This Flickr set from tpaddock reveals the excellent taste of the Muppet band: They use a Roland Space Echo and a Arp Odyssey. (Thanks Dr Ben)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 14 comments Post a Comment 
John Simonton, who created the Paia electronic kit company in 1967, has died after a battle with cancer. If you were a teenager in the mid 1970s and couldn't afford a Moog, a self-build Paia kit was a way to get your own synth (plus a working knowledge of soldering) for cheap. His well-designed kits earned him lots of friends and inspired many people to get into the synth business themselves. In the last few years, Paia underwent a resurgence, as the Internet pulled in new customers from all over the world, including several MT readers.
Harmony Central report on the Glasstone Tin Can, a valve preamp pedal. I don't know anything about it, but I've never seen so many knobs, switches and buttons on a footpedal before, although I suppose the Triwave Picogenerator has the edge, although it's not really a guitar pedal...
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 6 comments Post a Comment
Aaah, Finland, home of the Air Guitar. Other nations waste their time developing rockets and vaccines and new types of fruit smoothie. Not Finland. Their version of the Manhattan Project is the Air Guitar Project, which is funded by the European Union, three different universities, once Science Centre and one Computer Arts Centre. The result? A guy in orange gloves standing in front of a webcam. When his right hand moves up and down, it triggers a note. When his left hand moves in and out, it triggers a pitch. Keeping with the pleasingly retro 1991 tech theme, they have a virtual reality version, and are developing a VST version. (Thanks, Wiley and WMMNA)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 6 comments Post a Comment
It's been a while since we had any accordion action on Music Thing (remember this, this and of course this?) eBay item #7370093565 is a 3.5 octave 'Balkan style' MIDI accordion keyboard (perfect for powering this), mounted on a custom made guitar. Tragically, the owner, who spent $3,000AUD and 3 months building this thing, says 'I dont play anymore and with regret I have to let it go.' So, if you're putting together a Balkan-themed Sigue Sigue Sputnik tribute band, it's your lucky day!
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 1 comments Post a Comment
Rejoice, fans of classic '90s digital synths with joysticks. The Wave Station is back, and it's new homepage is right here. (Don't blame me, blame Jeff. It was his idea)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 10 comments Post a Comment
Luca from Naples has only been running synthosium.blogspot.com for a couple of weeks, but already has some great posts - he's found Snoop's Minimoog on eBay, and a crazy German calculator-style sequencer. (via the original great synth blog Matrix Synth)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 5 comments Post a Comment
I just bought a very cheap, old, dutch-made D&R stereo spring reverb from the 'bay. It's a bit noisy, but sounds cool. This evening I took the top off, started twanging the springs and made this small, clangy sample pack for the Freesound Project, who are now getting close to 10,000 sounds and 1 million downloads.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 13 comments Post a Comment
I'm endlessly grateful to Japanese illustrator Shigeru Nakamaura for creating the Hexagon Room, a tribute to the synth drums of the Eighties. Obviously Simmons get four rooms in the gallery, but I'm disappointed to see Dynacord (whose pads were crazy irregular quadrilaterals) only get one. Click here if you don't want to navigate Shigeru's rather elaborate front page.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 3 comments Post a Comment
What a life! "Link Wray, the electric guitar innovator who is often credited as the father of the power chord, died earlier this month at his home in Copenhagen, apparently of natural causes. He was seventy-six.
Brandon writes: " I don't know if you're interested in continuing the theme of synthesizer miniatures, [Wait, let me think...] you might be interested in this Yello Magic Orchestra model kit. It is apparently a tiny replica of their setup circa Solid State Survivor." Seems it was sold in an auction sometime in 2003... (via Sawadaspecial.com)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 4 comments Post a Comment
Had enough minature synths? No, I thought not. Here is a Japanese website showing tiny (the Hammond is 6 inches tall) handmade plastic models of the keyboard setup that Rick Wakeman used to record 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'. It took the guy who built it 90 days to craft the tiny Mellotron, Minimoog, Hammond, Steinway Grand, RMI Electric Piano, custom mixer, right down to Rick's watch and the tube amp in the back of the Hammond. (Thanks to the legendary Mike Walters)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 2 comments Post a Comment
And yes, it's a Moog Etherwave. The ever-wonderful Theremin World has the full scoop on these pictures, which were taken by artist and action figure enthusiast Andrea Walton. By the looks of things, she's created a tiny branch of Analogue Haven.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 1 comments Post a Comment
Where the Muppets go, Barbie follows, with Ken on hand to hold the spare patch cords. (Thanks, Anonymous)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 6 comments Post a Comment
Here's Mr Waldorf with a generous collection of Moog modular gear crafted in paper by Till Kopper. He's made a regular version [PDF] and a Klaus Shulze custom version [PDF] for your enjoyment. I wonder if he's seen the Japanese Papercraft version?
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 6 comments Post a Comment
Kaden writes: "Man, have you seem this freakin' site: www.fetishguitars.com? It's Bizarro-World guitar porn. I offer as an example the Bartolini Gemelli: 4 pickups. roller wheel volume & tone controls. Rocker switch pickup
selectors. I'll repeat that...Rocker switch pickup selectors.
Wow! This is the new Metasonix S-1000 tube mono synth. Available next year for around $2,500, it has two oscillators, is semi-modular and has many cool features. I particularly like the sound of...
Here are a small handful of synth-related videos. If you have more links, post them in the comments and I'll do a round-up in a few days.
The Drumometer is a little box which measures how many times you can hit a drum in 60 seconds. It's not pretty or especially clever, but it does come with a great story: Inventor Boo McAfee was at NAMM in 1975, and saw veteran jazz drummer Barrett Deems proclaimed to be the World's Fastest Drummer... "Suddenly, a voice in the crowd said "Oh Yeah! What machine did you use?" As Boo turned to his left, he quickly realized that the gentleman questioning Mr. Deems’ claims was none other than the legendary Buddy Rich. Buddy was standing larger than life in a turtle neck, wearing a large silver medallion and loosely gripping a lit cigarette as though he was
undoubtedly the coolest man alive. For the next twenty four years Boo could not get this picture and the question out of his mind." So, in 1999, he met an electrical engineer, they developed a prototype, and it went on sale. 
Drumometer II (which costs $159 with a practise pad) is now the official timekeeper at the World's Fastest Drummer tournament, a sponsor-heavy, wrestling-inspired annual contest (complete with Girls of the WFD on the website). It has preliminary heats all over the world (Hong Kong, South Africa and Dubai are currently competing), with the final at NAMM in January. The current world record holder is Mike Mangini, with 1,274 strokes in 60 seconds.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 25 comments Post a Comment
So, it's not exactly clear what a 'Cyborg Biolab Biofeedback Rack' (eBay item #7563183120) is, but it certainly looks the part. "This unit is a full-on audio biofeedback instrument. you could 'play' it with your biorhythms. You could use it as an 'audio lie detector'. You could let it hang out and be cool and beep and stuff" It also has 'Cyborg Corporation' written on it. No bids yet for the $20 starting price. (Thanks Russ)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 12 comments Post a Comment
Thanks to Jonathan for sending this awful but funny interview with synthporn legend Klaus Schulze (the founder member of Tangerine Dream who has a hell of a lot of big synthesizers and once recorded a musical biography of King Ludwig II of Bavaria). A Romanian interviewer asks him questions like: "Do you visualize a dichotomy?", and he delivers answers like "Who the fuck is Cziffra?". Which would make a good T-shirt.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 14 comments Post a Comment
The Bigfoot is not another overgrown MIDI keyboard. It's far cooler than that. It's a snap together foam keyboard with tuned reeds in each key. No electricity, just stamp on the key, and the note sounds. At $180 per octave, it's close to essential. (via Gizmodo)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 0 comments Post a Comment
Remember Leoncie the Indian Princess (who was actually from Iceland)? It seems that Leigh On Sea, a small town on the Essex Coast, about 40 miles East of London, has really taken her to it's heart. MT reader Benedict spotted her in the local paper, selling her 'Pop Dance CD' in local stores and looking for bookings. I'm looking forward to someone making a wonderful film of Leoncie's life, from the hot springs of Reykjavik to the Broadway Superbowl...
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 17 comments Post a Comment
MT reader and contributor Inverse Room has done a great sounding (well, the first five minutes are definitely good) podcast dedicated to the mighty Wurlitzer electric piano, for Creot Radio. It's free and interesting, and will cleanse your mind and soul if you accidentally downloaded Slapclap.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 0 comments Post a Comment
We've had joke VST plugins before (remember the dancing frog, the Virtual Studio Visitor, the Mastererizer, and the Anechoic Chamber Simulator) but the Slapmeister Slapclap [NSFW] is by far the most offensive. It has a really not safe for work interface which is quite cleverly done (click and drag anywhere likely), and could probably get you thrown off any right-thinking US campus.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 8 comments Post a Comment
eBay item #7365351473 is a Dubreq Pianomate. It's an old analog polyphonic synth (using the 'divide down' method found in cheap organs, not the 'loads of oscillators' method used in CS80s and Jupiter 8s). It has no keyboard, but comes with two sensor strips, which attach to a piano keyboard like a Moog Pianobar. It's made by Dubreq, which - in a parallel world of Seventies euro-kitsch - was a more influential company than Moog. They were responsible not just for the Stylophone, which must be one of the biggest selling electronic instruments of all time (3 million sold), but also for the original 70s run of Top Trumps. This one comes with a beautifully written description and a 'buy it now' price of £100.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 0 comments Post a Comment
A year after he announced the Axe Synth, a guitar-shaped optical theremin, Tony Amendolare returns with the Sonar Axe - a $425 plastic and aluminium MIDI sonar theremin thing. You trigger percussion by tapping on the red eye (or maybe the green switch), and pick notes by moving your hands up and down the neck. I think Cary would love this. Disappointingly, the old school pocket calculator doesn't seem to be part of the deal.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 15 comments Post a Comment
It's hard not to lust after the fantastically cool and clever Jazzmutant Lemur synth controller. But if you don't have €2190 and an enthusiasm for Max/MSP, Danish developers Livelab's Tablet 2 Midi software could be the next best thing. It's currently beta, but shouldn't cost more than €50. You can pick up a basic tablet PC for £200-£250 on eBay (the Fujitsu Stylistic range is the absolute bottom of the range), and a cheap usb/midi cable. Of course, it will only be mono-touch (the Lemur can take simultaneous movements from ten (or more) fingers. And the Lemur software is the best looking music software I've ever seen. This isn't. And you'll look pretty dorky with a cruddo HP tablet PC. But it's cheap, and until Behringer announce the £150 LM-2000 Multitouch Instrument at NAMM 2006, it's all we've got. (via Matrix Synth)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 8 comments Post a Comment
It's Vemia auction time again. It's a kind of cool private eBay for music geeks. Brian Eno is selling off his beloved (and battered) DX-7, which was presumably used to compose the Microsoft Sound, among one or two other pieces of music. He's also selling a Prophet VS, Jellinghaus DX-7 Programmer and a couple of Mackie Mixers. The DX7 is already at almost £2,000. Other delights include Tim Simenon (Bomb The Bass) selling his 303 and a load of other gear. The auction ends on the 12th November. The Vemia Website is still an absolute nightmare to use and navigate (try to ignore the javascript faults and popups), but it's well worth the effort. There was even a EMS Synthi with a starting bid of £20, but it's already up to £1660...
So, this could easily be a hoax, but I'm not making it up. From I Like Jam's fantastic and widely-blogged guide to crazy things done by audiophiles (like $6,820 volume controls), comes Altmann Tube-o-Lator, a tiny test-tube of black gunk which you're supposed to paint onto op-amp chips. The result: "Transforms transistor sound into tube sound. Transforms cold and harsh sound into warm emotional sound." It was made by a German company called Altmann: "Altmann Micro Machines is a German company focusing on the deliberate application of technology with the intent to improve customer's wellbeing through procreation of uplifting and joyful experience." At least they're honest: "We are not able to provide an accurate description why the "Tube-o-lator" stuff actually works. Maybe some of you guys out there will solve this mystery and tell us." At just €59 a tube, it's a shame this stuff is out of production. Presumably it would make digital synths sound like real analogue!
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 27 comments Post a Comment
Kaden pointed me towards this strange auction. eBay item #7361780807. It's a 'Yahada' drum kit from a Chinese seller who seems to have put the whole auction through babelfish: "Every bidders buy arts from my store will get... 5,000 years history which includes the fertility, economy, culture and history background". It was bought for £4.99 by a US buyer with zero feedback, although the item description says: "Shipping cost: GBP1500.00" It's either some intricate scam or, as Kaden says, it's "cunningly marketed to the fast growing surrealst demographic."
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 8 comments Post a Comment
Today, the combined brains of Engadget readers are recommending the best portable recording gear (link). So far, the usual suspects are coming up - M-Audio Microtrack, simple minidisk recorders (which is what most radio pros use), iRiver mp3 players, and tiny Olympus recorders. One person suggested the Fostex MR8, which has good specs - uncompressed wav recording, 16/44 recording, powered by AA batteries, XLR ins and mic preamps - all for $250. Problems: No phantom power (You'll need a ART Phantom II and more cables), and it's possibly the ugliest, reddest, cheapest-looking piece of music gear I've ever seen.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 20 comments Post a Comment
Amazing what you find on Amazon. This is the Sputnik One synth, about which I can find very little. The Amazon page (which says it's not available, BTW) says it's two oscillators in a nice oak box. "This device is perfect for the video game sound or achieving the electronic sound of the 40's and 50's." It seems to have been produced by a Chicago circuit bender/composer called either Edward B Newman or electricfriends or possibly Bradley Parker Sparrow. About a year ago, he spammed a load of forums to announce the synth, but now his website: www.ebnmusic.com is dead. Get in touch if you are him, or you know anything about the Sputnik...
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 13 comments Post a Comment
You asked, and Jim delivered: Here is every synth and keyboard on Amazon. My first thought: I didn't realise they sold DSI Evolvers on Amazon. My second thought: What's that strange calculator thing on the far left? It's a Snarling Dogs Chord Computer, just $19.99...
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 4 comments Post a Comment
Just for today, this is the greatest thing ever: A single page with every guitar for sale on Amazon, cheapest on the left, most expensive on the right. Creator Jim Bumgardner (Man, that's an unfortunate name) explains how it works. (Thanks, Mikey)
Posted by Tom Whitwell. Story permalink. 10 comments Post a Comment
