Another little video about some stuff I found out about Mixolydian mode. They say the best way to understand something is try and explain it. So here we go...
Blog entry
Submit a synth sound!
Send sounds to: info@synthsounds.net
(pref via Dropbox / WeTransfer / etc)
SynthSounds.net is a 100% crowd-sourced project so if you have a vintage synth which hasn't yet got a soundfile, we'd love you to send one in.
The dream is that on this page all synths will have a short demonstration of it's sound...compare a MiniMoog to an Arp Odyssey. Compare a TB-303 to a MC-202. Or even a Con Brio ADS 200 to a PPG Realizer...
Sound files should be relatively short - a couple of mins maximum with no other instruments - this should be a 'one instrument' demo - what it sounds like by itself, pure and simple. It could be a couple of juicy basslines, a searing lead or two, maybe some arpeggiation, plus an illustration of what the filter sounds like and what the LFO can do. But most importantly, try to show what makes that synth unique, what it's especially good at, or what makes it distinctive. Maybe even show what it's *bad* at! No external FX and no layering (except for naturally multi-timbral instruments, of course).
Files should be high quality mp3 / wav / aiff / etc, and all submissions will be credited on the credits page, along with a link to a URL of your choice (Bandcamp, official website, whatever!). In addition - sounds that make it onto the site will get a 20% discount on a Synth Evolution poster or mug.
Full copyright will be retained by the producer of the file and will be taken down within 7 days if requested. Note that this being the internet, there's nothing we (or anyone else) can do to prevent people downloading your sound file(s) and doing what they like with it. Sound files must be submitted on this understanding.
Submitted soundfiles will be used at SynthSounds.net's discretion. Submission does not guarantee usage, but we will do our best to make use of everything sent in!
All images are copyright (c) synthevolution.net 2017, 2018.
All sound files on synthsounds.net are the copyright of their owner.
FAQs
- Why on earth are you doing this?
I love synths and thought this would be fun! AKA seemed like a good idea at the time.
- But most synths can be made to sound like most others, so what's the point?
Well...I would argue that every synth has something unique about it (check out the hard sync on the Moog Prodigy sample on the site - beat that!) and that's what I'm hoping people will try to bring out in their samples of it. Plus, a FM synth is going to sound very differnt to a mono analogue, and let's see if we can really hear the qualities that make up the 'Moog' filter sound compared with a Roland one or an Arp one (Did Alan R Pearlman really copy the Moog filter ladder for the Arp 2600 and cover it with epoxy resin to hide the fact?*) *Yes.
- What if a synth already has a sample and I want to do one for it as well?
Feel free to send it in; if it's good enough or shows something interesting I'll append it to the existing one and credit both / all contributors. Can't promise, but will do my best.
- That's not nearly all synths, what a swizz!
Ok - so the first iteration now is analogue synths from 1960-90(ish). It's a lot of illustrations and sounds to handle, so am starting small, but I do have plans to:
- Increase the date range to include the 90's synths like Nord Lead, Access Virus, etc.
- Create a drum machine page
- Include more string synths and orchestral synths (but I never quite believe they're real synths...except for the Eminent 310 which is the sound of Jarre's Equinoxe 1, swoon)
- I can't quite bring myself to do electric organs, electric pianos - that would be too samey, right?
- I don't know if it's even possible to cover the modern renaissance of modular synths - there's so many being released all the time!!!
- Maybe I'll do all the Russian synths one day - there's loads of those. I do have the minimoog clone, the Altair Estridin 312
- Maybe I'll do all the old and very weird electronic sound generation instruments pre-analogue one day.
- Samplers seem a bit pointless to include, though it'd be nice to cover some of the classic libraries of Syclavier, etc. Copyright issues though?
- I may have missed out some of the more boring Korg workstations of the 90's, sorry!
Nice vid about Daphe Oram & Delia Derbyshire
Some nice archive footage seen here, as well as gloriously absurd musique concrete local radio jingles around the 4 minute mark. I should look these up!
Me demostrating the Prodigy used a Korg DS-8
Quick video on me comparing the synth stab on The Prodigy's 'No Good (Start the Dance)' and patch 68 on the Korg DS-8. I'm pretty sure that's the sound they used - perhaps a couple of minor parameter tweaks (there are two 'timbral' slders on the front panel that could well have been altered).
See what you think:
If it's not the DS-8 (and I think it is), then the quality of the sound suggests that it could be another FM synth, like DX7, etc.
Synth fact of the week: Koichi Kawai
Koichi Kawai was a neighbour of Torakusu Yamaha and was his apprentice in early 20th C. He founded the Kawai Musical Instrument Research Laboratory in 1927. I still have my Kawai K4 - still a good synth!
Koichi Kawai (1886-1955)
Photosound experiment
Daphe Oram was a 20th century composer who experimented with her own method of sound synthesis back in the 1950s using images to generate tones. Lots of interesting facts here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oramics
I did a similar sort of experiment with a Bridget Riley picture - the x-axis is time, the y-axis is frequency. I think the resulting sound compliments the painting quite well actually!
Let me know if you agree...
Roland's missing bassline synth...
Ever noticed the lack of a '404' Roland synth or drum machine? There's an SH-101, MC-202, TB-303, MC-505, TR-606, TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, but no TR- / MC-404. Something for the conspiracy theorists I think...
