Gear & Approach

From 1995 till present I’ve been using the Kong Trinity Plus as a compositional tool and sequencer. The blue print for the last 3 CD’s, " Sammy " ( 2003 ), " Short Stories, Infinite Corridors " (2006) and "Adventures in Westgarth - The Toyland Sessions " (2009)  and all demos, were created on the “Korg Trinity Plus”. The usual procedure in recording any piece of music involves three steps. Step one, the creation of a midi-file. Then step two, present the floppy disc to an engineer and producer within a studio environment. The last step (a complicated and tedious one) involves the selection of  samples, which are then used together with original “Trinity” patches to create the final offering. In some instances samples are primarily used as the midi-file acts as a "digital bed" or blue print. (Obviously these  steps can be implemented within the home studio environment.) I still use a master keyboard which is the Fatar Studio 1100 to create each piece. Live musicians have been added on occasions to specific tracks to give the music a “live feel”, such as guitarists, Peter Pistevos and Alex Doukas. Instrumentalists such as jazz trumpet player Richard Probert and pedal steel guitar player, Mark Thomas, The whole idea is to be self-sufficient and to combine the best of technology and live instruments.

I also have other keyboards that were used at a specific point in time. They were the: Roland D-50; Yamaha TG33 and the Yamaha DX7. Most of these keyboards were used in the R.P.M. recording “Conscious Elements” and the many live performances during the early to mid nineties. The Mini Moog and the Korg 700 are instruments I no longer have but were used in the " Conscious Elements " recording. Other instruments used in the studio at that time were the Roland S770; Yamaha TX 816; Suzuki Hammond XB2; Yamaha KX88 and the Yamaha Pf85.

As a necessity of modern times ( 2012 ), I have a Macbook Pro 2.3GHz dual-core i5 ( 13 inch ) with Logic Studio 9 uploaded on to the hard drive.

Also a Behringer UMX610 61 midi controller keyboard is plugged in to the computer via usb. Studio monitors are the powered Behringer Truths B2031A's and the KRK VXT 4's. Also there's the addition of the Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO headphones. This line up of instruments is subject to change.

Last but not least, I still compose in the old fashioned way, at the piano with a pencil, erasure and a piece of manuscript!

 

Korg