Aphex Twin

We find out about some of the instruments that shaped the early sound of Aphex Twin, one of the most respected names in electronic music.

[Xtal](https://youtu.be/sWcLccMuCA8) from his renowned Selected Ambient Works (85-92) album. It does, however, have the mysterious “Parameter 13” that can produce some wild and unexpected results. [old-school samplers](https://www.gearnews.com/how-to-get-that-old-school-sampler-sound/) can be fun, but it doesn’t always make for fluid workflows. The DX100 has some great standard patches, but it’s extremely limited in terms of sound design. However, the pattern does sound unmistakably like the sequencer of the 808. Moreover, the inspiration likely led James to later acquire and use the larger and far more advanced DX7. The only one he kept untouched was his Korg MS-20, a popular choice among many artists of the time. However, his curious nature and background in electronics led to plenty of modifications to his 808 and many other pieces of gear too. The System 100M was introduced in 1979 as a configurable selection of over 20 modules that you could put together in 3 different rack sizes. In the years that followed, he began collecting records and DJing around the scene of his hometown in Cornwall, UK, which was relatively active for such a small region. Although vintage modular synths aren’t necessarily the best for moving fluidly between instruments in a hardware setup, the System 100M would certainly have rubbed off on James creatively. James began collecting synthesizers in the mid-1980s and, as a teenager, his early productions were created largely without the influence of other electronic music at the time.