Sixteen Candles
A poppy little tune featuring a consumer portable keyboard from the 80’s, the Yamaha PSR-16. This little gem is a consumer-grade FM synth from the same family of synthesizers as the Yamaha DX-7 (actually, it has more in common with the DX-11). Sandwiched in are a couple of rhthym patterns, a bass sound, piano sound and bell sound.
Catch the Square Wave
This song grew out of a “getting-to-know-you” session with a new thrift store find, the Yamaha PSR-225. This music education-focused Portatone keyboard from 1998 has many sounds and styles which hold up surprisingly well after all this time.
Bontempo Arpeggio
Here’s a spotlight song featuring sounds and rhythms sampled directly from a very old Bontempi Minstrel Alpha keyboard, complete with built-in aging electronics buzz.
The Night Train to Vertiform City
No Way Out
Here’s a tune that takes a lot of twists and turns. Just when you think you’ve figured out the pattern, it throws you a curve and you land right back where you started. It’s the musical equivalent of the Windows pipes screensaver.
Return of the Arp
This song grew out of a couple of loops from Looperman.com after a search for “beatbox” loops. The actual beatbox ended up in the background, but an arpeggiator of bells came up in that search too, and it made the song.
PSS-11 Funk Jam
This spotlight song features the itty-bitty Yamaha PSS-11 Portasound keyboard. This sample-based tone generator from 1986 has a “jam” section of prebuilt patterns that you can play along with. This song is based on the “Funk” jam preset and also features two PSS-11 tones: a piano/vibraphone combo and a flute. A few more layers from a couple o’ Korgs and we’re all set.
Kettle Pop
What’s My Name?
This tune started off with some playtime using the Podolski VST plugin on a patch called “Hard Rez Rave”, a lovely arpeggiated sound. For the rhythm section, we have a beatbox-style loop from Looperman user ‘attackyak’ supported by a 3-layer bass.
