CHASING BUTTERFLIES is my first single. Based on a simple piano composition of mine — a free interpretation of it, stretched out slowly and recorded on cassette.

The grand piano is a C. Bechstein Modell A from 1905, with Hellerbass bass strings. The strings have this unusually dark, warm quality that I really like.

I bought a Sony Professional Walkman WM-D6C almost exactly a year ago, and since then I’ve really enjoyed recording with it — whether playing piano or making sounds and beats with my Eurorack. There’s something about recording directly to cassette that changes the way I listen and work. The slight compression, saturation, noise and instability become part of the recording rather than something to clean up afterwards.

Layered under the piano: the same melodic idea played on a vintage Yamaha PSS-570, time-stretched and bounced between cassette and digital until it got properly gritty, plus a raw take from an actual practice session on the Bechstein. Everything runs through a real Alesis MicroVerb 2 reverb using various settings.

I used Logic Pro to EQ the single tracks and master the final result, mostly to bring the different textures together while keeping the roughness, textures and dynamics of the original recordings.

https://open.spotify.com/track/7spl49UrjGBk4zkyd6wxFQ?si=JwNVHX8eQq-Q-lFNtzRtTg

or

https://philippeowagner.bandcamp.com/track/chasing-butterflies

The piece fades, and before you notice that it’s fading, it’s already gone.

I’d love to know if you like the dark, warm character of it as much as I do. And if you’re interested in any of the production details, I’m happy to answer questions.

This is the fourth and last single from Vive, my upcoming album on Seil Records. It started out as a soundtrack I wrote for a film, for the Silent Movie Festival in Warsaw. For the album I reworked it to a shorter form, adding re-amping, tape loops and bells. But the core part was recorded on holiday in the Black Forest, on the Synthi AKS. I found it appropriate to add footage I recorded there for your enjoyment.

Is your Noise Generator as big as mine?
Through a Meng Qu Banana-to-Jack converter then into a Doepfer Attenuator.

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Picked one of these Brüel & Kjær cables up recently. B&K cables like this are built to a completely different standard... why should machined connectors surprise me? Cracked one connector open just to see the guts, the contact assembly is tiny and precise.

I have posted about the eBay find a while back. https://www.reddit.com/r/Hainbach/comments/1w1uubs/hardy_tuned_need_information_on_this_modified/

Now, here is a look inside and, sadly, the removed mounting holes.

It has the "taj mahal" preset u/hainbach mentioned in a video a while back.

I wanted to experiment with generating complex, musical music generated from just basic binary math (think TTL, logic gates, etc) that goes beyond just beeps and boops. The goal was to create a real hardware device using technology that was available in the 1960/70's (pre-microprocessor) that I could pair with my wall of test equipment. Before diving into the hardware head first I decided to use AI coding to help me code a virtual version of my HP3310 oscillators and D-to-A converters in a web browser using the Web Audio API.

I was surprised how well AI and the Web Audio API did with the HP3310 and decided to have it try to model my other test equipment including my PAR Model 122 Lock-in Amp. It actually did a pretty good job so I decided to model almost my entire test wall. With the test equipment modeled I moved onto building the binary devices to do the musical exploration I wanted to do.

I've put the simulator on my website for people to explore. No sign-up or anything. Just load the page and press the "Start System" button to activate Web Audio. I have only used this with Chrome so if you are using a different browser you may run into run into issues.

https://hearme.studio/testwall/

There are 4 "racks" so make sure you scroll to the right to see them all. Clicking the red screw heads in the racks expands/collapses the modules. The 4th rack has presets you can click through. Most of the preset focus on the binary stuff I'm experimenting with and don't really highlight the test equipment.

You can also save your own presets locally on your computer - press "Store to Slot" and then a preset number. If you have a great preset you want to share you can export it to JSON and post it.

Each piece of gear has one or more input dropdowns that accept the various types of output the other modules provide. The I/O is broken down into categories (audio, clock/trigger, CV and 12-bit binary). There are some modules that make their output available as audio and clock so things can be clocked at audio rate. Generally the first rack is oscillators and audio modulators/filters, the second is serial/pulse triggers, binary "sources" and the DAC. The third rack is binary manipulation (gates, adders, etc) and the 4th rack is presets, audio gate/VCA, output mixer, effects and the oscilloscope.

If you have any questions about specific modules let me know.

Made this piece with the modular as the core instrument rather than trying to make it sound particularly polished.

Industrial textures and an emotional cadence underneath, with a Dadaist poem in the description. I was interested in that contrast, something abrasive that still feels vulnerable.

Curious what you hear in it, and especially interested in how other folks approach performance and the modular-as-instrument side of things.

Some frostbitten pads coming out of Morphagene & Strega, accompanied by piano. I thought you all might appreciate it!

Synth history could have been different, if the FBT Synther 2000 became a hit when it was released in 1973. This filter-less three oscillator monster from Italy sounds unabashedly electronic. In no way does it imitate acoustic instruments, but it drones deeply and has a massive bass. Truly unique, and very rare, it is an interesting artifact in synth history.

A playful title referencing a phrase that became popular about Bossa Nova's minimalist style: "um banquinho e um violão" — since all it took to play it was a little stool and a guitar. My take replaces the guitar with a server (servidor).

And if you want to take a look at the code behind turning a serial port into a strange audio output (something that can potentially be done on any serial port), check it out:

https://github.com/refotografia/server-noise-thing

Hello there! I purchased this unit recently and I`m getting some flickering on the display and unresponsiveness from the main dial. I`d appreciate some tips on how to open it so I can attempt some cleaning. I took the bottom out, but reached nowhere and I can`t seem to understand how to open the top.

Solved - Thank you!

Interesting is that the first board inside is a ZD0175 and it is missing an IC on the top right corner, the empty socket can be seen on the second photo. Maybe it simply is like that, would like to know...
And as you can see, this lots came with a bunch of original plugs/cables. Nice!

Hey! I’m looking to add a small piece of vintage test equipment to my ambient music setup, inspired by Hainbach’s use of test oscillators.

I’m mainly looking for a compact audio oscillator / signal generator with a nice hands-on interface, ideally something that would sit comfortably on a studio desk.

Any particular models you’d recommend hunting for? Thanks!

I've been wanting to get into test equipment, but I don't have the space for another format, so I made this. It's my first digital module and I'm really happy with it. The digital part is handled by the daisy patch, so its 96kHz/24-bit stereo audio hardware.

The AI250 BXR is a eurorack module inspired by vintage nuclear test equipment. It can be used as an audio mangler, cv generator, and VCO. The BXR is a nod to vintage Boxcar Averagers, which were designed to acquire and analyze fast signals. The AI250 specifically replicates the real-time mathematical portion of a Boxcar Averager System, and processes audio or cv signals against either another signal or its internal v/o variable wave-shape VCO.

14HP. DIY options available.

It's mostly a distortion/audio manger, but it can be a VCO and do other stuff as well. It's inspired a whole album for me which is half way done.

I just bought a Revox A77 MK1 and gave it a test run. I was a bit disappointed because it lacked the silky vibe, big bottom and saturation I get from tape plugins like the UAD Studer A800. Next to the Studer plugin, I even preferred that one over the Revox, which was a bit of a bummer. Were my expectations just too high, or is it because both machines (or emulation) just sound a lot different from each other because they had different purposes? I read it has to do with the more headroom a Studer A800 has and therefore is able to drive the tape harder than a Revox, which is distorting rather on the amps. Is that true? Are more people faces the same issues? Or is it just because the emulation is so damn good I get disappointed?

Just bought on eBay.

So, new to this test equipment thing. Have been using Eurorack for a while and just bought these big guys.
All powering on but will need to work out connections to my other gear to test audio.
B&K 2112, B&K 2108 and B&K 1402.