Wall of Synth with Juno-106, Volca Keys, Tempest, and Bass Station II

This is one of the first recordings that I made after putting the final touches on my recent home studio remodel. I went from dark wood panelling and old carpeting to cork flooring and drywall with fresh white paint and acoustic panels. The room sounds better, looks better and brighter and feels like a proper studio. To finish things off I installed a five tier shelving system to house a wall of my favorite synthesizers.

synthwall

For this track I wanted to try using the Korg Volca Keys as a sequencer for my Juno-106. “How is that possible?!?,” you might ask. Well I’ll tell you how. I have modded the Volca Keys to include a MIDI out port. Using this mod I sent the MIDI out from the Volca Keys to the Juno-106. Both synths played the same sequence, but because the Volca Keys is polyphonic the Juno-106 consistently played chords, while I switched modes on the Volca Keys between poly, unison, and fifths, etc. I fleshed out the piece by adding an arp provided by the Bass Station II and a bass line from the Tempest.