[img width=717.656px]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1759250755088x542176497556475600/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] [h2]Synthesizer firm a one-man band[/h2] By James Muretich (Herald staff writer) The name Delta Music Research Ltd. sounds like a bustling young corporation full of three-piece executive types plying musical hardware. Yet the president, researcher, salesman. and only employee are one and the same, residing in an apartment on 17th Avenue S.W. The only showpiece in Tim Lawrence's modestly furnished highrise abode is his modular synthesizer system, which sits in the middle of what should be his living room. This synthesizer is the mother of five smaller units Lawrence has styled, made and sold to the University of Calgary and individual musicians. He is also negotiating with an American company regarding manufacturing his synthesizer. It is something of which the softspoken graduate of SAIT is justifiably proud, a complex piece of machinery whose sound. capabilities are impressive, to say the least. "A good synthesizer has to have sonic flexibility. You don't want to fork out that kind of money for an organ. You want to be able to create a universe of sound," says Lawrence. His synthesizer, which remains nameless ("I could've called it something silly like the Lawrencian Supergasmatron, but I didn't"), is far-reaching in its capabilities. Among other things, it has a wide array of effects, programmable audio delay, filters, a built-in eight-channel mixer, sound equalization and "the cutting edge of my new machines is a fully usable programmable computer built into the keyboard where the machine is actually capable of playing and even composing music." Having built his synthesizers from the ground up, Lawrence feels his work is comparable with anything on the market. It retails for about $12,000 U.S. An avid electronic music buff since the mid-'70s, Lawrence writes his own music as well ("I've been composing and decomposing for many years now") and feels that too many musicians are hung up on technology. "I think that one of the problems we're hearing is that the technology has overwhelmed the more important aspects of what makes things music in the first place. Technology is just a tool. The most important element is still human creativity." So in his compositions Lawrence trys for music which can be loosely compared with the work of Europe's Tangarine Dream (which scored the fantastic soundtrack to the movie Thief, among its many works). "If it comes together, I want to share it with people," but until then Lawrence re- mains somewhat of a recluse, hard at work on his music and improving his synthesizer even more. In Alberta or even Canada, for that matter, Lawrence stands very much alone in his interests and ambitions. "I honestly don't know of anybody else in this country doing this right now. There's a lot of activity in the United States and even Australia, but not here. Then, again, Canadians are notorious for letting other countries develop high technology. "Besides, a lot of people don't want to get involved in designing synthesizers. You need a strong electronics background and a tremendous devotion to electronic music be- cause, well, it's a helluva lot of work."
