Who’s the Big Dog now? from Calvin on Vimeo.

Here’s a nice video that drove me to discover Calvin Cardioid from Toronto, Canada. Besides this nice video he’s got a nice blog called cl516. It’s full of original content with a synth slant. Here’s a nice set of sounds of a Frostwave Resonator, modulated by Freqbox and Sherman Calvin posted over at SoundCloud:

For more info: http://cl516.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

This must have actually taken quite a lot of work to put together. I have to say this is far funnier than any Weird Al Yankovic.

Ever wish songs just sang what was happening in the music video? Well now they do, in my sixth take on Dusto McNeato’s “literal video” concept! Lyrics: DASjr / Singing: PersephoneMaewyn & DASj – dascottjr

Related post: From happy to dark the music tells the story.

via Vain & Vapid

yr3wk48 moog & tonematrix from longcat on Vimeo.

A few posts back I compared Retro vs Future audio producing technique videos. Today’s video shows old and new working together. The Moog Opus 3 was released in 1980. Vintage Synth Explorer has the Opus Manual available for download: click here ToneMatrix, Andre Michelle’s Tenori-on software clone is pure 2009: http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix

“With the ever wonderful moog opus 3, and the insanely addictive tone matrix from andre michelle… it’s freely usable so long as you have the most recent flash update, it reminds me of early software drum machines like hammerhead… it seems he is creating a whole reason-ish music creation world online all run with flash, it’s quite heavy on the CPU but very interesting x lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix the moog is still missing it’s string sound, but one of it’s faults allows me to just have the filter with no sound underneath which you hear at the beginning… i love this synth x” – longcat

Thanks for Robbie Knight for this video. Isn’t time shifting on a rainy (in NYC at least) Friday nice?

Related post: Thoughts and photos from the Tenori-on Berlin event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr-e3qGQ884

I posted a link to this video last week on my Twitter and Facebook pages. It’s a joke video but it really has been stuck in my head because it showcases how music alone changes the entire context of the video. For those who don’t know Different Strokes was a happy 70’s television show. It was about an old white guy “Mr. Drummond” and how he adopted two kids and all there silly antics in New York City. The original music for the sitcom was typical happy jumpy. Simply by switching the music out the show’s intro tells an entirely different let’s say disturbing story. This shows the power of music.

More info: Different Strokes at Wikipedia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoOSAlscNeE

Above is a nice video find of Manfred Fricke’s newest toys made in Berlin. If you like knobs and sounds nothings better than a semi-modular analog drum machine and synthesizer!

“Five-Voice Modular Analogue Drum Synthesizer with Six-Channel CV/Gate Step-Sequencer with Shuffle Quantization Algorhithmen” – nirvanabeach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u48Qq0TsZaI

How about some Kraftzwerg, MFB-STEP64 and another Berlin creation the Flame Midi-Talking Synth? Yeah I thought so…

More info: mfberlin.de and shelaq.de

See more of the Steinberg Messe09 episodes: click here

Our friend Jürgen shows Sonic State the new Mbase 11: click here

Nick from Sonic State visits Sherman: click here

A look at the Focal booth (these are great speakers): click here

A bit of German chat at with Dieter Doepfer: click here

If you can speak German check out Musotalk’s look at the new Waldorf Largo software synth: click here. These are just a few of the videos I found that peaked my gearlust antennae. There’s no need for me to repost too many here as you can troll tons of show videos with a few simple searches in the usual places. Hit me with any links to videos if you find something you thought was extra interesting!

MicroMoog and Freqbox from Rhythmicons on Vimeo.

“Good evening ladies and gentleman my name is Eric from the Rhythmicons demonstrain’ some Moog products.” Specifically Eric uses the FreqBox as a second Oscillator for a old Micromoog. Things get fun at about 3:33 in. The USA flag surely fits in this Arkansas Moog kitchen!

Here’s how Eric did it:
MicroMoog Kbd out to Cp251 Attenuator
Attenuator out to Freqbox Frequency input
Freq Out to Audio Input of Freqbox.
Audio output to MicroMoog Audio Input.

Definitely check out some of Gabe Carlisle and Eric Kriner’s music: www.myspace.com/rhythmicons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeHkyjoKj9U

If the German 80’s band Einstürzende Neubauten made a modern day electronic instrument “Doubles” would probably be it. The band whos name roughly translates to “New Buildings Falling Down” used chain saws, videos of car accidents and other power tools in their live act and recordings. The video above is from another part of the world (Taiwan) and another time (today) but the sounds it creates made me think of the Berliners.

“Doubles is a unique new instrument that really brings out the “performance” in performance art. It reacts to acceleration and centrifugal force to create sound… Beads on the surface are spun using what look like air hockey paddles. The relative speed of the beads influences the sound that is produced.” – Scott Merrill, crunchgear.com

For more info visit the Doubles website: click here

via crunchgear

Six synthPond compositions from wiretotheear on Vimeo.

My favorite music application for the iPhone is called synthPond. Above is a video of six compositions I created using synthPond. Using “effector nodes” and “reactor nodes” that can orbit around each other while changing pitch you can create some wonderful sequences.  A big thanks to Zach Gage for creating such a  terrific app! I can’t wait for future versions of synthPond.

Get synthPond: iTunes

Related post: SynthPond Spatial Sequencer for the iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDJdq3WlLdc

I am thrilled with all the new enhancements in Ableton Live 8. Two other NAMM 2009 announcements having me scratching my head a bit though. Max for Live and Motu Volta are two new products that have a large buzz around them in the blogo-twittersphere. Max for Live is an extended version of Ableton that will allow you to create your own instruments and effects. It uses a flow diagram, object and element metaphor as it’s interface. Motu Volta is software that turns MOTU and RME audio interfaces into highly editable CV (control voltage) interface.

The question I keep asking myself is, “Will these new tools help me make better songs?”. Since I already own Ableton Live, a Motu interface and several vintage analog synths with CV there is no doubt my curiosity will lead me to my credit card.

Volta First Look from Matthew Davidson on Vimeo.

What excites me about Max for Live more than programming my own devices will be the devices other people come up with. I own a Kenton Pro-2000 CV to MIDI interface but because digital audio recording is so easy these day I rarely use it. I just record my old synths as audio and manipulate them after the fact. As much as Volta intrigues me I fear it may put an unnecessary software layer between my hands and hardware knobs.

I  know Max and Volta are completely different beasts but I think you get my point here right? I guess there is a time for right brain knob twisting and song writing and a time for left brain analytical sound design.

What do you think?