Wow, we’re almost done the first month of the 2011.

I have been so busy in the studio and doing magic in Ottawa that I have not been able to update on some of the technology I’ve been loving recently.

Some of you may know (If you’ve been reading older posts) that I recently purchased my first analog hardware synth. I decided to pick up a used Dave Smith Instruments Mopho for a number of reasons. Aside from being a cheap synth it is of very high quality. I just love dirty Moog sounds that can be filtered into almost silence and brought back into a shrieking cacophony of noise.

The first and main advantage to the Mopho; total Analog signal path.
If you’re going to get an analog synth it might as well sound good. I don’t want a Korg Monotron which is hard to control and sounds very low fidelity. These DSI machines have very accurate and rich sound synthesis modules. They also have a great “slop” feature which lets you control how much pitch drift you want to incorporate into the oscillators.

The second reason was that I did not want an extra keyboard.
I already had an M-Audio Axiom 25. I did not need the Mopho keyboard edition (although it sure looks sweet . . )The Axiom works great with the Mopho, and I even can control the settings on the Mopho using a program thats over at the DSI site. I might want to get a few more keys in the near future but the Axiom has lasted me almost 4 years now and its still functioning great.

June 7, 2009

This story begins with three elements.

First, I live in quite a lively part of downtown Ottawa, the ByWard Market. Home to countless restaurants, bars, a strip-club and many homeless people.

Second, I also work late very frequently when events run late at the art gallery.

Finally, I have just recently got a DSI Mopho synth that I was jamming around with, this thing sure sounds bad-ass! It’s like a single voice from a Prophet-08, sweet!

Last Friday I was walking home from work at 11 pm when I passed a group of about six people on both sides of me. Generally there are people waiting around here every night having a smoke outside the clubs, but this group was looking for something more. Just as I passed the group I saw one of them come up quickly from behind.

As I turned my head I saw him swing for my head. My first reaction was to duck and cover my head but I was holding both a pizza box and my synth. I freed one arm by dropping the pizza box, and with I swung my synth in self-defence.

Suddenly I felt another of the gang grab my laptop bag by the handle near my neck, but my reflexes led me to get out almost instantly as I dropped my weight to a crouching position. Obviously he wasn’t able to hold on, and I quickly turned so nobody was attacking me from behind, but the group was already running away.

The Mopho is by no means a heavy instrument. It’s compact, hand held and durably enclosed in a very sturdy case. It is however well enough made to do some serious damage in my angry hands. I guess I was swinging this “Killer Synth” around so much that I lost 4 knobs in the process, but on the upside the mob that attacked me backed away from my angry stance, preferring to keep their teeth that evening.

UPDATE: After emailing Dave Smith Instruments about my experience they were kind enough to mail me some replacement knobs for my synth. This is officially the best synth company ever!

By Alex Massaad

A few months back I made a quick studio video showing the spaace where I record music, you can check outthe tour of the lab but I have something new to show you.

The video of the lab was shot back in April. Since that point I have made a few upgrades, and room changes.

In this setup I’m using KRK Rokit8′s with an ERGO for room geometry correction. My main system is a Macbook Pro with an HD external monitor. Also hanging on the walls are home-made Ready Acoustics bass traps. (4 inch fibreglass sound absorbing material on the mirror points & room corners)

For software I’m mostly using Ableton Live and Logic. The only real hardware that I have is a DSI Mopho and a (hidden) m-audio controller.

I have been using one synthesizer quite a lot for one song to try and test the creative limitations of the synthesizer as well as improving my production skills. This time the synth I stuck to the ARP-2600 but for the next song I’m going to add my new Mopho, maybe I can make it play a chord!?

ARP Song 07 – Effect-ive by coldplaysucks