Born in 1960, like many of his generation Rob Appleby started playing the piano when he was five years old, but dropped it when he was around 16 due to leaving school and starting to work. For many years he didn't play the piano or keyboards at all, although he did play baroque recorder in a couple of small amateur ensembles. In 2020 - with the covid lockdowns - he decided to take up an instrument again. Since he was familiar with modular synths, he decided he wanted an electronic instrument, so after some research he bought the C15.
“What I value most about the C15 is that it is so similar to an acoustic instrument. The keys are extremely expressive and enjoyable to play, and the macro-controls enable you to build complete instruments, each of which demands its own way of playing and expression. The keyboard is so sensitive that when I play a plucked strings preset, I can almost feel the key pressure being released as the note sounds! It's an illusion of course, but no other instrument I've played has this degree of haptic feedback. To me, the C15 doesn't play like a synth, but rather as a collection of beautiful instruments combined into a single chassis, each of which inspires me to play more than any synth I've ever used, from modular to more conventional keyboards.”
Appleby has published a number of albums on bandcamp, one of which was recorded entirely with the C15. He is currently working on a recording of a selection of the Bach Suites for Solo Cello - with the C15.
