This track jumped out at me while I was programming Arturia's CS80 V, and exploring Tracktion's fab RetroMod 106, and Collective. I added some elastic PPG Wave bass, bx_oberhausen percussion, with Dmitry Sches' brilliant THORN spectral synth shimmering in the background. It starts kinda 'lo-fi', and ends in hypnotic sequencer frenzy! Hope you enjoy it as much a I did making it! :)

Paper Tiger 紙老虎

The RSF Polykobol 2 is probably one of the rarest synths in the world (there were only 30 made!), and this PolyKB 3 emulation by XILS Lab is just gorgeous, and probably the closest I'll ever get to playing one! The piece is a simple, one-take improvisation over some repeating phrases, with lucious strings courtesy of Cherry Audio's Polymode/moog, plus a little KORG Minipops rhythm machine. Just 10 minutes of synth-noodling lushness, going nowhere ... slow. ;)

Temple Rain 寺院の雨

A d'n'b/dubsteppy piece made entirely (apart from the beats) using Cherry Audio's DCO-106 softsynth; their recreation of the 'legendary' Roland Juno 106 (which I actually never liked at the time, lol!). Love the CA version though! Mixed with PA's great arsenal, and mastered using the new Plugin Alliance/BX Style Creator 'LA Standard', which gives the track a rich, smooth kick. The title comes from an algorithm used in machine learning models. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Gradient Descent

Experimenting with a drum loop from Arturia's Spark drum machine, I added some rich Pigments and Jup-8V arpeggios; FullBucket's great (free!)Korg DW-800 emulation (probably the ugliest looking synth ...ever!); and final touches using UVI's fab new Emu-3, Voyetra 8 brass, and DK5S/Kawai K5000's delicious sweeps. Mastered with bx_style creator; LA mode ... again. The title's from the chemical element Xenon (Xe). It sounds suitably 'clubby' and 54 (as in Studio) being it's elemental number! Hope you enjoy it! :)

Xe-54

A track made using UVI's Program 24 instrument, a recreation of the famous, and now quite rare, Solton Programmer 24 and SM100 from 1985. These arranger keyboards were often used to make quick, cheesy Italo Disco tracks (a genre I used to hate but evokes a real nostalgia these days, lol!). Over the Solton, I've added extra keys from UVI's Vintage Vault and Flacon to create a kind of Kraftwerk meets Talking Heads vibe. Hope you enjoy it. :)

Colourblind

It’s always dangerous to starting messing around with new music software right before bedtime! IK Multimedia’s SampleTank 4(fabulous vibes and kalimbas), Modo Drums, Modo Bass, and Syntronik 2(OBXa, Polymoog) kept me up until the early hours. I added some filter sweeps from UVI’s wonderful new Mission 6 (Andromeda A6); 'Pop' B-Vox courtesy of Arturia’s Augmented Voices, plus some funky Clavinet-V, wrapped it in Savant Audio Labs Quantum 2772 reverb (an emulation of two rare Quantec reverbs) and polished off with Plugin Alliance great mixing tools (SPL IRON I love you!). Exploring IK’s products further, I stumbled across their incredible Muscle Shoals FAME Studios reverb (think Aretha, Wilson Picket, Etta James). So, finally I decided just to relocate the whole mix down to 603, East Avalon Avenue, Alabama, which really wafted a sultry southern breeze into the track. It’s ALL imitation, ... but I love it. Hope you do too! :)

Imitation Of Life

Demoing the new PSP Audioware Lexicon PSP42 delay, I loved the endless RPT (repeat)function which enables you to mix a looped note/phrase with played material. I realize there are easier and more accurate ways to loop, but I really like the character and inherent uncertainty of doing it this way (as I used to when I started making music!). I also quickly realized that you can stack multiple instances of the Lexicon 42 to create more complex multi FX. I set up four instrument tracks (electric piano, drums, voices + infinite repeat and a Turkish Oud sample) and improvised this ambient downtempo track. Each track uses multiple instances of the PSP Lexicon 42, creating delays, reverse delays, chorus, reverb and flanging effects. PSP have done a great job replicating the classic sound of the original Lexicon PSP 42 hardware. It's easy to use a lot of fun to play with and, with the modulation capabilities and added sync, you can create some pretty fab effects! It's a very simple piece, and, being improvised, it’s not perfect, but I like the atmosphere. Hope you do too!

The Crumar Bit ONE and Bit 99 synths surprised everyone when they came out in the mid -80's. They had, like all the best synths, a warm, 'organic' character. I have UVI's great sampled version of the 'BITs', but to get my hands on Full Bucket's amazingly authentic, FREE!!! emulation last night ignited this piece of jazz-pop funkery. It sounds rather like the intros to all the 70's American soap/detective series, I used to watch as a kid, rolled into one, lol! Creating this piece also deepened my love for Tegeler's gorgeous Raummaschine reverb plugin, and Lindell Audio's 69 'Helios' channel strip. I just think they sound fabulous together, especially on beats (Inphonik's RX1200)! ...  and I do like a BIG ending (Ooh! Matron!), haha! I had a blast making this and really hope you enjoy it! :) It was beautifully mastered by Joseph at Empire mastering: https://empiremastering.com
N.B. For best quality click on the Bandcamp link here: https://markhorrocks.bandcamp.com/track/solaris

Solaris

The new G-force OBX emulation is amazing! I was/am a huge Japan fan, and Richard Barbieri, their synthesist, used his Oberheim OBX all over their seminal swan-song album 'Tin Drum'. G-Force have captured the OBX sound brilliantly and taken it into new realms. It's also really easy to program great sounds. I started playing with a simple chord progression, then added Arturia's Efx MOTIONS effect, and before I knew it, was surfing waves of OBX sound euphoria. This a 'live jam' with no edits, lol! The title's a play on YMO's classic 'Cosmic Surfin''. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Kozmik Surfink

Playing around with some of the massive, rich timbres you can get from Cherry Audio's gorgeous recreation of the Korg PS 3300 semi-modular synthesizer from 1977. This track was created using only 6 instances of the PS 3300 (except for drums). Enhanced with PSP's beautiful Binamp, and Mixland's Vac Attack, both amazing processors for adding depth and wight to sounds! Hope you enjoy it! ;)

Hunter's Moon

A track inspired by the likes of Chick Corea's Electric Band, Weather Report, Joe Zawinul, Lyle Mayes, and that 70's/80's jazz-funk 'muzak' sound, using the wonderful, sizzling sound of Oberheim synths, courtesy of GForce's brilliant emulations of the Eight Voice and OBX, plus Cherry Audio's fab (FREE!) SEM; crossed with a hipperty-hopperty beat and some New Orleans horns. The title refers to how a piece can start in one place and end up in quite another! Hope you enjoy it!

Chinese Whispers

The two characters of 'Dim Sum' are 點, which means 'to light/to kindle/to touch briefly' and 心, meaning 'heart/mind'. 
This track was inspired by Emuir Deodato's 'Night Crusier' album (1980) which I bought at the little Virgin Records store in Brighton when I was about 17. It's music to party to, relax to, travel to, to refresh. It's light but lovely ... a bit like 'dim sum'. Hope a little of that spirit comes across and you enjoy my little homemade snack! :)
It was created almost entirely using UVI's Vintage Vault and Synth Anthology.

Dim Sum 點心

This track is based on an improvisation using Arturia's Stage 73-V and Augmented Piano, and Soniccouture's beautiful Glass Harmonica.

Contact

Just a bit of jazz-funk fun exploring some multi-spring reverbs: Fuse Audio Labs VREV-305 and Klanghekm's fabulous TENS. Strings courtesy of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, well the vst, lol!

Caffeine

Playing with the rather wonderful Cherry Audio Wurlybird 140B, electric piano/Wurltzer from 1964, brought out my inner Donald (Fagan), who's fabulous 'Nightfly' album is drenched in Wurlies, Hammonds and Horns! Just an extended vamp really, with me pretending I'm in the Dan, lol! IK Multimedia's glorious Hammond and the new Six-Traq by Full Bucket Music. Reverbs form UA's Hitsville (Motown recreation), Capitol Chambers and the amazing Sound City Studios (Nirvana, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, ... everyone!) mind-blowing on drums! Metric Halo's fab MBSI channel strip was used on every channel with both MBSI and Mixhead on the 2-buss cuz they add so much warmth and depth. Hope you enjoy! :)

Risk It For The Biscuit

A finger-snapping, Motown-inspired track I created to showcase the fabulous new Cherry Audio Blue3 Hammond organ, accompanied by C.A. siblings Solovox, Novachord and Wurlybird. I'm so proud Cherry Audio asked for a demo, as I love their synths and their company ethos. Hope you enjoy it! ;)

Sugar Rush

Playing around with Wave Alchemy's great TRIAZ drum engine/beat creator. Some added textures from UVI Falcon's 'Devinity' and DS Audio's wonderous THORN synth. The photo is of a leaf I found on the road today that really reminded me of the dove symbol for PEACE! Hope you enjoy :)

Stay (Better Make Me)

A bit of a jam exploring the updated Inphonik RX1200's 'Ambient' collection, mixed with "Got It Twisted" from Mobb Deep's 2004 album 'Amerikaz Nightmare'. Plus Wave Alchemy's fab TRIAZ beat machine and (free!!!) Magic 7 reverb.

TwistidD

A demo track for Cherry Audio's amazing P-10 (Prophet 10) emulation. Hints of Japan, YMO mixed with Azymuth and Zawinul.

Masquerade

A piano improvisation experimenting with Arturia's FX Fragments and FX Motion effects.

Piano Fanstasy #2

Just a bit of fun creating a rather 'dark' version of Dua Lipa's track 'Anything For Love'. Hope you enjoy it! ;)

Dua Lipa - Anything For Love (Queen of Denial REMIX)

Playing around with Isotope's Break Tweaker, which has a sharp, cutting, tensile sound I love. Plus Cherry Audio's CR78, Elka-X , Octave Cat and Acustica Audio's THING 8. Hope you enjoy! :)

#GROOVE

An 'ambient-jazz' track made as part of my BA in Sonic Art at Middlesex Uni. Seems like a lifetime ago! I used my Roland Jupiter 6 synth, TR-909 Rhythm Composer, and friend's AKAI X7000 sampling keyboard. It was created using a mix of DAT/ADAT/ and finished on my 4GB G3 Mac (lol!!!) using a Yamaha 01V mixer (all sold now!). Guitars, sax and flute (Marie-Josianne Agossou) were all improvised in the university studio by fellow students. The narration is by Andrew Downs and taken from 'The Prophet' by Kahil Gibran, hence the title. Hope you enjoy it.

Words From The Prophet

Stretching Don Toliver's amazing 'No Idea' vocal into new shapes. All backing elements by myself using Cherry Audio's Rhodes Chroma & Eight Voice. Beats by D16's Nithonat 2. This is not an official remix, just a bit of fun! Hope you enjoy! :)

Don Toliver - No Idea (Turkish Delight REMIX)

Playing around with Arturia Pigments synthesizer and Eventide's 910 Harmonizer to create a Jon Hassell inspired track.

Ippai

A demo track created  for the release of Cherry Audios amazing emulation of the iconic ARP Odyssey synth, famously used by electronic music pioneers like Herbie Hancock and Yellow Magic Orchestra. The drums are a mix of CA's KR-55C, CR-78 and some Linn 9000. Hope you enjoy it!

Dark Matters

A shuffling 70's-tinged guitar/soundtrack piece, using Arturia's V-Collection (Prophet VS, OBXa, Mellotron flute, Solina strings, Pigments), and mixed using the beautiful Arturia FX/Modulations, and Relab Development's gorgeous reverbs (LX480, VSR S24).

Cerulean Blue

Noodling around with Arturia’s revamped Stage 73-V electric piano to get a jazzy groove; added some Solina-V Strings & Clavinet-V, plus BBC's(wonderful!) Symphony Orchestra (Henry Mancini-style strings and horns). Learning more about production using Plugin Alliance's great mixing and mastering tools!

Shadows

I've been making electronic music since I bought my first synth (a Juno-60) and a Tascam 4-track way back in about 1986. I work with singer-songwriters and performance artists, and compose for modern dance and theatre. The pieces here represent recent electronic instrumentals, where I’m exploring/experimenting/having fun with 'pop' music production techniques and composition. I currently live in Tokyo, and am interested in collaborating with other artists. You can hear my PhD compositions here: https://soundcloud.com/mphorrocks

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