MOTM

Ivan Schwartz
Whitinsville, MA (Between Worcester, MA and Providence, RI)
Marketing guy at Eastern Acoustic Works (www.eaw.com)

BS Industrial Technology (plastics and electronics manufacturing), Western 
Washington University, Bellingham, WA.  Member AES, IEEE.  Like any 
self-respecting college graduate, I have never worked in my field of study.

MOTM: 100, 110, 120, two 300, two 800 (none built yet - Paul warned me about 
this!  Ok, I'm ready to hear the flames...).  Power One PSU.
Case:  Quantum Scientific aluminum rack case being ordered (pics to come!)

Other gear:  Blacet (Dark Star, Klang Werk, Frequency Divider), PAIA 
Theremax, Elektor SidStation, Waldorf Pulse, older analog drum machines and 
modules (Roland CR-5000, Korg Rhythm 55, Simmons SDS-8), Kurzweil 
Expressionmate, Emu Launchpad, Arp Axxe, various reverbs and delays including 
an ADA STD-1 (analog stereo tapped delay - has CV input), analog and tube 
stomp boxes, a Kalimba with a pickup (great for processing), MOTU 7S MIDI 
mixer, other mixers... in other words, I like to collect stuff.  I am very 
into non-keyboard controllers (thus the Theremin and Expressionmate) and am 
moving towards building some joystick controllers for a few of the above 
sound sources.  I'm not a keyboardist damnit, I'm a synthesist!

Soon-to-be-arriving:  Spectral Audio Syntrack, Roland VP-70 MIDI voice 
processor, Future Retro 777, other fun stuff... I am avoiding the temptation 
to order more MOTM kits until I finish building the ones that I have!  But I 
will be getting some filters and hopefully a future MOTM sequencer.

Projects:  Finishing my MOTM modules, racking and casing everything else so 
it is quicker to take out gigging.  Contrary to popular opinion, the MOTM 
will be the only thing that stays out home.  While it is certainly 
roadworthy, I hate the thought of exposing it to vibration and especially 
cigarette smoke.  Perhaps I'll get a few dedicated modules in the future to 
use "out there."

Background:  DIY electronics hobbyist since I was a kid, experience with 
large modular Arp and Emu systems in the mid to late 70's, some formal 
electronics training, very extensive sound reinforcement mixing and system 
design experience.  Once upon a time knew a bit about metalworking but a 
drill press is about all I've got at home.

Musical style: Two distinctly different performance styles; completely avante 
garde "freeform" performance with other like-minded performers, and dance 
music that's mostly techno/electronica but is also classifiable as 
trance/industrial/whatever depending on the piece.  I call it "electronic 
music."

Musical influences/likes:  Most everything... lately I've been listening to 
Raymond Scott, Frank Zappa, Diana Krall, classical.  Love late 70's funk 
(those old growling Minimoogs bringing up the bottom underneath thumping and 
popping electric bass).  Influences from years ago include Ultravox, Heaven 
17, Erasure - your typical Euro-pop synth bands.  And earlier listening to 
Deep Purple, Gary Wright, anything that had a B-3 and a Minimoog.  I really 
don't listen to the type of music that I like to perform.  Not sure why; 
guess I would rather just do what I feel rather than lock onto current trends 
in electronic music.  I'm not big on emulation synths although the Waldorf 
Pulse does have a nice sound.  Other than that I really prefer analog sound 
sources.

What brought me to MOTM:  Wanting a modular synth similar to the old Emu 
modular that I used years ago, and wanting the best.  Paul's selection of 
components and quality of PCB's and metalwork is truly the best I've seen.  
And building kits seemed like a good idea back when I had spare time.

Likes: Food, cats, driving, life
Dislikes: Brussel sprouts (but I like goat cheese!)
Addictions: eBay (but I'm trying to quit)

I don't perform live often but am trying to change that situation.  Will be 
playing theremin and various electronica with a local band, and am hoping to 
do a few performances with some local "alternative instrument" performers.

How I can help other MOTM-ers:  Sound reinforcement issues, finding odd parts,
 "vintage" synth info (how the hell can they be "vintage" synths when I'm 
only 37 years old?!?)