Update from the studio

First I want to thank everyone for their feedback on my synth tutorials. Making these videos takes quite a bit of time but felt strongly they were worthwhile in helping others get the most out of these synths. It is greatly rewarding to hear from you. And now the holidays are upon us, always a busy time. While I am toiling with vexing electronic file delivery issues for my plugins, some other interesting things are going on.

Recently acquired a standard Korg Wavestation keyboard and exploring some of its potential. As with many synths of this age it needed a new lithium battery which was a very simple process. Alas, the Wavestation also had to be completely disassembled to have the tactile switches cleaned. The backlight has also gone out on it causing a faint whine of the current driver not pushing anything. This hasn't stopped me from programming the synth so I'll probably ignore the issue for now.

Lastly, I am recording a new track called Magnum, which has been kicking my ass for some time but making great strides now. To me some of the greatest works in art and music have been labored tirelessly over a period of time.

Alesis Andromeda Tutorial 5 - Tempo-Synchronization

Diving into the Andromedas arpeggiator or sequencer can sometimes be unpredictable. Sometimes they seem to do something unexpected, or worse, nothing at all. Hopefully this tutorial will be able to shed some light on the Andromedas tempo-synchronization functions.

CONTENTS
0:05 Introduction and The Clock Module
1:16 LFOs
3:27 Patch: LFO SWEEPMATIC
5:26 Arpeggiator
7:25 Sequencer
9:05 Patch: RAPID TRANSIT
11:21 Tempo Synchronizing the Digital Delay Effects

Peavey DSC-4 Dual Clock Stereo Chorus Pedal

This is a quick demonstration of the Peavey DSC-4 Dual Clock Stereo Chorus.  I stumbled across this pink nightmare in a second hand store for cheap.  It was hard to pass up being an analog pedal.  And holy sh*t it's made in USA.  After my not finding any demos out there I wanted to make a quick demo of my own.

The DSC-4 is a mono input, stereo output effect pedal.  It uses a simple sine wave on MOD 2, and a rectified wave on MOD 1.  Each side of the chorus has its own speed and depth controls.  This is an analog pedal using an MN3101 clock chip to drive an MN3007 Bucket Brigade chip.  The pedal is capable of having one of its outputs fed back into the input for obnoxious noises as I show in Part 3.

Part 1 - Oberheim Matrix-6 Synthesizer, one synth voice enabled.
Part 2 - Fender Strat
Part 3 - Feedback loop using OUT A.  Warning: loud obnoxious sounds.

Recorded straight to a Tascam DR-05 from an Alesis Multimix-8 mixer.
No other effects were used.  This being a stereo effect demo make sure to listen on some decent studio monitors or headphones.

TX81Z is the bacon of FM synthesizers

What's better than TX81Z?  More TX81Z.  Each one has 8-note polyphony, but now they are chained together for 16-notes.  Getting things ready to record a new track.

Alesis Andromeda Tutorial 04 - Envelopes

So far I have been showing the use of Envelopes in a conventional manner.
Today I will uncover advanced secrets of Andromedas envelopes in more detail.  Some of these powerful envelope features may astonish you.

CONTENTS
0:05 Introduction
0:25 Envelope Polarity
2:13 Patch: Do-wah Bass
2:51 Time Page + Level Page
3:40 Trigger + Re-trigger
6:20 Patch: Delta Re-trigger
8:06 Dynamics Page
10:07 Loop Page
10:59 Patch: Reverse Technique + Loop Oscillation
12:32 Engine Optimizer
13:10 Closing

My next video will explore the CLOCK and its related functions: LFOs, Arpeggiator, and Sequencer.  Thanks for watching!

PS - I apologize for some of the wobbly camera mount.  I'm looking into building a more stable overhead camera rig. 

Aphex 651 Sidechain Compressor Demo

This is a quick demo of the Aphex 651 Expressor.  The Expressor has a bit of a reputation for being one of the most transparent compressors around.  It's a sidechain compressor with a lo-shelf and a high frequency restoration processor called HFX.  HFX is basically an EQ boost only on the gain-reduced part of the signal.  Despite this, the signal can still be crushed to bits if that is your sort of thing.

Common uses for the sidechain are ducking a background music signal with a voice over.  You've heard this in commercials and annoying radio announcements that interrupt your favorite songs beginning and ending.

Part 1 shows some compression settings on a drumloop provided by BFD acoustic drum plugin.  I'll crush the loop to bits, extend release time, add more transient pop by increasing attack time, and demonstrate the HFX processor.

Part 2 demonstrates the use of sidechaining a mic voice input to duck the background drum loop.

Part 3 demonstrates how a bass synth can duck the drum loop to provide a punchy groove.  Sidechain is a very common solution to the age old problem of keeping the bass and kick drums from fighting each other in the lower frequency spectrum.  Plus it just sounds great in electronic and pop music.  Please excuse my horrible synth playing, I'm juggling the compressor settings at the same time.

CONTENTS
0:05 PART 1: DRUMLOOP COMPRESSION
2:19 PART 2: SIDECHAIN DUCKING W/ MIC
3:25 PART 3: SIDECHAIN BASS

Alesis Andromeda Tutorial 03 - Filters

This continuing tutorial series will focus on editing patches on the Alesis Andromeda.  In this video I will examine the FILTERS and POST-FILTER MIX modules in more detail.  I will continue topics for Filter FM and Filter Feedback and show how to finalize their configurations.  I will introduce the ribbon controller as a mod source, and show how to tweak some more sounds along the way.

CONTENTS
0:05 Introduction
0:33 FILTER2 INPUT Configuration
1:30 FILTER2 Self-Oscillation
2:49 FILTER Parameters and FILTERFM
4:20 POST-FILTER MIX module and FILTER FEEDBACK
5:49 RIBBON CONTROLLER
6:26 Patch: Ripper
12:39 Closing

Join me for my next video in which there is still a great deal more to discover in Envelopes.  Thanks for watching!

Alesis Andromeda Tutorial 02 - Oscillators

In this video I will examine the OSCILLATOR and PRE-FILTER MIX sound modules in more detail.  I will introduce and explain topics for Oscillator FM, Filter FM, SYNC, Ring Modulation and Filter Feedback.  And I will also show how to program a couple of basic patches along the way.

CONTENTS
0:10 Introduction
0:35 Tune Page
1:32 Wave Page
2:39 ENV1 Page
3:13 Patch: Classic Or Deviant Sync
4:56 OSC2FM Page
7:57 NZEXT Page
8:48 Modulations + Control Routes
9:49 Patch: Mod-Wheel PWM
11:23 Pre-Filter Mix: Ring Mod + Filter Feedback
12:14 Closing

Join me for my next video which will cover the Filters in more depth, including examples of Filter FM and Filter Feedback.  Thanks for watching!

Alesis Andromeda Tutorial 01 - Introduction

Contents
0:10 Introduction
0:38 Approach
1:43 Setup
2:18 Modules and Sound Architecture Theory
3:41 Programming Interface
5:49 Oscillator and Pre-Filter Modules
7:36 Filter and Post-Filter Modules
9:09 Envelopes Module
10:14 LFO, Effects, Clock Modules
11:10 Closing

The next video tutorial will expand upon Oscillators.

Andromeda Tutorials coming soon

Andromeda Tutorial 1: Introduction, Program Mode, and Modules has been scripted and filming should start today.

Kawai K5000S Wicked Soundscapes

This synth was literally rescued from a garbage heap.  I have refurbished it w/ a new LCD, reconstructed the shattered endcaps, and performed exhaustive deep-cleaning of the programming interface boards.  The sounds presented in this video mark my first work programming Additive.  All sounds are coming directly from the K5000S, no other processing added.

The Kawai K5000S is quite the under-rated Additive synthesizer.  It is unbelievable to me a piano company like Kawai have turned out such a stellar vehicle as this one.  Programming Additive requires a great deal of persistence, but the reward of huge sonics are smashing as digital sounds go.

The on-board effects engine is first rate.  The ensemble chorus is a faithful vintage emulation which I haven't really noticed available on any modern hardware synth @ 0:36

The K5000S has a precise formant filter for dialing in choirs @ 0:10, 1:28 and 3:06.

Sounds @ 2:13 and 2:31 feature prominently on my forthcoming track "Polar Shift".

Vintage electronic organs of the day used additive techniques to generate their sounds through electro-mechanical tone wheels.  Similarly in programming the K5000S, organ sounds are always pulling at you like gravity.  Most of them are static and some are quite interesting such as @ 2:56.

The last three sounds starting @ 4:22 were patches downloaded from the internet Chroom + Stucco (which use the on-board PWMs), and Microvox (additives). 

Update from the studio

Currently recording a new track Polar Shift.  It's doing very well.  I very much wanted from the beginning to use the K5000S Additive Synthesizer to generate some lush digital soundscape material for this project.  I believe my unit was literally saved from a garbage heap by environmental recyclers.  From previous post you'll remember the K5000S was my restoration project that came to me w/ a dead LCD, busted plastic endcaps, and non-functional programming interface.  Every single button and data dial were all thoroughly filled w/ some kind of sticky congealed beverage.  Now that I have gotten what appears to be all of the issues resolved, programming sounds on the K5000S has been enthralling.  It's deep, intense, and quite immersing.  I love that.  The K5000S is once again starting to unleash some amazing sounds!  Will be posting an audio demo of this beast very soon.

Matrix-12/Xpander Patches For Download

MATRIX-12/XPANDER SINGLE MODE PATCHES
BY G-STORM ELECTRO
Click this post for download links.

Cue List
0:05 LOWPHASE
0:10 BASSEFEM
0:13 LUSCIOUS
0:16 BASS-SYN
0:19 BOWED UP
0:23 PERCOMP
0:27 SURREAL
0:33 DTNDSQRS
0:39 DOUNOEP?
0:43 VOIGHT
0:49 COMEBACK
0:53 MU-SONIC
0:57 LUCKY-13
1:00 LFOSWEEP
1:06 SICKBASS
1:10 AGRESSOR
1:16 BASSIX
1:20 D-FIFTHS
1:24 TIDDLES
1:30 SQUAREE
1:33 RINGER
1:36 STRIGSYN
1:39 OBX PAD
1:44 BLINKERS
1:47 NOISYARP
1:50 SEM BASS
1:53 EPIC PAD
1:59 XPRESSIV
2:03 OB-LAG_R
2:06 RELEASER
2:13 FINALCVT
2:19 DENSITY
2:25 BIGSTRING
2:29 EPSILON
2:32 OBRCHIME

Quick Update, Happy July 4th

Some things in the works, coming soon.
1) Selected patches for the Matrix-12 should be available soon for download.
2) Kawai K5000S Additive Synthesizer Sounds
3) A new track, Polar Shift. It hinges on some sounds I'm working on the K5000S.
4) Alesis Andromeda Tutorials, and selected patch availability for download.
5) And my second vintage synth plugin in the works.

Matrix-12 Tutorial 4: Single Mode Master Settings, Multi Mode, Selected Patches

Final Video Tutorial 4 of 4

0:12 Introduction
0:28 SINGLE mode MASTER (global) settings
3:08 MULTI mode
5:18 Selected Patches: Some Insight
- 5:29 Patch = Ringer
- 6:54 Patch = D-Fifths
- 8:27 Patch = Limuidz (Factory Preset)
- 10:33 Patch = XPressiv

Matrix-12 (Xpander) Tutorial 3: Modulations Part II

In this video I continue discussion of MODULATION PAGES used for creating a SINGLE-mode patch.

0:13 Introduction
Focus on Programming:
0:50 Rave Hoover patch
4:23 Hi-Fi Crescendo Deep Chord

Matrix-12 (Xpander) Tutorial 2: Modulation Part I

In this video I will introduce the MODULATION PAGES used for creating a SINGLE-mode patch.

0:10 Introduction
1:06 Modulation Matrix Theory
1:55 Modulation Pages
2:29 Adding and Deleting Modulation Sources
Programming:
3:58 Simple Juno Bass Sound
6:44 Classic SYNC Sweep Lead

My next video will continue discussion of modulations and programming a Rave Hoover sound, and a Hi-Fi Crescendo Deep Chord as heard at the end of Tutorial 1.

Matrix-12 (Xpander) Tutorial 1: Intro, Programmer, Primary Pages

This is the first tutorial in a series dedicated to editing sounds on the Oberheim Matrix-12 and Xpander synthesizers.  In this video I will cover the basics of creating and saving a SINGLE-mode patch.  If you already know how to get around in the programming interface you might want to skip this video.  Having a basic knowledge of editing synthesizers, oscillators, filters, LFOs, and envelopes will help get the most out of programing this beast.

Introduction
The Programmer
Primary Pages
VCO1 Page
VCO2 Page
FM/LAG Page - LAG
FM/Lag Page - FM
Tracking Generator
VCF/VCA Page - Filter
VCF/VCA Page - The Amplifiers
Envelopes Page
LFO Page
RAMP Page
Name Page

My next video will show how to use the Modulation Source Pages to program a variety of sounds.  Thanks for watching!

D-50 BENDER REPAIR PROJECT

The bender on my Roland D-50 Synthesizer was crapping the bed.  In test mode, the bender values at center detent were fluctuating data values all over the place.  Upon opening the case, removing the bender assembly, and taking a good look at the potentiometer this is what I saw....

A mini-pot in extreme oxidation mode.  Nonetheless, it was worth a try to clean the pot w/ several doses of contact cleaner.  No luck.  Needs replacement, no problem....wrong.  The bender pot is an extremely rare vintage 'center tap' variety.  Normal pots have three terminals and use a wiper that rotate around a resistor track.  'Center tap' potentiometers add a fourth terminal to the middle of the track.  This is done in order to obtain a near-zero-ohm reference point with respect to the wiper at center detent.

I searched many forums and blogs for solutions.  There has been some suggestion to take a regular 3-terminal pot and add a small wire to the track and use a 'solder paint pen' for the connection.  Admit it, this is the most ridiculous idea.  No way it works...right?  I couldn't find any sites that documented this process anywhere.  Bearing astute craftsmanship, I decided to give this monkey-business a whirl.

First, separate the pot mechanisms from the metal case by prying up 4 small metal tabs just enough to get the pieces apart.  Next, the shaft needs to be separated from the wiper assembly.  I did this by resting the pot, shaft downward, between the slightly opened jaws of a bench vise.   Then I used a nail set and small project hammer to lightly tap the shaft out of the wiper assembly.  At this point the shaft, wiper assembly, and resistor track are separated.

I have a small manual hobby drill, with a teeny-tiny drill bit just the same size as my 24-ga bus wire.  I carefully hand-drilled a very small hole just adjacent to the top of the track.  Then I passed a small bus wire through.  To help stabilize the wire, and prevent soldering activity from disturbing the solder paint connection, I used 5-minute epoxy.  I applied a drop of the mixed epoxy at the hole on the side opposite the track (the outside) where the wire passes through the hole.  After curing overnight I snipped the bus wire on the track side flush with the track.

I found this 'solder paint pen' product at radio shack.  It's called Circuit Writer and cost $20 which seemed high, but if it gets you out of these impossible jams...I'm starting to think it's worth every penny.  I had to shake it for a very long time to get all the juices mixed properly.  I tested several times on a piece of cardstock, waiting each time for the stuff to dry, and tested with a Digital Volt-Meter (DMV) continuity-check each time.  After 5 or 6 times it finally turned a bright silver color, and gave a near zero-ohm reading on the DMV.

I applied a very small amount of the Circuit Writer to the top of the track where it meets the wire.  Its tricky not to get this material on the part of the track the wiper passes over, or the wiper might bind there and deform.  That would be bad.  After the material dried I tested it using the DMV with one lead on the wire, one on the track.  It beeped right away and gave a 0.6-ohm reading...success!



The VERY IMPORTANT next step was to test fit the wiper track and case, and make sure the bus wire didn't ground-out against the metal case.  Unfortunately it did.  So to remedy that I applied a small amount of clear finger nail polish to the inside of the case in the vicinity of the bus wire.  After drying and testing the fit again, there was no problem.

After the finger nail polish had dried, the most difficult part of this project was to carefully assemble the parts back together and tap the shaft back onto the wiper assembly.  Then I tested the terminals on the DMV by first testing the three main terminals for ohms.  Second I checked the wiper terminal against the new center tap bus wire at center detent and it still read 0.6-ohms...success!

I soldered the new pot in place of the old, put the bender back in the synth, and it actually works!  Unbelievable!  If your craftsmanship skills working w/ very small parts are up to par, then I could definitely recommend this solution.

K5000S: It Lives!

Previous owners cracked the LCD and spilled red bull inside a lot of momentary switches. The new LCD came in today and looks great! After some diligent work it is producing wicked sounds once again, can't wait to start programming this beauty. See Original post for some dis-assembly pics.

Yamaha TX81Z FM Synth Demo 1

Behold. This is the TX81Z FM rack mount synthesizer. Truly an undervalued piece of gear, and a powerful secret weapon for the most adventuresome tweakers. I've been going full-on honey badger w/ FM synthesis programming my own sounds into this little gem. And I absolutely love it!

Some patches are going through a Lexicon MPX550 (offscreen) set on Gothic Hall reverb preset. And some are just bone dry.

List of patches:
0:17 DrtySecret. Very unique FM pitch interval sound.
0:44 Rhodes. Delicate electric piano tones.
1:01 81Z State. Old school acid house bass. 808 State.
1:27 Wowocaster. Notes played fast legato (upper) it sounds like a fake strat. Held notes (bass) swell and growl. Wow, man.
1:47 Filthy FM. Raunchy, dirty, crunchy lead sound.
2:03 Harder FM. Old school hardcore rave sound.
2:27 DrkMachine. Brooding Sci-fi horrorshow sound.
2:49 AttackBass. Conventional bass w/ quick attack transient.
3:14 WhurlyEP. Electric Piano. Queen, and Supertramp.
3:44 AuroraBlue. Gorgeous atmospheric pad.
4:10 PaddedEdge. Digital, Edge-y pad.

TX81Z, K5000S

Been programming the TX81Z a bit. About a dozen patches or so, very surprising sounds. So I'll probably share a demo this week.

FM synthesis has really got my digital mojo going lately, such that I picked up a Kawai K5000S in dire need of restoration. The K5000S is known for sounds using more pure Additive Synthesis methods. It is also capable of some nice choir sounds and has a superb multi-stage bandpass formant filter for doing just that! Known functional issues of my instrument:
- cracked LCD (queue the Ladytron music)
- previous owners spilled red bull or something on it resulting in multiple sticking buttons with goo inside them.
So I'm disassembling the entire unit, pulling the cards w/ button switches, meticulously cleaning the PCBs of sticky goo, and removing/cleaning/replacing the small momentary switches. I ordered a new LCD that should be here later this week, it's going to look spiffy gray graphics on a white CCFL backlight...can't wait to see how that all goes.

A6 Alesis Andromeda Synthesizer Intensity

All original programmed sounds are by G-Storm Electro.

You may begin to feel some side effects: sleep deprivation, sudden inexplicable loss of time and missing appointments, difficulty breathing, skipping meals, excitability and rapid heart-rate. I have the strong feeling these sounds are just scratching the surface of what the A6 is capable. The selected programs represent approximately a decade of programming this beauty. This demo runs through a full range of different sounds condensed into a short time span so please don't expect a full-on Grammy winning performance here.

Index of selected sounds, and my tracks that used them...
0:15 D-Fifths. Super-thick Analog Pad. RE: Aerial
0:22 Vintage Monster. Analog Pad.
0:33 Mega BassTrigger. RE: Spaced Out Beauty
0:40 MemoryBass. MemoryMoog Stacked Bass sound.
0:52 Cutter Bass. In your face bass.
0:58 Analog Retro. Arpeggio/Sequence.
1:13 Sweep Revenge. Ominous 6-Voice synth stack sweep.
1:20 LFO Sweepmatic. Sweep Pad w/ LFO. RE: Miranda By The Sea
1:35 Pearlite. Driving sequenced mod insanity.
1:59 Luscious. Analog Pad Stack. RE: Thermion.
2:12 Intensity. Detuned Lead synth w/ pitch rise. RE: Thermion.
2:30 Magic Of Light. Psychedelic synth texture.
2:54 MotionControl. Superb Arpeggio/Sequence. RE: Miranda By The Sea.
3:08 Choir Phaser Pad. Synthetic Choir w/ heavy reverb.
3:21 Brutal Fuzz. Hard Bass w/ delay. RE: Aerial
3:28 OB Stringtime. My variation from a Factory Patch.
3:35 Sawtooth. Bread-n-butter sawtooth synth patch.
3:41 SuperEnsemble. CS-80/Vangelis type delicate string synth lead.
3:56 Interstellar. Heavily modulated analog lead. RE: Aerial
4:10 Complicated. String/Choir Soundtrack Ensemble w/ heavy reverb.
4:20 Hall Strings. Dense string soundtrack set w/ heavy reverb.
4:35 Slow Pad. Smooth Jupiter-8 style pad.
4:46 Dark Strings. Hard bow strings. Sorry the clipping was coming from my mixer.
5:01 Watery Tart. Pad w/ sound FX.
5:24 Stellar Portions. Epic Pad drenched in reverb. RE: Descendant, Aerial

Venom Reactivator Synth Demo 4 M-Audio/Avid

Download these patches from this post..
Here are some new original Venom patches I've made recently.
- 73 Tines. A smoother EP like Rhodes, Wurlitzer with a digital character.
- SuperJuVee. Thick Roland JV-1080 Soundtrack strings with soft Venom grit.
- Tank!: A loosely Atari-2600 sound effect inspired by the tank game in 'combat' and 'Pole Position'.
- Novachord. Ancient Hammond synthesizer from the 1940's used in eerie old sci-fi movies.
- The Chills. A real spine-tingler that will be used in my upcoming track 'Polar'. (Unreleased patch.)
- Sex Object. Digital or FM-based bowed string inspired by a Kraftwerk track.
- Deep Sweep. Thick analog atmospheric pad.
- Dy$on. Venom does Hoover-style rave genre sounds. Mod Wheel controls suction.
- WoodblkRok. Highly addictive percussive hollow sound for dance music.
- FullChoir. There are a few little tricks to get some male/female formants going.
- SuperGate. Percussive 'thwonk' taking full advantage of the Venom's reverb gate. For dance and pop music."

Roland Jupiter-6 Signature Sounds

A quick demonstration of the Roland Jupiter-6 vintage analog synthesizer. Showing some of the signature sounds that are its claim to fame, and some sounds that may be not so familiar.

Not since 1983 has Roland produced anything quite like it. What sorts of things set the Jupiter-6 apart from its peers?
- Its wild multimode filter capable of Lowpass, Highpass, and Bandpass
- Like a handful of other synths, compound waveform selections are possible for each of the oscillators.
- A feature called Cross Mod: it's like a third 'virtual oscillator' which is a frequency modulator for affecting OSC1. The beauty is that you still have OSC2 to do as you wish.
- Very stable oscillators, and the autotune routine takes about a second to execute! Memorymoog takes around 8 seconds.
- Envelopes: the attack transients are most unique. They aren't extremely fast, nor syrupy, but I haven't been able to get any other synth attack to sound the same.

What are these signature sounds the Jupiter-6 does well?
- Buzzy things
- Creamy Sawtooth, silky pad sounds
- Ambient Drones
- Gritty, Dirty, Raw, Nasty, Edgy sounds
- Blippy arpeggios
- Aggressive stabs/leads
- and very rude filter sweeps

New Track: Aerial

Going into Aerial it was conceived as merely an ambient synth pad excursion. But it was evolving into something else that generated structures and energies all its own. This would include some basic analog drum machine loops and a heavy bass synth: elements that would counter a soaring lead synth part. There HAD to be this super-sonic high soaring lead synth part unlike any other, but I didn't know what IT was yet and it would prove the most difficult element to realize. The lead almost always ends up being legato, as is my thing. Then suddenly it occurred the lead didn't have to be the typical single note affair, but rather like two parts in duet. And ever since then I haven't been able to get that sound out of my mind.

Equipment:
- Oberheim Matrix-12
- Alesis Andromdeda
- Korg Kaoss Quad
- Mr Ray electric piano plugin
- Boss RT-20 Rotary Ensemble
- Elektron Machinedrum SPS-1 MKII
- Lexicon MPX-550
- E-mu Emulator X2
- Cubase SX3
- iZotope Ozone 3

Venom Patches Availabe Again, For Now

There was an article in the paper the founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, was arrested over the weekend in New Zealand and the website was shut down. Apparently authorities are cracking down on them for the content their users are uploading. This data seizure would include my original Venom synthesizer patches I was legally sharing with the general public. And just think about all legitimate uploads affected by others, too. It is a very sad day because this demonstrates the far reaching censorship powers authorities already possess, and without need of the SOPA bill. Freedom of speech, access to information, and integrity of legitimate artistic expression on the internet is in the process of going away forever. Previously I uploaded to yousendit.com but they have a 7-day upload limit which I wasn't very good at maintaining, and they may next in line to meet a similar doom as Megaupload.

UPDATE: The patches are uploaded on a different site now. The download is found on this post. Thanks for your patience. -g

New track 'Aerial' January 24th

Aerial sneaks its way into your subconscious. Opening with huge layers of spacious vintage pads, you will be escorted by a drum machine groove into analog synthesizer bliss. Off we go, into the wild blue yonder....

Korg MS-2000 Key Repair Project

I recently picked-up a Korg MS-2000 for a bargain. The bad news: it had not only a broken E key but a busted keybed retention prong. Armed with an exacto knife, 'Welder' brand professional contact adhesive, and some spare parts laying around I get to work bringing this beast of a synth back to fully operational condition.

Akai Miniak sounds

Here are some sounds made on the Akai MINIAK. Most of them are factory presets, a few sounds are original patches.
Akai MINIAK sounds by gstormelectro

Preview: MS-2000 key repair

Taking a break during recording 'Aerial' to work on a recently acquired Korg MS-2000 synthesizer. Got an exceptionally good deal since there were only a couple of issues. The major issue being a broken key AND the keybed key retention prong was busted off the key frame. I am documenting the reconstructive surgery with a video at this time.