The Handheld 90's Vaporwave Machine

Howdy! Today I'm back with my friend @DavidHilowitzMusic on a new sound design adventure straight out of the 1990s.
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[@VenusTheory]

Apparently KZbin REALLY doesn't want anyone to see this video, so the thumbnail and title may change another billion times to attempt to appease my corporate algorithmic overlords since it's underperforming so badly. In the meantime, hold on to your Ecto Coolers. Get The Instrument ► bit.ly/Bitscape95

[@Frikoppie]

I'm pretty sure more than 0 people have watched some of my videos. But I think y7 might discriminate based on my not opting for monetizing my videos (which are terrible and tbh, are probably not worth watching). I could go legit, monetize my videos and buy likes and subscribes though? I've looked, it's pretty cheap.

[@abraxaseyes7]

Hopefully you have grapheneOS on your google phone.

[@Afterglow.Studios]

Yup. Took YT 8 days to tell this sub that you uploaded it. (Edit: big Vaporwave guy too. YT missed a softball suggestion.)

[@AMPProf]

Make it into a smart watch.. Maybe

[@Blackhoodie85]

Ecto Coolers...yep, my man gets it. The '90s kid in me loves this collab so much, even if the machine itself isn't terribly practical.

[@AudioPilz]

The 90s called, they want their aspect ratio back...

[@kerzxxv467]

Amazing

[@Doxkyn]

This is true. It was a delicious touch

[@Frikoppie]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosm_(video_game) *PS, it was a terrible game, but looked pretty good. Just like some other cosmetic things you might've seen. It ranks up there with Megarace (iirc) and that robot fighting game (it's so bad I forgot its name, and I'm not talking about OMF 2097(or whatever it was called) but there is one game's name that I will never forgot, the greatest worst game I've ever seen...it was named Tanaka) that was so totally awesome that I wanted to kill myself after 5 minutes of playing it considering I actually bought it. Thank fuck I had Command & Conquer, Mechwarrior 2, Doom, Quake, Quarantine, Little Big Adventure, Magic Carpet, those sort of actually good games. Luckily,. in 2024, my floppy is almost permanent. THANKS AI, YOU'VE MADE MY LIFE TOTALLY WORTH LIVING. I mean wtf. I bought beer named "Striped Horse" (it's actually quite good btw), but it shows a picture of a Zebra on the label. A Zebra is not a Striped Horse.

[@Frikoppie]

Btw, I made a 20mb rip (back in the days of fakecd) of my legit copy of C&C and distributed it at school with stiffies. The unfortunate part of that was that I had to remove all of the sound (and it's got a kickass soundtrack), like a demo version.. My friends were also poor, so. And I only had like 20 stiffies at the time. And the fuck was I not going to sit there trying to copy 400 3.5" stiffies. I had drinking to do. In fact, if drinking was an Olympic sport, I reckon I'd do fairly well. My permanent 5.25" floppy will suffice, I guess. Unless...

[@rays7805]

Edison just called the '90s.

[@d00mhound]

Yunno what you should do? Record a sine sweep on it, deconvolve it, and turn it into an impulse response, and make your music sound like it has been recorded on a Yak Bak.

[@EversonBernardes]

Or, even better, train a NAM model, so it not only captures the impulse response, but also models the distortion dyamically.

[@Herfinnur]

NAM! Of course!

[@Frikoppie]

@@EversonBernardes Neutone isn't the worst idea ever either, btw. Essentially, with things like NAM and Neutone you can do remapping, consolidate FX chains. But as always, I'm just making shit up.

[@d00mhound]

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what is a NAM?

[@EversonBernardes]

@@d00mhound NAM - Neural Amp Modeler, free and open source software that uses deep learning to capture an amp model (but can be used for other things, like pedals and cabinets and even full rigs).

[@KAP01able]

It's really fun to watch this video after watching David's. David pulls out a soldering iron and replaces a bunch of capacitors, then hard wires a 'line out'. Cameron, kinda does the same thing but with a bunch of pedals and VSTs. Both techniques, made a crappy 90's toy a pretty cool VST instrument. Thanks to both of you for showing us this interesting experiment.

[@davidgann3251]

Open that sucker up and solder in a microphone input jack and a speaker output jack!

[@infn8loopmusic]

This is a great idea, but you might lose some of the janky charm

[@thea.m.p.co.467]

And replace the speaker - it sounds like the surround has turned to dust &/or the cone is torn to bits!

[@MrScottyTay]

​@@thea.m.p.co.467 yeah, my cousin had one of these and I don't remember it sounding anywhere near as garbled as that. I think it's just deteriorated with age and needs some good love.

[@thomashoffend4299]

In hindsight, I wish I had kept every single electronic noise-making toy my kids received either from us or other people as presents. Our oldest was born in 1998. One of those toys was a thing that had an attached microphone and could pitch shift your voice up or down.

[@basmatine]

My first sampler. Back in the 90’s I used a lot of toys like this for music production. Another gem was The Megamouth Warper, a pitch shifting toy with a few preset samples.

[@Asperger_1]

Camera, edit and colors in this video is masterpiece

[@seanp2k617]

VT is a damn good artist all around.

[@lowkeystunt]

I had one as a very young lad, and was just thinking about it recently! In retrospect it was my first foray with recording audio, so stoked to see you mess with it.

[@patrickj8581]

I can see how you've been getting progressively better with filming. You definitely have an eye for creative film making. I'm excited to see you produce more videos 👌🏻✨️❤

[@SoleSpiritMusic]

amazing editing and ridiculously beautiful lightning as always. loved every second of it. thank you Mr 🖖🏼👽

[@MaketaBand]

your visuals keep getting better and better my god

[@anon_forever]

This cinematography should get you an Oscar

[@GabeWilliams]

I love how your video was right above David’s video on me feed

[@groundflowers]

This is a cinematic beauty of a video, let alone the actual project and product you guys have come out with, so freaking cool, hell yeah

[@thelanavishnuorchestra]

Just downloaded the sample pack and the latest Decent Sampler (David's going ham on that, third time I've updated this year already.) Sounds great. Love it. Lush lo-fi.

[@-47-]

Finally an appropriate device to record my black metal guitar tracks with

[@NickGunzburg]

wow, the sample instrument is immense and really beautiful. I had one of these when I was a kid, now I get to play with it in a new way. Thanks for this really great sounding sample instrument. There are a lot of very musical mellotron-esq sounds here along side the vast textures.

[@ph11n1x]

7:43, that lifeless stare xD

[@Doxkyn]

Tight. Appreciate the time you put in to creating an authentic 1993 viewing experience. Instrument sounds delightful too. Now I'm off to watch Hilowitz's take.

[@gilesmoss5860]

Great! Thanks for the VST (already purchased as soon as I saw David's video) - the amount of work you put into this is incredible.

[@thecroissant7720]

I think that woman got the idea for sure watching the latest season of Dimension 20. It got a reference to a yakpak in an episode about 2 weeks ago, and it seems to me as though the internet had forgot about this gem beforehand

[@Lazdinger]

The amount of work this man puts into crafting his videos is amazing. ✊

[@kumituubi]

”Sever your leg, it’s the greatest day”

[@BackspinZX]

Man, you and Dave are killing it lately. I only just picked up alt.strings at the beginning of February, and now y'all have me looking at this as another addition to the toolkit

[@TheJediJoker]

Memory unlocked! I had at least one Yakbak in the '90s. It might have even been the Maniak. I'll have to look through my parents' storage to see if it's still kicking!

[@ckek2547]

Love the aesthetics of the vid

[@samseitz9937]

Really been enjoying your stuff lately man!

[@SighDown]

Adore the video filter and the cool creative aspects of your video, Cameron. Work that toy! (p.s. Luv your mellifluous voice as well!)

[@KennethGonzalez]

So much fun! I enjoy how much you dig experimentation 👍

[@prodbyhajime]

Love the video, great work my guy

[@crhkrebs]

That is a great looking retro video. Just as creative as your Decent Sampler work.

[@BasementEraAudio]

Definitely picking this up tonight. Your hard work and immaculate presentation are very much appreciated!

[@Whenuknow]

kinda love the gritty texture it adds to everything

[@TABBYMUSIC]

comment for algorithm ‼ also love how colourful this vid is

[@adrimathlener8008]

I might be wrong, but I think Venus is having some real eighties fun.

[@chetplease]

highly enjoyable

[@ELGordoLoKo]

i remeber the YAK sounding clearer than that unless my memory is messed up cuz i remember my homie YAK soundin crappy like that after it got wet.

[@dyscotopia]

I am kinda wondering if the age of the components is affecting the noise level. Based on the 12000khz 8 bit recording quality it'd never be pristine, but it might have been a bit better

[@thawkil]

Came here to say the same thing. Sounds like the mic input is busted?

[@BlueberryWright]

@@thawkil I think it's probably the output. My GameBoy Color sounded like this after a decade or two in storage. If it had bad inputs, they would produce more diverse problems when adjusting pitch etc.

[@Oblium]

I had this toy in the 90s! Totally forgot about it

[@WilliamAshleyOnline]

Now the question that needs to be asked is it the speaker or the electronics? Cause you could probably just solder line leaders to the speaker connection and get a line in from it.

[@yuriythebest]

I had this thing as a young kid, only I think it was a different color. I remember having all sorts of ideas about what to do with it and built a paper robot-looking thingy and stuck it inside

[@PrimitiveInTheExtreme]

Wow!!!

[@numbworm]

thx for great contentful, valuable videos. btw you have great radio voice!

[@pongtrometer]

LO-FI AF, love it, loving the #decentsampler instrument

[@NaviRetlav]

I love the story, editing and the Wes Anderson of this video! Amazing work Cameron!

[@damonhumble]

The Wes Anderson of this video? What do you mean?

[@bjornark]

Cool! Love the "Outside the Airlock" part of the demo on soundcloud. Annoying that the algorithm wont push the video. I watched the video to the end at least. So doing my part! :)

[@Amy_Dunn]

I'm surprised no one has made similar device for modern sound/vocal/music effects!

[@sadmancaves]

i had one of these when i was kid

[@josephwright5921]

I remember when these were on display at the Target checkout line for about $15.00. They may have been at the end of their popularity.

[@rays7805]

You two took very different approaches to the hardware.

[@PaulTobia]

+1 for "When in doubt just add Microcosm"

[@chrissullivan1673]

What an entertaining video! Have to watch it again!! Interesting library, too!

[@billylane6344]

Reminds me of both a Fairlight CMI and also of some of the ambient passages from very early Skinny Puppy.

[@herbsewell5302]

Had one of these in the 90s. It was pretty much black magic to us.

[@disparity-bit]

THIS IS THE CONTENT I CRAVE

[@mattsmusika]

All your fans already know! Was my first thought too, open that sucker up and install input/output jacks. Circuit bend it. More circuit bent sample packs would be rad.

[@the_real_kieganjones9932]

I love the craziness that you’re exploring in your videos now. Autistic definitely more captivating for me

[@cleekersneaker]

Next, deconstruct the Yak Bak like the circuit benders do, and add an input jack, an output and to make the built in effects more accessible, possibly with control voltage.

[@fus132]

Is 6:43 available to listen to somewhere? Sounds honestly so good, like a start screen from a game/console what never existed.

[@marlonmorais71]

I love these types of instrument. I have been working a lot with a Casio SK1 and a Yamaha VSS200, I recommend checking both of them out. They can still be found for affordable prices and both sound amazing. And yes, effects go a long way. I am currently using an octaver, delay and some reverb.

[@LonnonFoster]

...in which Cameron goes full VHS.

[@TheJimmyCartel]

Got the notifications at the same time from you 2 lol. Had no idea you knew each other

[@streetshamanproductions]

God the intro music

[@interstellarcastaway]

Leaning SO hard into nostalgia 😂

[@adrielsfx]

Instead of asking about what synths u use i will actually asking about how program u use to edit this video, love the vibe

[@GrazCore]

Waiting for the curcuit bent video of this. Would cool to add an input and output to see what kind of direct audio sounds like with the device.

[@circuitduster]

If you solder in an input and output jack, similar to what David did, then you'd be able to make impulse responses of the Yak Bak itself, plus all the effect chains you came up with.

[@tiffanyanthony]

Cool toy! Your sounds came out amazing, as usual. I just bought a bontempi 4 chord organ at a flea market. Not sure how to sample it (or even play it, for that matter,) without my apartment neighbors turning me in for excessive noise.

[@pineapple_on_cheeseburger]

ur the goat of decent sampler

[@IanTheWonderDog]

Seems like your computer is more the vaporwave machine than the Yak Back is.

[@stellar_cartographer]

I have a core memory involving this thing, I used to test out swear words into it as a child. Totally forgot about it, but once I saw the shape in the thumbnail it all came back

[@TeamQuiggan]

I built 3 knock-off versions of these things for my kids using some ISD1820 chips and old tins from some dollar-store puzzles!

[@rikurodriguesneto6043]

i had one of these! had totally forgotten..

[@dedicatedspuddler7641]

A very cool project!

[@MakerOnTheMove]

I had a couple Yak Baks back in the day. One of them had a button to play the recording backwards. I spent a lot of time trying to speak backwards so it sounded correct when reversed.

[@ofootyeabicc201]

You’ve gone from “huh sample libraries are fun! I hope others will use them!” To “fuck I gotta make one outta this niche thing don’t I?” To which: why not wavetable libraries? I liked how single cycle waveforms of pianos sounded through serum even if that didn’t capture the essence of a piano.

[@Tonepusher]

Loooove the 4:3 ratio hehe 👌

[@aboliguu1168]

I don’t on a modern widescreen phone, but I appreciate the artistic choise

[@ryanshea5221]

Incredible KZbin actually displays it correctly in portrait mode

[@monco]

Creepy abandoned mall vibe. Yes. 4:08

[@samisoundesign]

Holy shit! I had one of these, it was one of the coolest toys I ever got.

[@Dopesaur]

This video has immaculate vibes! I like the crunchyer sounds of the yakbak, but I think the final library sounded nice in your examples. I'm eternally jealous of your creative spirit. All the best.

[@kingklabe]

Maybe try changing the speaker on it. Or soldering an in and out jack

[@zloboslav_]

you should send it to someone like Simon the Magpie to circuit bend it and add input and output jacks as well as other mods too :)

[@chuckcrunch1]

grunge 90's toy sampler noise , i got you

[@claytongouin5605]

Hahaha, that was fucking hilarious. Not at all what I was expecting when I came to check this video out, but at the same time, something I should have been expecting. Bang up job on the video and the sounds.

[@noouch]

Yaks are back!

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

Does it come with the ginsu knives and bamboo steamer if I order now?

[@dgsoundCA]

Instructions unclear.. just had an astral trip to Venus

[@ReclusiveArts]

pretty cool!

[@danm9561]

Man you try some weird stuff. And I love it!

[@random_meteor]

Hah i loved educating my younger coworkers on these gadgets existence. I had one when i was a kid and didn't realize how much of an effect it had on me. I now regularly play with a bastl microgranny which i just consider to be an evolution of a yakbak haha.

[@jeffbridges6110]

LoL. I got in trouble with one of those in highschool back in the 90's.

[@FnrrfYgmSchnish]

No idea what a "vaporwave" is, but I definitely remember having a YakBak or two when I was a kid in the '90s. That and the Talkboy (as seen in Home Alone), which I remember that I mostly used for recording music from my Game Boy games onto cassettes.

[@jean-philippe.danduran]

interesting, i'd like to find one !

[@drplasmodius]

Def needs a recap

[@Frikoppie]

Realistically, you could literally just use a multitouch drawing tablet that also has gyroscopic functionality andd such and convert that to fart sounds. There are some REALLY stupid things I haven't tried yet. I have yet to acquire my first Barbie. I could speak for her, move her limbs convert a video stream, with, oh i dunno...some spectral imaging conversion thing. Though, where I would find that, I do not know.

[@hellf.o]

It's incredible how much this stuff became expensive😂

[@marcwav]

How the hell was an obscure toy video uploaded by 2 KZbin guys at the exact same time

[@robinr22]

Because they coordinated it, as the video says .

[@LoudusOfficial]

Omg i used to have one of these but the even gheto'er version with only 2 buttons lol 😆

[@horstdunoch3546]

I had the sfx one. Batteries would live veeeery shortly and were aaaaaa expensive.

[@juststirmy2399]

You have summoned me.