Sunday, January 30, 2011

A walk through NAMM

One of the things that is hard to get across to people that haven't attended a NAMM show is the strangeness of the noises that come at you from every direction. I decided to use a little recorder in my iPhone to record walk-throughs of the show.

The first:

GtrsToModules-NAMM2011 by DarwinGrosse

This is starting in the Chauvet booth (midway through the guitar section), walking through the remainder of halls B and C, going down the escalator into Hall E, then walking back to the Analogue Haven booth at the back of the hall. It features the beginning of a conversation I had with Paul Schrieber of MOTM - a really great guy that I don't get to see often enough.

The second:

ModulesToOutside-NAMM2011 by DarwinGrosse

This is my return from Hall E, starting at the AH booth, heading up the escalator, then walking through halls C, B and A before leaving through the doors into the outdoor area (lovingly called the "smoking pit").

It's just like you are there, only with one ear plugged and occasionally rubbing your ear against the leg of my pants...

[ddg]

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Why a low-pass gate?

Mr. Horny by DarwinGrosse

Here's a little 30-second demo of a weird combo of modules:

- ArdCore (beta) Compute Core w/Random Walk sketch.
- Synthesizers.com Q106 Oscillator.
- TEG Buchla 292c Low-pass Gate (driven by a Q109 envelope).
- COTK 1680 Analog Delay.

I really like how the LPG implies a tasty horn-like quality without actually sounding completely emulative. This module is going to get a lot of use (thanks to Scot Solida!).

[ddg]

Saturday, January 1, 2011

1.1.11 Modular Situation


Here is a photo of the state of my modular art as of today. I used the great (and easy) construction details on the synthesizers.com site to build these boxes, so now I have some wiggle room in getting more! Modular synthesizers: crack for the well-employed.

You can also see (on the rack) my Mackie Control, MOTU interface (used for both audio and Volta integration) and the last remnant of my interaction with Wiard - the original joystick controller with the Bakelite meter.

On the right is the little iPad/iRig system that I use for fun recording. It uses the Amplitube for iPad system, which includes a simple R-to-R recording emulator. Working with it seems an awful lot like my days with the Tascam 80-8.

Lots of growth in the last year. Loving it!

[ddg]

p.s.: Tomorrow evening is All Analog on Gregory Taylor's RTQE show. Apparently, the "Means of Production" recording will be featured - huge win!