Sound Designer, Composer, and Analogue Synthesist Damian Salza Continues to Make His Mark as AJH Synth's First U.S. MiniMod Customer

In the midst of tragic fire in southern Oregon, Salza saved three things: his wife's jewelry, his cat, and his beloved AJH Synth MiniMod system 

Los Angeles, CA, November 9, 2026 — Damian Salza was an early adopter in the world of Eurorack, beginning his journey with an A-100 Doepfer system back in 1997. An avid sound designer and composer who had owned several classic analogue synthesizers prior to embarking on his modular journey, Salza was enthusiastic about the possibilities the Eurorack format offered: not just in shaping and modulation, but also in accessing authentic, vintage sounds from the past.

"I come from a background of a lot of the vintage synths and I missed that sound," says Salza, who considers Future Sound of London, Boards of Canada and Skinny Puppy as major influences in his work. "I considered the 5U stuff at the time, but I thought that was too big of a commitment." It was around this time where he learned about what Allan Hall at AJH Synth was doing, developing the MiniMod system. "I thought this was really interesting. Allan was meticulously sourcing authentic components and working from the old schematics, and my interest was piqued."

In 2014, Salza decided to pull the trigger on a full AJH MiniMod system, and he wasn't disappointed. "Being a synth guy, I was like ‘Oh yeah - this guy did it right.’ I actually owned many of these vintage synths, and he really got the sound down. The thing that really impressed me was the way he developed the envelopes," he continues. "There is a certain way they play on the originals, and it blew me away that AJH was able to replicate this sensitivity in the modules. As you hit them harder, they almost have their own velocity and they bloom. I was sold and very happy to say the least."

Salza became an early evangelist for AJH in the synth community and took it upon himself to share his experiences: "I felt like AJH had it nailed, so I made some demos and got them out on Modwiggler for my fellow synth nerds. When that happened, I got flooded with emails by people who wanted to know more about AJH Synth."

Shortly thereafter, despite continuing his success as a sound designer and downtempo musician, Salza was an unfortunate victim of the southern Oregon wildfires: "I lost my whole house, my studio, everything," he says. "The crazy thing was that I grabbed three things before I left the house: my wife’s jewelry, my cat, and my AJH MiniMod system. If that doesn’t tell you something about my values, nothing will!"

Following the tragedy of losing his home, Salza had to start from scratch: "I went through this phase where I wasn’t making that much music and I had to restart my life," he says. "But my interest was always there; eventually I got my life back on track, got a new house and built a new studio," he recalls. "This gave me a whole new perspective on making music. I am working on an album right now that features ambient, electro-beats and other experimental elements." Salza says the album will be coming out next summer under the title Imploding Sines.

Salza has since gone on to acquire other AJH Synth modules, including the Sonic XV, Ring SM, Gemini Filter, two DH ADSRs, and more. "The latest thing I acquired was the Matrix VCF, based on the famous Oberheim filters. It sounds fabulous and having so many filter options is amazing." His modular rig consists of four primary systems, including one that houses most of his AJH Synth modules, which he then runs into a Mackie 1604 mixer connected to a patch bay for adding effects. "I’m layering things. I’ll get a stereo track going out of a mixer, then keep adding in Digital Performer, which I have used since the beginning."

He still owns all the original AJH Synth modules he acquired, and more. "I recently got the Tap Tempo LFO, Chance Delay, and Triple Cross and am really enjoying these," he says. "AJH makes all of these forward-thinking modules, but they still have that AJH vibe to them. The Chance Delay is great for sequencing, and with the Triple Cross, you can mix in LFOs for some nice variation across your inputs. I've used the Triple Cross for panning multiple sources, and morphing in VCOs with different filters for variety. I’m just scratching the surface!"

"All of these modules are still working great, and I have a feeling they’ll be working when I go to my grave. They look nice, they’re well-built and really well designed!" Summarising his sentiment for AJH Synth, Salza enthuses "When I want that vintage tone, that’s my brand!"

To learn more about Damian Salza, please visit his Discogs page.

About AJH Synth
AJH Synth is headed up by Allan J Hall, who has been involved with synths, electronics and music for several decades. He started by building a guitar fuzz box at the tender age of 12 and his interest in synthesisers and electronic music soon followed, fuelled by an unhealthy overexposure to early Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Vangelis and Kitaro. For the last 15 years he has been building and modding synth systems both for himself and other electronic musicians, as well as spending some time as a semi-pro musician playing keyboards in several rock and tribute bands. Allan spent five years as a service technician repairing and modifying Moog, Arp, Korg, Roland and other analogue synthesisers along with some Pro Audio design work, previous to this he spent two years designing and building "boutique" valve (tube) guitar amplifiers. AJH Synth are based near Durham, in the northeast of England, where this small but enthusiastic bunch of synth heads now indulge their passion for all things modular.