VEMIA (Vintage Electric Musical Instrument Auctions) is a British private internet auction for music gear. It's been going since 1995, and Brian Eno once used it to sell his EMS Synthi for £16,000. Auctions are held twice a year, and the next one runs from 9th - 16th April. Early items include a TR808 starting at £454 and a Moog Opus 3 starting at £380. It all comes recommended in this Sound On Sound post, as cheaper, safer and more reliable than eBay. Details.
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Thanks to everyone who's written in about Moog's great early April Fools entry, the Moogerfooger 4'33". Press the pedal, and just over four-and-a-half minutes of pure, high-fidelity all-analog silence is yours. Thanks especially to Steve from Moog Music, who writes: "yes, we have had calls asking when it will be available, and if they can place an order". In 1965, Robert Moog performed on stage with John Cage (who composed the original 4'33") at the Philharmonic Hall in New York. He's credited as playing "electronic devices". There's an great video of an earlier performace (without Robert) here. It features eight whirring reel-to-reels and various dance-in theremins.
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Another rackmount synth covered in knobs, but the Cwejman S2 is an expensive, all-analog monophonic synth designed in Sweden by Polish engineers. No price yet, but don't expect to be able to afford it. It seems to be a cut-down, less modular version of their S1, which costs £2050. Product page.
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Gear Junkies have a story that Alesis will be announcing the Ion-R rackmount Ion at MusicMesse, the big German trade show in April. It's a nice-looking, knob-covered synth, but it adds very little to the already ageing Ion. There are extra outputs and more presets, but still no proper onboard effects, and it doesn't seem to have the extra sequencer that's in the Micron. No price yet, but I think they're unlikely to charge much more than $500. UPDATE: Looks like this is, er, a hoax. Cleverer people than me have spotted that the box is totally the wrong shape for a rackmount...
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We mentioned the Macbeth M5 here back in December when it was a terrifying-looking prototype. Now it's in a huge, great-looking steel box and will be shipping soon. For £2000, it's a fully analog modernisation of an ARP 2600 (and £2,000 is exactly what this guy wanted for the real thing). There are lots of sound samples on the product page.
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I'm always slightly paranoid about being hoaxed on Music Thing. I was very, very dubious about the reality of Godfried Willem Raes, and I'm still not convinced that Belinda Bedekovic is kosher. So I'm pretty sure that Eric Singer's website is a trail for some wacky BBC2 comedy series (perhaps a spin off from Look Around You) The pitch is that Eric is "a Brooklyn-based musician, artist, engineer and programmer with 20 years of arts and multimedia programming" who has created a Max/MSP controller called the Sonic Banana, which he plays in these video clips, while staring deep into your soul. I think the site designers jump the shark when they claim that Eric reached the semi-finals of Junkyard Wars as part of a team called "The Brooklyn Benders". That's just silly. (Thanks Ray!)
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If you're in Vancouver on May 26th-28th, be sure to book in to NIME, an international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Don Buchla is giving the keynote speech and past conferences have been stuffed with bizarro musical ideas like the Thermoscore [pdf], a form of temperature-related musical notation, and the Squiggle [pdf], a bendy-shape related instrument being played by it's creator, Brian Sheehan, in the picture. Full conference details. If you're going, and want to report for MT, please get in touch.
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Despite suffering from the ugliest interface I've ever seen (Orange, yellow and lime green? Together?) Neuromixer VDrum is a very cool thing. Load up a folder full of video and/or sound samples, then trigger them from the xoxox-style step sequencer. It comes with a perfect starter pack of old Kung Fu movie clips (here) which rapidly thread together into Wu-Tang/Depth Charge beats. I would post one of my two-bar creations, but I couldn't work out the recording function. At the moment the sequencer only has quarter note resolution, which makes those beats pretty clunky, but it's really designed for DJs playing video clips. It's a v0.1 Beta but seems reasonably stable. Currently XP only, with an OSX version imminent. (Thanks Mikey!)
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Dave is back with another great Packrat cartoon. This time it's a heart-rending tale of love, friendship, divorce, enormous wealth and a rat's quest for personal fulfillment. And a Yamaha GX-1. Click for more Packrat comics. Cheers, Dave.
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Denhaku.com is a huge collection of vintage (1976-1999) synth ads from Japan.
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The KaosBox III is a Belgian-made 'Visual Synthesizer' with three monitors, MIDI and QWERTY keyboards, numerous buttons and joysticks and a starting price of €50,000. If you're one of those millionaire VJs, this is for you - kind of the Fairlight to the Korg Kaptivator's MPC3000. Raymond, who let me know about it, hates the blue plastic finish ("It looks like it was made by Fisher Price for 10 year-olds") and prefers this, the Terminator-chic prototype.
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Nuuj writes with exciting news of what happens when MT stories collide: Here is a gallery of photos from a gig in Rochester, apparently showing a Cracklebox being played by some worms. No sound samples, unfortunately.
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With prices inflated by salivating viewers of this Nine Inch Nails video, this beautiful white ARP oddyssey won't be any kind of bargain. They normally go for $5-700, which isn't bad considering they cost $1,700 in 1981. Less glamorous (but similar-sounding) is this deformed, keyboard-less black model. Hollow Sun have free samples here, assuming they get their ISP sorted out. (Thanks, MzDe)
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Belinda Bedekovic is a Croatian-born keyboard player who makes sweet, sweet love to a Yamaha KX5 in this video. She also hangs out with Steve Vai and may once have been an accordionist. "These days she has been working on her project ''TORNADO ON THE REMOTE KEYBOARD''. On her public appearances with her virtuosity and performance she ''demolishes everything in front of her'', and they are regularly accompanied by enthusiastic applause, sometimes even leading to euphoria.[More]. (Thanks, Wiley)
Thanks to Chloé in the Noise Gear comments for letting me know about the Cracklebox - a pocket-sized analog synth which is controlled by the conductivity of your fingers. It was designed in Amsterdam in the late '60s. About 4,000 of them were sold in the mid '70s, and this batch were re-issued in 2004. Obviously it sounds [800k mp3] pretty much bonkers, but it looks very cool and you can buy one for €50, or build one yourself. Just don't get too into it, or you might end up like composer Mark Applebaum, who earlier this month performed "5:3", a piece for 8 cracklebox players and 2 amplified dice rollers at Stanford University (details).
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At the moment, I seem to be spending pretty much all of my time staring at eBay trying to find the ultimate knob-covered vintage delay to buy (I narrowly missed out on this one, this one and most sadly of all this one.) Obviously I'm wasting my time with gear-lust, because Audio Damage (who did the Discord harmonizer, and the Ratshack reverb) have just released Ronin, an analog-sounding delay plugin which sounds great (on first listen), is very twiddle-friendly and has about a million more patching & modulating possibilities that even this comically expensive beauty. Turn the knobs and you get old-school gut-wrenching pitch bending, not digital clicking. Available now, $69.
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I frequently complain about horrible cheap silver plastic, particularly when used to build cheapo M-Audio controller keyboards. Unlike me, Sabastian from Censtron has done something about it, ripping out the guts of a vile M-Audio Oxygen 8 and wrapping them in plexiglass: "Do you really think a guy that circuit bends televisions is going to show up to a gig with a silver plastic Oxygen8? PS: Notice the guitar strap pegs? Yes I'll go keytar style..." Good work, Sabastian, you've created the poor man's Gleeman Pentaphonic. (Click for a bigger picture.)
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Music Thing reader Tim writes with a unexpected but very welcome round up of Noise Gear: 
4) Noise FX: Amazingly, a noise-specific online store, with bonus How To articles (though not many yet).
A very rare Latronic Notron has come up on US eBay. The Notron was a fantastically cult British-designed MIDI step sequencer used by Bjork, Howie B etc. It's a Mark 2 model, not the really cool digital toilet seat original. It was developed by Gerald Campbell, who last year announced the MXF8 MIDI DJ controller. Unfortunately, it seems like he's left some disappointed customers, and his site has disappeared. Anyway, I'd really love a Notron, but I'm not sure I'm up for the $850 starting bid. Can't someone build a software-based Notron Emulator? More on the Notron here, here, here and here.
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Why doesn't music gear look like this anymore? This is a Movement Drum Computer, a very rare British-made machine from the very early 1980s. It used analog and digital modules, so could sound like a Linn or a Simmons. It's most prominent owner was Dave Stewart, who used it on 'Sweet Dreams'. Mick Karn from Japan had one, as did Vince Clarke. It's possible that the Chemical Brothers may have one now (link).
More info: here and here.
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I think Dave speaks for us all when he writes: "Yahh!! (hork, gasp, choke) WHAT!! IS!! THIS!! THING??" And the answer is... I'm not sure. It's an attachment for an electronic accordion. "It has the same switches that are on the accordion. Light in weight and a show stopper. Only 12 of these were ever made." Imagine the kind of band you could form if you found the other 11.
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If you've ever worried about getting ripped off on eBay, you might enjoy this amazing post on the ProSoundWeb forums. In it, engineer Bill Mueller tells how he once tried to buy a Yamaha DM2000 mixer on eBay for $14,500, and ended up driving from Maryland to Indiana to confront the fraudster. Sample quote: "I took no weapons. I don't like jail." [link]
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For those OSX users among you - a free Harmonica Simulator. It loops a loose funk jam while you tap keys on your keyboard to apply virtual suction & pressure to the imaginary 'harp'. Lovely.
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No-one ever seems to really commit to alternative controllers. How many Soundbeam virtuosi can you think of? Can you even name more than one Stick player?
There's very little to add to this picture of a Vox custom car built by the legendary George Barris, who designed the original Batmobile... "Besides being a beautiful $30,000 show-stopping roadster, the Voxmobile is a completely functional unit in every respect. Its primary purpose is to project this new concept exposing the VOX guitar. This giant amplifier, the Voxmobile, can facilitate no less than 32 compatible VOX guitars with input jacks located along the top of the side body panel and has a VOX dual manual Continental organ mounted in the rear deck area."More. (Thanks to Tommy Walker III, who's New Mixtape uses samples from this MT post!)
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If you enjoyed Part 1, Peter is back to ask: 'Can plants make music?' "Well, yes. Most obviously if you turn them into instruments. On the right is a gurkophon from The First Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Their concerts climax with all the instruments being turned into soup and given to the audience.
This saturday (26th March) they're closing the Salzburg Easter Festival, tickets are 20 Euros.
In what is fast becoming MT's most popular regular, I'm delighted that Dave has done another Packrat comic: He says: "It's semi-autobiographical, in that 1) I'm selling my Triton, and 2) it's to help pay for various more archaic, primitive synths in my attic that are almost as old as I am." Click on the picture for a bigger image that you can read properly, and more comics.
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My friend Neil (who once had a religious experience with a Fairlight CMI), is working in San Francisco for a few weeks, and he's missing his Roland Discover 5 keyboard. If you live in the Bay Area and can lend Neil any kind of keyboard (from a Casio VL-Tone to a Yamaha GX-1), please get in touch!
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Rhetorical rVoice is a professional speech synthesis system - they build voices for artificial call centres and the like. Their demo page is perfect for generating, say, an earnest Spanish gentleman rapping 'Bring The Noise' [100k mp3], or a stoned valley girl doing 'Night of the Living Bassheads' [160k mp3]. If you're hunting for Radiohead/ Kraftwerk/ Hawking robot voices, then you'll have to look elsewhere.
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So, I was just watching Top of The Pops, and 50 Cent comes on and sings his godawful single. I was about to change channel when I noticed his DJ had a little box I didn't recognise. It's Akai beige and covered in buttons with a cool flourescent display. What's that, then?
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Create Digital Music have the scoop on the new 'Sonia' USB MIDI interface. $140, 12 knobs, five buttons and NO NASTY SILVER PLASTIC! It's definitely worth a look. It's been produced by Reflex Products, who also make Romio - a $40 USB-MIDI cable with the electronics encased in a kind of perspex ice cube...
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I can't say much for the track, but this [35mb QT] new Nine Inch Nails video is the
very highest quality synth porn, with keyboard player Alessandro Cortini playing a white-faced ARP Oddysey and what looks like a Buchla 200e. Geek quiz: Can anyone identify this bit of software, which flashes on screen briefly? (Thanks to Peter on the Analogue Heaven board)
If you were inspired by that TV-turned-oscilloscope from a few weeks back, Censtron have posted this easy-looking step-by-step guide to circuit-bending an old television. Just be really, really careful. Remeber the safety message on the original post: "Do not go poking where danger might lurk." I'm pretty sure that's exactly what the guy in the picture is doing.
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Jörgen Bergfors from Stockholm has built an amazing modular synth called Bergfotron, and posted pictures and schematics here. The whole thing is completely home-made, with modules made out of solid brass and a very cool front panel, which makes no effort at all to look like a vintage Moog. Good work, Jörgen! (Thanks, Randel)
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Just look at this photo: A shiny Synclavier sitting on a nicely manicured LA lawn next to some flowers. Is there anything more glamorous? It's unusual to see a Synclavier actually being bid for on eBay, and this auction comes with an interesting 750 word rant about eBay fraud (the same Synclavier 'sold' last week for $5,800 to a fraudster in Singapore). [auction page]. UPDATE: You may also enjoy this nice story about a guy who found a Synclavier for sale in a music shop...
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Thanks to Ray for pointing me towards this great page about Congolese group Konono N°1. They've been going 25 years and play electric thumb-pianos (properly called likembé).
They also build their own hand-carved wooden microphones with magnets from old car parts, and that thing on the left is apparently a mixer. It's definitely worth listening to this sound clip [small mp3] - the electrified likembé sound almost like 303s. Konono N°1 have an album, 'Congotronics', out now.
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You're looking at "SEXY BLONDE plays a Fender Stratocaster Guitar!" and "Gibson Flying V, classy woman plays in unique ART PRINT". I thought this post from a month ago was good. Then I found this.
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"This, I would think, is a one off" writes 'bllywzz', Hertfordshire-based seller of this extraordinary electric mandolin. "The base is made from what I can only describe as a 60s coffee table. It does work well. I have put a set of new strings on it. To the Leads, the black is output for sound. The clear is to power up the lights (yes it has red, blue, amber lights) as for the white lead I don't know what it does but it will do something as it is connected. The brass plate says Mandelina Electica, C H T Beswick. If anyone has any idea on this or maybe knew of a person that pranced around the stage with a mandolin with lights on it please let me know." Only an hour to go as I write this, so get bidding fast. It's currently £62...
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I've been intrigued by oil-can delays since this post, but I had no idea that Morley built an oil-can delay pedal. Here is one in reasonable nick, with a fantastic engraved case, currently at $149 with a day and a half to go. It looks like this is a prettier version than this old thing.
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Here are the first details about M-Audio's new drum pad controller. Bad things: It's about 10% as sexy as a second hand Akai MPC, it's covered in the ghastly silver plastic of death, and it's called 'Trigger Finger'. Good things: It might be fun to play with, and it's only $199. Available soon.
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I wonder why violinists have such an inferiority complex. They lead the orchestra on a beautiful instrument refined by 1,000 years of craftsmanship. But, deep down, they know it's a bit dorky. So, to make themselves appear
Peter has been busy once again. After this story about animals and music, he's moved on to music and plants: 
The perfect accessory for any Nathan-friendly studio: This pair of Maharisi Ltd Edition camouflage-painted B+W 601 Loudspeakers, for £275. Just bear in mind that normal B+W 601 speakers go for £100-£120 on eBay, and grey paint is very, very cheap. (Thanks Jason)
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