Recently, I was reading about a guy who bought the 303, 808 and 909 when they came out and a synth (can’t remember) and has never used anything else since. He believes that your sound is in the gear as much as you. That struck a chord in me.
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This is great. Proof that you don’t need mountains of gear to produce quality tracks.
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This track never gets old, and I just realized it was made entirely with an Arp 2600.
(as was the rest of the EP)
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I just stumbled across this on Bandcamp and came here to post it 
very nice work indeed, a good demonstration of what is possible with the Volca. Inspired to explore mine more!
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I have a new release out today, a split with @papernoise on Purlieu Recordings. As a challenge for my own track, I used just one synthesizer, the Fors.Fm Doublet. I’m a huge fan of the sound, the mixture of wavetable/fm synthesis can make some great sounds, and the interface is super fun to use. You can check it out here!
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Thanks for these! I’m really loving all the sounds your coaxing out of the MS-20. The MS-20 mini was the first analog synth I owned. I stumbled across some early recordings where I was overdubbing with it to get wild modular sounds and chords. I love the creative workarounds that come with working with one piece of gear.
I snagged code 6ade-hakl for UAN0003 and lmwp-hv9w for UAN0002.
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This is a lovely release by Minotaur Shock all recorded from an Electron Digitone.
“All of the tracks on Qi were recorded live from an Electron Digitone in one take, or two, if I really cocked it up,” David explains. “I set myself a rule of no overdubs or computer tweaks. This approach was really rewarding, and was the most fun I’ve had recording for ages.”
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The MS-20 is responsible for starting me down the long rabbit hole of sound design and synthesis in general, which is also tangentially responsible for getting me interested in computers and coding as well.
The first synth I ever owned was a microKorg in high school. I knew nothing about synthesis, and all of the listed parameters and editing structure were very overwhelming. I pretty much stuck with the presets and did some very minimal editing of the sounds, mostly guided by “this sounds nice” but not having any idea of how to recreate what I enjoyed.
Flashforward to 2017, I sold a guitar (that I was never very good at playing) and used the money to buy a Roland TR-08 and a used MS-20 mini. I was again intimidated by all of the knobs and terms I didn’t understand screen-printed on the front panel, but this time I actually wanted to learn what they meant and how each parameter effected the sound. It was also much easier to tweak parameters without any menu diving or preset management, and it was very gratifying to immediately hear how the overall sound was effected.
I began watching YouTube videos on making sounds with the MS-20, understanding the signal flow, learning about subtractive synthesis and modular (and semi-modular) synthesis, v/oct vs Hz/v, all the different synths under the sun, etc. I was hooked. Four years later I have amassed a good amount of other gear, brought on by the flood of passion for music and sound started by one simple 2 oscillator machine.
The semi-modular nature of the MS-20 also opened the door for working with Max/MSP and SuperCollider, thus opening up the rich history of making music with computers and bringing me into the monome ecosystem. And here I am. Such a wonderful, rich, information filled journey. All starting from a very simple place.
Much love for the MS-20.
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How do you use the 45000 to sync with the easel?
This is all done with a Buchla Music Easel with some help from jungle sounds
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Surprised no-one has mentioned Caterina Barbieri’s masterwork, Patterns of Conciousness (probably my favourite album of all time) made with a single oscillator - the Verbos Harmonic Oscillator. The tracks come in pairs: one high tempo, and the other with the same sequence but low tempo. It’s an utterly astounding piece of minimalist composition. Despite having listened to it hundreds of times, I feel like I’m still nowhere close to unlocking all its mysteries.
Here’s a great live version of one of the pairs of tracks: Scratches on the Readable Surface Live Version | caterina barbieri
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Just using midi out from EHX45000 to midi in on the Easel. When the 45000 runs, it sends a midi clock.
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Thanks. I guess the midi on my easel is not working properly. Oh well.
It only clocks the Easel arpeggiator. So I still need to press a key on the 218e for it to play.
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Thanks for this rec, I’m really enjoying this! The range of timbres is impressive.
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Thanks a lot for sharing. I have used p8t4-bf3x for UAN 0002 and another for 0003 but i cant recall which code (sorry)
@SimonKirby amazing album by Caterina Barbieri - I knew that it was made with the harmonic oscillator, but didnt realise it was the only sound source.
There is an album by ANMA on @pokk 's SM-LL label with tracks titled Harmonic Osc #s 4,5,6 etc that I always wondered if it was the Verbos oscillator too? If it is, the sounds and arrangements are so different - it seems incredibly versatile (if indeed it is the Verbos HO). Again, its likely its a one sound source release. Worth checking out either way.
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hey yoyosandshoes… as pokk mentioned below… the whole release was made with a droning verbos harmonic oscillator fed through a intellijel spring reverb and then both fed with triggers and envelopes, nothing else…
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Thanks for this (and @ANMA for making it)! Listening now, and it’s inspirational stuff. I’ve just got a VHO and am now going to look at it with entirely new eyes. Wonderful!
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Here are a few Digitone songs played as a set. I recently got this synth and it is pretty cool to use on its own. Recorded from the digitone to Ipad through usb.
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@ANMA (I didnt realise you were here) that’s an achievement. I listened again this morning with the setup in mind and I still have trouble distinguishing each sound source. There seems to be lots of rich feedback harmonics used sparingly throughout. I have been planning for a new oscillator and the HO had been top of my shortlist so I think this confirmation that it is indeed the HO on your record has pretty much sold me. I imagine setting it up with Just Friends in various shape and gate modes would go a vary long way.
I have overlooked the springray and will check that out - looking now it seems set up for feedback with the control and filter. I love the filter on my Bugbrand PT delay and have been looking for a feedback/sculpting compliment inside the rack. This could be the thing!
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