Daft Punk | Rollin' & Scratchin' Synth Tutorial

Published on Jan 20, 2019 Alex Ball

"As requested by a dozen or more people, here's the Rollin' & Scratchin' synth tutorial.

Ideally you'd have a 1984 Juno-106, as it has fully implemented midi control, but I'm using the 1982 Juno-6 as that's what I have. The workaround is that I had to use the arpeggiator with external triggers for the opening bit of the video.

The other part of the sound is the Boss HM-2 "Heavy Metal" pedal. I'm using an original Japanese unit, but I imagine the later Taiwanese version will be almost identical. You could also try the MT-2 "Metal Zone" pedal too.

Thanks for watching."

Alex Ball Daft Punk

Flat Beat Synth Tutorial (Korg MS-20)

Published on Jan 7, 2019 Alex Ball

"Following my Daft Punk synth tutorial [here], a number of people sent me messages asking for a demonstration of Mr Oizo's "Flat Beat" which was done on a Korg MS-20 and an Akai S1000.

In the video we look at the principals of setting up that sound and why I concluded that he likely created it from a composite of samples, rather than in one pass."

Daft Punk Synth Tutorial

Published on Dec 30, 2018 Alex Ball

"This week I thought I'd demo three Daft Punk synth sounds / samples on original hardware.

As these are all VCO-based analogue synths that are the best part of 40 years old, you'll probably find that settings vary slightly from one unit to the next. In fact, the settings vary on a daily basis on my own synths, depending upon temperature or how long they've been switched on etc.

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Daft Punk test (TB-303 / MS20)

Published on Oct 28, 2018 Alex Ball

"Picked up a 303 and so had to try these two famous riffs together.

It's not 100% perfect, but pretty close. Once I've nailed it exactly I'll possibly make a video tutorial on how to do those sounds.

Drums - Sequential Drumtraks sequenced by the BeatStep Pro via its midi-in.

Squelchy sequence - Roland TB-303 running into an Ibanez Tubescreamer.

Riff - Korg MS20 mark I (with the type-35 filter) run back through its own external signal processor and with the keyboard voltage tracking the filter cut offs. The distortion is entirely from the synth, there's no extra processing.

Also put in the bass quarter notes after the fact on a Fender Jazz bass."

Korg MS20 | Science Fiction

Published on Feb 13, 2018 Alex Ball

You need to be careful triggering that secret patch setting at :22 in.

"I've been after a classic 70s synth for a while and kept returning to the sound of the Korg MS20. This synth has been through various versions and reissues, but this is the original from 1978 (with the type 35 filter for the nerds). I couldn't believe my luck when one came up for sale two miles away.

It's a completely different sound to my 80s synths (the reason I picked one up). You can overdrive the filters incredibly easily and it has a very fuzzy sound. It's probably most famous for the main riff in Daft Punks "Da Punk".

It's also semi-modular and there's loads and loads of patching possibilities. If that wasn't enough, you can also run instruments or vocals through it and process them, although I'll get into that in another video probably, once I've learned how to harness it!

For now, here's a spot of Tangerine Dream meets Rush meets Genesis using the raw sound of th MS20. This is the first thing that came out when I started jamming with it!

Synths:
Korg MS20 sequenced with SQ-1
Roland JX-3P (not seen in the video) doubling the sequence in stereo in the background.

Electric Guitars: Ibanez JEM 7DBK, Squier Jagmaster, Ibanez Tubescreamer, Boss CE-2 Chorus, Fender Blues Junior II, Mic'd with an SM57
Acoustic: Alvarez Baritone, mic'd with an AKG C414 (as seen)
Bass: (not seen in the video, but it's there) Fender Jazz Bass, Orange OB1-300, DXX 266Xl Compressor

VSTS:
GForce Software MTron Pro
Past to future drums (two kits, one take panned left, the other right - 70s style!)
Sound Dust Hammr Growler

Plug-ins: Goodhertz Vulf Compressor, various Waves and Izotope plugins, Past to future reverb impulses"