Nemesis - Net Archeology

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Yamaha CS-15

The second synth in the Nemesis gearlist. Ami bought it from Helsinki in 1986 for 1200 FMk (that´s about € 200). A very prominent synth in the early recordings. Good examples of the later use are many leadlines on ”Xcelsior” and ”Cyberiad” (especially on ”Jumalaattori”).

Despite its two oscillator set up, the basic sound is rather thin when compared to Moogs and even to old Korgs. But the filter section and envelopes are very good and versatile. Also the trigger/VCO- inputs and especially the feature of EXT input for filter and VCA section have been used often in various Nemesis recordings, even today. Keyboard is very light and reliable, so its easy to play fast solos with this one.

Yamaha CS-15 gets a ”Nemesis Special Oscar” for its general sturdiness, durability and for being virtually failsafe all these years. Like the later DX7, early Yamahas are clearly built to last (well, at least much longer than most of the other brands).

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YAMAHA DX 11

The little brother of DX 7. Ami bought it in 2002 for next to nothing, as it was lying dusty and neglected in a local music shop. He repaired it,cleaned it up and put it to use both on stage and in studio. It is often used as a secondary midi keyboard in Ami´s set-up.

It has many of the features of a DX 7, but quite a bit more. Its programmability is not a piece of cake at first, but with the help of a manual, things clear a bit. It has quite a few good features and is excellent for crispy and bell-like sounds. The keyboard is smallish and the buttons are very small for concert use. In studio it is a nice thing, but it´s very hard to change the sounds while playing. So you have to do it all beforehand.

Not a suitable vehicle for voyages into sound, but a good preset keyboard (if you just can program your own sounds with it).

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KORG M1

This was the first digital synth in Nemesis studio. The year was 1990 and it opened a totally new world for the band. For a time, it was all multitrack step-sequencing and preset sounds. The old analog synths sounded stuffy and muffled in comparison. It was great to be able to create a whole track with just one box…a sort of poor man´s Fairlight or Emulator. This must have been one of the main reasons why M1 became so popular. The keyboard was very good and the preset sounds were actually mostly very impressive.

But after the newness of it all wore off, it became just another polyphonic synth in the studio. And so it proved to be one of the best ever made in its price range. Jyrki has used it very heavily on basically every nemesis album. Even to the extent that it finally wore out in 2000 and the band had to buy another one.

You would be surprised if you know all the sounds that originate from M1 on nemesis material…Jyrki has really learned to do unconventional programming with it over the years. And when he hooks it with his Ensoniq DP-4 FX unit, it is really hard to tell it´s a M1.

A classic in the same sense as Yamaha DX 7.

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KORG POLYSIX

The best and most versatile of the analog polysynths in the nemesis collection. Very simple and logical to program. Mr. Spock would like this one. The sounds are colourful and the deep filter makes them almost 3D. The FX unit of the machine is nice, but the sound really benefits from a good echo/delay from another box (Jyrki uses mainly an Ensoniq DP-4).

The long keyboard and the option of using all the six Polysix oscillators in unison mode make the synth also a very powerful monophonic lead synth. Arpegiator is also a very simple and handy unit to use creatively (=quickly).

The only bad point is the slight hiss with certain patches, but it can be masked with some phasing. Also the memory battery is a bit complicated to change, but is not too difficult with some good hints from the net. It should be changed in time, because the battery may leak into the circuits!

BTW, Polysix is Ami´s ”Desert island synth”, altough it has been mainly used by Jyrki for the last 10 years.

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MICROMOOG

The very first synth in the Nemesis gearlist. Ami bought it in Kokkola for 1000 Fmk ( € 175) in 1985. The synth had stood for years in a local music shop and it didn´t sell because nobody knew how to operate it. Ami was testing it one day and the owner of the shop said: ”if you manage to find a single decent sound, please glue the buttons to that mode!” Despite of being an out-of-money schoolboy, Ami managed to finally get the money together. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Moog was still in the shop by that time.

Micromoog is perhaps the most versatile monophonic analog synth in its league (actually Nemesis prefers it to Minimoog even!). Excellent for out-of-this world effects and still very playable as a lead instrument. With a good FX unit, it can sound almost like anything… Ami used it as his main solo synth in the days of early Nemesis, but for the last 15 years it has been Jyrki´s main solo/FX axe.

Micromoog is heavily featured on every Nemesis album. ”Cyberiad” is full of it and a good example of its beautiful lead line capabilities is ”Cygnus Loop” on ”Sky Archeology”. The sound is very full and 3D despite the one oscillator sound. Jyrki normally uses a lot of phasing and delay to beef up the basic osc sound, especially during concerts.

Micromoog is made in 1976 and its age shows very differently when compared to Yamaha CS-15. A lot of maintenance is required from time to time and the keyboard is a bit clumsy and uneven in its operation. Minimoog seems to have similar problems, so perhaps its down to the quality of the Moog kbd materials at the time. Rather many Micromoogs (and other Moogs as well) seem to be wrecks nowadays, so beware if you´re going to buy one without testing it personally!

But a great synth nevertheless, a true classic. There´s no peers for Moog filter units…amen.

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KORG MINIKORG 700s

A very strange beast. Being a japanese synth from 1974, it comes as no surprise that everything is a bit different with this one. All the buttons are named very originally, like ”bender” and ”traveller” ?. But as you begin the use it, everything falls into place more or less. The sound is very heavy and the ring modulations are simply awesome. It is a truly great synth for certain things, but it´s a bit frustrating for all-around use. The sound/button architecture is so different that you just cannot use the usual strategies for patching like in most analog monophonics. This is of course a good point as such, but limits its playability somewhat.

The best use for Minikorg in live situation seems to be to patch a good lead sound and adjust it only as far as you know what you´re doing. For total intuitive sound adventures it is better to use later Korgs or Rolands. Studio work is of course a different matter. One big downside of Minikorg is the total lack of sync inputs/outputs.

Minikorg is rather heavily featured on ”Monocheros” (on ”Sky Archeology”) in the Nemesis catalogue and many other minor appearances here and there on ”Xtempora”. It has experienced a bit of a renaissance lately and will be heard more of in the forthcoming recordings (2007-).

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NOVATION SUPERNOVA

The first ASM (analog sound modelling) unit in the band. Used quite a bit on ”Sky Archeology” and even more since that. Sounds very convincing in the mix, but if used as a sole sound source it would sound a bit ”plastic”. Especially if you have real analog synths blasting away alongside in the mix. But its ease of use and 8-patch multitimbrality in seq mode makes it a very good box when improvising. Altough the cramped panel architecture and buttons for submenus can sometimes be very frustrating. A big Moog would be something else to adjust! But if you can hear what you´re doing, it is a handy tool after the learning curve has been completed. Nevertheless, in the heat of a gig, one can easily get hopelessly lost in the sound chain if monitoring is not adequate. The submenus pave the way to digital hell…

A good example of Supernova in action is “Huygens” on “Xtempora”. All of the sequencing is done with the Nova, sounding surprisingly like a combination of real analog units.

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AKAI 2800 SAMPLER

Well, sampler is not a synth, actually… but Akai has been a very important soundsource in Nemesis catalogue since 1995. Normally used for drum sounds and mellotronics, it also has good qualities for creative soundsculpture. There´s certainly much more advanced samplers available nowadays, but the trusty old 2800 can still deliver. It´s a bit laborious and slow to use extempore, but it´s reliable and sturdy. Extensive gigging and heavy studio work use have not broken it yet… once the backlight of the display failed, but that´s all…

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