Roland MKS-80 :: Warm Pads

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"The Roland MKS-80 isn't known as a typical analog pad machine like the JX-8P or the MKS-70, but still its VCOs are capable of creating some wonderful pads. I couldn't find many pad demos of the MKS-80 online, because most demos contain the powerful analog sounds that the Jupiter-series is so famous for. So I decided to record a few soft pads chords on the MKS-80 for the synth community. As its output is mono, I've added a bit of chorus and reverb from the SQ-5 to spice up the pads.

Played using the Moog Voyager as an expensive MIDI controller using its mod wheel to control the filter, but the fact that you hear polyphonic sounds and see a blinking green MIDI on the blurry MKS-80 in background is the ultimate evidence that you actually hear the MKS-80. ;-)

Enjoy, I hope you'll like it!"

Roland JX-8P :: Warm Pads

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"Testing a new Camlink-based camera setup. Just made my first JX-8P patch ever, so I thought I might as well record it at the same time. Strymon BigSky on reverb, recording using Elgato Cam Link 4K.

Disclaimer: I'm a sequencer-guy, so live playing is not my greatest asset. ;-)"

Roland JX-8P :: Neon Egg Planetarium 3 :: Ambient Pads

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"Just received my Planetarium 3 from ‪@neon_egg‬ today and my first impressions are really good. Top quality reverb with flexible echo that can be used in both a super extreme and very subtle way, so highly usable and musical. I couldn't wait to send some soft warm ambient pads from my beloved Roland JX-8P through this nifty machine, and I decided to record a little video of it.

Didn't have cables available to place the Planetarium inside the camera view, but its exact reverb and echo settings are visible at the end of the video. As you can see the compressor was off... for now! 😅

Setup for the gear junkies: JX-8P connected directly to the Planetarium, and the Planetarium outputs directly to my recording device (A&H SQ-5)."

Black Corporation Xerxes MK2 :: Building a Pad from Scratch :: Sound Design

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"Little sound design session on the Black Corporation Xerxes MK2 to test a lightweight recording setup directly to my phone.

No fancy post-processing, maximizing, review, just me building a pad from scratch on the wonderful Xerxes and exploring various variations of it, to give you an idea of the sound design freedom. The patch is initialized from a basic single saw wave patch and I play around with low pass and band pass filtering for the pads. Later in the recording I add some reverb from the @Strymon BigSky, which always helps on a pad.

Like most synths, a basic patch like this might not immediately sound '5K expensive' without effects, refinement and post-processing. Fortunately this versatile machine can do a lot more and is a real joy to use with all its hands-on control. Some typical Elka-features like Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM), sync phase control and oscillator self resonance, add to the unique character of this synth. It's a really enjoyable synth and I feel it's going to be one of my main workhorses.

I love how good a DCO-based synths can sound, and they are usually great for pads. Like on the Matrix-1000 and JX-8P, DCOs are super stable by nature, so imperfections need to be added manually. Apart from tuning tweaks/modulation, the Xerxes has a nice drift control for this.

Enjoy, and next time I'll clean the camera lens, I promise! 😅"

Perfect Pads 2 :: 34 patches for Waldorf Iridium & Quantum

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"👉 Patch pack available here: https://ontwerper.gumroad.com/l/perfe...

The second edition of the Perfect Pads collection, this time with 34 brand new meticulously crafted pad patches for the wonderful Waldorf Iridium & Quantum synthesizer.

This pack makes use of the various native sound engines of the Iridium/Quantum, which are blended with high-quality recordings of some of the fantastic analog pad synths like the OB-X8 and ISE-NIN.

The result is another highly usable pack of presets with some of the widest and warmest pads available on the Iridium & Quantum, immediately usable for many different music genres or a great starting point for further tweaking."

Live Ambient :: Soma Cosmos :: Oberheim OB-X8 :: Roland JX-8P :: Linnstrument

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"Layered ambient recording of the Oberheim OB-X8 playing together with the Roland JX-8P, through the wonderful Soma Cosmos.

The JX-8P is playing one of my favourite homemade pad-patches, and the OB-X8 is live played on the Linnstrument and tweaked in order to feed various sounds on the fly into the Cosmos. The filter of the Oberheim is controlled with my foot using an expression pedal. The result is a highly layered ambient track full of unpredictable – and sometimes hard to keep within control – harmonics.

Pepper & Salt from Strymon BigSky, enjoy!"

Superlative SB01 (Space Bee) :: Live Sequence :: Boss DM-101 :: Strymon BigSky

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"Tweaking a live sequence from the new Superlative SB01 (Space Bee), with the Roland JX-8P singing along here and there and pepper & salt from the Boss DM-101 analog delay and Strymon BigSky reverb. Background noise is from the notoriously noisy JX-8P chorus, not the other devices..."

Superlative SB01 (Space Bee) :: Soma Cosmos :: Roland JX-8P :: Ambient live jam :: PART I

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"This week I've received my Superlative SB01 (Space Bee)... after 6 years of patiently waiting! 😅 Super happy with it so far. Very beautiful to see and built like an American tank. Sound wise I cannot distinguish it from my SH-101 here. The SB01 actually sounds slightly better, probably due to the age of the components of my good old SH-101. And it's definitely a lot more solid and thinner than the original, due to the metal casing.

Instead of a full review or demonstrating all the classic 101 sounds that you find all over the internet already, I thought let's just practice a bit more with my ‪@somasynths‬ Cosmos and put the SB01 through it for some real-world sounds and live ambient, together with my good old JX-8P (always a great companion for 101 sounds).

All recorded in one take in Ableton, with a touch of salt from the ‪@strymon‬ BigSky.

Enjoy!"

Superlative SB01 (Space Bee) :: Soma Cosmos :: Roland JX-8P :: Ambient live jam :: PART II

video upload by Harry van Mierloo

"New day, new recording... With exactly the same setup as yesterday I've recorded another dark ambient jam, again with a primary role for the new Superlative SB01 (Space Bee), together with the Roland JX-8P through the wonderful ‪@somasynths‬ Cosmos.

This time I’ve managed to fix the video latency issue when exporting from Ableton, so video & audio should now be in sync. 😅

Enjoy!"

Perfect Pads - Soundset for Waldorf Iridium & Quantum synthesizer.

video upload by WaldorfMusicChannel

https://waldorfmusic.com/produkt/soun...

"This pack makes use of the various native sound engines of the Iridium/Quantum, which are blended with high-quality recordings of some of the biggest pad monsters in synth history, including the legendary MKS-80, Prophet-10, JX-8P and Matrix-1000. The result is a highly usable pack of presets with some of the widest and warmest pads available on the Iridium & Quantum, immediately usable for many different music genres or a great starting point for further tweaking.

Harry van Mierloo is an emerging international sound- and creative designer from the Netherlands. He blends the sound of classic analog synthesizers with the power of modern machines – perfect for artists seeking highly usable patches or fresh inspiration as a starting point for everyday day studio work. For many years, Harry has been fascinated by the wonderfully rich and emotional touch that pad sounds can add to music. He has now crafted and released his first official soundset called ‘Perfect Pads’ for the Iridium & Quantum.

Perfect Pads: A collection of 33 meticulously crafted pad patches for the wonderful Waldorf Iridium & Quantum synthesizer."