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A live, semi-improvised synthesizer jam performed entirely on hardware.

I'm on an island taking a bit of time to relax and recharge, and have been spending most of my days doing anything but music: reading, swimming, hiking, and so on. I keep the Novation AFX Station up on the island because it's small and because, well, I have more than one mono synth.

But I think I have to bring this thing home with me. The AFX Station (i.e. the Bass Station II) is just such a remarkable synth, maybe the most underrated synth I can think of. A phenomenal sound with two filters and two drives, it can produce a wider variety of timbres than most mono synths, while also having a fantastic layout for patch design, a pretty unique sequencer/arpeggiator that introduces rhythms, a great portable size, and all the other bells and whistles people love (AFX mode, paraphony, etc.). The only thing I wish it had was a "set sound to panel settings" mode. Otherwise, I am regularly impressed with the AFX Station.

I also brought the Vongon Replay with me because it's quite portable and very immediate in its setup. Yes, I know all its flaws quite well, but a small polysynth that sounds good, has everything I need already on the panel, and has a latchable arpeggiator is quite handy. Once I had a sound on the AFX Station, I played an arp, and the song was basically there.

And for effects on the whole thing, the Empress Zoia came through. I also keep this one on the island because it can be whatever effects I need it to be, and because it's extremely flexible with how you set it up for routing. Here, I've set it to have to mono audio signals coming in, and sending a stereo effected signal out, something that most pedals can't do. Plus, Empress makes great effects, and having their delay and reverb at the same time is awesome.

All in all, a very inspiring setup with great results.

Thanks for listening.

Novation AFX Station - Melody/bass mono synth
Vongon Replay - Latched arpeggio with slow attack
Empress Zoia - Reverb, delay, and special sauce on both synths

Performed and recorded live to a stereo input, with EQ, compression, and limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com