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.
This week we have a dollop of synth sounds and patches for a bargain soft synth and classic synths for your hardware.
The Minimoog Book from Danish indie book publisher Bjooks pays tribute to the synthesizer that changed music forever.
Is Arturia's new AstroLab the perfect culmination of a quarter of a century’s work blurring the line between hardware and software?
Hand-picked from our affiliate partner's anniversary best drum deals, we have a Pearl Kit, Zildjian cymbals, a Sonor pedal and a DW Throne!
Four years in the making, the Behringer MS-5 finally hits stores. Will it be enough to sate the appetite of synth buffs & money-savers alike?
Need some authentic Flutes? Or sound effects for a movie? We have just the thing for you, as well as a cool browser-based SysEx Librarian.
Two of Roland's range-topping V-Drum Acoustic Design kits receive huge discounts in Thomann's 70th Anniversary celebrations!
Ever wanted that JUPITER-8 sound with the crisp punch of a JUNO-60, layered with a JD-800? Well, now you can with Roland's GALAXIAS!
This week's sonic smorgasbord contains sample packs for SEQTRAK and Kontakt, free CS-80 style sounds for modwave and new vintage KORG storage
Roland GO:KEYS Music Creation Keyboard's brings their powerful synth platform to the home keyboard market with smart colours & cool features!
Is the new VONGON Replay a poly synth for hipsters, a bold design statement or something rather useful? This correspondent is confused.
Quite a variety of new sounds and samples including a superb expansion for Osmose, Woodwinds for action and spaced-out beats!
Following the likes of M-Tron Pro, Oddity Minimonsta, GForce Software's Virtual String Machine is brought up to date with a new UI & more.
Building on the success of the Strike, can the Alesis Strata Prime e-Drum Kit continue to challenge an increasingly dense market?
This week's e-Drum deals focus on two drum modules that can give your e-Drum kit a real boost at a great price!
This week we have a cornucopia of new sounds for you, including grand pianos, Linn-inspired drums and yet more patches for the PolyBrute!
This week's Sounds & Patches cover some smaller synths with big ambitions and a fantastic free choir library from the talented Jacob Collier.
This week we have three great e-Drum kits with some healthy discounts and in one case, a really great free gift!
Building on the success of the desktop version, Pittsburgh Modular release the Taiga Keyboard into the wild with a roar!
In this new regular feature, we will take a look at the latest food for your synth, sampler and DAW with new synth patches & FX.
Do you ever look at your sample hard drives and wonder how much of it you actually use? Rando by MonkeyC might be the answer!
GForce Software's OB-EZ aims to make your OB-E experience more streamlined with a full OB-E engine wrapped in a minimal skin.
IK Multimedia's new ARC Studio hardware and ARC 4 software might be setting a new benchmark for room correction software.
Some great savings this week for rhythm junkies with superb deals on a quality e-Drum kit, a legendary pad unit and a unique drum machine.