Sound effect synth for iPhone
MendelSynth (App Store link) is a sound effect synthesizer that’s designed to be a “fun exploration and discovery tool.”
MendelSynth is based on a genetic algorithm — sounds are synthesized from simulated genomes. New sounds are made from old by mutating and cross breeding their genomes.
In the interface, genomes are represented by movable circular buttons that can be played by tapping on them. Double tapping on a button creates six new mutated child sounds arranged around the parent. Dragging one button on top of another creates five new children that inherit features from both parents.
Child sounds are often not very interesting (or worse!), but with patience you can achieve pleasing effects. One strategy is to select the children with the most desirable features, then create children from those and repeat the process until you find something you like.
Features:
- A library of 250 seed sounds.
- Save synthesized audio to a file and send by email.
- Mutation rate and parameter variability controls.
- Individual volume, pitch and tempo controls for each genome.
- A “gene pool” where favorite genomes can be saved and retrieved.
MendelSynth sells for $2.99.
Via ST
Into the Abertronic – Jupiter 4, Roland Space Echo and violin
The secrets of the PolyMoog
Still just a promo but pretty amazing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rtVFpA-AAk
Fantastic to see Chick Corea from his glory days when he made his Best album the Romantic Warrior with Return to Forever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlN04_Q14zo
The Mono Lancet is a compact synthesizer with big sound, easy user interface and charm
The voltage controlled lowpass filter has a slope of 24db per octave. On high resonance settings it starts to self-oscillate and produces a stable sine wave that can be played in a range of about 2 ½ octaves.
The Mono Lancet is a compact synthesizer with big sound, easy user interface and charm.
Oscillators
Two analogue oscillators take care of a solid sound foundation. Oscillator one creates triangle-, sawtooth- and square waves and can be set one octave lower than the second oscillator. The latter produces white noise instead of the triangle wave.
The pulse width can be modulated through the modulation wheel (MIDI) and/or an external control voltage (see Extension). The glide generator has a legato mode or can always be active.
Filter
The voltage controlled lowpass filter has a slope of 24db per octave. On high resonance settings it starts to self-oscillate and produces a stable sine wave that can be played in a range of about 2 ½ octaves.
On MIDI site the cutoff frequency can be controlled by velocity and/or aftertouch.
Amplifier
There’s a good sounding VCA inside the Mono Lancet that can be modulated by the ADSR- or a fixed organ-like envelope. On demand it additionally can respond to velocity.
Modulation
The classical ADSR envelope generator can modulate the VCO- and VCF frequency and the VCA.
The LFO generates rectangle- and triangle waveform as well as sample & hold and is modulation source for VCF and VCO.
Extension
There’s a 25pin sub-D connector on the rear of the Mono Lancet. It extents the possibilities of the synthesizer enormously through numerous in- and outputs for control voltages and audio signals. PWM and filter input are just two of them.
Silentway CV Generator’ iPhone app controling EMS Synthi
This short video demonstrates how the $4.99 Silent Way CV Generator iPhone app can be used to control a vintage synth, in this case an EMS Synthi.
Inside the GAIA SH-01
GAIA SH-01 : This 37-key compact synthesizer brings serious sound, instant control, and ultimate flexibility to the synthesis experience. Combining a classic panel layout reminiscent of vintage Roland synthesizers with the latest in Roland’s analog-modeling technology, GAIA is perfect for any students, songwriters, session players, and live performers of all styles and skill levels.
The GAIA SH-01 is lightweight, compact, and great for musicians on the go. The 37-note keyboard is full-size for natural playing, and can be powered via AC or batteries. The GAIA SH-01 is able to create rich, massive sound with three virtual-analog sound engines, each with a dedicated oscillator, filter, amplifier, envelope, and LFO. With 64 polyphonic voices onboard, GAIA makes it possible to play massive sounds without experiencing note drop-out.
The instantly selectable multi-effects of the GAIA SH-01 allow for the layering of up to five simultaneous effects. Onboard effects include reverb, distortion, fuzz, bit crash, flanger, phaser, pitch shifter, low boost, delay with panning, and tempo sync that can be controlled in real-time with the built-in D Beam.
The GAIA SH-01 front panel features dedicated knobs and faders for a variety of parameters, with no hidden menus. GAIA is perfect for learning the signal flow of synthesis, or for creating a dynamic live performance. Along with the included Arpeggiator is the Phrase Recorder, allowing synthesists to record, play back, and play over their recorded phrases of notes or knob tweaks.
The GAIA SH-01’s EXT input allows for connection and playback of external audio sources such as an MP3 player. Incoming audio can be manipulated with three Center Cancel modes, which let you eliminate pre-recorded vocals, guitar, or bass. GAIA also includes USB ports for streaming audio, transmitting and receiving MIDI data, and storing patches and phrases to a memory stick.
Price: Suggested retail price of USD 799.00.
Visit: roland.com
The bicycle synth in action
Announcement for the first release of velosynth, the open-source bicycle interaction synthesizer. released under a creative commons sharealike license.
Alternate tuning using a Q172 Quantizer
This video captures a microtonal synth jam, via davidryle:
Alternate tuning using a Q172 Quantizer Aid module from Synthesizers.com.
The melody line played is through Lil’ Miss Scale Oven (LMSO) from Red Barn Goat Farm into an Access Virus TI synthesizer.
The three variations on the tuning are loaded into the Quantizer Aid module using midi from an instance of LMSO.
What’s your favorite synth
MusicRadar are looking for your favourite commercial synth plug-ins in their latest Ask MusicRadar poll.
From Absynth to Zebra, there are hundreds of available virtual synths, and MusicRadar is on a mission to find out which are your favourites. Check out their poll here to get in on the action, discuss synths’ relative merits, and vote for your fave. This poll is just for commercial synthesisers mind – they’re going to do a separate one for freebies later so keep and eye out for that one too!
Or if you prefer, why don’t you just start the discussion here:
Which commercial software synth is your favorite?
Sunday synth eye candy
Access Music has announced their latest “special edition” keyboard, “The WhiteOut Keyboard” limited edition, which will only be produced as 150 units with laser engraved serial number. If your favorite Virus Ti is the Polar edition, but you always wanted a “bigger” model, now you can get one (if you hurry).
According to the company, “White metal, wood and aluminum are the main ingredients for the WhiteOut’s signature look. Perform with a Virus TI WhiteOut and you can be assured that your presence on stage will not fade into the background.”
The technical specifications are identical to the Virus Ti Keyboard 2009, the color scheme of the housing does differ as you can see (see photo).
This is the second part of the Virus TI WhiteOut limited edition. The first part was a white Virus TI Desktop which we’ve released around Christmas. All units sold in a day.
In the U.S., dealers like Sweetwater, and NovaMusik are taking pre-orders, with a street price of $2999. Although the non-white “normal” models can sell below MAP pricing, you likely won’t get as much of a discount on the Whiteout edition unless you have an existing sales relationship with your music dealer.
I had a Ti Polar (first version) and sold it to buy the rack mount/desktop model. I have missed the Polar ever since. This new 61-key model is even cooler (no pun intended), since there is plenty of room on top for a PC keyboard, Korg pad and external knob controller, etc. Gorgeous!
More information and a complete PDF brochure can be downloaded from this page (in English): www.access-music.de/page/render/lang/en/p/136/do/Virus_TI_WhiteOut_Keyboard_Limited_Edition.html .
DATAMASKIN
