Thanks to Todd for sending this one to me. It is too crazy not to share with you. Going where no man has gone before. What could be more dorky than a Star Trek geek combined with a Synth geek? Thanks to YouTube member diggsharrington who's posted a video of a trekkie playing the theremin along to the original 1966 theme by Alexander Courage. We might have some idea. Don't judge it before you watch it. I thought it was actually pretty cool.

The web site Ensoniq ESQ/SQ80 Analog Digital Synthesis is dedicated to serving the Ensoniq ESQ/SQ80 and Free SQ8L VSTi porduct line of synths. It is also keeper of the tradition that the old Transoniq Hacker magazine-newsletter and online newsgroup of yesteryear did by offering tips/tricks, and most importantly patches. One incredible section of the patch bay download are is the Synthesizing Star Trek section which offers a free bank of patches that emulate the oringinal Star Trek series of the 1960's. The y dead on accurate representations of sound effects such as the red alert alarm, engine room, main bridge view screen, transporter room backround. Even if one doesn't like Star Trek they may marvel at the sonic wonder how the ESQ-1/SQ80, and SQ8L reproduce these sound efffects with their limited wave rom. Remember if you do not have an ESQ-1 or SQ80, don't let that stop you there is a link there to download the Free SQ8L VSTi and load the patches in that unit. Also it's important but not necessary to read the full 4 sections preceding the download page which explains a lot about the series and patch creation. Get the Star Trek Ensoniq sounds here at Synthesizing Star Trek

Here's some YouTube videos by way of Ray Wilson from Music From Outer Space (MFOS) that are sure to give you some DIY GAS with the demonstration of an assembled Synth-DIY Experimenter Board. The mini-modular system works off a universal PC board that you populate with the modules you want to use. There's a bevy of options to choose from including: oscillators, AR generators, LFOs, filters, amps, mixers and white noise generations. Get the grand tour of this sexy little unit for DIY'ers with a two part video you can see after the jump.

Brain Eno may have coined the term "ambient music," but I wonder who was listening to who when I hear Raymond Scott's composition "Little Miss Echo" from his 1963 album: Soothing Sounds For Baby: Electronic Music By Raymond Scott, Vol. 3: 12-18 Months. That is no Moog or EMS synthesize we hear. There were no commercial synthesizers in 1963. Even by today's account, Scott's synthesizers were something else. The dynamic range and stability of his designs are immediately apparent to the listener. What is just as fascinating is his innovative tentacles extended beyond the circuit board to academic aspects of music composition, arranging and sound synthesis. A true tour de force, Raymond Scott created something unique that we are still trying to fully understand. I hope we never do.

Here is a video of Oskar Sala playing the Trautonium, an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1929 by Friedrich Trautwein with the later assistance of Sala. The Trautonium was unique in that instead of a keyboard, it incorporated a wire that is suspend over a metal plate that is pushed down in a certain place to play a pitch. This implementation allows the player to perform with greater volume and pitch expression by bending the string to create gliding and vibrato effects. Just one hundred Trautoniums were made by the Telefunken company between 1932 and 1935. Watch Oskar Sala performing on his instrument at 1993 concert, Zeilgalerie, in Frankfurt, Germany. Learn more about the Trautonium at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trautonium

You know the Bob Moog Foundation is doing their job well when we get to see stuff we never knew about before. Here the Foundation found a really interesting bit of history in January 2009 when combing through Bob’s archives for the NAMM showcase. They stumbled upon the freak looking modular analog machine made for Max Brand. The instrument that would be completed in 1968, was designed to be a facsimile of the Trautonium that was invented in 1929 by Friedrich Trautwein and Oskar Sala. Working for years, Brand and Moog collaborated on the final product that would come to be know as the Moogtonium. Read the Moog Foundation's detailed report fpr more information and images at http://moogfoundation.org/

It had to happen sooner or later. Since 2002 when Roger Linn Design released the Adrenalinn I, part beat box and part effects processor, we have seen it go through 3 generations from I,II and III. Now the Arenalinn has been transformed into a VST plugin for $99 called Adrenalinn Sync Version 2 from Roger Linn Design. It provides the same unique beat-synced filter modulation and sequencing effects of our AdrenaLinn III guitar pedal, plus quite a bit more. It adds fascinating rhythmic tonal effects to any instrument or processed audio. First released in October of 2009, we listened to your feedback and are now releasing AdrenaLinn Sync Version 2, a dramatic improvement over the original. AdrenaLinn Sync Version 2 is written in conjunction with Way Out Ware, makers of TimeWArp2600 and KikAxxe, critically-acclaimed emulations of vintage Arp analog synthesizers. Version 2 takes advantage of Way Out Ware's flawless analog-modeled filters and audio processing technology. Below is a video demonstrating Adrenalinn Sync Version 2. Mac is good to go while PC users can try a Beta version. Get a 14 day trial demo from Roger Linn Design here..

Backwards Machine is a VST plug-in that reverses continuous audio in real time. It is available for Mac OS X and Windows for $35 from The Sound Guy, creators of SFX Machine Pro. The effect includes Reverse Playback, Forward Backwards, and Reverse Repeat. The control section features are the Reverse button, The Time slider which has been deglitched to avoid clicks when adjusting it. There is also a Feedback Depth slider for the amount of feedback. Other welcome settings are Wet Mix slider controls the loudness of the Backwards (wet/effect) sound and Dry Mix slider allows you to mix in some of the (dry/non-effect) input signal. Often you will want to set this slider to 0% (the default), but this slider can be used if you want to hear some of the forwards sound along with the backwards sound. Read the full specs and get your Backwards Machine today for $35 at SFX Machine.com

Jorge Crowe has built this rather ingenious use of a scanner and other electronic parts including an overhead projector and laptop LCD screen. He calls it the 2x Potencia de Dos. He considers it a DJ/VJelectronic instrument made of a simple circuit, a scanner, six speakers, a subwoofer, an overhead projector and an LCD panel from an old laptop. Jorge explains it, "placing your hands on the scanner's touch panel triggers seven different frequencies, and each of them is double the bits/beats of the previous (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.). The pulses excite an LCD screen to create geometric visual compositions." Interesting.

Creatiave Digital Music have posted an interview with Jon Hopkins who, like me, you may not have known about until he was announced to be one of the members of Brian Eno's latest endeavors Small Craft on a Milk Sea. CDM gets into some intricate stuff with the electronic artist. The dicussion ventures into topics such as Electric Zoo, playing live, and processing with Kaos pads that he says Eno got him hooked on. We also get some details on his studio, a look at some video and more you can read now at http://createdigitalmusic.com/.

Step away from the ordinary. Now you can stand out from the crowd with the Wavedrum Black Limited Edition. Featuring an unmistakably premium look, the Wavedrum Black is finished with a solid black metallic rim and an exclusive BLACK SUEDE™ Remo drum head – projecting a totally different vibe than the cool aura of the original silver scheme. With the Wavedrum Black Limited Edition, you'll find yourself inspired like never before.

SIDizer is a state-of-art emulation of legendary SID chip in a form of a modern software synthesizer. Using circuit modeling technology nearly all unique features of two versions (6581-8580) of SID chip among their famous flaws are accurately modeled. This emulation focuses on simulating nonlinear character of SID filter and mimicking special 6581 distortion that mainly influence the alternation of filtered signal in a real SID chip. It offers additional envelopes, LFOs , mod matrix and a routable bit-cruncher for adding extra lo-fi sound quality. SIDizer GUI is inspired from HyperSID that offers easy tweaking for all parameters on a single page. It is not only a powerful instrument for creating chip-tune style but it can produce a unique type of analog sound colored with harmonic distortion that is suited for creating bass, lead and drum sounds.

First there was Ubuntu who brought Linux up to speed as an user friendly operating system. Now the good people at Arts Council England have taken up the cause to make Linux a robust media production platform too. With the introduction of the Puredyne distribution, creative types can access an whole suite of cutting edge audio, graphic and video applications that have been pre-installed and optimized ready to use. The offering for electronic musicians is especially nice with Puredata, Supercollider, cSound, Chuck, LADSPA plugins, Ardour, Audacity, ecasound and more all included FREE!

Desweef of the Netherlands recently made this rare video available of Tangerine Dream live in 1976 doing their long abandoned improvisatory approaches to playing electronic music in the moment. This really clear video and audio recording features among other vintage synths the Moog modulars all three members played, Mellotron, pianos and, electric pianos such as the Wurlitzer. See if you can spot a synth.

Rupert Brown of the DSP Project did a nice review on the Akai MINIAK. Their latest offering into the synth arena. Essentially it is the Alesis Micron engine aboard and even has some of the same sound set. Watch and learn from this informative video.

I nearly fell of my chair while trolling synth history when I saw this. 30 years ago the Con Brio ADS 200 (Advanced Digital Synthesizer) was a $30,000 synthesizer that offered the never before seen feature of an all in one approach. The unit was a double manual keyboard that offered splits 64 oscillators with 16 note polyphony each. The types of synthesis the AD200 offered was additive, phase modulation, frequency modulation, nested phase and frequency modulation, or a combination of all of them of it's 64 oscillators totally configured in software. It also featured a screen that displayed envelopes among other limited things, and a 4 track sequencer. The instrument itself weighed 175 pounds and there were only 3 ever made and one sold. The ADS200 is the main instrument and synth featured in the movie Start Trek The Motion Picture. The synth was created and modified during the period of 1978-1982. The fact that it was so expensive and that Yamaha held the patent on FM synthesis helped bring the ADS to it's end. Read on to see 3 videos of the ADS 200 and see one of the three Con Brios that is fully functioning. Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of a lot sounds. Apparently the videos are more concerned with the light show it made when playing.

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BOSS Pedal Sketch app for iPhone is here! The easy-to-use applets you save the connection order and knob positions of your BOSS compact effect pedals. You can also import pertinent sounds and photos from your iPhone mic and camera as Memo data. BOSS Pedal Sketch is useful for recreating your pedal settings at live performances. Download the Boss Pedal Sketch from the App Store here.

In the JUNO tradition of great sound, compact design, easy operation, and affordable price, the new JUNO-Gi delivers big. What propels this power-synth into another realm, however, is its supercharged feature set with over 1,300 fresh sounds, an onboard eight-track digital recorder, and pro effects created by BOSS. Write, record, mix, master, and perform anywhere with the new JUNO-Gi.