Apr 30, 2017
Jim Aikin is one of my heroes - he introduced me (along with David Friend) to synthesizers in a way that I could grasp at the time, but also led me down many musical paths through his album reviews, deft editing of columns and excellent product reviews. I was lucky enough to corner Jim for an interview, and we ripped off a great one!
One of the things I love about Jim is that he has real, heart-felt opinions - and is willing to share them. So we get to hear about his views on music, synth development, writing and the publishing industry. But more than those tidbits, we get to hear from someone that has been on the front lines of the synth business for decades. He's written about everything from 2600's to Kontakt libraries, and has a singular feel for synth design from having experienced it all.
I'd strongly recommend that you check out some of Jim's writing: his music blog is available at https://synthage.wordpress.com/, and Keyboard Magazine has a collection of his work here. We also reference the review of the Serge Modular in this podcast; you can read it at this link.
It was great to chat with Jim, and I look forward to doing it again at some point. In the meantime, enjoy this podcast!