Thursday, October 22, 2015

Setting A Roland Jupiter-6 On Fire



The Roland Jupiter-6 Synthesizer is an absolute MONSTER. Pads, Bass, Arpeggio, Strings, Leads - it's all here. And the JP-6 is my favorite go-to synthesizer for SOUND EFFECTS. I have crammed a plethora of strangely beautiful effects and noise that demonstrates its versatility which is beyond comprehension.

Obviously no actual synthesizers were harmed in the making of this all Roland Jupiter-6 demonstration. The TR-8 provided rhythm backing, Big Sky and Timefactor for effects. All tracks were recorded direct to Cubase SX3 via E-mu 1616. NO additional production, eq, compressors, mastering, etc. was used whatsoever.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Pittsburgh Modular DNA Symbiotic Waves - Unlimited Possibilities



Follow up to my first video. This one is more about patching in the filter, envelope, the arpeggio feature on the Midi3 module, and some trials with the sample-hold/glide on the Toolbox module.

To put the possibilities into perspective do the math. There are 16 wavetables on OSC1 and 16 processor types. That's 256 combinations right there. Then consider 16 wavetables on OSC2, that makes 4096 different combinations. Then think about tweaking the tuning, balance, and processor amounts to change the color of the sound. It is absolutely mind-boggling.

Sorry the video is shaky, my stand for the eurorack is wobbly. I will probably start shooting these videos on something more stable.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Pittsburgh DNA Symbiotic Waves Module - Digital Insanity



This is the Pittsburgh Modular DNA Symbiotic Waves module. The DNA of the design, if you will, comes from a prototype synthesizer from Spacehardware called the Cygnx. The idea is that two digital wavetable oscillators could be combined using various forms of processing to create a digital super-wave. Each of the two oscillators can be one of sixteen different wavetables. It just gets crazier when you think about being able to detune one of the oscillators, up to an octave, above the other. You can also use control voltages to vary the amount of processing that takes place. In this video I show you how.

The first part of the video I show the basics of how to operate the module. Then after, I punish my Tascam DR-05 direct recorder with ridiculous digital sonic mayhem. Play at your own risk.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Oberheim Drummer Repair



The Oberheim Drummer is more than a rhythm sequencer, it also includes groove timing variations for a more human feel.

This unit was having some troubles. While it was able to turn on and buttons worked fine, the control parameters were not behaving correctly. Watch and learn how I detected and resolved the issues.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Roland Juno-106 + Akai S900


Chill out to this little jam. Getting to know my Beatstep Pro, some effects from Strymon you-know-what and Eventide you-know-that-one-too. If the beats sound is familiar, I loaded some TR-606 samples into the S900.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Roland System-1 Synthesizer Patches by G-Storm


Basses, leads, gorgeous pads, soundscapes, strings, drums, and arpeggios. The System-1 can do it all well so just sit back and chill to these compelling sounds. This video is just a short preview of selected sounds. Opening and demo themes are from my track Superfalling on Soundcloud.

Patches can be acquired here. Make sure to BACKUP all your patches safely before loading. Refer the Roland documentation for how to do this. MIDI Sysex transfer methods DO NOT apply to the System-1. It has to be done over USB using the Roland proprietary file transfer protocol. These patches should work for operating system v. 1.20 and on the System-1m module as well. There are 63 patches in all, the last patch in Bank-8 slot-8 is a blank patch.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Boss CE-20 Chorus Demo w/ a Synthesizer



How does the Boss CE-20 Chorus Ensemble sound with a Synthesizer? You are the judge. In this video I put the CE-20 through its paces by auditioning all six chorus modes: Rich, Bass, Acoustic, Standard, Dimension, and CE-1. There are a couple of surprises along the way, I don't want to spoil the fun. The synthesizer I am using is a Roland System-1 set to a sawtooth waveform. All recording is direct to a Tascam DR-05 going through a Mackie mixer, absolutely no other effects were used.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Yamaha TX81Z - Getting Started Programming FM


So you know a little bit about synthesizers, and have browsed a few articles on FM Synthesis. Maybe you have seen a couple of really good FM introductions like the one by Inside Synthesis or Dubspot. Now you are ready to dive in.

I'm using a TX81Z to edit a single patch, but what you see and learn here can be carried over to many other FM synthesizers. This is far from a complete coverage of all topics, but meant to help get users started with an intuitive approach.