The not-so official sounding stuff...I have always been into computers and related stuff, since I got my first Apple IIe. Those of you who remember back that far (days of the C64), will probably remember MOD files, and trackers. I remember the first time I heard one, i could not believe that it was coming out of my computer! They work the same as MIDI files do, no actual 'music', but each note is a reference to a sample. So you could have these massively long songs, with a really small file size! Very exciting for me.

So I tried my hand at trackers (the software used to make mod's, still used today by some people!), but most of the stuff I was doing sounded like crap. Okay, it all sounded like crap. I had to use samples i downloaded, and couldn't easily create my own, so I was always trying to fit other peoples samples into 'my' songs.

Fast forward 8 years or so. Fruityloops. That is a fantastic piece of program. However, you need a computer to run it. Granted, I have a pretty whompin computer at my house, but the last thing I wanted to do after work was to sit in front of another monitor for a couple hours. My eyes soon started to bleed everywhere. Not really, but you get the idea.

I decided that I needed some hardware, instead of being a mouse-slave. I looked for weeks, and settled on a Roland SP-808. It seemed to be a magical 'all in one' solution to my problem. After using it for less than a year, I was getting a little frustrated with it. You couldn't make drum loops on it, because the zip drive is so bloody slow. All you can really use on it are longer samples. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything solid that I could MAKE long samples on.

I got fed up with that, as I DON'T like sampling other peoples drum loops. I have sample CD's that have wicked beats on them, but they are not *mine*. A lot of articles say how you should use sample CD's for loops, it saves time, blah, blah. I agree, it does save time, and could be used to put out commercial stuff, for TV or radio ads or whatever. But when I create and finish a song, I want EVERY note to have been played by me, not some other guys from Hollywood, or wherever.

Then, I splurged and got a keyboard synth workstation. It's definitely not your old casio that had that bossa nova preset on it. So now I use that, and best of all, it doesn't need a computer to work!

Now I've moved to Melbourne Australia for the next while. I had to leave all of my hardware at home and start learning again. For the first while, all I had was a portable MIDI tone generator, a Yamaha QY-22, and that was fun for a while, but very limiting... very very limiting.

After a few months of working, I bought a laptop and had to swallow my pride and go soft. I had to leave my snobby hardware only attitude at the door, and venture into the world of software everything. It is boggling what is available, but the trick is still to pick and choose a select few things, and learn the crap out of them. Easier said than done though, as I have been 'learning' Native Instruments Reaktor for the past 3 months, and it could keep me busy for years! Seriously, I do like the world of VST's and softsynths, they sound amazing and are very powerful. The tracks I am putting out now technically sound better than ever. This is probably due to the fancy new software, but I like to think that experience plays a part as well.

So enjoy the tracks, I've been quite happy with the responses from you and will always personally respond to any emails I get (unless it's for some sort of enlargement or diploma).

Take care,
Tim