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.
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Oberheim finally deliver the hotly anticipated OB-X8 Desktop, a table top version of their highly acclaimed OB-X8 hardware synth.
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British synth manufacturer UDO reveal the Super Gemini, a 20 voice, dual layer, binaural, analog hybrid synth featuring polyphonic aftertouch.
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To celebrate two decades of the biggest selling synth of all time, KORG release the microKORG Crystal with see-through clothes and case!
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A few short years after releasing the first iteration of their Mono synth, Norand rock up with a V2 and a raft of notable improvements.
Harnessing the power of Analogue Solutions Colossus just got easier with the release of the Colossus Quartz, a Colossus divided in four!
Following on from their excellent recreations of a Minimoog, Juno 106 and SH-101, Softube tackle the definitive analogue poly, the Prophet 5.
UVI bolster their vintage instrument sample collection with KAWAI Vintage Legacy, an homage to a quirkier side of 80s digital synthesis
An ingenious design for a much sought after desktop conversion kit from Tall Dog Electronics for KORG's hugely successful Pi-based synths
Kodamo serve up a new twist on digital synthesis with their bitmask synthesizer, the MASK1, a synth with interesting sonic abilities.
Whilst we wait for their LinnDrum-based drum machine, the Behringer PR team have sneakily revealed their Behringer BMX sampling rhythm box
Behringer reveal the Neptune-80, their take on the Roland classic Juno 6/60 with the usual Behringer twist and the internet is divided!
Roland release a new free update for the SP404 Mk.II delivering a slew of useful new features including multitrack support and more
Of all the classic Roland synth emulations, one had been notably absent until now. Cherry Audio's Mercury 6 gives us a Jupiter 6 emulation!
GForce Software continue updating their classic synth titles, this time turning their attention to the Minimonsta with Minimonsta 2.
Korg add a kit version of their outstanding ARP Odyssey FS reissue, allowing users to assemble their own version of this analogue classic.
Behringer have teased a new prototype via their Facebook page this afternoon, the JT-2, a single voice unit in a Eurorack form factor
In surprise news, a newly revived muSonics claims that they have "acquired" STG Soundlabs and released a new, revised 902 VCA Module!
With a long tradition of limited versions of their hardware synth in black, the Arturia PolyBrute Noir Edition now joins this exclusive club.
Buchla, famous for doing things in their own style, have now made the third iteration of that classic Music Easel keyboard design, the LEM218v3
The Mystic is a new device from Recovery, who are known for their quirky, yet interesting approach to sound generation and effects.
Following the release of their Analog Polysynth Collection, Roland have released the Drum Machine Collection featuring 5 classic rhythm boxes
Arturia update their impressive polychrome soft synth, Pigments, to version 4. How have Arturia improved on this highly regarded instrument?
Korg's modwave native, the plugin version of the modwave synth is released in time for Christmas! It's accompanied by hardware updates too!
Now updated to KORG Collection 4 with three new plugins from the early part of this century; the microKORG, ELECTRIBE R and the KAOSS Pad.