Roland Juno-106 VS Juno-106 Gravitational Slingshot Synthesizer Comparison

On the bottom tier is the wonderful Roland Juno-106 in all its original glory. No mods, no apologies. Going against the upper tier Juno, not only are the Gravitational Slingshot chips installed but also having the Analogue Renaissance waveform chips as well. I'm auditioning the same patches as loaded on both. Are you ready for a showdown? Which one comes out on top?

These patches are available for download at GUMROAD Audio recorded direct to iPhone via Roland GO:Mixer Pro-X via Soundcraft EPM6 Mixer. Aside from some normalization, no additional effects or processing were used.

Be sure to check out my REVERB STORE for gently owned gear and cool Eurorack modules for sale

Roland Juno-106 Synthesizer - That Juno Sound (no talking)

Today I'm auditioning some of my original patches the Roland Juno-106. I just love the 106 for those plucky arps, sweepy portamento pads, classic chorus circuit, weird resonance chops, and not forgetting those basses. The range of sounds inside the simple architecture is littered with sweet spots. I've lovingly crafted a bank of patches to harness these attributes, now these patches are available at Gumroad. Audio recorded direct to iPhone via Roland GO:Mixer Pro-X via Soundcraft EPM6 Mixer. No additional effects or processing were used.

Be sure to check out my cool pre-owned gear and hand-made eurorack modules in my Reverb Store.

Akai VX600 Synthesizer Demo [no talking]

This is a six voice analog Akai VX600 synthesizer. Two oscillators per voice, and it takes minimum 30 minutes to stabilize tuning enough to play. Even so, it also wants 3 or 4 autotune sessions. Basses, pads, leads, arpeggios. Please enjoy. While this demo features my original patches, alas - there's no way to backup patches to computer or share them w/ others in that way. It only accepts Roland style Memory Cards. Be sure to check out my patches for other synths available at Gumroad. I also make Eurorack modules with mojo, available in my Reverb Store.

Recorded direct via EPM6 mixer to GO-Mixer Pro-X interface to iPhone, no added effects. The synth output is very hot, so any clipping you hear was overloading the input at the mixer.

Decadent Atmospheric Pads & Soundscapes on Roland XP-30

The Roland XP-30. Loaded w/ tons of decadent atmospheric pads and soundscape presets. Still relevant after all this time. Yes, yes, I hear using presets = bad. But sometimes you just want to kick back and let the imagination ride and give the left brain much needed rest. Headphones, dim lighting and candles recommended.

0:00 | XP-A-015 | Silky Filter
0:30 | XP-A-070 | Nylon + Str
0:52 | XP-A-017 | Slow Str Sect
1:34 | XP-A-050 | Legato Flute
2:03 | XP-C-147 | Dense Floor
2:41 | XP-C-146 | Liquid Sky
3:18 | PR-E-097 | Analog Drama
3:48 | PR-E-099 | Silky Way
4:12 | PR-C-091 | Dawn to Dusk
4:51 | XP-A-058 | Cosmic Flute

I make some sweet Eurorack Synth Modules! Check out my inventory in my Reverb Store.

Kawai K1m Retro Digital Synth Euphoria Desktop Module

Today I'm auditioning my original patches made for the Kawai K1m. A very limited digital synth from the 90s. And yet after digging into the architecture was able to harness some very powerful and unique features that are really, I mean, REALLY surprising. You'll hear some cheesy things, some pads, basses. And then there's fat poly action, swirling digital synth soundscapes. And alive motion things that are frankly astounding for such an unassuming little black box. Try to keep in mind when you hear the Mesmerized patch - the K1m has no sequencer nor arpeggiator. No freely assignable LFOs, just a fixed vibrato and that's it. And NO filter ha! Be sure to watch the whole video, lots of my favorites are on the 2nd half starting @3:19. My favorites are Head East, LA Sunset, Liquide and Mesmerized...which ones did you like?

0:00 Steamy
0:22 StringSyn
0:32 MicroMacro
0:45 Meekly
1:04 Spokes
1:18 Bedtime
1:39 SynViolin
1:49 Deep State
1:58 ChordLock
2:08 Sunrays
2:21 StringPad2
2:40 Sine Tones
2:51 ReedyBass
2:57 LectroKeys
3:18 TreeOfLife
3:45 Worn Tape
4:09 Ramp Me!
4:27 Italio
4:42 Hunter Bass
4:52 FlrscntBass
5:02 LA Sunset
5:43 Liquide
6:27 FuturChopz
6:42 Big Chill
7:10 Digipad
7:22 Fat Poly
7:43 Fat Punch
7:50 Head East
8:21 Night Sky
8:37 Artifakt
9:10 Mesmerized

Recorded direct, only the onboard effects are used. No other mastering or effects have been added.
Be sure to check out my Reverb Store for cool eurorack modules and gently owned gear for sale.

GSE Patches for ASM Hydrasynth Set 01 is NOW AVAILABLE

You've waited long enough young grasshoppa. My original Hydrasynth patches/presets Set #01 is finally here! 50 glorious sounds, and I decided to make them free to download. Dark atmosphere, fat basses, lush pads, 80s synth. And some really bent sounds coming from a place of pure imagination. Zip file containing 50 original presets in *.hydra file format. Use Hydrasynth Manager to upload the presets to your Hydrasynth.

Download the patches HERE.

The above video auditions the last ten sounds.
You do not want to miss that last patch, it's bonkers.

Timestamps
0:00 041 Strings JX | Super JX Strings
0:13 042 Lo-Fi Mutes | Guitar Mutes
0:28 043 Event Horizon | Lush Pad w/ Sequenced Progression
1:01 044 OK Hydra | Lead w/ Weird Delay Modulation
1:33 045 No Dancing | Cheesy Percussion Thing
1:56 046 TRS Horizons | Bright and Shiny Arpeggio
2:16 047 BrassSynChorus | Brass Lead the way you like it
2:40 048 106 Bass | For all your 80s needs
3:12 049 Breaking Saws | Saws w/ Release that breaks in the low range
3:36 050 Max Altitude | Vocal Pad w/ Saturation

Sorry about the ceiling fan in that video, it's another hot one today :D
Be sure to check out my Eurorack modules available in my Reverb Store.

GSE Patches for ASM Hydrasynth [Demo04:Patches031-040]

Auditioning more of my original ASM Hydrasynth patches available soon.
Stay tuned.

Timestamps
0:00 031 Futurescape | Sci-Fi Atmosphere
0:31 032 Wave Bass | 90s Digital Bass Synth
0:52 033 Strat of Mind | 80s Retro Strat
1:25 034 Undercurrent | Growling, Moody Pad
1:55 035 Think Tank | Slightly Pulsing Pad
2:26 036 Requiem | Dark Choir
3:00 037 Datastream Pad | Percolating Modulated Pad
3:41 038 Hydrastation | Wavestation Steam Pad
4:11 039 Next Gen | Stabby Pad w/ Movement
4:45 040 Mellotronix | Mellotron Strings + Ahhs

GSE Patches for ASM Hydrasynth [Demo03:Patches021-030]

Auditioning more of my original ASM Hydrasynth patches available soon.

Timestamps
0:00 021 Diginoise | Lo-Fi Tones + Atmosphere
0:28 022 Blades | Edgy Synth
0:53 023 Sine Tones | Pure + Smooth the way you like it
1:14 024 Voices + Chimes | Choir + Morricone Chimes
1:40 025 Hackspander | Obie Sweep
2:00 026 Ghosted | Dissonant + Creepy Choir
2:22 027 Pulsing | Sawtooth Synth Arp
2:44 028 Hydrix-8 | Another Obie Sweep
3:10 029 Darkscape | Sci-Fi Noir FX
3:43 030 Tickin' Clock | Modulated Delay Percussion

GSE Patches for ASM Hydrasynth [Demo02:Patches011-020]

Auditioning more of my original ASM Hydrasynth patches.
This synth is only limited by your imagination.
What shall we hear today?
The entire bank is still in progress, so not yet available at this time.
Please stay tuned.

Timestamps
0:00 011 PerkySyn | dreamy upbeat arpeggio
1:17 012 Negative Space | swirling audio space folded inside-out
1:54 013 Glider | liquid sweep pad
2:31 014 BP Nexus | heavy bandpass pad
3:02 015 Dominion X | dark pad
3:37 016 Arco Heavy | Emulator-style bass/cello attack stroke
3:54 017 At Rest | Tranquil Pad
4:22 018 Space Chimes | big windchime thing + reverb
5:07 019 Symbiotic | chill note order arpeggio
5:28 020 Funky Reality | altered reality guitar

GSE Patches for ASM Hydrasynth [Demo01:Patches001-010]

Auditioning the first block of my original ASM Hydrasynth patches.
You'll never know... the hours requred to meticulously sculpt each sound
from the initialized patch. That's just how I roll.
Especially getting #003 Stringer dialed in.
The entire bank is still in progress, so not yet available at this time.
Please stay tuned.

Timestamps
0:00 001 Expanse - intergalactic pad sweep
0:33 002 Tech Stab - tech house
1:03 003 Stringer - 70s String Synthesizer
1:58 004 Pepsi Float - juno-ish 80s Synthwave
2:24 005 Rubarb - lo-fi stab + reverb
2:41 006 Urbanite - delayed stabby thing w/ AT
3:22 007 Digital Rain - 90s digital pad
3:57 008 Glasswave - wavetable pad sweep
4:30 009 Plinko - game sounds, decent for arpeggio
5:13 010 Poly Sweep Res - 70s synth sweep, try the chord mode!

Oberheim Matrix-12 Synthesizer Sounds Demo #10

Today it's snowing a bit early this year. Nothing better than being hunkered down with a lovely Matrix-12 synthesizer. Each of the patches are auditioned dry first, then I maybe activate either/or Timefactor and Big Sky - some patches don't need anything :)

Patches range from the super-dark horrorshow opener, thick airy pads, hyper-surreal soundscapes, the occasional bass, and the occasional Hans Zimmer plucky thing.

Recorded direct to Tascam DR-05, audio was normalized.
No other effects or processing.

Artwork ft Oberheim Matrix-12 + Eurorack Synthesizers

Oberheim Matrix-12 synthesizer + Eurorack = match made in heaven. Glitch beats + melodic pads/strings. Everything performed live, recorded on-the-fly. Reverb on Matrix-12: Strymon Big Sky. Delay: Eventide Timefactor. Some post-processing including compression + eq.

Euro modules: CEM3340 VCO going through my Jupiter-6 VCF module - bass, Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter - Kick/Snare, Pittsburgh Modular DNA Symbiotic Waves going through my Tonus VCF - other percussion, Tiptop Hats909 - closed hat, G-Storm Infusor - percussion sub-mixer, Mutable Instruments Clouds - percussion granular mangling, Malekko Varigate4 - percussion triggers.

Roland Alpha Juno-1 Synthesizer Demo #2 New Patches

Rolling out some new patches for the Juno-1/2 available on my download post for this blog. A full bank of patches including the sounds from Demo #1. In this video I have selected a few of my personal favorites: bass, arpeggios, and soundscapes/pads. There are copious amounts of Big Sky reverb, a couple of sounds use the Timefactor delay. Basses don't usually need anything. Sounds were programmed using the indispensable Stereoping synth controller, also used briefly in this demo. Recorded direct through a Mackie 802-VLZ mixer to a Tascam DR-05.

Rundown:
0:00 Cloud Bank
0:31 Tinsel
0:56 Aurora Pad 2
1:14 Bass Arp 01
1:30 Strangers
1:54 Particle
2:14 Mod Bass
2:25 Juno Crush
2:37 Alpha Synth
2:51 Micro Fab
3:08 Toys
3:24 Bass Pedalr
3:35 Mono Bass
3:43 Shimmer
4:10 Synth Mutes
4:25 Fake Wurli
4:46 Choir
5:21 twilight
6:07 Psycho Sweep
6:32 Pure Space
6:59 Detroit
7:24 Ascension

Alesis Andromeda Unleashes Enormous Pad Soundscapes Demo #4

Did you know I have some interesting things listed on Reverb? Check it out now. The Alesis Andromeda synthesizer unleashes huge pad soundscapes. These pads range from OMG to WTF, and cut a swath right through the mix. So hide your daughters and cherished pets. I was going to do a Matrix-12 demo but that synth bricked this past weekend. Hence the sarcasm and sad face :( These are not your factory sounds. Audio recorded direct to Tascam DR-05 through a Mackie mixer.

100TH SYNTHESIZER VIDEO UPLOAD SPECIAL

Today is my 100th video upload. So I thought I would take this opportunity to do something a little different and have some fun with it.
In this video I will have
- Commentary on my Top 5 Synthesizer Demos
- Bottom 5 Videos
- Interesting and Controversial User Comments
- Epic Sound Bytes
Along the way there are a couple of out-takes. If you watch the whole video you might find an Easter egg somewhere...hmmm. So strap yourself in, it will be a fun ride.

Boss CE-1 Chorus Pedal Demo w/ A Synthesizer

The Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble is a vintage piece that can provide analog warmth for your synthesizer tone. In this demo the CE-1 is auditioned with a Roland System-1 bass, lead, and pads. Later I deploy my Korg MS-20 for bass and lead demonstration.