Synthesis Technology MOTM Modular Analog Synthesizer
The centerpiece of our studio, the Synthesis Technology MOTM modular synthesizer. Based on the original Moog modular system from the 1960’s, but with many modern features. Most of these modules were built by Cecil, as well as the 17×10 unit custom walnut cabinet.
Features:
- MOTM-650 MIDI-CV convertor
- MOTM-300 VCO
- MOTM-310 µVCO
- MOTM-820 VC Lag Processor
- MOTM-320 VC LFO (with Tellun mod)
- 2x MOTM-800 Envelope Generators (with Tellun mod)
- MOTM-830 Dual-Mode Mixer
- Oakley Multimix
- MOTM-120 Sub-Octave Multiplexer (with Tellun mod)
- MOTM-510 WaveWarper
- Blacet MIniWave
- MOTM-101 Noise/Sample and Hold
- MOTM-490 Moog 904a Lowpass VCF
- MOTM-420 Korg MS-20 Multimode VCF
- Tellun-428 Oberheim Multimode VCF
- 2x MOTM-190 µVCA
- Oakley Envelope Follower, Gate Extractor and Pre-amp
- Oakley Overdrive
- Tellun-156 Neural Agonizer Dual Spring Reverb
It’s a behemoth piece of gear, but it would take a room full of synths to get the versatility and sounds that this modular is capable of. Inphinite phatness…
Metropoulos Handwired Marshall JTM 45
This is a DIY handbuilt point-to-point replica of a 1965-era Marshall JTM 45 guitar amp. Affectionately referred to by vintage enthusiasts as a “Plexi” (the gold plexiglass faceplates were later replaced by brushed metal ones), these early Marshalls are known for their rich, shimmering harmonics, and dynamic interaction with the player’s picking style. The tube rectifier ads an extra dimensional quality to the notes, allowing expressive detail in every note. Since there is no master volume on these amps,if you want distortion, you just turn it up louder. A Weber MiniMass attenuator is used to bring the volume down to practical levels while still letting the 50 watts of KT66 power tubes saturate the tone. There are a few custom modifications made, including a Mercury Magnetics ToneClone output transformer, NOS vintage Mullard/Phillips mustard capacitors, and NOS Allen & Bradley carbon comp resistors. Matched with a THD 2×12 cabinet with custom-made Weber pre-Rola spec Greenback clones.
Gibson SG Standard Guitar w/Jimmy Page Mod
A 1993 model customized with the secret “Jimmy Page wiring” mod that switches each pickup to single coil, in/out of phase, and serial/parallel via four push-pull pots. This helps achieve tones that range from a beefy Les Paul to a twangy Telecaster — all from a single guitar. The Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups are lightly wound for classic PAF tone, and left unpotted to allow the pleasant microphonics of the resonating wood to come through. Also added is a TonePro locking bridge and locking featherweight aluminum tailpiece that give the strings a more percussive bite. The insides have been covered with copper shielding to cut down on noise.
D*A*M MKII Fuzz Pedal w/OC81D Germanium
An exact replica of a vintage 70’s Sola Sound Tone Bender MKII fuzz pedal, custom built for me by David Main of Differential Audio Manifestations. Features all new-old-stock components, including the super-rare OC81D germanium transistor, giving a very responsive pallete that ranges from clean overdrive to fuzzy distortion just by plucking the strings softer or harder.
Introspectiv TR-9090 Drum Synth
A cloned circuit of a Roland TR-909 analog/digital drum synthesizer with internal MIDI-to-trigger converter and a few extra mods. The kick drum is second-to-none for dance music. Lots of classic sounds that can be tweaked and filtered without digital artifacts. Built in-house and enclosed in a custom 2U rack.
Mackie 24*8 Mixing Console
All analog 24 channel 8 bus mixing console. Affectionately called the “Milleneum Falcon” of the studio. I prefer to use outboard preamps for tracking vocals, but this console has a ton of routing features usually found only on high-end consoles, and it sounds nice and punchy when overdriven. The EQs are way better than any software EQ I’ve used thus far. Mixing down the final stems in the analog domain yields a much together-sounding master than a digital mixdown, IMO. The Mix B feature is excellent for bouncing tracks back into the computer without changing the levels on the board.
Fender Champ 12 with Mods & AlNiCo 12″
A gift from a friend. I have been repeatedly impressed by this little guy. Great portable tube amp and nice clean tones for recording. Class “A” 12 watt amp with two channels, a spring reverb, and 12″ speaker. This model was sold by Fender in the 80’s as a last ditch effort to compete the newer & cheaper solid state amps at the time. It has been fitted with the Torres mod and the speaker has been replaced by an Eminence Red Fang alnico speaker.
Artist Profile: AYESHA ADAMO
A recording artist, songwriter and DJ of diverse and eclectic influences, Ayesha Adamo grew up by the ocean and sands of the Jersey Shore in the tiny town of Island Heights. Her love of music first developed during many years of ballet class, which ultimately lead her to New York to pursue a career as a professional ballerina. She stepped off the bus with a suitcase full of pointe shoes and visions of sugar plums, but soon found herself in sparkles and glowsticks working as a club dancer at the legendary superclub, Twilo. It was within the walls of Twilo that Ayesha first took an interest in DJing, and it was only a few nights of glitter and neon before she saved up enough money to buy her first turntables and taught herself the art of beat-mixing.
Not long after, Ayesha began classes at Barnard College, with an interest in studying computer music at Columbia University’s Computer Music Center, the oldest center for electronic music in the United States, founded in the 1950s. She lied about being able to read sheet music, and soon found herself as a freshman in her first graduate level music class on electronic music composition. The first program she learned? Max/MSP: probably the last thing in the world that any DJ really wants to take on. Such was her first crash course in electronic music composition. But that was only the beginning…
It wasn’t long before Ayesha’s musical talents started taking her places. While in Taiwan on a summer scholarship program to study Chinese, Ayesha got her first chance to make music her life. She unexpectedly found herself joining pop singing group Beauty4 and signing with EMI Records. Beauty4 released their first album to much success, particularly considering that they were the first international, racially mixed group to release a Mandarin Chinese album in Taiwan, singing and interviewing entirely in Chinese. The group toured Taiwan and other areas in Asia. Of course, Ayesha still had a passion for DJing, and it was her special blend of progressive house, deep trance, tribal, and breaks, which ultimately landed her the opportunity to record her first double CD mix set as a DJ for the Muzik Boutique series on Highnote Records Asia.
Ayesha has played clubs all over Taiwan, including a residency at 2F – one of the best venues in Taipei – as well as at the legendary Texound. She was formerly on the roster of Producer Artist Management and has brought her unique sound to clubs and parties in North and Central America, keeping the spirit of those early days at Twilo, which was her first inspiration, alive. Upon returning to the US, Ayesha worked to finish her degree in Music at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she graduated summa cum laude and was awarded the Ethel Stone LeFrak Prize in Music, as well as several other awards in poetry, which was in keeping with her skills as a burgeoning songwriter.
For the past few years, Ayesha has taken a break from the world of DJing to work on several other projects, including the writing and recording of a much anticipated rock project, Loss of Eden, recorded with producer Danny Leake (Kanye West, Janet Jackson, Sting, Hank Williams Jr, Stevie Wonder) and vocal producer Fran Allen Leake. After a long hiatus, Ayesha now returns to the scene in New York with a fresh new blend of Tech House and Progressive. She has recently been spotted playing her effortlessly long beat-mixes at several venues in New York, including Guest House, Moomia, and Brooklyn Sanctuary (formerly Grand Space). Her DJ podcasts can be downloaded at knightsofpan.com.
Artist Profile: CECIL GREY
The Brooklyn based producer, songwriter, musician, DJ, director and curator of Knights of Pan.
Cecil Grey began his music career at age 15 as lead guitarist in the Los Angeles Joy Division-influenced band The Thorns, co-writing and playing opening slots for Christian Death and other luminous goth-rock acts. In 1994 he relocated to Las Vegas and ventured into electronic music as a collaborator and vocalist with ex-Machines of Loving Grace members Lost Prophet, learning his way around the recording studio and achieving radio play on West Coast college stations.
After relocating to LA, he then finished his communication arts degree at UCLA in and relocated to San Francisco to become a contributor for Permission Magazine, and eventually a featured writer and reviewer for Urbansounds, an electronic magazine focusing on minimal techno and IDM artists.
In SF he became involved in the emerging Drum’n’Bass dance scene from ‘97-’01, and began producing a slew of original tracks. These included “Operator” and “Highway 2 Hell”, which were being played out by heavyweight DJs Dara and DB of Breakbeat Science Records in New York.
In 2001, Cecil Grey began recording a new solo project under the alias Sexkult. The full length album eventually became The Utmost In, an eclectic blend of underground dance music production with melodic guitar work and lyrical songwriting. This self released album was released first on CD Baby, and eventually available through iTunes. A cut from The Utmost In CD, titled “I’m Your Beast”, was featured in the independent film Mango Kiss.
In 2004 he renounced modern music as a whole, and moved to San Rafael, where he studied under the world renowned classical Indian music master, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. The 85+ year old teacher was the son of Ustad Allaudin Khan, widely considered a musical saint in India, and has taught many famous musicians in his lifetime, including Ravi Shankar.
Taking this new perspective on music composition and theory, Cecil Grey began reconstructing his studio based around organic analog instruments and acoustic instrumentation using ancient sounds and formulas. By synthesizing this with modern electronica, Cecil Grey has brought fresh new ideas to the music scene.
He moved to New York City in 2006, and founded Knights of Pan Music, the label, publishing, and studio home base for Cecil Grey’s music projects. He has recently completed several original remixes for seminal NYC artists Whore’s Mascara, Indo-dubstep collective Sub Swara, and a recent remix submission for Depeche Mode. He is currently a resident DJ & co-conspirator for the underground Brooklyn monthly event Vitamin B, hosting renowned underground artists such as Wavewhore, Phunkae (Chunk’n Attack), & DJ Fixx.
Contact us through the address on the ‘About’ page on this site for further details.
Project Profile: SEXKULT
SEXKULT: The Utmost In is the debut solo concept album project by San Francisco DJ & musician, Cecil Grey. Mixing elements of electronica with alternative rock, Cecil has created an original strain of modern music that will appeal to fans of Underworld, Love & Rockets, and Massive Attack. Like these artists, Cecil has blended the best of underground dance music production techniques with lyrical songwriting. This album contains tracks aimed at the dance floor as well as the radio.
The Utmost In was conceived in 2002 as a concept album, telling a story of disillusionment and self-doubt in a world overwhelmed by conflicting visions of the future. The character in this story is lost, wandering in a cloud of confusion and chaos. He finds a glimmer of hope, a vision of his highest ideal, that seems to be an answer to every question. But alas, it ends up being just another illusion… In a moment of complete despair, he finally opens himself up to every possibility and eventually finds fulfillment of the original vision of his dreams.
Now available on iTunes and CD Baby.