method_one's Reviews

Mono/Poly: A new old favorite

The oldest synth in my collection, and the newest addition to my studio. There's something about the Mono/Poly that makes it more than it's spec sheet — it just has so much soul and character, the kind of weird idiosyncrasies that draw you in and reward you for exploring. It's the kind of synth that you point to when explaining the difference between real analog synthesis and the digital emulation found in a plug-in. Beyond really loaded words like "character", what makes the M/P special? Well, you have four oscillators to play with, as well as a killer filter and some really interesting modulation possibilities. You can switch it from a monosynth to a 4-voice poly, which adds more options. But what really makes the M/P special is the arpeggiator. You can have it run as a traditional arpeggiator in Unison mode, but the fun really starts when you play with the arpeggiator in Poly mode. It will then use each of the four oscillators as a step in the pattern, and you can tweak each oscillator to use different waveforms, octave spread, volume and tuning. So you end up with an arpeggiated pattern that has a unique sense of motion. It's absolutely unlike most gear out there, and it's amazing.

Akai made proper analog synths? Oh yes they did!

Very few people seem to know that Akai made some pretty excellent synths back in the day, and not just samplers and MPCs. They didn't produce many, which makes them rare; and they don't have the status of competitors like the Roland Junos, which makes them affordable. If you find one, definitely take a look. What you'll find is a 6 voice analog poly synth with actual VCOs, lots of sliders, and arpeggiator and built-in chorus, basic MIDI capabilities and some pretty unique features. You can "split" two separate patches on the keyboard, and old Akai samplers (such as the s612) can be patched in to use as an additional oscillator. The sound is a bit more cutting than a Juno, closer to the sound of something like a Sequential Prophet 600 or Six Trax. You can make pads with it, but the synth shines in leads and weird effects, and can sound huge when all six voices are stacked in unison mode. Well worth searching out, and you can likely find one for under $500.

bare-bones keyboard controller

I have this for travel purposes — I can't write music well without a keyboard, and this fits nicely in a backpack. It's pretty cheap feeling (which isn't surprising, since I bought it for about $50), but works nicely despite being banged around a lot.

Soiid 8-pair MIDI interface

Way back before Apple bought them out, a German company named Emagic was known for its Logic software and high-quality MIDI interfaces. Mine is probably close to 15 years old, but still works great.

A forgotten drum machine

This definitely falls under the category of "forgotten gear" — most people have never heard of it, and mine had been sitting in a closet for years. Whoops! I bought this in 1993, and at the time it was a more budget-friendly competitor to the Roland and Korg drum machines of the era. It will never touch an 808 or even a TR-8 in the fatness department, but it does have some interesting features. There is an expansion card slot for adding new kits, and when is the last time you've seen a drum machine with a pitch wheel? If you like drum machines, you can probably find one of these for a song. As for mine...I recently dusted it off and inserted it into my studio for the first time in ages. Let's see what can be done!

Monster Bass Monosynth

Many people have never heard of Studio Electronics or the SE-1, as they were one of those smaller companies quietly making excellent analog synths before the current revival (and are still around today, by the way). The SE-1 is a 3-oscillator monosynth that can be described as a pseudo-minimoog with modern features (patch memory, MIDI) and some other interesting tweaks. Considering that Moog itself is making synths again, why should you bother with a SE-1? It sounds amazing, especially if you are looking for huge bass sounds, and it has lots of lovely knobs to make sound editing a breeze. And, unlike the Moog Slim Phatty that this replaced in my studio, the sounds fit very well with the other synths and gear that are being used. It's a lovely synth, and for under $500 used, a hell of a deal...if you can find one!

(The newer SE-1 models are called the SE-1X, and feature expanded patch memory, an audio-in port and some other updates.)

I love these headphones!

Great, clean sound and amazing comfort — they make a great pair of studio headphones.

Because occasionally you need to play a CD

I only have one of these, as its twin fell into the San Francisco Bay after a boat party. It doesn't get used much.

Long Timer

Considering how long I've been using the Serato SL1 box (7+ years now), it's well earned it's keep in my dj setup. It's a shame Rane is discontinuing the solid Scratch Live software for the buggy and bloated Serato DJ experience...maybe that works fine in a controller-heavy environment, but I proudly hold on to my Technics 1200s.

Scarily good

I own hardware synths, so I usually don't really care about software emulations. Diva is one of the few "analog" soft-synths that actually sounds like the real thing, and I love how you can mix-and-match different sources and filter sections.

Dream machine

Over the past few years, I've stopped using a lot of soft-synths and have focused more on hardware. But Omnisphere remains a favorite, since it makes amazing, lush sounds that just won't come from an analog synth. It's a bit pricey, but is incredibly useful. I especially like the patch randomize button, which is a great way to hear sounds you might not have experienced otherwise. More developers should use this!

The standard, but does it go far enough?

I've been using Logic since Logic 5, so I've invested a lot of time into the program's workflow. And while Logic X is a notable improvement from 9, I wonder if Apple went far enough to keep the program relevant in an age of Ableton Live and other programs. I'm not saying that Logic needs to be an Ableton clone, but more attention needs to be paid toward simplifying and smoothing out the workflow, and updating ancient legacy instruments like the ESX24 sampler.

Decent Monosynth

I use my Mopho as a controller/extra voice for my DSI Tetra — You can link the two together and, in effect, create a 5 voice version of the Prophet 08. Since the arrival of my Prophet 12, I don't use them as much as I used to.

Great interface

I went to the RME from a MOTU 828, and the difference in quality was very noticeable. RME stuff isn't cheap, but it's well-made and has epic sound quality.

The classic!

As an old-school dj with thousands of vinyl records crowding the shelves, it would be weird not to own a set of Technics 1200s. This is still the gold standard of dj turntables.

Epic Reverb

I know this is nominally a guitar pedal, but I use it mostly for my synths — and given how good the reverbs are, I use it a lot. This piece is so good that it made me buy two more Eventide boxes.

Solid Studio Monitoring

These are really solid monitors — the operative word being "clean". The sound is very accurate and you don't have to do a lot to compensate for them.

4 Voices of Goodness

The Tetra is basically a 4-voice version of the Prophet 8, and as long as your chords aren't TOO complex you'll be very satisfied. Great sound and a small footprint.

What's this doing here?

After two decades of synths, I decided to try my hand at playing guitar. I bought this Fender Strat on Craigslist, and beyond it being Mexican-made and black, I have no real details about it. I'm a terrible guitarist but it's sure fun to play around.

Program your D50

With a PG-1000, a D-50 suddenly becomes a poor man's JD-800. Yes, it's a digital synth, but sliders make programming anything so much better.