Originally discovered via matrixsynth.

“The device plays compositions which are stored on microcontroller modules. The modules in this presentation are based on the Atmega family and are programmed in GCC (Arduino) and Bascom. In general, the synthesizer can work with any other TTL Microcontroller as PIC, Propeller or even ones which don’t exist yet, as the computation happens on the module and the Vektron itself only provides the peripherals.”

Vektron modular from Niklas Roy on Vimeo.

Originally discovered via Matrixsynth

Teenage Engineering was out in force at 2010 NAMM showing off some impressive new features of their OP-1 portable synth / multifunction device. They showed their new “tape” mode which acts as a virtual 4 track tape recorder. Their OLED graphics are beautiful … just beautiful. I chance to speak with their graphic designer and compliment him on the interface design.

from their site: “instantly let you record anything you do on the OP-1 to any track of the built-in Tape feature. Record your sound tweaks or beats in real-time. Change speed during recording, or record backwards. Split, lift and join. Make a loop or record a section with Tape Step Recording. You have twelve minutes recording time in normal tape speed and 4 tracks to put your magic on.”

Moog was showing off their newly unveiled update of the Taurus bass pedals. They looked great in person and it seems as if the design draws heavily from the Little Phatty line of synths. As an owner of the Little Phatty I can say that the bass sounds in the Taurus III are going to be astounding. Taurus II will be a limited quantity product with less than 1000 units produced.

From the moogmusic site: “Long requested by many of our very best customers and used by the likes of Rush, The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, Asia, Weezer, and many more. This is a one time opportunity to own a new set with a new warranty but one absolutely faithful to the original Taurus I sound.“

originally discovered via Matrixsynth

multi-touch the storm - interactive sound visuals - subcycle labs from christian bannister on Vimeo.

originally discovered via CDM

Wolfgang Palm of PPG fame has started a myspace page and posted many fascinating blog entries about the history of PPG and his career afterwards. Palm is highly regarded as a pioneer in digital wavetable synthesis.

Read his blog here.

discovered via matrixsynth

Monome has been around for a while now but I’m always impressed when I see demo videos such as the one below. Brian & Kelli are a small team working on what they love and they are also very conscious of the impact they have … from the monome.org site “we strive for economic and ecological sustainability. careful design practice allows us to contribute to culture and preserve the environment by choosing domestic, high-quality, and responsible providers and production facilities. we acknowledge that our future will depend on our ability to support and maintain a local, regenerative economy.”

ro + 256 + milkcrates + monks from ro on Vimeo.