Made in the U.S.A. Analog Synth Shootout

May 15, 2012

The synthesizer as we know it today owes a lot to the analog pioneers of the past. Early designs from Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith, and the late Bob Moog not only laid the groundwork for the modern synthesizer, but also for an industry that would boom in the decades to follow. But like many tech companies of yesteryear, there was a point where these three synth manufacturers seemed as though they would be gone forever. Fortunately for us, they were just down and not out. Fast forward to 2012 and Moog, Oberheim, and Dave Smith are back doing what they do best, making killer analog synthesizers. Deciding which one of their synths to buy can be a tough choice though. So let the shootout begin.

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Roland Quad-Capture Audio Interface Review

May 15, 2012

There’s certainly no shortage of USB audio interfaces on the market today. Though most will get the job done, some will do it better than others. The Roland Quad-Capture is one such interface. At $270, it’s a bit more expensive than it’s competitors, but for the cost you will get higher-end preamps and a feature set that outshines the rest. For the home studio musician, the Roland Quad may very well be the top choice, particularly if DAW performance and recording quality are high priorities.

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Modern Analog Synthesizers

April 1, 2012

Old analog synthesizers are famous, rare, and highly sought after. But when it comes to Analog gear, going vintage isn’t the only option. There’s a whole world of small companies out there producing modern analog synthesizers that sound just as good and just as analog. Below are five synthesizers that caught my attention for on reason or another. All of them as a group seem to be a good cross-section of what is out there for new and modern sounding analog synthesizers.

Doepfer A-100 System 2
Pre-configured modular analog Rack
$2599 @ analogue haven

doepfer a-100

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Four Good Books about Sound Synthesis

November 15, 2011

Here are four good books about synthesizers and sound synthesis. For some good books about music technology from a historical perspective, check out Four Good Books about Music Technology Part 1.

Vintage Synthesizers
by Mark Vail
Vintage Synthesizers is the definitive synthesizer knowledge book. It lays out nearly every aspect of the history and design of synthesizers in a well organized, easy to follow format.

Sound Synthesis and Sampling
by Martin Russ
Sound Synthesis and Sampling is a comprehensive guide to the various forms of sound synthesis. It provides a solid foundation in all principles related to sound design and synthesizer programming.

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Sound Designers and Synth Demos

November 9, 2011

It’s no secret that synthesizer manufacturers are better at designing synthesizers than they are at creating presets. Though occasionally a manufacturer will hire a sound designer to make some presets, this is often the exception rather than the norm. The result is that it’s often hard to judge the potential of a synthesizer from the factory presets or demos alone on an official website.

Top sound designers have websites that show off the sounds they make. The banks from these designers are often very high quality since designing presets is their speciality. A good designer will often have several years of experience, focused exclusively on designing sounds for synthesizers and sample collections. Along with selling sounds, there is also a less obvious service that sound designers offer: they give us the chance to listen to a synthesizer at it’s full potential through the audio demos on their sites.

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Sound Design vs. Music: Q&A with a Soft Synth Preset Designer

October 22, 2011

Today we have sound designer Lotuszia here from www.lelotusbleu.fr, a company specializing in creating custom presets and sound banks for soft synths. He’s with us today to share some thoughts on sound design and how it relates to music composition.

ASM: First off, thank you Lotuszia for taking the time to share your insights on sound design with ASM and it’s readers. So let’s go right to the hardest question first. In one sentence, what do the words “Sound Design” mean to you?

Lotuszia: I can only speak of Sound Design as “Creating the most possible expressive instruments”, which is my day job.

ASM: Lately there seems to be a growing amount of music out there that references sound design. There also seems to be a handful of sound designers out there adding elements of music composition to their work and releasing it as music. This being said, what do you consider to be the relationship between sound design and music?

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Roland A-500s Keyboard Controller Review

October 22, 2011

a500 top

Not another USB keyboard controller. Yes, another USB keyboard controller. The A-500s is a 49-key minimalist USB keyboard from Roland (that happens to have the Cakewalk label written on it). Just one more piece of Roland’s ongoing identity crisis involving the integration of their computer music line with their more more traditional synthesizer based products. It seems like only yesterday that Roland was releasing computer interfaces and controllers under the name of Edirol. Then, all of a sudden, these same devices began to appear with the Cakewalk logo on them. Lately, these devices are coming out with “Roland” written on them. Has Roland finally accepted a future in which computer gear will stand side by side the rest of their products? It seems so.

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Four Good Books About Music Technology

May 9, 2011

Below are four books about music technology ranging from synthesizers to music players.

Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer
by T. J. Pinch
Analog Days tells the story of the Moog synthesizer. Along the way, it gives a good dose of the counter culture, music and other synthesizers that intertwined with the development of the Moog.

All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fannings Napster
by Joseph Menn
All the Rave gives a pretty good account of what went on behind the scenes during the rise and fall of Napster. This book provides some insights into the complex relationship between music, technology, and business.

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Virtualizing the MPC: The Akai MPC-V

May 4, 2011

Welcome to the Akai MPC-V. The future of music technology gear. Well, maybe not. But back in 2005, I thought the concept was worth spending a little time developing. I was working for a synthesizer manufacturer and thought it might be interesting to propose the virtual MPC as a potential new product. The main idea behind the MPC-V was to update the popular and now classic Akai MPC hardware platform into a modern day hybrid hardware/software musical instrument. The driving force of the design would be to build on the strengths of the platform’s past while integrating all of the benefits of modern software technology and interfaces. But before I go into the details, first a brief history of the classic Akai MPC.

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Yamaha NS-10 Studio Monitors Review

April 10, 2011

Legends exist of people finding a Roland 303 at a garage sale for $15 or a 909 in a pawn shop for $50.  Supposedly this type of thing was common during the late 80′s and early 90′s when analog went digital.  But it’s hard to imagine, now that this same gear goes for $1000-$2000 on ebay. So evertime I would pass a second hand store, I would stop in and look for that one last 303 or 909, hidden from society for the past 25 years. Unfortunately the closest thing I ended up with was a Nakamichi Cassette deck. Not bad, but no 303. And then luck struck.

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