This is an original song I composed using only the Roland MKS-70 for chromatic/melodic parts. (I used samples for the drums and N.I. Massive for a couple custom effects.) The song uses 5 custom MKS-70 patches I designed from the front panel of the synth (!!!) and two factory presets. The MKS-70 features two instances of the JX-8P synth engine, which is emulated in Roland's new JX-08 Boutique Series module.

Bright Star (Roland MKS-70 Demo Song)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: u-he Diva (this version has the High Quality option of the Digital Oscillator switched ON)


Supersaw Diva (u-he Diva)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: Camel Audio Alchemy


Supersaw Alchemy (Camel Audio Alchemy)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: Access Virus TI Desktop with Total Integration plugin.


Supersaw Virus (Access Virus TI Desktop)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: Reveal Sound Spire


Supersaw Spire (Reveal Sound Spire)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: MuTools MUX


Supersaw MUX (MuTools MUX)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: Native Instruments Massive

Supersaw Massive (Native Instruments Massive)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: u-he Zebra2

Supersaw Zebra (u-he Zebra2)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: D16 LuSH-101 with the "Normal" filter engaged


Supersaw LuSH - Normal Filter (D16 LuSH-101)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: D16 LuSH-101 with the SH-101 filter engaged


Supersaw LuSH - SH-101 Filter (D16 LuSH-101)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: Waldorf Blofeld Desktop (okay, this one's not a soft synth!)


Supersaw Blofeld (Waldorf Blofeld Desktop)

This is a basic supersaw patch I designed that uses only a single oscillator and a 2-pole (12db) filter. I’m running it through external delay and reverb effects to simulate how I might use the patch in an actual track. This is part of a comparison I’m doing between the Access Virus TI and various soft synths. Synth used: u-he Diva (this version has the "high quality" switch of the digital oscillator switched OFF.


Supersaw Diva No HQ (u-he Diva)

This is a comparison of all current and recent acoustic piano instruments available from Native Instruments for the Kontakt sampler. This supports a post I'm writing for the Ultimate Outsider blog.

NI Pianos - 07 New York Concert Grand

NI Pianos - 06 Berlin Concert Grand

NI Pianos - 05 Upright Piano

NI Pianos - 03 The Gentleman

NI Pianos - 04 The Grandeur

This is a comparison of all current and recent acoustic piano instruments available from Native Instruments for the Kontakt sampler. This supports a post I'm writing for the Ultimate Outsider blog. Note: In order to record this version without any note stealing I had to increase the voice count to 128 from the default of 64.

NI Pianos - 12 August Foerster Grand Kontakt 128 Voice With Pedal

This is a Roland Boutique JD-08 cover of the synthwave track "Escape Pod" by Protocols (2024) that I recorded in Cubase Pro 14. There are 20 audio tracks. Half use modified presets and the rest use original patches. The drums are custom kits I built in the Cubase Drum Machine, and I made the risers in Steinberg Retrologue.

Escape Pod (Roland Boutique JD-08 cover of a song by Protocols)

This is a song I recorded using the Roland MKS-7 for all instruments and drums. Produced in Cubase 14.

Transparent (Roland MKS-7 cover of a song by Monolism)

This is a cover of the synthwave track "Ghost in the Shell" by dreamẅalker x Foudroie, using only the Roland Boutique JX-08 for everything but drums. Produced in Cubase 14.

Ghost in the Shell (Roland Boutique JX-08 cover of a song by dreamẅalker x Foudroie)

This is a Lo-fi Roland MKS-20 cover of the song "Sway, Sway" by Heinali (2013) that I recorded in Cubase Pro 14. I used the MKS-20 for the four melodic parts of the song, and I used the Waldorf Streichfett for string pads in the second half of the song. The drums are all samples.

Sway, Sway (Roland MKS-20 cover of a song by Heinali)

This is a demo track I recorded using the Roland Boutique JX-03 and VP-03 synthesizers, plus a few samples for drums and sound effects. The JX-03 is a recreation of the JX-3P, MKS-30, and PG-200, while the VP-03 is a recreation of the VP-330 Vocoder. This is a cover of "Nightcall" by Kavinsky (2010)

Roland JX-03 and VP-03 demo (cover of "Nightcall" by Kavinsky)

This is a cover of the TWO LANES song "Reflections" that I recorded with the Waldorf Iridium Core synthesizer. I processed the vocals with a Roland VP-03 vocoder and used samples for most of the drums; all other sounds are from the Iridium. The Iridium Core uses the same synth engine as the Waldorf Quantum.

Waldorf Iridium Core Demo (cover of "Reflections" by TWO LANES)

This is a synthwave demo track I recorded using the Roland SH-4d desktop synthesizer. The track features 16 original patches and 4 factory presets, plus a custom rhythm kit I designed on the synth. This is an instrumental of my song, "Dancing with the Night Beetles." Produced on Cubase Pro 14.

Dancing with the Night Beetles (original instrumental for the Roland SH-4d)

This is a full synthwave track using the Roland Boutique JU-06a for all tonal parts (drums are samples). It is a cover of the song "Sonar" by Krosia. All synth sounds are original patches I designed for this track. Produced in Cubase Pro 14.

Roland JU-06a Demo (cover of "Sonar" by Krosia)

This is a vocal harmony that I recorded for my vocoder demo. This audio serves as the modulator signal passed into the vocoder.

Vocoder Demo - Vocal Harmony (raw modulator signal)

This is a MIDI clip using the Morning Air patch from Steinberg HALion sonic. I used this as the external carrier signal for my vocoder demo.

Vocoder Demo - HALion Sonic Morning Air (raw carrier signal)

These tracks are examples of vocoder output as described in my series of tutorials on Setting Up Vocoders in Cubase on the Ultimate Outsider blog. There is one example for each routing configuration possible with each vocoder plugin.

Vocoder Demo - Steinberg Vocoder External Carrier

I originally did a joke version of this song in 2013 with intentionally lame Dubstep, Glitch, and Trap elements. I stripped out the Glitch and Trap stuff for this version. (I still think the Dubstep growls sound kind of cool, though...)

Carol Of The Bells (Mannheim Steamroller Cover)

This is my cover of Dreaming of Me, by Depeche Mode. All drums and instruments are from the Roland MKS-7 Super Quartet. Produced in Ableton Live 8.3. Even after a week working on this thing I still have no idea what the lyrics mean.

Dreaming of Me - Depeche Mode Cover (Roland MKS-7)

I designed all synth and drum sounds for this track from scratch on a Waldorf Blofeld desktop model, and multitracked every part in Ableton Live 9. While my Dreaming of Me cover was more of a note-for-note and patch-for-patch remake (as close as I could get on the MKS-7), I went for a hopefully more modern sound on this track, while sticking close to the original song's structure.

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