Yes, Virginia, There Is A Synthesizer Heaven!

If there’s a synthesizer heaven, it would probably look like the studio ofย Michel van Osenbruggen.

Osenbruggen, who performs as Synth.nl, has shared a fantastic series of photos of his studio, including this shot of his drool-worthy monster synth and a shot of his workstation area, below.

If you can handle it, click on the photos to see them in their full HD glory.

37 thoughts on “Yes, Virginia, There Is A Synthesizer Heaven!

  1. Looking at his studio pictures on his site, I must wonder if this guy buys a piece of music
    equipment every week…. And seeing how he has it all arranged, I am sure he only uses
    a small percentage of his gear on a regular basis…eye candy ? Like his music, very nice
    sounds and arrangement….I'm almost affraid to even start to think about the obscene amount
    of money he has spent…not even jealous…I am the type of person that aquires only what he needs, the rest gets sold…and I think I do quite nicely…I probably wouldn't know where to even start in this guys studio, and I probably wouldn't want to.

  2. I don't think the point is the money spent… it's a guy who loves synths and gear. If you do nicely on the minimal setup that's cool…to each his own!

  3. Total Porn–I love this guy. However–yes…there is no way in hell he uses this gear to even 10% of it's possibilities. How often does he grab a step-stool to adjust something on one of those Nords up top….or one of those Casios by the modular? No worries–it's his right.

    But my main thought when seeing all this? Electricity bill. Must be freakin' huge.

  4. Hey… hey! HEY!

    Where's the Silverbox?! Are you saying he has all these beautiful machines lined up there but hasn't even bothered getting himself the ultimate rubber bass beast? Well that just breaks my heart as a 303 fan slash freak. Well, for each his own I guess. It's not the most versatile synth on the market anyway.

    And judging by his music, he can probably manage without one. Sounds really nice.

    But still, everybody needs a 303! Or at least a x0xb0x to make up for it. After all, it's a joyous little thing, the Three o' three!

  5. ah well. i got to know him through myspace. nice guy. weird though that he needs that many instruments for his music. ah well, i think i am a tad jealous! esp that roland jp is winking at me….;)

  6. from this picture I would just take
    1-Jupiter 8
    2-Andromeda
    3-Prophet 5
    4-Minimoog
    5-Virus ti
    6-Roland V-synth xt.

    the rest is just bling bling

  7. hilariously awesome. The guy's a collector and sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to collecting. it's so cool to see crazy people like this

  8. I know what you mean perezzz. I performed with Live 8 onstage and 10 minutes into the show Live 8 froze up on my Mac.

  9. Last time I performed onstage with Live 8, my laptop gave birth, and i had to cancel the gig and find someone who wanted a baby and be reasonably sure they weren't a cannibal or pervert.

  10. This is a hell of a synth porn. And I can't believe that people just nag here: It is just senseless Beauty, all these technology assembled together. Like a great ocean road view. To all the nay-sayers: If you dont like synth, don't look. And if you are envy to the collection – don't bother.
    Whoever sits in the middle of this studio must be happy. And I guess collecting, assembling and tinkering must be the thrill.
    Whatever it takes to make the day a litle brighter – its good.

  11. I might do something like this setup and go all hardware. Live 8 instruments just doesn’t produce that powerful punch that hardware synths put out.

  12. Seeing this does nothing but confuse me even more about his motives for adding me on MySpace. I wonder if everything is connected via MIDI (if applicable) and audio for direct access. Roughly judging from the amount of audio interfaces/AD converters alone I spotted I cannot really believe that, but hey, it's already a challenge to run power to so many keyboards. And I'm complaining about my few dozens of cables. I would go stark raving mad if I had such a studio, it's so dark (no natural light apparently — something which I cannot do without) and probably feels crammed at times. I admire the courage of a man who can work under such conditions and still manage to produce beautiful music.

  13. Everyone is entitled to an opinion which may, or may not stand side by side with your own views. One mans heaven is another mans hell. I think the real question here is,
    why would you take any differening opinion so personal ? ( I am referencing your use os the terms " Nag, nay sayers, " )

    This is why some people feel the unending desire to have a 10 bedroom mansion when
    it's only himself and his wife..I see it as a complete waste and a vulgar display of wealth.
    I conclude that the owner of this studio only uses a fraction of his gear on a regular basis
    so to me, the rest is a waste….but…to each his own I spose.

  14. … and he probably should dump all this hardware nonsense in favour of some deep software synth which he can use to create many a sound he doesn't use in any composition. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Always funny to witness people claiming that everybody is entitled to their opinion just to criticize the opinion of someone else who disagrees with them …

  15. That what you said at the very end about finding something to make the day a little brighter, that was pretty.

    I imagine someone who enjoys collecting, tweaking and playing with synthesizers would be pretty content doing what one likes in a room like that immersing oneself with all the knobs and pots and sliders. I like the idea.

  16. I have a feeling that a man who can work in a room like that just might become immersed pretty quickly with all the machines and such around him. After a few moments he wouldn't probably even remember that there exists such things as natural light or fresh air.

    Talking of which, I have a feeling it could get pretty warm in there if the air conditioning fails abruptly.

  17. I don't get all the nay-sayer nagging either.

    Would you criticize a painter for using too many colors of paint?

    Osenbruggen seems to be the rare synth collector that actually uses his synths to make interesting music.

  18. cperezzz… i would be interested in hearing ANY serious music you have made on ANY gear at all. Please post something so that everyone can hear what good music sounds like… I'm very curious about what type of music could possibly give credit to your vast musical know-how. I'm waiting…

  19. hell yeah… I have a bunch of synths at the studio, and it makes me feel like a kid again… twisting the knobs and playing with sounds on an intimate level… Much cooler than strippers or a drug addiction… Plus, hopefully this guy makes money with them (rentals, studio time, etc).

    That modular is like the adult version of a lite-brite… sooooooo freakin awesome.

  20. Thank you all for the nice words ๐Ÿ™‚ And all the questions I got on E-mail. One I got a lot and I see here too is how my synths are connected. Actually most stuff is midi and audio connected ๐Ÿ™‚ There are more midi interfaces in the studio than you can spot at first sight. There are some smaller 19'' racks with Midi interfaces and AD converters below some synths. If you are interested how everything is connected check the tech articles on my blog: http://synthnl.blogspot.com/search/label/tech

    Michel, Synth.nl

  21. Think about the negative energy that you nay sayers are generating. Now go out and take a good look at the world around you. Be happy for someone who is able to collect this equipment. What a documentation of the development and variety of electronic music this display represents. Buy what you can, learn to use what you’ve got. Don’t knock another persons way of working.

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