Chad Kettering started his musical journey as a classical trumpet player.

"I spent many years immersed in this field until my senior year in college. As an elective course, I took a class on electronic music. The college I attended had a nice setup including an Arp 2600, Yamaha DX7, Roland D50 and an Akai S950 sampler. They also had a few tape machines and FX units. The class introduced me to musique concrete, which was a compositional style developed in the mid 20th century. This approach was about using recorded sounds and assembling them in ways that told a story," says Kettering. "Through this process, I realized the infinite potential and power this could have on how we experience music. Classical music began to lose its appeal, so I moved more in the direction of electronic music. These changes were occurring in the early to mid 90’s when drum n bass, techno and intelligent dance music were thriving. I immediately glued onto music by The Orb, Future Sound of London, William Orbit, Enigma and others."

Kettering is focused on ambient music these days and has explored many synths and samplers over the years.

"This style of music evolved as an almost spiritual journey that I needed to take to express deep questions and perspectives on life on this planet," he says. "I could have explored the more techno offerings, but the space within ambient music had a stronger calling."

Kettering uses a balance of hardware and software in his music but it seems weighted a bit toward the hardware.

"Currently in the studio, I am using an Oberheim Matrix 12, Wavestation AD, Roland JD-990 and Absynth. I have tried a lot of gear over the years," says Kettering. "What I have discovered when selecting instruments is that it is a choice between the sonic character that is appealing and the ability to translate sonic ideas intuitively. In the end it is the human will to push these instruments to create new sonic territory that real art is created."

The Oberheim Matrix 12 was, of course, used by The Orb and others. It was first made in the 1980s. It seems to be (in the most basic description) an Xpander with a 61 key keyboard. The Matrix 12 lacks the individual outputs that were available on the Xpander although there may have been models -- possibly modified -- that had individual outputs. Please feel free to leave comments on the Matrix 12.

Want one of these vintage Oberheims? I am betting it will cost you because it was difficult to even find one for sale -- and prices were generally not listed.

The Wavestation AD synth module is another story. They are available with prices ranging between $300 and $500. The same is true of the Roland JD-990 which you can find for around $400 (a rack mounted unit). Absynth software should only set you back around $200.

"The instruments that I have settled on give me the ability to both realize and experiment in ways I wish to travel. I feel that coming into the world of electronics before the software age has been a blessing and a curse. I feel that the tactile experience of a hardware instrument is important to the emotional attachment to the creative process," says Kettering. "But, software adds all of the unbelievable options and recall ability that is hard to dismiss. It is a yin-yang experience between the two worlds. For my music the processing of instruments is almost as important to the sound as the instruments themselves. I am a big fan of Eventide and couldn’t create these spaces without their fantastic processing."

There are problems with the software, speaking generally, and while he is not anti-software he prefers using hardware.

"I have had my fill of computer problems. Not because I use a PC versus a Mac. It has taken a while for computer hardware to settle in and be reliable enough for getting real work done. Now it is up to software companies to provide reliable products as well. I am not against software as it has made the recording and editing process a real joy," he says. "But there is nothing more depressing than spending money on a software product only to have it not work out of the box. I just find hardware to be so much fun to buy!"

When it comes to gear he would like to have, he says there is only one thing he wants.

"I think the only thing left on my wish list would be an analog modular. It is so awesome to sit in front of a piece of gear where every knob has a specific function with unlimited resolution," he says. "[There is] no MIDI mapping to a controller, and there is something wild and random and alive about analog circuitry!"

Kettering has always used Cubase to record. Currently he uses Cubase 4 on a PC.

"[It's a] fantastic piece of software! Since Steinberg began development for Nuendo, Cubase has had the benefit of adopting Nuendo’s high end studio production features," says Kettering. "Cubase is very easy to use, easy on the eyes and has a nice balance of audio and MIDI functionality."

Kettering is currently sorting out the ideas for three separate CDs and plans to perform live some as well.