Dave's gear

Dave accumulated a fair bit of studio gear over the years. Some items are pushing 40-something years old and some are in need/beyond repair, however most items are in full working order and many have now found new homes, where they have been given a new lease of life, as you can see below:

Blackpool & the Fylde College

The music department at Blackpool and The Fylde College were delighted to accept some of Dave's 'vintage' music technology.

They were able to take quite a lot of Dave's old gear including his Roland Alpha Juno 2 synth, Ensoniq VFX-SD workstation, Akai S2000 sampler, Yamaha RX5 drum machine, Roland JV1080 synth, Tannoy Reveal monitors, a Yamaha MD8 multitracker and a couple of Alesis FX units.

Students at the college are being taught about using vintage equipment and the staff are delighted that they can use Dave's gear in the lessons.

Dave was a former B&FC student at St Annes and I think he'd be really happy knowing that his gear is being used this way. I'm sure it would have a been a course both Dave and I would love to have been on!

Many thanks to Thomas and Joe at B&FC for helping make this all happen and for supplying the photos.

This shot includes Dave's Roland Alpha Juno 2, a bit of a legend in synth circles for its 'Hoover' sound.

Dave's Yamaha RX5 drum machine, Roland JV synth and Akai sampler in situ.

Victoria Hesketh (aka Little Boots) with Dave's Poly 800 synth

Victoria Hesketh (aka Little Boots)

Blackpool born Victoria Hesketh (aka Little Boots) shot to fame in the late noughties as the winner of the BBC Sound of 2009 thanks to her brand of synth-heavy pop music, going on to have hits with the singles 'New in town', 'Remedy' and 'Earthquake' and releasing four albums, most recently 'Tomorrow's yesterdays' in 2022'. More recently she's been helping out a certain Swedish band by playing synths on the acclaimed ABBA Voyage shows.

Victoria's worked with a number of highly respected artists including Dave's major influence and music hero, Jean Michel Jarre, collaborating on the track 'If' which appeared on Jarre's 'Electronica' album. You can watch more about their collaboration here.

Given her Blackpool roots, her love of synths and of course the Jean Michel Jarre connection, I thought it would be brilliant if Victoria were able to make use of one of Dave's oldest synths, his newly repaired Korg Poly 800.

'I hope I can carry on your Blackpool synth-pop legacy,' said Victoria in a video posted on her Twitter account. I think Dave would certainly approve of the synth's new owner.

Look Mum No Computer -
This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete

Dave was a big fan of popular music You Tuber Sam Battle (aka Look Mum No Computer) who uses old instruments, forgotten technology and bizarre gadgets to create music.

Sam is one of the major You Tube music influencers in the UK and has over half a million subscribers, his videos being viewed over 60 million times. Dave loved Sam's work, it inspired him to try building his own oscillators and he went to see Sam when he played the Deaf Institute in Manchester in 2019.

Sam has established a museum which he describes as 'home to experimental and obsolete scientific and musical technology'. One of Dave's more obscure musical relics was a Philips PMC100 and Sam has happily accepted this as donation to the museum. I know that Dave would have been delighted about this.

You can find out more about the museum here and Look Mum No Computer here

Dave meeting Sam Battle (Look Mum No Computer) at a Deaf Institute gig in Manchester back in 2019.

The rarely seen PCM100

Dave's X5 in its new home and ready to play.

The Priory Hospital & Nordoff Robbins

Dave's Korg X5 synth now has a new home. Music therapist Debbie Jones will be using it in her work at The Priory in Preston and as part of her work with Nordoff- Robbins.

The Priory is an acute mental health service facility where music therapy is one of the treatments offered. Nordoff-Robbins is the UK's largest, established over 60 years ago, helping break through the barriers caused by life-limiting illness, disability and social isolation.

It looks like the X5 will be getting lots of use and hopefully making a positive difference to many people's lives. Thanks to Ruth Paterson and Debbie Jones for helping to make this possible.

Gazelle Twin (image (C) Victor Frankowski)

Gazelle Twin 'Scholarship for Women in Music Technology'

Gazelle Twin (aka Elizabeth Bernholz) may be a familiar name to some of you. She is an incredibly talented, highly respected musician and has released five acclaimed albums.

Elizabeth has worked with University of Sussex to establish a new scholarship in her name, designed to address the under-representation of women in music technology. Dave's Elektron Digitakt has been donated for use on the University of Sussex campus as part of the scholarship. You can read about the scholarship here and if you are not familiar with the wonderful Gazelle Twin, visit her website and listen to her latest album 'Black Dog'.

South Shore Academy

The school - formerly known as Palatine School (Dave's old school) - is now making use of Dave's SE2200a condenser microphone, microphone stand, pop filter and reflection filter. Many thanks to Angela Potter for sorting this out.

Trinity Hospice

Dave's Yamaha P200 piano was the centrepiece of Dave's home studio and can be heard on many of his compositions. It now has a new home at Trinity Hospice, Blackpool, where it is being used on a regular basis by the Dementia Choir.

Thank you to Trinity Hospice for collecting the piano and putting it to such good use. If you would like to support the amazing work of Trinity Hospice, please visit their website.

Dave's Yamaha P200 in place at Trinity Hospice.