Electronic music has been a great influence in my life, even before my first exposure to Wendy Carlos as a child. I first learned how to play piano in 1st grade, at the time from a church organist. Slowly I learned more about playing electric keyboard-type instruments, culimnating in music for a few masses at the St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago.When I got my first synthesizer in 1987 (a Casio CZ-230S, nothing special, but it did the trick) I really started to get excited. During high school, I was a member of the legendary New Trier Synthesizer Ensemble, which won Downbeat Magazine’s Best Combo/Small Jazz Group award at the high school level in 1991. My work with NTHS lead me into more esoteric synths: at home, I had a TX81Z (4-op Yamaha FM synthesizer), and eventually upgraded the CZ-101 to an Ensoniq EPS (13-bit 3.5″ floppy-based sampler), impressed by fellow New Trier denizen Michael J. Verta’s Ensoniq Mirage. Being limited to just two synthesizers really taught me how to make the most use of my equipment. I still pine for the load-while-you-play features of the EPS, which saved my ass more times than I can count in concert! I added an Ensoniq VFX in my senior year, which featured prominently on the award-winning recordings. (Actually, the VFX was in the shop; I had a loaner VFX-SD unit for the recording, with its fantastically grungy Hammond B3 emulation. I was hooked.) I also took advantage of the EPS and a 4-track cassette recorder to make some renaissance music for the NTHS Shakespeare Workshop, in which I participated for 3 years.

Classmates like Ben Lewis had Roland synths like the D-50, and my high school had the older generation of Rolands (JX-8P) — while I loved them, they didn’t motivate me the same way. It wasn’t until my university years that I returned to the Roland sound (Super JX / JX-10, and gray SH-101), and upgraded the EPS to a Kurzweil K2000. Once I was firmly planted in the “income generating” generation, I built out a studio with a Pro Tools setup (G3-powered), a Lexicon MPX-1 effects unit, and miscellaneous mixer hardware. It wouldn’t be until the 21st century that I finally started collecting the analogue synthesizers that made me oh-so-excited during my youth: the Voyetra 8, the Yamaha CS-80, and the Minimoog (Voyager edition). I also snatched up an Andromeda A6 (serial #1!) to replicate the other analogue beasties as best as possible.

Next stop: modulars. MOTM all the way. OK, maybe a few Cyndustries modules too.

So the current studio setup here in Toronto is:
Synthesizers

• Alesis Andromeda A6 61-key, 16-voice modern analogue synthesizer
• Yamaha CS-80 vintage 61-key, dual 8-voice, 100kg monster analogue synthesizer
• Octave-Plateau Electronics Voyetra 8 rack-mounted 8-voice analog synth and VPK-5 5-octave controller keyboard, currently under restoration
• Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue, with custom oak cabinetry
  • Pimped out with VX-351 CV Expander and CP-251 Control Processor, in a VX-351 rackmount
• Fender Rhodes Mark 1A Stage 73-key electroacoustic piano
• Kurzweil K2500SWx 88-key weighted keyboard and synth/sampler
• Roland SH-101 monophonic analog synth in grey, paired with standalone Frostwave Fat Controller 16-step sequencer
• Kurzweil K2000VPR rack-mounted V.A.S.T. Player
• Yamaha TX816 4U, rack-mounted, 8 independent 6-op FM synths
• Roland Super JX (JX-10) with PG-800 programmer
• Ensoniq VFX
• Yamaha SY-99 (pic) classic FM, enhanced with sample RAM and digital FX
• ARP 2600 (2601 v1.0) with duophonic 3620 – under restoration
• Elka Rhapsody 610 61-key analogue strings synthesizer / organ
• Willxyz/Ladyada x0xb0x in black, custom white & hot pink LEDs

Audio mixing/processing equipment

• Lexicon MPX1 Effects Processor
• Lexicon LXP-1 and MRC Effects Processor & Midi Remote Control
• Tascam M2624 mkII 24x8x4 analog mixer with optional MB-1 meter bridge
• Tascam Studio 8 “388” (8x4x2 + reel-to-reel 8-track)
• Mackie Onyx 1620 with FW option
• Mackie CR1604-VLZ 16x4x4 analog mixer
• PAiA Vocoder
• Avid Artist series Mix, Control, and Transport
• 2x Mackie HR824 near-field reference monitor speakers
• AKG Acoustics K 240 DF (diffuse field) studio/monitor headphones

Computing & MIDI equipment

• Apple Intel Mac Pro Dual 2.26MHz (Nehalem), 12GB RAM, 2TB HD, 2x SuperDrives
• 2x Dell 2405FPW 24″ 1920×1200 LCD Monitor
• Mark of the Unicorn 1224 8×8 digital audio interface
• Mark of the Unicorn 24i 24×2 digial audio interface
• 40GB (3G) Apple iPod
• Yamaha 40x16x4 IEEE-1394 FireWire CD-RW drive
• MOTU MIDI Time Piece AV USB 8×8 MIDI interface/patchbay with SMPTE/word clock sync

Essential Software (MAC OSX)

• MOTU Digital Performer v6.01
• DSP-Quattro realtime audio editor/CD mastering tool/VI hosting tool/hardware sampler librarian, perfect for the pair of Kurzweil samplers
• MidiQuest XL 9.0 patch editor/librarian, the only editor available that actually has support for the Voyetra 8
• Minimoog Voyager Patch Editor/Librarian, a beautiful work that meets the highest standards for such an application
• Cherrypicker, a MIDI patchfile editor that cleans up .middev files.
• MIDI Commander, formerly the Kurzweil Commander, a remote control solution for the Kurzweil synths
• Numerology, a software-based modular sequencer
• QuickTime Pro
• plus much more…

Other

• FX pedals: 2x Dunlop Cry-Baby pedals, Yamaha Flanger, generic guitar fuzz, others…
• Various standalone amplifiers, including a classic Fender tube amp and a Pignose for on-the-go
• APC UPS system (used as primary power filter)
• Furman RackRider RR-15 rack power conditioner (secondary)
• Tektronix 465b 100MHz analog oscilloscope, part of a full electronics workshop…