RE-201 SPACE ECHO

The Roland RE-201 Space Echo is truly an epic Vintage (1973) piece of music technology.

The RE-201 is a simple system in which a small loop of tape records an incoming signal and immediately plays the recorded sound back over a couple playback heads before being erased over by new incoming audio. A real analog system with warm, gritty and almost noiseless operation, the Space Echo can provide warm, unpredictable and highly tweakable echo effects. There are twelve settings to adjust various tape loop speeds, number of repeats, levels, intensity, etc… It can even generate some of its own feedback loops for instant sci-fi effects. It features a built in spring reverb for even more classic analog effects. The RE-201 not only has Vintage appeal but is still widely used to get those dubby, slightly unpredictable, musically analog echo effects. It’s a definite must for many genres.

RE-501 CHORUS ECHO

The Roland RE-501 was the last tape effect that Roland produced as the introduction of digital delay and reverb was quickly replacing the older style tape effects.

It included a newer orange and black delivery that fit in with the new range of Roland Rack products, such as the Roland SVC-350 vocoder. Roland also released a rackmount version of the RE-501 known as the SRE-555. The RE-501 was built using Roland’s free running tape system that minimized wow and flutter and extended the life of the tape for more than 300 hours of use. It included dual outputs for a three dimensional sound. The outputs included unbalanced, and for the first time, balanced XLR outputs putting it into the professional range of studio effects. New to the 501 and 555 was the chorus effect. They also had noise reduction systems which gave a much cleaner sound than earlier models

PANDAEMONIUM STEREO PAN

Independent Split Dual Mono/Stereo BPM sync and free running Panning utilityPandaemonium manipulates stereo and mono inputs for wide range from subtle to drastic automated panning methods in either variable free running or Host BPM sync divisions. Each channel can be assigned it’s own waveform shape for transforming boring stereo files by activating the full potential of the spacial stereo field acoustics for the listener. The original inspiration for Pandaemonium was from building the 4MS Stereo Pannuer circuitry.

ELECTRIC DREAM PLANT WASP

The Wasp relased in 1978 was undoubtedly EDP’s most famous product, distinctive for its black/yellow colour scheme. The WASP is monophonic and powered by two digital oscillators supported by analog filters, envelopes and controls. This makes it one of the earliest compact digital/analog hybrid mono-synths, and it sounds great! The Wasp offers flexible subtractive synthesis. It’s pretty easy to dial up some cool bass, synth, and other classic monophonic sounds. Architecturally, the wasp is a dual digital oscillator synth, with dual envelopes and a single, switchable (low/band/highpass) CMOS-based filter.

EMS 3000+ VOCODER

British synth maker EMS are known not only for their classic VCS3, but also for their unique retro vocoders. Designed by Tim Orr, the EMS Vocoder 2000 is an excellent voice synthesizer comparable to the Roland SVC-350. It has been around since the late seventies, and is still available to this day. The Vocoder 2000 offered 16-channels of vocoding with filters, mic/line inputs, oscillator and noise sources, voiced/unvoiced detector, and slew/freeze control. The EMS Vocoder 3000 offers 16 channels of vocoding like the 2000, but with individual level controls for each band and newer knobs & switches on the front panel, plus a new LED signal meter. It came out in 1977. The EMS VOCODER was used in the original Battlestar Galactica TV series for creating the voices of the Cylons.

VT1 VOICE TRANSFORMER

The VT-1 Voice Transformer is like a simple modern-day Vocoder + Harmonizer and then some!

Its purpose is to alter the human voice, ideal for DJ’s, techno, and other creative uses. The VT-1 will perform such effects as de-tuning, +/- octave pitch shifting, formant shifting and it has built-in digital reverb. There are four prominent sliders for the aforementioned effects. And the Robot button does in fact produce a somewhat vocoder-like sound by fixing the pitch of your voice and fuzzing it. Using the Robot effect in conjunction with the formant and pitch sliders can get some pretty weird vocoder soundsThe VT-1 also has its place in professional broadcast work. It can be used to adjust the pitch or even the gender of a person’s voice and still sound natural. Or use it to thicken up or harmonize a vocal track for a jingle or commercial track. It’s fun, colorful, easy to use, economical and can be quite a useful source of unique effects and sounds, if you’re into this sort of thing! .

THE GRISTLEIZER

The Gristleizer (aka: The Gristleiser or The Gristliser) was an analogue special effects unit used by industrial experimental band Throbbing Gristle during the 1970s & early 1980s. The original Gristleizer unit (including the name) was conceived and made by (Chris Carter) and was based on a DIY construction project by Roy Gwinn, which was published as the ‘GEP’ (Guitar Effects Pedal) in Practical Electronics magazine (July 1975 issue). Only a handful of Gristleizers where originally ever built (8 to 10 or so…) and that was way back in the late 1970s – and up until the turn of this century Chris and Cosey were still using the original models. Chris’ was stolen (or mislaid, apparently!) at a TG exhibition in London and Cosey’s unit died a couple of years ago and couldn’t be resuscitated.

STONEHENGE RITUAL REVERB

Monolithic acoustic power of the ancients built upon IIR convolutions from Stonehenge

The preservation and recreation of the acoustics of ancient places is vital. In recent times, this branch of acoustic science has been named archaeoacoustics. It is important in the reconstruction of ancient theatres and aids in the archaeological interpretation of important buildings and heritage sites, some of which may not exist in their original form. With the correct measurement and modelled data, the original soundfields can be recreated to allow researchers and the general public to experience the sounds in interactive applications. Mathematical acoustic analysis of Stonehenge’s Archaeological plans was followed by the acoustic analysis of a digital model of Stonehenge using software designed for architects’ use. The results of this analysis exceeded all expectations. The final stage of Stonehenge had acoustic figures that were as good as premier concert halls, and was perfectly suited to loud rhythmic music, much like a rock concert venue.

R1 REACTOR CORE REVERB

R1 Reactor Core was built upon the original Stonehenge Reverb engine using IIR refelections.

R1 was the first nuclear reactor of Sweden. It was a research reactor located at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) campus at Valhallavagen in central Stockholm, in the rock beneath the current day Q buildings. The reactor was active from July 13, 1954 to June 6, 1970. The reactor was dismantled, and there is nothing left of it today; the reactor hall however still exists.

During the post World War II race among countries to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, some risky decisions were made. Among them was the building of Sweden’s first nuclear reactor, Reaktor 1, or R1, buried 25 meters directly underneath the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and within a 1 km of about 40,000 people. Nonetheless, in the heady days of the Cold War and nuclear armament it was deemed a tolerable risk for the scientists at KTH to be able to study reactions. Attempting to “make something with neutrons,” scientists brought the reactor online and on July 13, 1954, the reactor produced Sweden’s first nuclear reaction. R1 continued to be used for most of Sweden’s nuclear research until the 1970s, when the concern over the reactor proximity to Stockholm led to its closure.

DBX160 COMPRESSOR/LIMITER

Widely considered to be one of the finest VCA compressors ever built, the diminutive DBX 160A was first introduced in 1971.The solid-state 160 (sometimes referred to as the 160 VU in reference to its prominent front panel VU meter) is unusual for a VCA model in that it displays distinct nonlinearities, making it a character piece, and like many of the other early compressors, the 160 has a very simple front panel, with only three dials – for threshold, compression and output gain. Sound-wise the hard-kneed 160 isn’t exactly flexible, though what it does it does very well. Which is, specifically, a rough, warm and grainy punch which can be highly effective on bass parts – synthesised or real – reinforcing both intelligibility and presence. In electronic music production, the 160 has found uses to bring out the ‘knock’ and thwack of drum sounds – particularly kick, snare and clap – for an unmistakably punchy sound. Sure, it’s a bit of a one-trick pony, but it performs that trick almost perfectly.

VOXPOP FORMANTA SUPERSHIFTER

Experiments PitchShifting Vocal FormantsThe term formant refers to peaks in the harmonic spectrum of a complex sound. They are usually associated with, but not necessarily equal to some sort of resonance of the source. Because of their resonant origin, they tend to stay essentially the same when the frequency of the fundamental is changed. Formants in the sound of the human voice are particularly important because they are essential components in the intelligibility of speech. For example, the distinguishability of the vowel sounds can be attributed to the differences in their first three formant frequencies. Producing different vowel sounds amounts to retuning these formants within a general range of frequencies. Formants are distinctive frequency components of the acoustic signal produced by speech or singing. The information that humans require to distinguish between speech sounds can be represented purely quantitatively by specifying peaks in the amplitude/frequency spectrum. Most of these formants are produced by tube and chamber resonance, but a few whistle tones derive from periodic collapse of Venturi effect low-pressure zones. The formant with the lowest frequency is called F1, the second F2, and the third F3. Most often the two first formants, F1 and F2, are enough to disambiguate the vowel. The relationship between the perceived vowel quality and the first two formant frequencies can be appreciated by listening to “artificial vowels” that are generated by passing a click train (to simulate the glottal pulse train) through bandpass filters (to simulate vocal tract resonances).

ELECTRO8 SEQUENCER

8step_AnalogSequencer emulation created for driving hardware cv gate voltage via MIDIAt its most basic, an analog sequencer consists of a bank of potentiometers and a “clock” (pulse generator) connected to a sequencer, which steps through these potentiometers one at a time and then cycles back to the beginning. The output of the sequencer is fed (as a control voltage and gate pulse) to a synthesizer. By “tuning” the potentiometers, a short repetitive rhythmic motif or riff can be set up. Electro8 has built in Quantizer, Arppegiator, and various patter play methods including Forward, Reverse, & Back&Forth. Designed for Analog voltage ranges it generates midi that can be created real time recorded into the piano roll. Packed with features! The Electro8 was based on various analog hardware circuits that have used over the years for achieving the same type of creative composition potentials only offered by such sequencing methods.

ELECTRO+ SEQUENCER

QRK1601X

Expanded 16step_AnalogSequencer evolved from the Electro8 with even more features!Power packed Analog styled sequencing with features including: Quantizer, Pitch LFO, Arppegiator, Randomizers, Slide, Velocity, Free Running or Host BPM Sync and even more! Created from years of experimentaions with Hardware analog sequencing, ELECTRO+ generates MIDI sequences using “oldschool” compositon methods that can be easily Transposed using external MIDI controller plus can be assigned full MIDI CC for hands on realtime compositional control. Pitch ranges are optimized for Analog Control Voltage of “Vintage Synth” hardware.

MASTERBLASTER

Mastering Compressor/LimiterDesigned as the final effects chain VST, MASTERBLASTER handles compressing/limiting and noise shaping for controlling your overall output. Slamming signals for blasting the overall volume while best holding the 0db threshold is the main purpose of MASTERBLASTER!

n01zebox

Chaotic Noise maker experiment Based on the classic APC (Atari Punk Console) 555 timer chip Super cross modulator DIY noisebox designs… this little noise generator box project has some big noisey abrasive synth sounds. Tweak the knobs and stand back letting the sounds pulse! Made specifically for generarting classic “Industrial Noise”

Synthesis (SYNTH) (from the ancient Greek “with” and “placing”) refers to a combination of two or more entities that together form something new; alternately, it refers to the creating of something by artificial means. The corresponding verb, to synthesize (or synthesise), means to make or form a synthesis.

Wizard (WYZRD) n 1. a person who practises or professes to practise magic or sorcery 2. a person who is outstandingly clever in some specified field; expert 3. a wise man 4. computing a computer program that guides a user through a complex task adj 5. informal chiefly superb; outstanding 6. of or relating to a wizard or wizardry [ variant of wissard, from wise 1 + -ard ] ‘wizardly adj wizard c.1440, “philosopher, sage,” from M.E. wys “wise” (see wise (adj.)) ard. zynyste “magic,” zynys “sorcerer,” zyne “witch,” all from zinoti “to know.” The ground sense is perhaps “to know the future.” “wise magical power!”