This year marks the 30th birthday of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synths, samplers and hardware controllers. In this podcast, Novation Product Specialist Chris Calcutt looks back over three decades of innovation and explores the key products, technologies and partnerships behind a British music technology success story.
Show Notes
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:26 - 30th Anniversary
01:02 - The First Product
03:24 - The Launchpad
06:58 - Automap
09:25 - Friendly Relations
13:08 - The BassStation
17:50 - Hands-On Control
19:07 - Analogue Sound Modelling
21:41 - The Resurgence Of Analogue
30:43 - From The Rack To The Desktop
34:33 - Moving Away From Computers
38:02 - The Focusrite Group
45:25 - 40 Years of MIDI
Novation - Biog
In 1992, Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson founded Novation Electronic Music Systems and created the MM10, a keyboard controller designed to be used with the Yamaha QY10 music workstation. The BassStation was launched in 1993 and was used by many top artists of the day. ASM (Analogue Sound Modelling) technology was introduced in 1995 and designer Chris Huggett joined the team full-time in 1998, with the popular Supernova synth being released that year.
30 years later, while still creating grooveboxes, controllers and synths, Novation is now part of The Focusrite Group, along with ADAM Audio, Focusrite and Sequential.
https://novationmusic.com/en/30-years-novation
Novation - Chris Calcutt
Chris Calcutt has been the Product Specialist at Novation for over a decade. Despite coming from a more traditional background of classical music composition and playing the trombone, Chris has always been heavily involved and passionate about music tech.
As a kid, Chris would play with synthesizers and a four-track recorder on the living room floor and has since gone on to work with Novation, collaborating closely with the product developers, designing and building new and innovative electronic instruments.
Chris is responsible for representing multiple brands under Novation's parent company, The Focusrite Group, working with their European distribution partners to deliver training, product presentations, and live performances both online and at in-store events.
Chris also produces and performs live as -CALC- and is an active member of the experimental electronic music scene in Brighton, UK.
Interviewer: Sam Inglis - Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and is the author of two books: Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).
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