"If you know what this is, you know the deal. If you don’t, i can just tell you that it is the best of the best modern boutique synthesizers. Ken Macbeth is a genius, and this is a masterpiece.
In excellent condition, but the spring reverb kind of comes and goes. My guess is a loose connection, but I haven’t opened it to check."
"Latest project (remastered 1-21-2025) entailing a 1 pass performance, i.e. no overdubbed tracks. However, significant timing and note corrections/enhancements were made to midi tracks prior to generating some of the audio stems; especially the foot pedal bass notes - uggh! Extensive use of Reaper automation envelopes were used to control the sounds in real time.
Soft-Synths Used: Native Instruments The Giant/Scarbee Classic EP-88s, Sonic Projects OPX Pro-3 (arpegiated sounds), UHe Diva (lead), Arturia Mellotron V, UHe Repro 5, TAL Vocoder, Orange Tree Samples EAG Steel Strings (NI Kontact);
Offward Bound is my little play on words pertaining to major life transitions such as retirement (a popular topic in my sphere these days). It seems to be all about the moving on, i.e. what are you going to do now? But there’s also the lingering moving off components. Bla bla bla. Anyway, moving on…
The intro melody is from my last composition Sploot’n. If I was putting together an album/cd it might be more obvious."
"At first glance, the EL2 features a classical, subtractive signal flow. A closer look then reveals some cool oddities like unconventional filter slopes, extensively equipped modulators, a band echo simulation and a spring reverb. The EL2 features a completely discrete circuit design. Its sound is creamy and fat at the same time. Thanks to NOS components, the instrument has a nice vintage vibe. Compared to its predecessor, the EL2 offers some very useful additions. – Especially its three oscillators have been extended considerably."
"Quick noodle on the EL2 from Ken Macbeth. Sequenced by Orthogonal Devices ER-101/102 combo. What you hear are the dry outputs. No external FX, no post processing. Ableton record & bounce. Quite a beast of a machine and my desert island synth. Enjoy!"
Macbeth Synthesizer: Elements 2 (EL2) noodle. No talking.
"Second video and slightly longer than the first. A rudimentary sequence on the magnificent ER-101/102 combo. The purpose of the video is just to show how it sounds, without external FX, or any post processing. What you are listening to are the dry outputs. Enjoy :)"
"i got my Prophet-10 and so i started jamming around. As i have no intention to make traditional sounds with it i came up with this techno-jam wich started with this super-fat unison-detuned-lead sound.
The other elements of the track or done on the Syntakt, the polivoks.pro and the Macbeth Elements.
Sequencing was done on the Syntakt and Hapax."
"The Macbeth Elements EL2 is sequenced by a Moon Modular 569 quad sequencer. Three sequence rows go to the invidual CV ins of the three oscillators and a fourth row (set to random with some gates turned off) goes to GATE in.
Output into T-rex Replicator analog tape delay into Eventide Space pedal.
