Every keyboard, every knob, every era – a deep dive into the machines behind the sound of Scott Hansen’s Tycho project.

Introduction: The Instrument Is the Song

Scott Hansen has never been shy about one particular truth: for Tycho, the production process is the composition. “A lot of the songwriting for me is actually an artifact of the production and arrangement process,” he told Soundtoys in an interview about the making of Awake. The synthesizer you choose, the effects chain you run it through, the way the converters color the signal on the way into the DAW – these are not secondary decisions. They are the song.

Over more than two decades of recording, Hansen has assembled, disassembled, sold off, and rebuilt his synthesizer collection multiple times. He has tracked iconic records on cheap workstations and vintage machines worth tens of thousands of dollars. He has championed hardware purity and then, in the same breath, praised a software plugin as “one of the best soft synths ever made.” Through it all, one philosophy has remained constant: the right sound is whatever serves the music, whether it comes from a 1972 Minimoog or a laptop running Reaper.

This guide traces every synthesizer known to have passed through Hansen’s hands, organized by the era in which it entered the picture, with attention to how each instrument shaped the Tycho sound.

Part I: The Beginnings – Drum Machines, Samplers, and Workstations (1999-2004)

Roland MC-303

The story of Tycho’s synthesizers begins, improbably, with a house-cleaning job. A friend of Hansen’s who had introduced him to drum and bass music cleaned someone’s house and came away with an Alesis drum machine and matching sequencer. Hansen brought them to a music store in Sacramento and traded them for a Roland MC-303 – the much-maligned “Groovebox” that Roland released in 1996 to mixed reviews from the electronic music community.

The MC-303 was never a sophisticated instrument. It was a preset-based dance machine, a box designed to get beginners making beats. But for Hansen, who was living in Sacramento and just beginning to understand that electronic music could be made outside of a proper studio, it was a revelation. He has said the MC-303 got him “stoked” about making electronic music. It was the spark – the first piece of gear that made the abstract idea of producing music feel tangible and personal.

The MC-303 did not appear on any Tycho release in a meaningful way, but it established a pattern that would define Hansen’s entire career: start with whatever you have, and let the limitations of the instrument push you toward something you would never have imagined.

Ensoniq ASR-X Pro

If the MC-303 was the spark, the Ensoniq ASR-X Pro was the breakthrough. Hansen has described his early gear progression as moving from drum machines and small synths up to the ASR-X Pro – a sampler and drum machine hybrid that Ensoniq released in the late 1990s. The ASR-X Pro was not glamorous. It had a reputation as a utilitarian workhorse, a machine favored by hip-hop producers for its sampling capabilities and built-in effects.

What the ASR-X Pro gave Hansen was the ability to record back into it – to sample his own sounds, manipulate them, layer them, and sequence them into compositions. This was the fundamental creative leap. Before the sampler, Hansen was experimenting with gear. After the sampler, he was making music. The ASR-X Pro’s resampling workflow – capturing a sound, processing it, sampling the processed version, and processing it again – became a foundational technique that echoes through every Tycho record, even long after the hardware was retired.

The ASR-X Pro was central to the earliest Tycho material, the tracks that would eventually coalesce into the project’s first proper release. Its gritty, lo-fi character – the product of its converters and limited bit depth – contributed to the hazy, sun-bleached aesthetic that defined early Tycho.

Korg Triton

The Korg Triton workstation was Hansen’s first real synthesizer – the instrument that moved him beyond sampling and drum programming into actual keyboard-based composition. The Triton was a powerhouse of late-1990s digital synthesis, combining a sample-based sound engine with sequencing, effects processing, and an enormous library of sounds.

The Triton became the backbone of The Science of Patterns (2002) and Past Is Prologue (2004). Hansen used a computer in only a limited sense during this period; the Triton’s internal sequencer and sampling capabilities allowed him to build entire compositions within the workstation itself. The lush, slightly artificial pads and string textures that characterize Past Is Prologue – the shimmering layers that feel simultaneously digital and warm – owe much to the Triton’s character.

Hansen has acknowledged that the Triton represented a transitional phase. It was a digital instrument in every sense, and while it could produce beautiful sounds, it lacked the tactile, organic quality that would later define Tycho’s sonic identity. The Triton taught Hansen how to compose with a keyboard, but it was the discovery of analog synthesis that would transform his music entirely.

Part II: The Analog Awakening – Dive Era (2005-2011)

Korg Mono/Poly

The Korg Mono/Poly was the instrument that changed everything. Hansen has told the story repeatedly: when he got his hands on a Mono/Poly, that was when he understood what everyone was talking about with analog synthesis. The difference between the Triton’s digital patches and the Mono/Poly’s raw, oscillating waveforms was not subtle. It was a revelation.

Hansen has described the Mono/Poly as “the Japanese answer to the Minimoog” – a cheap alternative that Korg built in the early 1980s that ended up becoming “a whole new beast.” The Mono/Poly is probably the synthesizer you hear the most on Dive (2011). Its character is distinctive: four oscillators that can operate in monophonic or polyphonic modes, with a warmth and grit that sits somewhere between the Minimoog’s fatness and the brighter, more angular sound of other Japanese synths of the era. Hansen has characterized its tone as “more disco-y, like electronic, ’70s dance.”

The Mono/Poly was so central to Hansen’s workflow that he listed it alongside the Access Virus Indigo as one of only two synths he would take if he could bring just two instruments. For live performances, rather than risking the vintage hardware on tour, Hansen sampled the Mono/Poly into Kontakt patches, a practical compromise that allowed him to carry the instrument’s voice without the fragility.

Korg MS-20

Hansen acquired the original Korg MS-20 and initially used it sparingly. In a MusicRadar interview around the time of Epoch, he described it as a recent acquisition that he had used on only one song so far but was excited to develop further. He called it a “late bloomer” in his ISO50 blog studio standouts post.

The MS-20’s semi-modular patchbay and aggressive filter character make it a very different animal from the warm, enveloping sounds Hansen typically gravitates toward. It is a gnarly, sometimes unruly instrument – the kind of synth that rewards experimentation with unexpected results. Interestingly, Hansen used the MS-20 plugin rather than the hardware for the lead sound on the title track “Dive,” later admitting he was sitting there writing the part and looking at the real MS-20 across the room, wondering what he was thinking – but the plugin just had a different sound, and for that particular song, it worked.

Oberheim Four Voice FVS-1

Of all the synthesizers Hansen has owned, the Oberheim Four Voice may be the most storied. This massive, unpredictable machine – built by Tom Oberheim in the mid-1970s as one of the first polyphonic synthesizers – became a defining instrument of the Dive era and remained in Hansen’s studio through Awake and Epoch.

Hansen described the FVS-1 as a “magic synth” that “has a mind of its own.” This was not merely poetic license. The Four Voice is an instrument built from four individual SEM (Synthesizer Expander Module) voices, each with its own pair of oscillators, filter, and envelope generators. Unlike modern polysynths where every voice is identical, each SEM in the Four Voice has its own character, its own tuning drift, its own subtle personality. The result is an instrument that never plays the same sound exactly the same way twice – a quality that can be maddening for a producer seeking precision but intoxicating for one seeking organic, living textures.

Hansen used the Oberheim Four Voice for pads, atmospheres, basses, and leads across Dive, Awake, and Epoch. Its thick, wooly tone and unpredictable behavior gave those records a dimension that no plugin could replicate – at least not at the time.

In September 2023, Hansen listed the Oberheim FVS-1 (serial number 0515) on Reverb as part of his massive studio gear sale. The instrument was listed at approximately $30,000, making it the single most expensive item in the sale. Hansen described it as being in “really great shape overall” with all functions working properly. He noted that after selling it, he moved to a plugin emulation of the Oberheim Four Voice for subsequent work – a decision that speaks to both his evolving philosophy about hardware versus software and his willingness to let go of even the most iconic instruments when they are no longer serving the work.

Korg Trident

Hansen bought his Korg Trident because of Boards of Canada. He has acknowledged this directly: he sought out the Trident after learning that his primary musical influence, the Scottish duo behind Music Has the Right to Children and Geogaddi, had purportedly used one. Boards of Canada’s influence on Tycho cannot be overstated – Hansen has called them his defining influence, crediting them with showing “there’s a different way of going about electronic music production that doesn’t involve so much of the dance or the electronic element.”

The Trident is a peculiar instrument – a string/brass/polysynth hybrid from 1980 that layers three distinct synthesis sections. Its wobbly vibrato and slightly unstable character gave it a quality that felt lived-in, like a recording that had been transferred between tapes too many times. Hansen used the Trident on material from the Dive and Awake eras before selling it in the 2023 Reverb sale. The listing noted multiple cosmetic issues – veneer damage, missing screws, scratchy output jack – and that some buttons required firm pressing. The Trident was a working instrument, not a museum piece, and it showed its years of service.

Korg Polysix

Another vintage Korg from Hansen’s collection, the Polysix contributed its distinctive chorus-laden pad sounds to the Tycho palette. The “Awake 2nd lead” was actually tracked using the Korg Polysix legacy plugin, indicating Hansen moved fluidly between the hardware unit and its software emulation depending on the needs of a given track.

Hansen’s hardware Polysix was listed in the 2023 Reverb sale with a blunt caveat: it did not currently power up and would require repairs to function. Even in non-working condition, the provenance of having lived in Tycho’s studio and contributed to those records gave it collector’s value.

Part III: The Minimoog and Its Orbit – Awake Through Epoch (2012-2017)

Minimoog Model D (1972 Original)

If there is one instrument that defines Tycho, it is the Minimoog Model D. Hansen owns an all-original 1972 unit – one of the earliest production Minimoogs – and it has been the single most-used synthesizer across his entire catalog. In the 2023 Reverb studio tour video, the Minimoog sat atop Hansen’s set of vintage Neve modules, occupying the most prominent position in the room. It was, symbolically and practically, the center of the studio.

Hansen’s description of the Minimoog is unequivocal: “It’s the closest thing I’ve ever found to a guitar in a synthesizer.” He has elaborated on this comparison in multiple interviews. The Minimoog, he says, is so responsive that when he sits down to play it, “things just flow.” With newer synthesizers, “it’s harder just because for whatever reason it takes longer to get into a space where I feel inspired by the sound.” The Minimoog collapses the distance between intention and expression. You think a note, your hands move, and the sound that comes out is the sound you heard in your head.

Despite being a monophonic instrument – capable of playing only one note at a time – the Minimoog became Hansen’s primary compositional tool. His method: “I’m always creating chords out of mono synths, like the Minimoog. I’ll play a note and then layer it and layer it.” This layering technique, building polyphonic textures from stacked mono takes, is a signature Tycho production method. Each layer carries the Minimoog’s natural warmth and slight variation in tuning, creating a chorus effect that is fundamentally different from what a polyphonic synth produces.

Hansen has said the old Minimoog has been “the most inspirational – I think I’ve used that more than any synth I’ve ever used.” He owns both the vintage unit and a newer revision, and he has noted that the newer Model D is “somehow even better than my original 1972 Model D” – a surprising admission from someone so attached to vintage gear, though he quickly clarified that the original stays: “No, absolutely not. I don’t care if I never use it again. It’s too sentimental.”

When Moog released its reissue Model D, Hansen immediately got one for the road, solving the longstanding problem of wanting the Minimoog sound on tour without risking his irreplaceable original. Before the reissue, he had relied on Native Instruments’ Monark plugin for live shows, calling it “really close to the real thing” and noting that for some sounds, it was “almost indiscernible from a real Mini.”

In a revealing twist, Hansen has admitted that for studio work, he now finds himself reaching for Universal Audio’s Minimoog emulation more than the hardware unit itself. He prefers the plugin’s flexibility and immediate recallability – the ability to tweak a patch after the fact rather than being locked into a take. But the original stays in the studio, untouchable. Some things transcend utility.

The Minimoog was not sold in the 2023 Reverb sale. It is the one instrument Hansen will never part with.

Access Virus (C KB / Indigo Redback)

The Access Virus has been the other half of Tycho’s core synthesizer duo for nearly as long as the Minimoog. If the Minimoog is the heart – warm, organic, responsive – then the Virus is the brain: versatile, deep, capable of sounds that no analog instrument can produce.

Hansen’s relationship with the Virus line is specific and opinionated. He owns a Virus C KB (keyboard version) and a Virus C Indigo Redback (a limited-edition desktop unit), and these are the models he has kept. When Access released the TI line with updated 24-bit converters, Hansen bought a Virus TI Polar, played it, and sold it. He found it “too sterile, too pristine.” The magic of the C-series, he explained, was in the converters: “When it comes to VAs, I think it’s all about the converters… They were warm and gritty, you could really feel the sound.”

This is a revealing distinction. The Virus is a virtual analog synthesizer – it generates its sounds digitally, using DSP to model analog circuitry. But Hansen does not treat it as a digital instrument. He treats it as an analog instrument that happens to be implemented in code, and the character of its digital-to-analog conversion is, for him, as important as its synthesis engine. The C-series converters added a warmth and darkness to the output that made the Virus sit in a mix like a piece of analog hardware. When Access “improved” the converters in the TI line, they removed the very quality that made the instrument special.

Hansen has used the Virus on record and in concert for years. It travels with him on tour alongside the Minimoog reissue and the Korg Minilogue, forming the core of his live synthesizer rig. Its ability to store and recall complex patches makes it indispensable for live performance, where consistency and reliability matter as much as character.

The Virus C series was also notable for its built-in reverb, which Hansen has cited as one of his favorite reverb sounds. The instrument’s onboard effects processing made it a self-contained sound design station – a quality Hansen values in all his gear.

Sequential Circuits Prophet-5

Hansen acquired a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 Rev 3 (serial number 1995) and described it as an “indispensable newcomer” to his studio setup. The Prophet-5 is one of the most celebrated synthesizers in history – the first fully programmable polyphonic synth, designed by Dave Smith in 1978 – and its warm, woody character and immediate playability made it an instant fit for Tycho’s sound.

Hansen has spoken about the Prophet-5’s personality with characteristic precision. You cannot, he noted, just layer multiple Prophet-5 sounds together: “You can’t just have layers of Prophet-5 – that’s just going to be a disaster.” His approach to mixing requires understanding that each synth occupies a specific bandwidth and character: “If you’re going to have some big, warm, blobby giant sound in the mix, you’ve only got room for one of those synths.” The Prophet-5 earned its place by filling a role no other instrument in his collection could.

For Infinite Health (2024), Hansen paired the Prophet-5 with an Elektron Analog Heat – a distortion and saturation processor – for the intro to “Consciousness Felt.” The combination of the Prophet’s vintage warmth and the Heat’s analog saturation created a textured, evolving pad that set the tone for the entire track.

The Prophet-5 Rev 3 was sold in the 2023 Reverb sale, listed in “remarkably clean condition” with only “minor scuffs.”

Korg Minilogue

The Korg Minilogue holds a unique position in the Tycho catalog: it is the rare modern, affordable synthesizer that Hansen has embraced as a primary instrument rather than a curiosity. On his ISO50 blog, he listed the Minilogue as his “most used” synth and “best new synth overall” – a remarkable endorsement for a keyboard that costs a fraction of the vintage gear surrounding it in his studio.

The Minilogue was the key synth on Epoch (2016), appearing prominently on tracks like “Glider” and serving as the lead sound on “Easy.” Hansen intentionally used it to create sonic continuity between Epoch and Weather (2019), threading the Minilogue’s voice through both records as a unifying element.

The Minilogue’s appeal for Hansen likely comes from its simplicity and immediacy. It is a four-voice analog polysynth with a clean, direct interface – every parameter has a dedicated knob, and the signal path is straightforward. For a producer who values “playing the effects just like you’re playing the instruments,” the Minilogue’s lack of menu-diving and its hands-on design philosophy make it an ideal front end for the elaborate effects chains that define Tycho’s sound.

The Minilogue also travels with Tycho on tour, forming part of the live rig alongside the Minimoog reissue and the Access Virus. Its compact size and affordability make it practical for the road in ways that vintage hardware never could be.

The Minilogue features prominently on Infinite Health (2024) as well. Synth listeners can hear the Roland Juno and Korg Minilogue featured throughout the album.

Part IV: The Moog Family – Sub-Collection Within the Collection

Moog Prodigy

The Moog Prodigy is a simpler, more aggressive sibling to the Minimoog – a two-oscillator monosynth released in 1979. Hansen has identified the Prodigy as a staple of the Tycho sound alongside the Minimoog and the Matriarch. The Prodigy’s character is rawer and more forward than the Minimoog’s lush warmth, giving Hansen access to a different shade of Moog when a track calls for more bite or edge.

The Prodigy appeared on material across the Dive through Infinite Health eras. Its compact size and straightforward controls make it the kind of instrument you reach for when you want a quick, punchy bass line or a cutting lead without the Minimoog’s more complex patching options.

Moog Voyager

The Moog Voyager – Bob Moog’s 21st-century reimagining of the Minimoog architecture – appeared in Hansen’s studio during the Dive and Awake eras. The Voyager retained the essential Moog character while adding modern features like MIDI, patch storage, and a touch-sensitive performance surface. For Hansen, it provided a bridge between the vintage immediacy he craved and the practical demands of a modern studio workflow.

The Moog Voyager was sold in the 2023 Reverb sale as part of the larger studio refresh.

Moog Matriarch

The Moog Matriarch is a more recent addition to Hansen’s collection – a four-note paraphonic semi-modular synthesizer that Moog released in 2019. The Matriarch represents a different philosophy from the Minimoog: where the Model D is a sealed system with a fixed signal path, the Matriarch’s patchbay opens up its architecture, allowing the player to reroute signals, create feedback loops, and explore territory that the classic Moog design never intended.

Hansen identified the Matriarch alongside the Minimoog and Prodigy as staples of the Tycho sound. Its semi-modular capabilities likely appeal to his experimental side – the part of his process that values “harnessing artefacts that aren’t supposed to be there.” The Matriarch’s four-voice paraphony also gives it a harmonic richness that pure monosynths cannot achieve, making it useful for the layered pad textures that are central to Tycho’s records.

The Matriarch appeared in the 2023 Reverb studio tour video as part of Hansen’s current analog synth collection and was retained rather than sold.

Rackmount Moog

Hansen has mentioned a rackmount Moog unit as part of his essential setup. In the XLR8R “In the Studio” feature, he listed the Mono/Poly, the Virus Indigo, a “little Sequential Circuits,” and a rackmount Moog as the gear he would take if he could bring only a handful of instruments. The specific model of the rackmount unit has not been confirmed in available interviews, though the MIDI MINI by Studio Electronics (serial number 1657) – a rackmount Minimoog-inspired monosynth – appeared among the gear sold in the 2023 Reverb sale and may have been this unit.

Part V: The Roland Connection

Roland Juno-106 (and the Softube Model 84)

The Roland Juno-106’s relationship with Tycho is fascinating because it exists primarily through emulation rather than hardware. The Juno-106 – Roland’s 1984 six-voice polysynth, beloved for its lush chorus circuit and immediate, no-nonsense interface – has a sound that is deeply embedded in the Tycho aesthetic: warm, wide, shimmering pads that sit behind the mix like a soft-focus photograph.

Hansen has praised the Softube Model 84 – a plugin emulation of the Juno-106 – in the most emphatic terms: “It’s just like a real synthesizer. It’s crazy. I don’t know what they’re doing over [at Softube] but their synth plugins seem way ahead of everybody else’s.” He called it “one of the best soft synths ever made.”

The Model 84 directly inspired material on Infinite Health (2024), sparking the idea for the album’s title track. The Juno sound – those chorus-drenched pads, the slightly detuned oscillators swimming in analog warmth – is audible throughout the record. MusicTech’s own review of the Model 84 awarded it a 10/10 score, describing the sound as “almost a perfect facsimile of the Juno-106.”

Hansen’s embrace of the Juno-106 through software rather than hardware is consistent with his broader shift toward plugins following the 2023 gear sale. It also underscores a pragmatic truth: the Juno-106’s signature chorus sound has been so thoroughly studied and modeled that the difference between hardware and software has, for practical purposes, vanished.

Roland SH-101

The Roland SH-101 – a beloved monosynth from 1982 known for its punchy bass lines, squelchy leads, and distinctive modulation capabilities – has been associated with Tycho’s setup through Equipboard listings. The SH-101’s simple, immediate character and its cult status among electronic producers make it a natural fit for Hansen’s aesthetic, though he has not discussed it at length in available interviews.

Roland MC-303

Covered above in the beginnings section. The MC-303 was the first electronic instrument Hansen owned and the one that ignited his passion for making music.

Roland Space Echo RE-201

While not a synthesizer, the Roland Space Echo deserves mention here because of how deeply it has shaped the sound of Tycho’s synthesizers. Hansen has described it as essential to his workflow: “It’s tape, so you get the tape saturation and warmth. And then you run it into the preamps, and those are transformer based, which gives its own kind of harmonic distortion.” The Space Echo was sold in the 2023 Reverb sale.

Part VI: The Oberheim and Sequential Modern Era (2019-Present)

Oberheim OB-X8

When Reverb visited Hansen’s studio in August 2023, he referred to his recently acquired Oberheim OB-X8 as a “modern classic.” The OB-X8, released by Oberheim in 2022, is a direct descendant of the iconic OB-X, OB-Xa, and OB-8 synthesizers – the instruments that defined the polyphonic analog sound of the early 1980s. Tom Oberheim designed the OB-X8 as a summation of everything he had learned across those three designs, with all three voice architectures accessible from a single instrument.

For Hansen, who had spent years working with the Four Voice FVS-1 – the primitive ancestor of Oberheim’s polyphonic line – the OB-X8 represented a full-circle moment. The FVS-1’s magic came from its unpredictability, the way its four independent SEM voices created organic, living textures. The OB-X8 captures some of that Oberheim character in a modern, reliable, studio-ready package. It appeared in the studio tour alongside the Moog Matriarch as part of Hansen’s current analog synth collection and was retained after the 2023 sale.

OB-6

The OB-6 – designed as a collaboration between Dave Smith and Tom Oberheim and released in 2016 – combines Smith’s discrete VCO design with Oberheim’s SEM-inspired filter topology. The result is an instrument with a frothy, organic character that sits distinctly apart from the Prophet-6’s more polished sound. The OB-6’s Oberheim heritage and its six-voice polyphony made it a natural complement to Hansen’s FVS-1 during the Epoch and Weather eras, offering Oberheim tones with modern stability and MIDI integration.

Prophet-6

The Prophet-6, Dave Smith’s modern reimagining of the Prophet-5 architecture with updated discrete VCO circuits, has been part of Hansen’s studio setup. Where the original Prophet-5 Rev 3 was sold in the 2023 Reverb sale, the Prophet-6 represented the evolution of that lineage – a six-voice analog polysynth with the classic Sequential warmth and a streamlined, performance-ready interface.

Part VII: Other Notable Instruments

Korg ARP Odyssey

Hansen listed the Korg ARP Odyssey reissue among his studio standouts, giving it an honorable mention. He appreciated the reissue despite never having played an original Odyssey. The Odyssey’s duophonic capabilities and distinctive ring modulator give it a sound quite different from the Moog monosynths in Hansen’s collection – brighter, more metallic, with an aggressive edge that can cut through the layers of reverb and compression that define Tycho’s mixes.

Roland Jupiter-6

Hansen owned a Roland Jupiter-6 at one point but has admitted he did not fully understand it at the time. The Jupiter-6 is a complex instrument – a six-voice analog polysynth with extensive modulation capabilities and one of the first synths to feature MIDI – and its depth can be overwhelming. Hansen’s candid acknowledgment that he did not connect with the Jupiter-6 is a reminder that not every legendary synthesizer works for every musician. The chemistry between player and instrument matters as much as the instrument’s reputation.

Siel OR 400

This Italian-made polysynth from the early 1980s appeared in the 2023 Reverb sale with cosmetic wear and scratchy knobs. Not a well-known instrument, it was one of the more obscure pieces in Hansen’s collection, likely acquired during one of his eBay deep dives into vintage gear.

ARP Omni-2

Another instrument sold in the 2023 Reverb sale, the ARP Omni-2 was listed in rough condition – powering up but emitting a faint burning smell, with intermittent signal and non-functional parameters. The Omni-2 is a string synthesizer / polysynth hybrid from the late 1970s whose lush string and brass patches made it a staple of progressive rock and new wave. In Hansen’s hands, it likely served as a texture source – the kind of instrument you run through effects until it becomes something unrecognizable and beautiful.

Yamaha CS01

A tiny, battery-powered monosynth from 1982, the Yamaha CS01 was listed in the 2023 sale as “very dusty/dirty” with a defective battery compartment. The CS01 is barely a synthesizer in the conventional sense – a single oscillator, a single filter, a handful of controls – but its lo-fi character and portability have made it a cult favorite. Its presence in Hansen’s collection speaks to his willingness to find inspiration in unexpected places.

Arturia CS-80 V (Software)

Hansen has used Arturia’s CS-80V software emulation as a studio tool. The lead on “Ascension” from Dive utilized this digital emulation of the Yamaha CS-80 – one of the most sought-after and expensive analog polysynths ever made. Hansen’s pragmatic approach to blending hardware and software was evident even during the Dive era: if the plugin had the right sound for the track, the plugin won.

XILS-lab XILS 3 (Software)

Hansen mentioned this VCS3 emulation among his preferred soft synths, alongside the Arturia CS-80V and Native Instruments Monark (Minimoog emulation). The XILS 3 models the EMS VCS3, a semi-modular British synthesizer famous for its use by Pink Floyd and Brian Eno, and its inclusion in Hansen’s toolkit reflects his interest in experimental, textural synthesis.

Native Instruments Monark (Software)

Before the Moog Model D reissue made it practical to tour with a real Minimoog, Hansen relied on NI Monark for live shows. He described it as “really close to the real thing” and noted that for some sounds it was “almost indiscernible from a real Mini.” The Monark served as Tycho’s live Minimoog voice for several years and demonstrated Hansen’s pragmatic willingness to use software when it served the music.

Part VIII: The 2023 Reverb Sale – A Studio Reborn

In September 2023, Hansen partnered with Reverb.com to sell more than 100 pieces of studio equipment, with the collection valued at over $160,000. The sale, which launched September 20, 2023, represented the most significant gear purge in Tycho’s history.

What Was Sold

The synths and keyboards sold included:

  • Oberheim FVS-1 (approximately $30,000 – the most expensive single item)
  • Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 Rev 3 (in remarkably clean condition)
  • Moog Voyager
  • Korg Trident (multiple cosmetic issues; needs tuning)
  • Korg Polysix (non-functional; requires repair)
  • MIDI MINI by Studio Electronics (rackmount Moog-style synth with flight case)
  • Siel OR 400
  • ARP Omni-2 (non-functional)
  • Yamaha CS01

Notable non-synth items included the Neve 54 Series mixer (used extensively on Epoch), the Roland RE-201 Space Echo, the Ursa Major Stargate 626 reverb, the Eventide H3000 (purchased because Hansen learned Eddie Van Halen used one), the SSL G-Comp, and the Chandler Limited LTD-1.

What Was Kept

Hansen explicitly retained:

  • Minimoog Model D (1972 original) – “No, absolutely not. I don’t care if I never use it again. It’s too sentimental.”
  • Moog Matriarch
  • Moog Prodigy
  • Oberheim OB-X8
  • Access Virus C KB and Indigo Redback
  • Korg Minilogue
  • Minimoog Model D (reissue, for touring)

Why He Sold

Hansen’s explanation was characteristically thoughtful: “I started to get this weird sense of guilt. Like, I’m sitting here on this amazing thing that somebody could put to use and do something awesome with. Instead, it’s sitting in a closet, decaying away.” He also spoke of the sale as a “season of renewal,” noting that he gets “inspired by new machines and new ways of working with them.”

The sale marked a philosophical turning point. After 25 years of accumulating hardware, Hansen’s “gear lust switched from hardware to software.” He began prioritizing plugins for their flexibility – the ability to adjust signal chains and effects during mixing rather than committing takes to the DAW immediately. The shift was not a rejection of hardware but a recognition that the creative process had evolved.

Part IX: The Current Era – Infinite Health and Beyond (2024-Present)

The synthesizer setup behind Infinite Health (2024) reflects Hansen’s post-sale philosophy. The album was co-produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor and represents a deliberate return to “bedroom electronic production style” from the early 2000s – building song foundations with electronic tools first, then layering drums and guitars later.

The core instruments for the current era are:

  • Minimoog Model D (the sentimental centerpiece, used selectively)
  • Moog Matriarch (semi-modular exploration)
  • Moog Prodigy (punchy mono lines)
  • Oberheim OB-X8 (the “modern classic” for polyphonic Oberheim textures)
  • Korg Minilogue (the workhorse polysynth, heard throughout Infinite Health)
  • Access Virus C KB / Indigo Redback (studio and live digital synthesis)
  • Softube Model 84 (Juno-106 emulation, the plugin that inspired the title track)
  • Sequential Prophet-5 (paired with Elektron Analog Heat on “Consciousness Felt”)
  • Universal Audio Minimoog emulation (now preferred over the hardware for some applications)

Hansen has also emphasized the increased role of automation and dynamic processing on Infinite Health: “I’ve been trying to make the album I’ve been working on lately a lot more dynamic in terms of automation.” Software synths enable this in ways that hardware cannot – every parameter can be automated, every movement recalled and refined.

Part X: Philosophy – How Hansen Thinks About Synthesizers

Across two decades of interviews, several consistent themes emerge in how Scott Hansen relates to his instruments.

Effects Matter More Than Source

“I love synths and I love what they do, but I’m more interested in how to sculpt them after the fact.” Hansen has said this in multiple variations. His effects chains – the Strymon BigSky, the Chase Bliss Tonal Recall, the three separate Strymon Decos, the Ursa Major Space Station – are as important to the Tycho sound as the synthesizers themselves. “You’re playing the effects just like you’re playing the instruments,” he told Soundtoys.

The Reverb Machine analysis of Tycho’s “Awake” synth sound reinforced this point: “Tycho’s sound has more to do with the effects and the order of those effects than it necessarily does with the synthesizer being used.” The recommended signal flow – compression, heavy EQ, reverb, delay, heavy compression, EQ – is the architecture that transforms a simple triangle wave into a Tycho pad.

Creating Chords from Reverb

“Creating chords using reverb is kind of my signature,” Hansen has explained. “It’s just the reverbs and delays overlapping with other notes to create these engaging sounds.” This technique – playing a monophonic synth like the Minimoog through heavy reverb and delay, allowing the tails of successive notes to overlap and form implied harmonies – is one of the most distinctive elements of Tycho’s production. It is simultaneously a synthesis technique, a compositional method, and a mixing philosophy.

Harnessing Artifacts

“A big part of my sound is harnessing artefacts that aren’t supposed to be there.” Hansen uses heavy compression to emphasize unintended sonic elements – the hiss of a preamp, the flutter of a tape delay, the slight distortion of an overdriven converter. These artifacts are not flaws to be eliminated; they are the texture that makes a recording feel alive.

Analog Signal Path as Instrument

“If it goes through all the transformers and circuitry of analog hardware to get it into the box, that’s where I feel like it adds that kind of magic.” Even when Hansen uses software synths, they pass through analog preamps, compressors, and converters on the way into Reaper. The Lynx Aurora converters, the Neve 1076 preamps, the Distressor compressors – these are part of the synthesizer’s voice in Hansen’s workflow.

Limitation as Creative Force

Hansen has consistently advocated for working with a limited set of tools rather than chasing every new instrument: treating favorite plugins “like a piece of hardware that I own.” This deliberate self-limitation – using the same small set of synths, effects, and processing across multiple albums – creates the sonic continuity that makes Tycho’s discography feel like a single, evolving work rather than a collection of disconnected experiments.

Accessibility Over Elitism

Despite owning some of the most coveted instruments in electronic music, Hansen has always resisted the implication that great music requires expensive gear: “You don’t need every sound to be magical and have all that character… The most basic DAWs have enough tools in them to be able to make, like, 90 per cent of all music ever created.” He has also emphasized that “a good engineer / producer should be able to produce quality recordings without the use of boutique or prohibitively expensive gear.”

Appendix: Complete Synth Inventory by Album Era

The Science of Patterns / Past Is Prologue (2002-2004)

  • Roland MC-303 (early experimentation)
  • Ensoniq ASR-X Pro (sampling/composition)
  • Korg Triton (workstation; backbone of era)

Dive (2011)

  • Korg Mono/Poly (primary synth; “heard the most on Dive”)
  • Oberheim Four Voice FVS-1 (pads, atmospheres, basses, leads)
  • Korg Trident (textures, pads)
  • Minimoog Model D (leads, layered bass)
  • Access Virus C (digital textures, effects)
  • Korg MS-20 plugin (lead on title track “Dive”)
  • Arturia CS-80V (lead on “Ascension”)
  • Korg Polysix (pad textures)

Awake (2014)

  • Minimoog Model D (primary compositional instrument)
  • Oberheim Four Voice FVS-1 (continued use)
  • Access Virus C (studio and live)
  • Korg Polysix / Polysix plugin (2nd lead sounds)
  • Moog Voyager
  • Korg Mono/Poly

Epoch (2016)

  • Korg Minilogue (key synth; lead on “Easy,” prominent on “Glider”)
  • Minimoog Model D
  • Oberheim Four Voice FVS-1
  • Neve 54 Series mixer (processing, not synth)
  • Korg MS-20
  • Sequential Prophet-5

Weather / Simulcast (2019-2020)

  • Korg Minilogue (continuity with Epoch)
  • Minimoog Model D
  • Access Virus C
  • Moog Matriarch (new addition)
  • Oberheim OB-X8 (new addition)

Infinite Health (2024)

  • Softube Model 84 / Juno-106 emulation (inspired title track)
  • Korg Minilogue (featured throughout)
  • Sequential Prophet-5 with Elektron Analog Heat (“Consciousness Felt”)
  • Moog Minimoog / Prodigy / Matriarch
  • Oberheim OB-X8
  • UA Minimoog emulation
  • Access Virus C

Sources