Even as I compose this entry, development and final tweaks to the Oberheim OB-X8 are probably still on going. Of all of the hardware projects I’ve been involved with over the past few years, this one has gone through the most rigorous development in an effort to faithfully reproduce the sound of the vintage […]

Here’s the new TAKE 5 synthesizer from Dave Smith and the guys at Sequential. It’s a five voice polyphonic analog keyboard with all of the cool features of the Prophet 6 and the filter circuitry of the Prophet 5 Rev 4, but it’s housed in a smaller chassis with a smaller keyboard. Personally […]

The ID700 from modosc designs is a 12 voice digital synthesizer based on the Instrument Designer architecture of the Buchla 700. The voicing structure is predominantly algorithmic FM, however it is FM that is combined with programmable waveshaping. There are several algorithms that are configured for common 2, 3, and 4 op FM […]

2020 needs some good news… and Dave Smith has been working hard to bring it to you!
Sequential announces the return of the Prophet~5!
Decades after the last P5 Rev 3s shipped, the new Rev 4 features the same fundamental features with improvements to modulation and MIDI implementation. Rev 4 also […]

I recently completed a voicing assignment for the new Pro 3 synthesizer from Sequential. This is their new mono synth that carries on the tradition of the legendary Pro 1 and popular Pro 2, but the Pro 3 mixes things up a bit by incorporating a wavetable oscillator along with two analog oscillators. […]

Happy 808 Day!
I’ve been testing the Rossum Electro Music Linnaeus multimode filter module which is going into production this week. Since it’s 808 day, i figured it would be interesting to see how it treats some classic electronic drum sounds. Linnaeus is a stereo module and you can invert the modulation of […]

I just finished up another voicing project for Dave Smith / Sequential for the upcoming Prophet X keyboard. This is something different that uses a multisampler engine, digital oscillators, and analog filters! The primary sample content comes from the 8DIO libraries and includes an abundance of acoustic instrument sets. The fun really […]

For several months now, I’ve been involved with Rossum Electro-Music and have been testing their new eurorack module, the Control Forge. This is a programmable 8 stage control voltage generator that can be use in a variety of applications. It can act as a waveform generator or an LFO, an envelope generator, a step sequencer, […]

Programming the Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 synthesizer can be a fairly labor intensive task. While I am compelled to use the [Latch 1] + [Hold] patch reset shortcut and start a new sound from scratch, I find myself creating up the same types of patches. As a time saving measure I’ve made […]

Power Tools for Reason 2.5/3.0 by Kurt Kurasaki. Edited by Jim Aikin. Backbeat Books 2004/2005.
This material is only for Power Tools for Reason 2.5/3.0 and does not apply to more recent versions of the title, not penned by Kurt Kurasaki. Those missing the content CD-Rom can download archives from […]

I have a fairly standard response whenever asked about mastering tracks: If this is a serious project headed for a physical or digital product, take it to the mastering studio of a great engineer. A good studio will have the equipment to reveal and correct problems, and balance the tracks to meet current standards […]

The Computer Music Reason 4 special edition is out and apparently available in North America. I contributed a couple of articles to this issue including one version of the granular effect combinator patch. Many thanks to Jeff Bradley, who helped with the REX loop programming article.
You can find more information on the CM […]