Introducing and explaining how to use the new quad VCA module from Wonkystuff.
AE Modular
Jamuary 2021 – #3 – A bit like Berlin School
Here I was playing with a new Grains firmware and ended up really enjoying the digital oscillators in my system, the SAWVOX and WAVETABLE, which, with some careful filter modulation, sound really nice and fat analogish (if that’s a word).
Jamuary 2021 #2 – A Meditative Jam
This jam is much slower and almost follows a very slow breath – in – out – in – out. The finale somehow became strangely ominous, but as I don’t really know where inspiration leads me, I just have to follow.
Again the thumbnail was made by my son Robin, who’s getting really good at this!
This recording is also the first made with my new audio interface, the Behringer UMC-404 HD and. oh boy, does this make a difference! No more hissing noises! Clean sound, manageable levels, I should have bought this ages ago! This time I’ve also recorded it straight into Reaper and applied some light compression to the mix.
Happy Jamuary 2021
This is my first jam for the year in the spirit of Jamuary. Already the year starts much better than last year with plenty of rain instead of bush fires! Now I have a few more days of holidays and want to spend them jamming!
Interview with Tim Held at Podular Modcast
Tim Held has established quite a following with his weekly podcasts which he aptly named Podular Modcast. He approached Robert and I at Synthbooth and asked us whether we would like to do an interview with him to which we gladly agreed. This was again one of those 2020 Zoom interviews over 3 continents: Tim in Seattle USA, Robert in Germany near Munich and I in Australia. It was a very relaxed interview with Tim being a fantastic host and interviewer.
At the end he posed a patch challenge for the words “PURE DAWN” to which I obliged mainly because coincidentally I had recorded a good 30 minutes of birdsong one morning just a few days prior and I always wanted to use this in a song anyway. So my track at the end of the interview features our early morning bird concert.
I hope when you listen to this interview you will enjoy it as much as I did while being “on the show”. Thanks to Tim for doing this and thanks again to Robert for the creation of this fabulous synthesizer system.
Presenting AE Modular at ELK ELEKTRONIK
Last weekend I travelled the 5 hours up north to Wollongong for the Synth Meet at ELK ELEKTRONIK to perform and present the AE Modular system.
There were only 10 people due to the COVID restrictions, but it was fun and totally worth it.
Thanks a lot to Jono who let me stay at his place and to Ed and Hannah from ELK who organised the event.
Jono has so much gear and his blog is a treasure trove of knowledge on how to use and repair it.
Livestream for SynthBooth 2020
Today I was on a Zoom call with Robert which was streamed live to the tangible waves YouTube channel. Robert talked about how the AE Modular system came about and we gave a quick overview of the various modules that are available from the tangible waves website. I then showed a performance that showcased most of those modules.
Getting Started 18 – Wonkystuff Matrix Mixer
After a few weeks wait for the package to arrive from the UK I finally had the very first third party module for the AE Modular system in my hand! Now I just had to build it as I was a cheapskate and got the DIY version. Good time for making a how to video though …
A Fast Jam
I wanted to shake things up a bit and not do another ambient or spacey track. So this is almost dance-able …
Saturday Synth Jam – A Day On Mars
Join me for a day out on Mars as we will follow those smart little robots Spirit Rover and Curiosity as they discover the Red Planet. This Saturday Jam starts with an ambient wave sequence from the Korg Wavestate followed by a thumping beat from the AE Modular. The final part of the journey is supported by a song composed and performed on the Synthstrom Deluge.
I’m so happy that I again found the inspiration to combine these three amazing instruments into one coherent performance. It took a whole day to experiment, patch, tweak, practice, perform and finally mix and master the video. Even though I had to do it from good old Earth, it was a day well spent!
This track is now also on Bandcamp!