Blog
Syndicate content

Rhodes Chroma Demo - Polyphonic Dream

Posted on 110310 in , and

NonDigitalTom put these demo clips of the Rhodes Chroma on youtube. The Rhodes Chroma is quite a rare synthesizer so its good to get a closer look like this. The demo is quite long, perfect for the thursday afternoon while preparing for the friday lazy mode...

 

 

Here's the first of a three part series demonstrating the Rhodes Chroma, arguably the greatest polyphonic analog synthesizer of all time. The video was shot with the help of Mike Thompson, who's doing the majority of the playing in this demo. One of the channels on the Chroma is not working, so what you're hearing is 7 out of its 8 voices. The Chroma Expander shown is not currently functioning (we'll get to it someday though).I acquired this Rhodes Chroma on trade in non-working condition with the hope I could one day get it up and running. I had the power supply replaced and purchased the CC+ upgrade available through RhodesChroma.com. After that, I had three voices working. With a little troubleshooting and swapping around of voice cards I was able to get four voices. Mike was super motivated to hear the Chroma in its full glory (which we've yet to do, mind you). With his help and determination, we figured out that the Chroma had four dead voice cards and one bad channel. We're still trying to figure out what to do about that. In the meantime, I acquired the Chroma Expander, which is non-functional but had good working voice cards. So we pulled some cards from the Expander to make our 7 voice Chroma, which is demonstrated in the video.Check out http://www.formusiciansonly.com/blog to see pictures of our vintage keyboard studio.

 

 

Pt 2

Here's the second installment of our Rhodes Chroma demo. The Chroma originally had one bank of 50 patches, but the CC+ CPU upgrade expands the memory to allow 4 banks of 50 patches. This demo is all the second bank (which we've been referring to as "Bank B"). This time it's just me playing. One thing I really love about the Chroma is the velocity sensitivity, especially for envelope-controlled filter effects. You can see this demonstrated here in some of the patches where I just used the left hand. That (combined with the weighted real wood keys) really makes the Chroma a blast to play. I can't say enough good things about this synth. Seriously. Can't wait to get the Expander going!

 

 

Here's the third part in our Rhodes Chroma demo series, this time featuring sounds from Bank C (including the patch we used for our ominous intro). These all came preloaded with the CC+ upgrade - we haven't even gotten to programming our own yet. Should be a lot of fun! This demo features a mix of Mike and myself taking turns going through various patches. Keep in mind, there's no reverb, delay, or effects of any kind in any of these videos; just the Chroma being recorded direct.

 

 

 

10% discount on Customsynth!

Posted on 110310 in

I have spent the past days drooling over Customsynth.co.uk's Flickr picture set. This company restores synthesizers to its original look, but can also add a personal design in colour etc. And they have made some awesome looking synthesizers! I'm seriously thinking of having one of my synths redesigned, maybe a cheetah-pattern on my Cheetah MS6?

Anyway, Jeff from Customsynth contacted us and gave us this great deal:

All users on Ihavesynth.com gets a 10% discount when you have something restored/customized at Customsynth! Just tell them you read this post!

So, what are you waiting for, the world needs cooler looking synthesizers!

For inspiration, or just for getting really jealous, check out Customsynths Flickr

ARP 2600 Demo Series with Marc Doty

Posted on 100310 in , , , and

This is a great demo series of the classic ARP 2600 Synthesizer by Marc Doty. Marc is obsessed with synthesizers and has bought them and sold them over the years to be able to make demos and offcourse have a lot of fun with them. The ARP 2600 is a monster of a synth and it takes a while to guide through all the functionality. Marc gives you an introduction to the synth in the first clip, then he makes a 2 part shorter overview. If you really want to get under the skin of the ARP 2600 he gives the oscillators, filters and sample/hold their own closer looks. Great work Marc, I loved watching this.

 

Introduction

Marc Doty tackles the ARP 2600. This is the introduction to an extensive series which will demonstrate the functionality and sound of the ARP 2600 synthesizer.

 

A short overview pt 1

Here is a demonstration of the sound and functionality of the ARP 2600 analog synthesizer. Something about the source material (despite having been recorded in the same fashion as all of my videos)... 

 

 

Here is the second part of a two part overview of the sound and functionality of the ARP 2600 analog normalled/modular synthesizer.The two parts of this overview are definitely overview. A very great deal of the functionality possible is barely even hinted at, but such is the nature of the ARP 2600.

 

 

 

 

Oscillators pt 1

Here is a more in-depth series of videos about the sound, functionality, and operation of the ARP 2600.If you want a quick and entertaining intro to the ARP 2600, you should watch the intro and overview videos!

 

 

Oscillators Pt 2

Here is part two of a demonstration of the sound and functionality of the ARP 2600 oscillators.

 

 

Oscillators Pt 3

Here is another chapter in the saga of the documentation of the ARP 2600's oscillator sound and functionality.

 

Sample and Hold

Here is a demonstration of the sound and functionality of the Sample and Hold circuit of the ARP 2600.

 

 

Filter Pt 1

Here is another thrill-a-minute exploration of the sound and functionality of the ARP 2600. This episode deals with the amazing sounds of the 4012 filter. No animals were harmed in the making of this installment, you'll be relieved to know.

 

 

Filter Pt 2

Here is the second part of a two part series outlining and demonstrating the sound and functionality of the ARP 2012 filter on the ARP 2600

 

 

Marc Doty on youtube and Myspace

 

 

The coolest Roland JD-800 mod ever

Posted on 090310 in , , and

I was looking for info about the Roland JD-800 and the JD-990, since I'm about to buy a JD-990. And then I found one of the coolest modded synths I've ever seen. No new functions or knobs, just a new paint job. But sometimes thats all it takes.

It is the artist David C. Lovelace who had his JD-800 modded by customsynths.co.uk, with a cool new white paintjob and an altered logo to fit the new design. He also had some text changes, like renaming the power switch to "Destroy" and Volume to "Anger". And best of all - he renamed the synth "Gandalf the White", because it was grey, and now....it's white. Nerdy cool!

Check out more of Davids studio here. He's got a modded JX-3P as well, with a built-in PG-200 programmer (drool). Pure jealousy!

 

Sampletoy - play with samples in your Iphone

Posted on 080310 in and

The new app SAMPLETOY for Iphone seems like a great way to get creative with samples. Also, the interface seems easy to learn and work with. It has built-in resonant filters, delay and envelope. Perfect if you're outdoors and happen to discover some interesting sound sources that you can't bring home to your studio, like steam engines, elephants or some wino singing beautifully.

"Sampletoy is a radical new musical instrument/plaything; part sampler, part granular synthesiser.  Use it to capture sounds through the microphone, then play, loop, pitch and distort them live on the screen.

There are plenty of features under the hood, such as resonant filters, delays and envelope. You can enable "stepped" mode to play your sounds like a traditional keyboard, or keep it in "free" mode for some microtonal madness.

Once you've recorded a sound, use the main area of the screen to play it back at different pitches (up to 5 fingers at a time). You can crop the sound by dragging a selection over the waveform. The crop area is also multitouch and you can adjust the crop while playing the sound too.

The y-axis is pitch of the sound, and the x axis is configurable to control filters or envelope.

You can record your performances on Sampletoy and send them via email within the app as a CD-quality wav file (mono or stereo)".

Check it out here!

Youtube via mrkbrz

Closing in on IamamIwhoamI

Posted on 080310 in , , , , , , , , , , , , , and

The hunt for Iamamiwhami goes on. Last friday, James Montgomerie at MTV recieved something interesting. A brown envelope containg a blonde knot of human hair, some splinters of balsa wood and a single strip of paper with the animal symbols from the ongoing Iamamiwhoami viral clips. Read more about this in MTV Newsroom.  So it seems by looking at the paper strip, the trick is to add the symbols together and then you get the answer or the next clue.

 

GOAT + OWL + WHALE + BEE + LLAMA + MONKEY =  ?????

 

Some people have decoded the message to mean all will be revealed at 11am on Monday - "Go tell all will be 11am monday". Any riddle experts out there?

 

There are a lot of bloggers etc claiming this production must be made in scandinavia and that could mean its a scandiavian artist. The nature and snowy forrests, the red little cabin with white frames, the strawberry birthday cake. All of it looks very swedish. Further to this, the twitter account of iamamiwhoami (linked to the youtube channel) goes by the name of Huldra Mandragora, a creature from Scandinavian folklore. Scandinavian artists mentioned are so far Lykke Li, The Knife, Jonna Lee, Röyksopp, Margaret Berger, Bjork, Sigur Ros

 

In a previous post I said that this is definately not the thing Aphex Twin would do. I still don't beleive it's his return, though it would be interesting if it was because I am a big fan of his. David Ritter beleives it is Aphex Twin, he presents why in this post. Other names being mentioned are: Goldfrapp, Trent Reznor, Little Boots, Massive Attack, MGMT, The Golden Filter and Lady Gaga.

 

Still Christina Aguilera remains the hottest guess with some really good clues indicating she is the one. Album coming called Bionic, The number codes on the clips can be read out to "Its me C" and "CH AG". The Chritina Aguilera evidences are presented in this clip.Though I have to say, the music is good electronica and far from the Christina Aguilera we've seen. I also don't think the girl in the IamamIwhoami clips looks like Christian Aguilera. And wouldn't it be the smartest thing to try to make it look like it was Christian Aguilera if you are a smaller artist trying to make a hype? I think it might be a case of piggy back riding.

 

For all the Iamwhoami clips check out my previous post about it. Today it's exactly one week since the last Iamamiwhoami clip was released. Hopefully we get another clue or even the answer soon.

Jean Michel Jarre has a Wall of Synth

Posted on 060310 in , and

These clips are from a Jean Michel Jarre concert in Hamurg a few days ago. The man always has to be the biggest and the badest. This wall of synth we can see in the first clip is amazing. I want one!

 

Return To Forever & The Headhunters

Posted on 050310 in , , , , , , and

 

The stuff I dig out for you sometimes... Got an hour to spare? If not, make room for it. In this awsome concert from 1974 we see Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters + Chick Corea and Return To Forever. I think its crazy cool, I mean these guys really know their stuff. And the stuff, they've got some awsome gear. Moogs, ARPs and Mellotron. 60 minutes of joy. The best ensamble of the 70's!

 

 

Pt2

 

Pt3

 

Pt4

 

Pt5

 

Pt6

 

Chick Corea & Return to ForeverHerbie Hancock & The Headhunters1974Chicago, IL @ PBS Soundstage---------------------------------------Participants:Chick Corea & Return to ForeverStanley Clarke ... Electric BassChick Corea ........ Fender Rhodes Stage 73 Mark I Electric Piano,Hohner D6 Clavinet, Mini-Moog, Yamaha Organ,Moog 15 Sample & Hold, IntroductionsAl DiMeola .......... Electric GuitarLenny White ....... DrumsHerbie Hancock & The HeadhuntersMike Clarke .......... DrumsHerbie Hancock .... Fender Rhodes Suitcase 88 Mark I Electric Piano,Hohner D6 Clavinet, ARP Odyssey, Mellotron,ARP String Ensemble, Vocals, Handclaps,IntroductionsPaul Jackson ........ Electric BassBennie Maupin ..... Tenor Saxophone, Vocals, HandclapsBill Summers ........ Percussion, VocalsChick Corea & Herbie HancockChick Corea ......... Acoustic Piano,Fender Rhodes Stage 73 Mark I Electric Piano,Hohner D6 Clavinet, Mini-Moog, Yama Organ,Moog 15 Sample & Hold, ConversationHerbie Hancock ... Acoustic Piano,Fender Rhodes Suitcase 88 Mark I Electric Piano,Hohner D6 Clavinet, ARP Odyssey, Mellotron,ARP String Ensemble, Conversation---------------------------------------Track List:Chick Corea & Return to Forever1. Beyond the Seventh Galaxy [Take 1]2. Vulcan Worlds3. Rumble in the Beginning (a.k.a. Space Circus, Part 2)4. Beyond the Seventh Galaxy [Take 2]Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters1. Butterfly2. Interlude3. ChameleonChick Corea & Herbie Hancock1. Someday My Prince Will ComeCategory: Music

More about the Hang drum

Posted on 050310 in , , , , and

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about the fantastic sound of the Hang drum. This handmade percussion instrument from Switzerland is, like so many other thing from Switzerland, pretty expensive and rare. So I guess I'm not gonna own one in the nearest future. But I got some tips about how to get the Hang sound without paying too much.

First - there´s an instrument for Kontakt made by Soniccouture with over 1000 samples from both the Hang mk1 and Hang mk2, and they sound really good. (picture above)  Check out the audio demos here!

Secondly- there's a VST instrument called "Hang" created by Dr Tikov (cool name) and Max Oro, a Hang player from Barcelona. Check it out here!

Here's a video of Max Oro playing with some clarinet dude:

But I still want to own a real Hang - there´s more to owning a cool drum than its sound. I'm pretty sure it works as a great icebreaker at parties etc. And it's a great way to upset your neighbours.

No way that Aphex Twin is behind the iamamiwhoami clips

Posted on 050310 in and

I had an argument with a friend who thought that Aphex Twin was behind the iamamiwhoami clips. My point was that they aren't strange enough to have come from the mind of Aphex Twin (and Chris Cunningham). But he didn't agree - he thought that a blonde chick painted black who is being born from a tree, gets a strawberry cake and yells at Labrador retrievers IS strange enough.

But honestly, compared to the Come to Daddy, Windowlicker and Rubber Johnny videos, the iamamiwhoami clips are about as strange and freaky as the sock that goes missing every time you do the laundry.

Rubber Johnny - it gets really good at 4.25

Come to Daddy - an old favourite

Windowlicker - gets good after 3.45

About the author

I Have Synth, Links
Author: 

I Have Synth

Biography: 

Been into synthesizers for 15 years, but never a technical geek. I'm a member of the band Velours Perfect, and have had electronic music as a hobby since I stopped playing with G.I Joe Figures. I buy and sell synths all the time, sometimes manically, and my favourite synth varies, right now it is the Alesis Ion. On this blog you can read about whatever comes out of my mind, mostly synthesizer-related stuff though. Bzzt! Oh...my name is Ulf Dufwenberg. It's Swedish.

 

I'm also on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and off course Ihavesynth.

 

More about Ihavesynth in this interview

Ad

Twitter

"@mdotadam oh yeah" — 13 hours 33 min ago
"Rhodes Chroma Demo - Polyphonic Dream at http://www.ihavesynth.com/node/49519 - I Have Synth" — 15 hours 58 min ago
"10% discount on Customsynth! at http://www.ihavesynth.com/blog/10-discount-customsynth - I Have Synth" — 19 hours 3 min ago
"ARP 2600 Demo Series with Marc Doty at http://www.ihavesynth.com/node/49391 - I Have Synth" — 1 day 18 hours ago
"The coolest Roland JD-800 mod ever at http://www.ihavesynth.com/node/49320 - I Have Synth" — 2 days 13 hours ago
Follow IHaveSynth

Ad

Copyright © 2009 Cludev