Malcolm Clarke

"When, however, I received the new Yamaha DX7 FM synthesiser, I soon discovered predictability beyond two operators was not possible, and the DX7 used six operators (FM devices) arranged in varying configurations called algorithms. A small change to any device could have incredible and unforeseeably complex results."

"The way I work with the DX7 and SY2 is to start with a preset sound and move away from it if I need to."

"Also I've got a Yamaha CS5 here, which is intended as a replacement for the EMS vcs3 which is now sitting in the corner."

"Also I've got a Yamaha CS5 here, which is intended as a replacement for the EMS vcs3 which is now sitting in the corner."

"My first sampling synthesiser was an Emulator II by E-mu Systems Inc. This stored its sampled sounds on five-and-a-quarter inch floppy discs. It was housed in a crude grey plastic case and was shaped like the robot dog in 'Doctor Who' - 'K9', which is what it became called."

A Yamaha DX1 can be seen in this image of Malcolm Clarke in the studio of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

a Yamaha TX816 Synthesizer can be seen behind Malcolm Clarke in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop studio.

"The Prophet 5 which is quite an old model now suffers from tuning problems both in relative pitch and in span, and the Casio 201 is stable in pitch but tuned to A442 which means everything has to be tuned up to that pitch."

Malcolm talks about using the Casio CT-201 in terms of pitch tuning.

"The Prophet 5 which is quite an old model now suffers from tuning problems both in relative pitch and in span, and the Casio 201 is stable in pitch but tuned to A442 which means everything has to be tuned up to that pitch."

Malcolm talks about the technical issues he have with the Prophet 5.