Music News – New Album Release; Past & Present

June 6, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

6/06/2022 - New EP Release; Past Present

Another synthy album I made quite a while ago a few months back but it seems longer than that. It’s a Synthwave album and is both chilled and upbeat with a mixture of synth and the 80s which synthesizers were the 80s. I called it Past Present because it’s the old skool brought to the future and I will be making more Synthwave tracks in the future it’s just I like to freestyle my drums and Synthwave is structured. It’s kind of weird and though I don’t feel it sorry to say for myself I’m getting older being born in the 80s even though I’m not that old but I’m getting older and it feels like I’m losing touch with the youth today yes I’m an old man now lol. The past is the past and the present is the now and the future well that is yet to be decided but I do miss the past in the way I’m loving the present just not as much but who knows what the future holds I always hold that. This album was inspired by current Synthwave tracks found on the internet and has lots of heavy drum beats and melodic melodies throughout the album I wanted to make an album for once as I felt I was getting into the groove and making some good tracks so I kept going and has everything in from Pop to Hip Hop which is my two favourite genres to listen to from the 80s and love Hip Hop and Electrotype beats.

Synthia’s Mixtapes – The Collection

May 20, 2022

A collection of synthy vibes in a form of mixtapes. I had lots of tracks I couldn’t release as on the major platforms like Spotify you can’t upload the same album, EP or track twice so I decided to make a mixtape and record my own shouts and stuff it was fun making. I envisioned Synthia being a music robot with all the music gadgets you can get to do with synthesizers and music in general. This is a free download and can be found on my Bandcamp page where all my free stuff is, come join me. 

Music News – New Album Release; 13 Moons

April 25, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

25/04/2022 - New Album Release; 13 Moons

cover

It’s a bit early but I decided to do a Halloween album using my cassette shoebox I bought a while ago and still haven’t got full use of it but I’m thinking and using it when I feel like I can and have a good idea. The album consists of taped and nontape instrumental tracks that I taped the samples on the recorder and then chopped them up a bit to make the final sounds so technically there are two versions to some of the tracks on the album. As I said I know it’s a bit early but I was messing about and thought on the spot to make a Halloween album using the recorder as I like the eerie sound to the track which reminded me of some of my old mess about tracks I used to make also using the tape player as I was a tape deck boy. I would say I miss the cassette tape but I don’t but I would say I miss fiddling about with the tapes and the fact you could bootleg anything I’m sorry but I did record a lot of my songs off the radio when I was younger but yes digital is better.  The tracks are eerie and slow and melodic to get ready for Halloween or for music for the day which is still a long way to go but I’m sure it will come round fast. I’ll probably do another Halloween album nearer the time but for now, it’s nearly summer so I’m making House, Jungle, and other rave genres, for now, that’s all up on Soundcloud.

Music News – New Album Release; Space Lemonade

April 25, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

25/04/2022 - New Album Release; Space Lemonade

Space Lemonade is a what I call this album aka Afrofuturism music which is a new concept music-wise and I see there isn’t a big splash in the music world so I thought being I was interested in the topic and wanted to try something new I thought I’d make a new album as there was one before but it didn’t turn out the way I liked it so I made another one but this time without too much of the bongos, there’s an album with bongos and other African drums that wasn’t too great and this one is without the African drums and more Sci-Fi mixed with Sci-Fi music genres like G Funk and Synthy genres. The album was inspired by the old genres like G Funk, Electro, and other synth-based genres that were Sci-Fi and synthy that I used to listen to growing up and really feel the music. I would say it’s the 80s inspired even though it the not the normal Synthwave album you will hear and the sounds come from the 80s but also the 70s when there was a big popular thing with Sci-Fi here in the UK but also it was on a lot on the TV worldwide and also in fashion but that was before my time and I was born in the 80s a decade after. It was after watching the film Black Panther that I decided to make some Afrofuturism too after getting a few ideas from the film which I and the public thought was inspirational.

Synthology Mixtape

A special mixtape of synthy vibes I made from 2018 and am now giving away for free as a free mixtape download. I made all the shouts and stuff to I like to get my hands messy so I made some shouts and tags using my own voice and free sound FXs from online, anyway enjoy the free download. 

Music News – New EP Release; R Us

March 29, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

29/03/2022 - New EP Release; R US

This EP is about the lost toy store Toys R US a loved shop by many and part of many side jokes that I actually can’t remember. My experience with toy shopping was always disappointing as I never got what I was looking at which is the way of life but damn that action figure looked cool on the TV and I refuse to swear about it lol. I also decided to make it as I was messing about and discovered some things in the making of it that I yet haven’t discovered if I set out what I was hunting for which was toy music. Without sounding too old-fashioned ain’t the toys nowadays technical oh wow and also quite expensive to keep buying or is it phones and IPads they desire? I desire synths which are my toys and I like to mess around with them a lot but I know they ain’t toys but I call them that as they are fun and you never get bored okay you do but it takes a long time depending on many days, weeks, months or years you’ve been playing for. I can go for a while but I take breaks and do other things like promoting and video visuals and editing and also photoshop but also my website too which I love to do in my spare time which is all the time at the moment. 

Music News – New Album Release; The Synth Way

March 22, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

22/03/2022 - New Album Release; The Synth Way

I’ve been on my MIDI keyboard a lot and I think I am finally going back to how I used to play but probably a bit slower now and less technical with the keys and the overall design of the tracks.  This EP is a free download as I used the tracks in a blog post I made not so long back which was about my top 5 favorite synthesizers plugins I have a few now and I actually kind of collect the best ones and can be quite expensive but there are deals you know I love a good bargain and I wouldn’t say I was cheap without sounding off speed so to speak. There is something about synth music that does it for me and all the BS aside it can appeal to anyone and as a producer there is a lot you can do with and fits all sorts of genres some are quite surprising but not really if I thought about it but it’s a win, win situation for me anyway. You can read about the synth plugin I use and what I like in the blog post I made which has some demonstrations of what the synths sound like to get the full picture of them and how they sound and why I love them so much.

Music News – New EP Release; You Got Mail

March 17, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

17/03/2022 - New EP Release; You Got Mail

Mr. Postman’s joke though it’s not really a joke and just a play on the song by the Please Mr. Postman by The Marvelettes the Motown song and not actually about the song itself in the tracks. I used to get excited to see the postman even though it wasn’t that much but it was important now I just leave it to fill up and pick the mounting letters up when I’m ready to as its bills bills bills or buy buy buy and all my money mostly goes on my music and I’ve put in some money along the way as I feel it does help though a bit unfair at times. I hate writing though with pen and I’m so glad those days are over and we now type which is a lot faster and cleaner for the environment but most important of all it means my hands don’t get stiff or dead from overwriting but yes it’s much better now but I must say I do like expression and that happens a lot in letters and stuff which is why I used to love writing especially to the stars of Hollywood which I’m glad I never got a reply as I would have passed out or something which is not cool for me lol….or uncool funny enough.

Top 5 Favourite Synth Plugins

March 13, 2022

Synth Heaven

I’ve got a few synthesizers plugins now and I thought I do my top five of the ones I use and really like. They are an arm and a leg some of them in fact nearly all but I do think they are worth it and when you have them you can get a lot of use out of them and can reuse parts if needed to but there is so much selection you never go back to the old sounds. I like the old synths myself the original hard hitters and even though they are replicated you can still get good sounds out of them depending on what genres you make you will find a lot of good sounds but I make mostly synthy stuff from synthwave to vaporwave to generally synthy music which hasn’t really got a genre but inspiration from other genres all mixed with a bit of what I call a Hip Hop drum beat but I do make normal patterns as well but I like to experiment with drums and the synths itself. As I said probably a million times before I love my synthesizers and have always been obsessed with them from an early age and like dark and light sounds but I do like thick basses and dark and moody basses I like those also subs obviously the sub is the easiest to work with.  Anyway here’s my top five synths I use and really love with some tracks I made all used with the same plugin for each plugin I used and there are two tracks per plugin so ten altogether. 

#5. Uhe - Diva/£179

Diva The is a good synth plugin and has some good sounds in there, especially the laid-back sounds similar to Omishphere but do the same job as in relaxing mellow vibes.  It has dark and moody basses to which I love and also some edgy synth sounds which I also like about the synths as dark and edgy is what I like to make but as I said I like to make nice mellow soft beats too. The synth is a analogue synth and is an emulator of the analogue era and comes with loads of filters and knobs to turn to tweak the sounds which are also a good feature but I’m too impressed with the sounds and make them in the box. It does have a high CPU usage so a computer with good ram and hard drive space is needed it works better on a desktop computer rather than a laptop.  Here are two tracks used with the synth plugin you can download the tracks for free the link with will at the bottom of this post or on the track itself in the player.

#4. Artuia - Vocoder V3/£199

The Vocoder V is a good synth plugin and though it doesn’t have the choices of different sounds and is minimal what it has is great for retro genres and can make some good tracks out of them, it does cost a bit on its own but if you head over to splice.com you can get a good price a rent to own system where you pay $24.99 a month until you pay it off you get the Vocoder V and also a whole bunch of other synths to put into your mixes. I mean the V collection from Arturia is one of my favourites and there is a lot to choose from and just what I look for as I make retro genres but also spice the synths up with some new flavors I just put together. I notice there was a unique sound used or was similar to something that was used in famous Jungle tracks in the 90s and I didn’t use it in the example I used it a few times and got a good result out of it but I didn’t release it as it sounded like the old stuff I love and heard from earlier artists.  As I said it doesn’t have a lot of selection but what it does have is worth putting in and works well for Electro Funk and other genres like that.

#3. Artuia - Arp 2600 V3/£149

If you are looking for a dark and moody synth that is also light and warm the Arp 2600 is the one for you and has a good selection of both dark and light sounds I like to use or I used to use a lot in my tracks. It has a good selection of basses and sequencers that you will be lost in I know I was. It has a lot of knobs and things to tweak which I don’t like to use and also it has its own sequencer built-in which you can use on any sound you choose all the Arturia products have that feature built-in. Like all the products featured in this list they are great for other genres this one I noticed was good for Drum and Bass and Jungle which is surprising as it’s an old synth and is a replica of the original Arp 2600 which was out in the 70s. It has some really good thick basses that remind me of Progressive Rock Basses and G Funk which I always loved. The Arp 2600 comes with the V collection on Splice.com and can be rent to own like all of the Artuia products on here. I find this synth works well with retro genres but also Halloween projects which I like to do around that time of year and the most surprising it makes okay House tracks but not anything current these are retro synths. 

#2. Uhe - Repro/£149

Repro is a great synth and comes in two Repro 1 and Repro 5 so two for one you know I love a good bargain. It has a lot of great choices and has everything from bass to strings like all the products listed here. The synth has knobs to turn to modify the sounds and also has its own built-in sequencer for those not listed under the sequencer page.  The synth has some great sounds and I used it a lot in older works, especially an album called Racial Harmony but it was under a different title before I thought how special the plugin was and I used it a lot in some of the new works but gave it a rest for a while to give the other synths a chance. I like how there are two plugins to choose from and the amount of good sounds there were and also used it on Rebitten By The Lizard album I made quite a while ago now which can all be found on my Bandcamp page. The sounds you get I found were hard-hitting and edgy and I love that kind of thing but also it has some mellow strings and other mellow sounds for those downtempo tracks. It does have a retro feel to it and I’m not sure what else it is good for as I only use it for synthy stuff but I’m sure it’s good for other genres too. 

#1 Artuia - Mini V3/£149

In at number one, my favourite synth plugin has to the Mini V3 and has a lot of thick basses and nice synths to put into your mix. I’ve made my best tracks with this synth and I think there is something special about it that brings something to the table or maybe it’s just my musical taste. My favourite parts are the basses and the synths which are thick dark and light which is an example on the first track of this section. It has a lot of Progressive Rock-like tones and also some weird and strange sounds that I think it’s appealing to the ear or again it could be my musical taste. It has a lot to choose from and I remember when I first got it I was lost on the number of basses or sounds that I would choose from and I tend to use this quite a lot or did in the past but again I retired it for a while to make way for some other sounds as it can sound a bit samey if you put too much in an album or EP or whatever. I like the whole sound of it and put this at number one as it’s my most used synth plugin and something I go back to even if it’s just for the bass or another part that I like, and it’s an old synth to the original Mini by Moog from the 70s and has been reincarnated 

Music News – New EP Release; Topical

March 1, 2022

MUSIC NEWS

01/03/2022 - New EP Release; Topical

I’ve made a new EP called Topical and is called that as it’s all based on current affairs of things that were happening in January and February like the strong winds that reached over 100 mph here in the UK to Rihanna getting pregnant and congratulations once again. Also the war between Russia and Ukraine and a weird dream I had which isn’t really topical but it’s currently what I was doing so I added that in there too.  The strong winds were strong and nearly knocked me backward I was only going to the shop and also the shocking pregnancy of Rihanna well I was shocked but not shocked, but more surprised but not that much. I’m not nearly really tuning in to the war that is happening right now it’s too much doom and gloom and I noticed some newspapers were really bringing it home with a nuclear explosion and they are going to attack that it’s all too much so I did a little blackout and save it for another day. The dream I had was kind of weird and was on a really nice tropical beach hence the name of the track but I can’t remember much of it and it was a short dream before it changed it always does that and I kind of lose the plot a little in the dream but what does it mean? It has got dramatic all of a sudden with COVID and the war and all the other drama I have thankfully forgotten. Â