack TI dating I think between 2005 & 2009, but the general layout applies to all the different models.
Access have evolved their synthesizer over the decades. 
This can make it confusing if you are trying to decide which one to buy.
The latter synths share the same architecture of the earlier versions, and can do what the earlier ones can do and more. This is not to say that the first version isn't good. It's fabulous and can make really good 303 basslines.
 
They all use the same synth engine and hail from Berlin, Germany.
The Virus is a digital synth - not analog. The sound is processed with DSP. 
There is no sampler or sequencer (but there is a arp). Most of the synths in my studio
are analog, but this is one worthy exception. 
I reckon I can make "analog patches" with this synth that would fool the fussiest analog snob.

Virus A

 
The first Virus synth, now referred to as the virus A, came out in 1997. It had 12 voices and 16 multitimbral parts. 20bit ADC
 It has 32 knobs and 27 buttons.
The two oscillators have the basic analog waveforms from sawtooth to pulse with PWM.
There are two filters, two LFO's with sample-and-hold and on-board arpeggiators 
and two ADSTR envelopes per voice.

Virus B


The Virus B came out in 2000. It had 24 voices.
It came with a 32-band vocoder, and loads of new effects like delay, phasers, flangers, chorus, ring mods, distortion and envelope followers.
It had the same black/red colour scheme as the Virus A
There are 3 LFOs with 68 waveforms.
There were a few rack & keyboard versions of the B 

Virus Indigo 1

 
In late 2000, Access released the first Indigo with it's new grey/blue styling. 
This had a 37-note keyboard 

Virus C

 
In 2002, Access released the Virus C.
This had a new Grey colour scheme.
 

The Virus C had 32 voices. 
There are 3 Osc per voice. Access added a 3 band EQ per patch.
3 LFOs, 2 filters, 2 ADSTR envelopes.
The mod matrix has 6 sources , 9 destinations.
There are now 98 effects - wow.
Again there are 16 multi-timbral parts. 

Virus Indigo 2


The Indigo two was also released around this time (2002).
This shared the Virus C synth engine. 

 
It had the grey white colour and a lovely 37 note keyboard.
The keyboard now responds to aftertouch.
32 knobs, 35 buttons and 69 lovely blue LEDs
This has more mod routings than the original Indigo.
 

Virus TI

 
Finally, in 2005, the TI was introduced.
The user-interface comprises 32 knobs and 42 buttons, and a elegant LC display
 

It's a huge leap from the Virus C.
The Virus TI has a 24bit I/O & between 20 to 100 voices of polyphony.
(The voice count varies from one sound to the next, depending on which features are being used).
TI = Total integration. This means you can plug it into a computer and access the settings
through a plugin on your DAW. 
This combination of hardware & software is wonderful.
All audio and MIDI data can be streamed into and out of your compatible software host via USB.

 2005 seems a lifetime away, but this synth still holds its own.
It has three oscillators with a total of 64 source waves- including "supersaw" mode, which allows you to generate up to 9 sawtooth waves in parallel... great for HUGE sounding patches.
 
It now has a dual-DSP configuration of faster processors than previous models. The Virus' A-D converters are now 24 bit.
 
The Virus TI uses OS5
 
The Virus TI can also act as an audio recording device for your computer. The module is a soundcard. It can act as a midi interface for you computer.
It has USB plus the usual MIDI In/out/through.
The Virus Control has 2 available USB outs. USB 1.1
 
The Virus TI Keyboard has a 61-note keyboard with mod and pitch wheels.

The Virus TI contains 4 banks of RAM, followed by 26 banks of ROM for storing sounds or ‘patches’, with each bank containing 128 sounds. It is possible to flash a ROM bank with a customised bank using the Virus Control Center.
 
---------------------------------------

Virus TI2


The Virus TI2 series started in 2009
Physically, the TI2 looks very similar to the TI1
However, the TI2 has more rounded styling.
 
It can do 16 parts at once (Multitimbral). 
Virus TI2 has more dsp power. ... about 25%
This extra grunt might be useful if you intend to use it multitimbrally.
The Virus Control now has 3 available USB outs whereas the old TI software was just 2 USB outs.
USB 1.1
Virus TI2 is still OS5 and has more filters/envelopes etc. The TI2 just out performs the first TI's although the sound of both units are amazing.
 

Virus Polar 

 
The Virus Polar belongs to the TI line. There are both TI & TI2 versions.
This is a TI2 polar.

 It has Total Integration using the Virus Control 3.0 plug-in.
The keyboard has 37 keys .
There are 3 main oscillators and one sub-oscillator per voice.
It has HyperSaw™ oscillators with up to 9 sawtooths - each with parallel sub oscillator per voice (that's over 1800 stereo oscillators @100 voices!).
It boasts two fully independent miltimode filters and a 2-dimensional modulation matrix
There is independent delay and reverb for all 16 multi mode slots.
129 parallel effects.  6 balanced outputs 
3 LFOs with 68 waveforms to choose from.  
2 super fast ADSTR envelopes.
Compatible with USB 2.0 specifications, USB and High-Speed USB devices.
 

Virus Snow

 
The Virus Snow is also a TI synth. It's desk top size with fewer knobs and buttons.
It can only do 4 parts.

It's polyphony is limited to 50.
 
Links
 
 
 
 

Sunday, 24 April 2016

Buchla 216 & 114 Keyboard

Some musings on the 216 & 114... before I forget.

This site is my online diary where I sometimes jot down ideas. Please write to me if this is of help
to anyone else (or if this is downright BS).

Anyway, these keyboards aren't your usual Buchla type touch controllers.

The left 3 keys of the 216 are totally different to the right section.
They might as well be separate keyboards.
The right side has your standard two CV outs per key (with respective pots to set the CV level).
There is just one (double) CV pulse out for the 8 keys.

The left 3 keys each have separate CV outs (set by the lower pot) and a separate pulse out.
So we have 3 keys that that are not connected to each other .
The lower knob sets the initial CV level & the upper knob sets the decay slope for that voltage.

How does one use such a device & why would Don B make such a controller?
I think the answer lies with his early interest in music concrete & in the playing back of recorded tape loops.

When each key is patched into a VCA the lower pot will open & close the gate, and the upper pot
will control the duration length of the sound. A three key controller like the 216, will allow you
to "play" 3 sounds.

A 10 key controller like the 114 will allow access to ten sounds.
This is why I believe Don also produced the 107 - voltage controlled mixer.


 It's not just a mixer. It's really 10 VCAs.


The 10 keys on the 114 & the 10 inputs on the 107 seem to match and make a lot of sense.

If you are using a 216, with only 3 such keys a 292 is a good alternative VCA to match.

Philae Temple - Egypt

This is now a island, but it was once a temple complex located near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile River in southern Egypt.




 This place is amazing for many reasons.
The building of the Aswan Dam would have flooded the ancient site completely. So the engineers moved this entire temple complex to higher ground.
A breathtaking feat.

Philae was said to be one of the burying-places of Osiris.









----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carl Cox Pure - Sydney 23/04/16

Carl Cox at Pure - Hordern Pavillion.
A great night out. Now that Future & the Big Day Out are finished I hope Carl
will be stepping up to the decks more often here in Australia.

A video posted by jono (@dj_jondent) on

The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and
 Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell.



The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell. - See more at: http://www.beat.com.au/music/carl-cox-unveils-lineup-pure-event#sthash.JN9VXTwp.dpuf
The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell. - See more at: http://www.beat.com.au/music/carl-cox-unveils-lineup-pure-event#sthash.JN9VXTwp.dpufC
The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell. - See more at: http://www.beat.com.au/music/carl-cox-unveils-lineup-pure-event#sthash.JN9VXTwp.dpuf
The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell. - See more at: http://www.beat.com.au/music/carl-cox-unveils-lineup-pure-event#sthash.JN9VXTwp.dpuf
The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell. - See more at: http://www.beat.com.au/music/carl-cox-unveils-lineup-pure-event#sthash.JN9VXTwp.dpuf
The 2016 lineup features Cox himself alongside internationals Joseph Capriati and Format:B and locals DJ HMC and Eric Powell. - See more at: http://www.beat.com.au/music/carl-cox-unveils-lineup-pure-event#sthash.JN9VXTwp.dpuf

New Sound Waves Meeting - 17/04/16

It's always lots of fun to meet up with the guys from NSWaves.
I got there a bit late, so many of the guys had gone home.
Still there was much to see & it was a Sunday arvo well spent.


Justin of Metro Modular showing some of his new modules.
Plus his beautiful valve oscillators:

 Justin's facebook page for MetroModular is here:
https://www.facebook.com/Metro.Modular/info?tab=page_info

His website is here:
http://www.metro-modular.com/



They just don't build them like this anymore.




My 12u Buchla:


Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Roland TR 909 Programming Tutorial - getting started

When you first turn the 909 on, it will go into track play mode.
You need it to be in pattern play for it to run a sequence.

....
So before you can do anything with the 909, you will need to do these things:

1. Choose the sync/tempo mode.
2. Choose the pattern bank
3.  Select Pattern Write
4. Clear old patterns.
5. Enter the notes.

1. Sync Mode
    a. Shift + Tempo Mode (Din sync, Midi, or Internal)
        You need to tap the Tempo mode button till the display shows either
         a "0" in the left (Din), a "0" in the middle (MIDI) or the BPM on the right (eg 120)

 2. Choose the pattern bank
      Shift + Either Bank 1 or 2.

3.  Select Pattern Write
     Shift +  Pattern ( there are 3 patterns)
       The pattern write LED that you picked, should start to blink.
       You are now in EDIT MODE.

4. Clear old patterns.
     a. Pattern clear + any of the buttons (with the pattern you wish to clear)
         Hit buttons 1 - 16
        
        If you now press play (on the external sequencer or the internal 909's sequencer), you won't hear
        anything, though you will see the sequencer lights running across the 16 steps.

5. Enter the notes.
     Either use step or tap mode.

    I like step. While the sequencer is playing, enter the notes
    You accent the drums by hitting the buttons twice.

    To get to the Open High H:
    Hold instrument Select + both STEPS 13 & 14 at the same time.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shuffle/Flam
     To adjust the shuffle, you press  Shuffle/flam and one of the buttons 1 to 7.
     You can back it off a bit by going back to 4 or 5...

    Flam uses the buttons 9 to 16.
    Flam is like a ratchet double hit

You can change the time signatures, but hitting scale.
Scale changes the sub division of the pattern.

---------------
MIDI
Use the following procedure to set the MIDI receive channel:
1) While holding SHUFFLE / FLAM, press the appropriate MAIN Key (1 – 16).



    That's basically all you need to get started.

Sunday, 17 April 2016

Korg MS 20 - Notes 1


The MS 20 comes pre wired but the connections can be broken and re-routed using patch cables.


I'll break it up into the following sections
1. Modulation Generator
2. Envelope Generator 1 (Pitch Envelope)
3. Envelope Generator2  (Filter  & main VCA Envelope)
4. Keyboard
5. Mod Wheel & Momentary Push Button
6. Sample & Hold.
7. ESP (External Signal Processor).


1. Modulation Generator
This Korg speak for the LFO


It's  hardwired to three parameters:
a. The pitch of VCO1 & VCO2
b. cutoff of the highpass filter
c. Cutoff of the lowpass filter.

 Here is a close up of the internal routing:

Only the Triangle / Saw waveforms are hardwired . If you wish to use the LFO's square waves, you will need to patch it.


Adjusting the control panel knobs between MG & T.EXT will effect the mix of wave forms

A bit about the T. EXT.
This refers to the Total External input.

Any CV plugged into here will effect the pitch of VCOs 1 & 2, plus the Cutoff of both filters simultaneously.

2. Envelope Generator 1
The patch panel doesn't show clearly where its hardwired too.
You can see that it has 2 outputs: a normal & reverse wave form.

 It's actually connected to the pitch of the two VCOs. (via the frequency input on the patch panel)


 You can apply this envelope to the VCOs by using the EG1 amount control.

If you plug something into the frequency input, you will break the connection between EG1 & the VCOs.


3. Envelope Generator 2
This is wired to the filters and the main VCA.
It controls the filters' cutoff.

The hardwired connection to the VCA cannot be cut, but you can add extra CVs to modify the signals from EG2 via the initial gain jack. EG2 also has a reverse output.

EG2 is applied to the Filters using thetwo EG2 amount controls.
One is for the HP filter, and the other for the LP.
The External inputs give you flexible control over how you modulate each filter.
Above each EG2 control is a MG control. Thus the MG is still connected and can be used in conjunction with the External input sources.

You can plug in all manner of CV like the mod wheel, noise, EG1, the square MG, a sequencer, etc etc.

4. The Keyboard
It's default is to of course send CV to control the pitch of the VCOs.

In addition it sends gate signals to both EGs

You can break the connection to both EGs by plugging something into TRG IN.
Use this is you are using an external sequencer such as an SQ 10 to trigger notes. If you wish to just trigger EG1, use EG1 TRIG IN.

Being able to access the CV of the Keyboard is useful. Use it to control the filter for example.
You may also want to break the keyboard connection to one of the VCOs, by plugging in for example a LFO, the mod wheel or a sequencer.