Trying out a glittery new patch I made on my trusty 1989 Waldorf microWave Rev.B in the studio.  The Microwave is sounding great through the stereo twin-Gibbs spring reverb I recently made using a old TEAC RA-41 1/4" tape preamp modified to run as a standalone recovery amplifier - the result is delightfully smooth and dark.

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

1989 Waldorf microWave I: All That Glitters...

A 1983 Fairlight CMI Series IIx going through her paces exploring the effects of sampling at lower rates with the channel card filters set wide open.

When played in the lower registers the sample captured is being clocked at sample rates way below 8KHz due to the beast's variable rate sample playback resulting in a sea of aliasing and mirrored frequencies that are musically related to the source material which imparts a glassy effect.

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

1983 Fairlight CMI Series IIx: The Nyquist Mirror..

Optically reflected sound from the grooves of an 70 year old classical music 78rpm shellac record... 

Recorded over at least 10 grooves at a time using an analog optical sensor resulting in a bizarre ghostly droning effect.  The optical sensor was fixed to a surface some distance from the record to capture the modulated reflections.  It took a great deal of concentration to position the light source by hand at the correct angle to catch the inside of the groove and reflect it towards the light sensor whilst moving it slowly across the surface of the record!  To be honest, I was truly amazed it worked this well.

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2022.

Sound of Reflected Light From An Old 78 Record... (Optical Sound Experiment)

Made by splashing water creating ripples in a pan whilst shining a bright light onto it and directly receiving the resulting audio frequency domain modulated reflected light some distance away with a photo sensor as sound.  The resulting raw audio was overdubbed 4 times at different points into the recording and various pan positions to create a pseudo-stereo effect. More sound from light recordings here: 

https://soundcloud.com/hideaway-studio/sets/sound-from-light-optically

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2022.

Sound of Light Reflected From Water Ripples (Optical Sound Experiment)

Its all a bit hit and miss but its surprising what you can muster up with this thing..  this evening a sort of raspy bowed electric cello sound emerged which really came to life after putting it through a very short delay.  This is pure raw waveform generation from the analog optical waveform scanner - no dynamic filtering or even EQ has been used in this case.

A rough description of how my perceived analog recreation of Daphne's Optical Waveform Scanner works can be found in the playlist description.

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2022.

Oramics Analog Optical Waveform Scanner Prototype: Bowed eCello...

A live improv recorded in two takes from a 1977 Polymoog 203A during major repairs and overhaul at Hideaway Studio.

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2022.

1977 Polymoog 203A: Undivided Attention..

Having fun hooking up a 1983 PPG Waveterm A to a Wave 2.2 Digital-Analog hybrid synth from 1982 following upgrades and an overhaul. The Wave was one of the first commercially available wavetable synths offering wavetable sequencing and lead the way to the Waldorf Wave series and the Korg Wavestation. Unlike the later derivatives, the early models definitely had a sound of their own thanks to their 8-bit DACs and SSM2044 filters. The whole thing has a raw yet warm sound about it and can cover a surprising amount of sonic territory. I have long since loved the unique sound of 8-bit digital audio into analog filters!

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2022.

1983 PPG Waveterm A: Monster Waves (Hosting a Wave 2.2)

A live improv recorded during initial controlled wakeup during major repairs to a super rare 1978 PPG Wave Computer 360A vintage digital synth at Hideaway Studio.

As well as battling with an instrument that wasn't playing quite as it should on the day (it was during major repairs after all) I was suffering from a fever when I recorded this - the result is quite a bizarre recording and somewhat reflective of how I felt at the time.  As the name suggests it slowly pulls itself together as it goes on and I'm actually quite glad I found the strength to record this on the day as I think its resulted in capturing something a little more unusual and broken in the process. 

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2022.

1978 PPG Wave Computer 360A: Picking Up The Pieces

Oh heck do I love the old Brüel & Kjær 1/3 octave fixed L/C band-pass resonator banks such as the type 2112, 2113 and 1615...

Every time I use these units in the studio I find myself bathing in the hauntingly serene sonic aesthetic their inductive resonators produce especially when thrown into a delay or two of them are used in stereo.

In this case a gorgeous type 1615 "Band Pass Filter Set" stepped 1/3rd Octave band pass filter set is simply being fed with a single sustained cluster chord from a Korg Wavestation A/D producing a series of quite haunting harmonically related resonances as the frequency control is moved between the different settings. Each of the 30 precision inductive/capacitive resonator tanks has around 60dB per octave crests resulting in an almost mesmerising natural movement caused by the filter coming in and out of resonance on the edges of its pass band as it responds to the source material. 

First layered with the source material and then hear it on its own driven hard to the point everything starts to saturate :)

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2023.

1973 Brüel & Kjaer type 1615 in Action - Clustered Resonance..

Blending a few layers of samples taken from 1938 Hammond Novachord No.346 with some previous live recordings I'd captured from the beast suddenly had me daydreaming of Lulworth Cove and the Jurassic Coast which is one of my favourite places on planet earth.

Obviously the Novachord doesn't sound like this out of the box but it often amazes me how easily just a few carefully chosen layers of material from the beast can quickly end up producing huge ensembles and washes especially when some are played at half speed.  I think this is in part due to the Novachord's six free-running vibratos which produce a very organic sea of wobbly goodness.

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2023.

Jurassic Daydreams (Layered 1938 Novachord)

If someone was to tell me back in 1987, when Karten Obarski released his groundbreaking 4-channel 8-bit sample based Ultimate Soundtracker program for the Amiga, that one day it would be possible to play back the very same music modules on a single 8-bit embedded processor chip running off a coin cell costing $5 using a playroutine written in C my jaw would have hit the floor.. but here we are now 37 years later and, thanks to Jarkko Lempiainen's nifty embedded AVR playroutine, this is exactly what is lashed up playing on my bench in the workshop!

This is literally nothing but an 8-bit ATmega328P running at 16MHz and a bunch of resistors making up a 1R-2R DAC.. and it doesn't even sound at all bad.. TBH I'm pretty surprised.

If this same circuit was in surface mount components it would literally be the size of the coin cell powering it... heck you could practically build this Amiga mod player into greetings cards!

The only downside is that the ATmega328P only has 32K of FLASH so you have to be a bit selective with the modules you can run on this thing.. but still.

To celebrate I had some fun porting one of my own music modules over to it that I wrote in !Tracker way back in the early 90s for a game called !Phaethon on the Acorn Archimedes under the guise of BrokenARM Music.

Its a bit scary to see that Amiga music module I wrote back then is now over 30 years old!!

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 1993/2023.

$5 Hardware Amiga Protracker Player: !Phaethon Interlevel

My beloved 1983 DK Synergy II+ No.01205 at Hideaway Studio reawakens for the first time in quite a while after finally getting around to making some essential repairs.  Every time I get in front of one of these early digital monsters I'm left jaw dropped by how they managed to generate such complex digital synthesis in 16-bit audio with such a remarkable degree of fluidity and expression from a design concept that was on the drawing board in the mid/late 1970s... it's just beyond me. 

The Synergy II+ was essentially a later more affordable Crumar/DK General Development System in terms of function and specification  - both of which share identical 32 Digital High Speed Oscillator boards based on The Alles Machine designed by Hal Alles at Bell Labs who went on to advise the development team at Digital Keyboards.

This isn't the result of some crazy overdubbed multi-track session - it was a live improv recorded into a reverb straight from the now 40 year old beast's output whilst tweaking some of the front panel controls!

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2023.

1983 DK Synergy II+: Flux Rheology...

Setting myself another sonic challenge..  made with a 1978 Mk 1 Korg MS-20 making use of the MS-20's superb high and low pass resonant filters and ring-modulator auto-triggered and shaped from an external audio source via the built in Envelope Follower.  The sheer flexibility of the MS-20 really does allow this wonderful instrument to cover a lot of ground.

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2023.

1978 KORG MS-20: The Patch Cord Band..

Testing out a 1979 Crumar Performer following repairs at Hideaway Studio.  Like so many other Italian synths of the day I find this little wonder may not be feature rich but has so much heart to give - a lovely sounding instrument!

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2023.

1979 Crumar Performer: Corde del Cuore...

The TG33 has been a secret weapon in my studio for many years - I'm quite defensive of these unassuming little beasts.. frankly the biggest mistake Yamaha made was calling these things "Tone Generators" - I mean, what!?? -hook up an external midi joystick, ditch the cheesy factory patches, have a play making your own patches and explore a world of remarkably fluid sound and interesting textures for a fraction of the price of some vintage synths covering similar sonic territory...

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2023.

1990 Yamaha TG33: Vectorwurlde..

Testing out a 1992 KORG Wavestation SR new to the studio following some minor repairs.  Although sporting its tiny screen in 1U packaging, the SR was the smallest in the Wavestation series, but it was by no means a cut down version in terms of its synthesis power.  A fair few of its multitude of its factory patches may now sound very dated it is still a very capable synth capable of remarkably complex and fluid timbres and textures even by 2023 standards.   The problem is harnessing this power and the fact that programming such a beast has a rather steep learning curve to say the least!  That said, there are still some real belters to be found among all those stock patches and a lot more out there on the net to load up and explore...

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio, 2023.

1992 KORG Wavestation SR: Letterbox Dreams...

A live recording of two alternating crunchy 8-bit cluster chords playing out of a Jarkko AVR Hardware Amiga Module Player into a pair of lovely Bruel & Kjaer type 1621 band pass filters running at around 60dB/octave whilst hand cranking both centre frequencies...

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2023.

Dual Bruel & Kjaer type 1621: Jarkko Kluster 01

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

100% made with sounds dialled into a super rare 1977 Lord Synthesisers Skywave monosyth during revival and major repairs by D.A.Wilson at Hideaway Studio.  Believed to be only one of ten ever built it is clear this curious instrument was designed from the outset as a performance instrument boasting several unusual features such as a three-axis joystick modulating the pitch/filter/VCA/LFO and Sample-Hold features as well as featuring Low and Band-Pass filters along with a built-in Ring Modulator and Phaser.  It all takes some getting used to but there is a lot of sonic territory to explore with this unusual beast.  

I decided to call this piece Desert Awakening as I've often felt like I've been alone in the desert whilst reviving this beast thanks to an apparent total lack of any technical information out there!

Sound Design, Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2024.

1977 Lord Synthesisers Skywave: Desert Awakening.. (Ultra Rare)

There is something very special about the imperfections of old recording technology and sometimes things are so broken they kind of take on a life of their own. Over the years I have come to cherish a knackered old Polish Sochor tape delay in my studio which has so much wow and flutter the effect it imparts into delay and reverb is really quite special and I have resisted attempting to repair it for many years now as I fear that magic would be lost.

Today's happy accident was made by feeding a Roland D-50 via a Fairchild 664 L/C EQ and matching germanium preamp into the Sochor delay which was was pretty much all over the place as usual :-]

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2024.

Broken Old Sochor Tape Delay: L'entropie Magnétique..

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 series of test recordings made whilst testing Hideaway Studio's brand new prototype MIDI Front Panel Animator retrofit for the AKAI S612 finally giving David Cockerell's infamous 30 year old sampler full realtime control over the infamous 612's Sample Start & End Splice points, the Filter Cutoff and the Vibrato controls under 5 MIDI CC Controllers. 

The FPA Modules are in production and have been proving very popular..

AKAI S612 MIDI Front Panel Animator (FPA) Test I

Running through some of the multitude of excellent sound patches a 1982 Octave-Plateau Voyetra 8 awakens during major repairs at Hideaway Studio.  This relatively rare 16 VCO 8 Voice analog polysynth was the first rackmounted polyphonic synth and is absolutely crammed full of electronics!!

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2018

1982 Octave-Plateau Voyetra Eight: Patch Walkthrough

This demo was entirely made from patches included in Hideaway Studio's new Polivox Kontakt Library featuring over 800 24-bit samples captured from a Russian Formanta Polivoks - an unusual dual VCO analog synthesizer with a remarkable multi-mode filter which one minute is like a wild untamed beast and the next a real beauty!

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2017.

For more information please visit:

https://www.lootaudio.com/category/kontakt-instruments/hideaway-studios

Polivox Demo: Crimson-1

After a long time in the making, Hideaway Studio Introduces The String Collection II...  

Demo 01 is 100% made with new instruments from the library.   Over 32 vintage synths and string machines were captured during the making of The String Collection II including rare heavyweights such as the 1938 Novachord, the DK Synergy II+, Rhodes Chroma and the Octave Voyetra Eight and some rather esoteric processing methods!...

Available from Kontakt Hub: https://www.lootaudio.com/category/kontakt-instruments/hideaway-studios

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2019.

The String Collection II: Demo 01

A live improv by D.A.Wilson whilst testing all 144 tone generators and 9 modulated resonators on a 1978 KORG PS-3300 following a major overhaul at The Lab, Hideaway Studio.

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2017.

1978 KORG PS-3300: Risonanza Modulata

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 (85 Year Old Tube Polysynth!)

A live improv recorded during testing a dual VCA level controlled Stereo Ensemble custom retrofit on a 1978 Korg PS-3300 during major restoration at Hideaway Studio...

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2019.

1978 KORG PS-3300: Millennia 3.3

With some intrepidation I decided to have a go firing up Novachord 346 for the first time in what turns out to be 8 years since I resurrected and partially restored this 1/4 ton behemoth!...

To my great relief, this now 85 year old quarter ton 163 tube beast came out of slumber with all 12 of her master oscillators in action and pretty much in the same order she was in last time I hooked this monster to the power!...

After some initial tests I made this recording consisting of one overdub of a plucked Attack setting over a slow sustained Attack setting whilst occasionally moving some of her triple L/C formant resonator controls, the Bright/Mellow control and the Vibrato Depth.  

The source is 100% Novachord and the recording was made directly from the line output of the pre-amplifier into basic delay and reverb but with no form of added modulation processing such as chorus/ensemble/flanger.  Any natural chorusing you hear is due to the Novachord's 6 free-running vibratos acting on pairs of her 12 master-oscillators.

It still truly astounds me that an all electronic instrument originally on the drawing board in the mid 1930s can sound like this.. and even moreso 85 years after she left the factory!!

We are so used to hearing muffled scratchy recordings from the 1930s – but that is not to say its what it sounded like on the day of the recording – the HF the NC produces is amazing for its era.

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

1938 Novachord #346: The Beast Doth Gently Awaken (86 Year Old Tube Polysynth!)

Having fun layering an assortment of patches I dialled into my 2004 Studio Electronics Omega 8..  

I have always liked the array of multi-mode filters this synth has to offer - it adds a great deal more sonic potential to an often overlooked and very capable analog beast.

NB:  Although it might sound like it, no phasers were used in this recording.. what you are hearing is copious use of the superb band-pass and high-pass filters in the Omega 8 being modulated by the LFOs.

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

2004 Studio Electronics Omega 8: Spring Cycles...

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 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

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