Alex Ball

A look at how the Korg MS-20 and SQ-10 sequencer were an intergral part of the sound of a group of German musicians in the late 70s and early 80s.

How to do the Dalek voice with a ring modulator.

A look at the Polymoog and how Gary Numan adopted one of the presets from one of the versions to help define his sound.

A look at the revolutionary Roland MC-8 from 1977 which was one of the earliest microprocessor-controlled digital sequencers. Around 200 of these units were made and they were extremely expensive. As I've covered the history of this unit several times, I thought it would be interesting to follow in the footsteps of a band that made significant use of the MC-8, which was Yellow Magic Orchestra. In the video we look at how the MC-8 works and use it to compose a track in the style of YMO using the techniques and (where possible) instruments that they used in the late 70s.

A look at some of the equipment used by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori to score Halo: Combat Evolved, released in 2001.

Like most people, I've always wanted to own an original Roland TR-808 but it's always been the wrong price or the wrong time or both. Earlier this year my time finally came. I wanted to make a video showing why it's still a very relevant and useful instrument in a modern studio and that it's not just purely about nostalgia, whilst that obviously plays a part!

I thought it would be interesting to work out a few Louis Cole chord progressions and learn a little about how he makes his awesome music. - F It Up - Thinking - Let it happen - I'm Tight

A look at a wonderful vintage synth, the Korg Trident Mk I from 1980.

Whilst the E-mu SP machines are most famous for their use in Hip-hop, they were used by numerous artists in different genres and in different ways. To that end, I thought it would be interesting look at why and how it was used on Joe Satriani's 1987 album "Surfing with the alien". A note - I am aware that playing Joe Satriani songs on an Ibanez JEM is like doing a video about Spider-Man whilst dressed as Batman, but the JEM is the guitar I have.

A LOT of people have asked me to do this tutorial, so hopefully it's useful!

A look at the reissue of the mysterious Korg PS-3300, first released in 1977, along with some history about it and footage of its creator, Fumio Mieda.

In 2023, Anthony Marinelli aquired a 1969 Moog IIIc modular synthesizer that has a very interesting history. In this video, we tell that story for the first time.

I wanted to make some videos about recording to tape and the first port-of-call is multitrack cassette recording. I found a (kind-of-working) Sansui WS-X1 and it seemed an interesting option for the video as there's not a lot of videos about it. Cassette recording was the only option available to me when I started and I used to borrow the school 4-track over weekends. As soon as I could get a computer and a DAW, I left it behind and haven't touched it since probably 2000. Funnily enough, the only cassette I had lying around was one with my old A-level compositions on it.

A look at the Eventide Clockworks Instant Flanger from 1975, specifically in relation to how it was employed by Tony Visconti to create the unusual piano sound on Ashes to Ashes.

A look at how Daniel Miller (aka 'The Normal') used his first synth, a second-hand miniKORG 700S, to create the cult song Warm Leatherette in his bedroom. The song was the B-side to T.V.O.D and was the first ever release on Mute Records.

A look at the use of the Minimoog Model D (performed by John 'Rabbit' Bundrick) in Bob Marley and the Wailers 1973 recording of "Stir it up".