Once you memorize the programming I find it very simple to switch to different parameters. You can step to or jump to each one. Not much to memorize really. This is the best demo on RU-vid.
So, The Juno-6 (or 60) is really easy to program. You have all controls ready to edit. In the AX73, you need to learn all the parameters inside to program a great sound. Greets Doc!
It was made by Akai for the Professional musican, it says so on the back. Busy pro musos in the 80s probably just used presets. The large blank areas on the top of the synth was also perfect for snorting lines of... well you get it?!
Fantastic video!! Once again I'll say you are the master of the musical snippet! You are a master musician but to put together these videos you need to produce the short musical snippets. They give us just enough to make us go out and produce music of our own. Please keep up the great work.
Great video Claudio. You can make anything sound great. At that time Akai was still trying to prove itself in the professional instruments world. It never made it as a keyboard but as a sampler they kicked ass and found their place production studios everywhere👍🏽
You are Fekin good you know. I don't normal swear but it's the only way to get the point across sometimes. You really are an inspiration. Thank you and please keep this up for the rest of my days. (I'm 51 so not too long to go)
A really great sounding classic synth. Been through a couple over the years. It's more cumbersome than difficult. Kind of like a moody DW-8000. Well maintained with an updated voice card they sound great. Can't get rid of that classic Akai ugly though, lol. Nice demo Claudio.
Have you done any videos talking about your various studio monitors? I've been curious about what you use and how they compare sound-wise. That Akai has a nice sound. Looks like it could have used a few more dedicated controls though. Imagine having to memorize all those parameters for playing live.
I'm laughing at the awkwardness. So many synths of that era were the same. I was playing it (my ax73) yesterday, going through some sounds I'd programmed years ago. It's not really an 'on the fly' type affair for programming, but neither is my xv, or my mks70 etc, but I do have the pg800 for the mks. I find that it's easier to have a little programming sesh rather than trying to come up with a sound each time I jump on it. When you've got quite a few synths, it's really hard to hold multiple manuals in your head, and I don't really want to either if I'm honest. I just get the manual out, give it a couple of hours of making sounds, then it's ready to go when you want it. You get the advantage of 'getting in to it' and it goes smoother and quicker as the sesh goes on. It can make some really complex and lush tones, and of course there's the sampler input for a link to an s612, s700 and s900 samplers, to really up the tonal capabilites. The looks are very akai of the period, you either love it or think it looks like a piece of equipment out of a hospital. Matches an old mpc well though. Did you sort the pitch bend range out? That first vid was hilarious, was more like a transpose than pitch bend. You were looking at it like wtf😁 If you keep it handy in your rack, you'll find yourself using it a lot. It's got a sound that really cuts through and sits in a mix well. It sneaks into arrangements quite a bit with me. Great vid, keep it up 👊
I had one in the early 90’s. Auto tune needed to be pressed or else it was out of tune. One of the last sounds i programmed so it sounded like a Boeing 747 rewing it’s engines for takeoff. My dad was mad as hell, shouting i was making to much noise.
Also, you were showing your beautiful Foreno VU meter last week. Any chance we can get a tutorial on using VU meters in a mix from you? I only know about the Jacquire king low end trick, but I am sure there’s a lot more. Got a Tascam MU-40 on my desk that’s being heavily underused
I used to have an AX73. I used to moan about it only having 1VCO per voice and not even a sub oscillator. However the OWFM parameter (where you could modulate the filter cutoff with the VCO) gave it a unique character, especially when combined with having the keyboard tracking set to open the filter and whacking the resonance up- Dr. Mix, can you fiddle with this for me pretty please? Also, I never got as far as fiddling with the 13pin DIN "sampler input" plug and would love to see this showcased. What other polysynth can act as a 6-input filter bank?!
The Akai 73/90 are just funny , - I understand it was about keeping costs down, but who thought it was a good idea to produce a synth with exactly 1!! Real time control 😞.......thanks for demoing this but I think you proved this exactly the sort of synth you sample s**t out of for its few good sounds....and then move this boat anchor on as quickly as possible to the next clueless owner 😁
Two real time controls :P You could also assign the filter cutoff to one of the wheels. You're being too hard on it though. When it was the only analog poly I had I hated that I couldn't get "normal" sounds out of it. Now, I think it's pretty damn cool because it sounds different from other analog polys. Sampling it would be missing the point, a lot of the patches sound best if you change modulation/velocity while playing.
Hey Claudio, I was wondering what your thoughts are on live recording and quantization vs leaving minor human imperfections in? I know there's been a big debate about over perfecting and tweaking music after the fact, but I was just curious on your thoughts! Cheers! :D
I like the sound of quantisation, I have no problem at all with it. There is a place for it in music. The thing is it takes taste not to overquantise music, and many producers end up squeezing the life out of a track with quantisation. I love totally unquantised music... that's what I listen to the most: Jazz, Salsa, Funk, Soul, Disco. That's all natural and unquantised music. That's it :)
@@Doctormix I agree completely! Thank you so much for responding to my question! :D PS: I also think that patch you play at the start of the video just sounds so much like a JX8P with how the filters have that softness to them. Very cool!
It seems like it’s an analogue synth with the programming concept of the DX7. Entering all the settings with a numerical keypad, it’s a bit like the Apollo DSKY guidance computer’s user interface. I guess if you could memorise the codes, you could program it very quickly?
Even if you memorize the codes....... You still have to type them to change something instead of having a dedicated knob or whatever. An ABSOLUTE workflow killer.
Yes, because it's split up into sections, so 0-10 is VCO parameters, 10-20 are filter parameters etc. It really doesn't take that long to do. The issue is more that the thing has a lot of quirks... crazy unpredictable filters where increasing the resonance just a bit can change the sound drastically. PWM on any waveform. Oscillator modulation of the filter... Some of the most interesting sounds happen by accident.
Digital synths can be so cumbersome! Thanks for the demo and the tune (and the free KeyBass). I have to ask though, in the back on the left side (your right) of the room is a rack against the wall - what synth is on the top? I keep thinking it's an Oberheim, but there's knly twp rows of knobs.
I think you're right about the programmability as tbh, I've never liked the DX7 for that same reason. Like the DX7, if you switch the lights off and just listen to the sound then you can't really fault it, but exploring it and programming it? Not something you really want to do in the way that you would with a Moog, ARP, etc. Talking of switching the lights off, I think that's another problem. It's not exactly a 'looker'. It definitely has a bit of that 'last synth in the shop' look about it. If you stroll into your local store and it's sat next to a Prophet or a Jupiter 8, it's not going to be the first one you reach over to caress. Also the heritage. Back then, Akai just didn't have the pull (still doesn't for synths or the controller keyboards) that it has now.
Hello Claudio ! When will you do new reconstructions ?? It was so great ! You're a fkn genius for that and for mixing. You learned me a lot ! So year... Thanks from France !
You should check out the JX-10. It’s 2 JX-8Ps put in one case with one dial to control everything. It’s pretty annoying to program but if you take the time it can sound insane
Below a certain critical number of physical controls, it's easy to predict that a keyboard will be unpleasant to program.. Even Roland massively messed up with the JD-XA by not providing a rotary data entry knob (only has + and - .... duh!)
One wonders why Akai didn’t print a block diagram of the synth engine or at least a parameter list on that vast blank front panel. Another minus of this synth compared to its mid 80s competition is that it requires multiple button presses on the keypad to select a patch. And it’s very large and heavy.
c'est un peu comme l'AN1X dont Dave Smith est à l'origine de la conception. L'AN1X n'est pas très connu et peu couteux. Quand on le compare à d'autres synthés de la même catégorie il peut jouer dans tous les styles avec une bonne qualité sonore et tout un tas de paramètres pour modifier le son.
One of my favorite synths was the Kawai K5000. My problem: when I had enough money to buy one, it was no longer available. Nevertheless I would highly appreciate when you could make a vintage session with that synth.
6 notes of polyphony even for 1986 is a little stingy. It sounds good and the price wasn't bad for the time. Maybe if Akai made it's operation more approachable. Nice song and presentation.
I've noticed that you tend to keep the metronome on after you've laid down a recording. I'm curious why? Why not play off the groove of what you just laid down? Everyone has their own working styles of course, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just curious is all.
iirc, the most noteworthy feature is that akai included physically modeled cymbals and drums :O :O :O i just can't sit through all of that pointless key playing to find out if you covered it (sorry, old synth developer, herd it already). signed, still curious.
