Based in Shaw, Oldham Lancashire UK
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Some stood the test of time and others are no longer with us.
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Ekosynth
P15 |
The first synth I ever bought. It had 15 presets on it that you could modify with a very limited attack and sustain envelope. In spite of that you could get a pretty good French horn sound out of it and the panpipes always sounded fine to me. On reflection I think it was supposed to sound a bit like the ARPs of the day. It worked for me anyway. |
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Crumar
Performer |
So once you've bought your first monophonic synth, you find you need something to play chords on. Enter the Crumar Performer. I didn't realise when I bought it but Duran Duran had one too. I loved it because of the graphic equalizer and a warm but gritty sound. Ever one else seemed to be buying Logan String Machines which I can't understand to this day. |
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Hohner
Pianet T |
This one is beautiful. Everything you could possibly want. It was light, it never needed tuning - it took major surgery to do it - and it sounded great. Plus - it wasn't expensive. I paid £175 for mine. I put it through a Pearl Phaser to give the sound a bit of movement. We went everywhere together. |
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Yamaha
DX7 |
Next, the world's first mass production touch sensitive synthesizer. I saved and saved for this. Back in the early 80s a £1500 price tag was serious money when you are trying to earn a crust as a musician. Mine is alive and well after years of service and it still gives me a buzz when I play it. Yamaha put out a mark II version but nothing sounds quite like the original. I did play a MII once - it wasn't the same at all. They had tried to make it sound warmer. Was it ever meant to be? Personally I don't think so. |
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Roland
D50 |
The perfect partner for the Yamaha DX7 had to be the Roland D50. Same price and still living, the D50 had the warmth that the DX7 lacked. I added some Oberheim patches to give it a really fat synth sound and also have the original Go West brass. Luvly! |
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Sequential Circuits Pro One |
I loved this, it was my best buy and even though it was always slipping out of tune, it didn't matter. I found this in a local music shop covered in dust. The conversation went - Why's that there? - Dunno!?! - Is it for sale? - erm give us £50 and it's yours - Sold! One of the advantages of a misspent youth is that you know a Prophet V's baby brother when you see one. Apart from Minimoogs this has to be one of the best lead synths ever produced. It could sail past the racket that the rhythm guitarist was making with ease. Unfortunately it is no longer with me. I did see one on eBay sell for over £400! s'truth! |
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Casio
CZ1 |
I actually got this to act as a master keyboard for a Kawai K1r module that I bought for string sounds. I nearly bought one of these when I was doing the famous saving up for the DX7. I never really used it for it's own sounds though on the odd occasion I used them they did sound okay I suppose. Another one in the Keyboard Mausoleum |
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Hammond
C3 |
Hammond C3 - the daddy of all Hammond Organs. I must have played every conceivable type of Hammond Organ including gritty M100s, smooth B200s and an extremely expensive one that a BBC organist let me play now and again. The thing about the C3 and M100 series was that in those days they used a tonewheel system. You had to get the tonewheel spinning before you started it up for real.Confused? So was I. It gave them an amazing sound which I'm sorry to say is not the same as the new generation ones. |
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Roland
XP60 |
One of the last purchases - it was bought to replace the DX7 on live gigs. I was getting increasingly worried about how much damage constantly moving the DX7 about was doing. Enter the XP60. Okay I know it's a totally different animal, it is in fact a workstation but times move on. I added the vocal expansion board which has some great vocal samples. The drum sounds are fine and linked to my computer makes for a great audio/midi studio. Some would say that with something like this you don't need any other gear but then again they would say that, wouldn't they. Having played the others - nope - no contest. Lots of work and ingenuity went into those keyboards and they all have their own niche. Respect! |
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Moog |
And finally ... for now ... the beautiful Voyager Electric Blue, built by the legendary Bob Moog who sadly died in 2005. These were released as a celebration of Bob's 50 years designing possibly the best keyboards available. Bought for me by my lovely wife to celebrate my 50th birthday, it sounds amazing, looks amazing and is amazing and it stays in tune, which the original Minimoog (which it is based on) unfortunately didn't. |
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Modules |
Of course these days technology means that you don't have to hire a truck to get your keyboards around. As well as the 'keyboard' versions of things there is usually a rack mountable module that can be controlled via MIDI. It does make things lighter and incredibly easy to transport, without sacrificing sound. Modules are really well suited to computer based recording, too. What's that Bob Dylan song? ... 'The Times they are a-changing.' They certainly have. Exciting isn't it? |
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© Stephen Owen 2009 |
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