Microwave XT knob replacements

From the desk of Malte Steiner:

"Had to replace the knob caps of my beloved Waldorf Microwave XT synthesizer . The original ones started to disintegrate a while ago which is well known. Using knobs with indicators on endless rotary encoders is a bit silly (which didn’t stopped Kodamo on their Essence FM synth), but I am happy with the look. Good that I don’t have children, the old knobs look like sugar coated drops, dangerous."

new Notstandskomitee album this year

Seems that Malte Steiners Industrial / IDM project Notstandskomitee has enough tracks together for a new album. block 4 suggests a CD this year. Not sure if we make it before the summer. Notstandskomitee is now focusing on the creation of the technical platform for upcoming audiovisual concerts.

Meanwhile check out the backcatalog:

https://notstandskomitee.bandcamp.com

b4DigiMatrix synthesizer

pictured here between the French Kodamo Essence FM synthesizer and the DBX compressor, is the digital synthesizer b4DigiMatrix in white which Malte Steiner built 2023. It is based on a STM32 Arm Microcontroller and has three wavetable oscillators going in a multimode filter with several configurations. The routing inclusive the 2 function generators are all done digitally with toggle switches. It mainly lives in the studio but for local concerts or jam sessions Steiner dragged it out the rack.
Firmware is open sourced: https://github.com/HerrSteiner/b4DigiMatrix

synth in a suitcase

 From the desk of Malte Steiner:

"The current state of my DIY electronics modular synthesizer I developed in the past months, my take on a portable instrument in a suitcase for concerts and jam sessions. Before I develop a Midi interface I first revise the Clockworks gate module with a more flexible second version with variable gate lengths and random mode, based on Arduino. Second half of March I will be in Helsinki and I am open for concerts of my projects Elektronengehirn or Notstandskomitee, or jam sessions."

b4 modular synthesizer

The last months Malte Steiner expanded his knowledge of analog electronics, researched and build a modular synthesizer system. The idea is to create a cheap, repairable system which one would check in during a flight and drag onto stage. The most expensive is actually the suitcase, the whole system is around 500.-€ instead of the 2000.- to 3000.- € a comparable Eurorack suitcase would cost.

research & development

recording

    

RIP Dave Smith

RIP Dave Smith, founder of Sequential Circuits and DSI, synthesizer pioneer and one of the creators of the MIDI standard.

A Sequential Circuits Six-Trak was the core of the sound of Notstandskomitee at its beginning 1991, including the song 'Gebärmutter'. The synthesis was rather basic but it was 6 times multitimbral, means it provided 6 different midi controllable analog sounds at the same time, like 6 monophonic synths. Multitracking and overdubbing was not in my reach in that time due to the lack of money. Multitracking was in the composition and sequencing, all audio was mixed down in one go and recorded on stereo. In that time the Six-Trak, originally from 1984, could be bought cheaply second hand, and it was Claus of PNE who suggested it to me.

The Six-Trak is now in storage,but these days in the block 4 studio there is a DSI Tempest drumsynthesizer and the Smith/Oberheim collaboration OB6 synthesizer, which is one giant sweetspot synth.

The block4 Social Distancing Concerts part 3: Notstandskomitee 2

In the third installment of the block4 Social Distancing Concerts Notstandskomitee plays another concert, this time on our big modular synthesizer. Streaming from our studios gives us the possibility to work with equipment we are not able to take with us to a regular concert setting, hence it gives you also a unique experience. The patch is the set.

It will be streamed today 17:00 center euopean time from youtube from this link

and like the other concerts archived for later consumption

The block4 Social Distancing Concerts

I made my first remote concert sometime around 1994 with my band Das Kombinat. It was for an experimental festival and the medium was analog landline telephone. Sonic bandwidth was limited.

Instead of streaming I became more interested into digital puppetry, just sending control data. We experimented with VRML and the multiuser server Blaxxun to create audio visual performances, but it was to ahead of its time in the 90s.

2010 I did a remote concert from my then home in Hamburg, Germany to Esc Im Labor Graz for the Art's Birthday event. I send them a PD patch in advance which I then remote controlled via OSC protocol.

With my projects with Tina Madsen I did some streaming concerts, with our noise project TMS we streamed 2016 from Copenhagen for the AudioBlast Streaming Festival and with our live coding project codepage for last years Algosix event.

Now its time for the block4 Social Distancing Concerts from our studios in Aalborg. It gives the opportunity to work with all equipments we normally can't take with us since no booker would pay the transport costs. For the start this Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will do concerts with my solo projects Notstandskomitee and Elektronengehirn. Exact times will be announced soon.

free Notstandskomitee single

In times of chaos and corruption here an exclusive, calmer track by my project Notstandskomitee as free single. Full album comes soon, on cassette and download.

current Apple computer not usable for pro audio

its incredible that current computers from Apple are not usable for professional audio and that a rich company like them just don't bother. The bug with the new T2 chip machines is known since April but nothing happend. It mainly concerns USB sound cards but there are also reports about Thunderbolt ones. We were discussing at Block 4 to upgrade the 2010 cheesegrater Studio Mac and my live notebook, but it seems that it won't be Apple.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/1228743-mbp-high-sierra-mojave-coreaudio-overload-bug.html

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65227&sid=9734e93dc3bbd8f64c8ba005d7f1aea1

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/audio-interface-issues-with-2018-macbook-pro.2159141

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27964

concerts may - july

the next concerts:

May 29. TMS, 18h in the auditorium at the cultural house Nättepori in Ii.
https://artii.fi/artists/tina-mariane-krogh-madsen-dk-malte-steiner-de-pintajannitys-iijoki-suhteet/


June 2. Notstandskomitee, Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen soloset at Third Space in Helsinki, Finland
http://www.th1rdspac3.com/soundroom83.html


June 8. TMS at the Akusmata Sound Art Festival, Helsinki, Finland
http://akusmata.com


June 17. Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen soloset at Modular+ Space, Greenhouse, Berlin, Germany


July 23. TMS at Madame Claude, Berlin, Germany


here a new instrument Tina found and built at the residency in Ii:

new Elektronengehirn album

Next week block 4 is going to release the fourth album of Elektronengehirn on Bandcamp. Many have heard Fjord already on Soundcloud which will be the opening track. The pieces on this album are made between 2004 and 2017.

A fascinating insight of Elektronengehirn working in the block 4 studio can be seen here, showing a complex drone patch for a new piece on the modular synthesizer:

Behringer

Richard D. James gave in the 90s as one of his infamous answers to the question which gear Aphex Twin uses, the statement that he only uses Behringer. Obviously a joke back then because the German company didn't offered instruments that time except the case no-input mixers are your thing. Fast forward to 2018, its a different picture now. With two different synthesizers released, two more in the pipeline and additionally their so-called leak and announcement, that drum machines are also planned, a whole Behringer branded studio becomes doable.

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2018/01/27/behringer-neutron-analog-semi-modular-synthesizer/

Notstandskomitee news

The mastering of the 6. album by Notstandskomitee (actually the 11. if you count also the tape releases) is finished a while ago and will be released soon on Audio Visual Algebra from New York. Meanwhile I had to move out of the nice Block 4 studio in Berlin Kreuzberg and found a new one in an industrial space in Berlin Charlottenburg / Moabit. Not so much is setup right now, only what is necessary to program and rehearse the upcomming live shows. Later I will do the unpacking and cabeling, lot of things needed to sort out.

Next performances are going to be

26. May at LPM in Rome where I also do a Pure Data workshop and

28.June Berlin at Loophole together with ReVerse Bullets, another friends from New York.

While the set is made on one hand this time with Ableton + a lot of custom programming in Max4Live, the visuals are done with the open source game engine Panda3D, controlled from Ableton. Later I will document and share an example, also thinking about giving workshops covering the whole workflow from creating animations in Blender to programming the setup in Panda3D with Python and control it via OSC.

the regression of Midi

a weird way to fix the dreaded midi jitter under Windows 7, it sends the midisignal as audio to the DAW where a VST plugin decodes it back to midi data.
How about just fixing the drivers? Midi was so stable long time ago...:
http://www.advancedprogear.com/products.html

Battery exchange

started a new section on Block 4 about exchanging memory batteries in studio equipment, first is the Yamaha FS1r:
http://www.block4.com/index.php?id=148
read also the disclaimer here:
http://www.block4.com/index.php?id=147

Wall of Korg

Yesterday at Institut Für Elektronische Klangerzeugung, the studio by Matthias Schuster (Geisterfahrer, Das Institut, Bal Pare) with whom I run the music project Akustikkoppler.

Von Akustikkoppler

for music tracks visit http://soundcloud.com/akustikkoppler

lecture 2.August Linux Audio

I am going to lecture about Linux Audio and production with open source tools at Linux Stammtisch Centro Sociale Hamburg on Monday, the 2. August, 20:00. I will show Ardour, Pure Data, Csound, Qtractor, Alsa Modular Synthesizer, Minicomputer and more.

my studio is a tardis

Now I am certain, my studio is sort of disfunct Tardis. Its bigger from the inside when it comes to misplacing things and times shifts, usually forward, when I start to program sounds for new tracks.

Ardour 2.8.9 is out

The latest version of Ardour, the free open source DAW for Linux and OSX, is released:

http://ardour.org/