Testing out various vintage drum & tape machines during repairs including some major custom modifications by Dani in the workshop...

All recordings Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio.

The Secret World of Vintage Delays, Drum & Tape Machines...

A series of live improvisations by D.A.Wilson recorded in front of some of the myriad of cherished and rare vintage synths returned to life over the past few years in The Lab at Hideaway Studio.

All Recordings are Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio.

The Secret World of Vintage Synths

Having a go washing through a cute little 1983 Doctor Rhythm DR-110 analog drum machine through a vintage VA-55 tube mixer with spring reverb paralleled with the kicks fed through a tube amplified Bruel & Kjaer 1615 resonator set in the 63Hz 1/3 oct band.  The result was then washed through an old SONY DAL-1000 digital limiter. The result is quite beefy! :)

PLEASE NOTE: THESE LOOPS ARE FREE TO USE IN ANY MUSIC RECORDING BUT STRICTLY FORBIDDEN FOR USE IN COMMERCIAL SAMPLE PACKAGES OR INSTRUMENTS WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER.

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2021.

1983 Doctor Rhythm DR-110: Tube Processed (Free Loops 4U)

My studio archives are littered with long forgotten test recordings I made of vintage studio gear that has been through the workshop for clients. Sometimes I have fun throwing a few of them together and seeing what comes out. In this case its a couple of test recordings from back when I custom modified a number of Adrian Utley's wonders a few years back to be sync'able including his Bentley FR-6, TR-808 and a rackmount Oberheim Two-Voice (TVS-1).

Composition  & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2015.

Locked & Loaded: TR-808, Bentley FR-6 & Obi TVS-1 Sync Retrofit testing...

A brief live improvisation I recorded using the first voice patch I managed to program into the 1979 Crumar GDS shortly after I undertook the major restoration (previously owned by the late Klaus Schulze) of this extremely rare groundbreaking early digital synthesizer.   It is named in memory of the late Max Mathews who played a major role in developing the software routines and concepts behind key parts of the GDS as well as in many other areas of pioneering computer based music technology.

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson 2014.

1979 General Development System: The Max Factor

A live improvisation by D.A.Wilson shortly following restoration of 1982 Digital Keyboards Synergy number 1032 at Hideaway Studio running in conjunction with the SynHCS host editor on a Kaypro II CP/M computer under HxC disk emulation.  

In this recording you can hear the Synergy's unusual continuously variable random vibrato in action.  The Synergy is an all digital synthesizer with 32 oscillators featuring both FM and additive synthesis.  It is a direct relative of the 1979 Crumar GDS.

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson 2015.

1982 DK Synergy 1032 Awakens: Evolutions

A live improvisation by D.A.Wilson on an extremely rare 1982 Buchla 400-T computer controlled 6-voice hybrid synth (digital "arbitrary" oscillators into analog filters) running MIDAS-III complete with flat pressure sensitive Touch Controller housed in a custom Teak solid wood cabinet awakens during return to operation and overhaul and Lotharek Rev.F HxC virtual floppy disk retrofit at Hideaway Studio.

The touch keyboard was a nightmare to get used and it took a great deal of my concentration to perform this as the pressure-to-pitch modulation was pretty intense on the patch I'd dialled in that day but it certainly resulted in something from the heart.  The highly responsive playing surface opens up some interesting possibilites for expressive patch design and playing!

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2015.

1982 Buchla 400 Awakens: Haute Tension

A live test improvisation recorded in front of a 1982 Rhodes Chroma analog polysynth after finally springing into life during a particularly arduous debug session to determine the root cause of a failed auto-tuning system during major overhaul at Hideaway Studio. 

Easily one of my favourite vintage polysynths (even over Prophet 5 and OB-X) and one I consider to be extremely underrated - a complex and remarkably flexible 16 oscillator beast with a warm but biting character all of its own!!

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson 2017.

1982 Rhodes (ARP) Chroma: Autotune-ONE

An improvised montage of sounds recorded live from 1938 Hammond Novachord No.346 shortly after partial restoration to working order by vintage synth specialist D.A.Wilson in the UK in 2009.  It is very rare to hear a direct modern recording (non-acoustic through chorus/delay/reverb directly from the generator chassis)of one of these instruments in action as less than 50 remain in known working order.

The Novachord is generally accepted to be world's first commercial all electronic polyphonic instrument featuring dynamics control and specifically designed to emulate timbres beyond those of an organ such as strings, harpsichord and piano.

See more on this extremely rare beast at www.novachord.co.uk

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2009.

1938 Novachord #346: Creepy Montage (87 Year Old Tube Polysynth!)

Somewhat randomly testing a fairly tricky modification to allow all of the sample playback channels on an ultra rare 1982 Movement Computer Systems MCS-2 drum computer to be pitch controlled over a surprisingly wide range via several CV channels from a custom breakout box following major overhaul at Hideaway Studio.

Having realtime control over the sample playback for each drum channel very much adds an interesting new spin on this crazy old orange beast! 

The MCS drum machines were based around a Z80 based NASCOM II kit computer (a real collector's item in its own right) triggering several channels of hybrid analog/digital drum playback all mounted in a bizarre orange fibreglass cabinet.  They were made in very low numbers in Somerset, UK and used by a number of other famous bands and artists including Genesis, Eurythmics and Vince Clarke.

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2018.

1982 MCS-2 Drum Computer: CV Pitch Mod Test

Made whilst testing out a gorgeous 1978 Ibanez AD-230 all BBD analog delay heavily modified in The Lab at Hideaway Studio to permit full CV control of most of the major front panel controls including Vactrol controlled regen levels adding a whole new slant to a great sounding modulated delay jam packed with Bucket Brigade Delay chips!...

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2020.

1978 Ibanez AD-230: Under Full CV Control...

This thing is just plain nuts when you start injecting LFO signals onto the pins of the ADC MUX chip for the front panel control CV channels!!

All segments of this were made with a simple one note sequence whilst the pitch, sample, decay and repeat parameter CV channels were modulated by an LFO with a roughly time related period to the tempo thus causing all manner of evolving natural patterns - this includes the entire section at the end of the recording which was made the same way!..

I feel some serious circuit-bending coming on as none of these parameters are available via midi or CV in stock form...

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2020.

1986 Simmons MTX9: Messin' With Its 'Nsides!...

Testing out Adrian Utley's infamous and very awesome 1979 Maestro Echoplex EP-4 after it developed some capstan motor issues.

I love old tape delays - they all have a sound and character of their own and the EP-4 sounds particularly chunky with a great vibe and really cool sounding regerative feedback.

In this case a factory drum sequence from the Alesis Micron I keep in the workshop as a useful test source was fed into the EP-4 - and what a transformation!...

My archives are littered with literally hundreds of test recordings like this!

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2020.

1979 Maestro Echoplex EP-4: Drum Munging Beast..

D.A.Wilson is an Electronic Engineer, Sound Designer & Vintage Synth Specialist with a particular interest in combining vintage tube, classic analog and modern digital technologies working as a synth engineer looking after a very considerable amount of vintage studio equipment for Will Gregory (Goldfrapp / Moog Ensemble) and a number of other internationally celebrated electronic musicians and producers.  Having undertaken several major restorations and produced custom electronic designs for a number of major artists including Jean-Michel Jarre, Dani is also known for fully restoring two out of the world's four remaining 1979 Crumar GDS and partially restoring 1938 Novachord 346 (the only known operational Novachord in the UK) to playable order along with developing and producing the new Elfin family of 8-bit polysynths and the popular MIDI Front Panel Animator (FPA), Filter Defeat Module (FDM) and XD-280 Drive Emulator upgrades for the AKAI S612 sampler.

Demos of the S612 Upgrades in Action: 

https://soundcloud.com/hideaway-studio/sets/hideaway-studios-s612-front


Hideaway Studio Kontakt Sound libraries may be purchased directly from: 
https://www.lootaudio.com/category/kontakt-instruments/hideaway-studios
 

..and a nice introduction by Cory Pelizzari to the Hideaway Studio Kontakt Libraries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-C7a3ChC9U&feature=emb_title


For more on releases from Hideaway Studio for Kontakt please visit the blog at:  www.hideawaystudio.net