Results for retro

ThinkGeek has released Bliptronic 5000, an LED synthesizer.

If HAL 9000 mated with R2-D2 and their electronic offspring was tutored by Kraftwerk it would probably end up something like the Bliptronic 5000 LED Synthesizer.

At once a minimalist musical plaything and a hardcore old-skool synthesizer, the Bliptronic defies categorization as it belts out 8-Bit style style tunes from its grid of glowing buttons.

You’ll notice sound similar to a retro Casiotone with an interface not unlike a simplified Yamaha TENORI-ON… if that makes any sense. Either way, once you start touching the keys of the Bliptronic you’ll be hooked by it’s simple pattern-based approach to music.

Bliptronic 5000 features

• Unusual retro synthesizer is played with a grid of glowing buttons.
• Create looping patterns and change them dynamically while playing.
• Chain multiple units together and create more complex melodies.
• One octave range. 8 notes can be played simultaneously.
• 8 different old-skool synth sounding instruments to choose from.
• Sounds created using FM waveform synthesis.
• Set the BPM (beats per minute) from 60 to 180 in 20 BPM increments.
• Built in speaker with headphone jack and line-out jack.
• Front panel is constructed from brushed aluminum.
• Includes, manual and 2 link cables for connecting additional Bliptronic units.
• Requires 4 x AA batteries (not included).

The Bliptronic 5000 is available to purchase for $49.99 USD.

More information: Bliptronic 5000

Some interesting things I found recently:

# Even retro record covers can be used to create something amazing

There are those who will throw away their old record covers but there are those that will use them to create some mind blowing artistic stuff.

One of them is definitely Christian Marclay, a New York visual artist, DJ and composer who used record covers of Michael Jackson , Doors, Donna Summer, David Bowie and many others for this piece of art. The relationship of sound, vision, music, art and performance is the focus of his work.

More on Christian Marclay

# Two Garbage Cans and a Microphone

Rock the party with this DIY sound system.

Peter Kirn writes:

Say you’re an up-and-coming crew with a turntable and some mics. You’ve got a gig this Friday at the middle school gym (the janitor has been bribed appropriately) and the boys on the corner have been passing out your flyers to all the lovely ladies. Everything’s set, except you heard that Kool Herc is coming to battle. Herc and his mighty sound system schooled you last go-round, so you know you need something fresh to rock the bodies proper. Your DIY solution? The 55-gallon drum sound system.

… read more

Haunted House Records has released a collection of old skool computer games samples, as a free gift to celebrate the launch of Electronic Critters 3 : The Creaturephonic Workshop and Experimental Percussion.

This sample collection contains 374 retro style computer games one shots and hits. Jumps, bangs, wizzes etc, Just like the great games of yester-year.

These samples are great when tuned, stretched, chopped and used as part of your drum tracks.

Visit Haunted House Records for more information.

Some interesting things I found recently:

# The Stretta Procedure: obo

Matthew writes:

There was a recent request on the monome forums for an application that does what the popular tonematrix does, which itself is inspired by the tenori-on. I took some parts out of my residue application for the monome (it's full of techno! DD103!) and added a simple four voice internal sine wave synth.

If you like tonematrix, but would prefer something standalone, with MIDI output, sync and tweakable note assignments, you can download this standalone application for MacOS X. It is free! Enjoy!

Then, maybe at some point I'll get around to adapting it to the monome.

# FL Studio’s FPC, room for improvement?

FL Studio user Survei petitions for a better FPC (FL Pad Controller).

Simply put, compared to the layering sound design possibilities in the Step Sequencer, the FPC is extremely limited, because it doesn’t have many layer-specific controls. For instance, it doesn’t have any envelopes for the LAYERS within the pads. But the FPC would be awesome and fill a void in my production if the individual waveforms were like Sampler Channels, in that you can click on EACH and EVERY individual waveform and have a Sampler Settings window come up for every waveform. This would be an easy solution to the FPC’s problem of not having much control over the sounds of the layers. It is common in today’s production to make custom drum sounds by combining multiple drum sounds. The waveforms are our clay from which we sculpt our sounds from using tools that are in the Sampler Channels.

# Sarien.net – Instant adventure gaming – Do you have fond memories of playing Sierra’s adventure games? You can now play them online!

Welcome to Sarien.net, the portal for reliving the classic Sierra On-Line adventure games. With its focus on instant fun and a unique multiplayer experience, Sarien.net hopes to win new gamers' hearts and promote the adventure game genre.

Currently available: King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel, Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter, Space Quest II: Vohaul’s Revenge, The Black Cauldron.

# •· hypetape – Hypetape is the illegitimate lovechild of Hype Machine and Muxtape, where you can create and share playlists containing tracks other people have been talking about from around the internet.

de la Mancha has released miniSID, a quick and simple SID synth for getting that chiptune sound with the minimum of tweaking.

The waveforms are sampled from a 6581 SID chip and the arp gives that retro gamer effect.

miniSID features

• Square, Saw and Triangle waves sampled from a 6581 SID chip.
• 2 oscs with 3 levels of oscillator sync.
• arp with 3 modes and 4 speeds.
• arp has up to 4 octaves range.
• arp has 4 note length options.
• all controls have MIDI CC’s assigned.

miniSID is available as a freeware VST instrument for Windows PC.

Visit de la Mancha for more information and audio demos.

L-Day has released xd4, a freeware VST instrument plug-in for Windows PC.

xd4 is a retro style FM synthesizer in the classic DX style.

xd4 features

• 4 Operators / 6 Algorithms (harmonic knobs for easy programming).
• Phase Envelope.
• 1 ADSR Envelope.
• Flanger.
• Stereo Keypanner.
• Glide Wheel.

Visit L-Day for more information and a link to download xd4.