A deep‑dive conversation with legendary sound designer Kurt Ader, whose 40‑year career spans factory presets for Roland (Jupiter‑8), Moog, Korg, Waldorf, Sequential, Emu, and more. He's collaborated with Jordan Rudess, Johannes Schmoelling (Tangerine Dream), and worked on iconic synths from the Prophet VS to the Moog One.

"Roland… told me they were making a new synthesizer with eight voices… and they asked me to do a European sound set." "I sampled the Mannheim philharmonic orchestra… the whole project took two years."

This episode is a tour through synth history, sound‑design craft, and Kurt's incredible studio.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: Kurt Ader joins TDL Synth 00:31 – Kurt's 40‑year sound‑design pedigree 01:02 – Studio tour: drum machines, SP‑series, Sigma, DW‑8000 01:34 – Waldorf, Sequential, Prophecy, SH‑series 02:01 – Korg 700S, Moog Grandmother, EMS loaners 02:23 – DeepMind, vintage organs, Valhalla hardware 03:04 – Main workspace + Wavestate 03:24 – ARP 2600, modular, Minimoog signed by Bob Moog 04:00 – MS2000, Radias, KingKORG, Jupiter‑80, Juno‑60 04:26 – Voyagers, VL‑1, Kronos collection 04:41 – Wavestate, Modwave, Moog Sub Phatty prototype 05:03 – SE‑1, XT, JP‑8000, Mackie desks, Microwave #1 05:55 – Kurt's first synth: Minimoog (1977) 06:38 – How Rick Wakeman inspired everything 07:15 – Analog vs digital: Kurt's philosophy 07:43 – Sound design beginnings + preset era 09:23 – Roland hires Kurt for the Jupiter‑8 preset bank 10:26 – Cassette‑based preset transfer 11:20 – Studio sound‑design work in the early 80s 11:36 – Sequential: Prophet 2000, 2002+, Studio 440 12:18 – Prophet VS + wavetable discovery 12:39 – Sequential bankruptcy → Emu Systems 15:33 – Emu Emulator II, Emax, E3, E4 17:23 – Rise of commercial patch libraries 18:10 – DX7 + FM synthesis 19:11 – Vintage Keys Plus with Dave Bristow 20:11 – Discovering the Korg OASYS 21:04 – Early band + chart success 22:23 – Musical influences: Yes, Genesis, Tangerine Dream 23:01 – Blade Runner + film scoring inspiration 23:38 – Meeting Johannes Schmoelling 24:45 – Prophet VS + wavetable era 25:48 – Moog: Voyager → Sub 37 → Moog One 26:24 – Creating 80% of the Moog One factory presets 27:03 – Roli, Yamaha Montage, Model D app 27:32 – Korg: Opsix, KingKORG, Modwave, Kronos 28:20 – Designing classic vs modern Moog sounds 29:43 – Waldorf Microwave, Iridium, Quantum 30:07 – Korg Radias appreciation 31:02 – OASYS engines + orchestral sampling 32:23 – Founding KApro 33:07 – Artist work: Saga, Nightwish, Jordan Rudess 34:23 – NAMM Sound Designer of the Year 35:01 – Workshops + live performance 36:15 – Freedom when designing for Korg 37:01 – PS‑3300 recreation 38:11 – Working with Johannes on the SAW project 39:45 – Live setup + Tangerine Dream recreations 41:27 – Tangerine Dream sequencing secrets (delay‑based) 43:18 – Recreating TD for live shows 44:03 – Why TD's 80s sound is timeless 45:01 – Upcoming concerts + new album 46:27 – Desert‑island synth: Kronos 49:22 – Favourite analogs: Voyager, Moog One, Poly Pro 12 50:04 – Rhodes Chroma restoration 52:04 – Playing a real CS‑80 53:45 – Studio routing + master keyboard workflow 56:12 – New solo album + collaborations 57:00 – Where to find Kurt's sound libraries 57:42 – Closing thoughts

🎧 Check out Kurt Ader's work

KApro Sound Libraries: Kurt Ader – EN - Kurt Ader - Sound-Design

SAW (Schmoelling / Ader / Waters) Project: Concert SAW : Tangram - Tangerine Dream

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