Mecano
0'- 10' : Part 1: "Me"
10'-15' : Part 2: "Ca"
15'-end: Part 3: "No"
Mecano was inspired by the sound of old machines  - futurism and musique concrète - but no recorded sound was used!: only synthetic electronic patchwork created by
EMS VCS3 Mk1 analog synthesize without extra's (no sequencer, no keyboard)

MECANO

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)

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 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

Another 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 II

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

JP-4 with midi sequenced in unison mode

A little jam recorded from my 1980 OB-X , no EQ/comp , just a little delay !
(Forgive my poor playing !)

Damn, I love this beast..

Oberheim OB-X // 3AM ballad

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..

Some samples in action loaded up by the very first prototype XD-280 QD Floppy Drive Emulator Interface by Hideaway Studio from the brand new sound library for AKAI S612 to be pre-loaded in the form of over 150 new disk images on the drive system...

The XD-280 is in production and has been proving very popular..

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

JP-4 with midi sequenced in unison mode

Steven R. Sellick

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