This month I had a special treat. Instead of being sent a module to review, I was sent an entire system! Glasgow Make Some Noise was kind enough to loan me one of their Pure Modular synths to check out. The Pure Modular is an 84 HP Eurorack synthesizer in a rugged, wooden, lidded case. From left to right, it’s made up of an LFO, Noise Generator, Sequencer, Quantiser, two Oscillators, a Low Pass Filter, Envelope Generator, and VCA. This provides everything you need to get started putting together a wide range of sounds, but it also plays nicely with any other modular gear that you might have. Continue reading “Review: GMSN (Glasgow Make Some Noise) Pure Modular Synth”
Category: Music
The Making of Belizean Heat: Part 1 – Ella’s Garden
Review: Intellijel JellySquasher Analog Compressor & Tone Shaper Eurorack Module
I have to admit that I wasn’t terribly interested in this module when it first came out. I suppose this is partially because I have grown used to getting my compression from software plug-ins rather than hardware. There’s some great analog emulations out there, and software has a level of precision that is hard to beat. At least that’s how I felt until Danjel gave me a demonstration of an Acidlab Miami running through the Springverb into the Jellysquasher. He was able to quickly dial in this gritty, breathing, monstrous, dub techno tone from a simple drum groove and I was blown away. Toms transformed into growling synth swells. After that abrupt about-face of opinion I was eager to get my hands on one. Continue reading “Review: Intellijel JellySquasher Analog Compressor & Tone Shaper Eurorack Module”
Belizean Heat Out Now!
I’m excited to share my latest album, Belizean Heat! It features nine songs that are each built around field recordings gathered during a short visit to Belize I took in 2015. If you listen closely, you’ll hear birds, crickets, underwater reef crackling, and a persnickety naval radio. One of my favourite recordings was of a massive colony of grackles. Continue reading “Belizean Heat Out Now!”
Synthesis Essentials: All About Oscillators
Oscillators. The raw sound source that spawns the diverse range of tones and timbres spewed by all synthesizers. They come in different shapes and can be produced by a variety of techniques to make your imagination audible. If you consider the fact that all of the sounds we hear are vibrations in air, oscillators are creating synthetic vibrations that become sound once connected to a speaker. Instead of moving back and forth like a guitar string, the oscillator cycles between positive and negative voltages. Continue reading “Synthesis Essentials: All About Oscillators”
SUBLIME SOUND 