About RetroSound

RetroSound reveals the secrets of electronic music of the 70s and 80s featuring the legendary sound of vintage synthesizers and drum machines of that time.

​

Founder Marko Ettlich create the RetroSound project for sound-design in 1998. RetroSound developed several sound-sets for synthesizers (Clavia, especially for the Nord Modular, Oberheim, Yamaha) and is vintage synth sample sound supplier for UVI (String Machines II, Synth Anthology II, OB Legacy, Vintage Vault II).

The RetroSound Youtube Channel is on the second place of the Top 40 Synthesizer Youtube Channels worldwide.
https://blog.feedspot.com/synthesizer_youtube_channels/

​

Some words about the founder Marko Ettlich:

Most of you know my synthesizers, but very little about the person behind them, today there are some personal sentences from me.

I grew up in the former GDR. Until I was 18 years old, I only knew synthesizers from the western tv.
As teenager, I heard the music of Depeche Mode, Human League, Yazoo, Pink Floyd and Genesis. But the soundscapes of Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre also found their way into my ear.

The first synthesizer sounds I probably perceived while secretly listening to the ELO album from my dad.

​

As kid and teenager, I always dream of a bunch of synthesizers like my musical heroes did. There were no pictures of Playboy on my wall, like some of my age, but badly copied photographs of synths from western tv. I knew that it would only be a dream, because there was no legal way to leave the GDR. And I did not want to leave her either.
Everything changed in 1989 and what nobody could ever expect became reality.

Suddenly the objects of desire moved within range, but the necessary money was missing.

It was not until 1998 that I bought my first synthesizer from my long and hard saved money. It was the Clavia Nord Modular. I plunged madly on the device and programmed sounds day and night. Then Clavia became aware of me in Sweden and so one thing came to another. From then on, countless of my sounds were found among the Nord Modular / Micro Modular factory sounds. That motivated me to do more. Then the Roland Juno-60 came into the house, my dream synth of the 80s and still my favorite. I had not much money, so I bought old synthesizers and restored them.

Well at some point I had realized my childhood dream yet.

Today I work as a freelance sound designer. I compose soundscapes for documentary films and advise musicians all over the world. And maybe some of you know my RetroSound Vintage Synthesizer Channel on YouTube. Since 2007 with demo tracks, sounds.
What happened exactly 30 years ago has taken my whole life in a completely different direction.