Zoë Blade
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www.zoeblade.com
Zoë Blade
@www.zoeblade.com
1.8K followers 37 following 1.5K posts
Musician, writer, programmer. Analysis and synthesis. ∞ Makes music for
ContraPoints http://patreon.com/zoeblademusic
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On synthesiser components (oscillators, filters, amplifiers, etc):

notebook.zoeblade.com/Synthesiser_...

If anyone knows of an established term for them, please let me know!
For want of a better phrase, a synthesiser component is a part of a synthesiser that performs more or less a single task. Common examples are the oscillator, filter, amplifier, envelope generator, and LFO. In most modular synthesisers, each module usually contains a single synthesiser component. However, that's not always the case. For example, the System-100M often crams several different synthesiser components into each module.
November 23, 2025 at 11:58 AM
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On our own Stepper Acid:

notebook.zoeblade.com/Stepper_Acid...
Stepper Acid is a TB-303 style digital step sequencer made by TSL. It has the regular 1V/Oct CV & V-trig gate outputs, along with accent. The latter can, for example, be used to control a VCA or VCF. Stepper Acid implements its own sliding, so it doesn't require an external slew limiter. It can be used with regular bread-and-butter modules, such as the basic A-100 set, for creating entirely new sounding acidlines. As 1V/Oct CV & V-trig gates are also used outside of Eurorack, it can also control various regular synthesisers. You can make acidlines that sound convincingly like a TB-303 by pairing it with a x0x-heart or M303 module, or even a TD-3-MO. For an MC-202 sound, it works well with an MS-1. It's designed to be easy and intuitive to use, to be useful for live performance in particular, and to do only one thing — help you create acidlines — and do it well. The hardware was designed and built by Nina Richards, while most of the firmware was written by myself. Notable users: Nine Inch Nails; Underworld. ("It's designed and built by these two female electronic musicians, and it's a fantastic little box.")
November 22, 2025 at 10:18 AM
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My patrons over at patreon.com/zoeblademusic can now hear my latest demo, and so can you for just $1 a month!
A very blocky view of my latest track, showing the layering up, the ebbing and flowing of various different parts.
November 20, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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On Wiard's lesser known 300 Series modular synthesiser:

notebook.zoeblade.com/300_Series_W...
As described in the article, each module shown here is a deep blue, and is adorned with the same rather baroque design, featuring a pair of inward-facing stately birds. It's the kind of futuristic yet ornate looking instrument that wouldn't look out of place next to J. F. Sebastian's chess set. One enterprising individual seems to have squeezed seven modules above the controller, instead of the usual six, all housed in a custom wooden case, with their system arguably looking even better for it. Each module within the system's pleasingly homogenised, with each initial module consisting of a symmetrical layout featuring ten knobs in a 2×5 grid, two switches or jacks in a row, and twenty more jacks in a 4×5 grid. This keeps the patch cables neatly away from the dials.
November 18, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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On cassette tape as an effect:

notebook.zoeblade.com/Cassette_tap...
Cassette tape as an effect As it has a distinct sound of its own, you can use cassette tape as an effect. It's a bit tedious, as it involves taking your pristine sound, recording it to cassette tape in realtime, rewinding the tape, and playing it back again in realtime... but it has a grungy, low fidelity sound that can be overdriven in a pleasing way. Quotes I love the sounds on the R-8, but I play them to some of my rappers and they think they're terrible — they want to hear a snare from 400 years ago played through a cassette. What the hell is all this technology for? The whole point of having samples is for the people who want to hear those old sounds. — Simon Harris, 1989 A lot of the noises we get, we record them onto cassette first so that it's worse quality. Then we sample them off the cassette. Like, we'll distort the sound so that it's a bad sample, but it just sounds good 'cos it's bad! — Gez Varley, LFO, 1991 I have a lot of tape machines and all sorts of things, just to get certain sounds. I really like analogue tape, but my big problem is what happens to the signal over time. So therefore, if you just record to analogue and then straight back to DAT, it's quite nice. — Richard D. James (Aphex Twin), 1997
November 15, 2025 at 4:58 PM
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On the prototype Doepfer A-100:

notebook.zoeblade.com/A-100_protot...
Publicity photo of the prototype Doepfer A-100, with many subtle differences from the released version, detailed in the linked article.
November 14, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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November 14, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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Of course, guitars don’t need licenses, keys, or dongles. That’s where the analogy falls apart, admittedly.
Pro-24 (and, not shown, also Cubeat) says “No key”, allowing me only a response of “Bye”.
November 14, 2025 at 1:29 PM
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OK, the first disk may have been a fluke. I’m shocked, SHOCKED that I can’t read most of these squeaky 30-40 year old disks!
November 14, 2025 at 12:57 PM
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Not the most reassuring noises, but the first disk copied OK! 💾
November 14, 2025 at 12:39 PM
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My other ridiculous purchase: forty-odd floppy disks for the #AtariST filled with music making software, chiefly MIDI sequencers. This includes Cubase from before it was called Cubase, back when it was called Cubeat. Maybe pre version 1.0..?
Forty-odd floppy disks, including Cubase / Cubeat and Pro-24.
November 13, 2025 at 6:37 PM
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First ridiculous purchase (in this context, at least):

Reviews, leaflets, catalogues etc of the Doepfer A-100 from when it first came out, back in the mid 1990s. The start of #Eurorack.

Some of the prototype modules shown have early “wrong” model numbers. I didn’t realise he changed them.
Two A-100 catalogues: a German one from 1995, and an English one from 1996. Also a photo of a prototype system. This is some of the haul.
November 13, 2025 at 6:14 PM
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Recorded in triplicate
November 13, 2025 at 2:46 PM
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November 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM
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Some morning Moogery for @fintoiannucci.bsky.social...
November 12, 2025 at 11:48 AM
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I'd certainly *try*, but I've already had an SH-101 clone leaning against the wall just outside my room for a while now...

Curiously, I used to have a real SH-101 leaning against the wall in my bedroom when I was a teenager, so I guess I've come full circle, kinda...
Camcorder footage dated 2000-12-09. An SH-101 leans against a wall.
November 9, 2025 at 9:15 PM
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A Yamaha GX-1..! £100,000 and allegedly sold.
A fancy electronic organ that borders on being a synthesiser. It has a built-in chair to sit on while playing it. It comes with a pair of speaker cabinets that look like they could comfortably fit people inside them.
November 9, 2025 at 8:55 PM
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Good lord, some of this stuff...

A complete Roland System-100, chanced €13,050, no takers.
A complete Roland System-100 (not M), consisting of a monophonic semimodular keyboard, a monophonic semimodular expander, a sequencer, a four-track mixer, and a pair of speakers. I love a completed set of things, but it's far too expensive for what it does.
November 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM
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Gonna try sampling some alternative percussion…
November 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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On playing card indices:

notebook.zoeblade.com/Index_playin...
In the context of playing cards, a given card's index displays its rank and suit in its top-left corner. Indices as we recognise them were first introduced by the NYCCC in Squeezer decks, so-called as they allow you to fan out your cards in a single hand, all squeezed together. The Squeezer style index pairs the rank's number or initial with the suit. An interesting alternative was simply to duplicate the face of the card in miniature. It's perhaps surprising that the Squeezer style became dominant, considering it relies upon players speaking the same language and being literate, and was introduced at a time when a player's literacy wasn't guaranteed. On the plus side, the Squeezer style makes it easier to differentiate Kings and Jacks. Indeed, these initials may well have spelled the final death knell for calling Jacks knaves. References Encyclopedias "Squeezers № 35" Simon Wintle, The World of Playing Cards, May 2010 "Corner Indices" Simon Wintle, The World of Playing Cards, Jun 2020 Downloads Documentation Patents "Improvement in Game-Cards" Cyrus W. Saladee, US Patents, 1864 "Improvement in Playing-Cards" Andrew Dougherty, US Patents, 1875
November 7, 2025 at 5:24 PM
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I’ll allow as my pawn structure may be a tad subpar. 😅
Not less than three files count two of my pawns each amongst their number. Whoops.
November 5, 2025 at 7:25 PM
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Aphex Twin live on stage, in a wendy house for some reason
November 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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Elton John's Mellotron M400S, currently at £3,550. OK, that one actually is a bargain, but it probably won't stay that way for long.
A battered old Mellotron, with its iconic design of white wood at jaunty angles, and a flat top you can happily place a synthesiser on.
November 5, 2025 at 5:49 PM
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A Synthi 100, yours for a mere £139,304!
The Synthi 100 is a desk with a headboard-style raised back. The horizontal protrusion has two matrices for putting pegs in, looking like very large games of Battleships, plus a mixer. The vertical part has several matrices of dials, plus an oscilloscope. There's also two keyboards on a separate stand in front of it.
November 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
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What do signs know? They tried to ban the most awesome dog in the world!
A silhouette of a cartoon dog riding a skateboard, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a glass of wine, with a “no” type red circle and line indicating to not to. While economical, this sign fancifully appears to be singling out and banning the coolest dog ever.
November 2, 2025 at 10:10 PM