In an impromptu chat, Tom Oberheim tells Sam Inglis about his early years as an engineer and his accidental route into creating electronic musical instruments. As he celebrates his 50th year since the launch of the SEM, Tom talks about the rise of digital, the resurgence of analogue and the launch of the new TEO-5.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:26 - An Accidental Engineer
02:46 - Building For Musicians
06:34 - Becoming a Distributor For The ARP 2600
11:05 - Designing The SEM
12:43 - The Filter Design
15:03 - The OB-1 And Patch Memories

16:36 - OB-X - Polyphony And Programmable Presets

19:35 - The Oberheim Sound
22:37 - The Digital Takeover
24:40 - The Resurgence Of Analogue

28:01 - Launching The OB-X8 With Focusrite

29:23 - The Oberheim TEO-5

30:37 - Utilising New Technology

Oberheim Biog
Oberheim is the 21st century return of the legendary company that helped fuel the original electronic music revolution in the 1970s. Now, just as then, Oberheim is guided by the vision of engineer and inventor, Tom Oberheim. Tom’s genius for innovation introduced the world to the first commercially available poly synth and other groundbreaking electronic instruments that literally changed the sound of music.

Today, Oberheim reawakens this extraordinary legacy by bringing the famed Oberheim sound to a new generation of instruments and artists. The company’s passion remains unchanged by time or technology — to once again provide the world with the finest-sounding analog synthesizers ever made.

https://oberheim.com/

Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).

Electronic Music artist Jlin talks about her processes for creating a new work, being ready to tour straight from the studio and staying grounded and focused when your work starts to gain recognition.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:27 - The Journey So Far
03:09 - Using FL Studio
03:50 - Live Performance With Ableton
09:23 - Developing A Sound World
10:51 - Focusing On The Detail
12:12 - CPU: Clean, Precise And Unpredictable
14:55 - Favourite Plug-ins
16:02 - Preparing For A New Project
18:36 - Being Disciplined
21:33 - Staying Humble And Working Hard
23:55 - Preparing For A Tour
26:13 - Stereo Vs Immersive
29:14 - Going With The Flow

Jlin Biog
Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton) has quickly become one of the most distinctive composers in America and one of the most influential women in electronic music. Jlin’s thrilling, emotional and multidimensional compositions have earned her praise as “one of the most forward-thinking contemporary composers in any genre” (Pitchfork). She is a recipient of a 2023 US Artist award and a 2023 Pulitzer Prize nomination.

Her mini-album Perspective was released to critical acclaim on Planet Mu 2023. Her much-lauded albums Dark Energy (2015) and Black Origami (2017) have appeared on “Best of” lists in The NY Times, The Wire, LA Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian and Vogue. Jlin has been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, the Pathos Quartet, choreographers Wayne McGregor and Kyle Abraham, fashion designer Rick Owens and the visual artists Nick Cave and Kevin Beasley.

Her next release, Akoma (Planet Mu March 2024) features collaborations with Philip Glass, Bjork and Kronos Quartet.

https://www.jlintheinnovator.com/

Caro C Biog
Caro C is an artist, engineer and teacher specialising in electronic music. Her self-produced fourth album 'Electric Mountain' is out now. Described as a "one-woman electronic avalanche" (BBC), Caro started making music thanks to being laid up whilst living in a double decker bus and listening to the likes of Warp Records in the late 1990's. This 'sonic enchantress' (BBC Radio 3) has now played in most of the cultural hotspots of her current hometown of Manchester, UK. Caro is also the instigator and project manager of electronic music charity Delia Derbyshire Day.

URL: http://carocsound.com/

Twitter: @carocsound
Inst: @carocsound

FB: https://www.facebook.com/carocsound/

The drum machine has progressed massively since the days of the home organ player. Here Oli Freke takes us through a brief history with lots of audio examples, highlighting the most iconic models to have been released during the last 40 years and the part that they have played in shaping musical trends.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:51 - Early Rhythm Machines
02:57 - The First Korg Rhythm Machine
04:03 - The Invention Of The Transistor
08:02 - Solid State Rhythm Machines
13:48 - Using Drum Machines In Mainstream Hits
17:05 - The First Programmable Drum Machines
21:59 - The Introduction Of Drum Pads And Brains
25:27 - The Arrival Of Digital Samples And The Linn Drum
30:59 - The Era Of Sampling Drum Machines
37:11 - The Impact Of The Roland TR-808 and TR-909
42:54 - Other Notable 80s Drum Machines
44:41 - The Introduction of MIDI
46:51 - Standardised Layouts And Spec
50:12 - Analogue Circuit Modelling And Software
53:45 - Back To Hardware With Eurorack Modular
54:52 - Drum Pattern Generation With AI

Oli Freke Biog
Oli Freke is a London based musician, artist and author who has had a life-long passion for electronic instruments, synthesizers and electronic music. Currently working for the BBC, he has previously enjoyed success with electro band Cassette Electrik supporting the Human League on tour, written music for television and produced dance music since the 1990s.

His Synth Evolution range of posters, celebrating the synthesizer and electronic music culture, launched in 2017 and led to the definitive, hand-illustrated book, ‘Synth Evolution: From Analogue to Digital (and Back)’, featuring every commercial synth of the 20th century.

www.synthevolution.net
www.linktr.ee/olifreke

CREDITS

1. Chamberlin Rhythmate - audio.com (@Drum Machine)
2. Wurlitzer Sideman - Internet Archive (archive.com)
3. Korg Doncamatic - Korg (Germany)
4. Korg Minipops 3 - Corsynth Modular (Corsynth.com)
5. Ace Tone F-1 - @YouAreTheRobots
6. Roland TR-77 - @vintageaudioinstitute
7. Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm Machine - Thomas P. Heckmann (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8mxHfY4vM&t=4s)
8. Maestro MRK-2 - @organ61
9. Korg KR-55 - Steve Porter (synthmagic.co.uk)
10. Roland CR-78 - AnalogAudio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0CHoU24Dis&t=129s)
11. Eko CompuRhythm - Hainbach (https://www.youtube.com/@Hainbach)
12. Paia Programmable Drumset - Thomas P. Heckmann (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2afPnOpv4U)
13. Boss DR-55 - Leonard de Leonard (https://www.sound-provider.eu/)
14. Movement Computer System - @Theccrstudio
15. Pollard Syndrum - recording: Joe Bataan, ‘Rap-O, Clap-O’
16. Simmons SDS-V - Alain Levesque
17. Linn LM-1 - John Diligio (@javd007)
18. LinnDrum - @zibbybone
19. Sequential Circuits DrumTraks - AnalogAudio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhRyEEZCYA)
20. E-Mu Drumulator - @synthmania
21. E-MU SP-12 - AnalogAudio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDpvKBoJjug&t=287s)
22. Oberheim DMX - @synthmania
23. Roland TR-909 - @DoctorMix
24. Roland 707 - AnalogAudio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eRhSRHFkMA)
25. Yamaha RX-11, Casio RZ-1 - @synthmania