Alex Ball has built a reputation as one of the most informative and interesting synth historian’s of the YouTube age. Starting with short videos about specific instruments, his work began to grow into more in-depth and elaborate explorations of the companies behind the instruments and the people who used them.
Over the last year or so, Alex has been busy producing one of the most detailed examinations of the ARP company, it’s founder Alan R Pearlman, and the numerous people involved in making the American synthesizer manufacturer one of the most revered brands in the industry. This documentary film was made for, and with the full support of, the Alan R Pearlman Foundation, headed up by Alan’s daughter, Dina Pearlman.

Chapters
00:00 - Intro and music featuring the ARP family of synths by Alex Ball

00:50 - About Alex

03:45 - The Terminator 2 Analysis

05:40 - Meeting Heroes

06:02 - How did the ARP documentary happen?

12:49 - How long was the process?

15:45 - MUSIC CLIP: ARP family of synths by Alex Ball

16:05 - What are your research methods?

18:21 - Alternate truths

20:24 - Tracking down the gear

22:11 - Addendums and the ARP Avatar

23:44 - MUSIC CLIP: ’Interlude’ by Drew Schlesinger & David Torn featuring the ARP Avatar

24:14 - ARP Centaur 6
26:21 - Where do you see synth documentaries going?

31:06 - What’s next in Alex Ball’s world?

33:39 - What would you love to make a documentary about?

35:40 - Outro music featuring the ARP Solina by Alex Ball

Link to the YouTube video. https://youtu.be/l31RXiVSI9s

Credits
ARP Avatar excerpt: ”Interlude" by Drew Scheslnger & David Torn from the album 'Summer Synthesis 1978’

Used by kind permission

(C) 2020 Synthetic Productions Music

(P) Synthetic Productions Music / BMI

(P) Torn Music / BMI

Available at drewschlesinger-davidtorn.bandcamp.com
With thanks to the https://alanrpearlmanfoundation.org/

Alex Ball Biog
By day, Alex Ball is an award-winning media composer, producer and instrumentalist. By night, Alex explores his passion for synthesizers and the history of music technology and has made documentaries covering the stories of the Roland Corporation, ARP Instruments, the Prophet Synthesizers, the Linn LM-1 digital drum machine as well as breakdowns of iconic film scores such as Terminator 2, Escape from New York and Predator. www.alexballmusic.com

Rob Puricelli
Rob Puricelli is a Music Technologist and Instructional Designer who has a healthy obsession with classic synthesizers and their history. In conjunction with former Fairlight Studio Manager, Peter Wielk, he fixes and restores Fairlight CMI’s so that they can enjoy prolonged and productive lives with new owners.
He also writes reviews and articles for his website, failedmuso.com, and other music-related publications, and has guested on a number of music technology podcasts and shows. He can often be found at various synthesizer shows demonstrating his own collection of vintage music technology.
www.failedmuso.com

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts