Tag Archives: Synthesizer

Hands-on controls – are they worth it? Hardware controllers for the Matrix-1000

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Forgive me for inserting a slice of analog synth porn here:

An Oberheim Matrix-1000 in a rack, below the Alpes Machines Ctrlr with loads of knobs, switched on, and a Lexicon MX200 reverb/delay rack effect. Finger pointing at the display of the Alpes controller showing the Rob/Reassign setting which does not work pre-V1.21.

Although the Matrix-1000 is nearing 40, it’s very much alive and kicking. It’s an analog that you can still, kind of, afford – and, more important, that still works. The Matrix-1000 ROM is by far the most popular firmware of all the upgrades Bob Grieb ever designed; they must have sold loads of that synth. And they have survived to this day, the occasional battery failure or dying voice chip nonwithstanding.

The very quality that made it a cheap, second-rate option back then – its lack of immediate controllers – is no longer a problem. When I bought my Matrix around 1990, I was stuck to the presets; these days, MIDI controllers are easy to find.

As a couple of people have asked about recommendations for controllers, you will find a collection of options I came across. It is worth noting that most of them work with the earlier Matrix-6/6R version of the synth as well although it lacks the option to use NPRN as well as dedicated commands to control the modulation matrix.  Continue reading →

Reface CP gets “That Switch” mod – the easy way

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Integrating “That Switch” mod for easier activation of the Reface CP’s hidden Grand Piano patch:

  • Remove the spacer next to the Tremolo Depth knob and LED from the control circuit board
  • Drill a 5mm hole into the front panel and insert a switch
  • Cut the control wire for the selector switch, and connect the ends to the switch

No worries, I’ll go into more of the details as we proceed.

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David’s Waldorf CP70 — Creating sample maps for the Waldorf Iridium

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The Waldorf Iridium is, amongst many other things, a sampler. And so many instruments have already been sampled – you will just have to load the samples to the Iridium, and place them in a patch.

This post will try to create a patch with the sounds of a Yamaha CP70 electro-acoustic piano, and have a small script do most of the work. If you are kind of lost here, read the “Not-so-grand-piano” post first.

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OMG OMG I actually played that thing!

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Looking at the analytics, I have noted that my reminiscence to/analysis of the Keytek CTS-2000 synth has been found by a number of people that surprises me, given that it is an article about a truly horrible, obscure late-80s hybrid synth in a rather niche blog. Given that, I would like to share some proof that I actually played that thing, and on stage, too. And though it is hard to date the old photographs, I would estimate that I held onto it for quite some time.

So I guess at least the CTS-2000’s keyboard was really decent.

5-piece band: female bass player, percussion player, guitarist, keyboardist with guitar.

The band, by the way, was named “Voice of the Alien”. You won’t find anything Googling it.

I added another photo to the original article.

Yay! I’ve bought a DIY Minimoog. (And Jenny is going to love it!)

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Isn’t it GORGEOUS? Classic Minimoog – less of a control panel, more of an erogenous zone for synth nerds. Tell me you don’t want to feel up these knobs! The pure beauty of a one-of-a-kind electronic instrument. The design and the sounds are still in highest demand more than 50 years after its design – and I was pretty sure I’d never, never even be tempted to buy one.

I never even wanted a Minimoog!

Let’s be honest: Moogs are ludicrously overpriced, and overhyped. Not a single classic Moog ladder filter sound you couldn’t do just as well with a modern plugin, or almost any modern hardware. Hey, even the R3 – my most underdog synth – can do pretty decent Moog impressions. And if you are with the “Digital-will-never-sound-like-true-analog” esoterics, there is still the option of Neo Old School: Using the old design with the upsides of modern analog technology. Get yourself a Boog, for fuck’s sake. (And a life.)

Still… as we know, it’s all about the workflow – and about that unique combination of how an instrument looks, feels, and sounds. So when I saw a Moog enclosure and front panel on eBay for a couple of Euros, I could not resist and had to buy it.

“It’s aliiiiive!” – How to give life to an empty corpus

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The Noisy One

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I’ve won a Dreadbox Typhon in a sweepstake, and it’s bloody brilliant. Like, really, really brilliant! A fun machine with a monster sound and a great concept for real-time sound manipulation and editing. If there wasn’t that nasty problem with digital noise.

Dreadbox Typhon powered from USB hub; preset A1

Just listen to it! It’s wonderful – but you will have noticed the nasty sound on switching it on, and the permanent high-frequency noise. (Oddly enough, it’s no longer in the recording as soon as the sequencer starts, but believe me – it’s there, all of the time.)

Digital noise, for sure.

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