Making Music With Iconic AMS Reverbs & Delays!

[@AlexBallMusic]

If you want the RMX 16 impulses in great detail for your DAW then I highly recommend this very authentic pack: inhalt.bigcartel.com/product/townhouse-rmx-ams-rmx-16-impulse-responses

[@Chillnote]

Very funny, I purchased them last week :)

[@AlexBallMusic]

@@jacobgrafstrom1917 That's a patch I made on the Akai VX600. It's from a track that's on my channel. It's just noise + resonant filter sweep + reverb.

[@mistercheetah9717]

I use these all the time... great for what they are but I'd love to see a software version of the RMX that's not prohibitively out of reach like the UAD sh*t.

[@chrisg6597]

That was brilliant. I'm from Burnley and used to work for AMS in the 1980's for nearly 7 years. I initially worked in the test department, so there's a possibility my initials might be on some of the tested stickers on the PCB's inside your units. I then moved into R&D for the remainder of my time with them until I was made redundant along with quite a few other staff in 1990. The daft thing is, it was very rare that we ever heard what the units were actually capable of as all we ever attached to the units was test equipment. I really enjoyed seeing these units being used in this video, as it brought back happy memories of my time at the best company I have ever worked for.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like it was a special time. Sorry that it came to end, but it's often the way.

[@zumazmusic]

You're a tricky guy Alex. You lured us in with the AMS gear but this is really a video about your beautiful song. Cheers!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Stealth promotion. 😉

[@jcepri]

Yeah, trying to get a record contract. You are so transparent, Alex! lol

[@Doctormix]

Awesome video man!

[@AlexBallMusic]

👊

[@hermanmeldorf7529]

I just want to say I love your videos. Thank you for all your work.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Herman.

[@jaggass]

ADT was invented in 1966 by Ken Townsend The Beatles sound engineer at Abbey Road after John Lennon told him that he hated doing 2nd vocal takes so Ken took the audio signal from the playback and recording heads and delayed them slightly creating 2 sound images from one vocal track .By altering the speed and frequencies he could make other sounds as well. Ken created something iconic and the likes of Eventide and AMS took it even further. You just can't beat hardware.

[@RB747domme]

Jerry Boys, who was the lead Beatles sound engineer at Abbey, worked with Ken to define the automatic double tracking to make it sound as natural as possible. They both knew that with the coming stereo era, it had to have a quality that was as natural as if recorded as two vocals panned without any chorusing effect. All 3, Jerry , Ken, and George were a remarkable team. That's when Abbey Road really was an originator and led the world in electronic engineering - when a sound engineer, really was an engineer. But just to add, the DMX does a mean natural ADT. I've just compared it to my H9000, and it sounds better. I got really annoyed doing the comparison!! (My H9000's cost around £6.5k ($9.5k) each, so expected them to sound awesome.. which they do.. but the AMS sounds somehow awesommer.. Such good value at around £5.9k for a mint unit ($8.9k) with a working and clean sounding VCO circuit. If you want loop triggering control, and up to 32 secs of sampling time, expect to be disappointed as these are rarer than rocking horse... But if you are lucky, you will pay around £10k ( If anyone's interested, there is currently a MINT RMX16 for sale in Moscow with remote, for around £7k ($10k) on Reverb. There are a number of units around the world if you search hard enough in moderate serviceable condition for $2-3k. As long as the discrete components are available it is easy to service and clean. If the pro or copro is damaged them it's not so easy. Those components went out of manufacture long ago. Sorry, none of my DMX units are for sale, and neither is my RMX. My advice is to buy an RMX 500 hardware unit. I own one, and I love the sound. You can never have too many DDLs so it warrants its place in the rack. I will be investing in a second one (possibly a 3rd 500 too). It doesn't sound as good, but it's incredibly powerful when comparing other units on the market.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

thats mad about the sampling!!! didnt realised. want one even more now dohhhhhhh

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yeah, pretty cool isn't it! You can record loops and then trim and repitch those too. You'd have a field day with the DMX. No doubt you'd do some crazy mod to it too. 😃

[@cdp2017]

@@AlexBallMusic How much sampling time does the DMX have?

[@AlexBallMusic]

@@cdp2017 I've forgotten but it depends upon the unit as you can upgrade it with more.

[@cdp2017]

@@AlexBallMusic Thanks Alex. Loved the video and song at the end.

[@user-qf4zs6qj4c]

Vocals are pure Dream Academy - Life in Northern Town Awesome vid as ever - these really help lift the darker moods. Thanks and keep them coming!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Glad to hear, thank you!

[@WorksopGimp]

Exactly what I heard

[@replaceablehead]

I literally came looking to see if there were any more precise comments on the ADT settings because I thought it sounded like Dream Academy. I read that David Gilmour used a Quantec QRS and an EMT plate for the reverbs, but there is this particular surreal quality to the space in which the vocals are situated that to me sounded like a very specific delay effect, but because the Eventide ADT effect is so common on 80s recordings I always figured it was something a little different.

[@Md2802]

What a fantastic demo for those units. While there's plenty of demonstrations show us how a piece of equipment sounds in isolation, then in context - very few do it to this level. The song / arrangement is not only appropriate for the effects, it's actually good in its own right. Good sounds are almost always dependent on good musicianship - and you've done these old boxes justice.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thank you!

[@grahamcristie1291]

The DMX was essential when I was engineering in the Eighties, almost every track had sampled drums from it. Another trick was to use the SSL to feedback the signal to opposite channels for ping pong delay.

[@demonicsweaters]

Great work! The track is wonderful too! Reminds me a bit of Mew. Really love the way the drum machine sounds thought the AMS fx.

[@timeremapperegor1249]

Man, I surfed the internet to find someone, sounding that nostalgic as the mid 70s and 80s nowdays, a lot in the past few days. Results are rarely touchin, for me. Even if you own a great pieces of machinery, it won't make anyone a musician with a talent. You really do have a ton of talent, that's the main thing !

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thank you. Nice to know.

[@Bad_Chemicals702]

When COVID is done with, I really hope you can put together some sort of stage show showing off some the equipment you have and some of the songs you’ve made with it!

[@XavierRadix]

I mean, come on... It can't get any cooler than these two units, in my humble opinion. These really shaped the sound of an era we all know and love still to this day. Piece of musical history right there. Oh and may I just add, you don't get enough credit for your singing mate. Those harmonies gave chills.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Very cool units, definitely. Distinctive sounds. I understand the Lexicon and Eventide units are big hitters in the early days too, but I've yet to use any of those classic units. Would love to compare. Singing - thank you. Love a good bit of harmonising. :)

[@XavierRadix]

@@AlexBallMusic Absolutely, Lexicon and Eventide were (and still are) the cream of the crop. But there's just something really special about that "grainy, low bitrate" sound of those old digital AMS units. I'd love to own them all, but don't we all :P. I can only sell one kidney, you know!

[@weissfussindianer]

...I think I'm not the only one thinking, that hundrets of uninspired YT-Video of dudes pressing unpatiently several Buttons on vintage gear and not showing the soul of the "Instrument". In worst case you're watching 17-minutes-videos of an Audiodevice and the guys talk and talk an... do they know that YT-Videos have an Audiotrack, so people could hear what they are reffering about? And there is this video i watched today from this Alex Ball guy and... outstanding. He gives, while he explains interesting facts, usefull audioexamples that give you an idea, a glimpse of what the "instrument" was/is about. So when you listen to the material your brain compares imediatly with the memories which are stored from 70s/80s recording we were listening as kids. ...and if this wouldnt be enough: in a kind of audio-epiloge he puts all the examples together to a track that sounds lie that dream theatre hit. An you know: thats how they did it. respect. you deserved my subscribtion whith this video. Thank You. * kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIiwfHSPh7psp6c

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thank you, that's most kind. :)

[@Barry101er]

I agree-this is a great watch.

[@markusfuller]

I now hit the thumbs up and then watch the video when its from Alex ball.

[@AlexBallMusic]

🙏

[@thetruemrstallings]

Dude! This is mindblowingly incredible. Props to you from a fellow musician.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thank you from a fellow musician.

[@EspenKraft]

Christmas came early this year Alex! I got serious winter holiday feelings from your excellent harmonies here. The RMX 16 is a gem and it's always been my favorite reverb. Used it a lot for years when I had it in my former studio. I can't be bothered with the maintenance these days so I've eyed the series 500 version of it and I might get that later. Great summary! :D

[@AlexBallMusic]

It's a cracking reverb for sure, but the DMX was the dark horse for me. That thing is really special. Much like an Eventide H910 or Lexicon Prime Time I guess. I've been running absolutely everything through the pair of them whilst they're on loan. Will miss them when they go! The series 500 looks very cool, I'd be very interested to demo it if I get an opportunity.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

11:00 you got me hooked mate! 🥰💖

[@fallingmanuk]

Another fab video - I've always wondered what the AMS machines were as they were all over Peter Gabriel's liner notes on PG4 (IIRC) and I read somewhere that the looooooooooooooong reverb on the last note on Who Said I Would by Phil Collins on No Jacket Required was an AMS box too. That song is achingly beautiful though (oh, is that something in my eye?). Have you done a video on the Publison Infernal Machine yet, as that's another legendary box I've always wanted to know what it actually does!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, they can be seen in Peter's studio at the time. There were a couple of others which I think he has too. One was the DM-20 phaser. Publison - would _love_ to find out. They look intriguing.

[@funkyboy3326]

i've seen Lenno use the software version of this a lot on his streams, but was not aware of its historical significance. Thanks Alex!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Ah ha, well now you know why it's a plugin!

[@TheArpomni2]

Wow I've subbed, all you need now is a Marshall Time Modulator, then you have Martin Hannets full tool kit

[@magicspiral3323]

That snare sample re-trig with the delay is wild.

[@amulpatel]

Both of these units have been my cult cravings for years. I loved the altiverb impulses for years now.. it’s crazy but I still think now in July 2020 these units are still not fully recreated in vst or audiounit forms ... maybe UAD has pulled it off but I doubt it. thank you for shining a light on these cult classics

[@hobbified]

Drums through program 10 on that RMX feel pretty late-80s early-90s... I dunno, hip-hop, eurodance, maybe both?

[@wingflanagan]

Yup. Definitely a Phil Collins kind of thing in some of those settings. I can feel it coming in the air tonight! I just hope no one is looking. 'Cause people get arrested for that kind of thing...

[@AlexBallMusic]

Cover it with a drum fill and nobody will notice.

[@markorendas1790]

YEA... RINGO HIT THE ROLL..! *;*

[@ArgumentShow]

Nice Video. I was Martian Hannetts sound engineer. Started working for him when i was 15 years up to about 23 years old. Most of the work was pure experimental leaning more to Phil Spector. 90% or more unused

[@synchro505]

The AMS machines shown in this video look like they went to high school with Eventide machines of relatively the same era.

[@RyanConroyMusic]

Ugh I remember these "platey" sounds as a child and it was like cancer to my ears. Now I appreciate it in terms of it's historical context but I'm still not a fan. Thanks tho for the cool video.

[@alanshewitt]

That processed DX is giving me big 4AD vibes

[@musiqtee]

Memories...! I triggered a full albums worth of kicks and snares with the DMX-16. It was in Jan/Feb 1986, in legendary Polar Studio (A), the downstairs one. Mr P. Ramone had just finished a stint (met him as we came in), and prime minister Palme was shot days after we finished mixing. What a year... 😅👍

[@SanjayC]

Wow that song was so good!

[@forehead84]

10's of £1,000's of equipment. Still sits on a broken chair. Hero. :)

[@AlexBallMusic]

Priorities.

[@st0rmchild]

Who has money for chairs.

[@ReubenSound]

Sooo cool, and nice vocals. Amazing technology for the time. I think you're meant to press those nudge buttons with your elbow for maximum effect. PS. I think your next System 100m cabinet should be a big see-through panel so you can see your computer screen!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Reuben. That 100m is a tad big, yes. Or I should say "was" as it went to Australia some weeks back. Filmed this in bits over a few months.

[@allaboutbookbinding8339]

Great video, Alex. Thanks, as ever, for putting in such a great effort. However, I feel your composition/production is very flattering to the RMX 16, and to the 80s in general. My recollection is more of a decade of inappropriate explosions on 2 and 4, cringeworthy DX7 presets and excruciating sax solos. 😏 And I say that as someone who committed all of these sins! Like most engineers at the time, I was an expert at drum sampling and replacement with the mighty 1580S. Luckily, the studio where I worked had two units - lucky because it meant I could still work while one of them was on its way to or from Burnley to be updated, upgraded or (more usually) repaired! Happy days, nevertheless!

[@jaasmac]

This had me humming 'Life in a northern town" by Dream Academy.

[@derekec]

Great unit, great effects. Problem is I can't stand Phil Collins and that entire related 80's sound......___Fantastic review by the way, thank you

[@markpeters284]

Another excellent and informative video from Alex. Who in there right mind would give this sort of content a thumbs down? This brings back memories and now makes some sense. In around 1987 the band I was in recorded a demo in a local studio (in the next village to Tears for Fears Wool Hall studio (we couldn’t afford to go there)) and the guy running it must of had a 1580 as he recorded the chorus vocal harmonies in it and then dropped them back on the 16 track tape at each chorus. I knew the unit wasn’t a proper sampler but never fully understood what he had done. Thanks for the explanation of these units and rekindling those happy memory’s from all those years ago.

[@AlexBallMusic]

That's very interesting. A couple of my friends recorded with them back in the day and told me the same thing, they'd record brass parts or vocals or whatever and then trigger throughout rather than recording it multiple times. Like very retro copy and paste!

[@kristoferkoessel4354]

The ams dmx is a pinnacle of goth albums, beautiful dark delays

[@leonpage2777]

I would buy that song on CD single, in Our Price Records for £3.50 😊 LONG LIVE THE 1980S

[@PaulBoos]

Sequential in the house! (I love my Tom... Drumtraks is also cool....) Anyway, wow! What an awesome effects unit!

[@briancoyne6700]

Your song reminds me of “Life in a Northern Town”

[@th6792]

Cool! Good sound!! I found the answer by watching your video.

[@simonemghilardi]

I believe the dmx delay was also used by Kraftwerk on Numbers to give drums their trademark sound

[@jakobole]

The Phil Collins sound was a happy accident. Their new mixing board had a "hard-wired" omni-mic in the recording-room ceiling. And this mic also had a simple one-knob compressor om the mixer. Drums were set up in the room, and by accident, the COMP-knob was at "11" when who-ever played started to play....the rest is history

[@occulus2615]

It was the SSL buss compressor if I recall correctly.

[@zibbybone]

Yup, recording the drums for Peter Gabriel's "Intruder".

[@AlexBallMusic]

That's the one. There's an article about it here: www.musicradar.com/features/how-genesis-peter-gabriel-and-phil-collins-stumbled-upon-the-80s-gated-reverb-drum-sound Drums through the SSL 4000 talkback system inspired them to set up that effect with the channel compressors and gates.

[@bassadelica]

Actually SSL Talkback limiter. the story was Phil was hearing an over-compressed sound back in his headphones, calls the engineer in to listen to his mix.. They figured out how to route the drum buss to the talkback limiter to get what he wanted

[@nativeVS]

It required the Townhouse service team and a call to SSL to get a patch point from the Listen Mic Compressor; this was then fed back into a channel and recorded as normal. (Interestingly, whilst looking at pictures of the Townhouse B-Series desk one can see that apart from the routing matrix layout not much has changed in the basic user interface of SSL).

[@bontempo1271]

What settings did you use for the ADT effect on the background vocals ! It's giving me those chills :)

[@PSOT]

Black Magic Trickery😅😅🤙🤙🍻🍻

[@makeperceive]

Such a fantastic song. Seriously. I get that the production style is showing off the AMS sounds but I'd love to hear it with more modern drums, I feel the other parts are great but the drums were holding it back. Nonetheless, that chorus is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the week

[@infindebula]

Great tune Alex. It’s somewhere between The Beatles and The Beach Boys with some 80s production flair. I really like what the AMS boxes do to synths and backing vox. I’d love to hear your take on some real analog-ish synth pop in the style of Dare, and these old AMS boxes seem like just the thing to touch on that kind of sound.

[@Decoy303]

Dude your song really made me feel fucking sad as fuck and cry. Seriously. Beautiful heart touching song.

[@robshrock-shirakbari1862]

Great vid... came for the AMS units, stayed for the great song.

[@JoeyLevenson]

Isn’t the delay runaway sound at the end of Karma Police this delay, as well?

[@loicdesjardinsmusic]

Brilliant as usual. My only concern about your video is the condition of your chair. Is there something we could do?

[@rockyou42560]

I believe brian may used the Delay for pitch things before he used enventide harmonizer

[@colinbeams5467]

Well, it’s official. I can no longer say that I’ve never cried watching a gear video!

[@jaggass]

I have a TC M300 FX unit which isn't too bad.

[@jamesmeeker6933]

Nice demo of the SCI Drumtraks, an underrated unit. I had one for more than a decade. More than a poor man's Linn. That vocal choir example? FANTASTIC. Great work, easily the most respectful display of these classic effects units.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yeah, the Drumtraks is cool. It is very much a poor man's Linn in that actually has some of the identical sounds that were used on the Linn Drum in it. The snare is also the identical Oberheim DMX snare, so it's a little bit cheeky, but I guess 808 sounds appeared in other manufacturers gear so all's fair. Roger Linn actually makes a comment about it in his NAMM Oral History interview, but those guys obviously continue to work together and collaborate on modern classics, so doubt it was a big deal. AMS - thanks, glad I did it justice. Was quite conscious of that as it's a bit "holy grail" in many ways.

[@jamesmeeker6933]

@@AlexBallMusic You did a fantastic job on it. I want to get the AMS reissue sometime in the near future. Snare 'verb for days.

[@nicolaskavvadias8488]

AMS 1580S vs Lexicon Prime Time 93 ?

[@zibbybone]

Great stuff as usual! Worth noting that the AMS delay unit was used on Howard Jones' first two albums (both produced by Rupert Hine) as a sampler to replace drum sounds. I can't confirm, but I'd bet money that it was used extensively for the "industrial percussion" type sounds on "Conditioning".

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yes, it's even specifically denoted in the credits. Love it when they do that.

[@cnfuzz]

anything was better than that lousy drumulator Hine must have thought , the most amazing drumsound he got with the fixx one thing leads to another , a reversed linn open hihat through an eventide harmonizer

[@theodorecupier5920]

I love that it says "Burnley" on the front. I was born there too! 😀

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yes, quite an unexpected location for such a piece of audio history. 😀

[@chrisg6597]

I'm also from Burnley. I was lucky, as I worked for AMS for nearly 7 years in the 80's. I initially worked in the test department and moved on to R&D. It was the best place I've ever worked.

[@Mouxbar]

It all sounded so familiar and then you said Martin Hamnett. Yup! Very cool.

[@nicholasrichardson102]

I wish they'd do a full size reissue, Martin Hannet made me dream of these machines

[@gormlesspissant5872]

to this day i cannot believe that this song was created for a reverb/delay demo video

[@lousekoya1803]

Wow ! Beautiful at the end , love your voice ! Cheers from Quebec

[@puppetsnob]

Very Dream Academy! I keep waiting for the heavy reverb drums and "Hay la mah mah mah" harmony chorus. :) Glad you were able to get these legendary boxes.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yes, does have that vibe. I wonder if they used it? Right era for sure.

[@MrMe4444444]

I heard that in my head too. Bet they did.

[@replaceablehead]

@@AlexBallMusic Quantec QRS and an EMT plate for the reverbs. Also, Gilmour had them playing in some converted barn if I recall correctly.

[@nicefish10]

This reverb unit was the sound of arenas in the 1980s and 90s

[@carlmasondrums]

Can tell your a Andrew whang fan but the vocals at the end aha awesome video dude :)

[@Magnus_Loov]

That ADT-trick @ kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpOchaGdqLiHfZo sounds like it was done by Abba in their 1981 song "Like an angel passing through the room" , kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJKahZt-at1jZ80 (yeah Abba is cheesy to some, but i don't care. In hindsight they made lots of fantastic songs with great arrangements/production, even if this wasn't one of them) But it was probably used (or even abused) a lot at that time. Great song at the end by the way! You are an extremely multi-talented musician! How many instruments do you play?

[@AlexBallMusic]

That's an excellent example. There were a number of units that did it (AMS, Eventide, TC Electronic, Lexicon etc) so it became quite a common effect, although it's _really_ prominent in that ABBA recording. I totally agree, ABBA are/were superb at what they did. It's cheesy, yes, but the hooks, performances and production are top notch. Instruments - I play a few properly and bluff many others.

[@DaveG207]

So here’s a possible little fun bit on it. I was just watching a video about how Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation track can crash old laptop hard drives. That made me curious about how that track was developed and….it’s a Sly and Family Stone guitar loop, stored into an AMS 1580. The loop is a little faster and higher pitched than the original track, so I suspect they liked it but felt it was too slow. Outcome….to have the tempo they wanted the tracker is slightly higher pitch than normal which possibly helped it hit those resonant frequencies that caused the problems!

[@AlexBallMusic]

I saw that very same video, yeah. Hilarious.

[@pyrra]

Me after watching your amazing video : Ok Valhalla reverb, ive got a job for you... 😆 😆 😆

[@eyeball226]

They've pretty much already done it Valhalla Vintage is their "early digital" reverb.

[@keithrichardstaunton]

Are you singing in Gaelic or Latin? Great 😌 job mate!

[@BFBeast666]

This sounds sixty times better than today's minimalist, overprocessed garbage. A genuine pleasure.

[@alexjones4219]

Present bad, past good

[@Mark_Williams300]

I don't suppose you call that room the Ball pit, do you.

[@AxelWerner]

AMAZING performance and demo!! Of course, multitrack recording glues all the bits and pieces together and lets it shine.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Axel. :)

[@blahblah606]

The plate verb with Drumtraks at 3:35 is Minneapolis to the max!

[@groovedealerfeaturing-ashl6476]

This is entertainment for people who make music...yeah! 😁 EXCELLENT video mate, many thanks for posting.

[@Survivor-ng4te]

5:40 sounds like “The Show” by Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh

[@lagirafe1505]

Good trip Alex, thanks

[@TonyAndersonMusic]

Easily the best demo of both units on the internet. Just beautiful. Thank you

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks. I was surprised to find that nobody had done a video like this with these units.

[@TonyAndersonMusic]

Alex Ball I know. Isn’t it wild? So many people fail to use these creatively - hats off. I own the 500 series RMX16 and love it.

[@Nachtuil36]

Vocal harmonies are superb !

[@cnfuzz]

I think it was hugh padgam working with xtc drummer terry chambers that stumbled on the gated drum sound in 78 , padgam also worked with collins after

[@AlexBallMusic]

In this interview, Padgham says it was during the recording of "Intruder" when Collins was on drums. www.musicradar.com/amp/features/how-genesis-peter-gabriel-and-phil-collins-stumbled-upon-the-80s-gated-reverb-drum-sound

[@reneschmidt9799]

editing via the buttons must have been a challenge back then.

[@StefanOlofsson]

This channel is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Perfect edutainment, thanks! We tried to recreate the ELO track Danger Ahead including the special FX (which were apparently done using the sampling section of an AMS DMX 15~80). Wasn't quite able to pull off the exact sound in the computer, the AMS is smoother, but it was a fun exercise.

[@TheKiriru]

Dear Alex! What I really like about your wonderful channel, is the music you make. Truly, your video programs are fantastic in terms of information you deliver and overall production value. That alone is great. But I end up with being eager to hear your music, which I really like to hear more than the gear and all the technology you present. A very talented, educated and sublime it is.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thank you very much! The gear is always a vehicle to make music with and the bit I enjoy the most, so it's nice to know that comes across.

[@guitboxgeek]

Nice tune, Alex! Sounds warm and smooth. I have some impulses from that unit, but seems they don't even begin to capture all it was capable of.

[@utdgrant]

Impulses are great for static environments, but the algorithms in these units depend upon dynamic aspects such as LFOs to create pseudo-random variations with every repeat. You can hear the same sort of behaviour in Lexicon reverbs with their Spin and Wander parameters. Even the very early EMT250 digital reverb had non-linear randomness built into its algorithms to prevent the sound from falling into artificial-sounding static loops. At the end of the day, the impulse response is constantly changing in subtle ways to keep the sound interesting, so a single sampled impulse response won't sound as rich as the free-running algorithm. It's like the difference between playing one note repeatedly on a synth, or playing the same sampled synth note repeatedly - your ears will detect that something's not quite right very quickly.

[@kemek3000]

Come for the history lesson, stay for the beautiful music.

[@mitchelstephen7536]

Very Depeche Mode... Shake the Disease.

[@kirabarsmith9353]

TR-77 with midi? Too cool. You got it going on, Alex, great video as always.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yep, there's numerous ways to do it but I've got the UniPulse kit from Tubbutec which works great.

[@Goettel]

Could have watched hours of this.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks.

[@Fallingoverbackwards]

AMS RMX16 used extensively by Sigur Ros

[@AlexBallMusic]

Was it really, that's interesting. I guess it suits their music.

[@Mark_Williams300]

I'm not crying, YOU'RE CRYING *sniff*

[@AlexBallMusic]

😭

[@uhlectronic]

New favorite channel recently! Inspired to used these techniques with other more accessible effects and check out some IR too!! Thanks for detailed video!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks for stopping by.

[@miiclarky]

So basically the secret is reverb and delay.

[@richardaling5278]

Great for the "Atari-producers". I play real drums and the first one that turns my real sound into this crap has to start running... Fast!

[@AlexBallMusic]

I play real drums too. Love sampled drums, drum machines and synth drums too. Just more sounds to play with.

[@todopoco]

Please which preset was in the minute 2:28!!

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

Excellent demo and song at end! Your vocals reminded me of “Life In A Northern Town.” Meant as a compliment.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Sarah

[@Desmaad]

Why wouldn't it be?

[@bobheatliesongs]

Thoroughly enjoyed this Alex! You Da Man! Btw, a beautiful song. But what microphone are you using for vocals!

[@UnixStudios]

Can’t wait to see what you can do with a Lexicon Primetime

[@robertcaffrey6097]

Thanks for this, great job well done, great singing and harmonies .

[@Ishkur23]

Sounds like something Empire of the Sun would make.

[@AlexBallMusic]

I'd love their wardrobe. Maybe that comes with the units and is lost in the post?