30-year-old David Cranmer of London is an artist in the true sense of the word. He combines a wealth of ideas, design, sounds and performance into works of art. Take the Pyramid Synth, for example. He created two analog synths with the characteristic appearance of egyptian mausoleums in cooperation with Peter Fowler. But he’s also been working on a large modular system on his own for several years …
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Moog Voyager White Edition
You have to leave it to them: Moog has invented product design. The instruments of the Voyager series are simply elegant – take the Voyager Performer White Edition, for instance.
Trax RetroWave R-1 – British analog synth with MIDI/CV
The Trax RetroWave R-1 desktop monosynth was designed for musicians who want the warmth and power of classic analog synthesizer sound, created by a real analog instrument. Handmade, of course.
Create electronic music from scratch. The RetroWave pots are huge, a joy to use. And, of course, there are no menue screens or hidden functions … Continue reading
Musikmesse Frankfurt 2013 Report – Part 2
Continuing Report Part 1 – now to Doepfer. The A-100 monster modular system was stuck in a back corner of the Alex4 stand. Just looking at a system like this is food for the eyes, of course. And discovering even most of its musical potential would take a life time.
Musikmesse Frankfurt 2013 Report – Part 1
Well, the Frankfurt Musikmesse 2013 was a remarkable experience. Some say it wasn’t as large as it has been in past years, but there were still lots of new goodies. Since the big news about Yamaha, Korg and Roland was released at the NAMM Show, our report will concentrate on the European market with all of those special products which have enriched the synthesizer landscape for years. And we’ll be meeting some remarkable people along the way …
Waldorf Rocket Control for iPad
Rocket Control is an assistant App for the Waldorf Rocket hardware synthesizer. Manage your patches, play Rocket with the keyboard, see your edits onscreen or edit directly on your iPad.
Musikmesse Frankfurt 2013 – MFB Dominion 1
The Dominion 1: announced last year (behind closed doors), now presented at the Frankfurt Musikmesse. There are many beautiful analog (mono)synthesizers out there. But this one is a cracker. Its little brother – the Dominion X – is superb (… read the Dominion X review and – more important – listen to its soundfiles). The keyboard version is even better …!
DOMINION 1 is the next generation of the Dominion series. Like the Dominion X, it combines the advantages of analog synthesis, modular patching and programmability. While the desktop version (Dominion X) provides an impressive array of 6 filter types (analog and discrete, of course), the Dominion 1 is now whopping 12 (!) filter modes.
Minimoog – the unsurpassed legend
It sat the standards for monophonic analog synthesizers. It was (and still is) a model and the ideal for dozens of analog instruments. It has been cloned and cast into countless digital images. It has a worthy successor (the Voyager) from the same family tree. And still it remains unsurpassed. The Minimoog.
Attached: pictures and sounds of a perfect classic.
Doepfer MAQ 16/3 Dark Edition
After many years on the market, Doepfer has redesigned the MAQ 16/3 MIDI/CV step sequencer. They have issued it, visually adapted to the Dark (Energy) line.
Very classy. Optically an definitive alternative to the traditional Doepfer silver line. The Dark Edition of the sequencer should be finally available June 2013 at a price of 750 Euros.
History, features and sound of the (imp)OSCar
Ahhhh … the Oscar! A classic in its own right. This video by GForce explains the OSCar’s history and the smart ideas that have gone into this synth. Listen to the wide range of sounds the OSCar is capable off. The instrument’s filter section is clearly demonstrated (pictures, words & sound)! Get on to creating your additive waves with the impOSCar’s Programmable Additive Wave Matrix Grid.
By the way, this video focuses on the (original) OSCar, but with a minimum of advert for the impOSCar and impOSCar 2 at the very end. Continue reading