Hard-Core Gear Porn Friday!!!
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Okay, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Now, let me state from the outset that these photos have appeared on the internet before. They were put in the MOTM Yahoo group for a brief period, but they were removed; in the time they were there, word got around quickly. (Which is why they were removed, of course.)
However, I fly in the face of convention, and put them here for your enjoyment. An anonymous donor provided them to me, and I will remove them if asked, because the owner of this system isn’t exactly known for revealing the tools of his trade. So, without further ado, I give you Hans Zimmer’s Wall Of Modular, which is, without a doubt, the World’s Most Ludicrous Synth. Each picture is a link, which will take you directly to the full size model.
Moog #1
This is the far left of the Wall, and is, by and large, original Moog modular, as far as I can tell, of various vintages. There seems to be some non-Moog stuff on the second row of the left panel. Any thoughts?
Moog #2
This is the other side of the Moog Alcove, showing the third panel.
Misc #1
This is the next panel, and is made up of miscellaneous synths. There are two Studio Electronics SE-1s, a Cwejman S1, several racks of Doepfer (which have a couple Analog Solutions modules stuck in ’em, for balance, I suppose), and a pair of Midified and racked MiniMoog. The black panels are all CMS, as far as I can tell.
Misc #2
This is another angle on the same panel.
Roland
Between Hans Zimmer and Vince Clarke, I’m surprised that any Roland System 100m modules are left for the rest of us. This is one of the largest there is, with 58 VCOs, 37 VCFs, 32 ENVs, 12 VC Phase shifters, and 9 Sequencers. I think somebody needs to organize an intervention. This man must be stopped.
The Whole Shebang
Two different angles of the entire system.
15 comments
Do you think he has, like, 25-foot long patch cables to get from one end to the other?
Nice to see the £1,000 book of high-end Helmut Newton porn in front of the racks. "Fiddling with your synthesizer again, dear?" "No, my love, I'm just checking out some mild bondage."
Having spent so much on a modular setup, it seems a little risky to install it in a pub. Or is it perhaps portable?
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
dude is that the back wall of the TARDIS control room?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/gallery/tvmovie/images/1024/dw45.html
The second row of the left panel looks like it has several Moog 921s. I just used one for the first time today, and it was awesome.
the wood looks like cheap pine with a dark stain, perhaps a shade of zimmerbottom? is it better in person? hell, i had to find something wrong with it. of course he only makes silly hollywood shite with all this. sad. he will at least go away when he dies, and maybe the gear will land in the hands of artists!
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
All these pictures are missing is that guitar speaker that was in the beginning of 'Back to the Future'...it's probably on the other side of the room...
I wonder what his electric bill is like. Good lord.
Nice couch too. It would be good to recline on after exhausting yourself from patching the beast.
That'd be great if he used a Casio CTK-411 as his controller...hehe
I'm pretty sure there's some Club Of The Knobs stuff in the Moog side, at least I remember someone on AH commenting on this. I've been to the studio myself, and photos do not do it justice.
You're looking at the back wall of the studio. The left wall (looking forward) has a working fireplace(!) and a few large iso booths, and both side walls are filled with bookshelves. Note the skull lamps by the couch. The front wall has a wet bar and a samurai helmet, a gift from the producers of The Last Samurai. He had several signed scores framed up in the bookshelves (Mozart, Mahler, guys like that.) The right wall has a big rack in an isolation closet, containing his 12 or so computers running GigaStudio. In the center of the room is a custom desk with five large flatscreen monitors and a keyboard built-in. You can see this desk and the front wall in a Quicktime movie on the TASCAM site:
http://www.tascamgiga.com/testimonials.html
The whole studio was finishing construction when I visited, about a year and a half ago. The entire room was constructed with concrete block filled with tons of sand, or at least the front wall with the giant Quested monitors. When I was there, he had an Alesis Ion patched up next to the Roland modular stuff! And a Minimoog Voyager, I think.
I've been told that the modular gets used regularly, and that Hans is still a master with it. He'll have a lackey patch up a sound for him, then walk over and perfect it when the guy gets stumped. Thanks for posting these.
Yeah, you can plainly see the corner of the Voyager in the Roland pic.
-CR
I was there earlier this year and it's even more impressive (i.e., ridiculous) in person. Not only the modular synths but the entire room--with all the luxurious furniture and dark hardwood appointments it it looks more like a rich man's den than a studio. (I suppose it is both.) He also has an atrocious array of computer monitors arranged in a perfect arc around the desk. Nice.
c.
it seems like half his Moog is missing. am i imagining things?
where are all the Projekt Elektronik modules? the PE sequencer assists, for example, are nowhere to be found.
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