Howard Scarr
Howard Scarr Profile

 Sound Designer

for Roland, Access (Virus), Hans Zimmer, NI, Waldorf, Steinberg and others

 Tech Writer

of highly readable tutorials, manuals

 Keyboard Player

with Zorch (1973, 2000) and cult-band GONG (2000)

 Ideas Man

consulting for a few select synthesizer companies

click here for references

 35 years living and breathing synthesizers OK, I took a break during the ‘80s and’90s!

  • 1973 - Formed ZORCH, the first all-synthesizer band in the UK: me, Basil Brooks, Niel Thorpe
  • 1974 - Zorch secretly records OUROBOROS at Peter Zinovieff’s EMS studio using the mighty Synthi 100...
  • 1975 - ... also a synthetic music video using the EMS Spectron - winner in japanese festival of electronic arts.
  • 1977 - Zorch disbands due to lack of concerts and money. I join Bristol band SKYWHALE (breakneck melodic rock)
  • 1979 - Lured to Frankfurt (thanks, Rosi). Learned the language and worked as a translator.
  • 1981 - Various projects e.g. X-Band featuring Kai Eckhardt-Karpeh (John McLaughlin Trio).
  • 1987 - Several years with JOCCO ABENDROTH (“the German Springsteen”). 3 albums, hit single.
  • 1994 - Long stay in Havanna with Euro/Cuban project Yocoruba, featuring Feliciano Arango (NG la Banda).
  • 2000 - Joined GONG, and reformed ZORCH with Basil Brooks. Zorch records “Glastonbury Live”.
  • 2001 - Created Access Virus presets and wrote acclaimed tutorial (see Downloads). More GONG tours.
  • 2002 - Hired by Access, Roland, NI and others as sound designer
  • 2005 - Joined local prog-punk-rockers “Ayefore”, playing mostly guitar - a refreshing break from synthesizers!
  • 2007 - Concentrated on sound design for Zebra2, joined U-HE team
  • 2008 - Hired by Hans Zimmer to provide Zebra2 sounds for “The Dark Knight”
  • 2009 - Sounds for “Angels and Demons” (many choirs and bells), “Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen”

 These are a few of my favourite synths ... with them I don’t feeeeeel ... so bad

  • u-he Zebra2! Listen to this duet - this solo - this duet (all Zebra2.2, no external effects)
  • EMS VCS3 / Synthi AKS
  • ARP Odyssey / 2600
  • Access Virus series
  • Yamaha CS80
  • Yamaha VL1 / VL7
  • Roland V-Synth
  • Ensoniq ASR
  • Gmedia (now GForce) impOSCar / MiniMonsta
  • NI B4 (OK, it’s an organ) / FM7
  • Clavia Nord Modular
  • Oberheim OB and Matrix series

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