Stephan (aka umusic6) did some nice work:
Thanks to his efforts, there is now a Bit Edition of Stereoping’s Synth Controller, for Crumar Bit-01/One/99 with the Tauntek firmware. You can read up on the firmware, or order it, here.
(No, this is not an affiliate link, I have no share in this. But I think it’s a great project.)
A step-by-step description.
The Matrix-1000 was built in a time when there were no USB sticks and flash cards – the technology for storing small amounts permanently in electronics was a battery that kept the memory powered when the unit was switched off.
In the Matrix-1000, this is done with a very common type of battery – a CR2032 3-volt lithium battery, that has been working fine for more than two decades now but is destined to fail at last.
Unfortunately, one of the cost-cutting measures in the budget Matrix synth was to solder it in directly to save on the battery holder – so the replacement of the battery is a minor technical operation.
For good measure, you should consider replacing the firmware with Bob’s upgraded V1.20 as well.
Replacing the battery is not hard, but there are some dangers involved, for you as well as for the old hardware.
Although it might be possible to solder in the battery holder without removing the PCB if you are very skilled, it is probably easier to take the electronics board out:
The video of the process is quite detailed (i.e.: BOORING!), and it misses out the crucial detail of how to actually solder – the trick is that you use the soldering iron to heat up the wires you want to solder, and then melt the solder by touching those wires with it. The beginners’ technique of just holding the solder to the hot iron leads to ugly blobs of solder on your PCB. But if you really intend to watch this, you probably know how to solder anyway. (There is a short version of the video as well. With music!)
Props to Ralf, who lent me his Matrix-1000 to do this video.
Just a teaser for a detailed description and an unbearably long video to go with it.
Want that ancient battery in your M-1000 replaced but have no clue how to do it? I am looking for one person to give me their Matrix for the operation – to do a tutorial. You won’t have to pay for anything but the shipping cost – but I’d need you to agree to the terms and conditions (see below)
These days, whenever somebody enquires about the improved firmware I am selling, I recommend changing not only the firmware chip but the battery as well. This battery, located in the lower left corner of the PCB next to the volume knob, is responsible for keeping the the Matrix’ memory chip running when the unit is switched off, so that your synth remembers all those meaty vintage sounds in banks 0 and 1. It has been doing that reliably for decades now, and it is a marvel that the battery is still working after all that time.
Unfortunately, replacing this battery is no simple switch operation, as the old battery is soldered in without a battery holder. (Remember, the Matrix-1000 was a budget machine back then.) So a minimum amount of soldering is required – no big deal, and certainly doable for almost everybody, but I would like to do a (video) tutorial, and I would need another Matrix-1000 for that. Maybe yours?
Here is what you would need to agree to:
Agree? Interested? Just contact me.
My thoughts about the Dino Park synth board:
The last question kept on nagging me so I kind of dodged it and came up with the easyiest possible solution.
Behold: The Dino Box.
I am very proud of the artwork – my kids did most of it. I have taken the box for a first test drive with my band, and it worked fine.
What you need:
Couple of notes:
In which I am laying out the reasons for my conviction that the Jura brand coffee machine which I am trying to fix right now is a desaster. German only.
A Minimoog, a Prophet and an Odyssey enter a bar… and it’s only 200 Euros. — I know, if you don’t understand German, there is not much the last post can offer you but that is where I collected the first batch of info on the DinoPark VA PCB synth. In the meantime, controller panels have been programmed with the TB Midi Stuff app for iPad, and it works.
Simple Setup:
It would be possible to use the Novation controller only; this just about works for the Minimoog emulation as a Minimoog has not got that many dials to turn; for the Prophet clone, the 24 dials and faders of the SL are simple not enough; you would need two templates and would have to jump between them. Moreover, the Novation controller does not evaluate the board’s CC messages and is thus unable to show the actual values for a parameter. Nothing new for VA synths.
A canvas for TB Midi Stuff with the controller panels may [be downloaded here], Novation SL MkII templates are available for download here. .
See the German version of this article.
MIDI implementation is documented for the four first models on the DINOPARK-Support page. Some small errors and omissions: The CC#0, CC#32 sequence for model switching is mixed up, Prodyssey model VCA Mod is CC#11 (not CC#51), VCA Gain is missing from doc but can be reached by CC#51.
It was a bit tricky but I built a controller GUI for “Minimax”, “Pro-12”, and “Prodyssey” model. Available for download here as a TB Midi Stuff Canvas unter CC-BY licence here. Please tell me of any problems and ideas for improvement.
As the Minimoog is a simpler synth, it can be controlled quite comfortably from the 24 dials and 32 knobs of a Novation SL MKII. A template is available for download here.
Rediscovering an old love of mine, for a simple reason: The R3 is an ideal piece of gear to take on a holiday – compact yet with a full-sized 3-octave keyboard, extremely versatile, powerful sound – and really good fun.
The setup: The R3, vocoder mic inserted, my Volca Beats drum machine synched to the R3 via a sparkling blue MIDI cable, and inserted with another audio cable into the R3’s two audio inputs, and optionally, the ModStep sequencer app on my iPad as a phrase recorder, connected via the new Camera Connection Kit and an USB cable. Apart from my headphones, there is even a small autonomous Bluetooth speaker that can be wired to the R3’s output, via another audio cable. As the R3 is a full-blown synth rather a sound toy (also known as “Tischhupe”), and everything mentioned fits effortlessly into a small gig bag, and thus in my overstuffed car, I conclude that the R3 is ideal travel gear, and suitable even for camping holidays.
Yet the R3 is so much more.
Bass and melody tracks in Modstep, you can even override the Volca Beat‘s patterns and control the sounds directly from a Modstep grid
Many, many years ago, I was looking for a small beginners’ synth to get back into music. I had been looking for a MicroKorg but without the MK’s obvious limitations – four-voice, monotimbral, small keys simply not suited for my clumsy fingers. I realized that there was a MK XL, and then I realized that there was a slightly larger version of the same engine packaged with full-size keys, more FX, the capability to produce two different sounds at once, and a slightly better user interface, called R3. Which was to be had cheap. So I bought a second-hand one on eBay.
It was a good choice for getting back into music. The same qualities that make it a good holiday companion made it a good choice for jamming: It’s portable, it’s playable, and it’s capable. And gradually I started falling in love with the R3. Let me tell you why.
Genesis fans from the Prog-Rock as well as the „Mama“ factions hate it. Well, „Duke“ it‘s not, but it contains some truly unique pieces of music.
For one, I do love underdogs. And the R3 is an underdog synth. You see, the R3 is a bit like Genesis’ “abacab” album. Prog-Rock Fans hate this record for, well, Phil Collins, you know. Pop fans hate it for its handful of admittedly truly horrible songs. Just like Microkorg enthusiasts hate the R3 for sounding cleaner than a first-gen MK or an MS-2000; VA enthusiasts hate it for not sounding like an analog. I love “abacab” for its unique, electronic, Prophet-5-heavy sound, and for showing off what a terrific musician Phil Collins actually is, whatever you think of his songwriting.
Well, the analogy stops here – as I have mentioned the magic word “Prophet-5”, let’s be honest: The R3 is not a good VA to replicate vintage P5 sounds. In case you should be desperate to replicate the sound from Genesis’ “Lonely Man At the Corner”, better known as the sound from PC’s “In The Air Tonight”: There are much, much better VAs for that – please do look at Creamware’s Pro-12. So let me break down what I like – and dislike – about the R3.
The R3’s basic layout is a traditional substractive synthesis setup, with two oscillators, two multimode filters, 3 EGs, 2 LFOs. The first oscillator features classical as well as sampled wave forms. The filters are not too bad for digital filters. A small mod matrix complements a couple of hard-wired modulations such as velocity/EG and LFO2/pitch. Some extensions and variations on the classic theme, under Korg’s “MMT” label from the Oasis line.
Some of that stuff is weird – Format wave forms, anybody? – some is really good. I love switching OSC1 to VPM – this is Korg’s variant of Casio’s Phase Distortion synthesis from the 80s, which was Casio’s variant of DX7-like FM synthesis for normal humans without a second brain or PhDs in acoustic physics. A wave shaper, technically a lookup table but very versatile. Filter2 working as a comb filter, i.e. a resonator for Karplus-Strong type string plucking sounds. And up to three independent effects per sound, including another bit crusher as well as a ring modulator.
The best thing of the R3’s mod matrix may be the feature that is not part of it: a sixteen-step modulation sequencer. Apart from sequencing, well, pitch, it can animate parameters like OSC1’s harmonics in VPM mode, which you cannot reach from the mod matrix. It can even modulate the mod matrix’s modulation depths. I would wish that the mod matrix could reach all the targets the mod sequencer can reach, but it is unfortunately much more limited. They fixed that in the Radias – a Radias is two R3s packaged with an Electribe and many, many knobs – but the software update enabling the additional targets never was back-ported to the R3. Underdog indeed.
I do own a Radias, by the way. It understands R3 sounds, and they are among the best for this synth.
Let’s face it: in terms of digital technology, the R3 is old. 8 voices – 4 per split – are not enough. (Still, its even more limited Microkorg brethren are sold to this day.) There are fresher VA alternatives that are just as cheap, like Novation’s Mininova. And there are some things to hate about this small machine.
The plastic housing is cheap. The full-size keybed is playable but nasty. (Take my word for it: the keys don’t feature the usual metal springs but are attached by flexible plastic working as a spring load – ewww!) They tend do turn yellow over the years as well. Really, really nasty. They could also do with an aftertouch, but even if the R3 HAD aftertouch, the limitations of the mod matrix would mean that you could not program it to control vibrato independently of the mod wheel.
Pros:
Contras:
This is just a wet dream so far – a knobby controller integrated into the Blofeld. The layout being- ah, let’s call it inspired – by the Hartmann 20 that is, essentially, a Sledge in an expensive coat. (The Sledge is, essentially, a Blofeld with knobs.)
Behold: the Frankenfeld!