We all make all sorts of promises to ourselves about how when we have some free time, we’re going to get to various projects. Here’s a way to keep the forward progress going: make one thing every day. Our friend Ranjit, creator of the MIDI ironing board, the Mister Resistor ensemble, and a robotic Theremin, is doing just that. Having to make one thing a day means you’ll almost certainly have to simplify what you’re doing, maybe even do some things you don’t necessarily like — but always do something, which could be a great learning experience. My favorite so far: his Matchbox Synthesizer.

thing-a-day: matchbox synthesizer from ranjit on Vimeo.

Sure, it won’t win any audio fidelity awards, but it’s great fun. It gives me some other ideas for things that could be fit into a space that small, as well. See what the other daily Thingers are doing:

ranjit @ Thing-a-day.com

Yeah, this isn’t just marketing: the newest Moog Voyager is really old school — and it just makes us want it more. Moog Music has taken out twenty years of recent technology and kept the classic tech — all in a new case that’s fully wooden and entirely devoid of glowing mod wheels. In fact, the actual marketing side steps just how old school the Old School is:

“Priced between the Voyager and Little Phatty, this modern classic makes the coveted Voyager sound and design easier to own than ever!”

All of that is technically true (and we are coveting), but — reality check. The Moog Voyager Old School as a left-brained compromise? A value buy? I don’t think so. You’re shelling out US$2600 on the most beautifully anachronistic synth keyboard from Moog yet. You’re going to use nothing but control voltage because you think digital makes people’s souls weak.

We’d like to suggest an alternative slogan / t-shirt design: “Presets are for posers; MIDI is for pussies.”

I’m only half joking. Coming to an annual trade show could easily lull you into the idea that music technology is a simple, linear progression from one idea to another. (Now with 10% more this year of exactly what we had last year!) How boring would that be? Mercifully, Moog Music — and quite a bit of other stuff we’ve seen, great and awful — reminds us that design is about choice and personality. It’s not rocket science — it’s cooking.

We’ll have more of the latest Moog (among other things) as we finish off our NAMM videos.

Oh, and one last tip to Moog: we’re awaiting the Really Old School model. What’s with the keyboard being attached? And why is everything patched for you in advance?

Nothing appeals to most electronic musicians more than a home studio filled with vintage instruments. But few of us stop to consider the responsibility we take on by purchasing an old Moog Memorymoog, Sequential Prophet-5 or even a mammoth E-mu Emulator II: They require constant care and attention. I’ve owned a number of classics and have become fairly used to popping them open from time to time for a bit of calibration or a quick fix.

To make matters worse, there’s a dark cloud looming on the horizon: Many electronic designs from the 1970s and 1980s don’t age well. If you’re not careful, your beloved vintage instrument can be seriously damaged by leakage from the battery that preserves its patch memory, or fall victim to chip or component failure. Here’s a quick look at some of the most common problems that can befall older instruments.

Who says progress is bad? Synth designer Dave Smith’s Prophet ‘08 synth is a new instrument inspired by his legendary Prophet series, but there are a number of clues that indicate it’s not 1978. First, driven by Internet buzz, word-of-mouth preorders are already taking off. (DSI hasn’t yet added the Prophet ‘08 to their price list because they’re scrambling to fill the early orders.) That means, ironically, the Web generation is better able to support “boutique” synths now than even synth customers of a few years ago. Second, I expect a lot of these Prophet ’08s will happily become outboard analog gear complimenting computers. (It’s a good thing Dave Smith was a driving force behind MIDI.) Lastly, the Prophet ‘08 has some great features we take for granted now that were harder to come by in 1978.

The Prophet ‘08 is analog to the core: it boasts a 100%-analog signal path and a “sonic character” not surprisingly modeled on the classic Prophets. What’s new:

• Velocity and aftertouch: If this spoils the “vintage” experience for you, go see a doctor.)
• Mo Modulation: “Extensive modulation routing capabilities”, making the Prophet ‘08 essentially a semi-modular synth; it’ll be interesting to see what this lets programmers cook up.
• Splits and layers:Four-on-four splits and layers with separate stereo outputs for each layer.
  
• Arpeggiator and sequencer: Arpeggiator, gated 16 x 4 step sequencer, and LFOs. Everything is syncable, as well — thank you, MIDI.

There’s onboard MIDI (even with “Poly Chain”), and CV input, as well. On the analog side, you get 2 oscillators and 1 lovely filter per voice:

• 2 digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCOs) per voice with selectable sawtooth, triangle, saw/triangle mix, and pulse waves (with pulse-width modulation), and hard sync.
• White noise generator

I have heard some complaints about the new models: some would prefer the pitch and mod wheels next to the keyboard rather than above, though the payoff is a full five-octave keyboard in a compact space.

I have to say, I’m a sucker for the Dave Smith philosophy of “un-nostalgic” analog. But, really, who would expect anything else: Dave Smith’s earlier instruments all progressed with technology, and he continues to do so. There’s a clear resonance with the modern Moog synths, like Minimoog Voyager and Little Phatty, down to special editions with colored wheels. (Dave Smith has the much cooler red glowing wheels, which is great if you’re tired of blue.) But the Dave Smith Instruments are also unique takes on how to reinterpret analog.

Detailed specs and descriptions are on the mercifully redesigned Dave Smith site:
Dave Smith Prophet ‘08 Page

And via news you’ll find more on the limited edition, videos of Dave, and other news, as well as further reassurances that the BoomChik drum machine really is progressing:
Dave Smith Instruments News

So, who’s getting one? And anyone have smart money

I’m sad to report that Daniel Hansson, CEO and one of the founders of Elektron, passed away in a car accident August 19. He was best known to the world as the creator of unique and ingeniously-designed instruments like the boutique drum machine / pattern synth Machinedrum, the Monomachine tabletop synth, and the SIDStation (powered by the beloved synth engine in the Commodore 64).

More at Music thing, Die Monster, and an ongoing thread at Elektron Users. From that forum, here are some thoughtful words from member Toni:

Sad and shocking news indeed. The only comfort I can think of is that Daniel got to see his dream come alive while he was still living. Elektron made the music machines that emit the feeling of unconditional love for the true musical instruments, rather than be just a passing products for consumer markets. In this sense, SidStation, MD and MnM, were completed and continue to inspire musicians through out the world.

Indeed, condolences to Daniel’s family and friends, and the Elektron team and community.

Information on where to send notes and donations (the World Wildlife Foundation is suggested) at the Elektron site:
Elektron.se

Photos of Daniel

Daniel is someone who many in the music community did get to know face to face; I’m sorry I didn’t get that chance. Many more knew him through the instruments he created. Roger Linn sends along a couple of photos of his own (my apologies for incorrectly linking a different Daniel at Elektron via Flickr). Roger writes:

Daniel was a great guy, friendly and fun to talk to, passionate about getting the details right in a product, and a true lover of ideas. It’s a tragic loss to creative musicians everywhere.

The Buchla 500 at CalArts

A little bit of Buchla synth history via Peter Grenader of Plan b. That giant modular in the background is the Buchla 500, the rarest of the rare in the modular synth world. It is possible there were only three ever in existence. “The following flckr stream [link] was from CalArts studio B-304 taken in the fall of 1976 featuring Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne and a whole lotta Buchla 500. John as you may remember came up a couple of months ago on Matrixsynth in the posting regarding Mort’s use of the 300 at Ircam [link]. He went on in later years to become the Assistant Dean of the CIA School of Music and founder of it’s Music Tech department. Photo b_304.2 has a good view of the entire studio, save the three other JBL’s which are out of frame (it was a quad studio - there was one in each corner).

There are two more 500’s that I know off - at Evergreen and another somewhere in Europe (pardon the senior moment, i don’t remember where exactly). This is not to say there aren’t others…I’m just not aware of any. The one in the photo here was the first - the development system Don constructed while on staff at CalArts. I do know the 500 was adondoned quickly and resurfaced as the 300 series which included direct routing of computer control the various modules (259 VCO and 292C Gate for example) -and- the digital VCOs.”

AHNE 2007 - Happy Syntho De Mayo

Every year synth die-hards migrate East for AHNE. It is an amazing gathering filled with vintage gear as you will see in the links that follow. This year’s event looks like it did not disappoint. Unfortunately I was not able to make it due to having to make a trip out East just before the event due to unforeseen circumstances, but one year I will make it! The following are links to photo sets and some video of the event.

A Casio in Iraq

Ok, not technically a synth, but check this out. It’s a Casio AT-40 with Arabic labels spotted in Iraq of all places. Via Daniel: “A casio AT-40 with arabic lettering that I spotted in Hewler/Arbil in northern Iraq in december last year. I should have bought it!” Yeah he should have. : ) Click here for the full sized shot. It does make me wonder how much, if any, electronic music is being made in Iraq. I seem to vaguely remember there being an online music site from the country. If you know of any, please do comment. I ran a quick search and I did find one artist that goes by “phreaque modi” in Baghdad. Click here for the site with full tracks. It’s inspirational to think music like this is making its way through a situation like that.

A TB-303 Birthday

Check out this TB-303 Birthday cake, also from Daniel.

“When I turned 30 one of my friends gave me this utterly nerdy cake. The colours look a bit funny but it really was gray at first. The knobs were eatable too!”

Very nice. I suddenly want a life sized Matrix-12 birthday cake.

Click here for a full sized shot. It kind of reminds me of a giant techno bling napoleon.