old socks and new toys

instruments and folklore

2009-10-26T22:18:00.005-04:00

Although much of what is interesting and exciting about a musical instrument is a holistic experience that comes from making music, there are times when one's intellect has other questions.

Sadly not many people seem as interested as I am in the history and folklore that goes along with instrument design. This is not to say that the various people with whom I spoke weren't generous with their time, quite the contrary.

My feeling is as a general rule is that for example, some aspects of an instrument's development and the changes that occurred before it reached the point of being considered classic are not that interesting to people when for me they are important touch stones that often reveal what a designer may have had in mind to begin with with.

I am trying to unravel a bit of a mystery relating to my Wiard system. See if you can follow me.

Wiard system number 2 (six modules plus controller) was sold by it's original owner when they moved abroad, theoretically as a whole unit. That system was integrated into a lager system which ultimately ended up being 24 or so modules. It was used on a bunch of recordings and then sold of in parts.

I ended up with what I assumed to be some pretty early modules among the ones I bought. The first three Wiard systems reacted to black light, I never tested mine but I figured that two (VCO & SEQ) plus the controller where early enough.

Fast forward a few years and I buy 1 module (The Filter) and realize that my friend is selling two more from that system. He is the forth owner so already the details are harder to trace but from what I can figure out from talking to a number of people involved including previous owners, I feel like I am one module away from owning system two. I have put out the word that i am looking for the last module.

Now, 5 of the 6 modules believe to be part of that early system are in my case and I'm doing some dusting. I finally, all these years later pull out the black light.. What do you know, the Filter, Sequentizer and VCO don't glow. Only the Envelator and the Waveform City.

It is clear from the graphics on these panels that they are very early and were done in Grant's garage. My understanding is that there is only one blue "The Filter" and it does appear in a photo I have that is alleged to be system 2. I also know that the first three systems had glowing paint.

Where does that leave me?

Information may come from my posting this but in truth, the end result is my instrument s my instrument and it may have some aspect of folklore to it but it's most important that we make our own.

todays improv

2009-09-18T23:58:00.003-04:00

Sept 18 09 by Tommy DOG

EDIT some patch info:

Two Anti-O, inter modulating dulled down with a Boogie then a Borg 2. The controllers on this patch where Evelator & Sequentizer with tempo controlled and interrupted by the Wogglebug and noise ring. LFO for timing was s always a Borg.

A little electronic improv

2009-09-17T21:48:00.008-04:00

I do as much improvisation as I can, often with modular synthesizers as they remind me of plasticine which I used for so many years to relax. make toys do animation. I am especially fond of The Wiard as it is truly something that inspires and surprises.

This bit of racket came from my screwing around with the Sequentizer which is one of my least used, thus understood modules. What started to come out where these notes that reminded me of Clavichord music.

Klavawiard by Tommy DOG

2009-08-29T00:12:00.005-04:00

Sometimes life is too busy to really comment on it virtually. It's not the lack of things I feel like writing about, it's the fact that I'd rather be making music then writing about it's gritty technological details.

I've noticed that there are constant trends in the modular synth community. Not surprising as it is booming in a way that makes the past seem quiet. Between the awareness that people are developing and the push to make things that never existed before, it is both an expensive time and an exiting one.

One subject that is of current interest to many is Don Buchla's amazing instruments which are now the source of much gear talk. Having gone from institution and avant garde to a seemingly more available state, many in the synth community have developed a Buchla lust.

I understand one's affinity to an instrument and do personally like some specific designs that Buchla made but when it comes to full systems my heart belongs to Moog and Wiard.

foot pedals

2009-06-26T22:52:00.002-04:00

At some point I saw these wonderful photos of a very early Moog that lives at the University Of Michigan. I was very taken with the early pedals that seemed so slapped together, in fact I was so much so that I began asking around to see if anyone had a set of pedals to sell.

From what I had seen the early systems had two different types of pedals. There were the ones pictured and another style that not only went up and down but sideways as well. This was somewhere in between an early stompbox design that I have an example of, which controlled volume and tone and the Wonka elevator.

While buying some panels from a nice gentleman named Bill, I did the logical thing and shot off a note about the few Moog parts I was still after.

It turned out Bill had a few of these pedals raw and loose. No mounting, no instructions but some valuable information instead. Bill was able to tell me that they were common of a lot of organs, much like the Pratt-Reed keyboard that Moog also used. He thought that they had been manufactured by Allen.

A short time later I received a strange E-mail telling me of a shipment. Shortly the explanation followed. Bill had generously sent me the pedals. I was thrilled and nervous because I had no idea how I was going to get them to work.

After some attempts to get an actual diagram or something from some Moog experts I know failed, I decided to just go for it. Tonight they work again, pitch control and groovy detuning at very reasonable voltage ranges. Yeah, I used a meter because I wasn't going to blow anything up.

Here's my reproduction.

Happy Birthday Doc

2009-05-23T21:58:00.003-04:00

I've had some relationship with Moog synthesizers since I was very small. From my love of The Beatles who managed to use the Moog so tastefully on Abbey Road to Gershon Kingsley who recorded an album in my grandfather's temple and featuring his iconic voice.

As a young artist I dreamed of being really professional, at least enough to warrant my owning a Minimoog. A short time later I had the gear and was trading and debating ideas with Bob Moog himself when it came to things like alternative controllers, our shared love of the then forgotten Theremin and later his effects pedal line.

I don't think Bob cared whether a customer was famous or if a good idea came from the peanut gallery. He was generous with his time and loved what he did.

Shortly before he died I began my dream of building a Moog modular. I was advised by a friend that this would be a waste of time and money given the difficulty of the task of buying a few modules at a time WHEN I could find them.

Over the years I met a hell of a lot of people, almost all terrific and interesting. People who worked with Moog (the man), at Moog (the company) and of course with Moog the instruments. Some of these people became friends and some shared their stories of a funny man who caused a funny machine to make funny sounds.

The piece of music I played tonight was for one person, whether he heard it or not.

more Pro Suckage

2009-03-25T22:29:00.002-04:00

Let me put this to you dear readers simply; smaller is never better.

Bigger is pretty much always better. Extra is always a plus and bonus is never viewed in anything but the most positive terms.

"lite", "nano", "mini", "Jr." are all LESS THEN something that probably came before it.

If I wanted something edited, truncated, sawed off or shrunk I would have to hand in my "Proud To Be An American" card and hop over the border into Canada.

So next time some weenie in a sales job tries and con you with the virtues of the improved tininess of something, tell em you want it big, loud and full of action because that's what makes life worth living.

Fireworks?
Fuck you, I want the atomic bomb!

next please

2009-03-24T22:48:00.003-04:00

After installing Pro Tools LE 8.O into my new Mac Pro I discovered that 2 Gigs of RAM was not enough to keep my mouse from spazzing out. The joy was only exacerbated by the lovely inspection of my new MBox2 Pro which feels like it was made by not just cheap but retarded Chinese slave labor.

I give up.

4 more gigs coming whenever the fuck the shipper decides to get around to it. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the speediness of the improved Ethernet speed and download some zombie porn.

it's not pro

2009-03-22T22:31:00.003-04:00

1. If it's made entirely out of plastic
2. If it can't be serviced
3. If it's designed to take up very little space in your dorm room

This is is the first installment of what I imagine will be an ongoing bitch fest over turning a new computer into a usable recording device.

Enjoy my pain.

NAMM Oddities 09

2009-02-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

If you don't keep going back the day after NAMM until the site is updated you are a soulless pig. Barry Wood's NAMM oddities is the only meaningful part of the winter NAMM event for most of us.

I remember when I used to feel like I needed to do the conventions and it sucked. Barry sums up the best in side show, vapor and wildly ugly gear.

houses of sound

2009-01-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up I understood there to be three different musical houses of worship.

1. There was the record store where one listened and learned until one could debate.

2. There was the live stage, usually a club. Somewhere that allowed a musician to perform to an audience at a reasonable volume and with much gusto.

3. The recording studio. This was in my mind the ultimate destination and the place that led one back full circle to the record store where someone else might discuss the merits or lack there of of one's latest release.

As times change we see these three venues melt away from our normal day to day music life. A music fan and musician goes less and less to an actual store to buy music, has fewer and fewer live venues to see music and no longer spends much time if any in a real recording studio.

The first and last of these two losses can probably be blamed of affordable digital technology while the clubs closing is probably more of an economic issue.

In NYC we also had the joy of a mayor who went after nightclubs with zeal and managed to make things bad enough that much of our cultural bleeding edge was moved out into the suburbs. Can you imagine the greatest city in the world with no night life nor red light district?

Rudy you fucking suck, you may have fooled some people into believing you did good but you are a culture nazi and rezoning doesn't count as lowering crime..

Anyway...

Where does the future music fan find other fans? Where do musicians find work in their field?

I forgot why I started this. I guess it was easier then trying to find the battery cover to my alarm clock.

Doepfer A-117 mod UPDATED

2009-01-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

After some more experiments I realized that I would not be able to trouble shoot the module without being able to compare it to one that is working normally.

I did come to the conclusion that this is a module that would respond well to some changes. Being able to tune the internal oscillator against the incoming modulation source is cool. If I can add some control over the additional outs which are static that would be great.

Doepfer A-117 mod

2009-01-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

WARNING: this is far from technically sound. I am not a learned EE. These are guesses based of my limited knowledge.

My Doepfer A-117 Digital Noise module started having some issues. At first all I could get was a feeble oscillator noise that sounded more like an analog (non precision) oscillator driver that was used to drive the digital noise generator's clock.

I probed the circuit and found that making a connection to a resistor to one point on the newly replaced ext. input jack brought back the digital noise but now it could be tuned to the source by adjusting the rate knob.

I will post a picture of the board and perhaps someone more knowledgeable will figure what part is actually not functioning properly. Anyone have any thoughts feel free to post of contact me directly.

Maybe this will turn out to be a good and usable mod for others.

Winter NAMM Predictions

2009-01-13T23:05:00.000-05:00

and here are some predictions based on years of technology experience...

1. more Kaoss Pad offshoot products that have the fun taken out and replaced with suck. KP3 is still selling so they can still milk it.

2. virtual Ensoniq collection plugin with a Fizmo that even has a special dongle key that is shaped like a bad regulator.

3. digital "tape loop" player with animated hubs on a touch screen that you can flange with your finger.

4. MIDI standard to be replaced something worse.

To be continued...

I've lost another friend

2009-01-13T09:22:00.000-05:00

Rest In Peace Tom.
You were one of a kind to many and all.

lets do the time warp again

2009-01-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

I posted a bunch of photos of my last studio on flickr.

If mind numbingly depressing not to have what I would consider a workable space but I have had a fair amount of real luxury and luck. Much of my professional life as a musician I have either had a studio or at the very least access to free space in the apartment I grew up in.

At present I will not take any job that requires critical listening or significant volume because i simply don't have any means of accommodating these things in what I would consider to be a professional manner.

We won't get into a debate today about the dumbing down of the recording studio. Just accept the fact that as much as I encourage artists to be realistic with their budgets I am not a fan of just making a shitty product just because it's easy and believe me I have broken every rule spread eagled here so I know I'm not talking smack.

content for other blogs

2009-01-02T21:52:00.000-05:00

Because nothing spells creative like changing things around.

Little details are still unsettled but it's more then enough to be functional on a day to day basis.

If the photo is blurry, does that mean it won't end up being used somewhere else?

Who's your daddy?

2008-09-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

In the olden days "used" was not "vintage" unless you where talking guitars.

Daddy's Junky Music had a monthly catalog and if you saw something you wanted you probably called using a device called a telephone and spoke to Hirsh. You asked him whether it was still available and if it was you bought it.

The great thing about Daddy's was that if you had a band or owned a studio (which also was a different thing in those days) you could outfit your racks with more processing power, buy extra drum hardware and put together a good PA system for very little money.

At some point Daddy's opened more stores and stopped their "Used Gear By Mail" catalog and business. My memory was that there just was less used gear hitting the market and Ebay had probably had a negative effect as well. I know I was sad. I think the last item I bought was a huge Vox bass cabinet which I paired with a fawn AC-30 and made much happy noises.

Today as I was doing a search for road cases and I hit Daddy's site and much to my great joy, they are back in the mail order business. Touring bands to garage bands can rejoice and afford play.

Euro Wack

2008-08-25T23:35:00.000-04:00

With the modular synthesizer business being as brisk as it has ever been I can't quite understand why an affordable power racking solution hasn't appeared.

Yes, Doepfer has released their "low cost" suitcase, which is not at all a suitcase but is still cheaper then a box with a handle. This thing would be fine if you had a desire to buy a bunch of them and then do all the stuff that would make them solid but you'd end up spending a lot of money.

I'm at a point where I'm pulling stuff out of my racks and hoping to run into a good deal on a G6 at the right time but I know too God damned well I'll be the same place again soon enough.

Vacation pocket music

2008-08-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

I have mixed feelings about many of the pocket music devices that some people use seemingly just because of their size. Granted I am a stompbox fanatic and I do usually prefer them to much of their rack counter parts.

I recently go a chance to try the Korg DS-10 which has gotten a fair amount of press already. My interest was very small, after all I had always been a little put off by people's revisionism that has turned an ok synth into a classic. I figured it won't kill me to try it and try it I did.

After some inital screwing around I finally put on my test visor and gave the little bastard a whirl. Much to my shock and amusement they managed to not only pull off a fun virtual synth but they added a bunch of extra stuff that makes it better then an actual emulation would have been.

Me? I'll be taking my DS on vacation loaded with Electroplankton, Korg DS-10 and perhaps some homebrew stuff loaded on to my R4.
I have not liked many copies of synths I own and have found many soft synths to also be unwieldy power hungry son of a bitches that can't do anything complicated because the GUI has eaten the processor. Did it have to take some toy company to finally do it right? I'm not sure but if you are going to have a DS anyway you might want to wait for the US release in Sept.

Circuit Bending

2008-07-09T23:03:00.000-04:00

Circuit Bending is it's self the art of exploring a circuit board to find new pathways that will generate an altered form from the original designers intended function. Sometimes one is simply adding additional functionality, other times skewing the form.

Circuit Bending is not "modding" it is not something one does with schematics or circuit maps to tell you what to do.

Why this is so confusing is beyond me. Reed Ghazala created these parameters for the art form he named and crusaded for. His name, his concept, his rules.

So many people are "teaching" this art form, selling instruments that they have Bent and making money off of one man's idea yet they can't see to respect the little bit of philosophy behind what the intention of his work was in the first place.

Can't stand myself

2008-07-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about posting something heart felt about the crap one goes through on some days, trying to meet a deadline on a project while still staying within whatever bullshit artistic thing you currently conned your dumb ass in to believing this week.

Bottom line, I'll probably rant and not say a word about my lame internal turmoil as it would only make the two or three losers that read my blog realize that I am just another weepy arty duche bag without any merits and fading street cred.

Anyway...

So I've been trying to do a new single for a few days. The some total of the recordings seems to be three totally different things that don't fit together and aren't even that good. Needless to say I'm thinking E.P.

Trying to record in an unprofessional or rather a very much home studio manner without proper monitoring and shit is like having sex by yourself when you are "not in the mood" and doing it in an awkward location that you would only consider sexy based on the fact that you were with another person who wanted to "do it" there.
-That makes sense right?

I'm spoiled by having the experience of being paid to be mediocre in grander surroundings then my lovely home and I'm no longer inspired or young enough to be otherwise more effective.

Shall I quit and not bother to announce the single?
Should I announce it and then not bother to do it?

My guess I will use this as a means of driving myself into a state of deeper self loathing while continuing to plod on if only so I have the right to piss and moan. You know what? I've always hated artists. They are best dead or at least at a distance. Few of my friends are artists in the traditional sense and I can clearly see why.

papa's got a brand new cab

2008-06-12T22:13:00.000-04:00

My uncle Steve just finished building be a traditional lower (slant) cabinet for my Moog.
It's already been loaded with some CP panels, mostly blanks and soon I will begin populating it from modules I have stored away and from my other cabinets.

Ultimately, when I actually pull everything together the system will be in the IIIC/55 range with a bunch of bells and whistles. Both oscillator banks are there and accounted for and it will indeed be really modular, aside from the filter switching.

I don't have the energy tonight to start taking apart everything so I will sit back, rest on my laurels and stare gratified in to this cabinet as I drink Guinness.

A dream come true and several years of non stop searching for loose modules as well as pestering Mike Bucki for custom stuff, etc. I'm still missing a few minor things like extra VCAs and a second mixer but I have leads and am already beginning to real stuff in.

Ode to Ultimate Support

2008-06-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

Over many years I have loved, hated and relied on Ultimate Support modular stands and "Thinker Toys". Because I have been so deeply invested in various custom stands, bags of tubing and boxes of connectors that I don't recall buyingt I somehow missed it when the company discontinued the line. Still a little bit of me died when I heard.

When my friend LH finally had decided enough was enough and the two things leaving his work space were Ultimate Support and milk crates I ended up with the former. In fact, truth be told he still occasionally finds more nests of parts and delivers them to me.

As I continuously try and find some sort of peace and balance in not having a real studio of my own I am always looking to find a way to streamline and improve work flow, one thing usually comes to mind Ultimate Support. Alas I now know that if I need a specific sized tube or an extra whatever I have to just wing it.

I have already bought a bunch of 3/16th hex keys so I have ample supply of those BUT I still haven't found a hardware store substitute for the tubing. Dear reader, hip me to that please.

In the mean time I will as LH to look behind the sofa, check under the family gazebo and look out in his storage for another supply of the gift that keeps on giving.

Help STEIM

2008-05-23T09:36:00.000-04:00

http://www.steim.org/steim/funding_in_danger/