Happy New Year again!

As you may have noted nothing has happened for a year. Partly because a new daytime job has been demanding. Partly because I haven't been up to creating anything for unknown reasons. I have been expanding the studio a lot, so obviously I plan for things to happen. My trusty AKG C3000 (first version) is finally replaced by a Pearl Priority microphone (above), and more expansion mini cases for the now not so small modular. Now there are six "sidecars". One of the new below.

And lots of other gear. So Moulin Noir will be back 2016. Unless I just keep buying gear I don't plan to use. But I don't think so.

Two of my heroes has passed away this year. Steve Strange - just as the Visage reboot was doing wonderful music again. And Chris Squire from Yes. Sad, but their music lives on. Right now I am listening to the album Visage was recording. The rest of the band finished it, and it's fantastic.

8th of january 2016 a remix album "Darkness to Diamond" is released. Read all about it here: http://www.visage.cc/

All about Yes here: http://yesworld.com/

A Happy New Year to you all! Now, where is the champagne? Ah, there...

Happy New Year!

Moulin Noir live!

For the first time since 2010 there will be a live performance at the festival 

Smör Synthpop & Kärlek #4

Saturday, december 6th at Nalen, Stockholm. New music will be played. (OMG I'm still struggling since I obviously believed I was Rick Wakeman's cousin when I wrote it)

Tickets are available here and  here.

New version of the database client

Behold, the archaic ASEClient has risen again with version 2.94. Still in hideous pastel colours, but now working immaculate with SAP-Sybase Anywhere 16. Ironically I have no longer a clue if it works with Adaptive Server Enterprise. At the moment I don't have an ASE to test it with. In the unlikely case you are interested it can be downloaded from the software section att www.moulin-noir.com. I have to work with the colours. The orange button just looks wrong lol.

A short review of Mackie ProFX12

I have had this for a while as a rehearsal mixer now. So here is a quick review.

The good things

The sound quality and flexibility is great. The sound is very similar to my ancient Mackie CR1604:s, which I still use two of for studio mixing. It seems extremely sturdy built, unless you drop it with knob-side down.

The annoying things

A minor thing is that the HP filter on the channels is at 100 Hz. That is too high. It should be 70 Hz. The graphic equalizer seems crafted to solve problems that may occur in a live situation by surgically cutting some frequencies. It is completely useless for anything else. It's impossible to sculpt a sound cause the frequency curve will have isolated pikes and sound pretty weird. One selling point for this kind of a mixer is that the effects section has a decent reverb. You can just hook up and rehearse or submix on stage without jacking in an external effect. Unfortunately the "running man" 32 bit effects suck. It's virtually unusable. And what's the purpose with delay if there aren't more variations in delay time? The usb interface "sings" when connected to my HP Pro laptop. Digital noise almost forming an erie chord. It probably works with some laptops. This problem is common for usb interfaces built in in mixers from many brands. I have to use a Tascam US-122 MK II interface anyway since I need midi too.

Verdict

Well, if I hook up my little effects rack, using the TC M300 "TC Classic Reverb" and  Behringer FBQ1502 equalizer I get happy rehearsing. The street pricing of ProFX12 is recently lowered to a point that the annoying things are just a little annoying. I wouldn't hesitate using this mixer for serious recording.

My phone camera is incredibly crappy.

Second sidecar for the Zebra modular

The modular synth that should never ever grow has grown again, with yet another Doepfer minicase.

Annoyingly I had the Doepfer A-162 dual trigger delay in a drawer. Make Noise Function in the first sidecar works as a dual trigger delay, but usually I want to use that module as envelope. It can do both, but only if the delay times are equal to the envelope times. Function is also the only cv controllable envelope I have. For complex cv you need to control when things start. Ergo I needed the Doepfer trigger delay in a more useful place than in a drawer.

I also had done the noob:ish mistake of having too few mixers. Those boring utility modules you don't realize you need until you are short of one. Since the Doepfer A-138c polarizing mixer is one of the most flexible and very affordable I settled for another one of those.

But what made me build another sidecar is the Happy Nerding Super Sawtor module. It's like "supersaw" on a Roland VA synth, but analogue and even better. Controlling the spread with cv is amazing. Then I had ten HP space left. And wanted another vca, a filter and an audio mixer. Frequency Central Vougue and Electro Cardiogram do all, but I didn't really want a "quirky" vca. I had to skip the mixer and went for the TipTop Z2040. This is not the SSM 2040 circuit though, it's a discrete construction following the patent. I have several synths with the similar SSM2044 (Kort Trident, Mono/Poly and Kawai K3). TipTop Z2040 is improved compared to the original. The original lowers the total volume much as resonance is increased, keeping distortion low. The TipTop filter can mimic that, but also has a mode around zero on the gain knob where the volume is compensated as resonance increases. Above zero gain Z2040 has a pretty fat overdrive. The vca can be placed controlling the gain or after the filter with jumpers. I'm using it after the filter.

Well, now that the modular has one Ms-20 like filter section, one multimode filter inspired by Oberheim Xpander, and one low pass filter inspired by SSM 2040 (Prophet 5 rev II). Maybe I can finally finish some new music ;)

Update 2015-01-08: The blind plate is now replaced with a CFM BHWR (Bipolar Half Wave Rectifier).

Eva med Adam

Some pictures from the play "Eva med Adam" at Boulevardteatern, Stockholm. Written, directed and starring Annika Forslund Rimbléus, featuring me and my brother Magnus Wikholm. It turned out even more magic than I imagined. Magnus wrote the music, I added some garnish, an earthquake made with Korg MS-20 and some birdsong. I also played a little part as the devil. A burgulary at the theater didn't stop us. I lost a Tapco Mix 260FX in a Thomann hardcase and a Tama Techstar TAM 500 drumsynth in a Warwick Rockbag mixerrack with a Digitech DSP-16. But I had a spare TAM 500 and Magnus bought a new mixer. The result was beyond anything I imagined. Directors eye Michelle Nordlander, Light by Simon Söderberg, DMx light by Magnus Wikholm. Photograps by Jonas Wahlin.