Do you like old synths?

DLaurent

Well-known member
I do.

I've came up with a list of a top 10, but won't post it just yet until some others have posted. What are your favourite old synths?
 

DLaurent

Well-known member
Leaving out the big units like Farilight and Synclavier.

1) YAMAHA CS80
- basically the Vangelis synth with the thickest warbly oscillators I've ever heard.
2) Roland Jupiter 8
- For some reason I always associate it with John Carpenter, though I think that might be incorrect, either way, it produces some lovely creamy pad sounds and I'd also add in the MKS80 rack unit that has different thicker filters.
3) Mini Moog
- Being one of the few Mono synths on the list, it's most famous for it's rich bass tones.
4) Yamaha DX7
- A digital synth and being FM can be difficult to program, but one of the most easily recognisable 80s synths capable of a wide range of sounds.
5) Kurzweil K2000
- Got it's own programmability this one, similar to an FM synth if I'm right and a personal favourite as not many other synths sound like it as a result.
6) Roland Juno 6
- One of the preeminent 80s synths, that does immense bass sounds among others.
7) Korg MonoPoly
- There's probably better known Korg synths, but if I'm right this has a unique Chord Memory, enabling you to easily create the parallel harmonies used in a lot of tunes.
8) SC Prophet 5
- I know less about this one, and favour the Jupiter 8, but I'm told it was one of the ones in John Carpenter's arsenal, so got to be in there for the kind of pads you hear in Christine.
9) Roland SH 101
- It would have been easy to pick the SH 303, but the 101 is a bit older and just as simple, mainly used for the kind of bass sounds heard in A Guy Called Gerald's Voodoo Ray.
10) DSI PolyEvolver
- Half digital and half analogue, a beautiful unit and the only modern synth I've listed that stands alongside the above with ease.
 

0bleak

Well-known member
interesting - I didn't know the fairlight was also a synth! I'm also reading now that it had a built-in sequencer - didn't know that either.
I can't say I've really had the pleasure besides tinkering on a DX7 (owned by the school band) when they were kind of newish.
I'm also not generally astute enough to say "oh, that's so and so synth I'm hearing" except in maybe a few very obvious cases.

Main thing I know about the Kurzweil is that Speedy J produced A Shocking Hobbing (one of my fave albums from 2000) with some synth or workstation of theirs.
 

DLaurent

Well-known member
That's how I found out about the Kurzweil, from Speedy J, fairly sure the K2000 produces the kind of sounds heard on the track Tesla.

I have learnt about most of the others from YouTube, general listening, and also I used to have loads of Soft Synth emulations! I reckon I'm pretty good at guessing synths, but then usually Google it and realise I'm wrong. Example being I always presumed the bass in Berlin - Take My Breath Away had to be some kind of Moog, then realised it's a DX7.
 

0bleak

Well-known member
wow, I would have never guessed it was a dx7 either

I saw Bob Moog perform and talk way back in the day - must have been early-to-mid 90s in Asheville, NC - I thought it was Moogfest, but I'm reading now that Moogfest didn't move to Asheville until later so I guess it must have been part of something else.
 

DLaurent

Well-known member
I thought it would be a MiniMoog, but learnt years ago it was a DX7, so I proceeded to download about 5000 FM7 patches to try and find it but didn't. It sounds like SOS Band or Moroder or something that used a MiniMoog.

I'd love the odd occasion I found a preset that had been used in a tune from a soft synth. Eg Burial Loner, the bass is a uHe Zebra patch called AnalogSmachnalog, I'm sure of it.
 

Walt Thizzny

Well-known member
i dont use hardware at all anymore but if i suddenly became a millionaire, i'd probably purchase these:

dave smith tempest
kawai xd5
sequential electronics six trak
sequential electronics prophet 2000
korg 01w
yamaha tg77
quasimidi raven

mostly because they're obscure enough that i don't reckon anyone will ever emulate them
 

Walt Thizzny

Well-known member
Main thing I know about the Kurzweil is that Speedy J produced A Shocking Hobbing (one of my fave albums from 2000) with some synth or workstation of theirs.

Guess Goldie spent a bunch of money on one of these and hated it so much, he felt the need to make specific mention of how shitty it was in Timeless' liner notes :LOL:

Amazing to see how little they go for these days:

 

DLaurent

Well-known member
I've heard of the Tempest. I remember Blawan used one for a while. The others are much more obscure and gave me some research to be doing!

This for example sounds pretty 'lush'.

 

DLaurent

Well-known member
I wouldn't know where to start programming a Kurzweil, as FM synths are hard enough. Some of the others you can get plenty of software emulations of, never seen one for a Kurzweil.
 

woops

is not like other people
here is a list of old synths I've played

1>jenn sx1000, had it for 30 years still works
2>teisco synthesiser 607
3>moog prodigy, sold it which was a bit daft
4>buchla system 100, not the original but a pretty slavish copy, the cross modulation is straight from hell
 

DLaurent

Well-known member
There's more I ain't heard of though obviously heard of Buchla modulars.

Not many 90s synths in my list but like the JD 800/990 which apparently does complex atmospheric sounds. I googled 'Seba JD990' and it came up this.

 

0bleak

Well-known member
here is a list of old synths I've played

1>jenn sx1000, had it for 30 years still works
2>teisco synthesiser 607
3>moog prodigy, sold it which was a bit daft
4>buchla system 100, not the original but a pretty slavish copy, the cross modulation is straight from hell

I was just thinking about Buchlas, must be pretty crazy to play around on one of those.
 

0bleak

Well-known member
This guy's music always makes me think of a mad scientist, and it's not necessarily "mad" like in an idm way, but just how it feels to me - love it
 

Walt Thizzny

Well-known member
I've heard of the Tempest. I remember Blawan used one for a while. The others are much more obscure and gave me some research to be doing!

This for example sounds pretty 'lush'.


a rehearsal space i often practiced in as a teenager had one of these and I've wanted one ever since. not sure
how impressive i'd find the sounds today, though they were inexpressibly beautiful to me in 1992!

the k2000 is apparently a bear to program, but with great effort, one can coax some magnificent noises
from the thing:

 
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