Klaus Schulze - Big in Japan

Nice to get this package of a DVD and two CDs from the 2009 Tokyo concert. The original limited edition issued in Japan has a slightly different selection of tracks and more elaborate booklet, but I think I can live without it.

Basically this is not classic Schulze, but it does make a change from his recent collaborations with Lisa Gerrard which tended to outstay their welcome. A combination of delicate sequencing, washes of orchestral tones and the occasional tentative solo makes for a relaxing if unchallenging listening experience - the video is obviously fairly static, but serves to show the extent of the light and video show.

But it looks as if Klaus will be unable to summon the energy to perform frantic solos again - I can imagine his output becoming more soporific as he gets older. I'm sure though that he'll never cease to be interesting.

New synths - Kawai G-Mega, Simmons Trixer

I picked up a Kawai G-Mega module from eBay, not particularly cheap at £50 including delivery, but a more sensible buy than the equivalent keyboard, the K11. It's basically a General MIDI module with an extra bank of sounds - not a patch on the K1 or K4, but it adds to my Kawai collection.

In a fit of madness I also bought a dead Simmons Trixer, in the hope that I might be able to patch together one complete one from this, and the rusty example I already have. The new one has some obscure modifications, so finding out what they do might be fun...

New Doepfer synth modules

A couple of Doepfer synth modules have come my way - a second VCLFO, which is useful for my Jean-Michel Jarre effects, and a bucket-brigade digital delay line. I've been dubious about including effects in the system, since I could always add them externally, but I suppose the fact that this is voltage-controlled makes it worthwhile. I still need a second theremin controller, though...

Tangerine Dream The Electronic Journey CD box set

Well here's a bargain, a box set of 10 Tangerine Dream CDs for £13.99 from C&D Services. Compiling what are probably 10 of the worst TD albums - Seven Letters from Tibet, Cyberjam Collection, Tangines Scales and so forth - it's a great way to mop up some titles I probably wouldn't have bothered with otherwise. Apparently the box photo is the same as that of a 4-CD box, Ballads, which was another compilation which I didn't bother with. But I look forward to skipping through most of the tracks on Electronic Journey at some time in the near future...

More Classic Daleks

There's another marvellous Classic Dalek set on the way from Character Options; the Remembrance of the Daleks set features an Imperial (great, now I don't have to get the overpriced McCoy+Imperial pack), a Renegade, a Supreme, and best of all, a Special Weapons Dalek. And there are three more Cybermen coming out too, but frankly they're all starting to look the same to me...

A visit from Evil Cat

We've had a few visits from a local cat who likes to nest in the foliage at the top of the garden, or curl up on the barbecue, or just sit on the step and stare at us. He's a bit evil-looking, black with a tatty ear and glarey eyes, but I've been feeding him anyway. Here he is, auditioning for a part in The Omen.

Unimat 1 Classic

I indulged myself in a multi-tool which ought to make it easier to manufacture small parts for models and conversions. The Unimat 1 Classic is a lightweight plastic-bodied lathe which converts into a mill, saw, sander etc; it's not heavy-duty, but should serve for what I need, and at around £160 from eBay it was a viable alternative to the £600-ish mills and lathes a real pro would go for. I'll report back on how I get on with it!

Doctor Who action figures - 11 Doctors box, Ironside Dalek etc

I've been going a bit mad with the Doctor Who action figures lately - apart from the 11 Doctors box set, I've had the 1st Doctor with Dalek, 2nd Doctor with Cyberman, 7th Doctor with The Master, Cyberman 2-pack and Remote Control Dalek Ironside. Just have to get the 7th Doctor with Dalek now. And a blue new model Dalek. I sold another custom - a 'pewter' finish classic Dalek - and am still working on a Dalek Space Commander...

Nintendo DS Lite, Korg DS-10 plus, Dubreq Stylophone

Mainly influenced by a number of impressive videos on Matrixsynth, I invested in a Nintendo DS Lite and Korg DS-10 Plus software. It wasn't cheap - the DS cost £50and the Korg software was around £40 - which was much more than it made sense to pay for something which is little more than a toy. And it's not as if I'm going to play games on it. But still, it's good fun - the combination of synthesis, sequencing and real-time control would be difficult to match on any other hand-held device. I suspect though that the novelty will soon wear off. You can't, after all, transpose patterns, export sequences, control external instruments etc - and of course you can do all that on a Yamaha QY instrument. Still, good fun. I also got a new design Stylophone - well, one has to, doesn't one?.

New instrument - Boss DR-220E

I'm very pleased to finally have found on eBay a reasonably-priced Boss DR-220E drum machine. At around £35 it's a bit of an indulgence, but I've always fancied one. The 'E' sounds are nice punchy Simmons-type electro samples, so though the drum machine has no MIDI or sync (though you can clock it via the Trigger In), it might be some use. And anyway, it's fun. I'm not too fussed about getting a 220A, since its acoustic sounds are fairly dull, but I'll pick one up if I see it dirt cheap.

Doctor Who Eleven Doctors action figure set

Ooh, very excited by this. A set of all 11 Doctor Who action figures, in a Tardis presentation case, including the one Doctor who hasn't been released before, number 8. Looking forward to seeing it at a launch in July, and I already have my order in...

Victory of the Daleks poster, new pattern Daleks etc

Pleased to see that the new pattern Dalek collectables are starting to appear on Forbidden Planet's website; presumably the Victory of the Daleks poster will be the last of the old pattern Dalek collectables... and of course a Cyberman is always nice to have...

New synth - Korg Poly 800 reverse keys

Another eBay purchase I'm very pleased with - a reverse-key Korg Poly 800 for a fabulous £57. It needs some work - one key's broken, joystick's flakey, it's lost its patches - but from a quick test it seems to be substantially sound. The good thing (apart from the yummy reverse colour keys) is that it has the Moog Slayer mod fitted, so I don't have to mess around with my existing Poly 800 Mk 2 or EX 800 to get it done. Niiiiiice...!

Victory of the Daleks mods

I've done very well selling modified WW2 Daleks - or 'Bracewell Ironsides' - on eBay. They're relatively easy to paint as they're all one basic colour, and I've done a good job making ammo belts and Union Jack badges, much better than anyone else who has had a go at it. I've done 6-inch and 10-inch models, and I'll try to do some more while there's interest. And I quite like the new coloured Daleks, apart from the over-large chest boxes and the hunchback...

The Gem S-series saga continues

So now I've found a Gem S2R for £180, probably the cheapest I could have got one. So far as I can make out it has all the Turbo facilities built in. I've sold the S3 keyboard, having finally figured out with the help of Andy at EMIS that the 10 basic patches are all you get with non-Turbo models - you can't do a factory reset to restore a whole set of 100. So now I have the S3 Turbo and the S2R (Turbo), which is more than enough for anyone...

New synth - Yamaha PS55

My latest purchase from eBay is a Yamaha PS55, one of the last home keyboards from the company using PCM, before they went over to FM synthesis. No MIDI, but it features a poly section, a mono section, a chorus unit, and an arpeggiator, in addition to some nice accompaniment features, and of course built-in speakers. But the main reason I bought it is that this actual unit is featured in a great YouTube demo, playing Edgar Froese's Stuntman. Now I have to figure out how to play that myself...

Novation Supernova

... and just for the hell of it I also got a Novation Supernova. It was £250, which I thought was cheap, but it turns out I was thinking of the Supernova 2. Never mind, it's a great bit of kit and full of swooshy noises. I got it linked up to the Doepfer MAQ16/3 and got immediate sequencer heaven, so I'll certainly be using it on my forthcoming album... On a separate note I had to give up on the Gem S2 Turbo keyboard, as it was proving too difficult to transfer the Turbo board to the S3, or even to transfer the patches (brilliant design there, Gem...) So now I'm just reprogramming the S3 by hand - it sounds great and the keyboard is fab, so I can live without the Turbo facilities and I've sold on the S2.

Novation Super BassStation and Kenton Control Freak

I was very pleased to get a Novation Super BassStation from eBay for £116 - the cheapest I've seen one. It adds more patches, stereo output, sample-and-hold, noise, ring-mod, stereo chorus, arpeggiator and other good stuff to the spec of the original BassStation Rack I have, so I sold that for more than I paid for the Super BassStation, which I thought was remarkably clever of me.

I also got a Kenton Control Freak - not the Studio version with 16 sliders, but the standard one with eight, unfortunately, but it should be useful for applications such as editing the Oberheim Matrix 1000 and Doepfer MAQ16/3.


Update - So then I got a Control Freak Studio as well. I'll have to figure out whether there's any point in keeping the two, or whether the original can be sold.

Doepfer MAQ16/3

I've finally got around to buying a Doepfer MAQ16/3 sequencer. Despite its age, it seems to be the best digital/ analogue style MIDI/CV sequencer on the market - certainly the only really affordable one. Looking at the manual, I'm sure it's capable of all sorts of timing, transposing and ratcheting tricks given the necessary programming, so I'm planning to use it extensively on my second album - the first one is pretty much composed already, and isn't very improvisational. But once that's finished, it will be wibbly sequences all the way...

Oh, and I also picked up a Yamaha CBK-K1 MIDI controller keyboard for under £40 - I already have a CBX-K1XG which has built-in sounds, but I thought this was too good to miss, particularly as it came with an Emagic MIDI-to-USB convertor...

Doctor Who DVDs

I've made a start on a long-planned project to start buying Doctor Who DVDs ('real' Doctor Who, not gay Doctor Who), and I've picked up around 30 from eBay at prices around £5 each. There seem to be a few which are only available at silly prices, but I can wait. I've watched a few at random, and of course, the extras are always entertaining. I've also picked up some of the Target novelisations for the hell of it - I never read any of them when they were published, so that may be interesting, though I have no intention of trying to get the whole lot.

Doepfer Minicases

There's only one thing better than a Doepfer modular synth system mini-case, and that's three Doepfer modular synth system mini-cases, which I was lucky enough to grab from eBay at reasonable prices. Now I can expand my system a bit without investing money or space in a full-size case - though the spare modules I have at the moment won't amount to anything on their own.