Can AI replace me?

I wondered if my Synth Evolution project would be under threat if OpenAI & the Dall-E service could generate the beautiful hand-illustrated synth images I make. (Laboriously, and by human hand!).

Luckily it turns out - no, no it can’t.

I used the phrase ‘an outline illustration of a Moog Minimoog synthesizer in black and white’ and this is what we got:

I mean, they’re quite pretty, but if you actually wanted an illustration of a Minimoog, it’s completely useless!

So, think I’m safe for a while!

New T-shirts Available! Champion Oscillators!

'The results are in! The synth community have spoken and pronounced the ARP 2600 as their favourite oscillator! Second and third place were extremely close - The Roland SH-101 and Moog Minimoog only differing by two votes, but the SH-101 just nudges it. 

Order your favourite(s) now from WeAre1of100 T-Shirts:

Buy Now!

Thanks to everyone who took part, debated the options and their merits - it was a lot of fun to watch the vote unfold. And because it was so close... we're offering the top three to pre-order!

Completing the vote ranking, the Roland Jupiter 8 was in fourth place, and Yamaha DX7 closed it out in fifth. A commentary on the enduring popularity of vintage analogue compared with still-hard-to-program digital FM synthesis, perhaps? 

So, the screen-printing presses will roar into action after pre-orders close in around 7 days for these triumphant designs.

Stay tuned! (oscillator puns for the win!)

Champion Oscillator T-shirt Comp - you decide!

One lucky entrant will win one of the latest range of t-shirts to be created in Synth Evolution’s latest collaboration with 1of100 T-shirts! But first we have to decide which designs we’re going to make!

Introducing the Champion of Oscillators t-shirt competition!

Go here >> https://twitter.com/weare1of100/status/1569398470389243905 <<

After last year's World Cup of Synth which named the Roland TB-303 the greatest synth of all time comes weare1of100 T-shirts latest collaboration with Synth Evolution: Champion Oscillators Competition.

This time we take a deep dive into the beating heart of any synthesizer - the oscillator.

What is a synth but a sound-generating tool, and what exists in each and every single synth that makes that sound? The oscillator! Over the years there have been analogue oscillators, digital oscillators, FM oscillators and more. Not only are they the sound source, but to enable their control they have been represented in many ways on the front panel, and each of those case designs are miniature works of art in our opinion!

Synth Evolution and 1of100 T-shirts have selected five of the finest synths and created t-shirt designs from the control panels. It's fascinating to see how the design and evolution of synth is reflected by the type of waveforms available and the era of graphic design from which it dates.

There is definite truth to the idea that beauty of form comes from clarity of purpose!

The synths chosen are:

ARP 2600: the earliest synth on the list (1971). The Model 2600 was ARP's breakthrough synth following the limited production run Model 2500. Being a semi-modular synthesizer, each of the three oscillators can be patched to output one of two waveforms - sawtooth and pulse. These can be modulated by four sources, as shown by the four arrows (for Pitch, S/H, Envelope, Oscillator 2). The design is a classic of 1960s’ functional screen-print design, and is replicated three times on the synth itself for each of the three oscillators.

Moog Minimoog: The next classic on the list is the first and greatest monosynth of the 1970s, the Minimoog. Unlike the ARP, it's a fully wired beast (no patch cables here!), so the oscillator selector is a simple rotary dial to enable the choice of waveform. There are six to choose from - which is several more than the usual two or three - and are: Triangle, Tri/saw, Sawtooth, Square, Pulse 1, Pulse 2. Worth noting is that at the heart of each of the Minimoog's three oscillators is a basic sawtooth generator with waveshaping circuits for the different waveforms. it’s also noted for overdriving the filter input giving it its legendary sound. Again the design itself is a simple functional affair, enabling the user to easily select the desired sound.

Roland SH-101: A 1980s take on the monosynth. By now components had miniaturised and were more power efficient -to the extent that the SH-101 could be run from batteries. The SH-101's oscillator design feature Roland's standard graduated faders and this portion of the oscillator features the octave selector (still measured in 'organ pipe’ foot-lengths), the pulse-width selector and pulse-width modulation sources.

Roland Jupiter 8: the first polysynth on the list, the Jupiter 8's oscillators strip things back to the classic selection of triangle, sawtooth, variable pulse and square wave. Cross-modulation from VCO2 can be added, again through use of one of Roland's distinctive faders with the detailed graduations. Each of the eight voices of the Jupiter 8 had the benefit of two oscillators making for a ground-breakingly rich sound that's still sought after today.

Yamaha DX7: Unlike the previous four synths, the DX7 featured the breakthrough digital technology of frequency modulation. The DX7's oscillators don't generate 'analogues' of waveforms, they calculate interactions between multiple of them and are known as 'operators'. As such, each DX7 voice can be made of up to six of these 'operators' and each can modulate the other in various configurations of 'carriers' and 'modulators'. This design shows just one of the 32 configurations (algorithms) that these six operators can be arranged in.

We think any of these designs would make for a great t-shirt, but we can't make all five of them (sadly!). Therefore we invite you to vote for your favourite(s) on Twitter. The top two will then be made into T-shirts for purchase. We can't wait to see which will top the the Oscillators challenge!

SynthTrax - all the tracks featuring the synths

So, I’ve kicked off a new project; one which can never be completed and is crazy to even contemplate - a database logging all verfied examples of specific synths in famous tracks (or not so famous). Here it is:

synthtrax.net

There will be a page for each synth, with a brief description of that synth, and then a list of notable artists who’ve used it on particuarly notable songs - eg, everyone knows that Herbie Hancock used the ARP Odyssey on his classic track ‘Chameleon’ - so that’s at the top of the page under ‘Archetypal use’ of the synth.

Then there’s embedded YouTube vids linking to the exact place where the synth can be heard. Eg - here’s Chick Corea solo’ing on his Odyssey:

Chick Corea trading licks with Bill Connolly

Below that is a short table of songs with YouTube links.

But the true madness of this idea lies in the database itself - an ever expanding log of ‘everything’. And here that is:

SynthTrax Database

The key point about all this is that it is not yet another cheap listacle of ‘famous songs that use X’. In my experience - and this is true even of Wikipedia - most of these citations are completely unverified; there’s no link to the source or verifiable reference. So we’re just left with a load of recycled ‘internet common knowledge’, which is unreliable, could be wrong, and doesn’t add much to our pool of knowledge.

The SynthTrax database will be different. Every entry must be accompanied by a verifiable reference so that we can be as sure as possible that the synth was used on that track. The references I’m currently considering acceptable are:

• Sleeve notes

• Quotes from interviews in reputable journals

• Videos or photographs

• Advertisements (up to a point – paid promotion doesn’t guarantee usage on a song/album)

Of course, even these can be wrong on occasion, but it’s better than blindly repeating a random claim off some music forum!

Why do this at all, eh? Well, good point. I guess it’s because I love synths and the sounds they make; but even the best synthesizer is only really meaningful in terms of the music that musicians make with them. And I personally find it fascinating to see how the various synths influenced the music scene of the time, and this project will reflect and highlight that. (And even a short time into this process, I’ve already discovered some great music that I’d previously overlooked. ‘George Duke, where have you been all my life??!’ (Notable Minimoog virtuoso!)

For example - I’ve started with the Moog Minimoog and ARP Odyssey, the best selling monosynths of the 1970s. So, unsurprisingly the best example songs feature funky (funky) basslines and searing lead solos usually in a rock or funk band context. But when I come to do the Yamaha DX7, things will have morphed into mainstream pop and soul and heavy use of that electric piano sound!

So I hope to share that process of discovery of great music, and a deeper understanding of how synths shaped and influenced music history.

One last note - this is a bonkers project, and one that should probably be made an open-source project, just as ‘Who Sampled Who’ is; ideally I need someone who knows how to manage databases properly too! The Notion one I ‘m using is fine, but it would be better to have the grid behind the scene and have nicer web front end to it. Enquire within if you’re interested!

Now go and check it out!

www.synthtrax.net