This video, via Retrokits, is, in part, a technical demo of the company’s RK-002 MIDI cable. But it’s also a great demo of making the most of some cheap gear – like a Korg Volca Sample and a 30 year-old Macintosh Plus computer.
Technical Details:
Seq24 and RK-002 used to play New Orders’ Blue Monday on a Korg Volca Sample.
A RaspberryPi 3 is running Seq24 to send out MIDI via RetroKits’ serial port driver to the connected RK-004.
The RK-002 does real-time MIDI processing, so you can use note velocity, chromatically play multiple channels on the Volca Sample and still keep a few sample channels available for drum triggering.
How Does it Feel?
*not a Mac classic unfortunately, just a Mac classic case running a raspberry Pi or aurdrino
Still an interesting “upgrade” so to speak, it’s a classic, compact award-winning design, that little Mac Plus case… Would love more info on it!
Not sure whats so special about this, I was doing the same thing a long long time ago with my Mac SE30, Opcode Vision, and various little modules. Heck I was doing the same thing even before the invention of Midi with my Apple IIe and Alpha Syntauri Synth.
Yeesh. I was half expecting you to mention Gutenberg’s press in there.
“I was doing the same thing a long long time ago… Heck I was doing the same thing even before the invention of Midi… ” (35 years ago)
Pics? ?
Back then we didn’t have the convienance of cameras in our telephones lol, The only way to share a photo was to either personally hand it to someone to look at, or have your photo published in a newspaper or magazine. Personally I was a young nobody club keyboard player back then, unworthy of being photographed. Our managers girlfriend did snap some photos of us at a daytime rehersal however once .. but this was even before Apple Computers or Alpha Syntauri’s. All the keyboards in the photo are mine .. and I’m the guy in the back of the rig playing strings on a ballad while the vocalist played my Rhodes. My rig at that point was a Rhodes 73 Stage, Hohner D6 Clav, Korg CX3 (which replaced my B3), Elka String Rhapsody, and Minimoog D. The Apple IIe and Syntauri came a couple years latter, then the Mac SE30 and DX7/Jupiter 8 replaced those .. and on and on. I don’t think you can post your own pics here so here is my facebook link to the old pic if your interested.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1556796624393642&set=picfp.100001899592903.1556796611060310&type=3&theater
The AlphaSyntauri was like a Fairlight for cheap, apparently!
It came out in 1980, so pre-MIDI. And it’s clearly awesome! 😀
specs: http://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/alphasyntauri.php
demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfxXGcIfOBc
vintage “computer chronicles” episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_KMLTQlUQs
(FM progenitor John Chowning is also featured along with a cool demo of [non-realtime, apparently] software-generated FM vocal synthesis in 1984!)
Really is quite amazing. Consider the space/amount of gear required to make the original while watching that tiny white box flash its lights.
Or you could use a compact pre-MIDI analog sampler 😉
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman
When I wrote this, I didn’t realize that someone actually did it already:
https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2018/03/22/diy-walkman-mellotron/
Hmm not sure why my comment didn’t make it, but…
turns out someone did this already:
https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2018/03/22/diy-walkman-mellotron/
Admin: It’s because you or someone at your IP address is using multiple names to comment on the site (jerrykieblar, Petty Filer, Tom Rossie, etc).
This results in your comments getting flagged for moderation.
When I wrote this I didn’t realize someone already did!
https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2018/03/22/diy-walkman-mellotron/
Apologies for double post!