This track, "Fate", was recorded way back in 2006, and was an attempt at a dramatic sounding mid-tempo opening / closing theme. It was done with a trusty Yamaha QY70, with a little live tinkering added, but it was linked to the powerful Yamaha FS1r that I had at the time (and wish I still did). The drums are the main thing you hear from the QY in the track ... and I may have overdone those more than a little bit. 😅 The early to mid 00's was my first time using a PC to record. It had always tapes before.

The photo is one I took of some clouds when I was out West, with an added Sepia effect to make them look a bit more ominous. 

I did, and still do play as a hobby only. Sometimes just tinkering around would turn out something that's not half bad, and if it was bad, who cares? It was fun to make, and that helps to keep me happy ... even when the music is dark and ominous.

Fate

Fate ⛓️‍💥 (Yamaha QY70 Sequencer + Yamaha FS1r Midi Module, Recorded in 2006)

Recorded just last month (posting in July 2025), fittingly titled "June", with a light shower, and some light music. 🌧

This was performed with the Yamaha SY55, and mixed with a light drizzle that I recorded on my phone, complete with a happy frog. 🐸 If you listen very closely, at one point, you can hear a siren from the nearby street. 

The photo is one I took of the place I was sitting while listening to the rain that's in the recording.

This could be considered Soundtrack music, but I think it's closer to New Age. I hope you enjoy it. 😌

June

June 🌧️ (Yamaha SY55 Synthesizer + Phone recorded Rainfall, Recorded June 2025)

And now for something completely different. 

Well, not completely, but it's done with a guitar instead of a synthesizer. Background Soundtrack / Ambient piece with some harmonics from my Telecaster knock-off, with a TC Electronic Flashback 2 delay pedal, plus a few notes added from Native Instruments Pro-53 as well. Looking through all the things I've recorded over the years shows quite a bit of variety, and sometimes it's just something very experimental like this.

The photo is of what might look like a piece of junk, but it's a broken and worn keychain that has meaning to me. On one side it says "Live", while on the other it says "Celebrate each day".

timeKeeper

timeKeeper 🕰️ (Electric Guitar + TC Electronic Flashback 2 + Pro-53, Recorded March 2024)

Back to the late 90's for another Wavestation recording. If I were to make an album of New Age music, this would be the opening track, titled "Awake". It starts out relatively calm, comes to a crescendo, and then fades. 😌

The photo is of the Sun bursting through a tree, taken by me near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I had no idea at the time that the natural starburst effect of the sunlight would come out like it did. 

This was done on the Wavestation EX in 1998, recorded to tape as was the case for everything back then, then transferred to digital in 2003.

Awake

Awake 🌅 (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded on Tape in 1998)

Talk about incidental music. What the Hell is going on here?  🫣 Who are they and where are they going? You fill in the blanks. 🤷‍♂️

I'm a hardware guy. I love keyboards & drum machines, the more knobs the better, and guitars & basses too ... the plugged in kind only please. But here's some software weirdness, "stutter", a bit of dark atmosphere for your movie. ⛈ Marking the passage of some folks on the way to their doom, or whatever other creepy scene you can imagine.

The photo is a small portion of one I took that included some very dark storm clouds.

stutter

stutter 💀 (ABSYNTH Soft Synth, Recorded in 2008)

A good choice tonight for these rainy days, from 2006, "A Rain Dampened Street". I'm pretty proud of this little thing. 😊

This was the Yamaha DX7IID keyboard controlling the Yamaha TG33 midi module, which has it's own very unique sound. Like 80% of whatever I record, it was completely made up on the fly. All things considered, I think it turned out OK. 👍 

It's pretty, which is what I had in mind, and it certainly paints a picture in your head. ☔️

The photo is one I took of the wet street near where I live.

Stay dry. 🧥

On a Rain Dampened Street

On a Rain Dampened Street 🌂 (Yamaha TG33 Module + Yamaha DX7 IID Synthesizer, Recorded 2006)

Here we have an ambient, new age type of sound, recorded in May of this year. It's my Yamaha SY55 passed through a Zoom MS-70CDR+. The sound makes me feel like I'm underwater, hence the title. 

Enjoy the calm. Enjoy your weekend!

Submerged

Submerged 🫧 (Yamaha SY55 Synthesizer + Zoom MS-70CDR+ Effects Pedal, Recorded May, 2025)

It's been a few days since I uploaded a Wavestation track, this one from around 2000. This could be considered Soundtrack material, but it's definitely just a great WS EX sound effect demonstration of what the unit can do.

Mechanical, Industrial, and quite possibly Dangerous, this is "Industry" with the Wavestation EX, from 1997.

The photo is a sort of abstract-looking one I took on one of my night walks.

Industry

industry 🛠️ (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded on Tape in 2000)

Another track from the fictitious Artemis Trio, "Just Work on It", from 2007. 🌿 This is a looped pattern that was programmed, and then I changed some of the instrumentation over time while recording. This one's probably more Funk than Jazz. It's a brief demo of the QY70 really, and pretty simple compared to some of the other stuff I've done. 

The photo was taken while flying over a large city that shall remain nameless. 🏢🏤🏬 🏡⁣🏥🏦

The Artemis Trio, Number II, Just Work on It

The Artemis Trio, No. II, Work on It 💪🏻 (Yamaha QY70 + CBX-K1, Recorded 2007)

This was a change of pace for me programming the Wavestation EX, with a much slower Tempo. This is "Bloom" from 1997 🌹. The notes played between chord transitions are simple and just came to mind randomly as I played and listened to the wave sequence I'd made. Like I've always said, I'm a better programmer than player. I think this is really pretty though. 🌷

The original title was Balloon, as there's a sense of floating on air here, but I think Bloom is better, because of the hopeful feelings that I had when I made it, way back in '97.

There would be some tough times ahead though. Aren't there always? 🥀

But not just yet. 🌸

Bloom

Bloom 🌺 (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded to Tape in 1997).

This was a fun piece from 2004, "nuFountain". Don't ask me why I gave it that name, but it's kinda cool so I just kept it. I did all of my recording live into a line-in to my PC, and used Sound Forge 5 to record and tinker with the finished track. I probably overdid it a little bit here, since it was a brand new toy for me at the time, but there's some cool effects thrown in there if you listen. 👂🏻

I used completely different instruments here than were used on anything else I've uploaded to SoundCloud so far. A Korg DS-8 was the main keyboard, also controlling a Yamaha TG300 midi module that adds the analog synth filter sound that makes up an important part of the sound (I love how it sounds in the final part of the song the best). I'm just playing whatever I'm feeling, along to the beat of a Yamaha QY20. 🎹

Like several of the things I've made over the years, there's a little bit of Ultravox inspired sound in there. Not the rhythm, but the lead + string sound reminds me of them. 🏦

The photo is a close up of an actual fountain ... though I think it looks like an oil painting! 🫟

nuFountain

nuFountain ⛲ (Korg DS-8 Synthesizer + Yamaha TG300 Module + Yamaha QY20 Sequencer, Recorded in 2004)

It's HOT out there! 🥵 So here's the coldest-sounding piece I ever made, "Icewind", from 1998. Korg Wavestation EX recorded to tape, then transferred to digital around 2003 or so. It's cooling just to listen to it ...

The photo is a close up of a frosty mug, just with the colors reversed. 🍺

Icewind

Icewind 🌨️ (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded on Tape in 1998)

Well this one is quite different compared to other tracks I recorded with the Wavestation EX. It has woodwinds and strings, and even a harp. From 1997, this is "Aperture". 📸

The first half is OK, though it does contain the notes that would return at the very end of the piece, and the second half is much better, IMO. I had to use quite a bit of noise reduction here, as a quieter piece has more tape hiss. I hope the highs are still in there. 🤞

The photo is one I took of the Moon through a cluster of small trees. Hopefully at the correct aperture. 

Enjoy your weekend, and take pictures. 📷

Aperture

Aperture 📷 (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded to tape in 1997)

This #SoundCloud upload isn't a song, but a sound test / demo I made many years ago. It's the Yamaha RY30 drum machine, the coolest one I ever owned IMO. These are several patterns with different sounds and effects. The effects you hear are due to altering the filters on it with the modulation wheel, which was one of it's best features. The pitch of the synth sounds were done with the wheel too, though you can do it through MIDI. I made this just for fun around 2000 or so. 🥁

The photo is one I took of the boilerplate test Apollo capsule found at the visitor's center at Meteor Crater, AZ. I thought the test / demo theme fit, and since this recording was never named, I've now given it the title "Boiler Plate 29". 🚀

Boiler Plate 29

Boiler Plate 29: Please Keep Off 🪘 (Yamaha RY30 Drum Machine Demo / Sound Test, Recorded in 2000)

Some cyberpunk Sci-fi / incidental music / sound effects are the SoundCloud upload for tonight. 🏙️

As I've written before, I'm a hardware guy. I love keyboards, drum machines and guitars too. But here's a scene-setting software based track, "cyberPunk" 🦾, that I did with Absynth in 2008.  

I had a blast making the photo, warping a real picture that I took of a real object, to match the music. It can be whatever futuristic, dark and dystopian thing you want it to be. 🤖

cyberPunk

cyberPunk 🤖 (ABSYNTH Soft Synth, Recorded in 2008)

Another track from the fictitious Artemis Trio, "Clearly", from 2007. This is my 2nd favorite of the several "trio" projects I did for fun. There's 1 minor flub, but that happens sometimes.

.... besides that ride cymbal is da bomb.

The photo was taken right after our arrival at the Grand Canyon, from the window of a tour bus. 

Clearly

The Artemis Trio, No. III, Clearly 🎶 (Yamaha QY70 + CBX-K1, Recorded 2007)

This was a spontaneous and random piece (the majority of them are!) that I came up with this past April, when I had decided to break out my keyboards again after not touching them for quite a while. I'd been busy tinkering with my bass, and wanted to come back to keys. 🎹

From earlier this year, "twinning" with a really beautiful sound produced by the amazing Yamaha EX7. 💙

twinning

twinning ♊ (Yamaha EX7, Recorded April, 2025)

Tonight's SoundCloud upload is another late 90's WS track, "Roll". It got it's name from the feeling I got making it and listening to it, like you're pushing something heavy in front of you, rolling it along as you go. I remember programing the very heavy rhythmic sound, a wave sequence, and then combining it with a much lighter airy-type sound that I repeatedly played over it. The programming was deliberate, the playing just seems to happen, and sometimes it comes out OK. 🤞👌

I think it makes for some interesting Soundtrack music. Even Sisyphus might approve. 🪨

Roll

Roll 🪨 (Korg Wavestation EX, Recorded to tape in 1998)

For SoundCloud tonight, this was just a little experimenting with the Yamaha QY70, around 2007 or so, "dark Horse" 🐴. I thought the name fit, as it's pretty dark, that bass sound being the main thing - kinda creepy, with some nearly militaristic playing on the drums. I could've put it under the Artemis Trio banner, but those guys (if they were real) play jazz and funk man! 😅

Sweet Dreams. It's past time for Bed. 😴

dark Horse

dark Horse 🐎 (Yamaha QY70, Recorded in 2007)

This is a neat effects demo of the amazing Yamaha FS1r module. It was being controlled by my playing on my Korg Wavestation EX, though the Korg itself was not in the recording. From 2006, this is "Forgotten". I gave it that title because it had none and I'd forgotten and now rediscovered this bit of space age music. 

Forgotten

Forgotten 🌫️ (Yamaha FS1r Midi Module controlled by Korg Wavestation EX, Recorded in 2006)

This was from my earliest days of sound tinkering ... January 1987 to be exact. I was 18 going on 19 when I recorded this little piece, "Should I?" I know the title because I still have the original tapes with the original inserts that I scribbled on. Now, what I was asking if I should do or not do? I have no idea. 🤷‍♂️

This was done on my first real synthesizer, a Korg Poly-61, and with it, a Korg Super Drums drum machine. There's not much to it, but I put some thought into that drum pattern and then just played some eighth notes that came to mind. 🎶

The sound quality isn't the best, as to be expected, but those tapes held up over lots of time and many moves. I'm glad I kept them, no matter what. 💙

Should I?

Should I? 😏 (Korg Poly-61 + Korg Super Drums, Recorded to Tape, January 1987)

I haven't even uploaded to SoundCloud my favorite track I did on my Wavestation yet, but here's a close 2nd, with several others nearly tied ("Roll" is a great example). This is "Monumental", from 1997. Recorded to tape as per usual back then, and then transferred to digital about 2003-2004 or so. 

The punch-you-in-the-face synth bass is the high point, but there are a lot of other things going on, some in the wave sequence, and others in the lead sounds over it. I wish I hadn't faded out the original recording as I did, because some new notes are heard at the very end, and then they vanish. 🙌

That pulsating sound is straight out of my love for Ultravox, which was one of my favorite British bands of the 80's, and also a bit of a secret love for me, meaning not a lot of my friends even knew I was such a big fan. Not as secret as say, Cocteau Twins, but that's another story ... 

I'm so glad that I've revisited these old recordings that had been sitting on burned CDs for years. It's not only made me want to share them, but also to make new recordings, which I've done. 😌

Monumental

Monumental 🗿 (Korg Wavestation EX, Recorded in 1997)

A neat little sound demo of the Yamaha QY70, "interlude" from 2007. Rain, thunder, and a creepy sounding string section set the mood between scenes in your movie. ⛈⛈⛈

interlude

interlude 🎻 (Yamaha QY70 + Yamaha CBX-K3, Recorded in 2007)

Some ambient guitar I recorded a couple of years ago. It's short and sweet ... and also simple. 

simple

simple 🌃 (Electric Guitar + Ibanez Chorus + TC Electronic Flashback 2, Recorded 2023)

I made this 20 years ago. It's hard to believe, but it was 2005 when I plugged in several little boxes with keys and buttons on them and then hit record on my computer. 🎹 I'd found a rhythm that I liked, a fast one 🥁, and I had programmed some sounds that I thought sounded good together, but I honestly had no idea what I was going to play, which is usually the case.

As it turned out, I just decided to change by hand the drum patterns and triggered the ethereal-sounding sample you hear with my left hand (both forward and backward), and, played the keyboard with whatever notes came to mind with my right. 🎶

I threw everything at the wall 🍝, and this time at least, I feel that most everything stuck. 🙏

I then cut some small pieces out (the original intro was too long ... so I made an explosion instead 💥 because why not? 😅), and added other parts together on Sound Forge, which was pretty new to me at the time, and this was the final product. I initially thought it should have a bass line added to it, as there is none, but I think that would take attention away from the lead that you can hear in the middle of the song. That is by far my favorite part, so I added nothing more. 

I do this for fun, a hobby that I pick up and put back down again every few months or years. Some of my stuff is not bad for what it is, even occasionally clever at times, but I gotta say, I am pretty proud of this one. I'm so happy to share it with anyone who likes, not just electronic music, but any kind of music. It has an 80's vibe to it, as does a lot of what comes out of my head, because that's when I first learned about it, and first loved it. 

The photo is of my girl that's been gone 6 years now. She brought Lucy and I and everyone who knew her such love and "Joy" 😸, so there you have the origin of the title for this piece that had lived unnamed on a burned CD for 20 years. 📆

I hope you enjoy it, and I hope that you do whatever it is that brings YOU Joy. ❤️

Joy ♥️ (Yamaha PSS-790 + Yamaha TG33 + Yamaha MU15 + Yamaha SU10, Recorded in 2005)

This is going back further in time, to 1997. Recorded on tape and later transferred to digital, this is "Polylith". It's done solely on the KORG Wavestation EX, and the sequences and sounds were all programmed via lots of menu diving, as there was no computer editing at that time. That was part of the fun for me though.

This track was given it's title way back then, because I thought it was a cool word, but the photo of 3 Sisters in Monument Valley, which is an actual Polylith, was only taken last year. It's a mystical place. 

Polylith 🌄 (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded on Tape in 1997)

A short, spontaneous and kinda wacky-sounding demo of the Wah-Wah and Rotary effects on the original VOX Tonelab multi effects guitar pedal. 

The Wah effect is funny, funky and strange all by itself, so that's why the "shocked" outlet ... Wah? 🤦‍♂️ 

I'll see myself out now ... 😅

Wah?

Wah? 🎸 (Electric Guitar + VOX Tonelab Demo, Recorded 2024)

We're heading back to the 90's, to 1998, with "Atom Smasher". This is another all Wavestation EX track. I remember wanting to build the wave sequence into something that sounded very mechanical ... and that something would be moving fast! My vision was of a retro-futuristic train. 🚅  Why not a nuclear powered one? So after it was finished, I called it Atomic Train at the time, but I like Atom Smasher better. 💫

After the programming, it all came out in one take, as they often did (and often didn't). The lead sound is simple, but it's pretty, as opposed to the sequence, which is a series of metallic noises, intermingled with a rapid bass line. It's pretty in a different way I suppose. 

The photo was taken by me last August and is part of an old steam locomotive that's parked as a display at the Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel. 🚂 The toxic waste coming off of it was added by me!

Atom Smasher

Atom Smasher 💥 (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded on Tape in 1998)

Recorded on tape in 2000, a brief haunted-sounding piano riff, that is repeated 3 times. You could call it a demo, as it shows a side of the Korg Wavestation EX that I haven't yet added here, but I think it's just spooky soundtrack / incidental / background music. It sounds very dark, very black, so I called it "onyx". 🖤

The photo is a heavily altered one taken from flight, made to look like a piece of black stone with white bands and chips ... just like many forms of onyx. ☯️

onyx

onyx ⬛ (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer, Recorded on tape in 2000)

"Moon Child", recorded on tape in 1999. Closing out the 20th Century, a little spiritual, natural, Lunar love. Moon Child flows by in waves, not unlike the ones the Moon rules in every century. 🌝

Done with my Wavestation EX, which was such a wonderful instrument, even if it was quite challenging to program sometimes. The results nearly always sounded good. 😌

I've noticed since I'm been uploading these older tracks, that I remember exact where I was sitting when I hit record on my tape deck and played some notes. The exact place I sat on the floor, on my bed, or next to a stand near my computer desk and a stack of CDs and such. 🎼

Moon Child

Moon Child 🌒 (Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer (Recorded on Tape in 1999)

Back in 2006-2007, I made up a fake Jazz fusion / smooth Jazz trio 🎼 & programmed some short tunes from "them". They were The Artemis Trio, named after my favorite Greek Goddess ... and come on, who doesn't have one of those? 🏛️ I did at least half a dozen keys / bass / drums things on my Yamaha QY70, controlled by a small midi controller called a CBX-K1.

There are minor flubs in there, and some of it probably isn't Jazz, but it was fun. Fun enough to share on SoundCloud anyway. I've located 4 of them so far. They were numbered, with a short title to go along with each one, and each was a minute and a half or so long. I will probably upload all of them over time. 🎹🎸🥁

The photo is a heavily altered / processed one taken at night. I'm enjoying picking some of my own photos and finding one, or just a little piece of one, to fit each track, old or new. 📷

a thought

The Artemis Trio, No. IV, a thought 🎚️ (Yamaha QY70 Sequencer + CBX-K1 Controller, Recorded 2007)

Here's another improvised, and very calming New Age track. The sound of the EX 7 is really engaging here. It reminds me of some of the sounds that Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp would get out of their Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizers back in the 80's. 🎸 There was still something missing though. How about some bloop, tsss, bop analog drums in the background? These were provided by an old yet still in amazing condition Yamaha PSS-460 Portasound. 🥁

The drifting synth feels like it's floating in the air 🌈, while the steady beat reminds you where the ground is. 🌳 The photo was taken by me above the clouds from the window of an airplane. ☁️

I swear, digging up these oldies from the past, while making the occasional new one ... is now a form of Self Care. 😌

Film No. 5

Film no. 5 📽️ (Yamaha EX7 Synthesizer + Yamaha PSS-460 Keyboard [for percussion], Recorded 2025)

Oh Ha Um (Korg Wavestation EX, Recorded on Tape in 1998)

Here's an other Wavestation EX track from the late 90's. The name comes from the repeating wave sequence I programmed, which kind of sounds like the vowels sounds. 

The lead sound is a Sync type synthesizer sound (think The Cars' "Let's Go"), the only time something like it was used during my WS EX years. Unless there's some more music stashed away that is.

Enjoy your evening, and make sure to take care of yourselves. 

Oh Ha Um

Oh Ha Um 🎤 (Korg Wavestation EX, Recorded on Tape in 1998)

Tinkerer of many sounds, mostly just for fun. Player of many things, and master of none. 😄

GKS

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