Best synth solo....

[wal 45]

Marvindodgers said:

Thanks. I'm not a musician, I just love the sound the sound of those (presumably) analogue synths. Anything from Ultravox and Gary Numan to Jean Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk.

You and me both, can't beat the sound of those old analogue synths.

It's really hard to choose one but a couple that I really like are:

Gary Numan - Films (or actually anything really from The Pleasure Principle)
The Cure - Cold (especially any of the various live 1982 versions floating around)

If you like the analogue sound I really can't recommend Simian Mobile Disco - Whorl that came out late last year highly enough, it's excellent.

[MoggieMinor]

Analogue synths are enjoying a huge revival now. They never really went away though. Some new models launched over the last few years:

Arturia Minibrute. Just a brutal, beefy synth! Now joined by the smaller Microbrute, great fun.

Korg Monotron. Tiny but great

Korg Monotribe. Awesome little groovebox!

Korg MS20 Mini!!! A reissue of the awesome MS20. I bought one a few weeks ago, it is incredible, so powerful.


But guess what? Korg are relaunching the ARP Oddyssey soon!!!! Oh Lords!! http://www.arpsynth.com/en/

[Hoofy]

How about bits from this album from Marillion? http://youtu.be/CAa8cnQRMxE

Edit: mind you, they use a lot of guitars, too. Hm.

[anonymous-user]

Jean Michel Jarre - Industrial Revolutions Overture (solo around 2.45)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07X8Xy-IBlE

I will one day play it note perfect on my D-50!

[Zad]

Absolutely. Software synths really don't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I can't hold a tune in a bucket, but somehow analogue synths just seem better - richer, dirtier, unpredictable and somehow more interesting. Like women really. Maybe it is a psychological thing, because surely a sampled synth should sound the same as a real live one. I'm as big a critic as you can get when it comes to the verbal poo some audiophiles talk about sound quality, but give me real analogue any day. See Ultravox's Return To Eden DVD to hear what I mean (the electric violin is still amazing in Astradyne though).

I'm working on one for my own amusement, a MiniMoog derivative. I'm sure there are any number of <x>Moog copies out there, but I've always wanted a proper analogue synth (admittedly with some digital controls). I know what I'm doing with electronics (just as well really being an electronics designer) but like I say, I can't play music so I have no idea where this is going...

There is an interesting video with Jean Michel Jarre here, going around some of his machines. Amazing really, he just goes >twiddletwiddle< >press< and its a classic bit of Jarre. It would take most of us hours to get even an approximation and even then it wouldn't sound right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_E8aGx777Q

[chevy-stu]

Chimune said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XJ_s5IsQc @ 4:20.
Snarky Puppy, Lingus.

Currently my fave band of all time. If you have 10 mins just play all of Lingus.
Then buy the album (not available on Amazon) which had this concert in HD on dvd included.

I was gonna suggest Cory Henry's solo from around 4 mins30 on this... insane stuff...

[Chimune]

chevy-stu said:

Chimune said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XJ_s5IsQc @ 4:20.
Snarky Puppy, Lingus.

Currently my fave band of all time. If you have 10 mins just play all of Lingus.
Then buy the album (not available on Amazon) which had this concert in HD on dvd included.

I was gonna suggest Cory Henry's solo from around 4 mins30 on this... insane stuff...

They really are a tight band, stuffed full of great musicians, playing my kind of music.
I love the bit where he looks as if he just realised he could play !

[Vanin]

Wendy (Walter) Carlos Clockwork Orange Ludwig Van


Also love some versions of Keith Emerson's fanfare, this one I think his fingers are a bit cold!


http://youtu.be/0MCnnfXPSHw


http://youtu.be/fuohJDyYnlE


http://youtu.be/fK92hdp6u18

[The Don of Croy]

Rod Argent - Hold Your Head Up (long version)

Sound of my youth!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBnSWJHawQQ

[killingjoker]

wal 45 said:

Marvindodgers said:

Thanks. I'm not a musician, I just love the sound the sound of those (presumably) analogue synths. Anything from Ultravox and Gary Numan to Jean Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk.

You and me both, can't beat the sound of those old analogue synths.

It's really hard to choose one but a couple that I really like are:

Gary Numan - Films (or actually anything really from The Pleasure Principle)
The Cure - Cold (especially any of the various live 1982 versions floating around)

If you like the analogue sound I really can't recommend Simian Mobile Disco - Whorl that came out late last year highly enough, it's excellent.

Films is an epic Gary Numan track. And TPP still stands out today as a ground breaking album. I am pleased to see he has attempted to capture some of the old synth sounds on Dead Sun Rising and Splinter. Good move that.

But, ah, the good old sound of the future is where it's at. The Human League (mark one - pre "disco") with Travelogue and Reproduction, John Foxx's Ultravox! and his Metamatic album, along with Gary's first three albums Tubeway Army, Replicas, and The Pleasure Principle.
I went on to move into heavier music but i will always love that early stuff above, and i am glad i was there when it first exploded onto the scene. Post punk alternative electronic kid in black with raven black dyed hair, eye liner, and black nail varnish an all! Great fun. X-Factor? Pah!! Kids today know nuffink

[Vanin]

You cannot omit the unforgettable Queen " I want to Break Free"


http://youtu.be/f4Mc-NYPHaQ

[longblackcoat]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vHGNX_fdA3I

Tangerine Dream from 1982 - best from around 5:02

[qube_TA]

Mark Kelly from Marillion, particularly on Assassing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqqkR2vqUZ8

[SeanyD]

Zad said:

There is an interesting video with Jean Michel Jarre here, going around some of his machines. Amazing really, he just goes >twiddletwiddle< >press< and its a classic bit of Jarre.

His tour from a few years back which I saw in Manchester, had a great intro, where him and his crew would (pretend I know) go around all the synths 'tuning' them, gave a great insight into all of the component sounds/synths, fascinating.

[qube_TA]

SeanyD said:

Zad said:

There is an interesting video with Jean Michel Jarre here, going around some of his machines. Amazing really, he just goes >twiddletwiddle< >press< and its a classic bit of Jarre.

His tour from a few years back which I saw in Manchester, had a great intro, where him and his crew would (pretend I know) go around all the synths 'tuning' them, gave a great insight into all of the component sounds/synths, fascinating.

You do have to tune analog synths, but agreed the way they did it was for show, but still.

[Alex]

Not exactly synth, but a synth sound. Listen to electric violinist Ed Alleyne-Johnson busking in Chester:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUD1oeXZSM

[anonymous-user]

MoggieMinor said:

killingjoker said:

Billy Curries synth solo taken from Gary Numan's live cover of "On Broadway".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Xi35JqEDI

Awesome. One of my favourite musicians and a synth to sell your soul for...

I saw Numan (and Ultravox) live back in the late 70s and early 80s a few times - excellent stuff from Currie, always!

[anonymous-user]

rover 623gsi said:

Marvindodgers said:

That is a great sound. Sounds a lot like the big washes in Ultravox tracks. I've no idea about the equipment being used in any of these, I just love that huge sound these guys got out of what must have been fairly primitive equipment. Can anyone enlighten me as to what synth is being used to get that sound?

ARP Odyssey - probably.

I heard Midge Ure talking about synths a coupld of years back when Ultravox were back on the road. He said it was much better these days as things were much more reliable. On their last tour (mid 80s) they had almost synths on stage whereas now they only five or six (one for him, one for Chris Cross and three or four for Currie) plus a Macbook each.

Interestingly, Korg have just launched a re-issue of the Arp Odyssey, available March http://www.askaudiomag.com/articles/namm-2015-korg...

[SeanyD]

rover 623gsi said:

whereas now they only five or six (one for him, one for Chris Cross and three or four for Currie) plus a Macbook each.

I'm surprised they need that many, other than for presence. In reality one Korg Kronos could do it all and more.

[droopsnoot]

Dave Greenfield's keyboard solo in the Stranglers cover of 'Walk on by' is a favourite of mine, and maybe some of the fills in 'The Raven', though not really a solo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wynfnKBHR8 is a recent Walk on By, but I'm not sure it doesn't sound better with the older keyboards.

Edited by droopsnoot on Wednesday 4th February 10:48