My involvement in dj'ing has also led me to become a musician. Prior to being an electronic musician, I taught myself to play guitar. I had dreams of being a rock star, but that never happened.
I started buying gear in 1996, and now I have a pretty decent home studio. I use the PC heavily in my music. My goal is to do everything in a virtual studio, but my Virus TI and JP8000 still sound great, so I'm still using those as the only external synths. Of course, I sample them, so in the end, it's all being done inside the PC.
The majority of what I write is trance and techno. I also dabble in other styles, like trip hop, hardcore techno, and even industrial. I have some of my newer songs here in streaming and downloadable MP3. I also have a few on my artists Myspace page.
Here's my current configuration:
An Intel Duo Core 2.66 gHz with 2gb RAM and 160GB RAID Hard Drive space, a dual dvdr/cdr setup, and an MAudio Delta sound card is the main link in setup. I use Cubase and mainly VST fx and instruments. Other software I use are ReBirth, Reason, SoundForge, VAZ, RubberDuck, Retro VS1, Reality, SimSynth and Generator. I also use about 80 or so DirectX and VST plugins for all my effects on samples. Most of my samples I download from the web or a I get from Computer Music magazine. All midi signals are output via a Midiman Midisport 2x2 USB interface.
I also have a Roland MC50MkII sequencer that I used to use for live gigs, but now that I do so much sampling on the PC, I don't use it much anymore.
On the hardware side, midi signal leaves the PC and goes into an Anatek Pocket Thru. This takes my one midi out and splits it into three midi outs.
My main hardware synth is an Access Virus TI. I use this almost exclusively now for everything except drums. It does bass, leads, acid lines, strings, choirs, washes the dishes, etc. It truly is the ultimate in hardware synths!
I also use a Roland JP8000 keyboard synthesizer. This is one of the physical modeling or virtual analog synths. It sounds almost identical to a real analog synth, but it has all the modern day midi control to make it easy to use. Sadly, I had to re-install the OS and didn't properly backup the settings, so I lost all of my custom patches from the past 9 years.
The other midi line goes into a Roland M-VS1 rack mount synth. This is a fine piece of gear. 8 part multi timbral with 32 note polyphony. It is a non expandable module version of the JV1080 with the vintage synth card. I used to use it for everything from basslines to strings to drums, but I hardly turn it on anymore.
I mainly use the Access Virus TI now for all of my sounds. It fully integrates with Cubase as VST instrument, and makes songwriting a creative joy at this point. I also use an Oxygen8 midi controller to help me write.
I'm not using the old hardware at all anymore. I've all but retired my Novation Drumstation, Juno 60, TR-707, Korg Poly6 and SH-101.
The audio signals from the PC and all the gear go into a Mackie 1402VLZ mixing console. From there, it runs into MAudio Studiophile SP-5B powered monitors.
I don't have a record deal and I haven't really been looking for one. I record my stuff to cdr and occasionally play some of it when I dj. I have played a few live gigs under the name "Silicon Avatar".
Original songs in streaming or downloadable MP3 format:
Terrabyte-(C)2008 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Star Stuff-(C)2007 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Blue Swirls-(C)2007 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
3 Times Acid-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Alien Threat-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
dMc-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Give It Up-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Heroes and Victims-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(128kbps)
In Your Dreams (LSD Remix)-(C)2003 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Rouge-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Spooky(Acid Tech Mix)-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Spooky(Ill Breaks Mix)-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Trance Babies-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)
Vox Sola-(C)2002 Silicon Avatar(192kbps)