Tripecac - Albums

From 1990-1999 my primary gear was a Yamaha SY55 keyboard workstation, recorded into a four-track. I also occasionally used a drum machine and acoustic guitar. The audio quality wasn't great (hissy, clicky, garbled at times), and no one will mistake the SY55's sounds for real instruments, but the energy level was high and the writing pretty tight. Most songs from that era are 3-4 minute jazz/reggae pop songs with vocals.

In 2000 I replaced the SY55 with a Korg Triton connected to a computer running Sonar. I occasionally added electric guitar. The audio is a lot cleaner and the sounds are more realistic, but the songs are less poppy and composed, and tend to be more jammy; most are 5+ minute jazz/trance instrumentals, emphasizing repetitive rhythms over melody.

By late 2010 I was tired of the Triton, and started the switch over to soft synths (virtual instruments). This allowed me a more "live" sound, at the cost of a steep learning curve. Most of what I've recorded since then is tests, but then again so is most of Tripecac. :)