After bumping into Nigel Bradbury in a Facebook group, there's a correction to make in the backstory. Nigel actually worked at Mark's studio, rather than being brought in my James: _Your infomation is pretty accurate apart from....James was/is one of Mark's long-standing associates and used to visit the studio a lot which is where I met him too. Us three went into business together as I had the design, Mark had the studio and music biz contacts and James had an electronics workshop in west London where we could make them. James also did the PCB layouts and organised getting them made._ _Another engineer and friend of Mark and James who used to visit the studio and workshop quite a bit was the late Vic Keary - I worked with him quite a bit on valve compressor prototypes which eventually evolved into his Thermionic Culture designs._
@hjhkjhre454554
Жыл бұрын
I went to see Mark to talk about becoming an in-house engineer at his studio, he had a DDA AMR24 console that I knew inside out. I didn't fancy the hours and no time off that i enjoyed being freelance. I did however agree to take a Mutator to show Neil Davidge in Bristol at the time he was producing Massive Attack (who i'd previously done a few sessions with.) My salesperson skills were so bad he wasn't particulary interested at the time, but then got one a year or two later. Would have been 96 maybe....
@TheDavidPoole
Жыл бұрын
How'd you get italics in a KZitem comment?
@philthompson5968
Жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for the mention! Thought I'd been forgotten. Nigel's Jonny Greenwood model had a custom rocker pedal input & Custom pedal, it was the only one with that mod made. We used to listen to XFM in the workshop and final test was run the radio through it, after a year or so it became difficult to tell if it was the Mutator on the track on the radio or the Mutator on the bench. I still have mine but also have the plugin which I feel does a pretty good job of it. Other users, all-round legend Andrew Wetherall & Keith Tenniswood had 2, The Orb, loads of units were sold through Sabresonic Studios & Rotters Golf Club studios. Theres actually a Two Lone Swordsman track called "We Love Mutronics".
@robkinnison902
4 ай бұрын
Hi Phil I was just about to comment that I knew the dude who built these!! I hope you are keeping well? Are you still in touch with Gary?
@haydenduvall162
Жыл бұрын
Alex, you continue to underline why you have one of the best channels on The Tubes with stellar content like this. Bravo!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Hayden, much appreciated.
@jhowe5571
Жыл бұрын
Yes, and making us all desire to have all of that cool gear!!! 🤩😅
@chriskelvin248
Жыл бұрын
Agree
@thebkstank2095
Жыл бұрын
Dude, the little throwaway examples you're showing off are absolutely fire this week. Fantastic stuff.
@qbaseden
Жыл бұрын
100% agree, I usually find examples in these kinds of videos a bit of a let down...yours are on point, very convincing.
@freightlorris9624
Жыл бұрын
@@qbaseden wish he would do whole tracks out of this
@ProgressorMusicAcademy
Жыл бұрын
Totally agree!
@deastman2
Жыл бұрын
I still go back just to listen again to the theme song from “S2400 Video Manual 2.0” 😂
@RJJNY
3 ай бұрын
I'd still like to buy Demo 4 on 12"
@TheMachinesWon
Жыл бұрын
That daft filtering section and demo 5 were awesome, great video!
@thaJeztah
Жыл бұрын
Demo's in this episode are on another level; demo 2 is just 👌👌👌👌😍
@mogilnyfirefly
Жыл бұрын
Totally agree - in fact, i wanna here a record full of his stuff 🙂
@MeriaDuck
Жыл бұрын
@@mogilnyfirefly check out alex' band camp, quite a few albums full of fun KZitem and other demos 🤣. Personally I liked the daft filtering demo quite a lot too.
@mogilnyfirefly
Жыл бұрын
@@MeriaDuck ThanX man 🙂👍
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks all!
@philthompson5968
Жыл бұрын
@@mogilnyfirefly Just about any Two Lone Swordsmen track
@MICHhimself
Жыл бұрын
Holy moly, _every single demo_ in this video is an absolute banger. Beatiful work.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@keithmurray9241
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic No... REALLY... I could sit around and listen to your demos all day!!
@jacobsteel
8 ай бұрын
I KNOW!!!!! :) So good! :)
@masterragebaiter
2 ай бұрын
Chill out. He’s playing with knobs.
@kenschestok9515
Жыл бұрын
that funk jam at the end as a whole with or without the mutator was smokin'!!
@wingflanagan
Жыл бұрын
I've been a subscriber for many years, and I have to say, you have really gotten your groove on and honed your style. Crisp, breezy, efficient, lots of demos, and great information. I do miss some of your earlier stuff (especially movie-related - Terminator, John Carpenter) and also that Light Music series, but I always look forward to your posts. The jams in this one were especially cool. Play that funky music, white boy. Play that funky music...
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Hey Wing. It's been an evolving journey, thanks for sticking around. Got some more virtual orchestral stuff coming soon actually, for a specific reason. 🙂
@PWMaarten
Жыл бұрын
The SSM is a Filter, mixer and VCA on a chip! It is also found Suzuki SX-50, Korg and Siel made the same synth with a different name.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Ah cheers. So the discontinuation of it was basically the end of the entire audio path of the Mutator! Bit of a game over situation then! The Emulator II uses it also, even though it was over a decade earlier.
@palindrone
Жыл бұрын
Exceptional as always. Goosebumps from those demos, especially #2 Crutator & #4 Daft Filtering.
@lefttoe6969
Жыл бұрын
Your videos bring the joy for people in 2 ways at once. Firstly it's the knowledge on music gear you share with us. Secondly the great tunes you create. Thank you Alex.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Left Toe. I hope it makes up for your next inevitable stubbing on a radiator.
@evilscientistrecords
Жыл бұрын
Don't forget the humor and the guest artists like that German fellow from the 70s
@lefttoe6969
Жыл бұрын
@@evilscientistrecords sure I won't :)
@lefttoe6969
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic well, that hit was HUGE, so please don't even suggest that another one comes some day :P
@thelanavishnuorchestra
Жыл бұрын
Oh, man! I watched this video today and said "That's a cool box. I have to build that in VCV!" So I did. Downloaded the manual, studied the block diagram. Almost done. I still have two bits left -- the gate mode and routing LFO 1 (optionally inverted) to channel 2. But otherwise, it's all working and sounds pretty much like that. I even built a UI for it with all the controls. I'll ping back when I post a video of it.
@fritsvanzanten3573
6 ай бұрын
Video already there?
@SomeOne-pd6vm
3 ай бұрын
now do it in pure data 😈
@Spudcore
Жыл бұрын
The Mutator is to Filter Disco as the 303 is to Acid House. P.S. Another piece of hardware worth a look is the DSI Evolver.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Yeah, perfect for filtering funky dance stuff. Evolver - turned down one for an amazing price many years ago. Kick myself a bit. Maybe one day I'll get to do a video.
@SectorSevenSlumz
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusicI'll sell you mine! £50,000! 😅
@BydSteve
Жыл бұрын
Gotta say you are such a great content producer - I love the history lessons, and your demos are just superb. I tip my hat to you sir!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you Steve.
@MD_is_me
3 ай бұрын
That Crutator riff was awesome!
@rapfreak7797
Жыл бұрын
I had one for many years, it was the most musical analog filter I ever used.
@sonofjak1971
Жыл бұрын
It's not enough that your videos are extremely interesting and informative, you have to make immense tuneage to demonstrate as well. Love your work, look forward to the next offering.
@crimsonfancy
7 ай бұрын
My best to you. Great work and I've learned so much. Hope you will continue sharing your knowledge and experiences.
@aegis3d
Жыл бұрын
5 amazing demos! Each one left me wanting more!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
🙂
@justincanton
Жыл бұрын
I used one of these at Mute Studios years ago on a dance track I produced. Great fun. 👌🏼 Another great vid. 🤩
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Nice! Confirms my info that Mute had one then!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
What was the track btw?
@justincanton
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic It was ‘You’re my number one’ Candy Apple featuring Jon Banfield (Original mix) 2006. My friend Kevin Paul who was an engineer there, and also part of (Candy Apple Production) was doing the filtering for the musical loop while we were recording to tape, and he didn’t turn the dials up enough by the time the chorus kicked it. I told him he has now lost his filter licence 😂. It’s not my best work but you can find it on my Candy Apple Productions YT chan, a collection of all my old house tracks. ✌🏼😊
@justincanton
Жыл бұрын
kzitem.info/news/bejne/mWqdtmGJnItldIo
@Russell.S
Жыл бұрын
Very nice demo of the Mutator, Alex. Glad I got one several years ago before they became $$$. Would love to see a demo of Schippmann’s Ebbe und Flut, although that unit is much more obscure than the Mutator. Cheers!
@ratbert69uk
Жыл бұрын
One of a select group of KZitem makers that I always look forward to watching! So far I have loved every video.
@rjbush7955
Жыл бұрын
Your 303 sounds superb through the Mutator. More squelch.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Yeah, who knew the 303 could be even more 303?!
@tjsase
Жыл бұрын
Just found this channel; your demos are something else! They're full of power, life, emotion, far beyond what's expected for showing off gear!
@matthewmoore5934
Жыл бұрын
Oh my god I want full length versions of each of those demos so bad! (Alas, Geert called and said he would like demo 5 back.) Amazing work.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Geert is a lingering presence.
@andriealinsangao613
Жыл бұрын
Haha, I can see why Geert wants Demo #5 back, perfect music for a blue movie!
@frankbalde1956
Жыл бұрын
You really should release an album with 30 seconds pop songs. This video is another example of your excellent short song composing skills, I love it!
@zaack2324
10 ай бұрын
"Here's a throwaway demo of this kit from 1996" *Perfect Michael Rother from 1976 intensifies*
@Bkoded
2 ай бұрын
love that french house jam, pretty cool that moloko used this, theyve got some great songs, a great live performance too where the vocalist gets a bit too enthusiastic and accidentally knocks the mic over
@synthorscissor
3 ай бұрын
The music examples you've created w/ this unit.... are pretty bad ass!!!
@AlcyoneHere
Жыл бұрын
The amount of effort put into these videos is so inspiring. Always delivering informative videos with great music to go along :)
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you Sebastian!
@ChrisSmout
Жыл бұрын
Come for the gear, stay for the jams. Crutator just lifted the fog of my Friday morning, thank you Alex!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks once again Chris. 😀
@precarious333music
3 ай бұрын
The music demos in this video are even better than normal. Amazing job, Alex!
@brandonSpivey-vx4eu
3 ай бұрын
Lovely demo mate . Great delivery and playing.
@AlexBallMusic
3 ай бұрын
Cheers!
@smellyengine
3 ай бұрын
I worked on sessions that we did in his studio… good times and not to forget, his massive 18 inch speakers!
@cohaagenup
Жыл бұрын
No tears now, only BANGERS
@anthonybrett
Жыл бұрын
Brilliant Alex! That Daft Filtering track rocked!
@Imetalman2000
Жыл бұрын
This video was the perfect balance of interesting history and amazing sound demos.
@robiaster
Жыл бұрын
Learned a lot from watching this video. I'm going to build myself something like this with Patcher in FL Studio!
@andyjames362
Жыл бұрын
Seriously Alex, release an album already!! Great stuff 👏
@HiGlowie
Жыл бұрын
He has released at least one. It’s great. I found it on his channel.
@adamoliver82
Жыл бұрын
There's three on spotify! I've listened to the most recent, it's good.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Cheers. I've got another album done and it's coming out this year, but I want to sort out a vinyl release for the first time. On the list. Thanks for the support!
@paulsmith1843
Жыл бұрын
Flipping awesome, Alex!
@markfabricius1361
Жыл бұрын
Amazing video as always Alex…Love the Grooves!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Mark.
@brianrodman1033
Жыл бұрын
great video all around, highly enjoyable to watch!
@shufflephunk
Жыл бұрын
mmmyeeeeah I got one! its damn tasty, I have the midi version, gotta love the stereo filter and envelope response. as we speak I still speak Nigel every now and then and I am pretty amazed of the bloke and he helped me repair the mutator once.
@MarshalArnold
Жыл бұрын
That's pretty sweet, I instantly recognized its use in Daft Punk, very interesting!
@GingerflipPlays
Жыл бұрын
Nigel was the first person who ever showed me what you could do with a synth
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Ah cool. You know him?
@GingerflipPlays
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Yeah, he was was involved with a group called OOD at the time, making Psytrancre
@carbilicon
Жыл бұрын
Nigel has been part of the psychedelic trance group OOOD since the mid 90s. Their music is highly recommended.
@colinmorgan6733
Жыл бұрын
Fantastic and yet delivered with modestly as always. 👏
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks again Colin.
@jamesalbert1376
Жыл бұрын
Another great video, thank you! Brings back many memories. I think I got mine around 2004, so they were produced for quite a while. No mention of Andrew weatherall and Keith tenniswood, who flogged the mutator to death across most of their brilliant albums as two lone swordsmen
@t3hjnz
Жыл бұрын
It phonk, it gronk, it increase the stonk, and on top of that it make you wanna shake your tronk. Great video as always, Alex, but like everyone's been saying: these are some of your best demo tunes to date, and that's saying something. Great work! Great fun!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Phonkin', gronkin', stonkin', tronkin' fun, yeah!
@fischergreen4134
Жыл бұрын
I have one of these I feed it with sounds from my Ipad and the signal out into Microcosm I met James a couple of months ago when I took my unit back to him for repair. Wonderful guy. He makes these amazing amps for rock stars now
@h2o1969
Жыл бұрын
So cool! The Mutator is nice too.
@MikeS-1969
Жыл бұрын
and yet another great video.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you Mike.
@chedhead3278
Жыл бұрын
Cheers Alex, squelchier than a box of jellied frogs. Loving this set of demos.
@bassadelica
Жыл бұрын
Beautiful sounding units. We bought one in 1998. Less radical but warmer/more hi-fi than the Sherman Filterbank which everybody was obsessing over at the time.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Rival units by the sounds of it? I'm hoping to do the Sherman at some point.
@mollyoko
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic The Sherman however has greater sound design potential and is a special unit of its own. I own both as well as a schipmann ebbe und flat and an akai mfc42. All have their uses.
@dillipphunbar7924
Жыл бұрын
I heard "Dunbar" at the start, and was immediately interested. Yet another interesting background story, fleshed out with some cool demos and tasty licks.
@mattosborne1366
Жыл бұрын
These are killer grooves man! damn.
@MrOuija-rr8kq
Жыл бұрын
Wow. Having been born in 1992 , I take so many sounds for granted.
@AlainHubert
Жыл бұрын
A very enjoyable video! I like this concept of multiple info capsules followed by multiple musical demos. Didn't know anything about this unit, but now I do. Thanks for sharing, Alex.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Hey Alain. Yeah, same here; I knew basically nothing of it, but it was everywhere for a while.
@Midi-olo-gist6758
3 ай бұрын
Wow this thing is awesome. Right up my alley. That would be so cool if Behringer reproduce it.... By the way great video!!
@a_Fax_Machine
Жыл бұрын
As soon as you mentioned Mezzanine, I knew exactly where it was used. Super neat
@thibz84
Жыл бұрын
Excellent
@TobyBorrow
Жыл бұрын
Gold ❤
@greatheightsu
Жыл бұрын
The funk runs through you Mr. Ball.
@SectorSevenSlumz
Жыл бұрын
Love the borrowed filters section. i just finished a piece where i used an acid sound from virus ti running through two doepfer Wasp filters being heavily modulated. Mega fun to stack your squelches!
@kaitlyn__L
Жыл бұрын
I wasn’t sure I’d recognise this, but as soon as the guitar came in I did. Then the vocals made me extra sure :) thanks!
@kaitlyn__L
Жыл бұрын
Man, how many hours have I spent listening to guys tweaking THIS filter, given how much I listen to 90s electronic stuff. The 808 demo at the end was so nostalgic lmao
@fidel1o
Жыл бұрын
damn that intro jam is fire
@TheDeadlyKind
Жыл бұрын
There's always one track in your vids that I wish were full tracks. Maybe this time there's two or three. Hell yeah
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you. 🙂
@xa1a
Жыл бұрын
Once again mate, this was fantastic! Takes me back to my Future Music days! Brill! And of course the SH1000 DID sound fantastic through it! :) Cheers!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Hey! Yeah, the extension the SH1000 was always missing. 😀
@Lu_Woods
Жыл бұрын
Sweeet!! I always wanted a Mutator to go with my Beigel ECF and my EHX Bi-Filter . Thanks Alex ; ))
@Chris.Wiley.
Жыл бұрын
I just love the music you compose to demonstrate these products. Fantastic work!
@Strages_Powers
Жыл бұрын
6:02 holy moley that tune is amazing!
@dustinrieseberg8707
5 ай бұрын
Heads up, Alex. Steve Crow is turning this into a pedal now. He's found a suitable chip and it's being created as we speak. I'm very excided about this new creation from Steve.
@hntrnet
3 ай бұрын
ur the man! I love your channel so much I'm not even upset about you driving the prices of every piece of gear up lol
@timburdsey
Жыл бұрын
One of your best, Alex. Really informative, characteristically humble and good-humoured, and the musicianship is completely next level. Is there no end to your talents? Any instrument - analogue or digital: software or hardware - of which you are not a master?! Loving your work. 👍🏻
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you. Really I'm a jack of all trades and don't do any individual thing that well, but I can do the things I need, I guess.
@dankeplace
Жыл бұрын
Everything you do Alex, exudes enthusiasm. Excellent stuff, keep em coming.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thanks again. Yep, more to come.
@MrDehackers
Жыл бұрын
Your videos are always first class.Shouts from Baden Germany
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Danke schön!
@richardballinger517
Жыл бұрын
Another great demo of what can be done with a piece of kit.
@dk101likeu
Жыл бұрын
love you talk about the dust brothers,,had to change their name to the Chemical Brothers..! legendary boys!
@blottolotto7648
Жыл бұрын
Ur a master of ur craft homie. Appreciate what u do
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@nobbystyles4807
Жыл бұрын
the audio on this video makes it worth watching alone. the way the music is properly mixed and segued. the only ommission here is the massively trendy mid 90's filter house scene ralph falcon, dj pierre had a go at it, dj sneak i think was pretty well known for it. basically anyone on strictly rythm records but yeah it was huge. not forgetting the impressive roule records of course (bangalters label)... if you ever see a copy of "trax on da rocks" buy it. it contains many wonderful examples of exactly this type of shizzle.
@echodub81
Жыл бұрын
Yes, yes and yes! Also yes. Awesome as always!
@antoinebunel
Жыл бұрын
Quality content and music mate, made me subscribe for more, enjoy yourself !
@Rgdonaire_07
Жыл бұрын
Killer tracks mate! Didn’t know this side of your musical vocabulary.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Cheers Rafael. Oh yes, the guitar stuff goes back a long way. I think I started playing in 1993.
@thainmlh
Жыл бұрын
I love the intro piece SO MUCH!!!!
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Cheers
@nativeVS
Жыл бұрын
Would be interesting to see how it holds/held up to its contemporaries like the Waldorf 4 Pole and the Sherman Filterbank.
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Yep, for sure. Hopefully I'll be able to cover those in the future.
@markusschloesser
Жыл бұрын
I have a 4-pole and besides it being noisy af, it's mono and I don't remember it being THAT nice in comparison. Still nice though, even if I only have the uncool revision, but it's got Midi and CC control. I think tomorrow I will have to hook up my Andromeda and my Pulse+ (with Polivoks filter) and play around with their filters and ENVs. Very inspiring, Alex' video
@darentaliana
Жыл бұрын
I own all three models and the electrix filter factory. They are all great in their own ways but the sherman and mutator are insane! Buying a second-hand mutator is very expensive these days :)
@BarryTheElephant
Жыл бұрын
The Akai MFC42 also matches up. I’m fortunate to have both, with workload leaning more on the Akai due to it having multimode filters.
@DoctorNemmo
Жыл бұрын
This sounds fantastic. If I recall correctly, there was a plug-in version released in 2015, if you... Oh, I see you lready covered that. You were faster than my comment.
@InvisibleHomes
Жыл бұрын
Nice work, as always. The Electrix Filter Factory and Filter Queen are also worth mentioning since they were contemporaries competitors and they can be had for fairly cheap. (...and that whole weird product line might actually make for a good episode I reckon).
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Cheers for the tips. I totally recognise those distinctive designs but I've never used those.
@rodgre
Жыл бұрын
I love that Electrix line! I still have my Filter Factory, a pair of Filter Queens and the very underrated Mo-Fx.
@rapfreak7797
Жыл бұрын
@@rodgre the MoFX is definitely my favorite of the line. At one point I had three of them.
@invisiblehomesband
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic In the interest of science (or whatever), here's a snap shot of some of the things the Filter Queen does: kzitem.info/news/bejne/oph5t2F6s6alZ4I
@resistor27
Жыл бұрын
And the Warp Factory. Got that and the Filter Factory.
@sawsquaresinetube
Жыл бұрын
Mr. Ball! OK Computer was my personal “Album of the year!” for 1997. I can still rock Paranoid Android on the guitar, nice work with the ending! 👏👏👏
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Killer album, yeah!
@vk2bio
Жыл бұрын
those last two demos were pretty badass
@jeffjfindley4802
Жыл бұрын
OMG I love this channel
@kikkirow
Жыл бұрын
That french house song is amazing!
@tomahzo
Жыл бұрын
Reminds me of the Sherman Filterbank. Similar concept. Lovely sound :).
@simex909
Жыл бұрын
sounds more phaser-y than most filters, and definitely adds a lot of noise. You can hear the filter as a separate sound from the thing it's filtering, kind of like phaser with high feedback. i feel confident you could get something similar in harmor, where you have the ability to design your own filters.
@chitlun
Жыл бұрын
I would wager the drums on Airbag from OK Computer are fed through this monster too. I remember these and the Sherman Filter Bank coming out and I really wanted one but was a skint, fledgling 8-track studio owner making ends meet and couldn’t justify the outlay… Oh, how I wish I’d have just thrown caution to the wind and bought one coz I imagine they’re as rare as rocking horse shit now and silly money! Excellent video squire 🤘
@davidgoode7416
Жыл бұрын
That was awesome!
@Goettel
Жыл бұрын
Ballin'
@Griuofficial
6 ай бұрын
Thanks for the video
@richeymcc
Жыл бұрын
These tunes!!! So so good! Great vid as always!🙏🏻
@AlexBallMusic
Жыл бұрын
Thank you
@MrTanukiD
Жыл бұрын
I lusted over one of these in the 90's These and the Sherman filterbank
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