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.
Plenty of variety this week as we check out new MPE presets for u-He's Hive 2 from Osmose manufacturer, Expressive E and a new Piano library for IK Multimedia's Pianoverse.
As Sequential celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is offering a limited version of its flagship synth, the Rev.4 Sequential Prophet 10 Special Edition.
The ever-increasing trend for eDrum kits with full-size shells can mean more expense and more space required. The Alesis Strata Core may just be the perfect compromise.
The Roland Juno range of synthesizers still pleases many an ear to this day, and now they receive the Samples from Mars treatment.
The final UK synth shows of the season are upon us with SynthFest U.K. and Bristronica. Plus, win yourself a vintage Minimoog signed by the legendary Peter Gabriel and other interesting tidbits!
With Atomika, Cherry Audio once again delivers a plugin synth that few others have tried to do and succeeded, bringing Soviet synthesis to the masses.
This week we have some of the first 3rd party preset packs for the new Moog Muse, plus some spooky Halloween sounds for KORG NAUTILUS and KRONOS users!
The legendary Elka Synthex receives the Arturia treatment as Synthx V, delivering this Italian classic with a French twist.
The new ROLI Airwave is more than just a new controller. It's the start of a multi-faceted ecosystem designed to revolutionise the way we interact with instruments.
Unveiled at SynthFest U.K. and surprising everyone, Analogue Solutions took the synth world by surprise with the TC-5000. I got the lowdown from Tom Carpenter himself.
Spanish module maker Endorphin.es team up with Synthtuber Loopop to create a simple, clever and useful tool, the Endorphin.es x Loopop PLUS 3.
Roland has announced the latest in their V-Drums range, the V-Drums Quiet Design, which allegedly is a revolution in e-Drum and home drumming design.
This week, we take a look at two of my favourite orchestral sample library developers who have each created libraries that achieve the impossible. They make me sound good!
It's easy to overlook security in your working space, be it a bedroom studio or something a little bigger. We look at what you can do to minimise the risk and what not to do too!
Nearly a year after its debut, the KORG MPS-10 receives a significant firmware update with plenty of new features.
Roland has unveiled new flagship kits based around the new V71 V-Drums Module, with new pads and Roland Cloud sound expansion! Introducing, the V-Drums 7 Series
We have a nice collection of hardware synth patches and samples this week that includes sounds for Kodamo's MASK1, amongst others.
The synthesizer that shook the electronic music-making world, has just received massive price cuts. Check out the Hydrasynth deals below.
The Arturia Astrolab crossover hybrid synth and stage keyboard gets its first major update since its launch in April of this year.
This week we look at the ingenious update to Cassettone, the Cassettone 2, plus updates to some cool synths and updates on synth gatherings around Europe and the U.K.
After redefining the sound of the 1980s with the DX7, Yamaha upped their game to take on the competition that had fought back. The Yamaha SY77 and SY99 were their response, but how do we get that sound today?
The EFNOTE Pro 703X extends the Pro 703 with more cymbals and a classy new black oak finish, with additional upgrades to the stands.
Roland sneaks out a soft launch of their DWe software, DW Soundworks, to their Roland Cloud Ultimate tier subscribers, opening up a world of acoustic drums for them.
Mention the maestro Vangelis and the Yamaha CS-80 will surely be referenced sooner rather than later. This week we check out a library that manages to evade that connection.
