2006 NAMM Update: SM Pro Audio has introduced the PM8 Passive Mixer, designed for use with software multi-tracking and hardware synth users. The PM8 is an 8 x 4 passive mixer/summing unit designed to help users of digital audio workstations achieve higher quality audio mixdown results. The summing and mixing features built into the PM8… Read More SM Pro Audio Intros PM-8 Passive Mixer
Carl Martin is shipping the Vintage Series, a new line of 9V effects pedals. Crush Zone A vintage style, high-gain/distortion pedal using the same high quality components as its Carl Martin cousins, the Crush Zone provides everything from a slight edge to your tone, to mind-blowing distortion. Adjust the cool chicken-head knobs for level and… Read More Carl Martin Ships Vintage-Style Effects Pedals
Retro-King has introduced the Plexi 50, a replica of the 1960’s 50 watt plexi with a solid state rectifier. It uses two EL-34 output tubes and a heyboer 50 watt plexi output transformer. The filtering consists of a double 50mf cap and a double 32mf cap. Unlike the 45, which uses a shared cathode, the… Read More Retro-King Intros Plexi 50 Hand-Wired Amplifiers
MXL Microphones has announced the introduction of the V67i Dual Capsule Microphone. Designed to provide a versatile instrument capable of addressing a wide range of studio applications, the new V67i is like having two mics in one, according to MXL, with the front side having a warm, lush sound, and the microphone’s back side simulating… Read More MXL Intros Two-Capsule Mic
Metasonix, creators of tube-based analog music gear, has introduced what they call “The Ultimate Tube Synthesizer,” the Metasonix S-1000 Wretch Machine. Pitch sources: 2 independent VCOs Made entirely of vacuum and gas-filled tubes Range >2 octaves using CV, octave switching allows range from 33 Hz (low C) to more than 2 kHz. 3 waveforms: thyratron… Read More Metasonix S-1000 Wretch Machine Tube-Based Synth
Here’s one for the benders & DIY’rs: Highly Liquid is offering MIDISpeak Module – Version 2, a talking toy MIDI retrofit for the Speak & Spell, Speak & Read, or Speak & Math. Features: Adds a standard MIDI IN port to your Speak & Spell, Speak & Read, or Speak & Math. Non-English versions also… Read More Add MIDI to a Speak and Spell
Start the new year off right with a visit to ZProd, the home of electronic artist Paul Granjon. Granjon creates unique machines, some of which are part robot, part musical instrument, and part performance art. Techno Inferno is a miniature electro-mechanical drum machine that produces a 3-minute long techno track. A streaming film demonstrates how… Read More Robot Skull Techno Drum Machine
Electronica band SubAtomicGlue has a great step-by-step, blow-by-blow account of building and troubleshooting an x0xb0x kit. They call it the xoxl0g. If you’re not familiar with the x0xb0x, it’s a circuit-accurate recreation of the electronics of the popular TB-303 bassline synth, with an updated sequencer and some goodies like MIDI and USB connectivity. The blog… Read More Building an x0xb0x Synth
The Eowave Persephone is a ribbon-controlled analog instrument that recalls the first electric keyboards from the 1950s. Its ribbon virtual keyboard allows the kinds of glissando a Theremin or les Ondes Martenot would allow. The Persephone sound, created by a 100 % analog oscillator, is also inspired from these instruments and oscillates from human voices… Read More Eowave Persephone Ribbon-Controlled Electronic Instrument
Blacet, a modular analog music synthesizer manufacturer, has introduced a new module, the BG 2520. The BG is not an audio module, but a module that can be used to monitor levels within a modular system. The BG is a 20 element LED bar graph display module. It’s designed to take some of the mystery… Read More Blacet Intros Bar Graph Synth Module
