A Trip Down Synthesizer Memory Lane

Here it is, in all its glory, the Synthi AKS by Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd. (EMS), the first synthesizer I ever saw. I saw it in the music room at Lofthouse Grange Secondary School but the teacher didn't let us play it, or even touch it. It was around the same time I heard Walter Carlos' Switched On Bach, an experience that made my piano lessons make some kind of sense. I remember asking if I could get into the music class so I could play it but my first year syllabus consisted of Maths, French, Sports, Cooking and Ballroom Dancing.

We ended up moving a year later and I didn't see another synthesizer until I started working at Alpha Music, a music store right next to Leeds Bridge that I worked at part time while attending art college. The keyboard department was on the second floor so I spent most of my time up there.

Spending all day Saturday, Sunday and some weekday evenings playing all the instruments was great. I even sold quite a few. At one time or another we had in stock a Roland SH101, Roland Jupiter 8, Korg MS-10 and MS-20, Prophet 5 and a Sequential Circuits Six-Trak, which was my favourite.

I ended up leaving art college after two years because I was spending most of my time in the adjoining Leeds College of Music where I recorded Surrealist Photography with Nick Thyer, a fellow art student. I got a job as a pub sign designer at Oldham Signs and joined a couple of local progressive/heavy rock bands. I still had a Crumar Roadrunner electric piano I bought used from Alpha Music that I used to play through a phaser pedal, and shortly after joining a semi-prog/hard rock band I bought a Roland Jupiter 4, a synthesizer used extensively by The Human League. It was the same price as a Minimoog but I really needed to be able to play chords, and also the arpeggiator was really cool.

A year later a guy called Dave Ryan, guitarist with Leeds punk band Abrasive Wheels who also worked at the sign shop, handed me a keyboard salesman ad he'd torn out of the Melody Maker. A music shop called Unisound on Kilburn High Road in London was looking for someone. That weekend I caught the train down for an interview, was offered the position and moved to London.

Unisound stocked more second hand gear than Alpha Music so I got to play qute a few higher end synths. They had a Yamaha CS-80 for a while, which was amazing, and also synths from Oberheim, some Minimoogs and lots of Prophet 5's that I used to help fix.

Six months late I left Unisound to spend more time working with The Intimates, a band we formed lead by Jo Broadberry ex-The Standouts. By that time I had a Roland Juno 106 and we hawked a tape of some really cool songs around to several labels but nothing happened. Shortly after that I was approached by The Bolshoi's manager and asked to meet with the band. We really hit it off and I joined. The Juno 106 was soon joined by a Roland JX-8P, Akai S-900 and a Ensoniq Mirage.

After moving to the US, after selling all the gear to buy plane tickets, I picked up an EmaxII and used that to record the final four tracks of an album I started in London. I was recording to a four track tape recorder and although limited to the number of tracks I could record I was able to do quite a bit with it. I only recently digitized all the tapes, mixing it in Logic and releasing it as Granbretan.

I stopped playing for several years after breaking my hand. I sold the Emax and dabbled with DAW on and off but found the lack of actual hands-on tactile performance debilatating. I had fun with early releases of Reason but nothing like what I had been doing before my injury, plus I was starting up a business so free time was limited.

Then I suddenly started playing again, thanks to an iMac running Logic and an Oberheim Eclipse, an 88 key digital piano with weighted keys and MIDI. This was soon joined by a Roland JX-8P, Korg MicroKORG (my first ever Korg) and a Mattson SQ-18 sequencer, my first foray into eurorack format modular synthesizers.

Now those among you who know anything about modular synthesizers know that having a sequencer without any other modules is like having a computer without a monitor. Well, been there and done that. My first computer was a Macintosh II and I had to wait six months to afford a monitor, so I know what I'm doing OK.

The first order of business was to build a case to hold the modules that I didn't have, so rather than just buy one I made one with a plexiglass back panel. Then came the modules. A SV Filter from Macbeth, VCA and ADSR from Intellijel, some modules with flashing lights from Make Noise and The Harvestman and other assorted delights.

And I'm still building it, while using it of course, it'll be on my new album Merciana.

I've also added some really nice plugins to the DAW side of things, including perhaps my favourite, Ivory II, which lets me play the grand piano I've always wanted, and of course Omnisphere.