Georges Massenburg.
Sound engineer/ designer of GML.
He patented parametric EQ ( did not invent it though...) and produced some of the most sought after analog gear you could find ( GML 8900, 8200, 8302, 9500, ITI eq,...).
He used them on many recording/mixing. Earth Wind and Fire 1974/75 effort are a great example of his work.
Sound engineer/ designer of GML.
He patented parametric EQ ( did not invent it though...) and produced some of the most sought after analog gear you could find ( GML 8900, 8200, 8302, 9500, ITI eq,...).
He used them on many recording/mixing. Earth Wind and Fire 1974/75 effort are a great example of his work.
Laurie Anderson built some instruments. I recall a violin bow with pre recorded magnetic tape replacing the horsehair and a tape head on the violin body replacing the bridge and strings. Pitch (IIRC) was determined by the speed of movement of the bow.
Somewhere there is a documentary (PBS) from the 80’s or 90’s about physical modeling of instruments and she was included in that program.
Somewhere there is a documentary (PBS) from the 80’s or 90’s about physical modeling of instruments and she was included in that program.
Thank you for Harry Partch mention. Didn't know him, very innovative guy!
Back to engineer building their own gear and used it:
Rein Narma.
Not as well known as Putnam but... wow!
The guy is responsible of one of the most iconic piece of recording gear ever produced: Fairchild 660/670.
Being asked by Les Paul to built an 8 tracks console to go with it's newly developped Ampex 8tracks which he did... Then Les Paul asked about a limiter to Rein Narma... he did and once completed demoed the thing to Paul and a guy named Sherman ( Fairchild owner). Sherman decided to hire the guy and start production: first unit gone to Rudy Van Gelder, some units landed at Abbey Road, the rest is history.
More facts here:
http://lespaulremembered.com/les-and-rein-at-the-dinning-room-table.html
And an interview of Mr Narma from CJ ( groupDIY famous members) about 670 and other things here:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/8970675/rein-narma-the-fairchild-670-king-knif-audio
For people with interest in tube mics, look page 17, very interesting pov on U-47 and what he did to them! Makes one wonder why VF-14 is so important to the eyes of some...
Back to engineer building their own gear and used it:
Rein Narma.
Not as well known as Putnam but... wow!
The guy is responsible of one of the most iconic piece of recording gear ever produced: Fairchild 660/670.
Being asked by Les Paul to built an 8 tracks console to go with it's newly developped Ampex 8tracks which he did... Then Les Paul asked about a limiter to Rein Narma... he did and once completed demoed the thing to Paul and a guy named Sherman ( Fairchild owner). Sherman decided to hire the guy and start production: first unit gone to Rudy Van Gelder, some units landed at Abbey Road, the rest is history.
More facts here:
http://lespaulremembered.com/les-and-rein-at-the-dinning-room-table.html
And an interview of Mr Narma from CJ ( groupDIY famous members) about 670 and other things here:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/8970675/rein-narma-the-fairchild-670-king-knif-audio
For people with interest in tube mics, look page 17, very interesting pov on U-47 and what he did to them! Makes one wonder why VF-14 is so important to the eyes of some...
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Claude Sahakian: owner (with Herve Marignac) of the sadly now closed studio 'Plus XXX' in Paris.
He developped the desks initially used in the studio. The name doesn't relate to porn or Vin Diesel movie but rather the input/output level the desk was able to produce/withstand.
https://reverb.com/fr/item/14386555-plus-xxx-console-plusxxx-vintage
He developped the desks initially used in the studio. The name doesn't relate to porn or Vin Diesel movie but rather the input/output level the desk was able to produce/withstand.
https://reverb.com/fr/item/14386555-plus-xxx-console-plusxxx-vintage
One must not forget Wintergatan / Martin Molin and the Marble Machine. The Machine is a huge MECHANICAL sequencer with several built in instruments. Wintergatan is also a touring band with several DIY instruments including the Modulin a violin like device built from Eurorack synth modules and a ribbon controller
the Marble Machine
The Modulin
An old concert featuring several DIY and modified commercial instruments.
There are lots of people who DIY their own instruments. Here are a couple Motorola engineers that were building DIY instruments in a local high school's evening adult wood shop class. It just happened that the first unamplified sound sprang forth from both of them on the same night, so an impromptu jam session occurred after the class was over for the night and continued until school security ran us out so they could lock down the campus for the night. Steve's electric ukulele got completed and he made two more. My guitar got most of the controls, the beat box style pads, and electronics installed. The project stalled when my career at Motorola came to an end and I had just a couple months to leave Florida. It's still in a box on the shelf in the basement along with several other DIY musical "devices."
Here is a DIY music synthesizer and portable PC running Ableton Live, a Digital Audio Workstation with multi track recording capability. It's all running on battery power. Seen here on a balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on a vacation trip several years ago. Also seen inside the building on wall power. That synth now has a little brother, and a mid sized sibling with lots more features is in the works.
Here is a DIY music synthesizer and portable PC running Ableton Live, a Digital Audio Workstation with multi track recording capability. It's all running on battery power. Seen here on a balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on a vacation trip several years ago. Also seen inside the building on wall power. That synth now has a little brother, and a mid sized sibling with lots more features is in the works.
Attachments
There are sometimes some interesting instruments that come out of the Guthman musical instrument competition at Georgia Tech.
https://guthman.gatech.edu/
One of my favorites is the lyharp (a modification of the zyther) from 2017, which you can see starting at 1:01:45 in this link of the entire concert from that year
jason
https://guthman.gatech.edu/
One of my favorites is the lyharp (a modification of the zyther) from 2017, which you can see starting at 1:01:45 in this link of the entire concert from that year
jason
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My favorite was the very first one. It sounded much like a hammered dulcimer which is a sound that I'm fond of even though I have never touched one. Maybe its time for a bunch of guitar strings on a bicycle wheel.
Four of those "instruments" were MIDI controllers in disguise with the actual sound generation done in a laptop. The second entry even included an Ableton Push which along with Ableton software on a PC is a very powerful instrument itself. The light saber idea was cool. I did something similar a few years ago with my own take on the Modulin. I simply attached a two foot long FSR (force sensitive resistor) strip to a wood stick and wired it into my modular synth. The ninth entry, "Moog's Greatest Hits" sounded like the noises I was making on my "Blue" synth about two days after it came to life. There was no keyboard attached to it at this point. I need to make a new video since it does much more now.
Here's Love Hultén, a creator and builder of an arsenal of synthesizers
including two tributes to Wintergatan's marble machine.
All build with the highest degree of precision and dedicated retro look.
https://www.youtube.com/@hulten1000/videos
This one even includes the CAD files and Arduino Synth code:
Hugo
including two tributes to Wintergatan's marble machine.
All build with the highest degree of precision and dedicated retro look.
https://www.youtube.com/@hulten1000/videos
This one even includes the CAD files and Arduino Synth code:
Hugo
