Featuring the Roland V-1HD – showing how I used it with my synths and gear!

Video showing how I reseated the EPROMS in the Ensoniq ESQ-1 to fix an intermittent fault.

The fault:

The ESQ-1 would crash/lock-up and emit a high-pitched tone.  There is no response from keys or menu buttons. Restarting (power cycling) didn’t fix the issue. Synth then needed to be turned off and left for a few days before it was usable again.

The fix:

Make sure the battery isn’t faulty. Test with a multimeter and ensure that the voltage is 3V

Using an IC puller – carefully remove and re-insert the two EPROM chips (shown in the video).

Test to see if this fixes the problem.

Hope this helps

Checking out the new firmware 1.1.0 for Behringer Deepmind 12 synthesizer. Looks like it is getting ready for polymode with the new Deepmind 12D and Deepmind 6 models coming out. There’s a few other bells and whistles:

► Poly Chord
► Chord Mode
► Ping pong delay
► Favorites
► Key range for chain-parameter
► VCA-MODE parameter “transparent” and “ballsy”
► and I might have found a small bug with the iPad app

Checking out the latest 2.0 firmware from Arturia for the BeatStep Pro controller & sequencer. But are these updates what we have been waiting for? Have they fixed the major issues? What are the new features like – do they work?

The video tests out MIDI timing, drum part mute, Korg Volca sync via sync cable, randomised octave pitch, Korg Volca Sample drum channel allocation and more – finished off with a little jam (of course)!

Hooked up to the BeatStep Pro are: Korg Volca Sample, Korg Volca Bass, Korg Volca FM, and Korg Volca Keys.

I’m using both MIDI and Clock Sync connections to synchronise the devices.

Link to cheatsheet: https://www.arturia.com/images/products/beatstep-pro/BeatstepPro-CheatSheet.pdf

This is a quick look at 3 ways you can use the digital channel on the Roland MX-1 mixer.

Part 1 – the basics – camera gear for first timers

This is a video series on how to do music gear videos (or just gear videos). Part one is the basics.

Part 2 – lets do a recording – lets use multiple cameras!

Part 3 – the little jam:

Ever wondered what to do with the 12 individual outputs on the Arturia Drumbrute? Same, so I took a look. At the same time I grabbed the Presonus Studiolive AR16 analog mixer – which boasts an 18 channel digital USB audio interface. Perfect for the job!