New kit for the Music Machines event – Drum machine heaven!
We’re very privileged to have part of Steve Graham’s amazing drum machine and synth collection on display at the Music Machines event in November. Steve is a serious collector and will be at the event to have a chat about his collection and also about a book he’s working on which goes through the “history of the drum machine”.
Steve sent me through some of the gear which he’ll be bringing along on the day, there’s some amazing machines on the list and it’ll be well worth coming along to check this gear out. Here’s the list:
- Linn LM-1
- Linn Drum
- Linn 9000
- AHB Inpulse One Octopad
- MPC Electronics MPC-2 Octopad (another rare british drum trigger system)
- MPC The Kit drum trigger
- Roland CR-78
- Roland CR-68
- Roland TR-66
- Roland TR-55
- Roland TR-33
- LEL DR-9 Russian drum unit
- Vermona DRM-1 East German drum unit
- Bohm Digital Drum German drum unit (German answer to the Linndrum)
- Watford Electronics drum unit (from UK)
- RSD SD140 drum machine (French)
- RSF DDR30 drum machine (French)
- Selmer HR-30 preset rhythm unit
- Various Korg Minipops units/Keio units
- Various Multivox preset rhythm units
- Acetone FR-1 preset rhythm unit (first ever transistorized unit)
- Acetone R-1 (first ever Acetone product – drum trigger but no presets- very rare)
- Korg PSS-50 super section
- Korg PSS-60 super section
- MXR 185 drum machine
- Sequential Tom ?
- Sequential DrumTraks
- E-mu Drumulator
- E-mu SP-12
- Emulator Mark 1
- Emulator Mark ii
- Roland Juno HS -60 (rare version of the Juno 106)
- Sequential Max
- Yamaha SS-30 string synth
- Yamaha SK-20 string synth
What is a “classic” synth??
As the kit list comes together nicely for the event I’ve been getting asked the question “what is a classic synth”? Now Music Machines isn’t just about “vintage” or “classic” synths as we’ll also have quite a few synths which certainly don’t fit in to the “vintage” tag and some which are just plain new!
To me “vintage” brings on thoughts of age, how old is it, is a 90’s synth vintage yet? “Classic” looks more at it’s impact on the world of synths OR the music created with these machines. Coming from Manchester and never really having too much money when I was getting in to creating music there are a few synths which I would consider classic which many hardcore synth geeks may not.
The Waldorf Pulse and the Novation Bass station and Drum station were both amazing value synths which were accessible to far more music makers than some of the more expensive synths in the 90’s and some would say had more impact on the sounds of techno and house. Now these synths may not have had the best sounds or construction but I’d say they sit well in the “classic” box.
What do you think are some of the classics and why? Arturia, Clavia, Kurzweil??
Jed Town and Tom Ludvigson at Music Machines 09
We’re getting closer to the event now and I’m pleased to let you know that I’ve confirmed a special one off performance by Jed Town and Tom Ludvigson titled “Radioactive Waste”. It’s really exciting to have them come along for the day and I’m really looking forward to this 40 minute all hardware set.
Both Tom and Jed have been heavily involved in the electronic music scene in New Zealand since the early 80’s and are both synth fanatics. I’m always excited to see how different artists create music in a live situation, how they interact with the interfaces of the different machines and how they interact with each other as part of a “machine” based performance. I’ll keep you updated with any further information about the performance and particularly the kit they’ll be using!
Music Machines now at Galatos – Saturday 21st November
It’s been a few weeks since my last update on the event so here’s a little more information on what coming up in November.
The event has now been moved to the main room at Galatos which is really exciting and should provide more options for the kit we can show and the type of performances we can put together for you.
I’ve been working on adding to the kit list and should be able to announce a very large addition from one of NZ’s top drum machine collectors.
We’re adding a whole collection of new synths to the event as well as the vintage gear and we’re very excited to be demoing the Elektron Machinedrum on the day. These are usually only available direct from the manufacturer and I’m really looking forward to having a play.
I’ll also be announcing the artists who will be part of The Analog Allstars who will be putting together a special one off “all analog” performance for the event. This should be something special and is being put together by Kerry Adams from The Proof.
New Zealand electro from 1984 – Sidewalk City by Snap
The events been really coming together over the last few weeks, we’ve been meeting some great artists who want to be involved in the day and getting all the production arranged for the day. I met with Tom Ludvigson a few days ago to discuss the event and see if he’d like to be involved. Tom been a synth man for about 30 years and has been involved in many Auckland bands as a player and composer, head over to his site Jazzscores for more on Tom’s musical projects.
We were discussing the synth scene in the early 80’s, as this was when I first got in to hiphop and electro back in the UK, Tom remembered working on a track under the name “Snap” called “Sidewalk City” which Tom said had been influenced by the early electro coming out of the states at the time. I was aware of bands like Car Crash set which seemed to be influenced more by the darker side of synth music at the time and wasn’t aware of any US influenced electro coming out of NZ from the early 80’s, I had to hear it.
After a quick question on twitter a serious music fiend, Peter Mac sent me a rip of the track from his vinyl copy. I’ve gotta say that the track blew me away as I’d never heard this sound coming out of NZ from 1984. Check it out, it’s over 6 minutes and really builds with layers of synths, vocals and an mc vocal which drops at 3.44!
I thought I’d ask Tom for any recollections of the session as I’m fascinated by all the elements which make up the track, particularly the mc vocal and the layers of synths and techniques used in the production.
“Recalling the session, recorded to 24track tape at Harlequin Studios, a few things stick out:
- The musicality of the “Triangle” production team of Graeme Gash, Paul Streekstra and Noel Connolly;
- The experimental the-studio-as-an-instrument approach;
- The trial-and-error art of overdubbing Polysix arpeggiator lines in sync with the track without the benefit of hard sync: first tweak the arpeggiator tempo knob until it sounds right, then trigger it exactly on time, every time. It worked with repeated drop-ins…;
- Borrowing a just-released Oberheim OB-X polysynth to do state-of-the-art sounding overdubs for the extended dance mix;
- Four of us jamming the extended dance mix at the 24-track console, eight hands together tweaking sliders and delay buttons for a dubby atmospheric mix.”
Let me know what you think of the track by leaving a comment, I’d love to know what you think. I’ll be adding more tracks from different NZ synth artists over the next few weeks and of course bringing you more news on the event as it comes in.
First kit list for the Music Machines event
Over the next few months i’ll be keeping you all updated with the list of synths and drum machines which will be on show at the event in November. This list is just the first selection of kit which you’ll be able to get your hands on or see demo’d at the event. The concept behind the event is to have all the kit fully functioning on the day so you guys can get an idea of how these machines work and what they sound like. I’ll be adding more synths and drum machines as I get them confirmed for the event so make sure you check back to get the latest news. I’ll also be posting demo video’s from all the synths on to our flash new Music MachinesNZ YouTube channel.
Kit list 1.
Roland TR808
Roland TR909
Roland TB303
Roland JX3P
Roland JX8P
Roland Juno 106
Roland JP8080
Moog Minimoog Model D
Emu SP1200
Yamaha TX81Z ( DX7 module )
Yamaha DX7
Korg Polysix
Korg MS10
Korg x911
TOM drum machine
Drumtraks drum machine
Pro 1 mono synth
Prophet 10
Prophet 5 rev 2
Prophet 5 rev 3
Remote prophet
PPG Wave 2.3
Clavia Nord Lead 2
Waldorf Blofeld
DSi Mopho
Roland SH101
Roland CR8000 (Analog solutions mods)
Waldorf Pulse
Music Machines synth event – Auckland November 21st
Ok this is the first post on our new blog which I’ve put together for the first New Zealand synth and drum machine event to be held on November 21st in Auckland. I’ll be using the blog to keep you all informed with the latest news on the event and give you a chance to get involved.
“A one day creative event bringing together New Zealand’s largest collection of classic synthesiser’s and drum machines.”
The concept is to have the whole venue full of classic synths and drum machines giving the public a chance to get “hand’s on” and learn some of the history behind the machines and the music they helped create.
These “Music Machines” have been instrumental in helping shape the sound of modern music from jazz, funk, prog, electro, hip hop, techno, house, jungle, drum and bass……..
There will also be live performances and demo’s during the day plus guest speaker’s and competitions.
