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.
With Anyma V, Aodyo Instruments bring polyphonic physical modelling to the masses with MPE and a fantastic launch price.
Another week, another selection of synthy ephemera, including the JunoMac 106, a record that's also a synthesizer and a BBC blast from the past.
This week we're indulging in some lovely new binaural patches for the splendid Oberheim OB-X8, exploiting its new v2.0 firmware.
This week's Synth Deals features three classic analog synths with significant discounts so you might just be able to afford one after all!
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One of the 80's most loved and sought-after drum machines returns in the 21st century via the GForce Software Oberheim DMX.
There has never been a better time to buy a Roland V-Drum Acoustic Design kit! We look at four different VAD kits for varying budgets.
Mopping up the cool synth stories you may have missed, this week's Synth Journal considers Behringer's proposed Direct-to-Customer Sales Channel.
This week's guide to amazing patches for your synths includes a free bank for Hydrasynth, a wealth of sounds for KORG's modwave and a new bank of sounds for XILS-Labs Kaox.
This week we have some excellent sounds packs for Ableton Live, new libraries for the KORG NAUTILUS and KRONOS and yet more PolyBrute patches!
Considered the very best electric piano that Wurlitzer ever made, the Cherry Audio Wurlybird 140B lets us judge for ourselves!
As Tom Oberheim celebrates his 88th birthday, GForce Software continues its officially endorsed software recreations with the classic and much revered Oberheim OB-1.
This week's e-drum deals cover two superb e-Drum kits and I've thrown in a cracking drum machine deal for those who like things in a box!
The SONICWARE LIVEN Ambient Ø is the next unit in a range of instruments that continues to innovate and inspire without breaking the bank.
After a few weeks of focusing on a particular instrument or application, we return to a variety of sounds and presets to get your creative juices flowing.
In this week's Synth Journal we've got classic cats and synths plus a very exclusive Nonlinear Labs C15 and a quirky version of Blue Monday.
You've got your Behringer UB-Xa and are revelling in the low-cost analogue goodness. Here are some great banks to broaden your palette!
This week we look at some great drum pad deals that will benefit e-drummers and acoustic drummers alike. Expand your kit without expanding its footprint!
The KORG NAUTILUS AT gets the most minor of refreshes in the form of a gray chassis and is being made in very limited numbers.
Yesterday saw the launch of Reason 13, the latest iteration of the famous Swedish DAW. These Reason Refill packs contain sounds and presets that every Reason user should own.
In this week's Sounds and Presets, I want to showcase the work of HyperSynth who make modern storage cartridges for classic vintage digital synths such as the DX1, M1 and D50!
e-Drums are a great way to start playing drums. Here are three great entry-level e-Drum Kit Deals to consider.
More great sounds and presets this week, including some for the latest Arturia plugin and a bank that sold me a synth!
Behringer's Pro VS Mini delivers desktop vector synthesis at a knockdown price. With the new Firmware 1.1.5, there is also now a software editor from Momo Müller!
Inspired by Arturia's MiniBrute V & the original's lack of presets, I found some great patch sheets to encourage your hands-on sound design.