mach4's Electronic Synth Setup

After a few years of being able to borrow, use, and gig with an Oasys, in a turn of events I could never have expected (because it was something nice happening to me for a change) I now own it.

It's a stunning keyboard (even compared to the later Kronos) and is truly jam packed with tons of extraordinary features. The user interface is what makes it for me - having everything easily accessible on the touch screen.

The number of different synthesis engines and the ability to combine them in the standard Korg Combis can make for the most gargantuan layered effects (at the expense of polyphony of course), but also some brilliantly practical splits across 88 notes.

Then there's the Karma engine with its unique (if often confusing) take on the otherwise humble arpeggiator, the onboard 16-track sequencer, and the HD recording facilities.

One of my favourite sections is the capacity to create your own wavetables and then use them in Programs. The ability to cross fade or step from one wavesample to the next can make for some exciting, highly animated sounds. Also, the control over step duration and pitch of each wavesample can get well into sequencer territory, before even going anywhere near the onboard sequencer.

The sound quality is superb. The Oasys truly bristles and almost bursts with so many features, it is arguably the emperor of workstations.

Only problem I've encountered (and I've heard this has happened with other Oasys's (?!)) is that occasionally the touch screen would become unresponsive and require re-calibration.

Aside from that, this is quite the majestic instrument, and the closest I've ever come to one keyboard being able to do everything.

The lightest of the Triton family (hence Le) but still a powerful workstation sharing the same HI (Hyper Integrated) synthesis system, 32MB PCM ROM with 425 multi-samples & 413 drum samples (all 48-kHz). 512 sounds in Program mode (including GM sounds), 384 Combinations each of which can have up to 8 layered/split programs.

Two polyphonic and fully programmable arpeggiators, 16-track sequencer with capacity for 200,000 notes and 200 songs. 89 effects types with routings for 2 master sends and 1 insert send.

Sampling is available but only with user installation of the EXB-SMPL board (available separately - and increasingly difficult to find). Another area where corners were cut in producing the Le was the keybed - it's very average, and even though it has channel aftertouch, it's difficult to use expressively. Some users have added weights to give it the feel of a semi-weighted keyboard.

Arguably one of the best synths from Roland in a while, allowing relatively unique means of manipulating samples (and internal waveforms) using their Variphrase and COSM technology. Variphrase allows for - among other things - direct control over the formant of any sample (or internal waveform) which in turn has a significant effect on how the sounds are manipulated. The many COSM models (especially in the filter section) go some steps further in treatment of the oscillators.

Don't be fooled by the presence of "only" two oscillators, because when you get digging into what you can do with just one oscillator, you'll hear that it doesn't take much to make some huge pads, fat basses and leads, etc, etc (although sometimes at the expense of polyphony).

The large LCD touchscreen and a wealth of dedicated and assignable controls allow for an immediacy of editing. The dual D-beam is assignable to practically any parameter, as is the Time-Trip pad which, among other things, allows the performer to "freeze" a sample and wind it backwards or forwards in realtime.

Arpeggiator and 4-track Step-Modulator allow for even greater sound mangling possibilities. It also has three effects sends allowing for a ton of choruses, delays, reverbs, distortions, EQs, etc, etc. They even include emulations of the classic Roland tape effect units (Space Echo and Space Chorus) along with some old Boss pedal emulations. Many of the effect parameters are able to be modulated via the D-beam or T-T pad.

Probably the biggest drawback with the original V-Synth is the discontinuation of the VC-1 and VC-2 cards which remain extremely hard to find and much sought after. Although not essential, they do expand the V-Synth's already substantial tonal capabilities (the VC-2 Vocoder especially)

If you care to read a number synth forums around the globe, you'll find (after wading through sometimes too much inane trolling) that the otherwise humble Juno 6 or Juno 60 was the first synth for a significant number of players, and that it still remains a firm favourite in the eyes, hands, and ears of many.

Its architecture could not really be simpler: a single DCO with sawtooth, pulse, and a square wave sub-osc with dedicated level control. Pulse width can be controlled manually, or by LFO, or by the envelope. There is a self-resonant LPF and an HPF with a stepped level control. Standard ADSR envelope and two of the popular Roland Chorus effects.

There is also an arpeggiator and a transpose function. Sounds basic and probably is, but for reasons that I can't sufficiently explain, there is an intangible friendliness about the Juno - something beguiling (probably not unlike its namesake), something downright decent about it. I would not be without one.

Released in the mid 1970s, this was the first string synth from Roland to feature what was to become their much-loved Ensemble/Chorus. One might not expect much from a single sawtooth oscillator, but with the divide-down circuitry, it is fully polyphonic.

There are three presets - Strings I, Strings II, and Brass - each on switchable rocker tabs. There are also some simple envelope controls (a tab switch for soft or hard attack, and sliders for release time which they've labelled "Decay"), two basic Low-Pass Filters ("Tone" - one for Strings I & II, the other for the Brass), and LFO ("Vibrato" - which has a fixed rate, but sliders for adjustable depth and delay).

The keyboard has a fixed split-point dividing the bottom 2 octaves and the top 3. All presets are independently adjustable for each half as are the soft/hard attack switches and the release controls. There's also an attenuation tab switch for each half so that one half can play softer or louder than the other.

All of this topped off with that sumptuous Ensemble effect, and it makes for a refreshingly versatile stringer.

The Grand-daddy of the Ensoniq sampler family - a family that started unpromisingly with the somewhat arcane Mirage, but then rapidly evolved with the vastly improved EPS, then the EPS16+, then the imperious ASR-10. ASR stood for Advanced Sampling Recorder, and for its time (early 1990s) it may well have been the most advanced (at least for those available at a consumer level, we will discount the sorts of ubermenschen who could afford a Synclavier or Fairlight).

If you were already familiar with the EPS and the 16+, the ASR was simple to use, the same architecture and layout applied, but with a ton of extra features which really opened up the sampling, sequencing and production possibilities (and a few of these were actually thanks to Ensoniq listening to customer suggestions). If you were fortunate to have all the additional bells and whistles such as the digital I/O and the SCSI expansion, you were into an early form of HDD recording as well.

The ability to resample its own audio, with or without effects was also a great idea, and a shortcut to freeing up sequencer tracks if you needed to. Some people complain about Ensoniq keybed quality, but I've never had a problem with them. The ASR has always felt solid and responsive, and the poly aftertouch has never given any grief. The modulation routings on the ASR are almost without number.

All in all, this sampler really kicks.

The ESQ-1 is what I call the "quiet achiever" of the 80s digital synth market. Yamaha brings out the game-changing DX-7 (replete with that godawful electric piano sound which found its way into far too much radio-friendly tripe).

And then about 5 years on, Roland says "Okay, our turn! Cop this" and releases the D-50. Both with their positive and negative points, the DX-7 was probably the most user-unfriendly synth available (one J.M. Jarre reports it as being "a pain in the arse to programme") and the D-50 perhaps tried a little too hard with some new lingo ("Linear arithmatic" "partials" etc).

Meanwhile, without any fuss, Ensoniq brings out an absolute charmer in the ESQ-1. 3 digital oscillators (osc sync, FM, and ring mod available) each with 32 waveforms, some analogue, some sampled. A ton of modulation possibilities with 3 LFOs, 4 6-stage ENV generators, each freely routable to practically any parameter.

An analogue resonant filter. Velocity sensitive keyboard. MIDI. A large display with dedicated buttons to access each section and parameter (compared to those other two - easy!) Oh yes, and an 8-track sequencer ... I mean really, we're getting into workstation territory here (minus effects though).

What's not to like?

Interesting to think that this auspicious beast from 1986 was Sequential's first digital synth, but the penultimate one to bear the "Prophet" moniker before the company folded a year later. However, without it (and some of Sequential's residual boffins), the popular Korg Wavestation would not have turned out the way it did.

Initially something of a test-bed for a range of ideas - including digital wavetables, the capacity to arbitrarily crossfade between selected waves across 4 oscillators, envelopes that went beyond the standard ADSR steps and which featured loopable stages - they all ended up in the Prophet VS.

There are 96 waves available in RAM and a further 32 that are user programmable. Essentially what this meant was that you could set up any combination of the RAM waves in the 4 oscillators (each with their own volume) and save that as a new single waveform - a neat way of expanding the sonic palette. It was possible to import sample data into the RAM, but that was (is) a little complicated.

Mixes between the 4 oscillators could be programmed using a dedicated Envelope and LFO allowing for some great, animated, and unpredictable patches, and this was a significant part of the VS's charm. The vector joystick also allowed realtime control over the oscillator mix which would override whatever was programmed in the patch setting. This was all routable through an analogue (Curtis chip) resonant filter, and on top of that was a modulation matrix allowing a ton of flexible routings.

It's often overlooked, but the onboard arpeggiator was worth spending time with as it was damn near a sequencer, you can program your own steps and store them as part of a patch. And with the keyboard featuring a programmable split point, it was possible to set up some cool, sequencer-like patterns on one half of the keyboard whilst playing solos or pads on the other half.

A slightly more quirky feature (initially a programming accident which Dave Smith insisted that the designers keep) is the random patch generator achieved by pressing the Enter button and patch button no.2. You're then treated to some serious, sonic psychedelia - rarely possible to play a tune with, but an ear-opening demo of what the VS can do. And you'll never hear the same one twice! (unless you save it).

All in all, I think it's a shame the Prophet VS didn't fare a little better in it's time. Whilst it's spirit was certainly revived in the Korg Wavestation and the Yamaha SY22, I for one am very happy to have the original blueprint in my collection. It's one very powerful and versatile synth.

It might be easy to dismiss the countless superlatives that have been written and spoken about the Minimoog, but what cannot be ignored is just how many different players used this synth, and how many different styles into which it found itself comfortably fitting. On paper, it seems far too simple: 3 VCOs each with 6 selectable waveforms, and with the option to use the 3rd VCO as an LFO; White and pink noise; Low-pass resonant filter; 2 ENVs (ADS/R - 1 for filter, 1 for amp); external input can be processed through the filter. But when it was played, both the performers and the listeners paid attention! Some say it's that Moog filter, some say it's the oscillator waveforms, others say it was the way Bob Moog overdrove some of the circuitry. But most just say "It's a Minimoog."

An entry-level but solidly made 8-channel mixer from Phonic. Made in the early 1990s, the rear panel consists entirely of jack plugs for the 8 inputs, 2 Main (L, R) outputs, and 2 effects loops. There were no balanced XLR outputs (A DI box would be required if using it live). There was also the curious inclusion of a MIDI Thru splitter (1 MIDI In, 2 MIDI Thru) which suggested that it was aimed at keyboardists to use as a sub-mixer. Each channel has a broad gain to accommodate line or mic input, peak LED, hi and lo eq, FX 1, FX2, and pan. There is also a headphones socket with dedicated level control (pre-fade) for monitoring. The mixer came with attachable ears for rack-mounting, but you had to ensure that you left enough space at the top for the input/ouput connections.

Some advertising blurbs incorrectly (and misleadingly) state that this is a 24-channel mixer, but a cursory glance at the front panel makes it painfully obvious this is not the case. What it does have however, is 24 inputs to allow for 12 STEREO channels. It also packs a lot of features for a relatively compact mixer. All 12 channels have: 3-band EQ, Mute and Solo switches, Level and balance controls, 2 stereo Aux sends. Channels 1 & 2 also have 2 balanced XLR mic inputs with trim controls on rear panel. Plugging a mic into these overrides the jack inputs. Over on the Master section, there is selectable pre-fader and post-fader listen; 4 assignable stereo effects returns with level and balance controls, levels for Control Room out and Main out, 4 slider levels for the 4 busses. Around the back, are the 12 paired L-R inputs with inserts on Chans 1 - 4. Both the Control Room and Main outs are Balanced outputs, BUT strangely, neither of them are XLRs which still means using either adapters or a DI box for shows. Not quite sure why this is the case. They put XLRs for the mic inputs on Chans 1 & 2, so it's a bit of a mystery as to why they didn't do the same for the balanced outs. Then there are the Aux send/returns and the 4 Bus outs. All in all, the niggling matter of no XLR balanced outs notwithstanding, there is a great deal of flexibility in this mixer.