@axwax@chaos.social
@axwax@chaos.social avatar

axwax

@axwax@chaos.social

Web Dev / Maker / DJ / Olive Farmer mostly based in 🇪🇸. Ex 🇬🇧/ 🇩🇪. (He/him)

I sometimes post about #Audio, #Chickens, #Electronics, #Goats, #Making, #Music, #Nature, #Solar, #Sustainability and #Synths.

More things that interest me:
#Arduino #BonkWave #C64 #Cats #CircuitPython #DJing #Ecology #Gardening #Geese #HipHop #Microcontrollers #MicroPython #MusicProduction #Olives #Permaculture #Photography #PHP #RaspberryPiPico #RightToRepair #Vinyl #fedi22

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ordnung, to random German

And we are back online. There was a problem with the hardware we couldn't fix on our own so we had to wait for a technician to fix it for us. Now there will be some lagging because of full queues for a while. #mastoadmin

axwax,
@axwax@chaos.social avatar

Well, I'm still lagging (but luckily my lovely instance isn't, thanks to @ordnung always being on the ball)...

Thank yoooo! :rainbow_heart:

limebar, to fediverse
@limebar@mastodon.social avatar

So the open-ness of means we get to have choices for which mobile app to use for

But I think it also implies alternate web sites as well. I think I recall seeing one, but lost it.

Are you using an alternate web site to interact with your Mastodon account? Does it support a progressive web app (PWA) version of itself? I prefer the Mastodon PWA on mobile to the official app or any of the others. Still it might be interesting to see other web choices.

axwax,
@axwax@chaos.social avatar

@limebar

https://elk.zone/ looked promising when I checked it out a few months ago.

I did end up sticking with the Mastodon PWA as well though...

mxtthxw, to random
@mxtthxw@mxtthxw.art avatar

Freshly digitised tape with DJ Hype, Fantasy FM early 1990. 3 years before he started making Jungle!

Also Stacey B on Sunrise FM, maybe 1989? It's a chop of 2 other tapes (definitely lost :ogpc: )

Very lofi (and not what kids call Lofi) heavily over saturated and compressed in true pirate radio tape style! :80spc:

#Bleeps #ScratchAttack #DJHype

https://video.mxtthxw.art/w/cP3r8fb2jNPbC4KdKJoamB

Can ANYONE ID the track "Move Champion, Move!" at 1min in?

I would be eternally grateful!

IT'S MENTAL! :horn:

axwax,
@axwax@chaos.social avatar

@mxtthxw

Ha, one can always tell it's Hype scratching from a mile away!

Wicked tape from what I've heard so far! 📯

keefmarshall, to random
@keefmarshall@mastodon.online avatar

If I'm going to play in the pool on , I'm going to have to do a lot better with my cover art :)

Hey, at least it makes everyone else's artwork look even better by comparison!

axwax,
@axwax@chaos.social avatar

@keefmarshall

I don't know what could be improved? It's perfect!

Artwork by https://www.deviantart.com/stinkek/art/Aardvark-629908617

flockofnazguls, to random
@flockofnazguls@mastodon.flockofnazguls.com avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    @flockofnazguls

    Nice!

    https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Glq4GxWamcE
    (That's the stripped down disco version)

    atomicpoet, to random
    @atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

    Here I am playing Lawn Mowing Simulator. I used to make fun of the notion of such a video game existing. Yet here I am playing one.

    Originally, I bought this game because I thought it was funny. But after spending quite a bit of time mowing virtual lawns, I’m not laughing anymore.

    This isn’t even the first lawn mowing game to exist. The infamous Gizmondo, the handheld console connected to the Swedish mafia, had Momma Can I Mow The Lawn?. It was never released but you can still find footage on YouTube.

    What’s hilarious here is that both Lawn Mowing Simulator and Momma Can I Mow The Lawn were both made by British developers. Surely, this is a coincidence.

    I’ll say this for Lawn Mower Simulator. It takes lawn mowing very seriously. They went out of their way to get real-world licensed lawn mowers from “prestigious” manufacturers such as Toro, SCAG, and STIGA.

    Personally, I’ve never heard of these brands. Here in Canada, the main lawn mowers in use are frorm John Deere, Ryobi, and Club Cadet.

    (Amusingly, lawn mower manufacturer Husqvarna has the video game Doom available on one of their lawn mowers.)

    Either way, this game is definitely a lawn mowing simulator. It felt like mowing a lawn. With the time it takes you to mow a lawn in this game, you could probably spend the same time mowing a real lawn.

    And you know what? Playing this game made me remember how much I hate mowing the lawn. My mom always made me do this at least weekly. It was always tedious and slow – just like this game.

    I’m not saying this is a bad game. It’s just exactly what it claims to be. So if you’re the type of person to think, “I wish I could mow the lawn but I don’t have a lawn nor a lawn mower” then this is the game for you.

    Nevertheless, if you’re a lawn enthusiast, there’s certain aspects of Lawn Mowing Simulator that are a bit of a turn off. For example, there’s way too much bloom. As well, the draw distance can use some work. But the biggest flaw is that it’s sometimes hard to judge the size of the grass you’re supposed to mow. Perhaps grass physics isn’t advanced enough yet?

    To me, the biggest source of frustration is that sound. I don’t like the sound of lawn mowers. To hear this for an hour straight is too much. And there’s no music to drown out that god damn lawn mower noise.

    Skyhook Games created Lawn Mowing Simulator. Previous to this game, they were a contractor for other developers. This is their first original game ever.

    Someone recently told me that PC gaming is about fulfilling niches. There’s a game for literally everyone. I suspect that person is right.

    I have no doubt that lawn mowing enthusiasts walk among us, and they’re thrilled to play Lawn Mowing Simulator.

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    @atomicpoet

    Let's not forget the OG lawn moving simulator, imho yet to be beaten for graphics, level of detail and sheer fun. And I've still got the soundtrack in my head after 40+ years of first playing it:

    https://yewtu.be/watch?v=kwaSgPVhyB8

    Thanks @llamasoft_ox for creating such a gem in the proud history of lawn mowing simulation software!

    axwax, to random
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Ooooooh, I just couldn't halp myself and had to upgrade my pledge on the @mirlo
    kickstarter, when I saw one can now be serenaded by @arod as a perk!

    If you haven't pledged yet, or are in the market for a trombone serenade as well, check out https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mirlo/mirlo/rewards for the latest fab rewards.

    But make sure you do so within the next 4 days, otherwise the project might not get funded, and no one wants a sad trombone! 😩📯

    #Mirlo #Kickstarter #FairtradeMusic #Coop

    sknob, (edited ) to random
    @sknob@mamot.fr avatar

    You can now find ”Living The Dream”, my official entry which made the top 10 (at number 9) out of 72 tracks \o/, at the following fine locations:

    My music site: https://sknob.fr/music/?livingthedream

    My site: https://sknob.fr/faircamp/living-the-dream/

    My Bandcamp site: https://vincentknobil.bandcamp.com/track/living-the-dream (free download or name your price).

    Thanks again to the organizers and to everyone who went out of their way to vote for my song and/or say nice things about it ☺️❤️.

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    @sknob

    All across the Fediveeeeeeeerse...

    axwax, to random
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    What a cruel system is for someone as indecisive as myself. Plus, my musical preferences are so mood and situation dependent, so this could have turned out very differently if I had voted another time...

    Anyhow, the three tracks that stood out for me during today's travel listening marathon, and which I have therefore chosen, were:

    🥁🥁🥁

    @vote vote BINK NOTH RUGG

    Well done everyone- there are so many outstanding tunes this year! 💙

    axwax, to selfhosted
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    This week's #FairtradeMusicFriday submission thread is officially open!

    As always, submit your own release or someone else's, it can be by #FediMusicians or not, hosted on #Bandcamp, #Faircamp, #JamCoop, #Mirlo or #SelfHosted, as long as it is by an #IndieArtist.

    Just make a direct public comment (with a link & description) to this post and it will appear at https://isitfairtrademusicfri.day automagically!

    Also: make a musician's day, check out https://isitfairtrademusicfri.day/archive & listen/buy/boost their stuff!💙

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    @mxtthxw

    This is another release I wanted to post and got beaten to!

    I spotted the prerelease last week, but wanted to wait until I could grab it on @mirlo, which one now can at https://mirlo.space/the-assembly-worker/release/tales-from-the-otherhood

    Love this heavily headnoddable piece of history!

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Yay, next week a new #80sKids song by @shannoncurtis and @hilljam is coming out! 🥳

    So if you haven't checked it out yet now is the perfect time to do so, and if you like it as much as I do, grab yourself a copy - the new song should then just appear automagically next Friday!

    https://shannoncurtis.bandcamp.com/album/80s-kids

    #FairtradeMusicFriday #80sMusic #synthpop

    axwax, to random
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Oooooh, if everything goes well I'll be the owner of a new (old) synth in half an hour or so. Wish me luck! 🤞

    #synths

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    I got it home in one piece, but before I can try it out there's one small problem:

    It needs a centre negative 9V power supply, and the only power brick I can find at my parents' house is centre positive 😩

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    This calls for some creative gender bending! 💪😀

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    It might not be a particularly nice looking power polarity swapping adapter, but it should do the trick!

    Here goes!

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Uh oh!

    I luckily thought it might be worth checking the output of the 9V DC adaptor, just in case.

    Turns out it outputs 15V(!) instead of 9!

    I might just have dodged a bullet there.

    Sadly that means I built my adapter in vain and need to continue my search for a suitable power supply...

    I just want to check if the synth actually works, dammit! 😩

    PSA: ALWAYS check your unknown power bricks' actual output, especially if they are several decades old.

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    It might be a slightly less elegant solution, but I've finally got my centre negative 9V 🥳

    We're back in business!

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Aaaand we have lights (and sound on headphones) 😍

    A demo will have to wait until I find a couple of jack leads - probably tomorrow, as it's late.

    I can at least reveal that the mystery synth is indeed a Korg Poly-800, an eight-voice analogue synth (with DCOs) from 1983, as @robleaves correctly and impressively guessed from my binbag picture a few posts above.

    The pots and sliders are crackly and the buttons sticky, but it seems to work, although the saved presets are terrible!

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    My new favourite tune:

    https://yewtu.be/watch?v=vU5TvDWkFP4

    Proper updates will resume momentarily!

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Update:

    The Poly-800 does make sound, but its presets are all corrupted and can't be stored.

    This is not surprising for a 41 year old synth, so it's time to open it up and see if there is a battery to be replaced.

    While I'm at it I should really clean the buttons and pots to see if they can be made a bit more reliable, as well as remove any dust dead critters.

    Surprisingly, the synth is super clean inside 🤯
    Less surprisingly it looks really well built. Thanks !

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    Ok, I think I found the problem: Most articles on the Poly-800 mention that the sounds are stored in RAM, backed up by a 3V battery that is soldered straight to the motherboard (pic 1).

    However, my model seems to be an early model that had the battery omitted and solely relies on external power and/or the 6 C size batteries it can be powered with instead.

    This means it loses all patches when those batteries need to be replaced 🤔

    Luckily there is a tape in/out for saving those patches...

    My Poly-800 motherboard. I have circled the location where later revisions have a backup battery. Also, the other red circle shows that my motherboard is a revision 1 (whereas in most videos I can see that they have a rev. 7 or 8)

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    But before I look more into the battery issue it's time to remove that gunky disintegrating foam on the keypad PCB and to check if a bit of contact cleaner improves the responsiveness of those buttons.

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    As I've got to leave the Poly-800 behind in Germany for now I deferred the battery backup issue and possible mods until my next visit.

    For now I managed to load and save patches via the tape interface though, which I can simply output on a spare channel in my DAW and save with the song.

    Part of an Ableton Live arrangement. On the first track is an audio clip containing the audio encoded data for the patches used in the song. Underneath some MIDI tracks for the drums and audio tracks from the Poly-800 can be seen.

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    I did have to knock out a quick demo instead of doing the sensible thing (that is packing for tomorrow's trip).

    All synth sounds are from the Poly-800, although with copious amounts of plugins.

    The drums are the Oberheim DMX VSTi by GForce.

    axwax,
    @axwax@chaos.social avatar

    @mxtthxw Yeah, it might not be the most comfortable synth to program, but its sound is great, and it's one of the last few affordable analogue poly(erm, I mean para)synths!

    Even its keys don't feel half bad, despite not having velocity sensitivity...

    Looking forward to adding a cutoff/resonance pot on my next visit to Germany. Oh, and a guitar strap!

    (image via matrixsynth.com)

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