All the tracks up there are pretty much sample based, stuff from records found in charity shops, recorded into an Akai S5000, chopped up as I need. That said I do have a track on the CD that has my friend JB playing cello. Alongside that I also have various synths and outboard gear.
I use the amiga version of OctamedSS, by via UAE on a PC. As to the reasons why, I dunno, I guess it's what I'm used to, and yeah I do find it a very quick way to put together what I do. It is very complex initially, and you have to really *want* to do various things as opposed to the ease on newer programs where you can click a button to get some effect, but once I've got a block with all the ideas in, all the parts running together, I find it's quite quick from there on in to play around muting the tracks, to get an idea of an arrangement, and then make all the blocks and sequence them together.
I love my hardware and I'm not about to give that up to start using softsynths, plus believe it or not I can chop a sample up on the Akai quicker than I can in Soundforge (But recycle can come in handy, mind you...)
