mosti

Synths/Keyboards

Roland JX10
Buy it for pads & Hard Sync, not much else.
Irritating to program, alpha dial hell (without PG800)
a bit too clean? moan groan.... Nick Rhodes used to
advertise it as the greatest thing since random
arpeggiators. FOR SALE. Never owned by Keith Emerson.

Roland SH101

Roland SH09
sharper & warmer,blacker and shinier than the above

Roland TB303
bassline currently much maligned..

Moog Prodigy
Two oscillators, great filter, excellent hard sync,
but it is never in tune (unless sampled); great to
sound like polly gone Rich.
If you have lots of dosh, get Tom at Kenton to check
it out.

Akai AX73
Does anybody else have one? I saw one being
mimed with, on pebble mill at one. Program it...it's
so sharp, distinctive, capable of truly psychotic
resonances, and warm, sweet sensuality.
Also distintive is an obnoxious whine which
occasionally emanates from the filter when the VCOs
are at a high frequency.

Rack Synth Modules

Yamaha TG500
Despite the worst user-interface since the stylophone
this unit is awarded many gold stars for, well for
everything else really. Effects, band-elimination
filter, sample dump, sooo useful.

Yamaha FB01
Cheap, occasionally useful, for contrast, & simple
sounds, and lots of them. Falls off the rack.

Roland U110
Useful, standard, sounds. Not enough of them.

Sampling

Roland S760
A really powerful machine with everything you could
want, except; outputs, BEF, bandwidth on filter,
software for human beings. etc. etc.
Oh...don't call Roland UK for advice on what SIMMs to
get for memory upgrade - because they don't know.
We've had a stream of conflicting advice from many
sources, but Roland should be spanked for leading
people to believe that Mac SIMMs for the Centris
or Quadra are compatable - They are not all.
Buy them from Active Sound UK Ltd - helpful,
sensible, and right.

Drums

Roland TR808
Can you taste the difference.

Roland TR909
dass stimmt. 3000 marks ouch. or swap for...
wait ... is there nothing else in existance so
overpriced...the queen?

Roland TR606 drumatix + HC2 Handclapper.
Dusty. Anyone got a PC2?

Roland R70
Sample based;excellent editing, limited effects
few outputs. Tight, sparkly, but not 100% pro.

Casio MT-65
Not made by Roland.

Sequencing

Atari 1040STE running Steinberg Cubase.
Can't complain, but wish
we had something better.

Outboard

Alesis Quadraverb+
Essential. (The EQ can be a bit noisy).

Alesis Microverb.
Falling off the rack.

Zoom 9120
bought for reverb, but no name edit, or send/return level edit.

Alesis 3630
Compressor/Limiter/Gate.

Accessit Noise Gate. - Functions.
Fell off the rack.

Behringer Ultrafex II.
Astonishing, but be careful.

Technics Stereo Graphic/Spectrum Analyser.
Looks Great.

Extras

Phillip Rees V3 MIDI Thru x2
(small, need batteries)

Phillip Rees 2M MIDI Merge
(small, doesn't need a battery)

Kenton Pro 2
Some really stupid (budget probably) set up problems,
needing a tiny screwdriver, perfect pitch, and the
patience of a saint. 0/1000 for user interfacing.
Does do the job if you don't have enough money.
Oh and 1000/1000 for Tom Carpenter.

Mixing

everything below here is functional, but rubbish,
used because we need more money (someone sign them!)

Alesis 16:2:2
(small)
+ Access to Soundcraft Spirit (except this)
(not too small)
Mordaunt-Short Speakers
(small)
Tannoy E11 Speakers
(small)
Sony MDR IF310 Headphones (IR)
(small)
Rotel RA 820A Amplifier
(small)

Mastering

Sony DTC-690
Cheap - problems of digital drop-outs & weak
mechanism have been rumoured...made for
the now kaput Hi-Fi DAT market.

Denon DRM 500
(small)

PS... All the above have been designed without thought for
left-handed people. Right?
(small)