bass sounds: Roland SH-101 Analog Synthesizer (1981)
pads, fx sounds and main theme: Roland JD-800 Digital Synthesizer (1991
vocoder: Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus (1979)
drums: Boss DR-55 "Dr. Rhythm" (1979)
recording: multi-track, played by hand
fx: reverb and delay"
"MUSKRAT is a flexible, 8-bit wavetable drum synth. There are 23 øn-bøard wavetables tø chøøse frøm, either manually ør via bipølar CV input. Pitch and phase distørtiøn include bipølar CV inputs and accept -5v to +5v. The "Trigger" input is designed withøut input cønditioning and picks up signals øf all varieties. In øther wørds it is an enveløpe følløwer circuit. Yøu can plug an external CV ør øffset intø this input and it will øperate like a regular VCA. Før even møre extreme søund mangling, engage the MUSKRAT møde via the switch tø feed a randøm number intø the phase accumulatør at the internal cløck rate. This møde alsø includes a gate input that acts as an 'accent'.
Basically, pick a kraptastique wave, change the pitch, mangle the hell øut øf it, feed the rødent, BANG! it; yøu’ve caught yourself a Muskrat. WARNING: if yøu feed the rødent(“my...gød...what...have...we...døne?”) it’s brain gøes intø a fiery frenzy and spits øut glitch after glitch øf høly bleepbløøpness. If yøu yank øn it’s tail it’ll shriek a lil’ lønger, especially if yøu’re pulling it at løng range. Beware, ønce yøu let this critter øut øf the cage it will want tø nest sø BANG! it øn the head!"
"Here is a very special Radio Shack Moog that is a little monster bass synth. This unit has been upgraded with sturdy wood end cheeks and a unique paint job that really makes the colors on the front panel stand out. The wood ends add more rigidity to the chassis than the original plastic pieces. The RCA outputs have been replaced with a heavy duty 1/4" jack. The external audio input is also a 1/4" jack and is routed through the filter of the synth allowing external sound processing. There is an 1/8" input jack for cutoff frequency CV, perfect for hooking up to modular synths and sequencers for additional modulation of the filter. This works well with a sequencer such as the Korg SQ-1. There is some cosmetic wear, but it is in great overall condition for it's age. S-Trigger input and pitch CV inputs work well with external sources. The synth has been tuned so that 0V at the pitch CV input plays a C. In it's original configuration it would play an F, it's lowest key. This allows use of midi to cv converters directly without having to transpose the midi note 5 steps down. All the servicing and upgrades make this synth studio ready!
This unit was recently professionally serviced:
- aging electrolytic capacitors replaced for long term reliability
- tuning of oscillators 1&2 into bass range
- tuning of oscillators and pitch tracking
- notorious decayed dust cover black goo was cleaned from circuit board
- pots were cleaned/lubricated
- new dust cover was installed to keep dust out of switches and sliders"
"You know, folks.... I think I might like my Minilogue even more than my ARP Odyssey? I know, I know.... but it's just so inspiring.... every time I sit down at it, I just start creating in a way that I can't do with the Odyssey. The Odyssey is great when you know what you're going to play, and need a bassline, then a melody, and everything is planned.... but the Minilogue just let's it all flow.
Anyway, this is 13 minutes of raw improvising done in one take, editing a patch I made as I'm playing. This is actually how a lot of my best patches were created! I just start playing, and the sound tells me where to go.... it leads me into different territory ever knob twist. This sound for example is going to be in my upcoming (long awaited) patch set #5. It starts as a sound called "Triangular" which I dialed in, and was quickly inspired by. It's very... phasey and almost sounds like it's run through an MXR Phase 90.....
Anywho, I play and continue evolving the sound; making it more percussive, then towards the end, I end up with a totally different patch, which I then saved as "Mourn Horn".
"Got my ARP Odyssey right here, baby! I was working on a track using the ARP for all the synth stuff, and the Yamaha CP-20 (underneath it) for the Piano stuff when I decided to record my progress. Before anyone asks, no - I didn't save this track..... it was too loud!
"Arturia used to be on my shit list for all the bugs and lack of customer service, but as of lately.... well, they've really gotten it together! So much so that I recently bought the Prophet V, and last night; their Oberheim Matrix 12V.
Let me tell ya, even as an expert synthesist, I was a bit intimidated by the Matrix 12, as it is one of the most (if not THE most) powerful and flexible analog polysynths of all time. With 18 filters, 5 envelopes and LFOs, plus a whole slew of other shit you'd expect from a modular, you might understand my apprehension. Never the less, the Oberheim sound is my Kryptonite and you don't get much better than the Matrix 12.... so I bought it. I listened to comparisons between the hardware and the software and it seems dead on........
First sound I programmed? Well..... actually, it was Vox Humana.... but the SECOND sound I programmed were these strings. These are the best strings I have ever programmed on any synthesizer, EVER. Because the Matrix allows for such crazy modulation and inter-connectivity, I was able to make the Attack and Release transients respond to velocity, so that I could play quick passages without sloppiness in the sound. Also, the amount of PWM and VCO modulation going on is crazy... I'm using 4 LFOs, and some of them are tracked by the keyboard for faster modulation on the higher notes, slower on the lower.
Anyway, this is me just improvising something epic.... I just thought of the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and hit record. 1 take.
Nerding out with Oberheim Matrix-6 and Strymon BigSky Reverb [demo]
Published on Jan 30, 2016 State Shirt
"I've been working on some new song ideas with my trusty Oberheim Matrix-6 and Strymon BigSky reverb. Here's a quick demo of the two together. :)"
Nerding out with Kawai K5 and Strymon TimeLine Delay [demo]
Published on Jan 5, 2017 State Shirt
"You'll never believe what we found sitting on the curb in our neighborhood a few months back. This fully operational Kawai K5 digital synth! A neighbor put a few keyboards on the curb and posted an ad to Craigslist. I guess the original owner got sick of additive synthesis. So we took the Kawai home and fired it up. It's a digital synth made in 1987, and seems to have it's own unique sound. I decided to plug it into my trusty Strymon TimeLine delay and see if I could come up with a few sounds and some song ideas for my new album. After many months, I finally completed the demo of the two together. :)"
"This is the second electronic music video of my Minilogue, Monologue and Electribe RMK2 all timeclock midi synced. I'm running banks of original sequenced beats and triggering arpeggiations. For transitions, I'm utilizing controls like cutoff, delay time, decay, octave switches master volume and samples from my Roland SP-404 taken from a public domain survivalist educational video. There are transitions from 4th timing and 3rd timing as well as twice where both timings are being played simultaneously. I fashioned a tool out of a credit card to hold my pitch shifter handsfree. This is all recorded, mixed down and mastered with my TASCAM DP-24SD Portastudio, video recording was done on a iPhone 7 Plus with a fisheye lens attachment. Edited with Microsoft Movie Maker on an old Toshiba laptop at my cabin in the woods of Bellingham, Washington."