The Most Beautiful Synth Of ALL TIME???

Both #andrewhuang and I recently received delivery of some large scale synths. Andrew beat me to the chase claiming his synth was the most beautiful in the world. In this film I challenge that notion with an absolutely colossal beast by #analoguesolutions . Indeed it is actually called "The Colussus" by Analogue Solutions. I put it immediately to work making a free sample the "12 oscillator doom drone" for you to put in your own music. But I also possibly uncover the most beautiful synth that neither of us own nor will ever?
CONTENTS:
00:00 Intro
00:52 Whats It All About
01:58 Setting Up A Patch
07:45 So How Does It Sound?
08:27 Why Did I Make This Investment?
09:13 Making The “DOOM DRONE”
10:07 Playing The Free Doom Drone Sample Pack
10:47 The ACTUAL Most Beautiful Synth Of All Time
AFRORACK: GO AND DONATE!!!! www.afrorack.org/
Check out Andrew's video here: • The World's Most Beaut...
...and here's Andrews insanely gorgeous synth: www.makenoisemusic.com/synthe...
All about the colossus: www.analoguesolutions.com/col...
Get your free "DOOM DRONE HERE": www.pianobook.co.uk/library/1...

[@andrewhuang]

Amazing. Looking forward to all you do with Dave!

[@nateratliff3718]

@@wellshouston2869 bruh

[@harrisfrankou2368]

Great channel you have Andrew.

[@DaveChips]

Il behave... I promise xD

[@SharpblueCreative]

£26k - not as expensive as I thought it was going to be. Beautiful

[@steveclem7873]

Dark cider moom tiktok

[@fivewattworld]

That has to be THE most expensive new set back drop I’ve ever seen. :)

[@MartinRuss]

I think you will find that the wrap-around Volume LED screens (1,326 of them) used on The Mandalorian virtual set cost slightly more than Colossus/Dave...

[@RobFlaxMusic]

@@MartinRuss Yeah, but they're digital. ;-)

[@Wizoomi]

@@RobFlaxMusic :-))

[@dasczwo]

Stop it, i wet myself. Evil internet people joking all the time…

[@jackspring7709]

9:24 - now that's what I call the 70's experience - the designers even included Milton Bradley's 'Battleship' game on the interface :D

[@fruscai]

this is such an underrated comment 🤣🤣😂

[@xpez9694]

g7 major.. let the ship drop...

[@awpMusic1]

I’d never be able to sneak that in! 😂

[@graphenemusic5922]

True :))

[@dasczwo]

Wonder how many get stolen during live gigs

[@pedterson]

I don't have the synth ear to properly appreciate the finer differences in sound (this synth's filters vs. others), but the whole apparatus with the knobs and the dimly lit VU meters, and the grid with the pins... blimey... it makes me feel all tingly inside. PS: Thanks also for the sample. The synth version of "pulling out all the stops". Come to think of it, there are actually a lot of parallels between big church organs and a synth of this magnitude.

[@lucasdrake946]

I thought at the beginning when he was sweeping the lo and hi pass filter with resonance cranked it was extremely evident how different and “more” this synth has... they sound like nothing I’ve heard.

[@pedterson]

@@lucasdrake946 I'm sure it's obvious to anyone who listens to or plays synths regularly. I don't, so to me it's not.

[@kasperv967]

I have no idea how this all actually works, but I'm extremely happy it exists.

[@fusion-music]

Do a search for "no input mixing" and have your eyes opened. Maybe you can produce these sounds with what you have already.

[@ColinBenders]

I’ve been eyeing this synth for a while now. there’s so much potential in this system. Would take some time to understand it all but it really looks appealing to me. Will definitely follow your progress if you post more of these!

[@zbsfm]

Colin you would smash it with one of these things I'm sure! (Been really enjoying your system diaries recently)

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

It's just way to big in size for Me to ever have one even if I had the cash.

[@_goldfarb_]

Thanks for taking one for the whole team! We've all been curious about the Colossus but would never be able to have a play - and few, if any, of the people who bought this amazing synth would ever show much of it to the public - but I'm sure we'll be seeing it used often here on your channel. And thanks so much for the Doom Drone!

[@DobsonsLab]

Love the shoutout to Afrorack here!

[@unisonosc1617]

@7:56 "drops $30K on synthi 100 clone, writes new Eurythmics hit" :D in all seriousness what a great piece of hardware, thanks for taking us in for a look and listen.

[@robstand]

Red pins are 10K resistors. Use them primarily for mixing audio and "multing" CV. For example, for all 12 oscillators, use red pins to the filter. Black pins are 0K and you can use them for CV and audio.

[@F0nkyNinja]

took a few minutes to realize you wrote Black pins are Zero K, and not Black pins are OK

[@zbnmth]

it twisted my stomach that he just heaved £30K at the machine and apparently didn't even read into what properties his goodies have. -.-

[@orfious]

I am slightly envious of all the ridiculous amounts of fun you will undoubtedly have with that machine... and also very excited to use the samples.. I just discovered Labs samples and pianobook a few weeks ago, and it has opened up so many possibilities as an artist on a shoestring budget.. much love 🙏

[@Fluxwithit]

Support for afrorack, instant like and subscribe! Also the AS colossus is such a beautiful synth. Well done Tom

[@AynenMakino]

I'm always happy when another Modular Monday comes along! (Whether it's Monday or not...) My modular journey started, in part, because of you! I hope to see loads more episodes in this series!

[@stevenabarsotti8566]

Fun demo of the monster synth, loved enthusiasm. And lovely bit at the end there, I am eager to find out more about them! Thanks for sharing that.

[@chriswareham]

I was lucky enough to see the EMS Synthi 100 that probably inspired this beast. Tom from Analogue Solutions was restoring one, that if memory serves was acquired from a university music department. I assume the experience of restoring that monster is what lead him to create the Colossus. The EMS reminded me of that other analogue giant, the ARP 2500, that was also found mostly in university music laboratories. Fascinating to hear the Colossus in action - I can also recommend Alex Ball's video where he produces a brilliant track on an ARP 2500.

[@Tarnith]

Great video, what a beautiful synth. Looking forward to all that you do with it, and thanks for highlighting such a cool charity

[@MusicoElectronico]

The Colossus is such an amazing machine! And yep... beautiful initiative the one by afrorack! Thanks for sharing.

[@sunilsolanki]

Sounds absolutely immense, congratulations on your new arrival!

[@rasheedthomas1249]

Dude! Those samples are CRAZY! Thank you so much. Love them

[@keiththeodosiou]

WOW! Everything about this video is just WOW! Thanks for the amazing sample,i will be busy with it as no doubt you will be busy with this synth!! lol

[@tomgreaney1901]

I was so touched by the message at the end. Good video

[@AnalogKitchen]

Every video I watch from you tells a story. One of you being an industry professional, you being sincere in every aspect and I am lucky that I can watch you talk shop. Nice one Mr Henson

[@brunswicklord6365]

The Moog synth was something of an icon during my teenage years in the seventies. We nerdy types used to discuss the pros and cons of monophonic and polyphonic keyboards and listen for hours to the likes of ELP. I fondly remember our school buying a synth and going to the lunchtime demo in the music department. I did eventually see Keith Emerson and his monster synth in a live performance many years later. I ended up working in dentistry at an educational establishment and the University invested in a huge high tech teaching aid. It could be described as a 3D virtual phantom head and it allowed students to drill away virtually on 3D teeth with the full feel of doing it for real and I am almost certain it was manufactured by Moog.

[@MH44444]

What a fat sound it has. Very cool. I like seeing you going deeper into the modular synth stuff as well as the support Spitfire is giving to more experimental music and sounds.

[@starsky101]

I’m so looking forward to hearing some ‘never heard THAT sound before’ stuff coming out of Dave. He truly is a beast!

[@ISOTROPOSPHERE]

AS has outdone themselves with Collosus. A next gen Synthi 100, awesome.

[@techslfink9722]

WOW What a sound🤯 - and what a beauty🤩 And I love the concept of AfroRack!

[@terrymiller111]

10:12 "Might as well JUMP." Out the window. That is sinister!

[@TheNimasan]

ive alwyas been a fan of Analogue Solutions. but this thing here is beyond words. not only the most beautifuly synth ive ever seen. it is also the most beautiful piece of ferniturte i have ever seen. absolutely tremendous!!!!

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

Loved this video!!! For the record, I was very much enjoying the sequence before you shut it off. :)

[@Raggo12345]

I never clicked so fast before... These samples sound fantastic! :D Thank you!!!

[@mariolanderosmusic]

Wow! Thank you for letting us know about Afrorack.

[@jokreg8232]

Thank you for this video and for the Kontakt free insturment! Dave sounds amazing *__*

[@houdinididiit]

How did I miss this video? Fantastic Christian. Thanks! 👏

[@Danbjazz]

Excellent video Christian!

[@nataskunas]

P.S. Incredible to see that you got this, sitting down to such a monumental work of art should feel incredible. Wonder what outputs it will gift you

[@keysthomas1966]

Gift to US I cant wait to play that 12 osc super drone!

[@jppagetoo]

Oh my! When they announced that synth it was made of unobtanium and priced like it. Congrats on getting one of those. It will be like the GX-1 and future synth that is rare and so very desirable. Can't wait to see you put it to use.

[@abstractdrumz]

Thanks very much for the download, I am definitely going to be using the doom drone in my next mad amen jungle/d&b track

[@JohnLaRuffa]

This is such a sweet sound! Love it!

[@moralboundaries1]

I'm so glad people are still making these enormous synthesizers in the vein of the EMS Synthi 100 and the ARP 2500. Incredible machines. No way I'll ever own one but I'm glad they exist. I'm waiting for the day someone invents the pinboard where the deeper you push the pin in, the stronger the modulation/signal routing gets. Wouldn't that be something!

[@NickHchaos]

Hmm, you could do that in a eurorack systems with some force sensing modules connected to one of the matrix modules, such as the (much more sophisticated than a physical pin matrix) Alyseum MS Matrix. I’d say you would rarely need such a thing on every connection, a few force sensing inputs would suffice for when you need it.

[@AudioCheck12]

its coming With MPE and Midi 2.0 out now its only matter of time I use my ipad to trigger MPE currently

[@seancooper967]

Oh my. I just got a SYNTRX (synthi AKS) which is amazing. This is beyond all levels of amazing. Congrats!

[@kieran369]

That is freaking awesome! You have a proper unit there!

[@jloiben12]

Pin matrixes are absolutely the way to go. It is a shame that they aren’t really practical for most non-prebuilt systems

[@noiseontape]

That's awesome, have fun with it. Thanks for the samples, and taking the time to do that. Much appreciated. Cheers.

[@gregjanes474]

Sounds most excellent. Thanks for sharing Christian. You are having fun...lol.

[@mingwingming1999]

“A bit floppy down there” Oh Dave 😂

[@H3aling808]

Boy in a band Dave will remember that.

[@boballmendinger3799]

That's a gorgeous piece of kit!

[@fermiLiquidDrinker]

For me personally, this is definitely the most beautiful synth of all time. It's not as retro as the synthi 100, but sonically it doesn't make a difference

[@MikeUIibarri]

Excellent. Start to finish.

[@IceLocus]

Christian, I love when you talk modular! I'm going to run this drone through my Eurorack! 👊😁🤓🙌

[@buckyBitBoy]

Sounds really amazing!

[@rhys_thomas_davies]

Seeing how happy this makes you honestly makes my heart sing! 😂

[@PORRFNK]

One of my first synths was an Analogue solutions, I used it too much, so I was thinking, nah man, I will sell it and get something else for my sound palette . One month later, I missed it so much I had to get a new one. Got a really good deal. I dont intend to make that mistake again. Just wish ASOL had legato over midi. Wish the Nyborg12 was still available to purchase, would love to own one. Such a shame that UK is not in the EU anymore, the prices has gone up and I can no longer afford to support ASOL :( I asked Tom a million times if he could please do the Telemark filter in euro, and suddenly one day it was there, this is my favorite filter in my euro case, it doesnt have all the bells and whistles, but the sound, mmmm wow. Congrats on this beast, as a sound designer this makes good sense to own. I would like to hear more patches and demos in combination with drum machines... if you are up for that? I found that I could get some really good dnb basses out of the Telemark when I had that, not that these are the sounds I am particular interested in but it impressed me quite a lot. Not a big fan of the MN aesthetics, I can understand that some people like it, and also its a completely different synth than this one.

[@stefika]

Wau . This is crazy cool synth. What an elegance beast.

[@christdolphin69]

that is maybe the best sounding osc>filter i've ever heard

[@TheJoi123]

Wow! I remember seeing Deadmau5 drooling over this on a livestream. Sure enough he bought one!

[@jamesbarels469]

Big fan of the products that Analogue Solutions put out. There seems to be a true love of analogue circuitry in the designs. And many of the people that dig such things seem to be able to make some really wild sounds that I most certainly can get down with. Looking forward to hearing what you do with this, good sir.

[@j3ffn4v4rr0]

"I'm going to sample the bejeezus out of this." woo-hoo, thanks Christian!!

[@astian_sebus]

This is more I"ve ever dreamed of and so much more! The most beautiful oscillators I've ever heard, the most beautiful filters I've ever heard, the most beautiful spring reverb I've ever heard.... And all in STEREO (sometimes it almost seems like its binaural... simply incredible)

[@sonicindustries227]

lol. Calm down

[@astian_sebus]

@@sonicindustries227 maybe i should

[@NickHchaos]

Sure they’re nice, but I can think of a half dozen oscillators off the top of my head that sound as good or better and do more in some cases in eurorack: AJH, ACL, Furthrrrr, MacBeth, Cwejman, Steffcorp..

[@jayunito]

You know the oscillators are good when even my phone speakers can make my head vibrate.

[@marklovatt1545]

Anticipating some great evolutions, good luck Christian!!!

[@jamesbarels469]

That is the most beautiful synth in the world. I must be thankful that I am not eligible for such an instrument and those who are may learn to express and share their stories. As human beings, it is the stories that we tell that shape who we are. The various waveforms, cycles, and changes that we go through all give us a different perspective to offer. It would be great to see in the future a video on a person who was able to explore their love of sound, learn to be creative, share their story with their community, and reaching far corners of the globe from this action.

[@Rebel101]

You are incredible! Thank you!

[@uremawifenowdave]

“You sank my battleship!!!l”

[@dougsignorovitch1493]

BRAVO, Outstanding 🎶👍

[@LeeBlaske]

Dave is an impressive looking piece, and it appears to be very well crafted. I was in on synthesizers from the early days and spent a lot of time on an ARP 2500 with matrix patching. It's nice to not have the cable clutter. What fascinates me about Eurorack today, though, is all the developers making some truly amazing modules that I only have the time to partially understand and explore (and obviously, some digital spin is what makes these newer modules capable of doing some wild things). For me, the drawback of Dave would be having a lot of the same thing and less serendipity and magic, because I believe I would totally understand what everything in Dave does. I'm going to be really interested in seeing what you create with it. To me, even though it has a lot of iterations of various modules, I would think it might have sonic limitations. I hope you prove me wrong. Having logged in a lot of time years ago with the purist analog stuff, I do like the newly enhanced modules with some digital integration. I find I can take a couple of modules, a couple of patch cords, and quickly be in some pretty crazy and interesting territory. In the old days, with pure, basic analog stuff, it was harder to come up with something truly different, and it took a LOT of time.

[@TheMachinesWon]

Not gonna lie I subbed to see u play this more, a bunch more!

[@awpMusic1]

I'd love a studio tour of all the synths on your rack in the background.

[@rickyschiebner8670]

Simply incredible.

[@olik136]

I have nothing to do with music to be honest... but the visual design of this piece is so pleasing to me... I literally want my kitchen cabinets in this design.. everything in my office... the entire house..

[@oyoyoyo7624]

Good idea!

[@tonye9045]

Used to live near Tom and bought his sample CD’s when he first started AS. He’s come a long way!! 🤙

[@Tijlcresens]

The sound😍😍😍. So warm

[@humanerror3139]

Can I have a go? Looking forward to hearing more of that wonderful machine.

[@beyondthegong]

Just one of Tom’s oscillators is freakin’ incredible.. I can’t even imagine what it’s like standing in front of twelve of them.

[@onephatcat]

Wow looks so much better in your vid than on analog solutions website!

[@stenlyspa1325]

this video makes my day!!!!

[@space_mans]

the second you switched all the oscillators on it felt like a door opened into space, just so much *room* in that sound

[@spadogs]

Very nice looking cabinet.

[@SRDhain]

That sounds LOVELY! It reminds me a little of my system 100 set (NOT the 100m), with the spring reverb in the mixer, lovely filter(S) and the serial parallel sequencer. This is obviously a grander, more complex, 12 oscillator beauty. Tom's a genius and i think he's based the design loosely on a synthi 100 : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMS_Synthi_100 I think Daniel Miller (Of Mute Records) still owns his. I know Jack Dangers had one, and used it on an album, which is somewhere in my CD archive. The radiophonic workshop used them on a lot of things, such as Dr Who, and again, I have the DR WHO soundtracks on a specially compiled BBC CD in the archive too. The original system probably used a variation of the DK3 keyboard for the VCS3, and the keyboards on this look like something from a Buchla style system. I can remember Tom was recommended to me by another friend of mine, who sold me my first system 100 (Which ended up being sold to a guy who came all the way from france to buy it). I wanted to buy two of something he made at the time (cant remember which one it was...a SEM style thing? A vostok?) for live gigs AND for soundtrack use. I think that he only had one in stock, and the lead time was 4 weeks or something, and so i bailed. In any event, he was amiable and helpful. Lord knows what i bought instead :-D Thank you for sharing this & i hope you have enormous fun with it.

[@SRDhain]

Btw, I love how you're supporting afrorack. That's giving forward a gift that can't be bought; the gift of sound, music and joy.

[@progrockrules]

That actually gave me goose-bumps.

[@epso9944]

So you get to make music AND play Battleship?! Love it

[@mattwesney]

funny seeing this after getting aperture the stack...Dave is a beast!

[@mrjack92]

amazing sounds, but that doom drone sound was just like any synth I could pull out of serum tbh

[@claudianreyn4529]

I don't think so! This sound is beyond any digital emulation.

[@urphakeandgey6308]

@Claudian Reyn Sure, keep telling yourself that. Digital has a come a long way and the chances you'll hear the difference *_in a mix_* is basically non-existent... Unless you're gonna tell me about your "amazing hearing" and how you can "hear the soul" or some shit.

[@martingoldmannmusic]

Started drooling after 25 seconds :)

[@Mark_Ocain]

This thing reminds me a little of the EMS synthi 100 to look at but it's certainly something else altogether - More musical for a start!!. One of these must cost a bomb !! A lovely synthesiser, mate :-)

[@StefanoLanzavecchia]

Well actually (:-) sorry...), according to Wikipedia less than the EMS Synthi 100: 100k £ in 2020 money versus 26k £ for the unit mr. Henson bought.

[@hiding_my_name]

Analog Solutions makes some nice sounding gear. I'm glad to see they are still pumping out some pretty respectable gear.

[@joelaplaca1546]

Greetings from London! You lucky man! Dave is indeed the 'second' synth in the world. I used to have DigiSound 80 ( modified by AS...I used to live in Penzance). I had to sell it 15 years ago, one of the most regrettable thing I've ever done. I may get it back though......

[@vancouvermusiciansassociat139]

Awesome!

[@adubmusic]

"You sunk my battleship!" (will that ref. only catch people of a certain age and only in North America?)

[@chriswareham]

Maybe only people of a certain age, but Bill & Ted were hugely popular here in Europe. And yes, I had a full on robot chubby looking at the Colossus.

[@JohnMassari]

LOL

[@cubecubesson6779]

Battleships was really popular in England 👍

[@JohnBillington]

OMG this is awesome! A lifetime of synth music could come from this. I would buy studio time on this puppy. How many have they made?

[@nosecondlost]

Excellent.

[@FrankyGun]

Wow!!! Keep up the amazing work!!! Love and light from Khao Lak, Thailand 🇹🇭 ☀️🏖🌴🥥🐘🌈

[@BILLY-px3hw]

you sunk my battleship

[@TudorIrimescu]

I got goosebumps listening to this machine of pure distilled fucking brilliance. Might be my new dream synth

[@vakula5500]

Amazing synth

[@Kyle-wb7wx]

That was really cool.

[@MrRayinsf]

Wow. Beautiful.

[@batterymakermarkii2654]

That is one gorgeous instrument

[@AndreaGiordaniComposer]

WOW! What a beauty! 8:00 moment THE SOUND!!!! I believe I've travelled :) Thank you, Christian for sharing your experience with us. Can't wait to play with the sounds!