Man! That video from Italy was crazy. The host was funny saying turn it off that's enough. He couldn't handle the rave! Thanks for posting this little bit of history of your past. Very cool.
Wow. Reminds me of when I first got into synthesizers & samplers way back in the 9th grade...17/18 years ago. I remember my mad hunt for a Roland DJ-70mkII. Zip Drive & all. Thank you for the nostalgia! Keep on.
This was a real trip down memory lane, Paulo. Your lifetime musical trajectory took an identical one to mine, but from the other side of the planet. From your early influences of darkwave/post punk, to the era we started with electronic synths, the sounds we were familiar with as part of the various genres of our time - it's like I'm watching an anthology of my own musical experiences. I still remember buying my first real synth in '97 - a Roland XP-80. I had been playing them for a while, but mostly my friend's. I lost the XP mid 2003, but have recently been reunited with one, and am digging through my disks recently as well. Thank you for your continued dedication to the music we were raised on, and made throughout our lives. I appreciate what you do here. :)
I was also 20 in 1989 and got my W-30 in 1990, same as you. This video brought back a ton of memories. I had so many boxes of disks! I can't remember what eventually became of it. Wish I still had all of those floppies!
Yup, but after he got his hands on studio equipment he quickly abandoned its sampling feature, but he used it as main sequencer. His last studio track recorded with it was "Firestarter", buy he still used these keyboards on concerts till 2009.
I am 18 years old, Italian too and just now I'm jumping into the synthetizers world, it was nice to hear the story of your first sampler 'cause it's similar to mine! Hope I'll get on your level too 20 years from now!
SynthMania Well I wanted to learn piano so I saved money and bought a basic Yamaha (only special features are velocity and midi in/out) keyboard, then like a year later I discovered what synths are and they were what I had been dreaming of! I had not enough money so I traded some old electronic stuff I I had fixed in order to afford a volca sample and bass. Now I'm reading, whatching videos about it and learning all I can while earning and saving money to buy gear. I think I found something I just love to learn about.
Great video, this is so awesome and inspiring, sounds amazing. I'd never even heard of the W-30 until a couple of days ago, after discovering one of your videos during my search for the ASR-10 and vintage keyboards/sampler workstations. Then just my luck, I found someone locally this evening, selling one online in great condition with the SCSI upgrade and hard drive for $200 bucks. I'm picking it up tomorrow. I will not be able to contain myself and am so excited, i can't believe how great this machine sounds almost 30 years later. Hopefully this will pair well with my Elektron Digitakt when it arrives this weekend. I'll probably hardly ever leave the house now, being so stuck in my 90's nostalgia and sound hoarding. The girlfriend might just end up leaving after all this gear I've been buying recently and that's quite alright by me. She keeps saying I've got an addiction but I tell her at least I'm not strung out on crack or something, 😂 Thanks for sharing this wonderful gem. subbed 4 life. Peace.
This is a great video and story. I really enjoyed the Italian TV Show. That was great. Those samples are amazing. Please make an 80's Italo Disco video about how you got into that style of music. I have you to thank for my interest in making videos and hunting down some of those wonderful 80's synthesizers. :) Take care, Sam.
When I was a teenager, I remember walking by the W-30 in the local music store and just dreaming of having one. Your first techno songs remind me of some songs I did on old tracker programs on PC back in the day (mid nineties), very cool, really brought me back.
Absolutely loved the backstory--especially hearing your thoughts as you listen to songs you made in your 20s. It's really touching, in a way. Thanks for sharing.
Your stories and knowledge are much appreciated! It´s great to hear from someone who was there in "the birth of an era". Listening to your endeavours in getting your hands on a W30 is really exciting - even 25 years later! Your narrative skills and adding the personal stories makes your videos truly instructive and entertaining. greetings from Sweden
This was great. Took me back as this was the exact time period I got immersed in dance music (techno & house). Definitely sounds of the era. Would enjoy more history from your perspective as a musician and producer vs a consumer of the music at that time. I danced to it and DJed into the late 90s early 2000s until my professional life started. Only years later did I begin producing but I still wish to go back and produce this style cause my brain was imprinted with it in my youth. I realize how simple it is now that it is demystified but back then it was magic to the listener.
Haha, grazie, John - eh si', volevo tradurla come "Unheard Of Pump", che sarebbe stato piu' fedele all'originale, ma non avrebbe molto senso in lingua inglese - percio' ho cambiato un po' il termine di Lory D in un modo che ha piu' senso in inglese, ma il significato resta quello comunque. Salutami la patria
That's quite the collection! Excellent video, btw! I've used a W30 since the early 90s (just used it in my latest release). I'm doing the backlight replacement finally so I'll be able to actually read the screen again!
What's so amazing Paolo is that the same thing was happening in Italy at the same time it was happening in America. I understand it Paolo , that video blew your mind. Thank you sir, you just opened my eyes to another part of the world that I didn't even think of as far as house music. I Noticed the cap on one of the performers... BROOKLYN in the house.... I was born in Brooklyn, NYC... PS, in 1989 I was 30!
SynthMania that's not possible I knew there was a connection I grew up on Park Place in Park Slope Brooklyn between 6th and 7th Avenue. My older sisters went to John Jay High School. I find this to be an incredible coincidence wow. We may even have crossed paths in Prospect Park this is unbelievable.
I'm from the same era, but growing up in Australia ,roughly the same age I'm guessing. I always loved all things electronic and various different technologies, working in electronic stores then onto photography based industries . And although I never played, I collected synths, samplers and all sorts of MIDI and electronic instruments. Purely from a love of the equipment, like any art collector would do (yes I'm eccentric). Starting mid 80's to early 2000's. In my collection of 70+ keyboards/Racks I have many Rolands, nearly every one they ever made. But I do have some equipment by Korg, MOTU, ARP, Yamaha, Crumar, Alesis, M-Audio etc. I stumbled across your videos while trying to recall information lost a long time ago in my aging brain. While watching I had an epiphany, somehow you flicked a switch in my grey matter asking the most simple question, one I should have asked myself nearly 40 years ago, and now I can't understand why it never came up beforehand. Why haven't I used them, or at least tried to learn the basics. Well watching you perform so well, while reminiscing to the same wonderful patch of time my best memories come from has spurred me to. At the very least give it my best valiant effort. The odds are against me, and I might (probably will) fail miserably, but I just wanted to thank you for the inspiration to try!! From the bottom of my heart, a most truly honest " Thank you"..or more correctly "Grazie Infinite"
Da Beagle, thanks so much! I am grateful I can spark some good "vibe" of inspiration! It's never too late, and you won't fail - just have fun making some cool music - there are no rules, ply and record what makes you happy ;)
I've been binge watching all your videos lately, really great stuff! I love seeing all your hardware and the stories that come with them. Keep up the good work my man!
Wow, great vid - from your intros, to your bass lines, to the Italian video excerpt and storyline backgrounds you give - very engaging. Not only are you a resourceful musician - you are such a gifted communicator too!
This keyboard definitely brought back some memories. I didn't have this keyboard, but one of my friends did. I remember doing some house music using a Korg Poly61 and a W30
Just ran across this video. My first sampler was the W-30 as well. I bought if off of my friend back in 1992. I recall the first time I ran into the sampling time limitation and I decided to sample my records at the fastest pitch possible then slowing it down on the W-30. I sold it a couple of years later and bought an EMU ESI4000.
I didn't know Lory D until you mentioned him. Just listened some of his sessions from 91-92, really cool stuff. I missed that music back in the day, used to listen to hip hop, drum and bass and house in the 90s.
Great history! :) I traded my mother's piano for an Ensoniq EPS sampler keyboard in 1991. Don't have that anymore, but I bought an EPS 16+ while ago. Still have many floppies for that.
I remember one of my friends back in the early 1990s, mockingly and cynically putting together rave / techno tapes for other people to listen to. He just threw in any old shit and could not believe what he could get away with, because people just thought it was amazing. My friend obviously hated non-music like this, and the rest of the time would make proper music like rock, metal, jazz, classical etc. I also remember going in to recording studios at that time, and the producers / engineers were so relieved to have bands like ours in, e.g. anything so long as it was not rave / techno / acid / house music. They used to share stories about the rave acts that had been in previously, and shake their heads in disbelief at what the music scene was becoming. I wonder what they wouuld think about the situation today!
> My friend obviously hated non-music like this, and the rest of the time would make proper music like rock, metal, jazz, classical etc. So he had a provincial taste?
Your friend either deeply loved that music or was straight masochist if he was recording these casettes. Anyway many Rave acts at the time were formed by rock or session musicians (KLF, 808 State, Lords Of Acid, Juno Reactor, Meat Beat Manifesto, Fatboy Slim).
I think he only did it for a short space of time, mainly just to have a laugh and prove a point to himself and friends like myself; he has a strong sense of humour and a quietly cutting wit; he is definitely not a masochist but is a smart minded person. He's also very talented on keyboards (his mum taught Classical piano), Bass guitar, flute, saxophone, guitar and other instruments. It took very little effort to produce those tapes, which was also part of his point, e.g. the genres were so lacking in musical depth and integrity, that they took very little time, musical skill or knowledge to create unlike other well respected genres would do. I've not seen him for a couple of years, so I might pay him a visit and chat about old times.
While agree this music is easy to start getting in, to become respected artist you have to gain a lot of experience on various techniques of sound synthesis, audio processing, mixing and of course decent composition skills (even when your tracks are minimalistic). Different virtues than in rock scene.
wowsers, makes me wanna string together some of my own house/Rave/Dance/Tech type tunes from `89 - `92 for a video that were and have remained in utter obscurity since then !
Fascinating story. I've no doubt I would have loved Let The Beat Control Your Body back in the day. Another great video on a great channel. I'm off to check out some of your others now.
You have an amazing talent.... You should put some of your songs on CD so we can buy them.... I would still play some of this in my Dj set. Keep doing what you do and always keep living the dream.
Really nice video! It's good to see things from the origins, meaning the years and gear. I had Amiga 500 and started in 1990 with it, soon got some gear around. Your first track here is pretty similar than my first techno tracks, style wise. I like the classic techno, it was new and hot because of the technological possibilities and the underground nights. I wish I had a sampler in the 90's! Now I have a few :D
Nice to put a face and voice to the videos (if you did before, I haven't looked that far back)! Also interesting to learn we're the same age! I got into synths in the 80's, but never really got into techno that much, though. I like some techno, but not the super repetitive stuff. I especially liked the first 2 W-30 songs you showed. I only had my Atari ST as a sequencer back in the day, so can't really replay some of the stuff I did way back when without the same equipment.
Great u started storytelling recently!!!! My 1st sampler was an S550... with 8 outputs... u mentioned that samler too yes ...even the discs are more or less the same if I am right. Yes it took ages to load them. I had an Atari, a little mixer and one keyboard and tonns of CDs I ve got from friends and I just went trough all just to get a snare... a kick... from scratch... then I built a library.... The 8 outputs I used even for stereo delaying... all done cleverly without an actual delay I'd have in those days.... Probably u had the same hooks and tricks with all your stuff u used later. Yes, sampler.... It was a magical word! And it did change my life too!!!! :) I am happy being your viewer!!!! :) (One more thing: I did not pay for the sampler actually for years!!!! I had from around 95 when it's price was 500 euros, so I just ask the man in the shop to give it me... and he did!!!! I was the happiest man on Earth!!! :) )
yes , they all are compatible. I have the w30 since 1992 , and it was a very helpfull instrument , particully for techno live acts. If it is true that the quality of the samples is not the best , but this machine has a particular and unique punch , that is incredible,and makes it perhaps more interesting if you for exemple compare this one whith the samplers from Akai et the same period (s950/s1000). As the sample rate is 15 khz mono but you have 8 outputs , I sampled one time the left channel,and one time the right channel,and assigned two outputs to obtain a reconstituted stereo,and it worked fine like that. I played many techno live acts , whith only the w30,and a quasimidi RAVEN Max.As my W30 was upgraded whith the kw30 kit,it allowed me to use a scsi old makintosh hard disk , that was much faster to load the sounds and the midi sequences.It is a very good workstation that made me spend hours and hours.I never regret to have it,and even if now, I don't use it anymore , I keep it forever, and will never sell it.It is like a museum piece , whith a huge sentimental value.It is also typically one of the synths of the "new beat music" in the beginning of the 90's.
Excellent video. You should definitely make more vids on the history and anecdotes of that era. I wish i bought W-30 instead of XP-50!! They were the same price, but there was not GS back then to ask ppl for advice. I still feel the frustration to this day. :)))
Hehe - thank you, Don! Yes, I have a lot a lot of episodes to tell... some can't be told :-D but I'll add more soon. The XP-50 was a great board! Although yes, if you wanted to sample, the sampler was the most coveted thing - you're right, I wish we had had the Internet. That's why I created the website and channel, my original intent has always been, and still is, to help out if I can a little bit the younger generations ;-)
very honourable intent!! love your videos...although i'm a guitar/bass player thanks to my idol, I'm very interested in the fat and warm sounding 80s analog synthesizers like the roland juno, the kurzweils and the oberheim ob-x's (van halen :-) ) and such... i like your demo-ing of all the equipment and your good explanations and certainly all the cool entertaining stories of the past. greets from the euopean neighbourhood germany
Hopefully you will read my comment :) hey bro i had been watching some of your vids! awsome channel! love the 90s vibe in your tracks :)... I love gabber / early hardcore music, will be insane if u upload a demo about how they did it back in the day! big thanks for share this videos!🤟🏼💿
Great video Paolo! I am liking these latest videos showing and hearing you talk. I'm pretty new to Synths myself and came across your channel a few months back. I didn't look back at much of your older videos so for months I always thought that you were just a pair of hands playing. :-)
Thank you ! My three kids told me I need to be more social ;-) And I pay a lot of attention to what they say, so new year's resolution is to get better at social media and try to help people out on my TH-cam channel directly
This was so cool!! Thank you so much for putting together this video and sharing the story behind your first sampler. Much Appreciated. Great tunes too :) The first techno song hit me like a sledge hammer with all those classic sounds from robot techno shouts and break beats to air ride sirens :D Awesome! I hope you do more of these videos where you share the story behind some of your synths. I would especially love the hear the story behind your JP8 and legendary drum machines liek 808, 909 and so on. Keep up the great work!
Thank you - will do! Many people ask me about the '80s as well, in particular Italian dance music of the era, so I definitely plan to do a video on the JP-8, TB-303, TR-909 and TR-808 soon
Hehehe, thank you so much, Riccardo :) YEs, I remember the sights and smells of the record stores too ;) Back in the day I used to go religiously to Goody Music by Piazza Del Popolo for Techno / Dance records (and I see it's still open!) and to another one called "Disfunzioni Musicali" in San Lorenzo for my "other" half of the brain, more dark / alternative - but I see that one has closed down :-( That's too bad, that was really a funky, old school record store a la "Clockwork Orange" record store icecream scene - but anyway, those were my two favorite record stores in Rome - good times, good times.. ;)
Back in the early 90s my friends and I were creating mixtapes for a dj, just on analog tapedecks and mixers. But you were already digital on the legendary W-30. Great stuff!
I like Fierce Ruling Diva. We got into the same music, classic early 90s rave Techno music. In L.A around 1991, techno music started to get big. 808 state, Utah Saints
6:28 Me la ricordo benissimo quella puntata de L'istruttoria condotta da Giuliano Ferrara (trash TV più che approfondimento). Lory D si mise pure a discutere con un cardinale intervenuto in trasmissione che accusava il Dj di fare del sofismo di bassa lega. La discussione degenerò, il socio di Lory D alle tastiere si mise a suonare quando parlava il prelato. Ad un certo punto Ferrara dovette staccare il cavo di alimentazione della tastiera. Scena spassosissima. Cmq fu anche per me la prima volta che sentii parlare su una tv nazionale della musica house e techno, anche se in seconda serata.
Have you gotten around to cataloging your collection? I doubt it but on the off chance you're around Minneapolis I'd be more than happy to listen to you talk in exchange for helping you out! You're absolutely brilliant, love you channel! Keep it up!
This reminds me my W30 time too, it was also in 1990. It was my first keyboard. I also spent nights and days. Some tracks are on Jamendo artist IsmailT made mainly with W30 and TX802. Greeting from France.
Dude, these tracks fucking kill it!!!! Sorry for the swear. Reminds me a lot of Hardsequncer's "Brain Crash" album... so awesome that those discs still work, too.
Oh man.. Hardsequencer. I remember him doing great tunes on the Amiga at the same time I was in the demo scene and I was so thrilled that he used the Amiga for it :) The days of Soundtracker, Protracker etc. Really powerful tools if you knew how to use them.
thank's for sharing those memories and mixes, yeahs time slips away faaast as i remember those styles of techno in 90s. i prefer track2 as i was more into house music.
Best Synthesizer Channel on TH-cam! You are very talented!
Way too kind- thank you!
no its true
I agree ! Just so legit..
Torrente The Synth Godfather.......
Man! That video from Italy was crazy. The host was funny saying turn it off that's enough. He couldn't handle the rave! Thanks for posting this little bit of history of your past. Very cool.
could you pass the link of the video?
cheers
That Tv appearance was hilarious! ^^
I thought so too.
hello
06:27
I meant that *I was the one who put those subtitles there. The original video doesn't have any, so I wanted to specify that I did that.
Thank you for all great content :) much appreciated
My pleasure!
I've watch3d this about 7 times since
Wow. Reminds me of when I first got into synthesizers & samplers way back in the 9th grade...17/18 years ago.
I remember my mad hunt for a Roland DJ-70mkII. Zip Drive & all. Thank you for the nostalgia! Keep on.
This was a real trip down memory lane, Paulo. Your lifetime musical trajectory took an identical one to mine, but from the other side of the planet. From your early influences of darkwave/post punk, to the era we started with electronic synths, the sounds we were familiar with as part of the various genres of our time - it's like I'm watching an anthology of my own musical experiences. I still remember buying my first real synth in '97 - a Roland XP-80. I had been playing them for a while, but mostly my friend's. I lost the XP mid 2003, but have recently been reunited with one, and am digging through my disks recently as well. Thank you for your continued dedication to the music we were raised on, and made throughout our lives. I appreciate what you do here. :)
I was also 20 in 1989 and got my W-30 in 1990, same as you. This video brought back a ton of memories. I had so many boxes of disks! I can't remember what eventually became of it. Wish I still had all of those floppies!
Ha - very cool, Scott! We are birds of a feather...
I like your vids since years. Pleas sty here as long as you can!
@7:24
Best quote in music history
"people don't realize that this type of music can only be appreciated a a certain volume"
80s & 90s were the best decades for music :-)
What a blast from the past :) Appreciate this video, please keep doing you
The W-30 was the sampler that launched Liam Howlett's career.
Yup, but after he got his hands on studio equipment he quickly abandoned its sampling feature, but he used it as main sequencer. His last studio track recorded with it was "Firestarter", buy he still used these keyboards on concerts till 2009.
B1SCOOP trainspotter 😁
jtl909 or was it the prodigy?
The Prodigy's 1st albums were best, I ADORE Jilted Generation and Experience! :)
I am 18 years old, Italian too and just now I'm jumping into the synthetizers world, it was nice to hear the story of your first sampler 'cause it's similar to mine! Hope I'll get on your level too 20 years from now!
Well, then you have to tell us your story, now :)
SynthMania Well I wanted to learn piano so I saved money and bought a basic Yamaha (only special features are velocity and midi in/out) keyboard, then like a year later I discovered what synths are and they were what I had been dreaming of! I had not enough money so I traded some old electronic stuff I I had fixed in order to afford a volca sample and bass. Now I'm reading, whatching videos about it and learning all I can while earning and saving money to buy gear. I think I found something I just love to learn about.
Cool to get the "behind the scenes" story on your interest and gear...
Thank you
Fascinating video. Blast from the past!
When you did the slap bass playing, I was like whoah!!!
Great video, this is so awesome and inspiring, sounds amazing. I'd never even heard of the W-30 until a couple of days ago, after discovering one of your videos during my search for the ASR-10 and vintage keyboards/sampler workstations. Then just my luck, I found someone locally this evening, selling one online in great condition with the SCSI upgrade and hard drive for $200 bucks. I'm picking it up tomorrow. I will not be able to contain myself and am so excited, i can't believe how great this machine sounds almost 30 years later. Hopefully this will pair well with my Elektron Digitakt when it arrives this weekend. I'll probably hardly ever leave the house now, being so stuck in my 90's nostalgia and sound hoarding. The girlfriend might just end up leaving after all this gear I've been buying recently and that's quite alright by me. She keeps saying I've got an addiction but I tell her at least I'm not strung out on crack or something, 😂
Thanks for sharing this wonderful gem. subbed 4 life. Peace.
I'd initially found you through Italo Disco searches, but it's super cool to hear that you have Hardcore roots too!
I'm a 16 year old fl studio producer... it's very cool to hear your storys and to see how it worked in the only 90s
You should uploud the best disks/songs on soundcloud or something like that
This is a great video and story. I really enjoyed the Italian TV Show. That was great. Those samples are amazing. Please make an 80's Italo Disco video about how you got into that style of music. I have you to thank for my interest in making videos and hunting down some of those wonderful 80's synthesizers. :) Take care, Sam.
Hi Sam, thank you, I will definitely do an '80s Italo Disco video very soon!
Awesome. I look forward to it. :)
When I was a teenager, I remember walking by the W-30 in the local music store and just dreaming of having one. Your first techno songs remind me of some songs I did on old tracker programs on PC back in the day (mid nineties), very cool, really brought me back.
first raw sounds of techno music. they bring memories
Please play the Seinfeld bass part on this beautiful machine. I suspect it is the same sound they used. Keep up the great work. love the channel
That bit of Italian TV was awesome, and your first techno/rave track still sounds good, it's got that real unpretentious fun party vibe.
SYNTHMANIA IS THE BEST CHANNEL ON TH-cam.
Absolutely loved the backstory--especially hearing your thoughts as you listen to songs you made in your 20s. It's really touching, in a way. Thanks for sharing.
Thank *you for watching
Fascinating story thank you for the flashback !!!!
" Let the beat control your body " = great, great, great track ! Shedding a tear in the dancefloor !!!
Your stories and knowledge are much appreciated! It´s great to hear from someone who was there in "the birth of an era". Listening to your endeavours in getting your hands on a W30 is really exciting - even 25 years later! Your narrative skills and adding the personal stories makes your videos truly instructive and entertaining.
greetings from Sweden
This was great. Took me back as this was the exact time period I got immersed in dance music (techno & house). Definitely sounds of the era. Would enjoy more history from your perspective as a musician and producer vs a consumer of the music at that time. I danced to it and DJed into the late 90s early 2000s until my professional life started. Only years later did I begin producing but I still wish to go back and produce this style cause my brain was imprinted with it in my youth. I realize how simple it is now that it is demystified but back then it was magic to the listener.
I'd love it if Roland did a boutique version of the W30.
La "pompa inaudita", grandissimo Paolo! Vedere un video più personale come questo è davvero interessante, saluti dalla Sicilia.
Haha, grazie, John - eh si', volevo tradurla come "Unheard Of Pump", che sarebbe stato piu' fedele all'originale, ma non avrebbe molto senso in lingua inglese - percio' ho cambiato un po' il termine di Lory D in un modo che ha piu' senso in inglese, ma il significato resta quello comunque. Salutami la patria
Watch and learn kids, this is how it was done in the early 90's. Fantastic video .. brings back memories!
That last track is such a throwback! Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Love the story here. Thanks.
Thank *you for watching
MAN THIS IS LIKE A REALLY INSPIRING VIDEO I loved "let the beat control your body"
That's quite the collection! Excellent video, btw! I've used a W30 since the early 90s (just used it in my latest release). I'm doing the backlight replacement finally so I'll be able to actually read the screen again!
What's so amazing Paolo is that the same thing was happening in Italy at the same time it was happening in America. I understand it Paolo , that video blew your mind. Thank you sir, you just opened my eyes to another part of the world that I didn't even think of as far as house music. I Noticed the cap on one of the performers... BROOKLYN in the house.... I was born in Brooklyn, NYC... PS, in 1989 I was 30!
Glad you enjoyed it! My wife is from Brooklyn too - Park Slope. In 1989 I was 20 :)
SynthMania that's not possible I knew there was a connection I grew up on Park Place in Park Slope Brooklyn between 6th and 7th Avenue. My older sisters went to John Jay High School. I find this to be an incredible coincidence wow. We may even have crossed paths in Prospect Park this is unbelievable.
great sounds, 1991 was a top year for new sounds, still love them sounds!
That TV program was amazing
Thanks for all vids... W30 Remind me ... First time with sampling... First time in studio recording ...First tracks ... ;)
Amazing Collection of sampler and sampling!
I'm from the same era, but growing up in Australia ,roughly the same age I'm guessing. I always loved all things electronic and various different technologies, working in electronic stores then onto photography based industries . And although I never played, I collected synths, samplers and all sorts of MIDI and electronic instruments. Purely from a love of the equipment, like any art collector would do (yes I'm eccentric). Starting mid 80's to early 2000's. In my collection of 70+ keyboards/Racks I have many Rolands, nearly every one they ever made. But I do have some equipment by Korg, MOTU, ARP, Yamaha, Crumar, Alesis, M-Audio etc. I stumbled across your videos while trying to recall information lost a long time ago in my aging brain. While watching I had an epiphany, somehow you flicked a switch in my grey matter asking the most simple question, one I should have asked myself nearly 40 years ago, and now I can't understand why it never came up beforehand. Why haven't I used them, or at least tried to learn the basics. Well watching you perform so well, while reminiscing to the same wonderful patch of time my best memories come from has spurred me to. At the very least give it my best valiant effort. The odds are against me, and I might (probably will) fail miserably, but I just wanted to thank you for the inspiration to try!! From the bottom of my heart, a most truly honest " Thank you"..or more correctly "Grazie Infinite"
Da Beagle, thanks so much! I am grateful I can spark some good "vibe" of inspiration! It's never too late, and you won't fail - just have fun making some cool music - there are no rules, ply and record what makes you happy ;)
Roland W-30 was my first sampler too. I did not remember after many year until I've seen your video. Later I got a Korg 01/W that I still own.
this was great. i wish more people would make videos like this about where they come from.
This takes me back to my Akai 900. I paid like 100 US dollars for it back then because everyone wanted a MPC2000 lol. I enjoy all your videos.
I've been binge watching all your videos lately, really great stuff! I love seeing all your hardware and the stories that come with them. Keep up the good work my man!
Thanks!
Wow, great vid - from your intros, to your bass lines, to the Italian video excerpt and storyline backgrounds you give - very engaging. Not only are you a resourceful musician - you are such a gifted communicator too!
x iLeon, thank you!
Another awesome video!! I'm so glad I found your channel!
Merci pour tous ces trésors.
This keyboard definitely brought back some memories. I didn't have this keyboard, but one of my friends did. I remember doing some house music using a Korg Poly61 and a W30
Just ran across this video. My first sampler was the W-30 as well. I bought if off of my friend back in 1992. I recall the first time I ran into the sampling time limitation and I decided to sample my records at the fastest pitch possible then slowing it down on the W-30. I sold it a couple of years later and bought an EMU ESI4000.
I didn't know Lory D until you mentioned him. Just listened some of his sessions from 91-92, really cool stuff. I missed that music back in the day, used to listen to hip hop, drum and bass and house in the 90s.
Clonk was actually a track on Warp Records by Sweet Exorcist in 1991. Great track too :)
Great history! :) I traded my mother's piano for an Ensoniq EPS sampler keyboard in 1991. Don't have that anymore, but I bought an EPS 16+ while ago. Still have many floppies for that.
Nice! Clonk and Pippo Baudo are tight! Thanks for sharing
Legendary times, indeed! What a magic Era..........
i have a W30 too and find this video makes me want to sequence on it again. thanks
damn bro i never realised you were so good iv just been skooled love it and your vids are always informative
I remember one of my friends back in the early 1990s, mockingly and cynically putting together rave / techno tapes for other people to listen to. He just threw in any old shit and could not believe what he could get away with, because people just thought it was amazing. My friend obviously hated non-music like this, and the rest of the time would make proper music like rock, metal, jazz, classical etc.
I also remember going in to recording studios at that time, and the producers / engineers were so relieved to have bands like ours in, e.g. anything so long as it was not rave / techno / acid / house music. They used to share stories about the rave acts that had been in previously, and shake their heads in disbelief at what the music scene was becoming. I wonder what they wouuld think about the situation today!
> My friend obviously hated non-music like this, and the rest of the time would make proper music like rock, metal, jazz, classical etc.
So he had a provincial taste?
He likes certain genres yes and because he dislikes anything repetitve or loop / rhythm based which is a defining thing in many electronic genres.
Your friend either deeply loved that music or was straight masochist if he was recording these casettes.
Anyway many Rave acts at the time were formed by rock or session musicians (KLF, 808 State, Lords Of Acid, Juno Reactor, Meat Beat Manifesto, Fatboy Slim).
I think he only did it for a short space of time, mainly just to have a laugh and prove a point to himself and friends like myself; he has a strong sense of humour and a quietly cutting wit; he is definitely not a masochist but is a smart minded person. He's also very talented on keyboards (his mum taught Classical piano), Bass guitar, flute, saxophone, guitar and other instruments.
It took very little effort to produce those tapes, which was also part of his point, e.g. the genres were so lacking in musical depth and integrity, that they took very little time, musical skill or knowledge to create unlike other well respected genres would do.
I've not seen him for a couple of years, so I might pay him a visit and chat about old times.
While agree this music is easy to start getting in, to become respected artist you have to gain a lot of experience on various techniques of sound synthesis, audio processing, mixing and of course decent composition skills (even when your tracks are minimalistic). Different virtues than in rock scene.
wowsers, makes me wanna string together some of my own house/Rave/Dance/Tech type tunes from `89 - `92 for a video that were and have remained in utter obscurity since then !
I used an Akai s950, Jupiter 6 and an M1.....
Mate! bless you.... may you be blessed for life!
Fascinating story. I've no doubt I would have loved Let The Beat Control Your Body back in the day.
Another great video on a great channel. I'm off to check out some of your others now.
QUADROPHONIA!! HOLY...!! Those guys made some bad ass tracks! Great taste!
You have an amazing talent.... You should put some of your songs on CD so we can buy them.... I would still play some of this in my Dj set. Keep doing what you do and always keep living the dream.
Really nice video! It's good to see things from the origins, meaning the years and gear. I had Amiga 500 and started in 1990 with it, soon got some gear around. Your first track here is pretty similar than my first techno tracks, style wise. I like the classic techno, it was new and hot because of the technological possibilities and the underground nights. I wish I had a sampler in the 90's! Now I have a few :D
what a great tracks
Nice to put a face and voice to the videos (if you did before, I haven't looked that far back)! Also interesting to learn we're the same age! I got into synths in the 80's, but never really got into techno that much, though. I like some techno, but not the super repetitive stuff. I especially liked the first 2 W-30 songs you showed. I only had my Atari ST as a sequencer back in the day, so can't really replay some of the stuff I did way back when without the same equipment.
I love how there's a juno 60 just casually leaning against the wall in the background!
that's a load bearing synth.
Great u started storytelling recently!!!!
My 1st sampler was an S550... with 8 outputs... u mentioned that samler too yes ...even the discs are more or less the same if I am right.
Yes it took ages to load them.
I had an Atari, a little mixer and one keyboard and tonns of CDs I ve got from friends and I just went trough all just to get a snare... a kick... from scratch... then I built a library....
The 8 outputs I used even for stereo delaying... all done cleverly without an actual delay I'd have in those days....
Probably u had the same hooks and tricks with all your stuff u used later.
Yes, sampler.... It was a magical word! And it did change my life too!!!! :)
I am happy being your viewer!!!! :)
(One more thing: I did not pay for the sampler actually for years!!!! I had from around 95 when it's price was 500 euros, so I just ask the man in the shop to give it me... and he did!!!! I was the happiest man on Earth!!! :) )
Nice score on the S-550 - yes, the sounds from the S-50, S-550, S-330, W-30 are all interchangeable
yes , they all are compatible.
I have the w30 since 1992 , and it was a very helpfull instrument , particully for techno live acts.
If it is true that the quality of the samples is not the best , but this machine has a particular and unique punch , that is incredible,and makes it perhaps more interesting if you for exemple compare this one whith the samplers from Akai et the same period (s950/s1000).
As the sample rate is 15 khz mono but you have 8 outputs , I sampled one time the left channel,and one time the right channel,and assigned two outputs to obtain a reconstituted stereo,and it worked fine like that.
I played many techno live acts , whith only the w30,and a quasimidi RAVEN Max.As my W30 was upgraded whith the kw30 kit,it allowed me to use a scsi old makintosh hard disk , that was much faster to load the sounds and the midi sequences.It is a very good workstation that made me spend hours and hours.I never regret to have it,and even if now, I don't use it anymore , I keep it forever, and will never sell it.It is like a museum piece , whith a huge sentimental value.It is also typically one of the synths of the "new beat music" in the beginning of the 90's.
"Let the beat control your body". Awesome tune!
Story-time with Synthmania. I can now rest easy.
Amazed that your floppies still work! Interesting video. Nice work.
I love techno music. Nice acoustic drums with electric drums. Best of both worlds!
Excellent video. You should definitely make more vids on the history and anecdotes of that era. I wish i bought W-30 instead of XP-50!! They were the same price, but there was not GS back then to ask ppl for advice. I still feel the frustration to this day. :)))
Hehe - thank you, Don! Yes, I have a lot a lot of episodes to tell... some can't be told :-D but I'll add more soon. The XP-50 was a great board! Although yes, if you wanted to sample, the sampler was the most coveted thing - you're right, I wish we had had the Internet. That's why I created the website and channel, my original intent has always been, and still is, to help out if I can a little bit the younger generations ;-)
very honourable intent!!
love your videos...although i'm a guitar/bass player thanks to my idol, I'm very interested in the fat and warm sounding 80s analog synthesizers like the roland juno, the kurzweils and the oberheim ob-x's (van halen :-) ) and such...
i like your demo-ing of all the equipment and your good explanations and certainly all the cool entertaining stories of the past.
greets from the euopean neighbourhood germany
lol.. i just bought those 2 synths today! i payed about 150 euro for the xp-50 and 200 for the w30 and a korg 05r/w
Hopefully you will read my comment :)
hey bro i had been watching some of your vids! awsome channel! love the 90s vibe in your tracks :)... I love gabber / early hardcore music, will be insane if u upload a demo about how they did it back in the day! big thanks for share this videos!🤟🏼💿
I rarely comment, but I enjoyed this video so much! Including the Giuliano Ferrara TV Show :)
Grazie Paolo!
Grazie a te!
Great video Paolo! I am liking these latest videos showing and hearing you talk. I'm pretty new to Synths myself and came across your channel a few months back. I didn't look back at much of your older videos so for months I always thought that you were just a pair of hands playing. :-)
Thank you ! My three kids told me I need to be more social ;-) And I pay a lot of attention to what they say, so new year's resolution is to get better at social media and try to help people out on my TH-cam channel directly
This was so cool!! Thank you so much for putting together this video and sharing the story behind your first sampler. Much Appreciated. Great tunes too :) The first techno song hit me like a sledge hammer with all those classic sounds from robot techno shouts and break beats to air ride sirens :D Awesome!
I hope you do more of these videos where you share the story behind some of your synths. I would especially love the hear the story behind your JP8 and legendary drum machines liek 808, 909 and so on. Keep up the great work!
Thank you - will do! Many people ask me about the '80s as well, in particular Italian dance music of the era, so I definitely plan to do a video on the JP-8, TB-303, TR-909 and TR-808 soon
Great to hear that there is also 80's edition on the radar. Thank you for the reply :)
Yes, I love the 80's Italo Disco. You introduced me to all that wonderful music. I really appreciate it. :) Take care, Sam.
this is a great story
Paul, thank you
You are so cool for sharing all this music and this information
Thank you thank you thank you
I have a Korg Poly 800 on the way ... I am excited :)
Ciao Paolo, i have just bumped into your channel and i'm totally in love with your channel! you are my new Idol, please make more video!! Sei un mito!
By the way i used to go to Via Del Fiume near piazza del popolo to buy records...i can still remember the smell of that store..fantastic!
Hehehe, thank you so much, Riccardo :) YEs, I remember the sights and smells of the record stores too ;) Back in the day I used to go religiously to Goody Music by Piazza Del Popolo for Techno / Dance records (and I see it's still open!) and to another one called "Disfunzioni Musicali" in San Lorenzo for my "other" half of the brain, more dark / alternative - but I see that one has closed down :-( That's too bad, that was really a funky, old school record store a la "Clockwork Orange" record store icecream scene - but anyway, those were my two favorite record stores in Rome - good times, good times.. ;)
The one i used to go was called REMIX in via del fiume but is closed down now..:-( I wish to have a friend like you to learn from on daily basis
SynthMania Do you remember Best Records in Via Vodice? Best Italo Dance times..
Che tempi!! I D50 in cntinuazione con gli S1000 Akai e i campioni a manetta!
C'è anche Jo Squillo!! :-D
Bel video! Complimenti Paolo!
Grazie di cuore!
:-)
The guitar sound in 'Let The Beat Control Your Body' sounds like its from Golden Eye on the N64.
I think it's sampled from Run To you by Bryan Adams
Back in the early 90s my friends and I were creating mixtapes for a dj, just on analog tapedecks and mixers. But you were already digital on the legendary W-30. Great stuff!
I like Fierce Ruling Diva. We got into the same music, classic early 90s rave Techno music. In L.A around 1991, techno music started to get big. 808 state, Utah Saints
6:28 Me la ricordo benissimo quella puntata de L'istruttoria condotta da Giuliano Ferrara (trash TV più che approfondimento). Lory D si mise pure a discutere con un cardinale intervenuto in trasmissione che accusava il Dj di fare del sofismo di bassa lega. La discussione degenerò, il socio di Lory D alle tastiere si mise a suonare quando parlava il prelato. Ad un certo punto Ferrara dovette staccare il cavo di alimentazione della tastiera. Scena spassosissima. Cmq fu anche per me la prima volta che sentii parlare su una tv nazionale della musica house e techno, anche se in seconda serata.
Have you gotten around to cataloging your collection? I doubt it but on the off chance you're around Minneapolis I'd be more than happy to listen to you talk in exchange for helping you out! You're absolutely brilliant, love you channel! Keep it up!
Thanks a lot for sharing this story
So nice. Thank you so much for this and the time you took to share it.
Thank you
Thanks for sharing... great stuff!
THat ol scool techno song of yours, is pretty neat! All the classic samples in one song! LOL. Im buying one of these myself now. Thanks. W-30 it is...
just found this channel.
legend!!
wow my jaw dropped when u started playing that sampler
The W-30 was my first sampler, too. I really loved it!
This reminds me my W30 time too, it was also in 1990. It was my first keyboard. I also spent nights and days.
Some tracks are on Jamendo artist IsmailT made mainly with W30 and TX802.
Greeting from France.
I like that!
Dude, these tracks fucking kill it!!!! Sorry for the swear. Reminds me a lot of Hardsequncer's "Brain Crash" album... so awesome that those discs still work, too.
Oh man.. Hardsequencer. I remember him doing great tunes on the Amiga at the same time I was in the demo scene and I was so thrilled that he used the Amiga for it :) The days of Soundtracker, Protracker etc. Really powerful tools if you knew how to use them.
Broooooo!!!!!!! The W-30 was my ax too!!!!!!! I loved that workstation, I have to find another one because I still have floppy disk.
thank's for sharing those memories and mixes, yeahs time slips away faaast as i remember those styles of techno in 90s. i prefer track2 as i was more into house music.