Major electronic artists and the equipment they used
Have you ever been curious about what synthesizers made “those” sounds on your favorite album?
In the early days of synthesizer based music you could often find a list of the equipment used on the album cover; J-M Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Tomita etc.
But in most cases you are completely left in the dark – and that leave room for speculation. But sometimes artists reveal their trade secrets to a reliable journalist.
At Stereoklang we will share the information we have in our archives. The sources will most often magazines which we judge as knowledgeable and reliable.
And we will always state the source of information. We will only list equipment used on specific albums. Please note that what’s used on live tours is often not the same as for recording in the studio.
Fancy wallpapers of your favorite synthpop artists?
Stereoklang has put together a page dedicated to synthpop nostalgica. The page will be filled over time with things like; what synthesizers did Kraftwerk use in this or this video/gig etc.
In the mean time check out some of the uploaded synthpop wallpapers that has been gathered around the web and if you have any of those orginal artists you would like to submit we are more than welcome to upload them as well, e.g. YMO, Logic System, Yazoo, Welle:Erdball, JM Jarre etc
Pich Glide in Numerlog
YouTube via JimAtFive12
“A quick demo of a new “auto pitch bend” function in Numerology’s MonoNote sequencing module. The synthesizer used is u-he’s Zebra, with the MIDI pitch bend range set to +/- 12 semitones.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkPE-pqD5pA&feature=player_embedded]
SHEPPi Spatial Enhancer – free download
Dallas Hodgson / Open Ambience Project has announced the release o SHEPPi (Stereo Haas Effect Ping Pong Inverter), a stereo image enhancement tool modeled after the K-Stereo Ambience Processor by Algorithmix.
SHEPPi imparts a subtle, natural sense of space thanks to a combination of EQ’able synthetic early reflections, M-S widening and inverted stereo delay feedback.
This plug-in has been enhanced for both track insert as well as aux send applications, making it an excellent tool for both mastering and stereoizing purposes.
SHEPPi is available as a VST effect plug-in for Windows and it is free
Big is beautiful
Make Room!
Big City Music has received a new Analogue Systems System 8500 with a double sequencer cabinet and and extra top cabinet yesterday. This beast is truly awe-inspiring to stand in front of.
Time to re-think software synths, don’t you think 
Robert Moog and Max Brand
Synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog began designing electronic circuits for Austrian composer Max Brand in 1957 – the instrument was completed roughly a decade later.
The sounds it produces were featured in a concert at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz on September 6, 2009. The composition is by Elisabeth Schimana, performed by Manon Liu Winter and Gregor Ladenhauf.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/6507219]
About the Max Brand synthesizer:
Wood, metal, keyboard, bandmanual, pedals, patch board, mixer, voltage controlled oscillator, low frequency oscillator, ring modulator, lopass filter, envelope generator, frequency divider, formant filter, tubes, transistors
I am the Machine – A Personal Approach
Deep within the hallucinatory ramblings of an electro-acoustic sound, it is this voice, hollering, steeped in pathos and desperately overamplified, that sets your teeth on edge. The launch has already been prepared against a background of crackling tension, the rocket has been fired with a whizz and a bang, and has finally slipped into space to the sound of an atmospheric juddering: these sounds in the first minute of Max Brand’s tape composition The Astronauts (1962) are also accompanied by voices, but on the right side of the pathetic. Brand had used NASA recordings of the radio conversations between ground control and John Glenn during the latter’s first flight into space as the basis for his electroacoustic ode, a pathetic oratorio in honor of the god of technology. This excerpt is from the book “Zauberhafte Klangmaschinen | Von der Sprechmaschine bis zur Soundcard”, Schott 2008
TransGainer from Voxengo
Voxengo has released TransGainer — an audio plug-in suitable for a wide range of professional music production uses. TransGainer implements audio signal envelope adjustment algorithm that reacts on transients rather than on signal’s loudness level. This algorithm allows you to adjust volume of attack and sustain stages of any sounds you use it on. TransGainer was designed in a way to be suitable for all possible sound sources — be it individual tracks or full mixes.
Features :
• Transient stage loudness adjustments
• Sustain stage loudness adjustments
• Transient-to-transient time control
• Multi-channel processing
• Internal channel routing
• Channel grouping
• Mid/side processing
• Up to 8x oversampling
• 64-bit floating point processing
• Preset manager
• Undo/redo history
• A/B comparisons
• Contextual hint messages
TransGainer is available for both Mac (VST, AU) and PC (VST).
V7 of Digital Performer from MOTU
Digital Performer lets you record, edit, arrange, mix, process and master audio and MIDI tracks side by side for songwriting, studio production, live performance, film and television sound tracks, audio post production, surround mixing and other professional audio production tasks.
Digital Performer 7 offers new features, enhanced operation and improved performance at all levels, from hundreds of small enhancements driven by user requests to major new features and plug-ins that add unprecedented value.
Changes in Digital Performer 7
- Custom ‘59™ — A meticulously detailed guitar amp emulator modeled after all-time classics from Fender® and Marshall®.
- Guitar pedals — A new suite of stunningly accurate classic guitar pedals modeled after all-time favorites from Boss®, Ibanez® & others.
- Channel Strip — Gain instant access to all mixer channel settings for the track you are working on in any Editor window.
- Live Room | G™ — A superb physical modeling speaker cabinet emulator with four mixable mics (close, near and far) and 3-band EQ per mic.
- Inline EQ & dynamics — Control DP’s multi-band graphic EQ and vintage dynamics processing directly in each Mixing Board channel.
- Lead sheets — Create and print lead sheets, complete with lyrics and transposable chord symbols.
- Freely resizable Counter — Resize the Counter window to any size you wish, even the entire width of your screen.
- Marker Counter — Display markers in large type in the resizable Counter window. Use markers as a teleprompter for lyrics during live performance or recording sessions.
- Consolidated V-Racks — Display V-Rack virtual instruments and effects side by side with disk tracks in the Mixing Board.
- Lyrics — Type in lyrics directly below notes on the QuickScribe page. Or paste them into the Lyric window from your word processor and flow them into a track with one click.
- Transposable chord symbols — Add complex chord symbols directly on the page and transpose them at any time, together with or independently from notes.
- QuickScribe notation enhancements — Numerous enhancements give you even more control over the look of your score and help speed your notation workflow.
- Support for Pro Tools 8 — Industry-leading support for operation as a complete software front-end for Pro Tools | HD systems.
- Info Bar mixer controls — Get instant access to mixer channel settings in any editor window that follow the track you’re working on.
- Next-generation sample rate conversion — A new ultra-fast, CPU-efficient sample rate conversion algorithm delivers increased precision, efficiency, and transparency, with an astonishing 138 dB signal-to-noise ratio.
- Real-time crossfades — All crossfades are now computed in real time for lightning fast edits.
- Wave64 support — Support for the industry standard Wave64 extension to the Broadcast WAVE file format lets you record and import audio files larger than 4GB.
- Range automation modes — Raise, lower or write automation moves within any selected range, preserving everything before and after.
- Audio Units instrument side chains — Route side chain inputs to all your favorite third-party Audio Units plug-ins.
New stuff from Zoo System, Kite and Rammstein
Zoo System
The brand new single from the really hyped electro ambient group Zoo System
Make sure to find out more about Zoo System at Stereoklang >>
Kite
It was supposed to come out last winter, but now it’s finally on its way – we’re talking about the second EP from synthpop duo Kite. The product (CD and 12″, mid October) is simply called “2” and holds five tracks, including the cover “I Give You the Morning”. Anders Alexander from Alice in Videoland has been handling the mixing and Andreas Tilliander the mastering.
Kite’s debut EP was released nearly one year ago and got a nine in Release.
Rammstein
The press release promises that the new Rammstein single “Pussy” is an “Autobahn of German cliches”. Rest assured, the song is “carried by a gigantic wave of testosterone”. The 2 track digipak includes the title track and the B-side “Rammlied”. The release date is September 18, and the Jonas Åkerlund directed video will premiere two days earlier. The new album is scheduled for October.
Free Industrial Distortion VST
NoiseSoft have released their first effect plug in – Hard Line industrial distortion. They say that it’s a custom noise based distortion effect that will take your sound from a clean ‘natural’ gain to an extreme level of distortion that simulates a white noise waveform at it’s highest setting.
The plug-in has a single knob design:
- GAIN: Lowest setting is pure bypass, highest setting is extreme distortion, almost to the point of white noise.
Pricing and Availability:
Free download
DATAMASKIN
