* Entertainment * Report * Books # Synth historian Oli Freke will spend big on a good bicycle He’s hard at work on the upcoming Beat Gems, a gorgeous coffee-table book about the history of drum machines. by Terrence O'Brien Jul 25, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC * Entertainment * Report * Books # Synth historian Oli Freke will spend big on a good bicycle He’s hard at work on the upcoming Beat Gems, a gorgeous coffee-table book about the history of drum machines. by Terrence O'Brien Jul 25, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC [Part OfThe Verge Weekend Questionnairesee all updates ](/entertainment/943285/the-verge-weekend-questionnaire) [](/authors/terrence-obrien) Terrence O'Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths. Oli Freke is a musician and journalist whose works have appeared in _Sound on Sound_ , _The Quietus_ , and _Mixmag_. This has included using math to explore the [melodic potential](https://plus.maths.org/how-many-melodies-are-there) of the Western 12-tone scale and deep dives on [effects plug-ins](https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/ableton-live-12-granulator-iii). He’s even written a book tracing the [evolution of the synthesizer](https://www.olifreke.co.uk/books) from 1963 through 1995, charting the change from analog to digital and back. His new project is [_Beat Gems_](/entertainment/944102/beat-gems-is-a-big-beautiful-book-of-drum-machines), a coffee-table visual history of drum machines from publisher [Bjooks](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bjooks/beat-gems-drum-machines-in-modern-music/). Like other Bjooks titles, _Beat Gems_ is loaded with gorgeous photos, fascinating historical tidbits, and practical advice for making the most of your gear, whether it’s a vintage [Roland TR-808](/2017/4/3/15162488/roland-tr-808-music-drum-machine-revolutionized-music) or a modern oddity like [Erica Synths’ Pērkons](https://www.engadget.com/erica-synths-perkons-thunderous-drum-machine-review-140012827.html). **What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer?** If I’m buying a new computer, it’ll almost certainly be my music computer, so I’ll be installing Ableton Live straight away. It’s a remarkable piece of music software, with a feature set that still feels staggering compared to when I started making electronic music with an Atari ST 520 that could just about manage MIDI, with no audio at all. **Which social media platform do you use the most (if any)?** Probably YouTube, if we’re counting it as social media. It’s brilliant having experts in almost any subject area explain ideas, concepts, and methods. I watch a lot of science, maths, chess, and, inevitably, electronic music. I could do with fewer algorithmic clickbait temptations, which is one reason I’m not a heavy user of other social media platforms. **Which is the most disappointing gadget you’ve ever owned?** Vegetable choppers and cubers seem like a great idea, but they never work properly and never actually save any time or effort. **What game do you have the fondest memories of?** _Elite_ on the Atari ST was incredible. It’s world-building on a (memory) shoestring when severe technical constraints existed, and the results were truly creative. **What is one thing you wish you had created?** As a musician, I wish I’d written a song that the whole world knew and loved, and that fans would demand I play at every opportunity — until I got so heartily sick of it that, in the end, I wished I’d never written it. Perhaps this has happened, and all these wishes have come true! **What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?** From my father (I’m appropriately writing this on Father’s Day in the UK): “Say yes to any opportunity that comes your way — worry about whether you can do it or not later!” **What is your current obsession?** Drum machines! Researching for the [_Beat Gems_](/entertainment/944102/beat-gems-is-a-big-beautiful-book-of-drum-machines) book has reminded me of the primacy of rhythm to the human musical experience; how drum machines have tapped into this need, and in doing so have transformed musical culture over the last sixty years. It’s utterly fascinating. **What do you do when you need to focus?** I put on [www.rinse.fm/kool](http://www.rinse.fm/kool), choose a set of banging drum’n’bass rollers, and then I’m very happy (and focused). **What do you do when you’re feeling stuck?** Remind myself of the infinite number of combinations of ideas. I once wrote an article that demonstrated there were 82 quintillion (82^18) 10-note melodies that can be written with the eight notes of the octave. **What’s the last piece of physical media you bought?** The soundtrack on vinyl to a beautiful film called _Resynator_. It’s about an obscure synth from the early ’80s and a daughter’s quest to learn about her father, who invented it but sadly died while she was a baby. Can’t recommend it enough. **What do you think is worth splurging on?** A high-quality road bicycle. Compared with cars, bikes are cheap, and you can buy machines not far off the quality professionals use for relatively reasonable sums. The difference between a good bike and a run-of-the-mill one is vast. Cycling in the countryside on a good bike brings me a great deal of joy. **What would the tagline for your biopic be?** Watch a man type words into a computer. For ages. Then watch him make music on a computer. Also for ages. Then watch him do some normal things involving a house, family, and car. Occasionally he is turned away from boarding a plane to Berlin to go to the launch of his Kickstarter because they changed the rules without him realizing it! Disappointingly, this doesn’t transform the biopic into a _Falling Down-_ type scenario. **What’s the last GIF or meme you used?** [](https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/synth-meme.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100) **Follow topics and authors** from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. * Terrence O'Brien * Books * Entertainment * Interview * Report