Thursday 31 December 2009

Rather common name




















The problem with having this name for a blog is that other people have used it as well. Check out one namesake here. Its pretty cool actually - just pictures related to space stuff

Patching Between


Decided to concentrate on TW now until it's done, at least as a mini-album. I was working on BTT today and came up with the above patch. Now all mixing desks are up and running, I've got flavours from two eras: MCI 416b from 1973, Studer 902 from 1982. They sound completely different to each other. The idea is to mix them up on this record, and have fun doing it, then hopefully the album will be a snapshot of Coronet Street circa 2010. I'm getting obsessed with the date of equipment and using the correct effects with synths and suchlike! For example on the track today:

Logan Strings - 1975
Korg 770s - 1975
Arp Odyssey - 1974
EMT 140 Reverb - 1970
Watkins Copycat - 1970
Roland CR78 - 1978
Roland TR808 - 1980
Simmons SDS5 - 1981
Roland Juno 60 - 1982
Sequential T8 - 1983
Lexicon 224 - 1978
Ursa Major Delay - 1978
Pedals - delay, flanger, chorus, phaser, distortion, all really old

Wednesday 30 December 2009

Visual crack for the ocular fiend

I love this blog, and guess what, my synths turned up on it......


Synapse Magazines



















Where can you find interviews with all your favorite synthesists and producers, reviews of recent equipment like the Yamaha CS80 and Polymoog and discussions with all the top manufacturers such as Bob Moog and Cameron Jones from NED? Here. Now you have no excuse to put off building that Seven Stage Frequency Divider

Thursday 24 December 2009

Its Full of Knobs
















So I finally got the MCI desk into the main studio, and here it is alongside some friends. Amazingly this desk has some Moog-type knobs on it, not all of them are the original MCI ones, so I guess it's feeling right at home. Initial tests suggest it has the same MASSIVE SOUND as the Moog as well



Wednesday 23 December 2009

Visitors and Friends

Well another year is nearly over, so here is a little gallery of visitors and friends who have been around in 2009. For example, below is a picture of Big Al doing his thing. There are a few people missing of course but that's because the iPhone ran out of power that day or something. Hope to see you all again soon!!


Pile of Polysynths















Started changing round the studio today, and ended up with a pile of polysynths...

Sunday 20 December 2009

Transparent Plastic Suits

Wierdly, John Foxx influenced this scene from Blade Runner. He's been working with filmmaker Macoto Tezuka, the son of Osamu Tezuka, the "Godfather of Anime", who told of his father's admiration for the transparent suit Foxxy used to wear on stage in the late 70s. Tezuka was an art consultant on the film. Good work also from Vangelis on the CS80 Brass2 preset in this clip

Love 8078 for sale

















There is a Neve 8078 console on ebay today. This certainly is one of the best desks ever made. Here is the wiki page. Actually it's been on the bay for a while now, and keeps going down in price by a few thousand dollars every couple of months. So maybe in 16 years it will be free to anyone who will be prepared to pick it up....

"This is a rare opportunity for somebody, as an 8078 like this does not come on the market often. Reduced in price since last listed, it is being sold by the owner. It is in EXCELLENT CONDITION, perfect running order and is currently in use. IMMACULATE inside and out and maintained meticulously for it's entire life. It has been used to create MANY classic and great sounding records. Considered to be one of the finest consoles that NEVE ever made, some of the top mixing and recording engineers in the world have used this one and many would say it's one of the best sounding 8078's ever. 40 channels of 31105 mic pre's, 4 band EQ. 32 ch. monitor section. Right side patchbay. Flying Faders NOT included. The desk will have original NEVE P&G faders when sold. Serious inquiries only. Email- ponzutopia@aol.com Arrangements can be made for viewing in the Los Angeles area"

Monday 14 December 2009

Synths and Supercars























Giorgio Moroder is very cool. Not only did he produce some of the best electronic pop music ever (eg Donna Summer) and some of the best electronic film soundtracks ever (Cat People, Midnight Express, Scarface) he also built a supercar - the Cizeta. I think it's up there with some of the best cars ever designed yes?


Sunday 13 December 2009

Postmodernist Moment















I was walking to Liverpool St station last night on my way home from the studio listening to John Foxx's Metamatic album when I found myself in the above coridoor. Suddenly I had a Postmodernist Moment, which was pretty cool

Saturday 12 December 2009

Why I love Matrixsynth

Matrixsynth is the best website on the internet [if you like synths]. He posts about 50 synth-related posts on his blog every five minutes, 24-7. For example, this is my all time favorite MS post because it is so crazy....


Wednesday 9 December 2009

Early Korgs

These would make a nice christmas present [both on ebay today]





Sunday 6 December 2009

Amek M3000 is better than Neve, API, SSL, Trident shock














Quote from ebayer: "This listing is for a vintage (1979) Amek M3000 mixer. In my opinion, this is the best sounding analog mixer that I've ever recorded on, including Neve's, SSL's, API's and Tridents. It was designed by Rupert Neve and it sold new for $249,000.00"

A very interesting looking console from 1979. I don't know anything about it other than from the description in the ebay auction. It's IC-based, but who knows, it might have some magic [although I don't think Neve had a hand in it....]. I love high-end items like this coming up on ebay - even at £10k part of me wants to think it's a bargain

PDF brochure here