SynthMania
Music software
Sony Acid Music 2.0 was one of the products of the second version of the classic program “Acid” by Sound Forge (later Sony, now Magix) – one of the first sequencers / DAWs in which it was possible to “paint” patterns and notes and “stretch & loop” while maintaining the pitch.
Sony Acid Music 2.0 audio demos
Dance
Rock
Sony Acid Music 2.0 specs
| Year of release | 1999 |
| Sample categories | Dance, Rock |
| Number of samples |
Portable sampling/arranger keyboard
Yamaha DJX audio demos
FACTORY DEMOS:
STYLES:
VOICES:
The GM sounds are pretty much the same as all the other GM sets in the world, so I’m not recording examples of this bank.
Initialize the Yamaha DJX
Data Initialization
All data can be initialized and restored to the factory preset condition by turning on the power while holding the highest (rightmost) white key on the keyboard. “CLr Backup” will appear briefly on the display.
Yamaha DJX manual
Yamaha DJX specs
| Year of release | 1998 |
| Polyphony | 32-voice |
| Sound generation method | sampled |
| Preset memories | 284 |
| MIDI | In, Out |
| Sound expansion capabilities | No |
| Sequencer | Yes |
| Arpeggiator | Yes |
| Effects | Yes |
| Touch sensitivity | Yes |
| Aftertouch | No |
Yamaha DJX links
https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/index.html
synth/theremin/sound effect generator
Alesis airSynth audio demos
Alesis airSynth photos
Alesis airSynth manual
Alesis airSynth specs
| Year of release: | 2001 |
| Polyphony: | monophonic |
| Sound generation method: | |
| Preset memories | 50 |
| MIDI: | no |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | no |
| Sequencer | sort of |
| Arpeggiator | sort of |
| Effects | no |
| I/O | Stereo RCA in and out |
| Resolution | Converter: 24bit; Processor: 28bit |
Desktop Control Synthesizer with Analog Physical Modeling (groove box)
Awesome synth desktop module/ groovebox. Compared to the Roland D2, which I’ll call “the good groovebox”, this is “the evil groovebox”. The patterns are very aggressive, stylish and actual. The 5-note polyphonic VA engine is very powerful and full. The drum sounds are also very good. Edgy and “underground”, this machine is perfect for Industrial, Techno, Electro and many other genres.
Yamaha AN200 audio demos
These are the three factory demo-songs in the AN200 – they do a good job at capturing the huge variety of styles achievable on this machine:
Yamaha AN200 manuals
Yamaha AN200 specs
| Year of release | 2001 |
| Timber | 1 (AN) + 3 (AWM2) |
| Polyphony | 5 (AN) + 32 (AWM) |
| Sound generation method | Analog Physical Modeling |
| Preset patterns: | 256 preset, 128 user |
| MIDI: | In, Out |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | No |
| Display | Yes, 7 segment LED |
| Sequencer | Yes |
| Arpeggiator | |
| Effects | Yes |
| Touch sensitivity | No |
| Aftertouch | |
| Outputs | Stereo outs, headphones out |
| Accessories | CD-ROM; AC adaptor |
| Dimensions | 338.0mm (W) x 208.9mm (D) x 51.7mm (H) |
| Weight | 1600 g |
Yamaha AN200 links
groove box
Roland D2 audio demos
Roland D2 manual
Roland D2 specs
| Year of release | 2001 |
| Polyphony | 64-voice |
| Sound generation method | PCM |
| Preset memories | 600 preset, 20 user |
| MIDI | In, Out |
| Sound expansion capabilities | no |
| Sequencer | yes, 8-track |
| Arpeggiator | yes, 43 preset, 10 user |
| Effects | yes |
| Touch sensitivity | D-Field controller |
| Accessories | Owner’s manual AC adapter (ACI series or PSB-1U) |
| Dimensions | 325mm (W) x 256mm (D) x 55mm (H) 12-13/16″ ((W) x 10-1/8″ (D) x 2-3/16″ (H) |
| Weight | 1.4 kg / 3 lb 2 oz (excluding AC adaptor) |
Roland D2 links
groove box
Yamaha DJX-IIB audio demos
FACTORY DEMO:
Yamaha DJX-IIB manual
Yamaha DJX-IIB specs
| Year of release: | 2000 |
| Polyphony: | 32-voice |
| Sound generation method: | PCM |
| Preset memories | 203 – 180 voices + 23 drum kits (accessible only via MIDI) |
| Patterns | Total 700 preset patterns and variations 70 patterns preset 5 patterns user |
| MIDI: | In, Out |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | No |
| Display | 7-seg LED |
| Controllers | Scratch Pad, filter knobs, live effector knobs, cross fader |
| Effects | Yes |
| Power | Adapter: PA-5B, PA-5C Batteries: 6 x “D” size or SUM-1 or R-20 |
| Dimensions | 334mm x 334mm x 126mm (13-1/8″ x 13-1/8″ x 4-15/16″) |
| Weight | 3.5kg (7 lbs., 11 oz.) |
Yamaha DJX-IIB links
https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/index.html
Digital Wave Synthesizer
Ensoniq ESQ-1 audio demos
(FACTORY PRESETS ver. 3.50 – latest version)
INT1
INT2
INT3
INT4
Ensoniq ESQ-1 photos
Ensoniq ESQ-1 manual
Ensoniq ESQ-1 specs
| Year of release | 1986 |
| Polyphony | 8-voice |
| Sound generation method | analog, 3 DCOs |
| Preset memories | 40 + 80 on cartridge |
| MIDI | in, out |
| Sound expansion capabilities | cartridge |
| Sequencer | yes |
| Arpeggiator | no |
| Effects | no |
| Touch sensitivity | yes |
| Aftertouch | no |
Ensoniq ESQ-1 links
classic electro-mechanical organ
This is my favorite instrument, and the one I feel I’ve developed a personal style on. I play it through a Hammond PR-40 Tone Cabinet with reverb, not through a Leslie – I feel it better preserves the character of the organ — but that could change in the future.
I pretty much play in the old Jimmy Smith style, with a lot of swing, or in the hard-bop vein. My favorite drawbar settings are the jazz standard 888000000 on the swell, and 838000000 on the great manual, soft 3rd harmonic percussion with fast release, and C3 chorus, but I experiment with alternate settings, depending on the song I’m playing.
Hammond C-3 audio demos
I played these three examples on my 1968 Hammond C-3 + Hammond PR-40 tone cabinet:
Hammond C-3 photos
Hammond C-3 manuals
Hammond C-3 links
Sample CD
This is a sample CD from a German company – Stand By Music Pro. – that I bought in early ’90s. I used it quite a bit and built a few very good velocity-switch Hammond patches on my Roland W-30 at the time.
This is an audio CD containing B-3 notes, sampled every semitone.
Here’s the on board demo:
Stand By Music Pro. B-3 Organ – The Legend audio demo
Sample CD-ROM library in audio & Akai format
Alpha Dance II is the sequel to Best Service’s Alpha Dance, one of the classic techno-dance CDs of the early-mid 1990s.
Alpha Dance II comes in two CDs – one that contains the audio format, and the other one containing the Akai CD-ROM portion of this collection. There is a generous 300MB of samples, all geared for dance production.
This collection was produced in Berlin in 1995, and naturally the style best suited to it is mid-90s techno-house. All the elements needed in a dance production are present, including liquid house organs, superb sequencer lines, analog-sounding and evolving pads, several different types of synth FX, bleeps, zaps, sub bass, vocals, acoustic and electronic percussion loops, lead synths, basses, vocoders, and more!
The nice thing about this CDs is that the samples were all recorded very dry and clean; that gives the users the ability to apply their own effects and production tricks.
Check out the following demos of individual patches from Alpha Dance II:
Best Service Alpha Dance II audio demos
The original factory demo song. This song will give you an idea of how much you can do with just a sampler and a well-produced sample CD like this.
And here below I’m adding some examples of the single sounds contained in the Akai CD-ROM. All examples were played from Propellerhead Reason 3’s NN-XT sampler, going through the RV7000 reverb (running programs matched to the nature of the samples) – going through the default Mastering Suite.
Best Service Alpha Dance II audio specs
| Year of release: | 1995 |
| Polyphony: | n/a |
| CD type: | Audio + AKAI |
| Partitions: | Six (A – F) |
Links