Synthesizer demonstration performance by Tom Ludvigson

Tom Ludvigson has put together a great flyer for his performance at the Music Machines event so I just wanted to share it with you. It gives a detailed run through of his kit and what he’ll be doing on the day.

Kit list:
EML 500
Korg Polysix
Sequential Circuits Pro-One
Sequential Circuits Drumtraks
Phillips D1875 12 band FM . MW . LW . SW receiver*
Roland SDE 3000 digital delay with ‘hold’ footswitch

The core of the performance is making the music machines work together as a system where all parts contribute to the same groove. This requires that all the machines are synchronised to the same beat – easy with contemporary MIDI technology, but harder to do in the days before MIDI.

Tom uses two ‘old-school’ techniques to achieve this:

• Analog synchronization – using individual drum machine audio outputs to trigger the arpeggiator features built into the Polysix and the Pro-One synths, and
• Delay synchronisation – using a signal delay set to the same delay duration as one bar of music (in this case 130 BPM /beats per minute means one bar lasts for 1846 ms /milliseconds)

Stages in the performance:
1. EML played
2. EML + D1875 radio ‘sampling’ into SDE
3. Polysix played
4. SDE footswitch used to catch a ‘loop’ 1846 ms duration
5. Polysix with Chord Memory + Arpeggiator on ‘hold’
6. Drumtraks started (> chord starts changing on Polysix)
7. Some drum sounds (rim shot, hi-hats) mixed into the mix
8. Pro-One played
9. Pro-One arpeggiator activated > bass line
10. Polysix changed to 16ths pattern (new Drumtraks pattern)
11. SDE changed to 346 ms
12. Gradual build in intensity > 4-on-the-floor dance groove
13. Breakdown – drums out of the mix
14. 2nd buildup to dance groove
15. outro – gradual removal of instruments from the mix

Tom has worked with synthesizers since he bought his EML 500 in the late seventies. Since then he has contributed synthesizer parts to recordings by many New Zealand artists, such as Paul Ubana Jones, Rick Bryant’s Jive Bombers, Low Profile/Elephunk, Snap/Sidewalk City, Alloy, Big Sideways, Trip to the Moon, Nexus, Dub Asylum and the Inner City Jazz Workshop and others. Tom also regularly produces music for New Zealand television documentaries. He currently teaches Music Technology at MAINZ /the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand.