roland jx-3p
roland jx-8p
korg microkorg
yamaha pss-460
yamaha dx7IId plus
boss sp-202 sampler
boss ds-1 distortion
digitech bp200 multi-effects
rocktron banshee talkbox
fender squire strat
fender bass
yamaha steel-string acoustic
behringer eurorack mx-1604a mixer
windows PC running sony acid pro 7
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-roland jx-3p (1983)
6 voice, 2 oscillator analog polysynth
6 voice, 2 oscillator analog polysynth
one of the first MIDI-enabled synths (very rudimentary) on the market. this is a simple, yet powerful polysynth that can produce a wide variety of sounds even within its many limitations. the 3p features 2 digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCOs) per voice, meaning they're fully analog oscillators being controlled by a digital chip that stabilizes the tuning. all of the editing is done via a single slider, which might seem pretty annoying at first, but is actually not so bad. with the parameters laid out simply in a cool looking diagram in the upper right corner, it's a very easy machine to manipulate though there are obvious downsides to only being able to edit one parameter at a time. since there are no monophonic or unison modes, it's not really ideal for blazing leads or sliding basses, but it produces some really lush pads, ultra-funky synth brass, staccato basses and all kinds of other interesting squelches. the other major limitation is that it's only got one ADSR envelope, which can be a bit frustrating at times, but also forces me to be creative with my designs instead of falling back on tried and true methods, so it's not that much of a setback really. there is no arpeggiator on the 3p, but even better, it has a 128 step built in sequencer instead, so you can have your arpeggios and a whole lot more (the sequencer can do chords and overdubs as well). it's pretty hard to make a bad sound on this baby.
-roland jx-8p (1985)
6 voice, 2 oscillator analog polysynth
6 voice, 2 oscillator analog polysynth
first off, i love the look of this synth. most people think it's hideous, but not i! pictures don't really do it justice, but in person it just reminds me of a really slick console from the starship enterprise. once i get a little more into modding i'm definitely going to see if i can install some LEDs underneath each of the membrane buttons to really give it that vintage space-age glow. this older brother of the jx-3p is a little bit more sophisticated and understated, but still very versatile and acts to fill in a lot of the holes left by its earlier counterpart. the 8p has both unison and monophonic modes as well as 2 ADSR envelopes, an LFO capable of much slower oscillations (for those long, evolving pads), portamento, velocity sensitivity, aftertouch and a much more versatile MIDI implementation. editing is still done via a single data slider, but unlike the 3p, the 8p accepts SySex messages, which means it can easily be controlled by any SySex enabled MIDI control surface or software plugin, giving you plenty of programming flexibility. the presets are pretty much garbage, but dig beneath the surface a bit and you can immediately start to hear the potential of the jx-8p. i've heard some complaints that the envelopes aren't fast enough for really snappy basses, but i've yet to really encounter that as a problem. maybe i'm just not a snappy bass kinda guy. it takes a little bit of finesse to coax great sounds out of this synth, so it isn't the best option for the types that want instant gratification, but that's great as far as i'm concerned...just means more losers will fiddle with it for 5 minutes, get frustrated and then move on to something easier.
-korg microkorg (2002)
4 voice, 2 oscillator semi-modular analog modeling synth
4 voice, 2 oscillator semi-modular analog modeling synth
sometimes dismissed as a toy or a "wannabe" synth by association (it's true, a lot of douchebags have been known to rock only the presets on this thing), the microkorg is actually a really versatile machine that packs a lot under the hood. it's got a weird layout with the different banks having been assigned genre names like "trance", "electronica", "dnb" and so on as opposed to just calling them bank A, bank B, etc.. this is pretty lame, i'll admit, but beyond that little annoyance there's a lot for any synth geek to appreciate here. it's semi-modular and by that i mean korg has implemented something they call "virtual patching" that basically lets you select a source and destination to route your signal through to modulate your sound. you can use both LFOs, both envelope generators, velocity, key tracking and both the mod wheels to control pitch, filter cutoff, detuning, noise level, amplitude, panning and so on and you can have up to 4 of these patches going on at the same time. not bad for some wannabe shit, right? oh, and there's the fact that if you dig a little bit you'll discover that the microkorg's oscillators feature more than your standard sine, square, triangle and white noise waveforms...hidden in there is an option called 'digital', which opens up (under the control 2 knob) the 64 additive harmonic synthesis generated waveforms from the original korg DW-6000 / 8000! what does that mean, you ask? it means if you were one of the many losers who dismissed this synth off the bat because of the way it looked or the people who were using it you should just go jump out into the street right now because this shit = boss.
-yamaha DX7IID plus (1987)
16 voice, 12 operator digital FM algorithm synth
16 voice, 12 operator digital FM algorithm synth
this is really just a DX7IID that's been modified with a floppy drive, basically making it a FD, but the modder has referred to it as a "plus" instead of trying to pass it off as something it's not. however, the mod is immaculate. it actually took me a few days to figure out it wasn't a factory installed drive when i got it. classy work! and since the internal battery is seeing its final days and tends to jumble up every patch upon restart, having that floppy drive is a lifesaver at the moment.
there isn't a whole lot to say about the DX7 that hasn't already been said many times...it's a classic for a reason. but there's also a lot that's been said that's total bollucks as well. is it impossible to program? not really, if you can be bothered to study up on how FM synthesis works and how it differs from analog's subtractive-based synthesis. it takes a little bit of brain retraining, but in the end, they aren't all that different...it's mostly just the jargon that's pretty wacky. basically you're just using one waveform to modify the qualities of another waveform and instead of filtering a tone down, like you'd do with subtractive synthesis, the amount with which you're modifying that waveform with the other(s) is what determines the harmonic characteristics of the sound. the preset "algorithms" silkscreened onto the body of the machine detail the various routing options of these modulating waveforms and their "carrier waves", providing you with 32 different basic routings that you can then go in and modify to create pretty much any sound you could conceive of. with a ton of different tweaking options this is a real synth geek's synth. you can layer 2 different patches to create new sounds, split the keyboard for bi-timbrality, create various alternate tunings and fractional scalings, you can copy the envelopes of one sound to another and perhaps more importantly, you can control the level of the ADSR envelope points as well as the rate of time it takes to achieve them. that means if you want the release of your envelope to be louder than the actual attack/decay of the sound, the dx7 has got you on that, homie. and with 6 separate "operators" (think of them like the oscillators on an analog synth) for each patch, all individually detunable and fully tweakable with their own envelopes and output (to determine the level of modulation from the other waveforms, as mentioned earlier), you can begin to imagine the amount of crazy stuff you can do with this thing. of course, most of it is impractical for making the kind of music i make at the moment, but that's not stopping me from wasting countless hours fiddling with it!
more practically speaking, it's got mono/poly/unison modes, velocity sensitivity, aftertouch and great MIDI implementation. sending patch data via MIDI SySex messages is quick and easy. the menus and interface take some time to get a feel for (the LCD display sometimes has multiple layers, making it tough to remember where certain functions are at first), but the same could be said for just about any synth that isn't covered in knobs and sliders. the dx7 all-time motto: hard work pays off. jot that down, kids.
-yamaha pss-460 (198?)
digital FM synthesizer
digital FM synthesizer
this synth is the absolute sleeper of the whole lot. the pss-460 has been with me for over 12 years now, i've used it on pretty much every album i've done going back to "mama told me to pimp hard..." and i'll probably use it on every subsequent album as well because while it's very obviously no jupiter 8, it has a certain magical quality to it that always seems to impress. it looks like a piece of shit and by all accounts it is a piece of shit, but somehow it manages to be the star of just about any track i put it on. there's not a lot of info out there in the ether about this particular model in yamaha's "portasound" line from the mid-late 80s, but from what i gather it's a very rudimentary implementation of the dx7 engine in a portable consumer keyboard. it's got some presets and some of them are decent, but what elevates this above toy-level is the fact that all the presets can be modified by a somewhat limited set of notch sliders (waveform, modulation, spectrum, attack, decay and volume). not only that, you can also build your own sounds from scratch using those same sliders, though you can't save them. there's no MIDI on this thing, so it's pretty much a play live and record type of instrument, but that's part of its charm. it's got this really great, lo-fi sound to it that makes it ideal for getting those simple, gritty sounds that have a lot of subtlety to them. it also picks up effects really well, which adds to its usability. aside from all that, it's got a separate rhythm section with drums and auto bass chord options on it as well. not the best drum sounds i've ever heard, but along with the few preset rhythms you can also program your own, though again, you can't save them. it's super janky, but sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered. honestly, i think about pulling this synth out of the set up all the time to make room for something else that looks a bit more glamorous, but i can never bring myself to do it. people laugh when they see it perched there in the studio with it's built in speakers and hideous grey plastic finish...until i start playing it and they immediately start to understand why it's so magical. that said, it definitely isn't for everyone. the sound isn't clean at all...a fair amount of hiss, especially when you've got the chorus engaged, but if that kind of thing doesn't bother you and you happen to find one at a garage sale, by all means grab it!
-boss sp-202 (2000)
4 voice digital sampler with filter/effects
4 voice digital sampler with filter/effects
