The Grand Tour: CyberMecha

There's a history of electronic music in Northwest Georgia. I can name a few that have contributed their own interpretations of their heroes and heroines of new wave, post punk, electro, and whatever the hell else you'd like to throw in there. Sam Hancock was not easy to get along with. He was a task master who knew how to use electronics for the greater good. Sam and I both played in bars and auditoriums, with very little enthusiasm from locals who just wandered in. It would turn out that the Internet has given us listeners and fans from around the world who would rather listen to us play than to have their eye poked out with a sharp stick. 

Here's a rack that Sam put together, and IMS inherited from him.

There are 3 E-Mu Systems ROMplers that I love here, the Proteus/2's and Ultra Proteus. Then below, 2 of the TX81Z FM synths that we started with over 30 years ago. I can play them from a single keyboard, or I can divide them up and use the computer to play them individually or in groups or any combination. I like to play them from the DX-21:

The DX-21 is from the era from whence the TX81Z's came out, so they can talk to each other. Together they can give me 18 individual instruments, or work together as one giant digital instrument. Another nice thing is that the DX-21 is not velocity sensitive, so it uses what they call "synthesizer keys." It means that I can play all the notes in with the same loudness, and then process that later once they've been played into the computer's recording system.

Here's my main workstation:

This is a Novation Launchkey 61 key MIDI controller. I can use this to play various instruments from the local network, on one keyboard interface. It has controls and pads for various things that I record and play live in the studio at IMS. 

 Our corporation operates an independent record label called Institute of Mimetic Sciences, Inc. It is doing research in human-computer communications, and artful intelligence. Visit us at https://FluxOersted.com

Following is one more photo I can show you related to IMS studio that we call CyberMecha. This is the main mixer for my lab/studio:

It's a 12 channel mixer with a computer interface. You can see part of a little Behringer 4-channel sub mixer that we use to handle the analog synths and the Miniak. We've covered some peripheral items in the past. We're more of a real instrument band here locally, but when you can mix fact with fiction, why settle for less than optimal in whatev
er it is that you're doing?

So these photos rearrange themselves as we step back in time. We don't play outside the studio any more, but in these confines, we are the masters of our own reality.

There's certainly a bit of nostalgia being around the sort of gear that I would have been ecstatic to have when it was the current instruments to have. I may be the only person who gets what I do from hearing them in my recording creations. It's what I do, so I'll get to it then.