The KORG PS-3300 Returns!

From Alex Ball. A look at the reissue of the mysterious Korg PS-3300, first released in 1977, along with some history about it and footage of its creator, Fumio Mieda. Huge thanks to Korg for letting me snaffle their prototype to make this video and for letting use some of their interview footage. NOTE –…

Talking Synth Tutorial!

From Alex Ball. A LOT of people have asked me to do this tutorial, so hopefully it’s useful! 0:00 Intro 0:23 The Human Voice 2:42 The best way to do it 7:41 An alternative way to do it 9:42 Another alternative way to do it 10:48 VSTs 11:49 Outro Jam

Joe Satriani’s Drum Machine

From Alex Ball. Whilst the E-mu SP machines are most famous for their use in Hip-hop, they were used by numerous artists in different genres and in different ways. To that end, I thought it would be interesting look at why and how it was used on Joe Satriani’s 1987 album "Surfing with the alien".…

The Stunning Korg Trident

From Alex Ball. A look at a wonderful vintage synth, the Korg Trident Mk I from 1980. 0:00 The Intro 1:45 The Synthesizer 3:29 The Brass 5:37 The Strings 8:27 The Flanger 9:16 The Trident 10:55 The Rear Panel Experiments 15:48 The Legacy 17:33 The Outro Jam Huge thanks to my Patrons for their support.…

Studio Tour!

From Alex Ball. A lot of people have asked for a thorough studio tour and so I finally did one! There’s a LOT of info in this, so use the chapters to skip to the bits that are relevant to you. 0:00 Studio Tour Song 1:41 Computer / Cubase / Kontakt 6:03 Midi Inputs and…

Louis Cole Chord Tutorial

From Alex Ball. I thought it would be interesting to work out a few Louis Cole chord progressions and learn a little about how he makes his awesome music. 0:00 Intro 0:56 F It Up 4:23 Thinking 7:40 Let it happen 11:30 I’m Tight 14:45 Outro Thank you to my Patrons who help me to…

Why I bought the most famous drum machine of all time

From Alex Ball. Like most people, I’ve always wanted to own an original Roland TR-808 but it’s always been the wrong price or the wrong time or both. Earlier this year my time finally came. I wanted to make a video showing why it’s still a very relevant and useful instrument in a modern studio…

The Sounds Of HALO: Combat Evolved

From Alex Ball. A look at some of the equipment used by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori to score Halo: Combat Evolved, released in 2001. Huge thank you to Neo Te Aika, Frostbyte, Booey, Noelle, Yewlyn, Python Blue, Jafet Meza, RenSFX, meowsandstuff, Fleetwire, AtlyxMusic, PunkGalFuryn and anyone else at Project Odyssey for their incredible work…

The YMO Music Computer

From Alex Ball. A look at the revolutionary Roland MC-8 from 1977 which was one of the earliest microprocessor-controlled digital sequencers. Around 200 of these units were made and they were extremely expensive. As I’ve covered the history of this unit several times, I thought it would be interesting to follow in the footsteps of…

Cult German Music and a Japanese Sequencer

From Alex Ball. A look at how the Korg MS-20 and SQ-10 sequencer were an intergral part of the sound of a group of German musicians in the late 70s and early 80s. 0:00 Intro 1:09 Der Mussolini – DAF 5:02 Los Niños Del Parque – Liaisons Dangereuses 8:10 Minimal Tape 3/7.2 – Pyrolator 10:48…