My music studio has evolved over 30 years… What once was a room full of synthesizers and music hardware, is now a minimal desktop setup; yet somehow more powerful than ever. Rather than classic old synths, I’ve now got a few modern synths with classic vibes, and built a Eurorack modular with many familiar vintage components. And its all very inspiring indeed!
My vintage synths were breaking down; voice chips needing replaced etc, and sending them away for servicing was too expensive. One day my beautiful mixing desk just stopped working. And generally the old workflow was replaced with the new. And the big one; the Jupiter 6, could still sell for enough money to get a basic semi-modular Eurorack started…
Over a few years I sold the remaining synths and hardware to fund the self-expanding modular and bought some other toys which would become the new music making interface. Eventually parting with the A-frame keyboard stand and 19″ rack trolley; gaining much space in the process. And developing a seriously powerful portable desktop setup.
The studio used to look like this:
And all the way back in the 90’s, this:
Synth Vids
Check out my synth demo’s on YouTube, only a few so far but I intend to make more:
Legacy kit list section:
Keyboards / Synthesizers
- Eurorack Modular
- Arturia MicroFreak
- Behringer TD-3
- Arturia Keystep 37
Oberheim Matrix 1000Roland Jupiter 6Roland MC-202SCI SixtrakWaldorf PulseYamaha DX21
Drum Machines
Sequencing / Mixing
- Akai AMX DJ contoller
- Akai APC-40 MkII
- Alesis Monitor One MkII
Alesis 3630 Comp/GateBehringer 4xGateLA Audio 4x4 Comp/GateMackie SR 24:4- M-Audio Fast Track Ultra
Samplers / Multitrack
Akai S3000xlAkai S01
Effects Units
Alesis Midiverb 4Alesis Quadraverb (x2)Alesis Microverb IIPeavey DSR1000Boss RV1000
Other Stuff
- Samson Condensor Mic
- AKG Dynamic Mic
Dean Bass Guitar- Yamaha Pacifica 6 string
- Roland HandyPad
- Zoom H1
- Sennheiser headphones (x2)
Studio Blog
DJ’ing with Ableton & Akai AMX 4th August 2015 - So, I accepted my first DJ gig – can’t be that hard can it?! With Ableton it really isn’t actually, I collected tunes over a few months; learned how to set the cue point and BPM,… read on…
Simmons SDS9 – Manual 15th January 2007 - My friend has had his Simmons SDS9 for years but we had never fully worked out the MIDI functions due to not having a complete manual. Now, thanks to a member of the vintage-synth forums, we… read on…
Roland HandyPad (Pad-5) 20th April 2006 - A very spontaneous purchase, I picked up a Roland Pad-5 midi controller which I didn’t know existed before seeing it listed on eBay. It’s halfway between a toy pad, such as the Yamaha DD series,… read on…