Posted on 01/04/1985
The appearance of the MIDI standard and MIDI equipped samplers and drum machines spawned a new segment in the musical instrument industry – the MIDI controller. Unable to produce any sound by itself, the controller acts as an interface between the musician and the sound producing units. Keyboard controllers (“Mother Keyboards” or “Master Keyboards”) were […]
Posted on 01/04/1985
When it was time to take DéFilm on the road, there was a lot of attention on the gear. The first tour involved a string of major festivals, and we were recommended to take all precautions to make setting up the gear as smooth as possible. So everyone in the band had specially prepared, high […]
Posted on 02/02/1985
Thud-tick-whack-tick… The LM-2 drum machine from Roger Linn is an absolute classic, and the model you probably refer to when mentioning “LinnDrum”. Incidentally this is also printed in large letters on the front. When first launched it was considered to be one of the most realistic sounding drum machines. Countless classic hit records have been made with – or […]
Posted on 01/01/1985
Akais first serious shot at a MIDI controlled digital sampler. The S-612 is really simple to operate: It is basically Record, Set Start/End and Play. It records at 12bit, 32Khz, and has a recording time of 8 seconds total. The resulting sample can be player with 6-voice polyphony. It offers a Sound-on-Sound function where you […]
Posted on 18/10/1984
It may seem odd today, but the Roland SBX-80 sync box was a real relief for syncing up MIDI sequencers to analog tape recorders. Released in the mid 80s, it was the perfect companion for e.g Rolands own MSQ-700 and MSQ-100 MIDI sequencers, but could be used with anything that slaves to MIDI sync. After […]
Posted on 01/10/1984
Same, same – but different Synclavier is an FM synth with add-on sampling. Fairlight is a sampler with additive synthesis capabilties. This is the major conceptual difference between the machines, that also have major operational differences. I was a long time resident studio programmer in PUK studios using both machines in the 80s. Had them […]
Posted on 30/09/1984
Since the early days of electronic music, the Vocoder has always had it’s place. Originally invented to reinforce intelligibility of telephone calls, the vocoder was soon abused by electronic musicians to make synthetic voices and other spectral processing. Early albums such as Wendy Carlos’ “A clockwork orange”, “Tales of Mysery and Imagination” by Alan Parsons […]
Posted on 29/08/1984
Memory relief The trouble of saving your MIDI sequences onto a standard cassette tape and loading back again, was a real nightmare – especially in a live situation. WIth the MSQ-700 and MSQ-100 Sequencers from Roland there was an audio interface, to record digital information onto analog tape. And it actually worked – when the […]
Posted on 13/08/1984
[gdlr_divider type=”solid” size=”100%” ] A Danish classic A real studio classic, and a classy piece of engineering. The “TC-2290 Programmable Digital Delay and Effects Control Processor”- or just TC-2290 – by Danish company TC Group (formerly TC Electronics) has found a place in most high end studios across the world. Writing the manual Being deeply […]
Posted on 01/07/1984
Informing the public about new working methods and mind sets with electronic music production. This was broadcasted on Danish national TV (DR/Danmarks Radio), which was then a monopoly. So everybody seemingly watched the program, judging from the many responses in the following months. Interview was made in Puk Studio, Denmark where I worked for extended periods, as […]