Published January 18, 2012 | 
Ok, here’s the thing. 2011 was a monumental ball ache for me and I was unable to work on any new material. Then some toss pot hacked my hosting account, locked me out and killed this site for months and I’ve only just managed to restore it.
Four of my main synths are being taken away to be services on Saturday thanks to Ben at cyberwave so I’m looking forward to using them again in anger…..and there is lots of anger!
I am determined to finish my 3rd album this year. Watch this space..
Published February 25, 2011 | 
This was an odd one really. I decided to bust out the old Acieeeed machine and see if it still worked. I forgot how much I loved the thing and 2 weekends later, I had a new track. I should use it more often. It’s a head-banger. Hope you like it.
I might do a video for this one. Watch this space…
Published February 25, 2011 | 
Time for some more inane mouthing about my favorite subject….vintage analogue synthesizers. Next up the mighty Akai VX600.
As touched on in my previous post about the Akai VX90 Module, Akai were not really known for their synths. Most people associate them for making sampling affordable and bringing it to the masses. This is a shame because they made some lovely machines like the AX60, AX80, and the last in the line, the VX600.
The VX600 is a bit of an enigma. It was released in the Netherlands as a prototype by Akai back in 1986, which is quite late for a machine based around the Curtis 3340 VCO chip-set that had been doing the rounds since the late 70′s. It’s the same VCO that you’ll find in things like the Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Oberheim Matrix synths, Roland Jupiter 8 and so on. Due to its complexity, and reports of its tuning instability, it never actually went into full production. Because of this, good examples are becoming harder to find. I got mine about 6 years ago from the Netherlands and it is in full working order thankfully.
Posted in Akai Analogue Synthesizers, Analogue Synths | 
Akai EVI 1000, Akai EWI 1000, Akai VX600 Matrix Synth, Analogue synthesizers, Andromeda A6, Blade Runner, Curtis 3340 VCO, Electronic Music, Korg M1 workstation, Oberheim Xpander, Poly synth, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland Jupiter 8, Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Vangelis, Yamaha CS80 | 
Leave a commentPublished February 10, 2011 | 
I was asked to enter a competition by one of my fellow Soundclouders a few months back on the Hooked in 60 seconds site. They were running a competition called “Electro Pop it” .
If you haven’t seen the site before, the idea is you enter a 60 second clip of a song based on a theme – in this case Electro Pop. People then vote for their favorite over a preset period – not sure what this is though.
Anyway, I entered a specially made 60 second edit of ”New York” for the crack really and – guess what – it won first prize. I rule..
I think its a novel way of promoting your music. The idea is that I can upload the complete track to the HISS store and sell it. However, since the upload limit is a mere 5MB for an MP3, I won’t be doing that anytime soon. Still it’s nice to be appreciated and thanks to everyone that voted for my song..
Posted in Electronic Music | Electro Pop, Electronic Music, HSS, Music competitions | Leave a commentPublished February 9, 2011 | Who needs record companies?
Just a quick note to say that I have launched a download widget so that you can now download electronic music directly from this site.
You can of course still download my music via iTunes and Amazon if you prefer. Just follow the links on the left of this page.
It’s just single releases at the moment but I will eventually put whole albums up. I’m currently working on an as yet unnamed album. However, since it takes me about three years to do one album, I will be releasing some of the songs as I go along. Life gets in the way you see. Check it out..
Published January 31, 2011 | 
The great man
Sorry to hear that John Barry has died. I am a massive fan if JB and he always had a big influence on my music. His scores just seemed to have class. Especially when he started using synthesizers. The theme to ‘The Persuaders’ is still one of my all-time favorite pieces of music and I still listen to his albums regularly.
I’ve written a few Barry esq tributes over the years and feel compelled to put one out.
There are many pretenders to the throne but there will never be another film composer like Barry and he leaves behind an awesome legacy.
Published January 21, 2011 | 
I like to listen to the theme from The Terminator when I go running. What do you guys listen to assuming you’re not couch potatoes?
Answers on a postcard to http://hubpages.com/question/100381/what-unusual-music-do-you-listen-to-when-working-out-be-honest
Published January 13, 2011 | 
Why is it that, whenever I have a sleepless night like last night, I always have an idea for a new song. This isn’t a coincidence either because it happens without fail. These ideas aren’t fragmented either but rather complete songs from start to end including most of the lyrics. Why can’t I do this during the day?
The downside is that sometimes I forget them but not this time. I’m getting all anxious now because I can’t stop thinking about it and I need to work on it.
It will have to wait until the weekend…
Published January 10, 2011 | 
I devote this song to all the pot-bellied, mullet haired, self-styled rock-legends that used to come into the music shop in which I worked years ago to bang on about how they could ‘feel the spirit’ in the wood of their guitars….yeah ok mate.
Originally, this song was written around 2005 but I shelved it because, as is often the case, I got interested in working on something else. I usually have about 4 songs in development at any one time. I resurrected it about 6 months ago and decided to see it through. It will eventually be on a new album that I’m working on at the moment.
I hope you like it…
Posted in Latest Releases | Electro, Electronic Music, synthpop, The Quadraphonic All Stars | Leave a commentPublished January 5, 2011 | 
Akai VX90 Analogue Synthesizer Module
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I like to talk about analogue synths an awful lot, and then some. In this blog infested world, it makes sense then to write about them too so I shall…
Rather than focusing entirely on tech specs, oscillators and such (though there will be some of this), I prefer to talk about the creative and practical possibilities of the various analogue synthesizers that I regularly use or have owned over the years.
I should point out that I’m not an analogue snob (I’ve met a few). If I like the sound, I will use anything regardless of how shitty it is. And that brings me nicely to the Akai VX90 Analogue Expander!
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