A Big Fat Sampling Video!

From Alex Ball. A video that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time demonstrating how to create short snippets of music that you can then sample and remix using hardware and/or software. 0:00 Intro 1:13 Demo: Disco Macabre 2:36 Talk: Breakdown 7:40 Talk: Remixing Setup 9:49 Demo: Disco Macabre Remix 11:30 Demo: 60s…

Being Boiled – The Human League Synth Cover

From Alex Ball. Following on from my Roland System 100 feature video, here’s a full cover of the Human League’s first single, "Being Boiled" from 1978. Breakdown: I was very fortunate to receive a copy of the original beat patch from Martyn Ware via Robbie Puricelli. Martyn had passed on that it might need to…

The Roland System 100 from 1975

From Alex Ball. A look at Roland’s System 100 from 1975, their first foray in (semi) modular synthesis. 0:00 Intro Jam 0:57 The System 100 1:59 Demo 1: Falcon 3:02 Talk: The Basic Unit et al 4:28 Demo 2: Proto Acid 5:33 Talk: 101 & 102 7:57 Demo 3: Ring in Spring 9:04 Talk: 103…

The Glorious ARP Quadra from 1978!

From Alex Ball. A look at the famous ARP Quadra from 1978. Huge thank you to Andrew "The Quadra" Ward for the loan! https://www.instagram.com/arpquadra Download the song (all proceeds to the Alan R Pearlman Foundation): https://alexball.bandcamp.com/track/arp-quadra-make-it-happen https://alanrpearlmanfoundation.org/ ARP Quadra Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-pN_Fz3OFcqlzSmZKp-0xgF7bF29EhY 0:00 Intro Jam 1:17 Talk: The Quadra 1:37 Demo 1: Skeleton Dance 2:47 The…

The Roland SH-4d In a Nutshell

From Alex Ball. A look at the new SH-4d synthesizer from Roland. The SH-4d is a multi-timbral synthesizer with four parts, plus drums. At the time of uploading, there are 11 different synthesis engines onboard, as well as a multi-track sequencer, arpeggiator, MIDI and USB audio. The unit also includes lots of FX, a deep…

MUTRONICS MUTATOR: THAT 90s FILTER

From Alex Ball. A look at the Mutronics Mutator released in 1996. As discussed in the video, this unit was used by many famous artists, producers and engineers in the late 90s and early 00s across a broad range of styles. The Mutator is a stereo pair of analogue, resonant low pass filters (SSM 2045s)…

FERRIS BUELLER’S SYNTHESIZER

From Alex Ball. A look at the E-mu Systems Emulator II from 1984, famously used by a certain Mr Bueller. 0:00 Day Off 0:40 The Emulator 1:30 Interlude 1: Some Sounds 1:59 The Emulator II 2:27 Interlude 2: 80s TV Score 3:03 Sampling Explanation 4:34 Sampling Demonstration 7:48 Multi-track Sequencing 9:34 What could you use…

OBERHEIM’S FIRST SYNTH!

From Alex Ball. A look at the Oberheim Synthesizer Expander Module (1974) and Two Voice (1975), which were Oberheim’s first two synthesizer products respectively. 0:00 Intro Jam 1:00 The Synthesizer Expander Module 2:04 Demo 1: State Sync 2:49 E-mu Systems 3:32 Demo 2: Two Voice 4:38 Dennis P Colin 5:49 Demo 3: Pull Seq Wonk…

URSA MAJOR VINTAGE FX

From Alex Ball. A look at the Space Station SST-282 and Stargate 323 units designed by Ursa Major, a company founded by Christopher Moore that operated from 1977 until 1985. 0:00 Intro 0:23 Demo 1: Space Repeats 1:16 Talk 1: Who were Ursa Major? 1:54 Demo 2: Delay Clusters 2:34 Talk 2: What is the…

The Oberheim Xpander from 1984

From Alex Ball. A look at the Oberheim Xpander from 1984. This analogue synthesizer employs what was then cutting edge, digital control allowing for advanced patch creation. It was designed by Marcus Ryle and Michel Doidic with input from Doug Curtis and it boasts some surprising features for the time. In this video we take…

Traveler: A Korg Retrospective

From Alex Ball. In 1963 two young men stepped into a factory next to the Keio railway line in Shinjuku, Japan. Their ambition was to make a new autorhythm machine, but over the next six decades their company would become one of the biggest players in music technology and would help define the sound of…