The Ultimate Italo Disco SynthPop Sample Pack

Published on Nov 22, 2019 Espen Kraft

"I've spent a long time recording, sampling and processing the sounds in this pack, with focus on quality and usability.
Each drum sample is taken directly out of the hardware.
Many of the sounds has been made by layering different samples and effects.

This is not a free pack, but I hope you'll see it's priced quite reasonably considering the quality and quantity of the sounds. :)

Get the pack here:
https://thepatchbay.co.uk/product/the...

Or buy from me directly by sending me an email to : espenkraft69@gmail.com

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Roland MKS-20 review - Old school synth-pop tutorial workflow and LIVE performance

Espen Kraft
Published on Aug 30, 2017

"The Roland MKS-20 from the mid 80s. A fantastic retro digital piano module with analoge chorus and tremolo built in for immidiate 80s gratification.
The analog chorus board built into the module can be though of as a cross between the Juno 6/60 chorus and a Dimension D.

Elton John used it for years and Spectrasonics has included it in their Keyscape plugin recently to great reviews. A standard piano sound in many gospel recordings of the day.
Software doesn't cut it for me and I had to get the module. It's getting pretty rare these days so I'm happy it now sits in my rack.
I play it from the Roland S-10 in this video.

I use it mainly because of the preset 7. E. Piano 1. I find that sound irresistable for my 80s sound when I go for a piano/pad with reverb.

In this showcase episode I use that sound with the Chorus enabled and some reverb from a Strymin BlueSky and a TC flashback delay.
The track "Arrivederci" is performed completely LIVE. Just the drum machine providing a little beat. The Juno 6 arpeggiator has a hold function so it can play the same pattern throughout the track.

Listen to more of my music on: http://www.espenkraft.com

My tracks pay homage to all synth.pop acts of the 80'ies like Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, OMD, Euryhmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, A-ha and many more.

A use mostly old gear on my tracks and among them Roland Juno 6, Alpha Juno 2, D550 and JX-8P, MKS-20. Korg DW-8000. Roland TR-626 drum machine. Yamaha DX7 and TX802 and drum machine RX11. I use the Novation Mininova as a vocoder on all my tracks. Effects are usually handled by Strymon and TC electronics. Sampling is done on my E-MU ESI-4000, Akai S1000 and Roland S-10."

Midnight Drive 3 :Arcade

Published on Nov 29, 2019 Espen Kraft

"The arcade. I spent so many hours there back in the late 80s. Now there are no arcades left in my area. As a reminder of what it used to be, and what it meant to me I give you this track.
Get the track here:

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/37ODRgn
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2qUMUvu
Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/33v9M1V

A huge thanks to Neil and Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade in Portland Oregon for giving me access to original footage from inside their arcade.
Please visit their site here:
https://groundkontrol.com/

Credits:
Intro graphics - Badzhoo on Pixabay
Cover photo - Jiroe on Unsplash
Female narration at end part - Amber Nykole

Song made with the following gear:
Korg DSS-1
Yamaha DX7
Yamaha TX802
Akai S612
Akai S1000
Roland S-10
Roland JX-8P
Roland TR-626"

Roland S-10 old school sampling tutorial/workflow - Free samples download

Published on Aug 20, 2017 Espen Kraft

"Performance of the track 'Ocean Drive - Main theme' 17:47

Todays episode is a review and demo of one of my all time favourite samplers, the budget (of its time) sampler Roland S-10. It has "only" 4.4 secs of total sampling time and it holds only max 4 sounds in its memory at a time. Each of the ABCD slots/banks can hold 1.1 sec of sampling time.

Despite all its limitations it has remarkable many features and a killer arpeggiator as well and the sound on this is incredible, especially at the low end. The 12 bit 30KHz converters give this sampler a low end grit that really is very musical and provides perfect counterpoint to more modern sounds. Its big brother, the S-50 has the same sound and even more sampling time.

The S-10 was one of my first samplers so it holds a special place in my heart and I had lots of fun with it back in the day and even did gigs with it of course as it WAS a pro sampler in its day despite its shortcomings in the memory department.

S-10 manager software can be downloaded here:
http://s10manager.corlinks.nl/#C

A set of my own original samples for the S-10, not obtainable anywhere else on the net can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0i7oybeovyi...

Please give me credits if you use those in any commercial way, thanks!

The track "Ocean Drive - Main theme" is recorded with only the S-10 sampler and all the sounds come directly off the S-10. It has been multitracked as the S-10 can only hold 4 sounds in its memory at a time as described above and in the video.

The song can be downloaded through Bandcamp.
https://espenkraft.bandcamp.com/

My tracks pay homage to all synth.pop acts of the 80'ies like Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, OMD, Euryhmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, A-ha and many more.

A use mostly old gear on my tracks and among them Roland Juno 6, Alpha Juno 2, D550 and JX-8P. Korg DW-8000. Roland TR-626 drum machine. Yamaha DX7 and TX802 and drum machine RX11. I use the Novation Mininova as a vocoder on all my tracks. Effects are usually handled by Strymon and TC electronics. Sampling is done on my E-MU ESI-4000, Akai S1000 and Roland S-10."

Who Loves Arpeggiators? | Tutorial and Technique with Roland S-10

Published on May 7, 2020 Espen Kraft

"The song 'Raspberry Flames' can be found here:
https://espenkraft.bandcamp.com/album...

The Roland S-10 with it's great in-built arpeggiator, exclusive to the S-10, is capable of arpeggiating through each of the 4 memory banks in the loop. It makes it possible to create very interesting soundscapes and backgrounds.
I use only 2 chords throughout the song, Bb and Eb and variations around that to add the odd note to the arpeggiator. Throw in the odd note here and there, it can make all the difference.

Additional bass off the Korg MS10 and pads/strings from the Roland JX-8P.

Everything is recorded LIVE in 3 passes, from start to finish."

10 Iconic Depeche Mode Intros

Espen Kraft

"Some iconic Depeche Mode intros and openings.
Live sequenced and played on a variety of 80s synths, samplers and drum machines.

Songs:
Master and Servant (Some Great Reward) 1984
New Life (Speak and Spell) 1981
Just Can't Get Enough (Speak and Spell) 1981
Meaning of Love (A Broken Frame) 1982 *wrong picture art and title in the video -SORRY!
Nothing to Fear (A Broken Frame) 1982
Everything Counts (Construction Time Again) 1983
New Dress (Black Celebration) 1986
Agent Orange (Music For the Masses) 1987
Enjoy the Silence (Violator) 1990
Never Let Me Down Again (Music For the Masses) 1987
World in My Eyes (Violator) 1990 - Outro music

Gear used:
Emax 2, Casio CZ1000, E-MU Drumulator, Akai S700, Sequential TOM, Roland Alpha Juno, Sequential Six-Trak, Yamaha TX816, Korg Poly-61, Roland JX-8P.

Every segment is sequenced by Nuendo DAW with midi sync going to a Doepfer MSY2 that provides necessary trigger sync to drum machines when needed.
The Emax 2 and Roland Alpha Juno 2 is played live, while other sounds and parts have been overdubbed."

How To Synth Up the E.T. Theme

Espen Kraft

"Who else loves the E.T. soundtrack?
I've always felt strongly connected to this score and imo John Williams is a musical genius and he has the ability to connect what we see on the screen to the music he makes for it in a very emotional way. Very inspiring.

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

I wanted to make a little "synth" thing of the classic E.T. theme and mix that with some orchestral sounds, like the french horns.

Gear used:
Roland JX-8P - synth sounds
Roland Alpha Juno 2 - synth sounds
Roland S-10 - Bass
Yamaha DX7s - Electric Piano
Drums are coming off different drum machines
Orchestral sounds coming from Kontakt."

Vintage Analog Synths - pads/strings shoot-out - old-school synth-pop tutorial/workflow

Published on Sep 26, 2017 Espen Kraft

"Shoot-out starts at 02:07

Which one of the following analog synths from the 80s has the best pads and strings?

Elka EK22
Roland JX-8P
Korg DW-8000
Roland Alpha Juno 2
Roland Juno 6

What effect does the in-built chorus have on the sound?

We find out here in this shoot-out where I put them up agains each other.

These are all synths I use when I make my tracks and I love them all for their respective strenghts.

I've given each synth the same chords and intervals, both with and without the in-built chorus.

This is not a "science" test, but a musically test where I just play some pad and string sounds that I've created to be as similar as possible. There is some differences between the sounds as the internal structure of the sound engines differ. I've chosen a saw wave for all the synths (the Korg has a digitally stored saw) as an oscillator and the first three of the synths can have two oscillators, where as the last two (Juno 2 and 6) only has one.
As you can hear in the shoot-out, they can sound remarkably fat regardless.

Some reverb from the Strymon Bluesky is added on all synths. The Korg DW-8000 is given a slight stereo delay and some chorus externally to get the same amount of modulation as this do not have in-built chorus.

Listen to more of my music on: http://www.espenkraft.com"

10 Horror Movie Themes That Scared The World!

video upload by Espen Kraft

"10 Horror Movie Themes That Scared The World!

Do you have a horror movie theme that really scare you? Please let us know in the comments below! Here are my 10 iconic thrills for this Halloween :

00:00 Intro
00:30 Jaws (1975)
01:11 The Exorcist (1973)
01:42 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
02:31 Rosemary's Baby (1968)
03:22 Zombie Flesh-Eaters (1979)
04:56 Hellraiser (1987)
05:33 Suspiria (1977)
05:52 Halloween (1978)
06:33 Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
08:26 Psycho (1960)
08:40 Outro

All themes are multitracked and recorded live, by hand. Sequencing only done on Cannibal Holocaust (taken from my Yamaha QX3 video)
These versions must all be considered "cover" tracks as I deliberately has done them differently that the originals, for obvious reasons.

Synths, keyboards, drum machines and samplers used:
Roland Juno-106, JX-8P, JX-3P, Alpha Juno 2, SP-700, Jupiter-8, TR-808
Yamaha: DX7, TX802, TX81Z, RX11, KX88
Korg: Poly-61, EX-800, KR55
Oberheim Matrix-12
Sequential Prophet VS, Six-Trak
John Bowen Solaris
Kawai PHM
Crumar BIT01
Casio RZ1
Elka OMB5
*and one VST synth that shall remain nameless

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