The 10th track from these sessions. Just SH101 and Volca Beats.
This one shows off the fantastic bass sounds for which the SH is famous; really pleased with the lead sounds too! Very proud of my 'polyphonic' ;) SH on the chord parts...
Written and recorded on 1/4/20.
Written by R Cook 2020

SH101 EP 1

Skylon (SH10) - Stars of the Silver Age

A gentle piece of nostalgia, this time everything is from the SH101.
Named after a childhood toy I had - my brother had a green and yellow yacht that seemed to be the size of an aircraft carrier... I had the small blue one - the same model as the picture. I was always afraid of it sailing away from me so it never really sailed anywhere.... allegory or what??
Written and recorded on 1/4/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

Blue Yacht (SH9) - Stars of the Silver Age

A piece of IDM inspired by the sounds I loved when I was growing up.
Hardware - Roland SH-101 and Korg Volca Beats.
Written and recorded 31/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020

Obelisk (SH8) - Stars of the Silver Age

This one is in 3/4 and is a (hopefully) joyful piece of electronica. The world needs more minimal electro-waltzes:)
Just Roland SH-101 and Korg Volca Beats. 
Written and recorded 31/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020

Janina (SH7) - Stars of the Silver Age

A delicate, nostalgic and gentle piece of music in 7/8.
All sounds are from the Roland SH-101.
Written and recorded on 30/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

Saskatchewan (SH6) - Stars of the SIlver Age

I named this after one of my favourite 'bad' films; 'The Killings at Outpost Zeta'. The soundtrack for it however is great. 
Written and recorded using just a Roland SH-101 and Korg Volca Beats on 29/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

Outpost Zeta (SH5) - Stars of the Silver Age

An upbeat piece of minimal electronica recorded just using a Roland SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats. The kick and snare on this one are from the SH-101 too with the Volca providing the hi-hats only.
Written and recorded on 28/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

Skywriting (SH4) - Stars of the Silver Age

Recorded using just my Roland SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats.
Written and recorded on 28/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

The Square Root of 2 (SH3) - Stars of the Silver Age

This is one of the more atmospheric ones recorded in these sessions. It's a real place not some poetically named construct!  All noises are either Roland SH-101 or a Korg Volca Beats.
Written and recorded 28/2/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

Angel Hotel (SH2) - Stars of the Silver Age

This was the first track recorded for these sessions and was recorded using only a Roland SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats.
Written and recorded on 28/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

Island of Stability (SH1) - Stars of the SIlver Age

All tracks recorded using just a Roland SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats. 
Stars of the Silver Age was my analogue synthesizer project from 2011 that I completed alongside recording in International Electromatics and Art City Glimmer. Inspired by getting my Roland SH-101 back from it's first service in the 13 years I've owned it, I reactivated the name for these recordings I completed using just my SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats drum machine. All the tracks were written from scratch, recorded and mixed in no more than a single day each with 4 being finished on the 28th March alone. I found it liberating to make music so spontaneously and quickly - some of the Art City Glimmer and i.e. songs I'm currently working on started life up to 10 years ago in some cases... I set myself some basic rules for this project - I would only use the two pieces of equipment and each piece would be in a different key - to make sure I didn't fall back on familiar 'safe' patterns in favourite keys. It was a real pleasure using the SH-101 to get all of these sounds. I controlled it using a Doepfer MCV-4 and recorded all the tracks into Cubase. The SH-101 is a popular synth and as such seems to attract as many detractors as supporters. I think it's great; it's been a staple in my setup since I bought it in EMIS but I was guilty of using it mainly for sequenced bass-lines and arpeggio parts. I hope I've balanced the record now and done this great little synth proud. I love the way it's perfect for the dance-based tracks as well as taking the ambient tracks to another place altogether. I love my SH!

Stars of the Silver Age

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