This week's entry is a short film discussing how the Yamaha PortaSound PSS-470 synthesizer can be modded with the Highly Liquid UMR-2 MIDI kit to create a sequencer ready instrument, capable of reproducing the classic AdLib & Sound Blaster synth sounds of the late 80's and early 90's.
The UMR-2 PCB is no longer in production from Highly Liquid, however it is now open source and at the time of posting can easily be found from third party manufacturers/sellers.
This video is intended to serve as an brief informative introduction to the Yamaha PSS-470 and it's connection to the AdLib and Sound Blaster Soundcards. If you would like to install the UMR-2 mod yourself there is plenty of useful information available on the internet.
All of the music in the backing track for this video was recorded using the modded PSS-470 shown in the video. MIDI data was sent out of Logic Pro X and into the PSS-470 using an M-Audio Midisport 2 x 2 interface. The line out stereo output of the PSS-470 was then recorded back into Logic using an Audient ID22 audio interface.
The video was shot with a Canon EOS 100D Digital SLR Camera using a 18-55 IS STM Lens. The voiceover was recorded using an Electro Voice RE-20 microphone into Logic Pro X. The audio was edited and mixed using Logic, whilst the video and images were edited using Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop respectively. These programs were used as they facilitated a streamlined and effective workflow given the nature of the work involved.
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