More music gear

Recent acquisitions include a GeneralMusic Equinox, big brother of the S2/3 and just as capable of some great sounds and performance effects; an Elka MK-55 MIDI controller, mainly for the polyphonic aftertouch feature; and a Roland RA-50 arranger. None of them strictly essential, but all good fun. 

 

Look at my enormous organ!

Elka X30, £80 from eBay. I'm looking forward to sticking a phaser on it.

Edgar Froese, 1944-2015

 

Very sad to hear of the death of Edgar Froese, founder and last remaining original member of Tangerine Dream, at the age of 70. It's impossible to overestimate the influence Tangerine Dream has had on music, and on me. It will be interesting to see whether there is any impetus for the band to continue, either with the latest members including Ulrich Schnauss, or with the return of previous members. Either way, Edgar Froese's musical legacy will be eternal. 

NEW STUFF! Jen Synthetone SX-1000, Roland Pro-E Arranger, Edirol PC-500 MIDI controller

After months of working on the studio setup, I'm almost at the stage of beginning work on my next album, but having sworn not to buy any more equipment, I've been distracted by a few purchases.
The GEM S3 Turbo keyboard has been retired as it has some faulty keys, so to replace its polyphonic aftertouch function (which I need for the S2R module) I've bought an Edirol PC-500 keyboard.

I wasn't aware of it before I started researching keyboards with polyphonic aftertouch, and it is one of the few modern, affordable controllers with that function, as well as having loads of controller sliders and buttons. Just £70, and it came in a thumping great flightcase.


The Jen Synthetone SX-1000 was a great pickup for £25 'spares or repair' - seems to be nothing wrong with it except one snapped knob and a couple of missing coloured knob inserts. It's a nice basic Italian single-oscillator monosynth with stable tuning and a reasonably good filter, but it lacks connectivity and it's unfeasibly expensive to have it MIDIfied.

But it's a nice toy, as is the Roland Pro-E, a MIDI accompaniment keyboard based on the D110 with some funky controller features. A good buy at £40 which I spoiled by paying £45 for seven extra style cards, and how useful they are remains to be seen.

Right, now I really must get on with some recording.   

New gear - FAT Procoder, Kawai R-100, Seiko DS-310

Another equipment splurge has ended up with me buying a FAT Procoder, Kawai R-100 drum machine and Seiko DS-310 digital programmer. I've wanted a hardware vocoder for some time, as I haven't been impressed by software ones. The Procoder is just about the cheapest it's possible to find, and this is reflected in the build quality, which is atrocious. The manual is awful too, so I had a lot of trouble setting it up, not helped by a lack of suitable microphones. However, it works well with line inputs, and I got some great Klaus Schulze-style rhythmic chords out of it.
The Kawai R-100 is a sheer indulgence, a gritty sampled drum machine with some interesting tuning features, but not something I'm likely to use much.

The Seiko DS-310 is something I never thought I'd own - it's the harmonic synthesis programmer add-on for the DS-250 keyboard. To my astonishment it works, and creates some fabulous sounds (but unfortunately lacks a filter envelope function). Bizarrely, though no-one seems to have posted a scan of its manual, I got one on eBay - no instrument for sale, just the manual. What's that all about then...? 

      

New synth - Kawai K5000 and macro editor

I finally cracked and bought a Kawai K5000R, the last classic synth module I wanted. I paid far too much for it, and for the Macro Editor which I got separately. The K5000's additive synthesis sounds appear to be just as powerful and flexible as I thought, though the presets are uninspiring and I'll have to sort through some alternative patches to find the best ones. Interestingly, I was also prompted to power up the Kawai K5R and K3R, an additive synth and a digital waveform subtractive synth, and they both have some interesting sounds, but maybe not enough to justify the rack space they take up.

New synth - M-Audio Venom, came and went

I tried to get a demo of the M-Audio Venom some time ago, but the demonstrator from Avid didn't seem capable of explaining anything about it. I think the Venom has been a flop, and now I've discovered why. No wonder the company is now selling its M-Audio subsidiary. I bought one cheap from eBay on the principle that I could always re-sell it if I didn't like it, and that has proved to be the case, and I managed to re-sell it for roughly what I paid for it.

The trouble is that it's neither one thing nor another; it isn't a virtual analogue synth, it's based on samples of analogue instruments, yet it doesn't do as good a job as the Quasimidi instruments. The samples are few and gritty, the effects are grainy, and the presets are a boring assortment of acid sqeaks, belches, bloops and loops. Onboard editing is limited, and I wouldn't use the audio I/O features. So off it went. Now I've seen pics of the  Studiologic Sledge, obviously a more serious instrument at £700, though so far there don't seem to be any decent demos of it on the net.   

New synth - Red Sound Darkstar XP2

My latest eBay buy is a Red Sound Darkstar XP2, a desktop VA synth with a useful range of controls including a performance joystick. It's good for TB303-style basslines and reasonable for analogue pads (though it could do with a chorus unit). You can't fit Red Sound's vocoder conversion to this model - but I wouldn't be likely to do that even if I could find one, so that's not an issue. I found replacements for a couple of missing knobs, but not the joystick knob - Red Sound don't have them, so I wonder where I can find one of those?

New synth - Roland JD-990

Supposedly the rack equivalent of the JD-800 keyboard, what this lacks in real-time controls it makes up for in enhanced editing and effects functions. It certainly sounds great, and the fact that this came with the Vintage Synths add-on card means that it was almost worth the £300+ I gave for it. At least now I can sell my Vintage Synths module. The only synth I really want now is a Kawai K5000R, and the chances of finding one of those are pretty slim.

New synth - Casio VL-5

This couldn't have been more of a bargain - £2.50 from eBay. While the VL-1 (which I already have) seems to be very collectable, no-one seems much interested in its bigger cousin, the VL-5. The VL-5 is four-note polyphonic, and has a bar-code reader port for its monophonic sequencer. Unfortunately it doesn't have the sound synthesis features of the VL-1, just some preset tones. Never mind, it's nice to have, and this one's in lovely condition and came with a case.

New synth - Doepfer Pocket Control

Here's something I've been chasing for some time, a Doepfer Pocket Control. Basically similar to the PhatBoy and other MIDI controllers, it has presets for many useful applications including performance control of the Doepfer MAQ 16-3 sequencer - so it should be handy for that at least. Pity about the hideous camouflage finish, though...

New synth - Yamaha MU100R

The Yamaha MU100R isn't that interesting in itself - it's basically a G-MIDI module - but I bought this one because it comes with two optional boards fitted, the VL-PLG and VH-PLG. The first is essentially the same as the VL-70M, an acoustic modelling instrument which I've owned before and never been able to do much with. But since they now go for around £400, it was a bargain getting this MU100R for £200. The other board is a harmony generator, so probably not of much use except for vocals. The architecture of the MU100R is obtuse, but I've accessed its many interesting pad sounds plus the VL tones. My main ambition is to actually find a VL sound that's useable on my album!

New synth - Cheetah MQ8 sequencer

Another eBay purchase, at around £40, a Cheetah MQ8 MIDI sequencer. I don't think I've ever used one of these, though it's basically similar to the Alesis Q80. It distinguishes itself by having various embellishment modes comparable to something like a Zyklus. Not that I'll probably make much use of it, but it should be fun to play with for a while.

New synth - Technics WSA1R

My latest eBay acquisition is a technics WSA1R, an acoustic modelling synth which I thought might be more useable than the Yamaha VL-70M. It's a 3u unit so it takes up a load of space, and from first impressions the sounds come across more like sample-and-synth than acoustic models. But I gather the presets are a little lame, so I'll try some downloaded patches. I also have a Quasimidi Quasar on the way, at which point I'll probably get rid of the TechnoX - so that didn't last long...

Jean Michel Jarre at IFA, Berlin

Just got back from a few days in Berlin for the IFA consumer electronics show. Not much to see except yet more 3D and Smart TVs, but the highlight had to be the sight of Jean Michel Jarre having to climb up a ladder to put an iPad on top of his crazy 11-foot tall AeroDream One speaker system.
If I'd stayed longer I could have seen Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark playing in the park on Monday, but having heard the CD of their last Berlin concert, I don't think I've missed much...

New drum machine - Roland DR-220A

Having already bought a DR-220E, with the Simmons- style electronic sounds, I was pleased to get from eBay the standard DR-220A with acoustic sounds, for a little over £20. Nice little pocket drum machine, hampered only by the lack of any sync facilities (except trigger in/out). And it came in its case with a manual.

New synths - Korg 05R/W, Quasimidi TechnoX, Roland A220

More eBay purchases; a Korg 05R/W synth module, for a bargain £26, which offers a great selection of samploid sounds; a Quasimidi TechnoX, which has some interesting sounds and a useful arpeggiator function; and a Roland A220, which is actually a MIDI keyboard splitter, not something I'll probably use much, but it goes with my Roland A110. Hopefully that's it for now.

New synth - Korg MS2000R

The spending frenzy has not ended - I got a Korg MS2000R just to see if I like it - if not, I can always sell it again. I also got a spare Yamaha TX7, an RX21 drum machine and a MCS2 MIDI Controller. Oh, and a Simmons TMI, which I don't have any real use for, but it is Simmons.

More new synths - Korg Prophecy, Korg Poly 800 reverse keys, Yamaha TF1

I've been going mad buying things on eBay again. First I got a Yamaha TX rack with a single TF1 module for £45; not bad going, and it helps towards completing my TX816 rack. Then I got (another) Korg Poly 800 with reverse keys, for £70; so I can use it to refurbish my slightly wonky one, and sell what's left over. Then I got a Korg Prophecy, for £180; not cheap, but they're rarely seen much cheaper. This I'm really pleased with, as it seems like a good substitute for the MiniMoog I sold, as well as being a source of interesting acoustic modelled sounds (so much better than the Yamaha VL-70M, which I could never get anything useful out of). Now let's hope that's the end of my spending frenzy.

New synths - Kawai PHM Pop module, eKeys 37, TQ49

Another eBay goodie, a Kawai PHM Pop module. I was a bit disconcerted to find that it doesn't have a headphone output, but once I got a sound out of it, it turns out to have a nice mixture of K1-style pad sounds, FM-like tones and cheesy drum machine patterns. Not bad for £25-odd. I also got an eKeys 37, a useful sized USB keyboard - and for £5 from a charity shop, an old TQ49 USB MIDI keyboard, which I assumed would be useful, but it turns out it's so ancient that I can't find USB drivers for it. It powers up though, so I've been able to use it as a purely MIDI device, despite its lack of anything fancy like controllers or channel settings.