![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1[Edited 5/16/04; added text in italics.]
Some folks like to talk about favorite guitars, or favorite instruments. As for me, I play keyboards and woodwinds, so naturally, I gravitate toward these instruments. I'm somewhat of a synthhead and a gadgethead -- it goes with being a technonerdboy -- so I like to talk about favorite effects, favorite synthesizer gear, or favorite sounds. I'm not listing instruments with one distinct sound, like a Hammond B-3, [Fender] Rhodes electric piano, or Hohner clavinet. Instruments listed in brackets are what I believe produced the sound.
With the old synthesizers, you had to know what you were doing in order to produce a sound. There wasn't the convenience of push-button sounds like there are on today's keyboards. Nor was there a way to store them via computer. These synths had to be "programmed" by selecting a waveform and "octave" for each oscillator (sound generator), setting filter parameters (attack time, decay time, sustain time, release time), setting volume envelope parameters, and other settings. These were done by turning knobs or moving sliders. For the modular systems, they had to be connected via patch cords, similar to the old telephone systems.
10cc, "I'm Not In Love"
An incredibly lush soundscape throughout the entire piece. I absolutely love the vocal-articulated string sounds. 30 years later and I'm still trying to figure out "How'd they do that?". (I'm thinking a vocoder and string ensemble. Some of my colleages on the Moog Music forum think it was done with either Mellotrons or a guitar with a Gizmotron attached to it.)
The Vapors, "Turning Japanese"
I love The pitch-decaying bell sounds in the chorus after the bridge. After the second line, the bells subtly morph into a sound I call "the Batmobile" (kind of like a small gas turbine engine). [Prophet-5]
Stevie Wonder, "Livin' For The City"
A truly awesome synthesizer bass sound (and a hellacious riff right before the first chorus). Greg Phillanganes set the standard for funky synth bass. I would definitely love to do this type of stuff with a portable synth like a Moog Liberation (if I can find one)! [ARP 2600]
Styx, "Miss America" (solo in the bridge section)
The great screaming "Styx horn" sound. It sounds like at least two oscillators set to sawtooth wave -- the second oscillator is tuned a fourth below the first. [Oberheim 4-voice or ARP Odyssey]
Emerson Lake & Palmer, "Lucky Man" (solo at the end)
The one that apparently started it all. If I remember the story, there was one in the studio where ELP recorded their first album, and the solo was Keith Emerson noodling around with it. [Moog modular or Minimoog]
Head East, "There Hasn't Been Any Reason" (aka "Save My Soul I'm Goin' Down For The Last Time")
A classic straight-ahead Moog sound, complete with a fast pitch-glide between octaves. [Minimoog]
Gary Wright, "Dream Weaver"
Another wonderful soundscape running through the entire piece. I'd love to hear this in a darkened planetarium with 5.1-channel (or more) surround sound. There's a sound at the beginning of the last verse with two filter envelopes....probably done with two Minimoogs in parallel. The first is a quick attack and decay; the second is a slower attack.
Synergy, "Delta Two"
Studio session musician Larry Fast released several one-man-band albums, recording under the same Synergy. A great bell-chime-like sound nearly two minutes into the track. Done with early FM (frequency modulation) synthesis techniques -- using a oscillator output to change the pitch of another oscillator. The Yamaha DX7 is purely an FM synth; the now-cliched "Taco Bell chime" was realized on a DX7 and is probably included in the demo patches. [Moog 15 modular system]
Thomas Dolby, "One Of Our Submarines Is Missing"
The first time I ever heard of the PPG 2.3 wavetable synthesizer was through Thomas Dolby. Instead of fixed waveforms for oscillators, the "waveforms" as you'd see on an oscilloscope were stored as a table of values similar to the trig tables in high school math class. I love the "sonar" sounds and processed orchestra hits. Oh yeah, and the electronic drums (Linn LM-1?) are awesome too. [PPG 2.3]
The soundtrack to "Cats"
The orchestra score, as it was originally written, actually called for two Prophet-5 synthesizers. The sound is the atonal falling-pitch sound in one of the main musical themes.
Nine Inch Nails, "Head Like A Hole"
The triumphant return of analog synth bass for the 1990s. Some call it "techno", some call it "electronica", some call it "industrial". Dirty, fat, and growling; probably run through a chorus. The opening riff with the drum machine and the drummer in tandem just sets it up perfectly.
Toto, "Africa"
The flute-like and xylophone-like sounds in the bridge of the song were done with their Polyfusion modular synth, nicknamed "Damius". [Polyfusion]
The Alan Parsons Project, "I Robot"
This is included not so much for the sound, but for the use of the sequencer (for the "C..C F G Bb G F G" ostinato pattern). The drums kick in, and when the bass kicks in, what you thought was the downbeat on 1 is now the upbeat of 4. Great stuff.
The Moody Blues, "Talking Out Of Turn"
Again, not so much the patch, but the sample-and-hold on the filter at the beginning of the sound.
Devo, many songs from their first two albums
I can't even begin to describe the sounds they created for their first two albums ("Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo!" and "Duty Now For The Future". A lot of them sound modulated in some way. One musical writer described it as "Mark Mothersbaugh sprays [the songs] with alien synthesizer gases". (I think in the same interview, one of the bandmates describes putting the optical disks in the Vako Orchestron backwards and making sucking noises.) And now Mark's writing music for kids' TV shows like Rugrats. Visit Mark's website ("Mutato Muzika") !
What are your favorite sounds or patches from tunes?
Some folks like to talk about favorite guitars, or favorite instruments. As for me, I play keyboards and woodwinds, so naturally, I gravitate toward these instruments. I'm somewhat of a synthhead and a gadgethead -- it goes with being a technonerdboy -- so I like to talk about favorite effects, favorite synthesizer gear, or favorite sounds. I'm not listing instruments with one distinct sound, like a Hammond B-3, [Fender] Rhodes electric piano, or Hohner clavinet. Instruments listed in brackets are what I believe produced the sound.
With the old synthesizers, you had to know what you were doing in order to produce a sound. There wasn't the convenience of push-button sounds like there are on today's keyboards. Nor was there a way to store them via computer. These synths had to be "programmed" by selecting a waveform and "octave" for each oscillator (sound generator), setting filter parameters (attack time, decay time, sustain time, release time), setting volume envelope parameters, and other settings. These were done by turning knobs or moving sliders. For the modular systems, they had to be connected via patch cords, similar to the old telephone systems.
10cc, "I'm Not In Love"
An incredibly lush soundscape throughout the entire piece. I absolutely love the vocal-articulated string sounds. 30 years later and I'm still trying to figure out "How'd they do that?". (I'm thinking a vocoder and string ensemble. Some of my colleages on the Moog Music forum think it was done with either Mellotrons or a guitar with a Gizmotron attached to it.)
The Vapors, "Turning Japanese"
I love The pitch-decaying bell sounds in the chorus after the bridge. After the second line, the bells subtly morph into a sound I call "the Batmobile" (kind of like a small gas turbine engine). [Prophet-5]
Stevie Wonder, "Livin' For The City"
A truly awesome synthesizer bass sound (and a hellacious riff right before the first chorus). Greg Phillanganes set the standard for funky synth bass. I would definitely love to do this type of stuff with a portable synth like a Moog Liberation (if I can find one)! [ARP 2600]
Styx, "Miss America" (solo in the bridge section)
The great screaming "Styx horn" sound. It sounds like at least two oscillators set to sawtooth wave -- the second oscillator is tuned a fourth below the first. [Oberheim 4-voice or ARP Odyssey]
Emerson Lake & Palmer, "Lucky Man" (solo at the end)
The one that apparently started it all. If I remember the story, there was one in the studio where ELP recorded their first album, and the solo was Keith Emerson noodling around with it. [Moog modular or Minimoog]
Head East, "There Hasn't Been Any Reason" (aka "Save My Soul I'm Goin' Down For The Last Time")
A classic straight-ahead Moog sound, complete with a fast pitch-glide between octaves. [Minimoog]
Gary Wright, "Dream Weaver"
Another wonderful soundscape running through the entire piece. I'd love to hear this in a darkened planetarium with 5.1-channel (or more) surround sound. There's a sound at the beginning of the last verse with two filter envelopes....probably done with two Minimoogs in parallel. The first is a quick attack and decay; the second is a slower attack.
Synergy, "Delta Two"
Studio session musician Larry Fast released several one-man-band albums, recording under the same Synergy. A great bell-chime-like sound nearly two minutes into the track. Done with early FM (frequency modulation) synthesis techniques -- using a oscillator output to change the pitch of another oscillator. The Yamaha DX7 is purely an FM synth; the now-cliched "Taco Bell chime" was realized on a DX7 and is probably included in the demo patches. [Moog 15 modular system]
Thomas Dolby, "One Of Our Submarines Is Missing"
The first time I ever heard of the PPG 2.3 wavetable synthesizer was through Thomas Dolby. Instead of fixed waveforms for oscillators, the "waveforms" as you'd see on an oscilloscope were stored as a table of values similar to the trig tables in high school math class. I love the "sonar" sounds and processed orchestra hits. Oh yeah, and the electronic drums (Linn LM-1?) are awesome too. [PPG 2.3]
The soundtrack to "Cats"
The orchestra score, as it was originally written, actually called for two Prophet-5 synthesizers. The sound is the atonal falling-pitch sound in one of the main musical themes.
Nine Inch Nails, "Head Like A Hole"
The triumphant return of analog synth bass for the 1990s. Some call it "techno", some call it "electronica", some call it "industrial". Dirty, fat, and growling; probably run through a chorus. The opening riff with the drum machine and the drummer in tandem just sets it up perfectly.
Toto, "Africa"
The flute-like and xylophone-like sounds in the bridge of the song were done with their Polyfusion modular synth, nicknamed "Damius". [Polyfusion]
The Alan Parsons Project, "I Robot"
This is included not so much for the sound, but for the use of the sequencer (for the "C..C F G Bb G F G" ostinato pattern). The drums kick in, and when the bass kicks in, what you thought was the downbeat on 1 is now the upbeat of 4. Great stuff.
The Moody Blues, "Talking Out Of Turn"
Again, not so much the patch, but the sample-and-hold on the filter at the beginning of the sound.
Devo, many songs from their first two albums
I can't even begin to describe the sounds they created for their first two albums ("Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo!" and "Duty Now For The Future". A lot of them sound modulated in some way. One musical writer described it as "Mark Mothersbaugh sprays [the songs] with alien synthesizer gases". (I think in the same interview, one of the bandmates describes putting the optical disks in the Vako Orchestron backwards and making sucking noises.) And now Mark's writing music for kids' TV shows like Rugrats. Visit Mark's website ("Mutato Muzika") !
What are your favorite sounds or patches from tunes?
