Echigoya, another synth power-spot in Tokyo

In January this year I presented the FiveG store in Harajuku, Tokyo, but the city is home to many other fantastic gems for synth heads. Today I’ll post some pictures from the Echigoya Music (えちごやミュージック) store in Shibuya.

Along with FiveG, I would list Echigoya as probably one of the best spots in Tokyo to go searching for vintage or just used synthesizers and other studio gear. It’s a small shop but filled floor to ceiling with some really fantastic gear. Prices are reasonable too, and the manager is more than happy to assist with shipping to just about any region of the world.

To get to this store you get off at the Shibuya station and walk towards Harajuku along the JR (Yamanote) line tracks. You’ll bump into Tower Records on your right side.

TowerRecords

Echigoya will be across the street.

EchigoyaExt

You have to take the elevator up to the 9th floor.

EchigoyaElevator

Inside you’ll find keyboards, synth modules, rack gear, accessories and tons of other gear.

E_Keyboards

Look at that, a used Korg Volca Beats makes a surprise appearance. I would have bought it but my mind is set on a Elektron Machinedrum now…

E_VolcaBeats

Lots and lots of gear.

E_Keyboards2

If I had the means I would have picked up a SEM or two…

E_SEMmodules

Lot’s of MPC goodness. With some custom skins too…

E_MPCs

On a side note, when I was walking back to Harajuku I spotted this charming sign near the Yoyogi park:

Sign

It basically says that all unauthorized live music performances using amps are forbidden in the park. The background is most likely that this has traditionally been one of the most popular spots for amateur bands and performers to do impromptu shows. Thus, today the area was entirely devoid of any music and mostly desolated. Sad to see such a nice ‘tradition’ go, but I’m sure they will find other spots across the city.

Check out the Echigoya Music website here!

Ableton Push available from Amazon!

Ableton Push is now available for order from Amazon! If you want to support this site, please consider ordering it via the link below :)

Ableton Push Controller for Live 9 with 11 Touch-Sensitive Encoders

Here’s a walkthrough / review of the controller and the workflow it enables:

If you are serious about music production / composing in Live 9, this should be a no-brainer!

New Song (Cumulus 1 – The Engine Room)

This is a track made entirely with my modular setup. There is no external sequencing or MIDI involved, but some effects like reverb and echo were added through Ableton during recording. Other effects, like the distortion you hear on some sounds, came from patched in guitar stomp boxes.

Each ‘layer’ was recorded separately with a XAOC Moskwa sequencer providing the clock.

Update on the Ableton Live 9 / Push Release Date

I originally reported on the Live 9 and Push being available for preorder at major retailers back in December. Now it looks like Guitar Center and Musicians Friend has updated their expected availability / shipping date for the Ableton Push controller and Ableton Live 9.

Guitar Center is now at

Push : March 18
Live 9: February 11

and Musicians Friend is at

Push: March 25
Live 9: February 18

I guess the rumors and speculations continue. Makes me wonder if they are simply guessing dates to lure people to pre-order? At this rate Bitwig might just make it out before 9 after all…

Ableton Push version compatibility

Akai just confirmed directly to me via twitter that the new Push controller (to be released end of February 2013) will require Ableton Live 9 and above to fully function:

@Akai_Pro: @glitzerstrahl ^SB I believe you should be able to manually map some features in previous versions however you need the latest version

@Akai_Pro: @glitzerstrahl ^SB To fully benefit from the deep integration.

This is really a pity. I was hoping the controller, given its price point, would be made available to users of the earlier versions of Live as well…

I guess it’s just a matter of time though before someone creates a custom midi map that let’s version 8 users take advantage of it…