OK, then. Time to go seriously analog. My plan was very simple: to build a modular synthesizer one module at a time, and spend serious quality time with each new module in order to truly learn it. I ordered an empty 6U case, and oscillator and an lfo and sat down and waited. While I […]
I bought this by mistake. I got it dirt cheap from eBay; I just placed a very low bid and ended up getting it. Never really used it; kept it for a few months, then sold it to help finance a dotcom modular. Er, I sold a bunch of other stuff as well; this one […]
Soft synths don’t force you to rearrange your studio whenever you buy a new one. This fact alone did not keep me from getting new hardware during 2004 instead of focusing all my energy on the admittedly handy soft synths. This proved to be a hardware-intense year. Think Close Encounters of the Analog kind. It […]
Before digging deeper into analog (= MIDI-less) synths, I had to make sure that they would play nice with digital stuff like, say, a computer that’s supposed to be sequencing them. Kenton came highly recommended. It’s a MIDI-to-CV -converter, meaning that it takes the incoming digital MIDI note data and transforms it into voltages and […]
Now we’re talking Synth History. I grew up listening to this machine, without even knowing it, as it was used by all those bands that shaped my taste in music. Playing around with this for the first time was an almost religious experience. In my Quest for Simplicity, this one takes the cake so far. […]
I saw one for sale in my own home town. I haven’t previously even seen one for sale in my home country, so I thought this would be a great chance to get a real classic analog synth and actually get to test it before buying, instead of having to wait for the postman for two […]
This kind of sneaked up on me. It somehow “just happened”. I completely fell for it. I just had to have it. So here it is. eBay is dangerous. In search for pure simplicity, this one isn’t quite there yet, as it has an analog modulation matrix-y thingie which kind of makes it “advanced”. It’s […]
Hardware bundles are so much more fun than software bundles. This one “came with” the BassStation, as in I bought it on eBay from the same guy during the same day. According to the documentation on the Net, it was originally built to “emulate” the Minimoog, so I figured this was a great way to get to […]
My first real active monitors. Served me well for their entire stay. Except both of them broke. First one happened under warranty, which really never happens in real life, and the other one was fixed by my colleague and neighbour. A really nice and full sound, when they work, don’t really need a subwoofer with […]
Originally bought only to function as a MIDI-to-CV-converter for the MS-20, with the added convenience of having an in-built monophonic analog synth with sound memories. I really don’t need this for the sounds, but it was cheaper than a Kenton Pro-Solo, so… I ended up selling this to finance an analogue modular synthesizer.