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DOEPFER A-100 MODULAR SYNTHESIZER [2005]

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 waited, I happened to place the winning bid on an entire full 6U system from eBay. So much for going slowly.

Doepfer has a truly excellent setup of modules and they are very reasonably priced. Still, before my modular grew out of proportion, I decided to go for another brand, the Synthesizers.com modular. So I sold the Doepfer and ordered a dotcom instead. 

Main reasons for not keeping Doepfer: small plugs feel a bit flimsy, small modules are a bit unergonomic, and it isn’t black 🙂
My Doepferlessness didn’t last for long, though…

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WALDORF MICROWAVE I [2005]

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 didn’t quite cover the dotcom price…

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KENTON PRO SOLO [2004 – ]

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 trigger signals, thus making it possible to drive analog gear with digital means. Solid as a rock. I’ve had a couple of these over the years, never let me down.

Well, except the one that didn’t work. Apparently the bag it was in was run over at the airport when it was being loaded onto the plane. 

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ARP ODYSSEY [2004 – ]

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. What you see is what you get, plain and simple. Nothing is hidden, so just go for it. In that sense, this would have been the perfect first synth, but I don’t mind getting it now. This particular unit is one of the original Odyssey’s with a black face and the 24 dB filters. Or so I was told, I have yet to verify it. I would have to open it up, remove all the slider caps and dissassemble it in order to get a peek at the filter chip, and I just can’t be bothered now. It’s a great machine for weird metallic sounds. 

The duophonice feature is quite interesting; when holding a key and pressing another, the other key “borrows” the second oscillator, and you can get quite nice effects that way. Also, getting it to Finland was an adventure in itself. An official Thanks to m@ & Gert who made it possible

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KORG MS-20 [2004 – ]

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 weeks while wondering what he actually might be bringing. Of course, when I contacted the seller, it was already sold. I happened to chek out the German eBay, only to notice there were a bunch of these up for grabs. The one I gave the winning bid on (and which was located in Switzerland) was almost 300 euro cheaper than the one for sale locally, plus I got a friend of mine to bring it to me along with the rest of his stuff when he moved back to Finland. 

It’s a “half-modular” synth, meaning that there’s the standard hardwired signal path, which you control with knobs, and then there are patch points in the signal path where you can insert physical cords to redirect the signal, just like in a modular system. This makes it really versatile and a fun sound creating tool. The patch points obviously allow you to patch in signals from other sound sources as well. This one appears to be a real screamer. I expect to have a lot of fun with it. Haha.

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SEQUENTIAL CIRCUITS PRO-ONE [2004 – ]

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 a monophonic analog synth, said to be the little brother of the Mighty Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, as in its one voice is exactly the same as one voice of the Prophet-5, but being monophonic, it’s obviously very different from the Prophet-5. This feels very straightforward; Vince used it (and reportedly nothing else) for Only You, and that’s precisely how it sounds. Extremely good for those warm bass synth sounds as well as leads and arpeggios. Really solid stuff.

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STUDIO ELECTRONICS SE-1 [2004 – 2006]

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 know the Minimoog, as it were, without actually having one. Being a modern digitally controlled synth with an analog signal path (in that sense much like the Pulse or the Andromeda), this one sounds great (obviously), and it has some nice digital advantages in the form of memories and quite decent signal routing options: assignable envelopes, LFO’s and so on. 

I did have some weird problems with it; it just stopped working for a couple of weeks, and then after a while it just stopped not working. Now it’s fine. My only gripe with it now is that its output levels are quite low compared to the rest of my gear. Other than that, a really nice and simple machine.

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ALESIS M1 MK 2 [2004 – 2015]

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 theses ones. Sold them after Judgment Day

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NOVATION BASSSTATION [2004 – 2005]

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. 

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ALESIS A6 ANDROMEDA [2004 – 2019]

Just when I thought I was going soft, I got the feeling that going all (or mostly) analog is probably the way I really want to go. At least for a while. I have to admit that there simply just is a totally different aura about a real analog synth, whether you can actually hear the difference compared to a virtual analog/soft synth or not. Just take my word for it.

OK, so this one is a definite winner. 16-part multitimbral, 16-voice polyphonic analog synth, combined with digital control: looping 7-stage envelopes, a modulation matrix where most things can control most other things (not everything, but close enough), and more details than you can master in quite some time. Pure love straight from the box, well, at least after a 10-15 minute warming up period. I tried it out by making a thick pad sound, and tried stacking 16 of them on top of each other, and I almost dislocated my ears from smiling so broadly. The user interface is absolutely great. Well laid-out, and you can get quite far with just the knobs and buttons, plus the sheer amount of parameters you can get to tweak in the menus is just so…big.

I feel very strongly for the Andromeda. I feel the same enthusiasm that I felt in 1998 when I got the Nord Modular. That’s a good thing. I like to think of the Andromeda as an investment for life. Ended up selling it to my friend, because I only used 5% of its capabilities, and that just felt so wrong. Still, a truly genius synth.

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