Once I’d heard ‘Are Friends’ Electric?” by Tubeway Army, I knew synthesizers would be a huge part of my life. Despite drums becoming my main instrument for many years, I dabbled and lusted after countless pieces of gear and started using computers to help me make my own music with a Commodore 64 and a copy of Electrosound.
Over the years, I eventually progressed to more professional tools and began to truly indulge my love of electronic music making, slowly building a collection of gear that covered most synthesis methods, from sampling to physical modelling and beyond. However, my love of the gear that soundtracked my formative years was strong and I was fortunate enough to be asked to work with the inventor of the Fairlight CMI on their more recent projects. This then led to me restoring Fairlight CMI’s, something I still do to this day.
My home studio is now filled with classic vintage gear of the 80s and 90s, as well as modern classics. In recent years, I have been producing podcasts for Sound On Sound, as well as writing articles for them and I also present a weekly live stream for the Pro Synth Network. I still drum, albeit now on e-Drum kits, which are far easier to move around and a lot quieter when practising! You can often find me delivering seminars & lectures and at various synth shows around the world, talking about and demonstrating iconic synths.
New takes on FM synthesis seem to be on the rise with Pivot being just one of the latest, and it's a ding dong delight!
He's a faceless, voiceless, quiet sound design genius who beavers away, crafting factory presets and third-party sound banks for pocket money. This James Dyson is doing great work.
Not content with reintroducing the old string synth to a 21st-century audience, now we have the Waldorf Streichfett String Synthesizer in plug-in form and as an iOS app!
The dominance of sampling has seen physical models of acoustic instruments struggle to compete, but does Expressive E's Soliste signal a turning tide?
Halogen FM is GForce's first completely original instrument, and they're boldly taking on one of the more complicated synthesis methods in a bid to make it easy for everyone!
In this week's Synth Journal, we look at the continuing legacy of Roger Linn's drum machines and check out Satie on an ARP 2500 clone!
The pentamerous Sequential and Oberheim synths of recent years, Take & Teo, get some tasty treats, as do some of Arturia's 'Mini' synths.
Sonicware returns with a new addition to their ever-popular LIVEN range. The LIVEN Evoke continues in the same vein as Ambient Ø, this time focusing on acoustic sounds.
What better way to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Alan R Pearlman than to recreate and expand upon his ARP Odyssey with Cherry Audio's ODC 2800.
Elusive Mellotron sounds in the form of the London Tapes from the Streetly Archive, via GForce Software, and a beautiful Chamber Orchestra recorded in Berlin.
If you're limited for space in the studio or on stage, it doesn't mean you have to compromise on quality. Check out these deals on small synths that pack a punch.
Before the dawn of the Linn LM-1, all of our beats came from analogue drum machines. These approximations ranged from crunchy to punchy, and their appeal has never waned!
In what some may say was an inevitable update, Arturia introduce the MiniFreak Vocoder. Same MiniFreak but with a new engine and additional gooseneck microphone.
We've got patches for both hardware and software synths this week, with a couple of packs for Arturia's JUP-8000 V and Pigments 6, plus two new banks for Behringer's Wave!
Like Fender and Gibson, Rhodes and Wurlitzer are synonymous with their speciality products. The Rhodes Wurli is their take on their so-called rival's product.
DeftAudio release a versatile MIDI interface in both pre-built and kit form, plus we check out other synth stories that may have fallen through the cracks!
KORG's multi/poly garners more superb patches, alongside new sounds for MiniFreak, Pigments and the Prophet Rev.2.
It's been a year since Arturia launched the original AstroLab. Now the AstroLab 88 aims to take things up a level.
Moog Music update the Muse firmware to v1.4 with a wealth of new modulation sources and destinations, as well as a complete MIDI overhaul and 64 new patches to show it all off.
How do you fit a Jupiter 4 into an Arturia MicroFreak? Why, you sample the heck out of one and load it into the other!
Arturia's littlest controller in their Lab range, the MicroLab, gets the Mk.3 treatment in the hope that it can persuade you to stick it in your backpack for music-making on the go.
We've got free sounds for your Moog Muse, a new bank of patches for Xils Labs excellent 'The Eighty', and an excellent sound pack for the KORG multi/poly.
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Available to buy now, the new Roland DrumLink products deliver wireless connectivity for the cable-conscious V-Drummer.
ASM's Hydrasynth is already an expressive synth, but why not try using a ROLI Seaboard to take it even further?