Alex Ball

By popular demand, a look at the Arturia Polybrute.

I've been getting the same challenge put to me frequently; can you show us what you could do with some cheap vintage gear. I've been on the lookout for suitable contenders and I snagged a Korg SuperDrums (DDM-110) a while back and a Korg DW-6000 recently. I set the max budget for this to £200 and these pair cost a total of £190, so I thought that matched the criteria in a world where vintage synths can cost thousands or tens of thousands!

I had an opportunity to borrow a vintage Prophet~5 rev3.2 for a short while and, as I've done lots of videos on the Prophet, I thought I'd take the opportunity to create a tutorial showing three of my favourite uses of this classic synth.

A look at the Roland MicroComposer / MC-4 from 1981. In 1977 Roland introduced the first ever microprocessor controlled digital sequencer, which was the MC-8 designed by Ralph Dyck. The MC-4 was the successor and was one of Roland's few CV/Gate digital sequencers before they moved over to MIDI shortly after. Both when it was new and many years after it was seemingly obsolete, numerous artists swore by it and they're now sought after. In the video we explore why.

A video you've been asking for for at least three years! Hopefully I do it justice. The Alpha Juno-2 from 1985 was one of a pair of instruments that marked the second wave of the Juno series following the classic Juno-6/60 and 106. For a long time they were inexpensive and not particularly sought after, for reasons that we discuss, but they were always great sounding synths with way more flex than their earlier, much-praised siblings. If there's one claim to fame that the Alpha can boast, it's THAT hoover sound (aka "What the?") that has become a standard part of the synthesizer patch repertoire.

A Jupiter-6 stopped by for a few days so I thought I'd complete the trinity having done videos on the Jupiter-4 and Jupiter-8 last year. This synth has a reputation for having a "cold" sound and it's always been the more dystopian Jupiter in my mind. I wanted to explore whether there are any reasons for that and whether they're legitimate, imagined or a bit of both.

For the first time ever I review some Moog gear! Matriarch DFAM Mother-32 Subharmonicon

Hainbach visited the UK to create merry mayhem with Landfill Totems, esoteric equipment, live shows a silky German accent. I had to invite him over whilst he was here. We had less than 24 hours, so I challenged him to 10 minutes on the Roland System 100m having never used it before. Of course, he delivered and taught me lessons as he went.

A look at the Yamaha CS01 Micro-Monophonic Synthesizer from 1982. This was one of Yamaha's last analogue synthesizers and was part of an affordable range called the "Producer Series".

A look at the infamous ARP Avatar from 1977. This is the first proper guitar demo of it to be uploaded to YouTube!

A look at the new soft synth Model 82 from Softube. In this video we explore five things you can do with Model 82 (chim-chim-cheroo). It's surprising what's possible with just one oscillator, filter, amp, envelope and LFO.

A look at the Korg 770 monophonic synthesizer from 1976, an incredibly grubby sounding instrument that I've dubbed "the smut box". In this video we explore what it sounds like and why.

I recieved a mysterious challenge via the Royal Mail and after my butler Reginald had served me tea and crumpets, I decided to accept it.

In 1982 the Roland Corporation released a budget polyphonic synthesizer. On paper you'd expect it to have been forgotten about within a couple of years, but the opposite is true.

Whilst taking a holiday in Italy we stopped off at Museo del Synth Marchigiano for a couple of days and this is the account of what I experienced there.

A look at the Korg VC-10 from 1978, their first ever vocoder. It was part of the MS range and was used by Buggles, Tomita, Keith Emerson, Apollo 440, Klaus Schulze and many others.

look at the Oberheim Xpander from 1984. This analogue synthesizer employs what was then cutting edge, digital control allowing for advanced patch creation. It was designed by Marcus Ryle and Michel Doidic with input from Doug Curtis and it boasts some surprising features for the time. In this video we take a closer look.

A look at the Space Station SST-282 and Stargate 323 units designed by Ursa Major, a company founded by Christopher Moore that operated from 1977 until 1985.

Oberheim are back with a very serious synthesizer indeed; the OB-X8. In this video we take a quick look at what it does and what it sounds like.

A look at the only fully-modular synthesizer Korg have ever made, the MS-50 Expander Module from 1978.

As we come to the end of Roland's 50th anniversary year, I thought it would be fun to look at their anniversary golden Jupiter-X, the "Inspire The Music" book and to also tell you some stories of my own.