Compositions by Tom Main

"Orchestra & Synthwork 33". An atmospheric piece. In this video I get to stand up. Unfortunately I didn't show you why. I had synths out of the frame which I was manipulating. Synthesizers, when operated in a performance situation often need tweaking, program selection/variation and various parameter alterations. You play the "buttons" almost as much as you play the keys. It is one reason I multi-track, simply because my hands are literally full with any given synth at any one given time. In live performance the "buttons" become part of the performance. Some people see this as "fiddling" or "indecision" when in fact the actions are premeditated and needed as part of rendering the performance. It is the nature of playing (not always) a synthesizer. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Slumber 02". This video features the use of Decent Sampler's various vocal vsts. They are being played from the Xtreme's keyboard. I have also augmented those vsts with the Wavestate. The leads are by the Osmose while the Kronos is holding the background percussion and chordals. This work was inspired by seeing my love falling asleep. I hope you find this of interest and/or enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Orchestral Rock 08". I like the idea of mixing orchestral instruments with "band" instruments. These fine instruments (my rig) allows me to interrogate such a mix when composing and performing. It allows me to hear the blends, the transformations and the union of different instruments, therefore not only writing the music in terms of note values but also nominating the instruments themselves. I hope you find this video of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Jazz 290" (On The Sonic Edge) Kronos 2 and Osmose Mk1 with percussion from the Kronos and Modo Drums. Some of the percussion was played in manually from the Kronos. I find the Osmose a superb Jazz solo instrument, as evidenced here. It is such an expressive instrument both in sound and playability. The camera failed, hence the graphics. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Orchestral Rock 07" The Kronos 2, Xtreme and Hammond combo - a good orchestral-rock combination. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom. 😊

"Synthwork 42" Karma drums, from the Kronos 2 are used in this piece. Many of the background sounds are from the Modwave N, with the Wavestate and Osmose delivering the repeated theme. I wrote this piece mid-serious illness, literally crawling out of bed to play it. Most of the patches you hear are made by me, except for the ones generated by the Modwave N. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"House of Skaoi" The Kronos 2 and Wavestate are synced as one instrument, with the Wavestate still being able to solo. The Osmose is using its internal sounds, slightly tweaked to give the body of the sound a bit more er....um....body. The Xtreme shines with its strings as it usually does and the use of AAS' strumming sessions electric guitar is probably the best electric shred guitar in my arsenal. I hope you find this of interest and/or just enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Lament 02". In this video I bring the instruments in my rig "in play" with some choice VSTs (see the instrument credits at the end of the video). The VSTs are mainly controlled from the Triton Xtreme, Etheriel Fields runs by itself, it is a free running generator which can be programmed. The Osmose shines in this piece with its quite vocal-synth patch, rendering a plaintive, solitary feel. The Hammond is being used to create a sonic backdrop. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Rewind Time" Several tracks of Expressive E's Osmose 49 Mk1 MPE synthesizer combining to create this piece. Apart from the "at last" factor of direct vibrato/pitch bending on the keyboard and the deep multi-aftertouch capabilities and the fantastic independent poly aftertouch, I love, as a composer and musician the imprecision of some of the notes. This instrument has "dirt" and "dirt", imo, makes the music, within reason, human. It, in part, creates groove. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Osmose of Love" Something a little different, featuring the Expressive E Osmose 49 Mk1. This instrument is new to my rig. It allows full control over volume, attack, vibrato, slide and filtering while playing the keyboard. This makes this instrument very expressive. The behaviour of the keyboard takes a little getting used to, the keys wobble and have far greater depth when pushed down on than normal keys do. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

Orchestral work.

Easy listening, Jazz.

"Dronework 10" The Korg Kronos 2 and the Osmose 47 Mk1 together. Even though these two instruments are completely different in their sound design, the Osmose being somewhat more "metallic", they compliment each other very well. I find I am using the Osmose more as a solo (lead) instrument than a chordal instrument. These are early days of course as I am still coming to grips with the Osmose. The Kronos, well what can I say? What a wonderful instrument it is. The master of my rig. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom ☺️

"Blues Groove 10" Plain ole Blues with a bit of Gospel thrown in. An interplay between Korg Kronos 2, Hammond XK5 and Osmose 47 Mk1 - a good combo me thinks. I am enjoying playing the Hammond, on which I am varying the drawbars to create a variety of tones in order to back as well as highlight phrases and individual notes. This video is to feature this combo in which all the components compliment each other. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"PianoSynthwork 03" Classical. The Korg Kronos and Wavestate are acting as one instrument, with the Wavestate retaining its solo capability. The Osmose is providing the tube/flute sound. I love the articulated wind sound of the program selected. The Korg Xtreme makes a brief "appearance" using its orchestral winds program. Most of this was played singularly with the Osmose added on a seperate track. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Oneironaut Dream" The Kronos and Wavestate are acting as one instrument, except for the very opening where the Wavestate is solo. The Kronos and Wavestate blend so well together. They are a delight to perform on. The Osmose is doing the rest, except for the drums which are by Modo. I am going to have to remodel my studio in order to bring the Osmose into direct performance play. At the moment I am finding the Osmose's solo capabilities, in this context slow and soft. It is delightful too, very inspirational. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Dronework 09" Featuring the Osmose 49 Mk1. All the tracks are made on the Osmose. I am using the pitch bend key facility and also the aftertouch on this interesting instrument. The pitch bends are intensional. I am still new on this keyboard. I am still adjusting to the behaviour of the keyboard and the depth of the keybed. This is a very responsive and expressive instrument and the technique to play it is somewhat different from a "normal" keyboard and keybed. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Fantasy 31 in Amin" This video shows the Kronos and the Osmose working together. Each is independent of the other. At this stage (March) I was still getting to know and adjust to the Osmose's keyboard, especially the depth of the aftertouch being another third deeper than usual. Also, the touch vibrato in a chord context. I think the Kronos and the Osmose are a good match. The Osmose tends to be a bit sharp in its sounds. I overcome this by tweaking those sounds in the synth edit section of the instrument, which is what I have done with the sounds you hear here. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Jazz 286" Laid back Jazz. This shows the versatility of the Kronos sourcing it's Grand Piano, Tenor Sax, Harmonica, Fender Rhodes, Fretless Bass. I really enjoy the Vibraphone patch I created on the Wavestate. The Hammond XK5 shines like it always does. These three instruments are of a very fine quality. The FXers on them are also superb. FXers being very important in placing the sound in an environment, in this case a small hall. The FXers are, in my patch creations, part of the sound I create. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 😊

"Orchestra & Synthwork 31" A semi-drone piece. The Osmose 49 Mk1 is featured in this piece. I am loving its expressiveness and, literally, hands-on control. It also seems to sit well with my other boards. In this video the Osmose is independent, no MIDI with any other board in my rig. The Kronos is using pre-designed Karma patterning to flesh out the backing. It is MIDIed to the Wavestate to combine both to play as one instrument. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Groover 85". A groove using arps on the Kronos 2 and sequences on the Wavestate intermingled with pads on the Xtreme and Wavestate. The Kronos and Wavestate are operating as one instrument for sequencing purposes, otherwise they are operating as independent units. The Korg Kronos is providing the basic drum pallette with Modo drums proving breaks and fills, laboriously placed into the tracks. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Orchestral 60" Letting the strings fly! The Korg Kronos and Wavestate are working together as one instrument, connected through MIDI. The Xtreme is independent. I built these sounds myself. These instruments are not often shown in this genre. I imagined an orchestra performing this. These instruments are so very valuable as compositional tools both as a sketch of an idea or a full-blown composition. This is a live performance, no multi-tracking or add-ons. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Orchestra & Synthwork 30" Multi-tracked. The Kronos shows its versatility, as does the Wavestate. I love these two very well matched keyboards. The Xtreme's legendary strings shine through too. These three boards constitute my basic rig and are often paired through MIDI turning them into a single instrument whilst each instrument still retains its ability to solo. This video demonstrates this very well. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Blues Groove 09". Introducing a new-comer to my rig. This is the Osmose by Expressive E. This is a wonderful keyboard which is MPE capable. The keyboard itself is very versatile as the keybed not only allows manipulation through "wiggling" the keys but it also has independent aftertouch and velocity. This is my first attempt at using this keyboard in my work. My trusty Kronos is laying down a fairly standard blues line and I feel that the Osmose and the Kronos sit "right at home" with one another. Please excuse the out of focus video, my camera seems to do this on occasion. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂

"Jazz 285". In this video I am showing the change of drum patterns by selecting them directly from the Kronos' Karma drum patterns. This gives a greater degree of freedom of choice regarding the drum patterns, but it can be more difficult to control as the touch-sensitive screen doesn't always co-operate. Once I have made a selection I also have the option of varying the patterns by the use of the scenes. I am also using the Xtreme's Rhodes pad I made some time ago. I hope you find this of interest and enjoy the music. Love, Tom 🙂