1975: The first speech synthesizer IC was born.

In 1974/1975 Dr. Forrest S. Mozer licensed his unique voice compression technology to Telesensory Systems, Inc. (TSI).

Encoding words was a very complex and time consuming process. Something only he and a few of his colleagues could do. Most of the TSI/Digitalker-using consumer devices of the late 70’s and early 80’s used Dr Mozer’s own voice, compressed by a factor of 100. 

This is the voice you are hearing in the video.  Last year we’ve obtained his authorization to use his voice for our ‘chipspeech’ project. Thank you infinitely Dr. Mozer!

chipspeech will be availible this week!  From this KvR post:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6006393#p6006393

Find out more here:

http://www.plogue.com/

The first batch of Linnstruments have been shipped and new Linnstrument owners are starting to share and record their first experiences.  I’m really looking forward to seeing and hearing the new music that everyone creates with their Linnstrument.  Also REALLY looking forward to what user modifications will start appearing since the Linnstrument OS is open source!  Check out all of these new videos below:

“The Christmas Song” with the Linnstrument

Jeff Moen playing “The Christmas Song” with the Linnstrument

My New Linnstrument!

I have been following Roger Linn since the first prototype of this instrument and been patiently waiting for it to become a reality. Well, it’s now a reality and even though I lack what most might call “talent”, I LOVE this thing!!!

Linnstrument and Sitar Improv Jam

Linnstrument by Roger Linn performing on this awesome FREE Kontakt Sitar library — thank you!

Method was ultra simple — I created 8 identical instances of the Sitar patch in Kontakt (so that I would have note by note pitch bend) and played.

The scripting could use some fine tuning — right now it doesn’t play 100 percent nicely with the flood of Linnstrument data coming in. But overall, results were quick and impressive!

Second Day With Linnstrument

Had a nice, long conversation with Roger Linn as he helped me understand MIDI and some neat features of the Linnstrument. This was taken before his call. Now I have to go back to play it more.

You can also find more videos and first Linnstrument experiences on the Roger Linn KvR forum here:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=263&sid=a1c3c5d300f75293aef7a10000b4d71a

Also visit the Linnstrument’s official page at Roger Linn Design here:

http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/linnstrument.html

Touch Guitarist Jeff Moen Plays On A Linnstrument.  “Song for Sarah with Linnstrument”

Song for Sarah” performed by Jeff Moen using Lounge Lizard, Addictive Keys, Omnisphere and Diva for sounds. No, he’s not playing upside down and backwards, but rather shot the video in the moment in Mac Photobooth, which reverses the video.

http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/linnstrument.html

Visit Jeff’s website here:

http://touchguitarist.com/

Two New Linnstrument Videos were posted last week.  One from Roger Linn in San Francisco and another from Geert Bevin in Antwerp.  The first batch of Linnstruments will be shipping very very soon.  Looking forward to seeing more demos of this controller. 

Some great sound demos:

Roger Linn demos the LinnStrument, the revolutionary 200-pad expressive 3D grid controller at Music Expo SF November 8, 2014 at The Chapel San Francisco.

The video from Geert is special since it shows some of the guts/insides of the unique sensors inside the Linnstrument from prototypes to current development.  It also shows some hints and details on what it will be like to program modifications to the Linnstrument OS/Firmware.

This is the complete video of the lecture that I gave at Devoxx 2014 in Antwerp, Belgium.

The slides are available from http://www.slideshare.net/gbevin/linnstrument-the-ultimate-opensource-hacker-instrument

LinnStrument is a new expressive electronic instrument that was invented by Grammy award winner, Roger Linn, creator of the MPC and the LinnDrum. It is built with open-source hardware, the Arduino Due and runs with firmware that is completely open-source as well. With its 3 dimensional touch sensor, 200 cells and multi-color LEDs, LinnStrument presents itself as an amazing playground to discover embedded Arduino development with concrete musical and visual results. This session will introduce the Arduino development concepts, tie them back to the actual hardware concerns, provide an overview of the main algorithms in the LinnStrument firmware and explain valuable lessons that were learned during the development.

The latest live improve from Rheyne.  Rheyne – Live Jam 108.

Live looping with USB controllers, iOS devices, and Ableton Live.  Find more of Rheyne’s music:

https://soundcloud.com/rheyne

Synth1 Presets

KoolKool has shared a new collection of Euro-electronic inspired sounds for Synth1.  Many great techo, eurobeat, dance, trance, oriented sounds within.

Inspired many great soundbanks for synth1, i have made my own full-on bank with 118 patches,i hope you guy like it
My bank may work well with eurobeat, eurodance, techno.. Or maybe useful for experimental, game sound effect…..maybe! 🙂 You should have latest version of synth1 in order to use this bank 100 percent efficiently.

Download Euro-Nam 118 Collection

Download the 128 new Synth1 Presets here:

Euro-Nam 118 Presets

Inside the zip you’ll find 128 new Presets in .sy1 (Synth1 Preset) format.

Synth1 Info

Synth1 is the amazing free synth for Windows and OS X.  You can download it here:

http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/

Also see:

128 New Patches For Ichiro Todas Synth1

You can find tons of other Synth1 Presets and Banks here:

http://patcharena.com/downloads/index.php?subcat=88&ENGINEsessID=5123

128 New Sounds For LuSH-101

Presenting The Solar System, a new LuSH-101 Soundset by Che.  A fresh, pulsating, energetic handmade Soundset featuring 128 new Sounds for D16 Group LuSH-101 User’s, Music makers, artists and space adventurers.

Thanks to the D16 Team, the Virtual Synthesizer LuSH-101 has a very good workflow, a big clear Graphical User Interface, 8 independent Layers, a cool Browser, Superb Sounds, CPU friendly & cheaper and a bit better than the Original Roland SH-101.

Download

The download includes:

• 1 Soundset ‘ Solar System ‘ with 128 Presets
• Format: Lush-101 *.shprst & *.shtmbr
• Sound Design by: CHE ( Sonic Sirus)
• Royalty ‘ Free Soundset ‘ License
• Genre: Modern Synth – Electro
• For: D16 Group – LusSH-101
• Includes a ReadMe and PDF with installation instructions.
• File Size: 21 MB

Download LuSH-101 Soundset

Installation Instructions

Installation – 1 – Presets

Unrar/Unzip the Soundset and copy the Folder/File:

Solar System by CHE – Lush-101

into the D16 Group Lush-101 Preset Folder:

C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\D16 Group\LuSH-101\Presets

Installation – 2 – Timbre

Copy the Folder/File:

CHE ( there is into the : Solar System – Timbre Presets) Folder

into the D 16 Group – LuSH-101 Timbre Folder

C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\D16 Group\LuSH-101\Timbres

Read me : How to show protected operating system files in Windows 7 Lies mich: Geschützte Systemdateien unter Windows 7 anzeigen lassen

By default, presets are kept on the hard drive:
• for Windows – the folder “c:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\D16 Group\LuSH-101”
• for MacOS – the folder ~/Library/Application Support/D16 Group/LuSH-101/Arpe

Following files types are recognized by LuSH-101:
• .shprst – Global Preset
• .shtmbr – Timbre (Layer) Preset • .shfx1 – Reverb effect’s Preset
• .shfx2 – Delay effect’s Preset
• .sharpe – Arpeggiator’s Preset

More Info

Here are some links to more info on LuSH-101 including the D16 Page, Reviews, and some Roland SH-101 history.  Enjoy!

Developer – D16 Grpup – LuSH-101
http://www.d16.pl/lush-101

D16 LuSH-101- Review
http://soundbytesmag.net/d16-lush-101/

[German] D16 LuSH-101 Testbericht
http://www.delamar.de/test/d16-lush-101-testbericht/

D16 LuSH-101- Review
http://www.attackmagazine.com/reviews/gear-software/d16-lush-101-vs-roland-sh101/

Roland SH 101 the internal sequencer HQ Sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Aa1RR5Qfk-8

Roland SH-101 From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_SH-101 http://www.retrosound.de/sh-101.html

64 Free Serum Presets and Wavetables!

Go deeper with Serum’s realtime wavetable synthesis and these new Serum Presets and Wavetables.  Che has shared 64 Free Serum Presets featuring Virus TI wavetable shapes!  Use these new wavetables to sculpt fresh, pulsating, and energetic sounds from Xfer Records’ Serum VST. 

The Cosmic Trigger Soundbank by Che.  64 Energized Presets for Serum as a free download.  Here is what CHE has to say about Serum:

Praise and respect to the Xfer Serum Team, this Serum Software Synthesizer is definitely the innovation of the decade.

Download Serum Presets

To download these free Serum Presets and Wavetables visit the new Serum download page here:

Serum Cosmic Trigger Presets

More about Xfer Record’s Serum:

Find out more about the new Serum VSTi on the product page here:

http://www.xferrecords.com/products/serum/

You can download a demo and check it out!

Stay tuned for more Serum Presets and wavetables.  PatchArena has a large collection of wavetables for other VSTis such as z3ta+ and Rapture.  We will be converting these over to this wonderful new wavetable synthesizer!  Keep an eye on the Serum Presets and Download Category page here:

http://patcharena.com/downloads/index.php?subcat=284

Plogue has recently updated their R&D Blog with a new post covering their new voice synthesis project chipspeech.  If you haven’t seen their Developer Blog yet head on over to this link here:

http://ploguechipsounds.blogspot.ca/2014/09/chipspeech-diary-part-1.html

Check out all of those cool retro voice synthesis devices!

we take hardware research and emulation very seriously here at Plogue.

Read on and don’t miss the full article along with updates:

http://ploguechipsounds.blogspot.ca/2014/09/chipspeech-diary-part-1.html

A voice groove demo from Plogue’s YouTube Channel:

Also the previous Plogue chipspeech teaser was posted here:

Plogue chipspeech Teaser!

Plogue chipsounds and chipcrusher are phenomenal plug-ins!  Really looking forward to the development and release of chipspeech as Plogue always delivers the best instruments and effects!

Joel Bisson has uploaded Yamaha TX81Z bass samples as a new SFZ Instrument to the Downloads section.

The SFZ Instrument was recorded from the first ever preset he made for a Yamaha TX81Z.  Just loaded it up into Plogue sforzando and it’s classic FM Bass sound. Perfect for those with a soft spot for FM Bass!

The JB1STBass download includes 10 samples in 16bit 44.1k sample format.  Roughly 5.5 MB decompressed.

Download JB1STBass If you are looking for more classic FM Bass Sounds don’t miss out on the other free sfz patches here:

Free SFZ Instruments Downloads