I recorded this arpeggio recently that I created using the Roland MKS-80 and the Bitstream 3X MIDI controller. Every once in a while it’s nice to leave the computer out of the equation and this was one of those times. As I have outlined before, the arpeggiator on the BS3X has a distinct collection of features that allow for an interesting mix of possibilities. For this example I put it into the keyboard mode, disabling the built in melodies in favor of using a keyboard to choose the notes.
At the last Ostracon performance I decided to forgo the use of soft synths and attempt to strictly use the Roland MKS-80 as my sole sound source. Because I live loop during these shows I was able to layer a broad variety of tones and, using the Bitstream 3X, manipulate the tones in real-time. Here’s a plucky outro that illustrates this technique.
The Oberheim OB-8 and Roland MKS-80 are two massive vintage polys, each sporting dual oscillator, eight note polyphony provided by sixteen VCOs. There’s a lot of similar functionality between these machines. The switchable two or four pole filter and modulation routing is a little more flexible on the OB-8 but the MKS-80 makes up for it with cross modulation, velocity sensitivity, and after-touch. The technology used in the MKS-80 seems much more advanced even though it was made only one year later than the OB-8. The MKS-80 is a compact rack-mountable device, while the OB-8 is a massive behemoth that currently dominates my studio space. Ultimately comparing these two machines is not really a productive thing to do. They both sound fantastic. The MKS-80 is better for me because my musical style generally requires the expression possible through velocity and after-touch, but the OB-8 is easy and fast to program with lots of luxurious feeling knobs.
I recorded a little freeform jam session with Unearthed Music‘s graphic designer, Ben Montag, experimenting on the OB-8 while I twisted knobs on the Bitstream 3X driving the MKS-80. See if you can identify which sound is coming from which synth.
Finally the GMS meets the Roland MKS-80. During our Ostracon release performance coming up on Friday, June 24, 2011 I plan on using the MKS-80 for the first time in a live setting… vis-à-vis without a keyboard. Here’s a bassline I generated and looped in Ableton with the GMS routed to the MKS-80 controlled by the Bitstream 3X.
I am quite fond of how this short phrase from my interpretation of Vexations by Erik Satie turned out. I used Ableton to arpeggiate the upper melody on tritones while manually adjusting the patch on the Roland MKS-80 with the Bitstream 3X MIDI controller. This is what came out.
Here’s sample of parts that I have prepared for participation in the Empty Words performance at Northern Spark. I used the Roland MKS-80 and the Bitstream 3X to create this evolving passage based on the original score for the piece Vexations by Erik Satie. In my interpretation I arpeggiated the bass clef notes on a tritone to create a flowing, angular pattern to contrast the traditionally methodical piece. As my interpretation continued I sped up the arpeggiator from eights to twelves to sixteenths and so on.
While still in the process of mining sound from previous sessions I came across this arpeggiated sequence that evolves over time as I adjusted the speed of the LFO which was mapped to the VCF.
Evolving Arpeggio with LFO on VCF
One of the very special things about the Roland MKS-80 is that is has true analog, voltage controlled oscillators or VCOs. Unfortunately (or fortunately) VCOs are sensitive to environmental conditions especially temperature, not to mention lunar cycles and barometric pressure, but I can’t confirm those reports. In any case, this means that the synth needs time to warm up before the VCOs are stable.
Fortunately the MKS-80 has an autotune (no relation to the ubiquitous vocal processing of the same name) button that tunes all sixteen of the oscillators to each other automatically. Although, if you just turn it on, press autotune and start playing then it will drift out of tune again as the components warm up to a stable temperature. Below is an example of me doing just that followed by a pause where I pressed the autotune button and tried again.
Although an inconvenience to some, to me this gives the instrument more soul than its digital counterparts. As a piano player I know that a piano is never perfectly in tune. Also, the frequency of the notes played on a piano change slightly as they decay. Voltage controlled analog oscillators have a soulful, mysterious character to them that is partially defined by their imperfections.