#techno #minimal #instrumental #electronic #1980s #dark #synthwave

I decided to set myself the challenge of making some music using only the sounds of one instrument - the Yamaha RX7, which some of you may know is a drum machine from the 1980s. The RX7 has some great sounding drum sounds on board - a mixture of electronic and acoustic sounds. But the machine also has some pitched instruments in its sound palette too - namely a few bass and guitar sounds, steel drums, a couple of DX7-type FM sounds, and a marimba, which I have used as the main instrument on this track.

The drum machine is a bit of a fiddle to program, so I sequenced the drum parts on Logic Pro X, and sampled all the individual pitched sounds, and fed them through various hardware and software FX units. I think the overall sound is quite dark and minimal with a 1980s vibe. The track is rooted in techno, but is in the time signature of 9/8 so there's a prog-rock influence in there too. Hope you like it..... 😄

Written and recorded Tuesday 3rd February 2026.