- 237
- 20 076 368
Alex Ball
Registrace 2. 07. 2013
Vintage synths, film score breakdowns, tutorials, DIY documentaries, music production and composition.
Hopefully you enjoy something here. Thanks for stopping by.
Hopefully you enjoy something here. Thanks for stopping by.
Studio Tour!
A lot of people have asked for a thorough studio tour and so I finally did one!
There's a LOT of info in this, so use the chapters to skip to the bits that are relevant to you.
0:00 Studio Tour Song
1:41 Computer / Cubase / Kontakt
6:03 Midi Inputs and Outputs
7:05 Audio Interface / Patch Bay
9:46 The Great Pedal Solution
18:25 Monitors / Acoustic Treatment / Cable Management
20:32 Korg Corner
31:02 303 / 8606 / 808 / 103
34:16 Ise-Nin / Prophet~10
35:40 System 100
37:44 S2400 / SP-12 / MPC-60
40:14 Guitars / Amps
46:45 Strings / Piano
49:55 System 100m - The Godular
55:24 My First Analogue Synth
56:44 Summary / Outro
Thank you to my Patrons of Patreon for their support.
There's a LOT of info in this, so use the chapters to skip to the bits that are relevant to you.
0:00 Studio Tour Song
1:41 Computer / Cubase / Kontakt
6:03 Midi Inputs and Outputs
7:05 Audio Interface / Patch Bay
9:46 The Great Pedal Solution
18:25 Monitors / Acoustic Treatment / Cable Management
20:32 Korg Corner
31:02 303 / 8606 / 808 / 103
34:16 Ise-Nin / Prophet~10
35:40 System 100
37:44 S2400 / SP-12 / MPC-60
40:14 Guitars / Amps
46:45 Strings / Piano
49:55 System 100m - The Godular
55:24 My First Analogue Synth
56:44 Summary / Outro
Thank you to my Patrons of Patreon for their support.
zhlédnutí: 41 987
Video
Louis Cole Chord Tutorial
zhlédnutí 16KPřed 21 dnem
I thought it would be interesting to work out a few Louis Cole chord progressions and learn a little about how he makes his awesome music. 0:00 Intro 0:56 F It Up 4:23 Thinking 7:40 Let it happen 11:30 I'm Tight 14:45 Outro Thank you to my Patrons who help me to keep making videos. www.patreon.com/AlexBallMusic
Why I bought the most famous drum machine of all time
zhlédnutí 55KPřed měsícem
Like most people, I've always wanted to own an original Roland TR-808 but it's always been the wrong price or the wrong time or both. Earlier this year my time finally came. I wanted to make a video showing why it's still a very relevant and useful instrument in a modern studio and that it's not just purely about nostalgia, whilst that obviously plays a part! 0:00 Intro Jam 1:38 Individal Outs ...
The Sounds Of HALO: Combat Evolved
zhlédnutí 61KPřed 2 měsíci
A look at some of the equipment used by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori to score Halo: Combat Evolved, released in 2001. Huge thank you to Neo Te Aika, Frostbyte, Booey, Noelle, Yewlyn, Python Blue, Jafet Meza, RenSFX, meowsandstuff, Fleetwire, AtlyxMusic, PunkGalFuryn and anyone else at Project Odyssey for their incredible work identifying many of the sounds that I showed in this video....
The YMO Music Computer
zhlédnutí 104KPřed 2 měsíci
A look at the revolutionary Roland MC-8 from 1977 which was one of the earliest microprocessor-controlled digital sequencers. Around 200 of these units were made and they were extremely expensive. As I've covered the history of this unit several times, I thought it would be interesting to follow in the footsteps of a band that made significant use of the MC-8, which was Yellow Magic Orchestra. ...
That Gary Numan Synth
zhlédnutí 217KPřed 3 měsíci
A look at the Polymoog and how Gary Numan adopted one of the presets from one of the versions to help define his sound. 0:00 Intro 0:41 What is the Polymoog? 8:00 Vox Humana and Gary Numan 13:35 Cars Cover The sample Instrument bobmoogfoundation.myshopify.com/products/alex-balls-polymoog-soundbank-digital-download
Dalek Voice Tutorial
zhlédnutí 17KPřed 4 měsíci
How to do the Dalek voice with a ring modulator. Enjoy!
Cult German Music and a Japanese Sequencer
zhlédnutí 60KPřed 4 měsíci
A look at how the Korg MS-20 and SQ-10 sequencer were an intergral part of the sound of a group of German musicians in the late 70s and early 80s. 0:00 Intro 1:09 Der Mussolini - DAF 5:02 Los Niños Del Parque - Liaisons Dangereuses 8:10 Minimal Tape 3/7.2 - Pyrolator 10:48 Sample Pack 11:38 Outro Jam / Patrons Huge thanks to Brad Holland and my patrons and patreon. The sample pack is available ...
The Oberheim OB-X (1979)
zhlédnutí 51KPřed 6 měsíci
A look at the classic Oberheim OB-X synthesizer from 1979. Huge thanks to Steven R Sellick for the kind loan! Check out Steven's track "Do Androids Dance to Electro Beat": unts-untsplinksandplonks.bandcamp.com/track/do-androids-dance-to-electro-beat 0:00 Intro 1:07 The Oberheim OB-X 1:30 Potted History 3:01 Demo 1 4:10 What's on an OB-X? 6:50 Demo 2 7:44 The Filter and Tom Sawyer 10:45 Demo 3 1...
New Album Out Now!
zhlédnutí 8KPřed 6 měsíci
New album out now! Thank you. Bandcamp: alexball.bandcamp.com/album/sproing Or Pick your streaming service: share.amuse.io/sDS2Mv-NlbRF
ARP'S FINAL MONOSYNTH
zhlédnutí 32KPřed 6 měsíci
A look at the last monosynth ARP made, the Solus from 1980. This is the least known of the trio (Odyssey, Axxe, Solus) because it was only made for a few months before ARP went out of business. 0:00 Intro Demo 1:04 The ARP Solus 1:46 Demo: Solus System 3:06 VCOs 5:49 Things get interesting 7:17 4075 Filter Revelation 8:29 Demo: Solus Sines 10:06 You don't have to be rich... 11:27 Demo: Solus Fr...
What's on these GENESIS floppy discs?
zhlédnutí 177KPřed 9 měsíci
What's on these GENESIS floppy discs?
Jupiter-X / Juno-X: Beyond the vintage models
zhlédnutí 44KPřed 10 měsíci
Jupiter-X / Juno-X: Beyond the vintage models
That one time that MXR made a Drum Machine
zhlédnutí 25KPřed 10 měsíci
That one time that MXR made a Drum Machine
Colossus: A once in a generation synthesizer
zhlédnutí 112KPřed 11 měsíci
Colossus: A once in a generation synthesizer
Being Boiled - The Human League Synth Cover
zhlédnutí 28KPřed rokem
Being Boiled - The Human League Synth Cover
Is the Studio still stuck to the floor?
That's a beautiful sounding acoustic guitar.
merely the intro song already makes this video a success 😲
how does one come upon Tony's synth with patches and all? That's mad
excellent video! So many ideas for gear now. Thanks for the effort
My soul is at peace now 😂
How on earth did you manage to kick the key off that juno. It’s usually drop damage for gear, so this is a first. Glad it’s all good now.
Look at the end of the studio tour video
@@cln5510 not seen that yet, but plan to watch over the weekend. I’ll keep an eye out. Thanks for the pointer.
@@Inverse_MidasJust don’t be disappointed when you find out that it’s a tour of the studio and not when the studio goes on tour (it’s stuck to the floor).
I'd love to see someone create an emulation of this on desktop and iPadOS (not just samples). Also, that reggae number was pretty great, Alex.
Brilliant walkthrough as always Alex. And great musical examples too (for the bonus points!)
Less than a minute in and it's already the best studio tour I've seen.
best intro ever
You found the heart to my broken key
Clever!
New song: Juno reborn!
Great you got it fixed! I had a bit of a scare dropping my Polysix keybed, after a deep clean, and seeing the prices per key.. $18 for a top C!
When the video started I thought it was Bomfunk MC's Freestyler playing, I think I need to listen to it now.
It really does!
Where's the thanks to Florian for the Terminator voice?! 🤣
Nice! Instant 1982 to 1984..85(maybe, as MIDI started to make its way in, wearing a rolled up sleeved pinstripe grey/white jacket)
Is that opening song for license for other studio tour videos? ;))
Is it weird, that even though this is gear heaven, and a great glimpse into how Alex creates....that my favourite thing from the entire video was the explosion after the "studio tour" intro!! So unnecessarily necessary! Reminded me of "The Simpsons" episodes of old ❤❤❤
Nice job, fancy having a go at my JD-800? 🤣
Leaky red glue? Nah, we're good. 😂
Ok You fixed your Key but the Studio cant go on tour, its stuck to the floor.😊
Can you run a competition to win the broken key?
It looks like the replacement key has a (semi-weighted keyboard) weight glued into the underside so you might feel the difference in its action.
It's just a silver sticker, it's not weighted. Plays the same as the others.
@@AlexBallMusicare you sure that it’s not metal piece? All keys on my Alpha Juno 2 have this, so maybe your key has this too?..
@@simple_waveform Yep, definitely.
It just looks fantastic. That's why.
Thank the synth gods, disaster averted!
It’s been Juno marathon week for me since i just got my Juno106 restored from Rosen Sound and I’m blown away having it in better shape than when I bought it for $400 in 1998. (if u watch Anthony Marinellis videos you may know what Rosen Sound can do for them) I was going to get it serviced at Rolands official repair center (and for a discount even since I was working for Roland’s customer service dept (back in 2003) but the moment I was to bring it in, they stopped servicing them due to chips no longer available . Thought it was hopeless for years, it’s great places like Rosen are independently making chips new!
You're lucky to have access to Rosen, they're good guys! Glad your Juno is singing again.
@@AlexBallMusic ya it’s great that it’s local and I didn’t have to deal with shipping it 🤠plus they even added an input for external gear to feed thru the chorus (utilizing the patch shift jack)
Great video! No input/output labels on patch bay or mixer? Do you just keep the connection diagram it in your head? Has it ever happened that you've come back from a holiday break or whatever (if you're allowed that as a YT producer, that is ;)) and could not remember the connection diagram? :) Fun to hear about your cable management. I actually helped build a studio where we did custom-made cables to length and hid them away but it turns out that if you do it that way you can't ever move anything ever again ;D. Junction boxes on the wall, sure, but what if you want to move everything around including the boxes? It's simply not flexible enough. I reckon it might be a good idea if you've built a couple of studios with off-the-shelf cables so that you know what you want and later, when things have solidified over a long period of time, you rework it with proper cable management. Or maybe just forget about it because it's not worth the hassle ;D. 56:56 : LOL! I mean come on... of COURSE that was going to happen when you jump around like that in a tightly constrained space that's filled with fragile, ancient electronics ;). You don't have a lot of space to work with (which is great in a way, because you can reach everything easily) so of course that would happen ;D ;D. Sorry about that, though. Hope you take it easy in the future :D.
Patch bay - I have an excel spreadsheet on my desktop with everything there. I open it at the start of the day and it's just a tab away. 😀 Cables - yeah, fair point. I guess you can solve problems and create others. Always a compromise. Juno - yep, what a dufus. I've already fixed it, I put a CZcams short up if you want the satisfying happy ending.
Our Roland JX8P has the same issue
Hopefully a simple fix like this one.
Who needs midi when you have trigger input
The mega tightness of voltage triggers.
Love it! ☺️
"Press F to pay respects"
Lovely demo mate . Great delivery and playing.
Cheers!
can i have or buy the broken key
😂 I might have to do something with it for a competition.
I bet you said F when you did that.
DNA samples of the composers Gilbert and Sullivan
Please mount the broken key as a reminder never to do a studio tour dance in range of a vintage roland :)
No need to worry, except around the MS synths. A Juno, though... it probably apologized to HIM!
Brilliant Alex.Thanks.
Glad you fixed it!
I'm happy to see you fixed it again! Good to see that a replacement key was easy to obtain.
Wait : "My last album"? -there are albums?
Yep. Sproing (2023): alexball.bandcamp.com/album/sproing Tableaux (2021): alexball.bandcamp.com/album/tableaux Coalescent Apparatus (2019): alexball.bandcamp.com/album/coalescent-apparatus Filibuster (2018): alexball.bandcamp.com/album/filibuster There's also loads of other releases on my Bandcamp too.
I cringed when I saw that key fly! Lol
Re: routing (so to type), you skipped a bit in the Korger. There's a Mackie Bigger Knob or whatever they call it that I imagine you are doing something clever with for running signals in and around your MS paradise and 2600? I also use those same Samson line mixers and they're absolutely perfect; super solution for taking lots of inputs and being able to use aux sends and monitoring! In my case, I actually just use a voltage summing amp from the main outputs of all my keys and modules just into a stereo feed (since I can control levels with MIDI and just re-patch anything that needs additional processing) but take all the headphone outputs and send those to the Samson mixer for a super-configurable monitor mixer.
Well spotted! I had a Mackie Big Knob left over from an earlier setup I had and as it has XLR inputs, I stuck the 2600 into it and then also the MS-20 and MS-50. It then gives me quick control over the level of modular sounds that can have a wide range of dynamics. It runs into one of the Samsons, so it's a sub-sub mixer basically. If I want to record the 2600 and MS synths discretely and at same time, I just run jack cables over to the patch bay and redirect the 20 and 50 to their own inputs. Samson - sounds like you're making more sophisticated use of it. I've never touched the aux or mix B / source monitoring etc. So yours then runs on into your audio interface in stereo?
@@AlexBallMusic thanks for the details! I like the idea of sub-sub-mixers, especially for being able to route things back through synths or effects, but I’m also leery about signal degradation and too many patch points. Like too many notes. Oh the choices we face! 😉 I _can_ patch the Samson back into the interface (Allen & Heath SQ-7 ;) but typically just use it as a glorified headphone monitor, with the headphone outs all plugged into it. What’s nice about that is that I have the nice, clean summed stereo line of all the synths going into the SQ without taking a gazillion channels but can still get full monitoring flexibility from the Samson. The alternate use of the Samson, though, is more classic mixer with effects pedals and whatnot, particularly for my monosynths or synths lacking (particular) effects.
That's all fine, but are you ever going to take us on a tour through your watch collection?
Simple. I own one watch. 😃
Juno key already fixed. Watch the happy ending. czcams.com/users/shortsfU2ZK1TQmhw?feature=share
Not the Juno key!
Thoroughly enjoy this, thank you! Possible that "ISE-NIN" is pronounced "ice nine"? Vonnegut fans perhaps.
What's funny is that I've had at least four different suggested pronunciations in the comments. 😂 The unpronounceable synth!
Just searched for this channel, cause Behringer is gonna release a clone 🎉
I noticed a sudden bump in views on this video. 😀
Bro eres el mejor amo tu musica y te sigo en spotify....saludos desde guatemala!
knob turning and they call it music? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 rubbish
Demo 4 is awesome