Canadian Musician - July/August 2017 | Page 56

AMIN BHATIA Film & Television Composer THE COMMAND SISTERS CHARLOTTE COMMAND The Command Sisters Roland RD X-700 Keyboard Roland JD-800 Synth Roland JD-800 “Personally, I love the Roland JD-800. It is my go-to – versa- tile, flexible and, of course, has great sound. It allows me to be productive and dexterous while, most importantly, being creative. I know a lot of notable and successful musicians and groups have used this keyboard –Duran Duran, Jonathan Cain of Journey, Billy Joel’s David Rosen- thal, and Paul Shaffer are just a few. Watching and listen- ing to these acts has inspired my work and what I do with my instrument, and that’s kind of where I got started.” As for the present: “I would say [Spectrasonics] Om- nisphere 2 has to be one of my all time favourite software synthesizers because it’s so comprehensive. Its capability in creating a real sound for whatever instrument I’m envi- sioning is impeccable. “With whatever style you want to learn, investing in a good quality instrument is the first and most obvious step. In my experience, until I actually had something great to work on, I felt restricted by the playability of the instru- ment’s quality, which was limiting and frustrating. Also, while producing, don’t be afraid to sample instead of try- ing to recreate sounds. In my experience, recreating the old-school sounds on new equipment, although good practice, is not always true to the actual sound.” 56 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N Apple Mac Pro 12-Core Computers Moog Minimoog Model D Synth ARP 2600 Synth Moog Polymoog Synth Moog Minimoog Voyager Synth UAD Apollo 8 Audio Interface UAD Twinfinity Mic Preamp/DI Apogee Symphony IO Audio Interface Apple Logic Avid Pro Tools Rackmount units from Roland, Korg, Nord, Sequential Circuits & Yamaha Plug-Ins from Arturia, Heavyocity, LASS, Native Instruments, SAM, Sample Logic, Spectrasonics, Spitfire, Sonicouture, UAD & Vienna Minimoog & ARP 2600 To speak about the Minimoog and the ARP 2600, we turn to composer Amin Bhatia. The Minimoog was invented by Bill Hemsath and Bob Moog and released in 1970. Spawning updates such as the 2002 Minimoog Voyager, it remains a classic. The ARP 2600 came out in 1971, a precursor to the well-known ARP Odyssey. ARP folded in 1981 but was res- urrected by Korg in 2015 with the help of ARP co-founder David Friend. “The Minimoog Model D was, and always will be, my first love,” says Bhatia. “The ARP 2600 was someone I dated for a long time, too.” As for the Moog: “It was one of the first times that a single synth had all the basic functions of the larger mod- ular synths used by Isao Tomita, Wendy Carlos, Keith Em- erson, and Larry Fast. All the basic building blocks on the Minimoog are laid out in an order that teaches you signal flow as you learn how to create sounds with it – oscillators then mixer then filter then amplifier then output. “The ARP 2600 had a different evolution but a simi- lar approach, except it was also designed for a stereo