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Trautonium - The birds -Peter Pichler


Fairlight CMI IIx - Page 5 - Harmonic Amplitude Profiles

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Page 5 of the Fairlight is (like page 4) about Additive Synthesis.
A Fourier analysis command allows sounds to be converted to harmonics

The above pic shows a loaded voice file. (BALDY1.VC)
This typical page 5 display shows the harmonic overtones as a set of 32 faders.
It's a bit like a graphic equaliser.
The faders are logarithmic (range is 0-255)
First load the voice by typing L,A,name<enter>

To access page 5 type
P5<return>

To access page 5 help type
H5<return>
To step through the help pages use the ADD & SUB buttons on the keyboard


Though both page 4 & 5 deal with additive synthesis and harmonics, they approach it in different ways.
Page 4 can change one harmonic over all waveform segments at once.
Page 5  can change all harmonics over one waveform segment at once.


After loading the voice you can move the faders

Notice how the waveform shape has changed from the original voice file at the very top pic.
This is after typing the command: COMPUTE

My lightpen is misbehaving but I can still get around the page using the arrow keys'
More help screen info:



To be continued..............

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RU

Fairlight CMI IIx - Page 6 - Waveform Drawing

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Page 6 is all about displaying, manipulating and drawing waveforms.
You can draw your own with a light pen or use a sampled or saved waveform.
Then you can squeeze, invert, rotate, reverse, merge, mix , etc etc waveforms.

Here is the HELP page for page 6


To access page 6 type
P6<return>

To access page 6 help type
H6<return>
To step through the help pages use the ADD & SUB buttons on the keyboard

Here is a typical view of Page 6.
Looks a lot like an oscilloscope

It's a view of the 1st segment of the voice/waveform AAATEST.VC

Below is segment 8

Below are more segments ... 14 & 66

The CMI divides the waveform into 128 segments.
To set the current segment number use  <arrow> keys to tab to the needed segment


Here is the same waveform in Page D
The segments are stacked one in front of the other

Pages D, 4, 5 & 6 are connected ... the 1 waveform will be represented differently in each page and changes made to the waveform in one page will effect the other pages.

The Waveform Graph

The waveform graph displays 1 segment.
Each segment is made up of 128 points

Waveforms can be drawn or altered using either the light pen or the alpha numeric keyboard.
The latter method uses the concept of points and levels.
We assign LEVELS to individual waveform points. The horizontal divisions mark 1, 8, and 16 POINT intervals across the graph.

Points range from 0 - 128
Levels range between -128 & +127

Use the <arrow> key or light pen to tab to POINT / LEVEL.

Theoretically, you could type in the level for each point of each segment........ and repeat this for the entire waveform. This would be a huge and tiresome task though it is very precise..
The light-pen is a much easier option I think.

Join Vs Plot Switch

Join - J<return>         Each point is joined to the last by a straight line.
Plot - P<return>        Each point can be altered without effecting the others

Note.
The waveform is not finalised until the FILL command is entered.


Notice the two faders.
These control the stepping rate & the segment number to be displayed.

To display a segment type:
D<return>            displays the current segment
D,s<return>         displays segment (s)
D,s,e<return>      displays segment (s) through to (e)...... s= start, e= end (range 1 to 128)
D,*<return>         displays all segments

When a range of segments is specified as in "D,s,e<return> "
they will be displayed sequentially... called stepping display.

To start/stop the stepping display type:
S<return>           to start
S<return>           to stop when in progress.
The fader sets the time for which each segment is displayed.


The segment section covers:
Display, Zero, Fill and Invert.

Invert simply inverts the phase of the waveform.
For example, the command :    I,85,95<return>
This will INVERT (and automatically FILL) segments 85 to 95.
The ZERO command will zero the waveform and create a NULL voice
For example to silence the waveform:

Type:
Z<return>
F,*<return> ...... this second command will fill all segments.

Page6 can generate 3 traditional waveforms with the click of a button (or light pen).
Triangle     TRI<return>
Saw            SAW<return>
Square.       SQ<return>

Pulse width is set using:
n<set>

Note that the waveform is not affected until you hit FILL
To generate a sine wave you need to use page 5. Use the harmonic faders.


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Fairlight CMI IIx - Page 8 - Sound Sampling

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The Fairlight synthesizer is possibly most famous for being one of the worlds very first digital samplers.
Those early sounds from 1979 have been  immortalized by being added to the NFSA's "Sounds of Australia".

We take sampling for granted these days , but in the 1970's and 80's  it was a revolution.

Page 8 is where the sampling magic happens.

Here is the HELP page for page8


To access page 8 type
P8<return>

To access page 8 help type
H8<return>
To step through the help pages use the ADD & SUB buttons on the keyboard.

 Here is a typical view of Page8.

The sounds are sampled from the rear of the mainframe.
Typing "S <return>" or touching "Sample" will start the sampling process .
After about a second, the display box will show the sampled waveform.




The Filters
The 2 filters are digitally controlled. They filter out unwanted frequencies.
Their cutoff points are set by Filter Low & Filter High.
The filter circuit uses a CMOS 4051. It takes the form of a switched resistor (SR) filter.
SR filters employ resistors with analog switches to control frequency cutoff.
You will find this circuit on the Master Card.

The Sample Level is a software based volume control. It can be used to attenuate input signals if they are too "loud".

The Sample Rate:
This is the frequency at which the external signal is sampled and then converted. thus determining two aspects of the sample: Bandwidth & Duration
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Fairlight CMI IIx - Page R - Real Time Composer

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Along with The Fairlight's sampling, waveform display and additive synthesis, this Page was a revolution.
Arguably, it's the precursor to all the DAWs we use now.
LOGIC, Abelton, Reaper, etc etc ... all owe their beginnings to this piece of software.


There are 2 parts to it: The Pattern view & the Song view
 This (above) is the pattern view.
 To tab between each view type:
E<return>

The SONG view is below:


To access page R type
PR<return>

To access page R help type
HR<return>
To step through the help pages use the ADD & SUB buttons on the keyboard.

This is the first page of Page 8 Help

The Help Pages are divided between the Pattern Editor & Song Editor Functions.

The Page R uses a RS file.

To Load a .RS file type:
L,filename.RS<return>

For Page R to function correctly, you need to set up Page 3

To be continued.......

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Superbooth19 - Metro-Modular - New modules

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Metro-Modular from Sydney Australia will be releasing some new modules during SuperBooth 19.
This is being held in Berlin, Germany now.

The Superbooth website is here:
https://www.superbooth.com/en/landing.html

I'll upload pics of the new Metro-Modular modules when they become available.
For now here is the MM press release.


The 1960s may be almost over, but there’s still time to have your mind blown by the new
Metro Modular sound synthesizer range.

Featuring state-of-the-art electronics that put the “wow” into “the now sound”, and
attractively-finished yet durable construction purpose-designed for the rigors of a busy
recording facility, these exemplary systems will see you well into the next decade and
beyond.

With special pricing and payment terms putting our systems within reach of any higher
learning institution’s electronic sound studio, or indeed, any mid-sized advertising firm,
there's never been a better time to jump on board the
electronic sound revolution.

Write us today at PO Box 3070, Marrickville Metro NSW 2204, Australia for a
complimentary catalog, or contact us via Telecopier or ARPANET to arrange a noobligation
in-house demonstration from a member of our sales network.

You can meet us this May at “Volkstonbooth”, Eastern Europe's premier electronic sound
expo, at the Freizeit- und Erholungszentrum in East Berlin, German Democratic
Republic, where we will demonstrate our new range of submodules to complement and
extend any CBS* Electronic Music System - available for order in early 1970.

*CBS is a registered trademark of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.



Metro Modular - New 4U-Buchla format modules

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Some pics of a new range of Metro-Modular modules being released at Superbooth 19 in Germany
These are in Buchla/4U format.

 The Boethian Wheel - Model 660


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Dual Stereo Locator - Model 2102


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Roomic Cube - Model 680

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Dual Balanced Modulator - Model 2315

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Todliche Finger - Model 601


More details to come.

Module 601 - Der Todliche Finger - The Deadly Finger

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This panel was designed to hold the power supply of the Metro-modular 4U system.

Metro-Modular  are from Sydney Australia. They will be releasing some new modules during SuperBooth 19. This is being held in Berlin, Germany right now.

Some Links
+ Metromodular Facebook
+ Metromodular Youtube
+ Metromodular website  

The 601 is the first panel in the series. 


....die jugend finden sie schlecht, besonders
Long hoarige  & Dienstverweigerer denn..

I don't speak German but I think this roughly translates to
"they find the youth bad, especially long-haired and non-conscientious"
The comic is from Hotcha, Switzerland, 1970.

ru4

Eurorack Wiard - Grant Richter

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I'm a bit of a fan of Grant Richter and have been slowly putting together a system made out of his modules.

Though there are a few modules here that aren't his design, I've tried to keep the system as true as possible.
The system isnt finished.... I'll update this with more pics and videos as it evolves.

Metro-Modular Boethian Wheel - Model 660

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This is the new Metro-Modular Boethian Wheel - Model 660


This module takes a quadrature pair of sine waves (like the 2 pole and 4 pole outputs of a self-oscillating filter) into its sine and cosine outputs, and encodes the phase angle of the sine input into a 6-bit number that is available on the staircase outputs (both control voltage and audio), and as individual outputs (d0 through d5). This number is graphically represented by 32 LEDs representing the circle that the quadrature pair describes.

The staircase out gives a Poly-61 like digital saw sound, and the individual data outputs can be used as pulse clocks or audio multipliers-with residual errors from lower multiples giving increasing imperfection as they go higher in frequency.  

The fun really begins when the input wave shapes and their phase separation are varied, or input waves with different frequencies are used. In this case the phase angle of the saw starts to distort, and the sound becomes more metallic and even takes on a cross-modulation character. The individual data outs become more chaotic and almost merge into digital noise. 

To top it off, two CV inputs (one for sine and one for cosine inputs) can level-shift the inputs to cause even more mayhem!

The circuit uses no micro controllers - it is a combination of analogue computing and 74HC high-speed logic that can comfortably handle input signals from LFO speeds to right through the audio range and beyond.
  
 
Metro-Modular  are from Sydney Australia. They will be releasing some new modules during SuperBooth 19. This is being held in Berlin, Germany right now.

Some Links
+ Metromodular Facebook
+ Metromodular Youtube
+ Metromodular website  

Metro-Modular - Dual Stereo Locator - Model 2102

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The Metro-Modular - Dual Stereo Locator - Model 2102 also goes by the name of "Warriewood" 
Warriewood is a suburb of Sydney Australia. It's postcode is 2102.

This Panner is our first entry in the "Postcode series": reissues and reimaginings of classic circuits, with an aim to make them more accessible. 


This is inspired by a panner circuit from the late 1960s that is now extremely, extremely rare (as in less than ten originals known to exist!), but is in fact a simple circuit that is a fun DIY build.


It is an ingenious circuit that uses JFETs as VCAs, which is a circuit technique common in guitar pedals but pretty much unknown in the synth world, with the exception of the Gristleizer.

It does not give constant power panning, and it distorts when overloaded or near cutoff, but it is very musical. Because each channel is individually controllable, it has the bonus feature of working as voltage-controlled 2-input, 1 output mixer should that be desired

The mode switches allow you to tailor the response when a single function generator controls both CV inputs.

 ................................................................
Metro-Modular  are from Sydney Australia. They will be releasing some new modules during SuperBooth 19. This is being held in Berlin, Germany right now.

Some Links
+ Metromodular Facebook
+ Metromodular Youtube
+ Metromodular website  

Metro-Modular - Dual Balanced Modulator - Model 2315

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The 2315 is known by the nickname "Corlette". It is part of the Metromodular  "Postcode series".
Corlette is a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It's postcode is 2315.

Officially the module is a Dual Balanced Modulator/Dual Phase Splitter.

The 2315 "Corlette"accepts the challenge posed by Serge Tcherepnin in his Waveshaper Media interview when he stated that Don hid a lot of the functions of his models behind the panel. 




Truth is, in the 100 series Don provided granular functions that could be assembled to make more complex things, at the cost of panel space.
 
What we have done is take the minimalist 100-series interface style and combine the five building blocks you need to assemble a frequency shifter into one panel, so that four of them can be used totally flexibly for other uses.

The parts are: 
Two phase splitters to generate quadrature signals from audio and sub-audio signals, and two precision balanced modulators based on the proven circuit in our MM315 module, as well as sum and difference circuits hard-wired to the outputs of the balanced modulators.

All that is needed to make a working frequency shifter is four short audio leads.
  

Metro-Modular  are from Sydney Australia. They will be releasing some new modules during SuperBooth 19. This is being held in Berlin, Germany right now.

Some Links
+ Metromodular Facebook
+ Metromodular Youtube
+ Metromodular website  


The Metro-modular Roomic Cube - Model 680

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The Roomic Cube is in development.
It is an 8-in, 8-out voltage controlled matrix mixer designed for experimental "cubic" audio installations where there are ceiling and ground quad speaker arrays, or octagonal surround (switch selectable). 


Each input has x, y and z control inputs that will drag the signal away from its corresponding ouput to the other outputs, depending on the x, y and z values

We aim to have good enough isolation of the channels so that it can be used for independent quad arrays (such as multi-room installations) or multiple stereo images.

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Metro-Modular  are from Sydney Australia. They will be releasing some new modules during SuperBooth 19. This is being held in Berlin, Germany right now.

Some Links
+ Metromodular Facebook
+ Metromodular Youtube
+ Metromodular website   

Synth Meet /w Constantin Papageorgiadis - NEWSOUNDWAVES

Wiard Index

Twenty Years of Loten

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A really hard to find book.
Great summary of the history of Eurorack
Don't buy Crap :-)
Loten is German for Soldering

The edition was printed for NAMM 2015

Quite a bit on the early modules from Doepfer on Munich and Analogue Systems of Cornwall in England

It's a small but beautiful book.




Yamaha CS-80 Reissue or evolution?

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