Various test recordings of a number of custom and low volume studio equipment designs over the years by D.A.Wilson (Hideaway Studio) including a number of tube hybrid rackmount audio processors originally conceived and built for Jean-Michel Jarre...

Studio Equipment by Hideaway Studio in Action...

NEWS UPDATE: The second batch of 25 pre-production units are nearing completion and am now taking pre-orders for delivery in June. A new Patch Editor/Librarian App & VST/AU plugin with full automation has also been developed complete with a new library of over 250 sound patches for Win/Mac/Linux and will be free to all Elfin-04 and 01 owners.

Introducing Elfin-04, Hideaway Studio's Compact New 4-Voice Polysynth Expander...
 
I have been working round the clock for weeks now on my dinky little 8-bit 4-Voice (4 x [2osc+1sub+LFO]) VA Poly Expander with 1960's style transformer-mixed output voicing and finally No's.000 thru 010 are born to the world and receiving very positive feedback from their new owners....... this 4-voice polysynth measuring just 16x12x3cm has full real-time control over her 32 parameters via simple midi ccs and 16 built-in patches. 

Based on an expanded form of a customized software synth-core design by ISGK in Japan, I think the Elfin-04's unique voice ouput/mixing transformers do add something for sure - they are driven full-swing with 60KHz PWM resulting in a lot of additional harmonics/mirror frequencies and some saturation that all gets trapped within the transformers which adds a richness/darkness to the sound (no-doubt inspired in part by my beloved DK Synergy). In the Elfin-04, the 4 voices are passively mixed but, unusually, by the topology of the output-transformers themselves which is a trick that used to be found in some more exotic 1960s valve test equipment where multiple signal outputs were mixed on isolated outputs (eg. my huge old Panoramic TTG-2 tube Dual Sinewave Generator). Also, each voice CPU is independently clocked so everything is genuinely free-wheeling across the voices so even the noise phases slowly when played on multiple notes and unison which is pretty cool.

Any questions, please PM me here on S/C or to EF86 on GearSpace.

All Sound Design & Recordings Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2025.

Hideaway's New Elfin-04 Polysynth: Detuned Unison Mode Montage 01

NEWS UPDATE: The second batch of 25 pre-production units are nearing completion and am now taking pre-orders for delivery in June. A new Patch Editor/Librarian App & VST/AU plugin with full automation has also been developed complete with a new library of over 250 sound patches for Win/Mac/Linux and will be free to all Elfin-04 and 01 owners.

Any questions, please PM me here on S/C or to EF86 on GearSpace.

Introducing Elfin-04, Hideaway Studio's Compact New 4-Voice Polysynth...
 
I have been working round the clock for weeks now on my dinky little 8-bit 4-Voice (4 x [2osc+1sub+LFO]) VA Poly Expander with 1960's style transformer-mixed output voicing and finally No's.000 thru 010 are born to the world and receiving very positive feedback from their new owners...... this 4-voice polysynth measuring just 16x12x3cm has full real-time control over her 32 parameters via simple midi ccs and 16 built-in patches. 

Based on an expanded form of a customized software synth-core design by ISGK in Japan, I think the Elfin-04's unique voice ouput/mixing transformers do add something for sure - they are driven full-swing with 60KHz PWM resulting in a lot of additional harmonics/mirror frequencies and some saturation that all gets trapped within the transformers which adds a richness/darkness to the sound (no-doubt inspired in part by my beloved DK Synergy). In the Elfin-04, the 4 voices are passively mixed but, unusually, by the topology of the output-transformers themselves which is a trick that used to be found in some more exotic 1960s valve test equipment where multiple signal outputs were mixed on isolated outputs (eg. my huge old Panoramic TTG-2 tube Dual Sinewave Generator). Also, each voice CPU is independently clocked so everything is genuinely free-wheeling across the voices so even the noise phases slowly when played on multiple notes and unison which is pretty cool.

All Sound Design & Recordings Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2025.

Hideaway's New Elfin-04 Polysynth: Polyphonic Patch Montage 01

Elfin-08 No. 000 (basically two stock Hideaway Elfin-04 Poly Expanders bolted together running modified firmware with a stereo output) fires up for the first time on all 10 of its 8-bit processors and 8 output transformers!....

The allocation of the 8 voices has been distributed between the left and right audio outputs with even voices on one channel and odd voices on the other giving a rather pleasing stereo effect. The Detuned Unison Mode on the 8-voice is just massive!

All of the sounds in the test recording are factory Elfin-04 patches loaded up from the new Elfin Controller VST/AU/Standalone (win/mac/linux) patch editor which currently has around 260 patches built in.
 
NB: I am building these 8-Voice proof of concept variants in very limited numbers for those who can't wait for the official Elfin-08 otherwise the current Elfin-04 offers the very same sound but with less polyphony.

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2025

Hideaway Elfin-08: 8-Voice Functional Prototype Awakens...

Hideaway Studio's ultra rare Dual Tube Hybrid Filter in Action - Originally designed and built for Jean-Michel Jarre in 2011 by D.A.Wilson as a live performance filter the unit features a complex and unusual union of a diode ladder with multi-mode input mixer and a resonant tube based band-pass filter tube buffered and mixed in parallel with a phase reversal option.  

The filter can be used in live performances via its 9 CV control channels using a modulation matrix and a hand controller.

The demo shows when used in this way various aspects of the filter can be sequenced as the filter is opened and closed.

Only two examples of this beast were ever built.

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2011.

The Dual Tube Hybrid Filter In Action...

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

A morphing orchestral effect made on an a 1985 AKAI S612 fitted with a Front Panel Animator Module (FPA) using a tiny 2 second long sample of Vivaldi.  The sampler was triggered rapidly on 8ths whilst the start and end points and filter cutoff were animated under midi control to create a continuously morphing effect.

Any resulting clicks and pops were removed using iZotope's superb RX.

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

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2016.

AKAI S612 MIDI Front Panel Animator (FPA) The Sustainer

A sneak preview of Hideaway Studio's new Klockwerks realtime DDS Clocked FX System in action...

Klockwerks draws upon the concept that many have experimented with in providing a digital signal processor with an externally generated variable CPU clock in place of its original fixed frequency source.  This method of modification opens up a very interesting world as time is no longer periodic and linear.  Since most digitally generated acoustic effects rely on clocking audio into a buffer at a regular rate all manner of interesting effects are realised when the clock rate is modulated in realtime.  Such effects were discovered a long time ago when the first BBD based chorus and delay units were developed. These early devices relied on variable clocking to achieve realtime pitch shifting effects effectively due to the sample rate at the point the audio was loaded into the front of the memory buffer being different by the time it arrived at the end of the buffer.  This causes a stretching and compressing effect on the timing of the samples which can result in some very curious effects – especially if the memory is forming the basis of a complex effect such as a reverse reverb or a multi-tapped delay. Almost all current retrofitable modifications offered to enable such effects tend to be manually or voltage controlled with little in the way of sanity checking and often the effect can be rather random/uncontrollable with high potential for causing the modified FX unit to crash.  

Klockwerks overcomes this by offering a much more controlled environment for CPU clock modulation using an advanced computer controlled DDS subsystem (Direct Digital Synthesis) operating within parameters tested to be within acceptable working limits for the Donor FX Unit. The system goes several stages further by then offering a number of modulator programs that modify the CPU clock frequency and offer a significant number of realtime parameter sources via 4 MIDI CC controllers (MIDI CC20 thru 23), MIDI Clock, Note On and Note Velocity as well as an analog CV input. All patches created on the Klockwerks system can then be attributed to a patch on the Donor FX Unit and stored in non-volatile memory as a named patch for instant recall via program changes.

Klockwerks System in Action: Sneak Preview

A rare demonstration of what is perhaps one of the most complex and exotic analog phasers ever devised.   The Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser was originally designed for Jean-Michel Jarre by Dani Wilson at Hideaway Studio and is one of only a very small handful ever built.

On a huge custom pcb it comprises of three 4-stage phaser blocks similar to the Small Stone with tube (ECC83) pre-amp and post amps and tube buffers between each phaser.  The OTA based phasers are combined in an unusual series/parallel arrangement with their own regen paths each modulated by one phase of a triple phase LFO generator thus allowing the phase spread to be set between each phaser block from  all three on top of one another for a huge plunging effect to being 120 degrees out for a swirly effect.   There are variable controls for the LFO offset, depth, rate and spread as well as a variable regeneration level (heard being turned up in the first minute of the demo).

The stuttering effect heard later in the demo is where the spread control is being set to a new position thus allowing the phasers to realign and commence on new phase spread angles.

Please note the phaser was recorded into delay to generate some stereo spread.

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio

Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser: An Uber Rare Beast In Action!

Testing All Tube Phasers 01, 02 & 03 after a bit of a tricky birth...

Designed and Built by Hideaway Studio into the chassis of classic Brüel & Kjær analysers these units are based on largly forgotten 60 year old phase-shift technology.  These highly unusual prototype phasers have genuinely 100% tube based signal paths with only their LFOs being solid-state in order to permit a number of modern features such as clockable modulation with complex waveshapes.

By pushing the regen into self-resonance the phasers can also be used as bizarre SFX generators creating everything from water drops to mad lab sounds to water effects thanks to the array of LFO shapes available.

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

Prototype All Tube Phasers: Awakenings

The prototype Dual Tube Hybrid Filter imparting a huge hand cranked sweep on a pad from an Oberheim Matrix 1000.  Originally designed and built by Dan Wilson at Hideaway Studio for Jean-Michel Jarre this beast consists of a Diode-Ladder Mixed Multi-Mode and a Resonant Tube Band-Pass Filter running in parallel with 9 CV control channels allowing the entire unit to be animated from a modulation matrix.

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2017

Hideaway Dual Tube Hybrid Filter:  Squadrone Leader!

Having another play with Hideaway Studio's truly insane Klockwerks system.

Here a classic Korg Minipops 45 is being fed into the a MultiVerb LT (patch 09) modified as a "donor unit" for the Klockwerks system.  The LT is being modulated with various LFO rates and waveforms from one of the clock modulator programs on the Klockwerks handset....  in this case the LFO shape, depth, offset and rate are being tweaked on the fly by hand but these can be acurately controlled from a MIDI sequence using up to 4 separate CC channels as well a CV input.  LFOs and slide effects can also be synchronised to MIDI clock at various clock rate divisions.

One powerful and unique aspect of the Klockwerks system is that it binds clock modulation patches with patches on the donor FX unit to form an instant recall system.  Such patches are stored in NV memory and then called up instantly via MIDI program changes.

Patch 09 on the MultiVerb LT seems to respond well to this sort of thing!... the resulting output is truly mangled beyond recognition!!

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio.

Klockwerks System in Action: Mangling a Korg MiniPops 45!

I made this test recording today trying out my new MIDI Joystick I built to remotely control various vector synths in the studio and decided to dedicate it to my fellow vintage synth guru John Leimseider who tragically and unexpectedly passed away on Saturday 16th September 2018 at 66 years old.  

John was the one I aspired to as my golden standard for many years now - a talented and kind engineer driven by sheer passion and what must have been the patience of a saint!  I miss shuttling emails between us exchanging our unique experiences working on some pretty rare and exotic vintage studio gear over the years.  We had helped each other out on a number of occasions when we'd got stuck.

Our community has lost one of the best..  Rest in Peace John...

This piece was made with a Korg Wavestation A/D and an AKAI S612 kitted out with a Hideaway Studio Front Panel Animator both modulated from the MIDI joystick.. the sample start and filter cutoff in the case of the 612.

Original Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2018.

The Maritime Continuum: RIP John Leimseider

The prototype Dual Tube Hybrid Filter imparting a huge hand cranked sweep on a pad from a 1985 Roland JX-8P with its filter set wide open.   This beast loves to dance around the harmonics in the most organic of fashions!!

Only two of a kind - the Dual Tube Hybrid Filter was originally designed and built as a live performance filter by Dan Wilson at Hideaway Studio for Jean-Michel Jarre. This complex beast consists of a Diode-Ladder Mixed Multi-Mode and a Resonant Tube Band-Pass Filter mixed in phase or anti-phase with 9 CV control channels allowing the entire unit to be animated from a modulation matrix.

JX8P Into the Dual Tube Hybrid Filter: Epic Sweeper

Experimenting with two of the four photo-receiver channels on my prototype Quad Candle LFO CV generator.  In this case two channels are modulating each of two laboratory signal generators to create a gentle ensemble effect whereby both oscillators detune independently as the candle flame flickers in a gentle breeze...

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

Quad Candle Random LFO:  Eerie Flicker Choir

A bizarre watery effect created by feeding back the output of an ART LT FX processor to its input whilst randomly modulated by the Klockwerks System.. the regenerative path was created with a Binson tube Pre-Mix fed back via a DBX II 128 classic limiter and the Hideaway Dual Tube Hybrid Filter centred around 1KHz in tube resonance.   The resulting chaos was then further filtered with two Hideaway Studio TEQ-9B All Tube Gyrator EQs.   Before each plunge effect was wild self-oscillation which was removed using a mixture of Izotope RX and cut/paste.   Each plunge effect itself was created by rapidly winding down the clock frequency just at the point the self-oscillation was tamed.  No deliberate tone or noise sources whatsoever were used in the making of this recording.

I love this kind of pseudo chaotic self-making stuff!   Its a pig to setup but when it works it can be really interesting..

Original Sound Design & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson

Klockwerks: Regenerative Waters...

It works!!!!   The prototype MIDI Input Interface (M5KMIDI) for the Music 5000 system bursts into life playing an excerpt from Mozart's Piano Sonata No.1  

The interface is connected and powered by the User Port on the BBC Micro and emulates a standard Music 4000 keyboard controller including the sustain pedal from a midi source.

This just may be the first time a Music 5000 synthesizer has been played via midi as the system never offered a midi input facility!...

Several of the Hideaway M5KMIDI interfaces were built for Music 5000 owners but I'm sadly now out of pcb stock.

Music 5000 (Acorn BBC Micro): Prototype MIDI Input Interface Test..

Having another bash at improving the exponential pitch control calibration in the new Hz-V control firmware for the new Dual MIDI2CV interface.  The prototype has been retrofitted in a 1977 Korg Micro-preset M-500.

Here is the Micro-preset playing oboe and the Matrix 1000 playing Harpsichord.... (last movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.5)

Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson, Hideaway Studio 2019

1977 KORG Micropreset M-500 & Matrix 1000: Lets Play Bach..

Hideaway Studio's ever popular Filter Defeat Module in action for the AKAI S612..  the board takes control of the clocks for the switched capacitor filters in the 612 allowing them to be fixed wide open with no tracking for maximum crunch in the lower registers, or overclocked thus giving a brighter than normal tracking characteristic or locked to the last positiion with no tracking thus allowing for very warm sounds or fixed formants across the full transposition range.    Each of the 4 modes are cycled between using a push button fitted in place of the Sample Trigger socket.

In the test recording you can first hear the normal tracking characteristic where the 612 becomes very muffled in the lower registers... then the filter is defeated to wide open allowing you to hear the 612 in all its crunchy 12-bit glory...    in the last part of the recording you can hear the filter locked to a very warm setting in Mode 4...

The FDM Modules are in limited production and have been been well received since release..

AKAI S612 Filter Defeat Module (FDM) in Action..

Demonstrating the stock Windy.+# patch on a Hideaway Studio Klockwerks handset in this case driving a old ART MultiVerb LT modified for Klockwerks..

In this demo the MultiVerb is being modulated with a random LFO program.  The Klockwerks system is being fed from a Roland JX-8P (factory patch ArcoString) - first you hear the 8P directly into a conventional reverb - then the output from the Klockwerks system is brought into the mix.  Although lo-fi in nature, the effect can be really quite beautiful when used with care...

This is one of all manner of interesting effects the Klockwerks system can create.

Klockwerks draws upon the concept that many have experimented with in providing a digital signal processor with an externally generated variable CPU clock in place of its original fixed frequency source. This method of modification opens up a very interesting world as time is no longer periodic and linear. Since most digitally generated acoustic effects rely on clocking audio into a buffer at a regular rate all manner of interesting effects are realised when the clock rate is modulated in realtime. Such effects were discovered a long time ago when the first BBD based chorus and delay units were developed. These early devices relied on variable clocking to achieve realtime pitch shifting effects effectively due to the sample rate at the point the audio was loaded into the front of the memory buffer being different by the time it arrived at the end of the buffer. This causes a stretching and compressing effect on the timing of the samples which can result in some very curious effects – especially if the memory is forming the basis of a complex effect such as a reverse reverb or a multi-tapped delay. Almost all current retrofitable modifications offered to enable such effects tend to be manually or voltage controlled with little in the way of sanity checking and often the effect can be rather random/uncontrollable with high potential for causing the modified FX unit to crash.

Klockwerks overcomes this by offering a much more controlled environment for CPU clock modulation using an advanced computer controlled DDS subsystem (Direct Digital Synthesis) operating within parameters tested to be within acceptable working limits for the Donor FX Unit. The system goes several stages further by then offering a number of modulator programs that modify the CPU clock frequency and offer a significant number of realtime parameter sources via 4 MIDI CC controllers (MIDI CC20 thru 23), MIDI Clock, Note On and Note Velocity as well as an analog CV input. All patches created on the Klockwerks system can then be attributed to a patch on the Donor FX Unit and stored in non-volatile memory as a named patch for instant recall via program changes.

More demos of Klockwerks in action here:

https://soundcloud.com/hideaway-studio/klockwerks-sneak-preview-ii

Composition & Recording Copyright D.A.Wilson 2019.

Klockwerks: Windy.+# (Mangling the Roland JX-8P)

A quick test recording of my 1979 Korg Sigma playing Bach via MIDI on a ring modulated brass patch from a newly installed prototype Hideaway Dual MIDI2CV interface now with tweaks to the firmware to improve the Legato note handling...

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

1979 KORG Sigma: Brassed On MIDI (Bach) Improved Legato Handling

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