Yamaha TX802

The Yamaha TX-802 is basically a keyless rackversion of the classic Yamaha DX7 II. It’s a FM synthesizer and it’s sharp digital sounds are very distinctive and recognizable.

When the original DX7 was released in 1983, FM synthesis was a new type of synthesis. It had no filters like analog synths and had a very different sonic character. The sound was cold, clean, and bright. Best suited for percussive sounds and metallic textures. Unfortunately FM synthesis was far too complex and mathematical for most musicians to grasp, so most were limited to using the presets, and the true potential of FM synthesis was seldom explored. Today, however there are many great software editors with large working surfaces, showing the physicality of the envelopes and carriers, which makes it much easier to understand and work with.

I think the FM sound blends very well with analogs sounds, and especially with really warm pads like those from the Roland JD-800/990.

Audio samples:

DX A short multitrack.

Afternoons In Utopia Toy Piano with pad sound.

Jungle Nice percussive multisound.



Roland JD-990

The Roland D-990 is more than just a rackversion of the Roland JD-800 keyboard. It has many more waveforms and features like Oscillator-Sync, Ring-Modulation and Frequency Cross Modulation. Like the JD-800 it has a warm filter with low, high and band-pass modes. The filters can be structured in different settings, so the tones can interact with eachothers filters. The JD-990 also features comprehensive effects processing and a 3-band parametric EQ.

For expansion it’s possible to install SR-JV80 expansion cards (primarily made for the Roland JV synths. In this unit the ‘Vintage Synth’ card (programmed especially for the JD-990) is installed.

The JD-990 can be controlled by the knobs and sliders on the JD-800, but it has a nice big display which makes editing fairly easy and clear. You can actually see the shapes of envelopes, LFO’s and filter-slopes which is very helpful.

Audio samples:

Tangerine A beautiful preset.

Twinkling String Another great preset.


Roland JV-1080

The Roland 1080 is an old sample player like the Korg Triton. It’s a classic amongst romplers. There are plenty of expansion boards around to expand the soundbanks. Even though it’s a bit outdated by now, the sounds are still very usable and it still gets plenty of use.

The JV-1080 it not as programmable, warm or characterful as the JD-900, but is more of an “all sounds” sample player.

I have the ‘Session’ expansion card installed. There’s a really great grand piano sample on this card. Despite the fact that I have several new massive GB samples of various pianos, I tend to just use this whenever I need a piano sound. It’s simple and really has a nice ring to it. I kinda like the anonymity of it. There are also some nice samples of nylon guitars and stratocasters on this card. Very useful. Good samples doesn’t need to be large GB files.

Audio samples:

Für Elise A multitrack using the piano from the ‘Sessions’ expansion card.


Roland MKS-50

The Roland MKS-50 is a rack version of the Roland Alpha Juno II synthesizer. It’s analog but has digitally controlled envelopes. It’s not quite as warm and powerful as the earlier Roland Juno synthesizers. The envelopes aren’t especially fast and the filter is a bit thin sounding. Still it’s a very useful synthesizer with a clear analog character. It also has some interesting waveforms in addition to the regular ones. The MKS-50 is a joy to program if you have the optional programmer: The Roland PG-300. Otherwise it’s really not.

The MKS-50 and PG-300 are no longer in the Antilles arsenal.

Audio samples:

MKS-50 A multitrack of MKS sounds (All except the chords which is JD-800)

MKS Electric Piano Great chorussed Electric Piano sound.



Oberheim Matrix 6R

The Oberheim Matrix 6R is a rack version of the Matrix 6. It’s analog but has digital envelopes, LFO’s and modulation. I’ve read several places on the Internet, that the Matrix 6 is a cheap way of getting the coveted sound of the classic big Oberheim’s (OB-X, OBXa and OB-8). That’s not true. They sound nothing alike. It would be the equivalent to comparing the Roland Jupiter 8 and the Roland Alpha Juno’s. They are a world apart.

I find the filter of the Matrix 6 a bit dull sounding and without the nuance of the earlier Oberheim synths. A very open filter setting will leave the sound sharp and digital sounding and a relative closed filter will leave the sound muffled. In fact here the dissimilarities with the classic Oberheim’s become painfully obvious, as they are famous for their silky soft and warm pads at low filter settings. The digital envelopes of the Matrix 6 are also somewhat slow.

The matrix 6 has an advanced matrix modulation system which allows for complex sound creation. You can route just about anything to anything, like on a modular system. I especially enjoy experimenting with the LFO and routing it to waveshape, filter frequency, resonance or another LFO. Anything’s possible.

Despite all of its shortcomings, it’s actually quite a nice synthesizer. Surprisingly I find it best at soft ethereal sounds with bell and piano-like timbres. Sometimes it can almost sound like a Yamaha DX-7 (FM synthesis). It also does brass sounds and filtersweeps quite well. Forget about programming a good bass sound though. It’s decent at best.

The Matrix 6R was later released in a 1 rack unit, the Matrix 1000, with 1000 presets. However the Matrix 1000 is only programmable via a PC/MAC editor and is monotimbral with only a mono output. The Matrix 1000 is also said to sound slightly thinner than the Matrix 6 due to different voice chips and clocking of the oscillators. Lastly the Matrix 6 responds much faster than the Matrix 1000 with external midi controllers.

Audio samples:

Oberheim A short multitrack

Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ J.S. Bach organ piece



Novation Drum Station

As the name suggests this is a drum synthesizer/drum machine. It emulates the sounds of the classic drum machines: Roland TR-808 and Roland TR-909. The Drum Station is a great and cheap way to get the real character of the original drum machines. Samples just don’t do them justice.

Audio samples:

TR-909 A TR-909 beat



Dave Smith Instruments MOPHO

A strange (and ugly) looking desktop synthesizer from Dave Smith Instruments. It’s an actual analog synthesizer in a little box. From the legacy of the Prophets synths. In fact I use it to back up my old Sequential Circuits Pro One synth which has no memory. Dave Smith also designed the Pro One back in 1981. The Mopho is a great analog synth and it’s remarkably cheap. Great for basses, percussive sounds and strange sounds.