u/existilysis_fm

TG33 and DT are carrying the drums, while TQ5 and DN do the lead/pads, and FM1 is on the bass.

It gets a little messy towards the end. I’ll be honest I’ve been caught up on loops lately. An old bandmate of mine has tasked me with writing all the music for a new project and he has a specific vision he is going for. A big aspect of it is that he wants to do like a DJ type of deal, which is new water for me.
I usually write something start to finish, rather than sketch out jams that are then fleshed out live.

I know I have the gear I need, just need to keep working on the approach.

Something like this wouldn’t fly because it is too busy. Though the drums are tight.

All this takes away time from dungeonsynth conjuring…

If you have an FM1 and haven’t played around with this, get on it! Really enjoying the changed UI, makes editing and moving through menus so much easier. Having the global parameters at all times is great, makes the FM1 more viable for performing. Stoked to see what else is possible with this little box. I’m no coder so really am eager to see what else Baud Girl and others cook up for the FM1.

Following up on my lost Odyssey screws (which I found!). Put this beast back together after a few years of it sitting in pieces. I bought two of these back during Covid when they came out, and when I went to sell this one it got damaged in shipping (my fault for not wrapping it better…). Buyer sent it back and I took it apart to see under the hood and maybe fix the damage.

The lowest two white keys get stuck due to the bezel/shell being bent, but other than that it still works great. I didn’t take the whole board off, but it is pretty cool that they put this on one big PCB.

Still sounds great! Odyssey has to be my favorite analog synth. Once you have the controls down, it is honestly a jam machine. Only downside is the size! Would buy a micro Odyssey in a heartbeat if Uli ever dropped one.

I thought my PSS140 was busted but I plugged it in last night and it started right up. Not sure how easy these are to come by at the moment but it’s an excellent little toy keyboard with a ridiculous amount of presets all made from a two-op FM chip and it has drum pads!

It’s a perfect source of samples for my DT1. A little on the noisy side but it definitely cranks out sine waves. Still cycling through all the presets but the Harp, Handbell, and Tom are all excellent. Definitely some weird ones on there too. Wish it could be rigged up with MIDI.

DT1 and TQ5 pictured also.

Picked up this used DT1 recently to replace my old one and set it to work messing with the FM1 last night. I think I was able to run five sequencer tracks into the FM1 with minimal issues. Stoked that the FM1 is getting firmware updates, v15 was a big improvement, it sounds great processed through the DT.

Now just need to load up some more patches, Vangelis 3 here is excellent. Was able to create a nice sci-fi jam to end my night.

If you are thinking about the FM1 definitely pick one up, the sound and functionality for the price is a steal. Build quality is decent too, those keys are just what they are…

Also, now is the time to scoop up DT1s also…

Yamaha TQ5 and ZoomR8. This is all thats left of my gear horde…

If you are not familiar with it, the Yamaha answering machine otherwise known as the TQ5 was an overlooked gem in its days of production. It’s a four op desktop FM synth that runs a similar (I swear it is not the same flavor) sound engine to the TX81Z.

It has L and R outputs, MIDI In/Out/Thru, an onboard sequencer, three available banks of sounds (Preset, User, Card), a nice selection of onboard effects, simplified parameter editing and it is LOUD! It also tells you the date and time, mine currently still thinks it’s 2025.

Also, the form factor is perfectly portable yet durable. The top shell is plastic but the bottom is metal. And this one here has survived almost forty years and it is still kicking with maintenance. I swapped the screen and the internal battery. Easy updates if you are handy with an iron.

I have had so many synths over the years (which are sadly all gone now). But now I am endeavoring to make some fresh dungeon synth and my last remaining TQ5 (I used to have 3) is going to do the job. The sound card I have actually has a preset called Dungeon…

FM is not for everyone I know, but it’s my favorite way to synth. If you are into old synths consider the TQ5, though they are pretty scarce. If you can find one sub $300 jump on it. Screen and battery updates will run about $150 or so, but this thing will do work for you.