Відео

Hehe, a year on, I can safely say this was the video that got me to start paying attention to which filters were in what synths! I previously knew the MS-20 sounded coolly harsh and Moogs sounded thick, and what have you, but each one was kind of "its own thing" (just like guitar pickups: tele vs strat vs lipstick chromes etc). I knew the kinds of sounds I liked, but model numbers usually washed-over me. It was _this video_ which made me check which chip was in every one of my favourite synths. Lo and behold, they all used 2040 or 2044s! (Or modern 2140 and 2144s.) Thankfully, this included my own big-hybrid (which also has an external audio input). Probably the only one I'll ever own with real VCFs and VCAs (which overload _sooo_ good 🤤). So, I suppose I was always an SSM fangirl. But this video is what made me _knowingly embrace_ being an SSM/SSI fangirl ;)

I only own the VST version (along with the Wavestation VST), but that also sounds excellent, and many of those classic sounds still sound fresh today.

Awesome docu!!! Thanks a lot!!!

You know... I always liked the way both the Ensoniqs and the Hydrasynth put their controls around their screens; but it's only with your closeup of the signal-path diagram embedded in selection buttons, and so on, that I realised just how much the Hydrasynth is like a modern Ensoniq. Not just in front panel, but they have a similar method of interesting waves put through decent filters (and in being cheaper than their main competition) as well. (Though I think a turquoise VFD looks nicer than a white OLED, any day!) Speaking of the SID chip, the original intent was to have I think 8 voices! Which would've been an absolute power-house, and competed very well against the AdLib/Sound Blasters IMO. As it was, they cut it down to 3 voices to increase reliability and ship by Christmas. Which tbh, maybe that was a good idea with how many have their filter sections fail lately... But it's fun to imagine a SID chip with 8 or 9 voices belting-out massively complex harmony AND drums, rather than having to very quickly arpeggiate like the SID artists nowadays do. Though having said that, there is something of a charm to the driving arpeggiated beats and complex filter-switching on the noise-source to make drums on another channel. But I digress :)

I know you tend to focus on 80s synths rather than 90s ones, but gosh I'd love to see you do a little Waldorf history some day :)

Thx ❤.. I love my 6r and it’s sound

I remember we DID want knobs and faders. But as most musicians were young and broke, putting up with membrane buttons and a single fader was a sacrifice we’d have to live with to get the incredible new sound making tools. I started with a Poly-800 and SH-101. I moved to a JX-8P rather than a DX7 or 9 specifically because I’d also bought the PG-800 programmer and I wanted controls for live use. My next main synth was an ESQ-1, which when combined with a Mirage Rackmount, meant I was in multi-timbral heaven. I never bought a DX-7, although I did get a D-550 (D-50 rackmount) to give me native synthesis power when I traded the Mirage and ESQ-1 for the original 12 bit EPS. And that’s what brought me here! (The D-550). I won’t continue or go into detail of the ancillary kit, like my DMX drum machine or TB-303 I had at some point. :D The main irony is I actually identify as a guitarist. But in the 80s, if you owned and could programme synthesisers/samplers, you were in high demand for post punk-new wave-electronic and electronic influenced bands! I bought my first synths so I could write and record my own music, which was, and has again become, mostly fruits based. Sure, I could knock together a chord if I concentrated hard but the keyboard players who came from a jazz or classical background were often disadvantaged when playing a huge sounding synth. We one and two finger players would be forced to concentrate on the sound design using fewer notes, which turned out to be an advantage. Over the years I’ve learned to play with both hands. At the same time!

Great video!

I got one. I hope to repair it

I have a Roland Boutique TB-03, and I have to say... ...People who complain about it not being authentic sounding would complain even if Roland literally reissued the original TB-303 in its original form. The only thing the TB-03 doesn't have in terms of its sound is the fact that it doesn't drift like an analogue synth.

ive got a Sequential Prophet 5 that came from Rick Wakeman

With the latest firmware (I think the latest is 2.13) the midi mode can be set so that it responds to successive midi channels. With the Roli Seaboard set up in multi channel mode, midi channels 1 thru 6, not only does the M6 respond to poly AT, but poly pitch bending. Once my Osmose arrives I want to see if I can set up up to respond the same way. All that power of the mod matrix responding with poly AT/PB is amazing. Too bad modern synths don't seem to be as multi timbral as so many older synths.

I haven’t been able to find one that I can get shipped to the United States for under $12 k. Just 4 years ago I had an offer for one fully serviced for $980. What has changed in the interest of Italian 80s analog equipment? Is it just considered cool suddenly and priced triple what they were 5 years ago? I’ve always really wanted a couple of the drum machine sequencers from Elia 1980s and having trouble finding them now. Procrastination is my biggest enemy apparently

I was very fortunate to get a D-20 for my birthday in 1988. Loved that thing! ❤ It wasn’t ideal for learning how to program, but I got there, lol!

My favourite keyboard, i love the 8bit nature of it. My one stopped working properly a long time ago, so bummed out

Around 1988 I left the military and wanted to get back into keyboards, but all the great brands that I fondly lusted after were basically gone; ARP, MOOG, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hohner. What took their place? Looking at Peter Gabriel's Passion album liner notes I saw "Prophet-5", and assumed all those cool Middle Eastern sounds emanated from that machine, so I had to have one. By that time the P5 was yesterday's news, and people were abandoning them in favor of the likes of the Roland D-50 and Korg M-1. I found a rev 3 basket case, got it up and running, then another, and so on, including a super clean P10 with factory midi and tape drive (Braemar?), for $600, 'cause it suffered a missing voice (easy fix - Curtis VCO). I've probably owned 10 Prophet-5/10s, and still have one of each. I can't say that about the CS-80, Gleeman Pentaphonic, various 4-voices, 2600s, OSCars, Jupiter-8, etc.- all wonderful machines, but not 'desert island' keepers (well, should have kept the CS-80, if only to realize a decent return as a bought it for $1k and sold it for $2K a couple years later.....). The Prophets are reasonable to work on (can't say that about the Memorymoog...), fairly reliable, iconic and beautiful to behold. Did I mention, sound great? Great video!

Wow! Truly inspiring. Perfect mix of droning, calming and just a bit of "getting lost out of space" feel. Greetings from Italy. May I ask you (if U don't mind) the scale you used for tuning your Lyra? (I'm struggling a bit in find a right and pleasant one for mine 🙂) Thank you!!

Yesterday finished changing all capacitors on my recently acquired TX802 with various Nichicon models. No more noise, and the volume is so much stronger now. I also sprayed the insides of the buttons with De-Ox-ID which fixed the buttons multi click issues, and got the new firmware chip v1.5 from eBay.

Cool video, quick question, i have the opportunity to buy an S50 really cheap, however there is no audio from the main outs or headphones, could you fill me in on possible cause? I don't want to buy it if it's going to be more expensive to have a tech guy fix it for me.

What an inspiring history and instrument!

The Roland alpha juno is the most advanced analogue synth Roland ever made. Pwm. Env mod. But this upgrade.... Yes!

The alpha dial! Originally from s770 sampler control. Then, Roland alpha juno 1. 👍

Never able or even had the 💵 to purchase any synths in the late 80’s to early mid 90s. I’ve finally purchased the korg m1 and Roland d05 synth. Enjoying every free time I get to jam some great melodies and songs. My teens have been restored 🎉🎉🎉🎉

I honestly don’t think the Jupiter 8 sounds very good because the basic tones from the synth are very thin. It’s just a very capable synth for it’s time.

Thanks for your video. Did you need to install any drivers (system extensions) to make the Apple MIDI interface work or was it "plug n play" ?

It might be too simple to say that the Jupiter 6 is to the Jupiter 8 what the Oberheim OB-8 is to its own predecessor, the OB-Xa. With a wide lens, it looks like the Jupiter 6 is blatantly overlooked in favor of the Jupiter 8 in the same fashion. Having owned 3 JX synthesizer models since 2004 (20 years as of this comment), if I decided I had to have a classic 80s polyphonic with VCOs, I wouldn’t necessarily choose the Jupiter 6, but I would spring for one based on its architecture, the MKS-80. The MKS-80 appears to feature the best of the different models, the 8-note polyphony and key splitting/layering of the Jupiter 8 and the upgraded architecture and functionality of the Jupiter 6. I will say that the closest I’ve come to producing techno tracks on my own material (using my real name) is if I try producing “neo-disco” tracks. In general, I wrote and record in the “untouchable” template of classic rock. I base most of my synth tracks on what various musicians from the 70s and early 80s did.

Just recently got mine back from someone who had it in a cupboard for nearly 20 years… gonna have fun trying this… thanks

Italian monster synth

From 8:05 what is the track title? Thanks!

Excellent stuff !! If you type "Proto Cosmos 1992" theres Steve Hunt playing a killer overdriven Rhodes type patch with Allan Holdsworth on his JX10. It really could get expressive.

Back in the summer of 1996 when I first tried doing the recording, the house in which I did it was owned by a man who had a synthesizer in the den which was also the music room. He made it clear nobody was supposed to touch it but him. I wish I had taken a picture of it while I was down there recording. In any event, I am pretty sure it was a Jupiter 6. About four years later when I had begun learning about classic analog synthesizers and saw different photographs of the Jupiter 6, my memory told me that’s what this guy owned.

Hope Roland Cloud adopts this some day

Are the Leds dimmable in their intensity? They seem very bright….

hey great vid, thanks :) what is the track at 8 mins?

Hof interesting! Thank you for sharing,. Subharmonicon and Nightsky seem to be like best dark companions ever… This virtuos spacy duo impressed me as well; I always thought I was the only one to bring the two together. If you're interested in what happened then, you're very welcome: ua-cam.com/video/STtvuIYhJto/v-deo.html

❤

Johnny, you need to do the MKS-50/AJ1/AJ2, and then one on the MKS-80, since it is truly unique...2 Roland gems that need some JM treatment.

great doc! thank you. I'm being gifted one and this was wonderful

Bought one of the HD5-IF cards! Works great! I've been wanting one of these cards for decades! THANK YOU!

I have a JX-10, and I love it and I hate it. Noisy, weak low-mids, alpha dial is super annoying with the 2 row display with selective parameters, in dual mode, sometimes get blurry sounds with shorter release time, midi madness with sysex….. But when I just touching the first octave with some built in bass or string patch, well, I forget all the pain, and a never disappearing smile just stick to my face. Soon will get all updates, including a analog fix for the dynamic range expansion. bTW, if You don’t wanna spend 2000$ on a monster what You have to repair every year, then have a look on the VST version from Roland Cloud, pretty nailed close to it! Kinda even better!

What's the song at the end?! :O

I have chills right now. The SSX and Tricky soundtracks were quite literally the soundtracks of my childhood. I was playing recently and decided to buy a 303 after hearing Gin & Sin and System Overload back to back! I have two songs called DeathDrop and Queens of Transcendence that don't have 303s but have SSX sound effect samples and are precisely inspired to be spiritual sequels to you and Huda Hudia's work on the soundtrack! Sorry, I'm excited lmao, fantastic video. 💕

This may sound silly.... but is it also a sampler? As in you can get samples into it like the EPS or Mirage?

Smothered Hope

Does anyone know if its hard to do a battery change on an esq-1?

Does anybody have a SysEx download for the PCM memory card presets?

maybe you could get the S50 scsi port work next 🤔

i always try to guess which synths/gear will be sought after in the future that we wouldnt expect currently. like are volcas going to be $2000 on ebay 2 in 2047? maybe old digital synths like the cz's or ensoniq hybrids? theyre already pretty pricey considering what they are

I adore my Juno, I have the Juno X, Its like having all of the Juno's in one spot.

what was the company you ordered the wood panels from?