System 5 by Graham Simpson

'System 5' is an album of improvised lo-fi electronica and experimental music, which is often minimalist in arrangement, and dark in atmosphere. All of the sounds originate from a Bontempi BT-805, a cheap keyboard that I picked up from a car boot sale back in 2018. Originating from the early 1990s, the BT-805 is part of Bontempi's 'System 5' series of keyboards aimed squarely at the amateur market, with the unusual gimmick of purportedly containing 666 different sounds onboard.

In reality, there are approximately thirty basic tones, with the supposed 666 sounds created from the keyboard's ability to combine two different tones together. Nevertheless, there are some very interesting, unusual and otherworldly noises that can be created through this process, and with the addition of various hardware and software FX units and pedals, and the filtering of the keyboard sounds through a Korg MS-20, has provided the surprisingly broad sonic palette that has been used on this album.

All tracks were improvised over a two day period, using the following FX processors alongside the BT-805 and MS-20; Alesis Midiverb III, Zoom 1201, Behringer Vintage Time Machine, Boss Chorus and Super Shifter Pedals, Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5, and Arturia Tape Delay and Infinity Reverb VST FX units. Most sounds were played by hand apart from a handful of sampled sounds which were then sequenced on Logic Pro X's Sampler.

Electronic musician from the North West of England. Making music with synthesizers, cheap keyboards, and anything else that can make an interesting sound.