I am a huge fan of electronic music, and have been ever since I heard sounds in 1950s science-fiction or horror films. The first full electronic sound track I listened to was from the film “A Clockwork Orange”, with much of it performed by Wendy Carlos. I went on to become a fan of: Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock, Jean-Michel Jarre, Soft Machine, Genesys, Rick Wakeman. and then headed into Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Georgio Moroder… and then the 80s happened…. Man, synth pop was everywhere and I was 22.
As I write this, hitting 61 years of age (Oct 2019), I decided to revamp my web site and expand on my favourite topic: Electronic Music Synthesis. I call it that, because it is a broad definition and does not limit anyone to how they make music with electricity. Digitally, Analog, or some yet to be derived means of extracting brain waves… I don’t care, I will enjoy it and share it here. This site is focused more toward what I did, or maybe how I approached things with music synthesis, and will suit the less technical, but there may be technical elements mentioned throughout. If you are new to synthesizers, or have been building or playing them for years, you should find at least some interest.
I spend much of my free time, building synthesizers, creating music with them, performing with them or sitting down and discussing synthesis and music. There is always an album I am working on, another artist I am working with, a show I am trying to create or just playing and experimenting with sound. I am also very fortunate to work with other builders from around the world, on custom synthesizers and commercial prototypes.
This section of the site is also divided up along those same lines:
Custom and DIY Synthesizers. Here you will find hand made, one of a kind synthesizers and synthesizers built from designs of others around the world. I also cover some commercially available kits and open source projects.
My MIDI ‘How To” is intended for new synthesizer users and musicians, who do not wish to be inundated with too much ‘technospeak’.
Commercial Synthesizers. Information and discussions about buying commercially available synthesizers.
Performing and playing synthesizers. Information about my setup, my music and a section of links for learning all about synthesizers. I also have issues like inter-connectivity, recording, and technical aspects like noise elimination, and how-to guides.
Note: This article was originally written in Oct, 2019.
Last Update/Edit: Apr. 2024.