Roland Pocket Catalogue 1984 | What was in it?

video upload by Espen Kraft

"Roland Pocket Catalogue 1984 - The complete Roland line-up and Midi was a new thing. Fir dealers only.

Find my music here:
Bandcamp: https://espenkraft.bandcamp.com/"

Can you guess the source of this sound/patch?

video upload by Espen Kraft

And the answer:

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Yamaha DX9 Vs DX7s comparison | How much difference is there really?

video upload by Espen Kraft

"Unlike all the other 4-operator FM synths from Yamaha, from the 80s, the DX9 IS really a DX7, it's just a 4-operator DX7. It even saves its patches in a DX7 format and no patches from the DX9 will load up on the other 4-operator FX synths without converting.

What I was interested in was how DX9 patches sounds on a DX7, or vice versa. I deliberately chose the last DX7 Yamaha made, the DX7s, to test this. The 1987 DX7s has better converters (but still a mono output) than the 1983 DX9.

Support this channel on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/espenkraft"

The Ultimate Pad Sound

video upload by Espen Kraft

"What makes the perfect pad sound/patch? This can be highly subjective. To me it's a pad sound that takes me to a warm place, filled with nostalgia, which is slick, lush and soft. Lots of chorus and reverb does not hurt either. The Sequential Prophet 2000 has what it takes to make that possible.
A sampler with less than 256K of RAM and it can outperform any synth patch that ever came after it. ;-)

Support this channel on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/espenkraft

In this video I use a 4-part multisample where I adjust the filter cutoff for each of the parts to suit the style I'm playing. I've added a little deep bass underneath from the Kawai K3m. Everything was played live before that was added. There are no overdubs apart from that. It's all coming out of the P2000.
Reverb is from the Valhalla VintageVerb and the chorus is the Symphonic coming out of the Yamaha DMP7 digital mixer where the P2000 is hooked up.
The P2000 has a stereo output which alternated the different voices, hence the dynamic allocation of the stereo voices. That feature makes the sound even more lush."

The John Bowen Interview | Legendary Synth and Sound Specialist, New Solaris OS, Demos, & Prototype

video upload by Espen Kraft

"John Bowen is the man behind those Sequential factory synth preset sounds heard on so many classic tracks. The Prophet 5, Prophet VS, Six-Trak etc.
He later worked on the Korg Wavestation, Korg Oasys, the Creamware DSP plugin synths and finally his own hardware synth, the Solaris.
You've heard his sounds more times than you know.

In this interview you can hear how it all started, all the funny stories, and what happened in California in the 70s, at Sequential Circuits in the 80s and at Korg in the 90s. And more."

You can find v2.0.3 update details here: https://forums.johnbowen.com/viewtopic.php?t=17189.

The following are a couple of videos featuring the Solaris, the first featuring on the John Bowen site.
video upload by synthhaft

"Improvisation with a 'Noodle'-Sound, done with the SOLARIS.
One Sound, one take, no external fx."

And one more with a Nonlinear Labs C15 and Waldorf Quantum:
"Heizfläche"

video upload by

And last but definitely not least, some pics of the Solaris prototype via the John Bowen Synth Design forum where you'll find additional pics:

"I came across some of the old Solaris prototype photos, and I thought people might enjoy seeing them!

We introduced the Solaris at the Frankfurt Musik Messe at the end of March 2007. The original design features 2 rows of knobs below the Envelope section, so that you could easily adjust filter and amp envelopes without having to select them individually. (Note there are only 3 EG select buttons, as the idea was to select them in pairs.)

The wood sides were more rounded, as you can see these were quite nice, but a bit too expensive for production. The graphics of the front panel featured a design from my childhood friend, John Heisch (viewable on the left side). Also, the original silk screen for the front panel was not to my liking, so I requested an 'emergency' job from Axel Hartmann to revise the graphics look for the show (which he did just 2 weeks prior to the show!).

We went through 5 prototype stages, arriving at the production version you know now. It was quite the journey!"

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Espen Kraft Studio Tour 2022 | 80s Vintage Synthesizers and Gear

video upload by Espen Kraft

"My 2022 studio tour where I go through what I have in the studio. As I often have change things out and/or get stuff coming and going, not all things are set up in a permanent order. Some are not even hooked up unless I need it for a particular job.
At the time of shooting I was unaware that I could only use 5 cards in a video so I couldn't link to as many videos as I had hoped."

Fizmo | Ensoniqs last and worst synth?

video upload by Espen Kraft

Thought this was an interesting example of how some people view synths as an instrument to play traditional music to, while others view synths as a sonic palate to explore. The Fismo excels at sonic exploration. It sounds alive at times. The synth is all about evolving textures and timbres. The Buchla Music Easel and Buchla's vision of a synthesiver vs. Moog comes to mind, although Buchla did choose "Music" in that title. Hmm...

The following is what Espen Kraft has to say:

"The Fizmo was the last true synthesizer from Ensoniq. In 1998 this was labeled as a Transwave synthesizer. With multiple arpeggiator patterns and glassy wavetables it sure is an ambient dog.

I must confess that I never took to this synth. Yes, it has a lot of knobs and faders and yes, you can get some decent sounds out of it. I'm usually very positive to wavetable synths, hybrid synths and arpeggio driven bells and whistles, but the OS is very messy, the wavetables themselves are way too glassy and thin and it just doesn't speak to me.

The demo track uses external drums and some external effects as well. All the sounds are indeed from the Fizmo and everything has been multi tracked, mixed and mastered."

Roland JX-08 vs JX-8P | There will be blood...

video upload by Espen Kraft

"Can the new Roland JX-08 Boutique replace the classic JX-8P synthesizer?
More polyphony, more memory, a sequencer, arpeggiator and more. Is this enough for the 08 to beat the classic? Can the sound match up?

The JX-08 has no Sysex abilities, so it cannot import patches nor be used as a controller for the 8P. It cannot do Unison detune, so forget those extra fat patches. The envelopes are very different, and the filter does not sound the same.
You can dial in different effects settings, including parameters to mimic the classic 8P chorus, but again it's not enough to make the 08 sound good enough in my opinion.

I've taken all my custom made patches for the 8P and programmed them into the 08 and I've taken all parameters into consideration when doing this, but since so much of the sound engine of the 08 sounds so different, it's impossible to get any exact match for a lot of sounds. Some are easier than others, while some sound very different even if the settings match up, if you know what I mean.
The demo track uses these patches. They're on both machines and are triggered over MIDI. All external reverb is applied the same to both machines. I use only chorus from the 8P and 08 respectively, set up to match. The PG-8X has the 8Ps sysex loaded into it.

Another big annoyance of the JX-08 is there's no way to power this except over USB. This is a big mistake as it means ground hum and noise you'll have to use Di-boxes to get a clean recording signal. Not all of us love USB, I hate USB myself and want as little of this as possible.

* the story about the dead grandmother was fiction to illustrate my point. This is NOT legal i Norway."

John Bowen Solaris | Epic, Enormous & Expensive

video upload by Espen Kraft

"A flagship synth from 2011, the John Bowen Solaris is both vintage and modern at the same time. It's all digital, but it can mimic both old analogs as well as the 80s hybrid synthesizers and more.

Check out the synth here: https://www.johnbowen.com

The idea to use a Compact Flash card to store patches, presets, Wav-files and even the OS is a great concept in my opinion. Yes, it means you can loose everything if not careful, but as long as you have a backup of the card you can put it into another Solaris and boot it up to reveal YOUR Solaris.
Using the CF card does not mean the Solaris boots the OS from the card, you flash the Solaris from the card when there's a new OS update you want to install into the synth.
You do need to have the CF card present to have your presets and patches available though.

The demo song was made to showcase what I feel is the best part of the Solaris, the ability to mimic the classic hybrid synths like the Prophet VS, the PPG, and also synths like the Yamaha FS1R which uses formant shaping. The drum loop that comes up at the end is also out of the Solaris as you can create patches based off your own Wav-files.
The first part of the demo song is all recorded by hand, with a free flowing tempo. I also play an arpeggiated part on top of this.
The second part is recorded to tempo.
Some of the patches are part of this Solaris' preset bank, while some of the sounds are either edited presets or my own makings.
External FX used in the demo track: Valhalla VintageVerb, GFI Specular Tempus.
The demo track has been mixed and mastered using my well documented workflow and gear."

Yamaha QX1 - The Mothership Sequencer From 1984

video by Espen Kraft

"With a price tag of nearly $3000 in 1984, this was the mothership of sequencers. The first MIDI sequencer from Yamaha. Totally overengineered and prop full of features.

Internally it has a PPQ of 384, absolutely unheard of in 1984, note ny note editing and with a 5¼" floppy drive for saved data, a totally pro sequencer.
What you must be aware of though, is that the QX1 was meant and MADE to be used with the TX816 rack. Some strange quirks like not being able to pass the incoming MIDI data to its MIDI out ports, only to the THRU port means that if you want to use this with other midi gear, you have to use a massive MIDI merger or patch bay and it will still be cumbersome. Today this almost unusable for anyone not wanting to pray at the alter of selv hurting, as the workflow of the QX1 is also insane, arcane and so utterly cumbersome that half of the time on this machine is waiting. Waiting for it to compute your commands, and only if you input the right commands, in the right order. One wrong press of a button and it will erase your last recording, with no undo.
Luckily it has some redeeming qualities as well, as we shall see.
I find this utterly fascinating, inspiring and a true DeLorean time machine!"

Scritti Politti track.

What does it mean to RECAP old gear? | Yamaha TX816 in need of help

video by Espen Kraft

"I recently found out that my Yamaha TX816 had bulging capacitors in the power supply. I was a little pressed for time so Anders Jensen stepped in and offered to do it for me. Thanks buddy!

So he shot the complete job and I shot a couple of clips and presto; here is a nice little video for anyone interested in what it takes to actually replace all the capacitors in a power supply. Necessary evil if you want to keep your precious electronics free from harm and enjoy your synths for another 30 years.
Now I "only" have to recap all the different boards as well, but those aren't as critical as the power supply as a bad power rail there can easily fry everything down the line."

Korg DDD-1 | Outstandingly fun drum machine!

video by Espen Kraft

"The Korg DDD-1 drum machine from '86-87 is one of the better drum machines you can get from the 80s. It has a Kick and Snare that can rival the Linndrum and it has awesome specs throughout.
High quality&24 Hours Build Time: https://www.pcbway.com/​

Support this channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/espenkraft​

The demo song is made up from drums of the DDD-1. I programmed two patterns that just alternates in Song mode, on repeat.
Then I programmed the chord pattern on the Korg SDQ-1 sequencer and set that to drive/sync the DDD-1 through MIDI sync. The SQD-1 has two MIDI outs so the other played those chords on a Korg EX-800, the module version of the Poly-800.
I played the synth solo with the same sound off the EX-800 and I played the bass from the Korg DW-8000. Since this required three hands, I multitracked it all. The SQD-1 was clocked/synced directly from the DAW and put in external MIDI sync. That way the multi tracking was always on the beat.

In the demo I have processed each of the drum sounds individually to sound the best, so these are not the dry sounds out of the DDD-1. What's the fun of that?

The demo song is shot on VHS tape, with a Panasonic M7 VHS camera from 1987 and the footage is edited down in Adobe Premiere Pro on a 720p timeline."

Keyboard Mag. Oct. '86 | What Was In It?

video by Espen Kraft

"Keyboard Magazine October 1986 - Cool ads, tech tips, keyboard reviews and interesting interviews... What Was In It? Let the time travel begin!"

Espen Kraft Keyboard Magazine posts

Keyboard Sep. '85 | What Was In It?

video by Espen Kraft

"Keyboard Magazine from September 1985.
Jan Hammer, Greg Phillinganes, Gear reviews and lots of colorful and interesting ads, all from the golden age of music. I go through it all in this episode of 'What Was In It?'"

Yamaha TX16W | The Sampler from Hell | That was Saved

Espen Kraft

"Yamaha released the TX16W in 1988 and it appeared to offer a lot, and it did. Unfortunately, the OS they put into it made using it quite arcane, tedious and annoying to the extreme. However....

The demo song can be downloaded here:
https://espenkraft.bandcamp.com/track...

.... a group of idealists decided they would make a new operating system for this sampler (as the OS i loaded into memory from a floppy disk when you start it up) and so they made what was to be known as the TYPHOON software. This makes using this machine easy, fun and it becomes very powerful.

The original OS is interesting as a case study in how to really annoy a customer and as such it can be fun in itself, if you're into those kinds of things.

Regardless of OS, the TX16W has a very fat and cinematic low end to its sound and it almost rivals the Roland JV-880 for that. Considering you can sample anything you want into it and preserve that bottom end, I find this sampler a real gem."

Keyboard Mag. March '82 | What Was In It?

Espen Kraft

"Keyboard Magazine March 1982 - Kraftwerk, Jan Hammer, lots of beautiful ads and gear reviews."

Espen Kraft Magazine posts

Sound On Sound Jan '90 | What Was In It?

Espen Kraft

"Sound on Sound issue January 1990. A time where more and more gear were becoming digital. Analog was on its way out and this issue shows this clearly. Again, lots of colorful ads, reviews, features and clinics. Let's go through this and se What Was In It!"

Keyboard Mag. July '98 | What Was In It?

Espen Kraft

"Madonnas album 'Ray of Light' is an awesome album and back in the late 90s when it was released I listened a lot to it because I loved the somewhat groundbreaking work done by William Orbit on it. In terms of filtering and chopped up vocal effects.

Internet was still pretty new back then and magazines were often how we gained intel on how major productions were made. This is the magazine that made me aware of the ADR PanScan (as Orbit explains inside how he used it on Madonnas vocals) I will show you very soon.

By 1998, sample libraries were starting to take of more and more and the Gigasampler had been launched. To have a major sampler in a plugin form was so awesome after years of having to buy big, expensive bricks of electronics to get some long samples going."

FM Monster Duel! Yamaha TX816 vs TX802

Espen Kraft

Follow-up to this post.

"The Yamaha TX816 from 1984, a monster DX7, in fact you get EIGHT DX7 in one box with a total polyphony of 128 voices.

Drawback - It's easy to waste voices and you can't edit anything without a real DX7 to control it. Or compatible software.

The Yamaha TX802 from 1987, a highly flexible and powerful FM workhorse. EIGHT 2 voice polyphonc DX7IIs inside. So less total voices than the 816, but you can arrange voices as you want and fully editable from the module itself.

Which one should you get? I show you the differences and how to use them both.

17:00 Answer to what mix was what from the last video - MIX A=802 MIX B=816"

Keyboard Mag. March '86 | What Was In It?

Espen Kraft

"A great interview with Jean Michel Jarre right after his release of the Zoolook album. OMD, Mr.Mister and lots of colorful ads of now classic gear!"

Espen Kraft What Was In It? posts