This Window

Morgue Studio Devon: East Beast Modular Upgrade Another module has been added to the expanding studio rack. This little machine is a dynamite addition to the synth arsenal – it has made an instant difference to the rest of the synth bank and will be a prominent feature of future recordings. Cre8 audio's The East Beast is a compact, East‑coast–style subtractive monophonic synthesizer designed to bridge classic analog character with modern modular flexibility. Whether used as a standalone desktop instrument or integrated into a Eurorack system, it offers a deep, hands‑on workflow that encourages exploration, patching, and generative experimentation. Control and Playability At its core, the East Beast is controllable via MIDI , CV , and its own integrated button keyboard , giving players multiple ways to interact with the instrument. The onboard keyboard doubles as a performance tool and a sequencer inter...

 Philips EL1976/00 Dynamic Microphone This Philips EL1976/00 was recently rediscovered in a garden shed, decades after first being supplied with a Philips reel‑to‑reel tape machine. Its original wiring has now been replaced with coaxial cable and a 1/4" jack plug, giving the microphone a new lease of life in the studio. Despite its modest design, this mic has become a reliable choice for recording vocals. Its naturally narrow dynamic range lends itself to rough, raw vocal takes—perfect for capturing ideas quickly or adding a gritty, unpolished character to a track. The Philips EL1976/00 is a compact dynamic table microphone produced around 1970 by Philips in Eindhoven. Designed for use with Philips tape recorders and other domestic audio equipment, it reflects the company’s move toward lightweight, modern plastics rather than earlier bakelite or catalin housings. The microphone has a distinctive small block shape, slightly leaning backwards when placed on a surface. On t...

Snake Oil? Modular synthesis promises freedom, but it also hides a minefield of inflated pricing, brand-driven hype, and unnecessary premium modules. Morgue Studio in Devon—home of This Window— has spent decades navigating those traps, choosing a hybrid path that blends affordable modern Eurorack with rugged CV/Gate machines from the 1980s. Brand Tax and Overpriced Utilities One of the biggest problems in modular synthesis is the extortionate pricing some companies attach to simple utilities. A module that does nothing more than split a signal, invert a CV, or provide a basic mixer can cost several times more than an equivalent unit from a smaller manufacturer. This isn’t about quality; it’s about branding. Many boutique makers charge premium prices for modules that are functionally identical to cheaper alternatives. The Illusion of Exclusivity Some manufacturers cultivate exclusivity through limited runs, artist panels, or modules marketed as essenti...

The Roland SH-101 is an analogue synthesiser made by Roland between 1982 and 1986. It became widely used in the 1990s, especially in electronic and house music. The SH-101 is monophonic, meaning it plays one note at a time. It features a single oscillator, sub‑oscillator, low‑pass filter, mixer for blending waveforms, noise generator, arpeggiator, and sequencer. An ADSR envelope controls the filter and VCA, while an LFO can modulate the filter, VCA, pitch, and pulse width. Its sound is often described as “snappy and razor‑sharp” bass, “squelchy and expressive” leads, and a “piercing yet smooth” filter. The SH-101 appears on many Finish The Story songs and is frequently used on This Window tracks. At launch, it cost $495 in the US and £249 in the UK, making it relatively affordable compared to other analogue synthesisers of the time. Their Gods – Limited Free Mix – Homage to the SH-101 Pre-release mix · 5 minutes · Instrumental version Their Gods appear...

Fostex 1/4" reel‑to‑reel 8‑track recorders changed home recording by bringing musicians much closer to a genuine studio experience. With eight independent tracks, artists could record drums, bass, guitars, vocals, and additional layers separately, then shape the mix with far more control than earlier 2‑ or 4‑track setups allowed. This opened the door to real experimentation at home—overdubbing, rearranging sections, refining performances, and building songs piece by piece instead of relying on single‑take captures. Recording and mixing were done through a conventional mixing desk, with the final stereo master mixed to cassette or a 1/4" 2‑track reel‑to‑reel machine. For many independent artists, this affordable recording technology was the first time their music felt “properly recorded” rather than simply documented. A Game Changer These machines also raised expectations for sound quality in self‑released music. Analog tape has a distinctive character t...

The Ashtray - a case study At its core, The Ashtray by This Window is built around a ¼" tape loop first created in 1981 —a fragile analogue fragment re‑entered, re‑worked, and expanded in 2026. The result is a piece that carries two timelines at once: the raw, handmade immediacy of the original loop and the colder, more sculpted sensibility of its modern augmentation. It sits somewhere between art project and sci‑fi horror vignette—a lost soundtrack cue found on a degraded VHS, half‑erased by time. The loop’s mechanical churn becomes a pulse; the added layers smear into a synthetic fog. There’s tension, restraint, and a faint sense that the machinery itself is breathing. Loops used to be fragments of accidents—tape cut too short, a sampler mis‑triggering, a machine playing slightly off its own rhythm. Even when you tried to be precise, the gear had its own opinions. It would saturate, smear, drift, and occasionally betray you. That instability wasn’t a flaw; it w...

How 4-Track Tascam 144 Cassette Recorders Changed Our Recording Adventures The Tascam 144 series (the compact 4-track cassette recorders built for straightforward home recording) helped shrink the distance between “having songs” and “having something you could share.” Instead of needing studio time, engineers, and expensive multi-track setups, bands, non-music creators, and songwriters could capture vocals and instruments where they rehearsed—then overdub their way toward fuller arrangements. That mattered culturally as much as technically: a rough demo stopped being something you kept in a drawer and became material you could trade at shows, send to collaborators, shop around with more confidence, and iterate on between practices. Because the recording process was simple, the 144 encouraged experimentation. You could commit to an idea, hear it back quickly, and fix performances—or re-record parts—without waiting for a scheduled studio block. That sped up song w...