Synthesizer Noise Jam #4

Here’s the forth entry in my series of synthesizer noise jams. Once again I chose the Roland MKS-80 because since I have repaired it I’m spending most of my time programming this magnificent synth. I just can’t seem to leave it alone. Although this segment is almost two minutes long, it came out of a recording that ran over ten minutes.

Synthesizer Noise Jam #4

VidiSynth Generates Audio from Light Sources

Expanding the VidiSynth Part III from paul sobczak on Vimeo.

Paul Sobczak has recently posted some videos documenting the VidiSynth. It’s has four independent oscillators that are controlled by either potentiometers or inputs from other sources. In this case he is using light dependent resistors or LDRs that suction onto a display. As video plays on the display the pitches change on all four oscillators based on the position of the LDR on the screen producing corresponding sounds. I’m not sure how Paul plans to use this, but I’m anticipating some interesting generative work with a synesthetic theme.

Weird Sound Generator Meets Memory Man

This evening I introduced the Weird Sound Generator (WSG) to the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man delay. The two of them hit it off and the next thing I knew was that someones jack went into someones input and some completely unprotected signals went down. A little mood lighting later and… here’s the result of the union.

WSG Meets Memory Man

Processed Glitch from Juno-106 with Bad Voice Chip

Here’s another segment from the recording I made of my Roland Juno-106 while it still had a bad voice chip. This time I decided to run it through some spacial processing, including ping pong delay and reverb to hear what it sounded like with some atmosphere.

Roland Juno-106 Processed Glitch

Sounds from a Contact Mic Frozen in Water Ice

Freezing the mic outside overnight

I just got a note from Dan Pugsley of Radium Audio. regarding their new resource Radium Audio Labs. The site will feature a broad variety of sound experiments and explorations. Dan writes,

“Radium Audio has recently started a blog demonstrating some of our explorative processes, and though it’s very much in the early stages of development we have some pretty interesting pieces uploaded already and I was wondering if any of it might be suitable for Audio Cookbook? We have two new explorative projects in the works at the moment, one of which is based on binaural recordings and the other will be revolving around the use of dry ice to create a variety of sounds.”

The projects posted so far include using a coil mic to record the electromagnetic fields from various electronic devices, like an iPhone and a printer/scanner, and my favorite at the moment, sounds captured from a contact microphone frozen in water ice as it melts.


Frozen Contact Mic in Ice by Radium-Audio