Scusate se parlo italiano, sono un tecnico de suono dal 83/04 ho vissuto tutto il periodo di tutte le tastiere presentate.... Incredibile servizio, e una lacrima insieme ai ricordi dei tempi passati Complimenti
This wasn't just any synth demo video, it was a journey through time and the tour leader knew all the destinations like the back of his hand! Great job, well done!
A series of "The synths of [insert artist] " , what they chose and why and the sounds they created would be interesting. From Vangelis to Howard Jones , Jarre to Floyd , Kraftwerk to The Human League, plenty to go at there. -Mark
Great idea! I mean lots of artists used many different synth’s but some are iconically joined to artists. Like the OB 8/Xa and Rush/Van Halen. Jean Micheal Jarre and the Eminent 310 Unique Strings along with a Small Stone Phaser (Elka Synthex Laser Harp). Vince Clark and the 2600, Vangelis and his career built on the CS-80, Gary Numan and the PolyMoog…
Well I purchased my first synth the MiniMoog back in 1973. I was 13 years old. I sold it for the Oberheim OBXA when I went to music school at Ithaca. I was the first student to bring a synthesizer to the school. I also was the first to play it in the Stage Band, “Ithaca Jazz Rock Ensemble”. I love this run through of the 10 best of all time. I am now 62 and moved into VST instruments in my fifties. I have 7 albums out at this time and do “Film Music” as well. I love your style. I love even more your playing of each of your 10 best. The presentation is flawless and you definitely deserve credit for showing when, where and how these synths played into our life long fascination with these iconic Synthesizers! Great job!
In this comment of yours is the answer to the many queries that are out there in some forums about whether the Software is so good or not. From what I see the answer is yes. Thank you
I bought my first synthesizer in 2011, Roland Juno Gi and still love it for the Stage Phaser and I bought a Phase 95 effects pedal soon after. I love playing Billy Joel tracks. Synth rules...
Hear me out...I prefer the MS-10! I own 3 of them and have owned every version of MS-20 you possibly could. MS-10 cuts through the mix better than most mono synths.
Nothing beats the classics! I myself am a proud owner of a reissue MiniMoog, a vintage DX7, D50, and M1, and the new Oberheim OB-X8 and Jupiter X synths. I plan on adding the reissue Prophet 10 and ARP 2600m to my arsenal later this year.
I would suggest making a video of modern “copies“ or “rebirths“ of old vintage synthesizers, like the Jupiter 80 by Roland, and then compare them to their original synths. 👍
Depeche Mode we’re huge synth music pioneers and were heavy users of Emulator sampling synthesizers. Taking a sample of something like banging on metal pipes, combining it with other instruments and turning it into music was truly groundbreaking in the early 1980’s!
Agree, specially with Alan Wilder, but since then emulation sampling is not real synth, that's why none of their more recognized instruments are on this list. We need a top 10 of emulator samplers
I am the lucky owner of a CS 80, which I bought in 1991 for the Canadian equivalent of $325 USD. It’s in great shape and it’s not for sale! It was featured pretty extensively on the 2013 album Reflektor, by my fellow Montreal citizens Arcade Fire… I can confirm: it does sound like a dream, Claudio!
I got mine for some work in Lieu ... Then realising the upkeep , and weight , Sold it to as Museum.... Loved it, But owning one is just that for me, a badge of honour. My upmost respect owning one, but also my condolences...
Oh the 90s when you could find deals for dirt on what is today's gold. I got my Jupter 8 in 1998 for $300 with anvil flight case. And I wasn't even the first person to look at it. Picked up a Juno 60 the same year for $200. Still have em both. But once in a while you can still find a deal. Picked up a non-working DX7 last year for $50. Just needed new battery and some presets reloaded. Condition is a 9 out of 10. But you have to be looking all the time. If only we could hire Doc Brown to take us back to the mid to late 90s at 88 mph!
The Juno 60 had a quality to the sound that very few synths had. I can only describe it as 'open and flowing' or 'unforced'. Some synths sound 'pinched' while the Juno 60 was relaxed and open in just about anything it produced. Part of it might have been the excellent chorus it had but I think it went beyond just that.
Korg Wavestation... Juno 106... Synclavier... Emulator... Andromeda... Memorymoog... Odyssey... Your Top Ten is spot on, but those would certainly make a Runner-up List! Great video once again, Claudio!
It’s a shame that the Andromeda used less than great components, it could have been a long-lived legend of retro synths. Alesis really dropped the ball by not making a high quality re-issue during this time of nostalgic re-issues. If Dave Smith is unafraid to wheel out a $4500 Prophet 10 then it should inspire companies like Alesis and Roland with a genuine analog Jupiter 8 to make everything old new again.
Synclavier II and Kurzweil K250. The K250 was the first digital keyboard that had a (very) convincing grand piano sound. The Synclavier was used by many studios and artists like Michael Jackson, Frank Zappa, etc.
Being a dance music fan, the alpha juno, jp-8000, access virus and the 303 are classics that for me qualifies as top synths. Thanks for entertaining content!
@@karlmeadows4986 Those are today’s prices for a used one. And they’re only going up. I acquired my Jupiter-8 back in 2008 for about $7000. I sold it in late-2010 for the absurd price of $10,500. Couldn’t believe someone would be dumb enough to pay that price…😂. Turns out that I’M the dummy for selling it, because they’ve appreciated to the crack-smoking price of around $25K today in 2022!!! And they’re only going to keep climbing in value….
@@jakegiossi7447 definitely not today's prices. in my country you can find a minimoog for 4000USD, a M1 for 400USD, D-50 for 500USD and DX7s go for 270USD
@@polytonic6493 You’re not even talking about the same thing. I’m talking about valuable, classic analog synths, like the Roland Jupiter 6 & 8. In the USA, M1, D-50 and DX7 prices are very comparable as they are in your country, as well as some Minimoogs (though not the vintage 1970s models, which are selling in the $6000-$10,000 range). To compare mass-produced digital synths with the classic analogs is inaccurate at best and nonsensical at worst. They aren’t remotely in the same category.
I had one of the earlier J-106's in the early 80's. Like most of the early syth's....it needed a lot of post-processing effects to make it sound really good. I only used a few of the factory sounds in our band.
@@Schumanized , yes!!!! The Jd 800 is for me one of the best i got with the M1 and the wawestation . I buy it at the first days when it came on the market in France 😍 !!! I'm slowly thinking to sold it in the next weeks.... have a opportunity for a Fairligth!!!!
When I was a teenager learning to play keyboard on the 80's, D50 and M1 were my dream of keyboard! Well, my father couldn't afford none of them, he bought a Casio CZ-1000, and it was my synth intro.
Between 1986-1992 as a teenager I played in a band starting with a Roland Juno-106 to which I added a Yamaha DX7. Upgraded that to a DX7 II. Ended playing in 1992 with the 106, D50 and Korg M1. Bitterly regret giving them all away! Got me a Yamaha C108 upright and now have a Kawai GE30. Just need to play it more. Still hanker for synthesisers though.
I work in my bedroom studio. Not enough room for much, with the drums & guitars taking up space. But I do have the Arturia 7 collection Which has most of these synths. I absolutely love them.
I went to Emrrson, Lake, & Palmer on that Mini-Moog ❤️ My father also owned the Moog and Mini-Moog models ❤️ He had several Seth's. I loved the Arp Omni ❤️
This is a top 10 i'm really struggling to argue with! My only complaint would be that it should be a top 20 so I can add in the ARP Quadra, the EMS Synthi, Emulator II, the Synclavier, the MS-20 ... so many beautiful synths over the years! Oh, then there's the Juno 6 and the.... ok I'll shut up lol
Another awesome video Claudio you always have the best examples of songs played on these synthesizers. Your upbeat personality and talent makes your videos a real treat to watch. I find myself laughing or smiling every time I watch from either your humor, skill playing a song or the excitement of hearing a song I forgot about. Please keep making content and don’t let anyone tell you any different.
PPG wave and Korg Wavestation deserve a honourable mention. They can produce some really dreamy sounds. Some of the presets on the Wavestation remind me of old discovery channel science programs.
@@marguskiis7711 They’ve used PPG Wave a lot longer than two years they were still using the Wave when recording Songs Of Faith And Devotion album in 1992
Many thanks Claudio for this journey " back to the past " , times of intense music creativity , and also my youth ... So happy to be one of your subscribers. Cheers
Agreed, Art Of Noise put the Fairlight on the map in the 80’s…..producer Trevor Horn called Art a of Noise the band & the lead singer is the Fairlight😂…..nice RUclips video, thank you…I learned alot from your top 10 list
Korg's Polysix deserves an honourable mention in my opinion. Been used by Alphaville, Blancmange, Chvrches, Damon Albarn, Eric Prydz, Jean-Michel Jarre and Tears for Fears (so I'm told) to name but a few - and my mind was blown when I discovered the Toy Elec Sound preset was used on Just Dance by Lady Gaga.
The only band i ever saw with a polysix on TOTP was China Crisis doing Christian in 1982? My channel has that performance on there, and it was what inspired me to buy one in 1983. It was £850 new. Not worth it really, only 32 sounds on there, but very easy to programme and store new sounds on it. I never saw TFF with one though.
The Pet Shop Boys were notable users of the Fairlight CMI. It could be seen in numerous live performances. I'm pretty sure they have used nearly every synth on this list.
PSB were early adopters of digital synthesizers: Yamaha DX1/DX7, PPG Wave, Emulators, Fairlight CMI for sequencing and rhythm programming. On Behaviour album 1990, they teamed up with Harold Faltermeyer, because they wanted to try analog synths, and he was an expert in analog synth programming
Спасибо за обзор! DX7 и M1 имеют самые узнаваемые звуки инструментов, синтез звука на них можно услышать у многих легендарных исполнителей! Мой любимый канал, потому что харизма и профессионализм автора канала на высоте, спасибо доктор микс👍😎😁
Claudio, you forgot to mention Vangelis, while you were talking about the CS-80. He had 2 (or even 3) of them in his studio, and he’s the one responsible of that beautiful Blade Runner soundtrack. In fact most of his creations are just the CS-80.
So right! The CS-80 probably can be called the 'Vangelis' synthesizer, because it aided him in creating most of the sounds for records like Spiral, Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, Albedo 0.39 and so on. The Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner brass horns and the lead sound from tracks like To The Unknown Man and Hymn are easily 2 of the most recognizable CS-80 patches ever
I would really include the Moog Modular because, as you mentioned, that really was what started the whole synth revolution with Wendy Carlos' "Switched-on Bach." The other one that had a huge impact, and started the whole self-contained music workstation including recording direct-to-disk was the NED Synclaviar system.
It's interesting to mention that the DX-7 was pretty much built in the SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive. I was born too late to experience 80's music, but I did hear Genesis/Megadrive game music growing up, so the DX-7 indirectly has a special place in my heart :)
It wasn’t quite a DX7. It was more like a cut down DX100. The DX7 has 6 operators, but the Yamaha 2612 in the Genesis had four operators per channel. I wrote sound (and even sample) drivers in 68000 assembler for the Genesis, and music too. It was quite a pain getting samples out of it, but it was just about possible. It was much easier to get good quality music on the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom) because it had a dedicated processor for audio and multiple ADPCM sample channels. I used an Akai S950 to shape samples before importing them for use in the SNES and the Genesis.
Love them all! My keyboards since the 70's are Arp Odessey, Cat Octave, Mini Moog, Prophet 5, Yamaha U1 piano & DX7, then Eurorack Mod Synths and lastly the Korg Kronos which is my goto go with me keyboard as it seems to emulate just about all the other models.
I have a soft spot for the Waldorf Microwave synths, and those are somewhat spiritual successors to the PPG Wave, so I'd say that's a fairly influential synth.
Honestly, this is his top synths of all time, not the most tech breakthroughs they may have achieved, Because yep... I Agree , The PPG would be replacing at least one on the list... But there you go.
Yes please make either a “poor man’s top 10 synthesizers list” and/or “Top honorable mention Synthesizer legends” or perhaps even a “top 10 sleeper synths” The list that you made in this video is pretty hard to debate or argue with or about! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what is a dream wishlist of sonic goodness. Great video.
Korg Polysix. Any Juno. Sequential Prophet 600. Yamaha DX7, Korg Poly 800 Casio CZ 101. (not in that order... I probably like the Sequential the best. And maybe the polysix next?? The Yamaha and the Casio are definitely a different machine than the old analog stuff. The casio is super cool to play with and not hard to program [annoying to program, not hard]. Great synth, highly underrated. or at least kinda forgotten about.)
The best "top 10" synths rundown I've seen - super informative! I think the top 20 would include the Juno-60 (or 106), JX-8P (=my fav polysynth), PPG, Synclavier, Arp Odyssey, Emulator II, VCS3. A top 10 drum machines would also be interesting to see!
These are missing indeed and one might argue wether the M1 actually should be in this list then... Otherwise I'm pretty agreeing with this list which feels kinda odd... I only think the OB-Xa/8 should have been higher on this list. I'm still not sure it's really worse than a Jupiter 8?
@@torbenanschau6641 It's a pretty perfect list apart from the D50 and the M1 in my opinion. I would put the Polysix for the Korg and the Odyssey/Emulator II instead of the D50.
@@gffg387 while the D50 and M1 weren't particularly [sound] creative tools, as the video points out they were two of the most influential keyboards of the time - the D50 breathy choir sound was genuinely innovative (and then done to death on every record who wanted that sort of pad), while the M1 piano was a staple of late 80s/early 90s house music... and not just in the studio, but then taking those same sounds out on the road. Their influence on modern music should not be underestimated.
The Elka Synthex deserves an honourable mention i guess. Quite heavily used on Jean-Michel Jarre's album Rendez-Vous it was the famous sound of the Laser Harp. Nowadays that sound is created using a heavily modified Per Kristian patch on the Access Virus C. Also I kinda miss the Putney (EMS VCS 3 or Synthi AKS) which was another synthesizer most famous for many of the effect sounds (wind noises, lasers, LFO falls and risers) on JMJ's records and actually the first synthesizer he owned. Pink Floyd ofc also used the VCS3 on their track On The Run and many other famous artists did. Erica Synths has made a very nice remodelling of the Synthi called SYNTRX (which coïncidentally JMJ uses himself nowadays quite heavily)
Nice one, Claudio! it's like a big flashback into my teenage years. I once had a Jupiter 6 and selling it was the stupidest idea that I ever-ever made. Still crying. But bravo for your top ten list, it was fun to watch!
I was waiting for the JP8000 or the Wavestation ! I always dreamed of owning them, what I did years ago, the M1 and the D50 are also amazing and iconic. Great video 👍
Great list. One that I'm surprised not to see is the Ensoniq Mirage - the Mirage really brought sampling to the masses (despite its relatively poor sound quality), as it was a MUCH more affordable way to get into it than the other options available at the time. I worked at a music store in the 80's, and we sold a TON of Mirages.
Probably, bcause it wuz not a Synth. I own The EPS-16Plus, which wuz a CD quality version of da Mirage & a workstation. U could treat it like a Synth, azz well. ( Hell..... U could mangle samplez, n2 unrecognizable soundz, from whut u originally Sampled, if u so dsired, n da EPS-16Plus. ) Ensoniq put out 1 mo Sampler Workstation, called The ASR-10, then they closed shop, 4ever - UN4TUNATELY. I also own a Yamaha Motif ES-6, a far superior Synth/Sampler/Workstation, BUTT I alwayz LOVE going back 2 my EPS-16Plus. Da ease of use, n termz of programming Samplez, Sequencez & Songz, iz just 2 good 2 have it b replaced 100%, by The Motif.
@@Einnor084 Samplers are just another type of synthesizer, and the Mirage was just as much a synth as the EPS models that came later (which I also sold plenty of). The Mirage used samples for the starting waveform instead of a traditional oscillator, but it had analog filters and amplifiers/envelope generators just like any other subtractive synth of the time.
You have to remember the great sound of the Jupiter 8 really was only 50% of it's charm. When you walked into your local shop as I did and saw one for the first time it was truly astonishing. It looked like super model, slimmer and lighter than a CS80, more memories, dual mode, the best pitch bend and LFO section there's ever been on any synth, and an arpeggiator! It really was the Ferrari of synthesisers and blew everything else away. 😎
I totally agree with your list! There are synthesizer workstations that are unforgettable and live in my personal top 10 list, like the Korg Wavestation, Korg Oasys, Roland Fantom X and Kurzweil K2600, but they're legendary for me, not for everyone. Your list is the true list, for sure.
I'm surprised you never mentioned Vangelis, who at one point owned 8, yes EIGHT Yamaha CS-80's. He probably used the CS-80 to its full potential out of all its users. It's still his favourite synthesizer to this day!
@@MrAgmoore I think Vangelis did this mainly so he'd have easy access to more parts. I think he anticipated the synth and the parts being hard to find as it's a very complex instrument.
Love the sound of the Moog, it brings back my 70s childhood in an instant. For me it was the majestic sound of the future, it sounded so powerful and otherworldly across all genres of music. I couldnt wait for the 80s to begin, and I wasnt disappointed. The Moog ushered in an incredible synth army - ARP, Korg, Roland, Yamaha, etc... to deliver the all conquering pop music sounds of the 80s and 90s, that thoroughly spoiled us 🙏🏾
I have no idea why YT suggested your videos, but I'm loving them! I would add the ARP Odessey and my personal favorite, the Ensoniq ESQ-1. Probably not influential in the pop music history, but it's what I learned on in both HS and college electronic music studies, so I have a soft spot for it. Probably too modern for this list, though. Keep up the great content!!
Great video! I felt like being placed back in time when I saw these wonderful devices. I actually got some of these: D-50 expander, Prophet 5 and the legendary DX7. My wife was playing it and I created the sounds. I could even manage to create a wonderful Hammond organ sound on the DX-7 we couldn’t find anywhere else. A short story at the sideline: The samples of the D-50 are mostly sampled and imported from a Prophet VS shortly before they got bankrupt. I know it from the person who did it for Korg and also have been in that studio where he was working on it. There still other synthesizers that should be mentioned but I think that these are the most influential ones.
These are my choice to add to a top 20 list of Synths: ARP Odyssey, Oberheim 4VS, Juno 60, Access Virus, Roland JP8000, Moog Memorymoog Plus, PPG Wave, Korg MS-20, Korg Polysix, and the Roland VP 330
I see the polysix in your list. I don't play. but a friend of mine was getting rid of some of his old gear gave me a Polysix. That thing sounded incredible. I thought he was crazy for giving it away.
My working gig back in early 1980's included two (2) analog synths, a Jupiter 6 and a Korg Polysix. For what they were and music we played suited me fine. Sold both for a song around 2010 as I had too much gear. Both mint and in Anvil cases. I start to break out in a sweat seeing what Jupiter 6's go for now and nowhere the like new condition that mine were in. Still have some vintage gear I didn't part with
I bought a Roland Jupiter 8 in 1981 and it cost me $5100, today in 2022 it is selling for $50k. I bought the Jupiter 8 with all the money I had in my bank account at that time and I have no intention of selling it. I still have my Jupiter 8 and it is in mint condition, it still works and I love programming it.
I liked your video a lot. Thanks for sharing. Since you mentioned “of all times”, I think it would be great if you do another top 10 video, but this time including newer and modern synths so we can see how they stand compared to these iconic old ones❤️
Peter Howell of the BBC radiophonic workshop also had a CS-80 in his studio. He used it to make the bassline for his arrangement of the doctor who theme. He also used an Arp Odyssey, Roland Jupiter 4, EMS 5000 vocoder, and a few others to make his arrangement
Any "Top 10" list is going to be somewhat controversial, but I have to say your selection here is truly comprehensive, taking in decades of music and the evolution of synthesizer technology. Really an excellent, all-inclusive list! Having said that, maybe you could next either repeat this with a list of more recent models, or just survey the more recent models and your thoughts on each. Thanks for sharing!
I wouldn't call it a very famous synth, but it was definitely a mile stone in sound technology. Kurzweil 250. (1984) One of the most perfect piano sounds. Co-created with Moog and Stevie Wonder.
Excellent presentation of the history of Synths!!! I've played wtith almost all of them....except Fairlight and ARP 2800.... Thanks for the memories !!!!!!❤❤❤
Page McConnell of Phish uses a CS80 in his live touring rig, in addition to a grand piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, Hammond Moog and clavinet. Thanks for the video!
I was able to get a lot of these synths for dirt cheap during the '90s. I bought a lot of synths that included a the 2600, CS80, and Jupiter 8 for $95 in 1997!
The Kurzweil K2000 and Access Virus are both classics that broke new ground, sound amazing, and have appeared on countless hits. I would also argue that the Korg MicroKorg is a modern classic that probably gives the M1 a run for the money for number of units sold.
I think there should be two honorable mentions. The Emu Emulator and the Ensoniq ASR-10. The reason I mention them is that they are obviously samplers, but they also contained envelopes and filters like a regular synth to tailor the sound. They were both used by famous artists and both trailblazed the rap/hip-hop genre.
Fantastic video! Never getting rid of my Yamaha DX7 which I purchased back in 2015, and recently got the Prophet 5 (10 voice) many months ago since it got reissued. The two synths that I wished I had were the Jupiter 8 and OB-8.
I count the Dx-7 in my top 3 as well. But in my top ten that I feel has helped so many get into synths in the past few years is the Arturia microbrute analog synth. Due to its cheap cost (but it itself doesn’t feel cheap at all!).. simplicity to learn.. size.. and of course it’s sound.. it’s such a fun synth and feel if there were to be a more current list it should come in somewhere.
Got a DX7 - pretty inflexible tbh without a physics degree. My JP8000 is awesome - programming on the fly with all of them sliders and knobs. Great bit of kit.
Don't get a DX7 if you want to learn FM. Get a Reface DX. It's not that hard. The algorithms are just like patch configurations like on eurorack between oscillators and modulator sources (except that FM is HFO not LFO). Much of how your sound evolves is down to how the envelope affects volume of a carrier. It's easy to make sounds once you realise what is going on. Sure, it might not be a sound you have in your head but it's a sound. If you want a bass sound find a bass patch and tweak it.
@ghost mall Its just nostalgia. I used dex to but for life playing there is no usb keyboard without latency. The reaction speed of the real keyboard via oldschool 5-pins Midi is mutch more responsive.
Nice work as always Claudio - perhaps this list is more of a vintage synth Top 10. Would love to see you rank some modern classics like Virus, Hydrasynth, Peak, Summit, Waldorf etc... there's alot of new toys out there :)
Technically, one could also include the Hammond organ. It's registrations were built by synthesis, and if you include overdriving, Hammond's percussion, Leslie based sweeping, etc. it covers a lot of territory.
Technically not a synth? But if topic would gave been most famous keyboard intruments, then for sure! As couple of others too, like Farfisa, Wurli and Solina. To mention few.
I loved this video. It would be great to see you do one on the 10 best synths/keyboards of the 90's and early 2000's. Like the ASR-10, Triton, Motif, Fantom, Etc.
Aw man I would've loved to see you play the CS-80, that would've been so neat! I swear you were gonna mention Vangelis but was surprised you didn't. Regardless, this was an awesome top 10 video! I've started dabbling into vintage synthesizers since last year and it was neat knowing about them more (and who used them), so thank you! God bless
Rick Wakeman had a Yamaha CS80 and was a noted Minimoog user. Joe Jackson's great solo on "Breaking Us In Two" was a Prophet 5. The intro to U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" was done on Brian Eno's Yamaha DX7
Thank you so much for reviewing you Bro! Beautiful instruments of the world. At one time, the roland commodore Amiga did not let me sleep, all the mixers were mine :) Huge greetings to everyone from St. Petersburg!
The EMS VCS3 is definitely one of the synths I heard first. It's been used on some great songs but it was famously used by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop( they had a custom version built)to score lots of famous TV programmes, including the 70's Doctor Who programme. I'd put it in my top 10 :-)
Are you heard Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon", "On the run" theme? For me is the most big demonstration of the EMS VCS3 and/or EMS SYNTHI A/AKS sound (is the same machine with another portable look).
Another vote for Synclavier II here - I have the iPad app, and the sheer variety of sounds in the original presets is scary, never mind the updated features.
The Solina String Ensemble was quite frequently used on records in the 70's and 80's and featured a very easily recongnizable sound. I was the lucky owner of one, along with a Minimoog, a Jupiter 8, a Prophet 5 and other equipment. Oh, and just a comment on the M-1. Surely, the most recongizable sound is the organ played as a bass which is basically the sound of house music from the 90s.
Technically The Solina String Ensemble was no synthesizer. It was built like an organ (twelve oscillators with dividers) with a specially developed chorus/modulator to achieve the 'String Sound' . It had NO VCO's, VCF's or VCA's and the keyboard was not voltage controlled.
An unmentioned CS-80 player/composer would be Kate Bush. The number one synth in weight would be the Yamaha GX-1 at 300kg!! And I highly recommend the Waldorf PPG Wave which revolutionized synth sound when Tangerine Dream released Logos. Great top ten, Claudio!
D-70 was so much more exciting than the D-50. The Differential loop modulation alone was a monster feature then add 76 keys... The Korg Wavestation was an unreal offering into the next deep architecture in synths...way beyond some of those...actually could go on..😎
This is a comment from rolandclan: "Basically you can take a smaller chunk of any of the waveforms and loop it to make a different wave. It was an idea to stretch the usefulness of the sounds in a time where memory was limited, but because the entry and exit points of the created loop were pretty much arbitrary and the resulting sounds were so similar even when using different waveforms, the idea never took off and it was abandoned after the D-70. Would have been awesome if you could have fine tuned the loop points." In the end, the D-50 became the legend
Whenever Fairlight is mentioned, Why isn't AON, (as is most ZTT's catalog) Little lone ever Boris Blank? BB alone created his own signature sounds that where lifted onto audio sample CD's.. Doug from EW knows.
hello I am a happy musician who has just completed his keyboard set with a jupiter x having at the base a genos yamaha all interfaced with a Fteck brand button keyboard because I play the piano but at the base I am a classical accordionist. the pair is insane thank you for all your advice on your many videos on roland
I'm a Japanese and so proud of Japanese maker's great contribution to modern pop and rock music world. Thank you very much, all lovers.
some fantastic musicians too............I love s.s.t band ( sega sound team) since forever!!!! lol
You should be!
Yes essencially in the ANIME series fantastics sounds.
Totally agree. I love Korg, Roland, and Yamaha.
Do not forget Japanese artists not only technology 🤗🥳🙋🏻♂️
Scusate se parlo italiano, sono un tecnico de suono dal 83/04 ho vissuto tutto il periodo di tutte le tastiere presentate....
Incredibile servizio, e una lacrima insieme ai ricordi dei tempi passati
Complimenti
This wasn't just any synth demo video, it was a journey through time and the tour leader knew all the destinations like the back of his hand! Great job, well done!
AMEN~!
Probably the most enthusiastic, energetic musician you could find. Great video man!
A series of "The synths of [insert artist] " , what they chose and why and the sounds they created would be interesting. From Vangelis to Howard Jones , Jarre to Floyd , Kraftwerk to The Human League, plenty to go at there. -Mark
Great idea!
wow an actually good idea in a youtube comment section, how rare
Great idea! I mean lots of artists used many different synth’s but some are iconically joined to artists. Like the OB 8/Xa and Rush/Van Halen. Jean Micheal Jarre and the Eminent 310 Unique Strings along with a Small Stone Phaser (Elka Synthex Laser Harp). Vince Clark and the 2600, Vangelis and his career built on the CS-80, Gary Numan and the PolyMoog…
Director Carpenter, tangerine dreams……ect
Yessss!!!!
Well I purchased my first synth the MiniMoog back in 1973. I was 13 years old. I sold it for the Oberheim OBXA when I went to music school at Ithaca. I was the first student to bring a synthesizer to the school. I also was the first to play it in the Stage Band, “Ithaca Jazz Rock Ensemble”. I love this run through of the 10 best of all time. I am now 62 and moved into VST instruments in my fifties. I have 7 albums out at this time and do “Film Music” as well. I love your style. I love even more your playing of each of your 10 best. The presentation is flawless and you definitely deserve credit for showing when, where and how these synths played into our life long fascination with these iconic Synthesizers! Great job!
I was 15 when I got mine. Keep thinking I would try the behringer model d just for nostalgia.
In this comment of yours is the answer to the many queries that are out there in some forums about whether the Software is so good or not. From what I see the answer is yes. Thank you
I was 15 in 1976 when I bought my first, the Korg 770, couldn't afford the MiniMoog then still want one.
Yeah Ithaca me too!
I bought my first synthesizer in 2011, Roland Juno Gi and still love it for the Stage Phaser and I bought a Phase 95 effects pedal soon after. I love playing Billy Joel tracks. Synth rules...
Korg MS20 deserves a honorable mention, fantastic list !
Hear me out...I prefer the MS-10! I own 3 of them and have owned every version of MS-20 you possibly could. MS-10 cuts through the mix better than most mono synths.
my very first synth - 1979
@@awpqq mine too. Had the only synthesizer in town.
@@essential_listening interesting
The MS20 is my number one. Best synth I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned probably 100+.
Nothing beats the classics! I myself am a proud owner of a reissue MiniMoog, a vintage DX7, D50, and M1, and the new Oberheim OB-X8 and Jupiter X synths. I plan on adding the reissue Prophet 10 and ARP 2600m to my arsenal later this year.
Wow. How much does that total?
more money than talent
You don't know anything about the talent of the poster. Besides, enjoying your passion is not limited to certain talent levels.
There's a Emax (II) and emulator (1/II) by dépêche mode also 😊
I would suggest making a video of modern “copies“ or “rebirths“ of old vintage synthesizers, like the Jupiter 80 by Roland, and then compare them to their original synths. 👍
Depeche Mode we’re huge synth music pioneers and were heavy users of Emulator sampling synthesizers. Taking a sample of something like banging on metal pipes, combining it with other instruments and turning it into music was truly groundbreaking in the early 1980’s!
Maybe you will like my songs, souding very devotely :)
Agree, specially with Alan Wilder, but since then emulation sampling is not real synth, that's why none of their more recognized instruments are on this list. We need a top 10 of emulator samplers
I've read they used also Oberheim Matrix-12?
I am the lucky owner of a CS 80, which I bought in 1991 for the Canadian equivalent of $325 USD. It’s in great shape and it’s not for sale! It was featured pretty extensively on the 2013 album Reflektor, by my fellow Montreal citizens Arcade Fire… I can confirm: it does sound like a dream, Claudio!
$325? DAMMMN!!!!!! That's awesome.
That is so cool! Did you think at the time you bought that it would be worth so much some day or was that just lucky? What a beautiful instrument.
I got mine for some work in Lieu ... Then realising the upkeep , and weight , Sold it to as Museum.... Loved it, But owning one is just that for me, a badge of honour.
My upmost respect owning one, but also my condolences...
Oh the 90s when you could find deals for dirt on what is today's gold. I got my Jupter 8 in 1998 for $300 with anvil flight case. And I wasn't even the first person to look at it. Picked up a Juno 60 the same year for $200. Still have em both. But once in a while you can still find a deal. Picked up a non-working DX7 last year for $50. Just needed new battery and some presets reloaded. Condition is a 9 out of 10. But you have to be looking all the time. If only we could hire Doc Brown to take us back to the mid to late 90s at 88 mph!
Another Montreal band Men Without Hats used one too! Beast of a machine
I think the Juno 60 deserve a place here.
Good prepramsble sounds and I think one of the first affordable synths.
went down to comment the same thing and then realised the top comment said the same thing lol
Yes! I was going to say the very same thing.
Absolutely thought it would be in the top 3
Juno 60 deserves at least honorable mention. I used to play it in high school band & choir. Still own my Roland Alpha Juno 2
The Juno 60 had a quality to the sound that very few synths had. I can only describe it as 'open and flowing' or 'unforced'. Some synths sound 'pinched' while the Juno 60 was relaxed and open in just about anything it produced. Part of it might have been the excellent chorus it had but I think it went beyond just that.
Korg Wavestation... Juno 106... Synclavier... Emulator... Andromeda... Memorymoog... Odyssey... Your Top Ten is spot on, but those would certainly make a Runner-up List! Great video once again, Claudio!
It’s a shame that the Andromeda used less than great components, it could have been a long-lived legend of retro synths. Alesis really dropped the ball by not making a high quality re-issue during this time of nostalgic re-issues. If Dave Smith is unafraid to wheel out a $4500 Prophet 10 then it should inspire companies like Alesis and Roland with a genuine analog Jupiter 8 to make everything old new again.
Synclavier II and Kurzweil K250. The K250 was the first digital keyboard that had a (very) convincing grand piano sound. The Synclavier was used by many studios and artists like Michael Jackson, Frank Zappa, etc.
Wasn't the Labyrinth soundtrack also Synclavier?
Nothing like it.
Night School!
Being a dance music fan, the alpha juno, jp-8000, access virus and the 303 are classics that for me qualifies as top synths.
Thanks for entertaining content!
0:33 Oberheim OB-8 (1983)
1:19 Roland D-50 (1987) - $850
4:36 Prophet-5 (1978) - $11,000
6:28 Korg M1 (1988) - $850
11:20 Yamaha CS-80 (1977)
12:54 Yamaha DX7 (1983) - $1,700
14:30 Roland Jupiter 8 (1981) - $24,000
16:36 Minimoog (1974) - $10,000
Where they the prices when they came out or what there worth now
@@karlmeadows4986 Those are today’s prices for a used one. And they’re only going up. I acquired my Jupiter-8 back in 2008 for about $7000. I sold it in late-2010 for the absurd price of $10,500. Couldn’t believe someone would be dumb enough to pay that price…😂. Turns out that I’M the dummy for selling it, because they’ve appreciated to the crack-smoking price of around $25K today in 2022!!!
And they’re only going to keep climbing in value….
@@jakegiossi7447 definitely not today's prices. in my country you can find a minimoog for 4000USD, a M1 for 400USD, D-50 for 500USD and DX7s go for 270USD
@@polytonic6493 You’re not even talking about the same thing. I’m talking about valuable, classic analog synths, like the Roland Jupiter 6 & 8. In the USA, M1, D-50 and DX7 prices are very comparable as they are in your country, as well as some Minimoogs (though not the vintage 1970s models, which are selling in the $6000-$10,000 range). To compare mass-produced digital synths with the classic analogs is inaccurate at best and nonsensical at worst. They aren’t remotely in the same category.
And the ARP?
The Juno 106 and JD-800 are two synths I love.
I'm glad everybody is in agreement about the Juno
Ahh, The JD-800. Always wanted one. Now they're VERY expensive.
Yes, Juno 106 best of the best, combine with Yamaha DX7 is a track killer.
I had one of the earlier J-106's in the early 80's. Like most of the early syth's....it needed a lot of post-processing effects to make it sound really good. I only used a few of the factory sounds in our band.
@@Schumanized , yes!!!! The Jd 800 is for me one of the best i got with the M1 and the wawestation . I buy it at the first days when it came on the market in France 😍 !!! I'm slowly thinking to sold it in the next weeks.... have a opportunity for a Fairligth!!!!
When I was a teenager learning to play keyboard on the 80's, D50 and M1 were my dream of keyboard! Well, my father couldn't afford none of them, he bought a Casio CZ-1000, and it was my synth intro.
I too, had a CZ-1000! I eventually traded it, even up, for a Rhodes Stage piano. (Wish like CRAZY I still had the Rhodes!!!)
Between 1986-1992 as a teenager I played in a band starting with a Roland Juno-106 to which I added a Yamaha DX7. Upgraded that to a DX7 II. Ended playing in 1992 with the 106, D50 and Korg M1. Bitterly regret giving them all away! Got me a Yamaha C108 upright and now have a Kawai GE30. Just need to play it more. Still hanker for synthesisers though.
One benefit: the CZ can sound like a CS-80. The 3 you adored cannot.
I work in my bedroom studio. Not enough room for much, with the drums & guitars taking up space. But I do have the Arturia 7 collection Which has most of these synths. I absolutely love them.
I went to Emrrson, Lake, & Palmer on that Mini-Moog ❤️ My father also owned the Moog and Mini-Moog models ❤️ He had several Seth's. I loved the Arp Omni ❤️
What would the band Camel be without Arp Odysseu!
This is a top 10 i'm really struggling to argue with! My only complaint would be that it should be a top 20 so I can add in the ARP Quadra, the EMS Synthi, Emulator II, the Synclavier, the MS-20 ... so many beautiful synths over the years! Oh, then there's the Juno 6 and the.... ok I'll shut up lol
Elka Synthex
Crumar Bit One
OSCar
Voyetra 8
Rhodes (Arp) Chroma
Roland System 100 model 101
PPG Wave
RSF Polykobol
I'm quiet now!
@@carlosserrano3985 I'm finding it hard to argue with some of those too! PPG Wave was a gorgeous synth, the Voyetra too!
Emulator II+ , PPG Wave 2.2 , and Elka Synthex would be somewhere on my list.
Another awesome video Claudio you always have the best examples of songs played on these synthesizers. Your upbeat personality and talent makes your videos a real treat to watch. I find myself laughing or smiling every time I watch from either your humor, skill playing a song or the excitement of hearing a song I forgot about. Please keep making content and don’t let anyone tell you any different.
PPG wave and Korg Wavestation deserve a honourable mention. They can produce some really dreamy sounds. Some of the presets on the Wavestation remind me of old discovery channel science programs.
PPG Wave was a breakthrough instrument. But not exactly the Korg Wavestation.
Ahhh yes...the wavestation. One of many synths I wish I'd never let go.
PPG wave was theoretically brilliant but it sounds just horrible. Depeche used it for two years but abandoned it after one album.
PPG Wave are absolutely amazing machines the abilities to layer and split some amazing sounds were endless
@@marguskiis7711 They’ve used PPG Wave a lot longer than two years they were still using the Wave when recording Songs Of Faith And Devotion album in 1992
Another sweet memory is having attended a 'Synclavier' demonstration/workshop at a Nashville recording studio in the 80's ❤️
10 synths in 1 video?!?!? I feel something epic about to happen ❤🧡💛🤍
I'm still waiting...
Many thanks Claudio for this journey " back to the past " , times of intense music creativity , and also my youth ...
So happy to be one of your subscribers.
Cheers
My dad had a excellent Roland D50, I’ve got it now and she still sound great.
Hi I had Yamaha ez-300...You make my friend
If everyone had Claudio's enthusiasm, the world would be a much better place. Great video my friend. 👌
Thumbs up for The Art Of Noise and an honorable mention for the Synclavier 2.
Yes, something on this unfamiliar synth, out the reach of many in its day.
Agreed, Art Of Noise put the Fairlight on the map in the 80’s…..producer Trevor Horn called Art a of Noise the band & the lead singer is the Fairlight😂…..nice RUclips video, thank you…I learned alot from your top 10 list
Great list. Personally I would have swapped the Oberheim OB-8 for the OB-Xa or OB-X, which both sound better (more lush) in my opinion.
Korg's Polysix deserves an honourable mention in my opinion. Been used by Alphaville, Blancmange, Chvrches, Damon Albarn, Eric Prydz, Jean-Michel Jarre and Tears for Fears (so I'm told) to name but a few - and my mind was blown when I discovered the Toy Elec Sound preset was used on Just Dance by Lady Gaga.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm chvrches
The only band i ever saw with a polysix on TOTP was China Crisis doing Christian in 1982? My channel has that performance on there, and it was what inspired me to buy one in 1983. It was £850 new. Not worth it really, only 32 sounds on there, but very easy to programme and store new sounds on it. I never saw TFF with one though.
The Korg Poly-800 was a great synth too!!
The Pet Shop Boys were notable users of the Fairlight CMI. It could be seen in numerous live performances. I'm pretty sure they have used nearly every synth on this list.
PSB were early adopters of digital synthesizers: Yamaha DX1/DX7, PPG Wave, Emulators, Fairlight CMI for sequencing and rhythm programming. On Behaviour album 1990, they teamed up with Harold Faltermeyer, because they wanted to try analog synths, and he was an expert in analog synth programming
Спасибо за обзор! DX7 и M1 имеют самые узнаваемые звуки инструментов, синтез звука на них можно услышать у многих легендарных исполнителей! Мой любимый канал, потому что харизма и профессионализм автора канала на высоте, спасибо доктор микс👍😎😁
Йо привет
Claudio, you forgot to mention Vangelis, while you were talking about the CS-80. He had 2 (or even 3) of them in his studio, and he’s the one responsible of that beautiful Blade Runner soundtrack. In fact most of his creations are just the CS-80.
Exactly ! During a large period the sound of Vangelis was the CS80 . Not only Blade runner but f.i. Chariots of Fire !
He showed the Bladerunner clip but didn't name Vangelis!
Also Hans Zimmer has one. It was used in the score for Blade Runner 2049
So right! The CS-80 probably can be called the 'Vangelis' synthesizer, because it aided him in creating most of the sounds for records like Spiral, Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, Albedo 0.39 and so on. The Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner brass horns and the lead sound from tracks like To The Unknown Man and Hymn are easily 2 of the most recognizable CS-80 patches ever
@@svannuffelen and the soundtrack to The Bounty.... those big fat sweeeps !!!!!
I would really include the Moog Modular because, as you mentioned, that really was what started the whole synth revolution with Wendy Carlos' "Switched-on Bach." The other one that had a huge impact, and started the whole self-contained music workstation including recording direct-to-disk was the NED Synclaviar system.
Revolution? Mostly used for sound effects or blips burps and farts.
And also Tomita perhaps?
@@montazownianr1 You clearly not seen it out to good use then.
@@FridgeProductionsLtd Absolutely. In fact, Tomita sited Switched-on Bach as his inspiration for getting a Moog Modular himself.
Absolutely superb video and what a great collection you have, thank you for sharing. Vangelis was probably one of the most famous users of the CS80.
Look up CZ-101 video's, for 250€ it can sound nearly identical to this 50k monstrocity.
It's interesting to mention that the DX-7 was pretty much built in the SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive. I was born too late to experience 80's music, but I did hear Genesis/Megadrive game music growing up, so the DX-7 indirectly has a special place in my heart :)
It wasn’t quite a DX7. It was more like a cut down DX100. The DX7 has 6 operators, but the Yamaha 2612 in the Genesis had four operators per channel. I wrote sound (and even sample) drivers in 68000 assembler for the Genesis, and music too. It was quite a pain getting samples out of it, but it was just about possible. It was much easier to get good quality music on the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom) because it had a dedicated processor for audio and multiple ADPCM sample channels. I used an Akai S950 to shape samples before importing them for use in the SNES and the Genesis.
ferfaarfwervxr@@shahidkamal
Love them all! My keyboards since the 70's are Arp Odessey, Cat Octave, Mini Moog, Prophet 5, Yamaha U1 piano & DX7, then Eurorack Mod Synths and lastly the Korg Kronos which is my goto go with me keyboard as it seems to emulate just about all the other models.
My take for the next one would be the PPG Wave. Such a creative monster
I have a soft spot for the Waldorf Microwave synths, and those are somewhat spiritual successors to the PPG Wave, so I'd say that's a fairly influential synth.
I have a Blofeld, love those metallic wavetables
Honestly, this is his top synths of all time, not the most tech breakthroughs they may have achieved, Because yep... I Agree , The PPG would be replacing at least one on the list... But there you go.
PPG Wave sounded just horrible. Thats why only some bands used it for a short period. It was just impossible to make its sound pleasant.
I own 3 of the top 10! I love them! I use them ALL the time. The D- 50 is still so underrated!
Yes please make either a “poor man’s top 10 synthesizers list” and/or “Top honorable mention Synthesizer legends” or perhaps even a “top 10 sleeper synths”
The list that you made in this video is pretty hard to debate or argue with or about! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what is a dream wishlist of sonic goodness.
Great video.
Roland xp10
King Korg
Korg Poly800
Korg Wavestate is pretty fantastic, and low budget!
Korg Polysix. Any Juno. Sequential Prophet 600. Yamaha DX7, Korg Poly 800 Casio CZ 101. (not in that order... I probably like the Sequential the best. And maybe the polysix next?? The Yamaha and the Casio are definitely a different machine than the old analog stuff. The casio is super cool to play with and not hard to program [annoying to program, not hard]. Great synth, highly underrated. or at least kinda forgotten about.)
The best "top 10" synths rundown I've seen - super informative! I think the top 20 would include the Juno-60 (or 106), JX-8P (=my fav polysynth), PPG, Synclavier, Arp Odyssey, Emulator II, VCS3. A top 10 drum machines would also be interesting to see!
These are missing indeed and one might argue wether the M1 actually should be in this list then... Otherwise I'm pretty agreeing with this list which feels kinda odd... I only think the OB-Xa/8 should have been higher on this list. I'm still not sure it's really worse than a Jupiter 8?
@@torbenanschau6641 It's a pretty perfect list apart from the D50 and the M1 in my opinion. I would put the Polysix for the Korg and the Odyssey/Emulator II instead of the D50.
Top 10 drum machines #1 would be either TR-808 / EMU SP1200 / MPC-3000.
@@gffg387 while the D50 and M1 weren't particularly [sound] creative tools, as the video points out they were two of the most influential keyboards of the time - the D50 breathy choir sound was genuinely innovative (and then done to death on every record who wanted that sort of pad), while the M1 piano was a staple of late 80s/early 90s house music... and not just in the studio, but then taking those same sounds out on the road. Their influence on modern music should not be underestimated.
@@group-music Juno 60 strings are probably the most recorded analogue string sound of all time. It is a classic synth in that regard.
Great List! For top 12 I *might* add Synclavier and Kurzweil K250.
One of the coolest things about the Jupiter 8 is the joystick. That's what gives Save a Prayer the distinctive vibrato sound.
The Elka Synthex deserves an honourable mention i guess. Quite heavily used on Jean-Michel Jarre's album Rendez-Vous it was the famous sound of the Laser Harp. Nowadays that sound is created using a heavily modified Per Kristian patch on the Access Virus C. Also I kinda miss the Putney (EMS VCS 3 or Synthi AKS) which was another synthesizer most famous for many of the effect sounds (wind noises, lasers, LFO falls and risers) on JMJ's records and actually the first synthesizer he owned. Pink Floyd ofc also used the VCS3 on their track On The Run and many other famous artists did. Erica Synths has made a very nice remodelling of the Synthi called SYNTRX (which coïncidentally JMJ uses himself nowadays quite heavily)
Nice one, Claudio! it's like a big flashback into my teenage years. I once had a Jupiter 6 and selling it was the stupidest idea that I ever-ever made. Still crying. But bravo for your top ten list, it was fun to watch!
Moi c'est le CS80 de Yamaha que j'ai vendu , et je suis tellement triste .
I was waiting for the JP8000 or the Wavestation ! I always dreamed of owning them, what I did years ago, the M1 and the D50 are also amazing and iconic. Great video 👍
Great list. One that I'm surprised not to see is the Ensoniq Mirage - the Mirage really brought sampling to the masses (despite its relatively poor sound quality), as it was a MUCH more affordable way to get into it than the other options available at the time. I worked at a music store in the 80's, and we sold a TON of Mirages.
Probably, bcause it wuz not a Synth.
I own The EPS-16Plus, which wuz a CD quality version of da Mirage & a workstation. U could treat it like a Synth, azz well. ( Hell..... U could mangle samplez, n2 unrecognizable soundz, from whut u originally Sampled, if u so dsired, n da EPS-16Plus. ) Ensoniq put out 1 mo Sampler Workstation, called The ASR-10, then they closed shop, 4ever - UN4TUNATELY.
I also own a Yamaha Motif ES-6, a far superior Synth/Sampler/Workstation, BUTT I alwayz LOVE going back 2 my EPS-16Plus. Da ease of use, n termz of programming Samplez, Sequencez & Songz, iz just 2 good 2 have it b replaced 100%, by The Motif.
@@Einnor084 Samplers are just another type of synthesizer, and the Mirage was just as much a synth as the EPS models that came later (which I also sold plenty of). The Mirage used samples for the starting waveform instead of a traditional oscillator, but it had analog filters and amplifiers/envelope generators just like any other subtractive synth of the time.
You have to remember the great sound of the Jupiter 8 really was only 50% of it's charm. When you walked into your local shop as I did and saw one for the first time it was truly astonishing. It looked like super model, slimmer and lighter than a CS80, more memories, dual mode, the best pitch bend and LFO section there's ever been on any synth, and an arpeggiator! It really was the Ferrari of synthesisers and blew everything else away. 😎
I totally agree with your list! There are synthesizer workstations that are unforgettable and live in my personal top 10 list, like the Korg Wavestation, Korg Oasys, Roland Fantom X and Kurzweil K2600, but they're legendary for me, not for everyone. Your list is the true list, for sure.
I'm surprised you never mentioned Vangelis, who at one point owned 8, yes EIGHT Yamaha CS-80's. He probably used the CS-80 to its full potential out of all its users. It's still his favourite synthesizer to this day!
Damn
I think thats the joke mate. He definitely hinted at Vangelis
I’m saying damn because @revokdaryl1 must’ve written this like right before he passed.
Why would you want 8 of the same synth?
@@MrAgmoore I think Vangelis did this mainly so he'd have easy access to more parts. I think he anticipated the synth and the parts being hard to find as it's a very complex instrument.
Love the sound of the Moog, it brings back my 70s childhood in an instant. For me it was the majestic sound of the future, it sounded so powerful and otherworldly across all genres of music. I couldnt wait for the 80s to begin, and I wasnt disappointed. The Moog ushered in an incredible synth army - ARP, Korg, Roland, Yamaha, etc... to deliver the all conquering pop music sounds of the 80s and 90s, that thoroughly spoiled us 🙏🏾
I have no idea why YT suggested your videos, but I'm loving them! I would add the ARP Odessey and my personal favorite, the Ensoniq ESQ-1. Probably not influential in the pop music history, but it's what I learned on in both HS and college electronic music studies, so I have a soft spot for it. Probably too modern for this list, though. Keep up the great content!!
Great video! I felt like being placed back in time when I saw these wonderful devices. I actually got some of these: D-50 expander, Prophet 5 and the legendary DX7. My wife was playing it and I created the sounds. I could even manage to create a wonderful Hammond organ sound on the DX-7 we couldn’t find anywhere else.
A short story at the sideline: The samples of the D-50 are mostly sampled and imported from a Prophet VS shortly before they got bankrupt. I know it from the person who did it for Korg and also have been in that studio where he was working on it.
There still other synthesizers that should be mentioned but I think that these are the most influential ones.
These are my choice to add to a top 20 list of Synths: ARP Odyssey, Oberheim 4VS, Juno 60, Access Virus, Roland JP8000, Moog Memorymoog Plus, PPG Wave, Korg MS-20, Korg Polysix, and the Roland VP 330
Don't forget Clavia Nord Lead serie too
I see the polysix in your list. I don't play. but a friend of mine was getting rid of some of his old gear gave me a Polysix. That thing sounded incredible. I thought he was crazy for giving it away.
We all agree it should be a top 100, don't we?
My working gig back in early 1980's included two (2) analog synths, a Jupiter 6 and a Korg Polysix. For what they were and music we played suited me fine. Sold both for a song around 2010 as I had too much gear. Both mint and in Anvil cases. I start to break out in a sweat seeing what Jupiter 6's go for now and nowhere the like new condition that mine were in. Still have some vintage gear I didn't part with
I bought a Roland Jupiter 8 in 1981 and it cost me $5100, today in 2022 it is selling for $50k. I bought the Jupiter 8 with all the money I had in my bank account at that time and I have no intention of selling it. I still have my Jupiter 8 and it is in mint condition, it still works and I love programming it.
I liked your video a lot. Thanks for sharing. Since you mentioned “of all times”, I think it would be great if you do another top 10 video, but this time including newer and modern synths so we can see how they stand compared to these iconic old ones❤️
Peter Howell of the BBC radiophonic workshop also had a CS-80 in his studio. He used it to make the bassline for his arrangement of the doctor who theme. He also used an Arp Odyssey, Roland Jupiter 4, EMS 5000 vocoder, and a few others to make his arrangement
Any "Top 10" list is going to be somewhat controversial, but I have to say your selection here is truly comprehensive, taking in decades of music and the evolution of synthesizer technology. Really an excellent, all-inclusive list! Having said that, maybe you could next either repeat this with a list of more recent models, or just survey the more recent models and your thoughts on each. Thanks for sharing!
Literally got chills with those beautiful chords on J-8 !
The Ensonique ESQ 1 was a great ground breaking affordable synth from the mid 80s.
Here's a ESQ 1 and a DX 7 ruclips.net/video/GrRoWEbGR3I/видео.html
The esq sound was pretty lame
I love my Ensoniq MR76: great piano and drum sounds!
I wouldn't call it a very famous synth, but it was definitely a mile stone in sound technology. Kurzweil 250. (1984) One of the most perfect piano sounds. Co-created with Moog and Stevie Wonder.
It was very famous!
Don´t forget Tommy Mars, who played the CS-80 in the Frank Zappa Band from 1979-1982. It was a great sound.
Excellent presentation of the history of Synths!!!
I've played wtith almost all of them....except Fairlight and ARP 2800....
Thanks for the memories !!!!!!❤❤❤
Really enjoyed this episode. The demo sounds brought back so much memories and feels of the 80's. Thanks!
Thomas Dolby's use of the Fairlight made me a believer. My favorite synth of all time.
Dolby used the OB-Xa and the PPG extensively on his first album
@@frankkumon yes correct. I owned both years ago. Their sound is unmistakable.
Page McConnell of Phish uses a CS80 in his live touring rig, in addition to a grand piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, Hammond Moog and clavinet. Thanks for the video!
I was able to get a lot of these synths for dirt cheap during the '90s. I bought a lot of synths that included a the 2600, CS80, and Jupiter 8 for $95 in 1997!
The Kurzweil K2000 and Access Virus are both classics that broke new ground, sound amazing, and have appeared on countless hits. I would also argue that the Korg MicroKorg is a modern classic that probably gives the M1 a run for the money for number of units sold.
I loved my K2000. The souds are incredible❤️
Spot on. This kind of videos are bs. Simple as that.
I have a k2000 and a k2500 and I love them both
I think there should be two honorable mentions. The Emu Emulator and the Ensoniq ASR-10. The reason I mention them is that they are obviously samplers, but they also contained envelopes and filters like a regular synth to tailor the sound. They were both used by famous artists and both trailblazed the rap/hip-hop genre.
Juno too
Samplers, not synthesizers.
Agreed. The Emulator II changed everything and was used on everything of significance.
@@winteregon Ensoniq had some good synthesizer workstations although nothing that would be top 10
Alesis and Casio
Fantastic video!
Never getting rid of my Yamaha DX7 which I purchased back in 2015, and recently got the Prophet 5 (10 voice) many months ago since it got reissued.
The two synths that I wished I had were the Jupiter 8 and OB-8.
Hear ya. I bought my D-50 used in 1991, and I'll never part with it. Still play it regularly.
// 오예~~~ 내 생각과 똑같다 감사해요 ^^
I count the Dx-7 in my top 3 as well. But in my top ten that I feel has helped so many get into synths in the past few years is the Arturia microbrute analog synth. Due to its cheap cost (but it itself doesn’t feel cheap at all!).. simplicity to learn.. size.. and of course it’s sound.. it’s such a fun synth and feel if there were to be a more current list it should come in somewhere.
just picked one up. Pretty dope
Got a DX7 - pretty inflexible tbh without a physics degree. My JP8000 is awesome - programming on the fly with all of them sliders and knobs. Great bit of kit.
My JP8000 is also one of my favourites staying in my setup
Don't get a DX7 if you want to learn FM. Get a Reface DX. It's not that hard. The algorithms are just like patch configurations like on eurorack between oscillators and modulator sources (except that FM is HFO not LFO). Much of how your sound evolves is down to how the envelope affects volume of a carrier. It's easy to make sounds once you realise what is going on. Sure, it might not be a sound you have in your head but it's a sound. If you want a bass sound find a bass patch and tweak it.
@ghost mall Its just nostalgia. I used dex to but for life playing there is no usb keyboard without latency. The reaction speed of the real keyboard via oldschool 5-pins Midi is mutch more responsive.
Великолепная, бесподобная подборка!!!! Спасибо за проделанную работу!!!
Nice work as always Claudio - perhaps this list is more of a vintage synth Top 10. Would love to see you rank some modern classics like Virus, Hydrasynth, Peak, Summit, Waldorf etc... there's alot of new toys out there :)
Yes a top 10 1990-2020 would be super interesting
Technically, one could also include the Hammond organ. It's registrations were built by synthesis, and if you include overdriving, Hammond's percussion, Leslie based sweeping, etc. it covers a lot of territory.
Technically not a synth? But if topic would gave been most famous keyboard intruments, then for sure! As couple of others too, like Farfisa, Wurli and Solina. To mention few.
I loved this video. It would be great to see you do one on the 10 best synths/keyboards of the 90's and early 2000's. Like the ASR-10, Triton, Motif, Fantom, Etc.
One of the mostversatile synths i ever played was a roland jupiter X. I got the sound from Shine On you crazy Diamond, Jump, and many more.
Aw man I would've loved to see you play the CS-80, that would've been so neat! I swear you were gonna mention Vangelis but was surprised you didn't.
Regardless, this was an awesome top 10 video! I've started dabbling into vintage synthesizers since last year and it was neat knowing about them more (and who used them), so thank you!
God bless
Rick Wakeman had a Yamaha CS80 and was a noted Minimoog user. Joe Jackson's great solo on "Breaking Us In Two" was a Prophet 5. The intro to U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" was done on Brian Eno's Yamaha DX7
What a superb production 👍🏻
I recognized the DX-7 trademark sound instantly... because it's chip was also used in the Sega Genesis
Even though the DX7 was different to program it’s still one of the most beautiful sounding digital synth
But check ✔️ this out
Kodamo Essence FM Markii
Thank you so much for reviewing you Bro! Beautiful instruments of the world.
At one time, the roland commodore Amiga did not let me sleep, all the mixers were mine :)
Huge greetings to everyone from St. Petersburg!
The EMS VCS3 is definitely one of the synths I heard first. It's been used on some great songs but it was famously used by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop( they had a custom version built)to score lots of famous TV programmes, including the 70's Doctor Who programme. I'd put it in my top 10 :-)
thanks for that ..i wanted to know what synth they used in early dr who yes it should get a mention
Are you heard Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon", "On the run" theme? For me is the most big demonstration of the EMS VCS3 and/or EMS SYNTHI A/AKS sound (is the same machine with another portable look).
Another vote for Synclavier II here - I have the iPad app, and the sheer variety of sounds in the original presets is scary, never mind the updated features.
Prophet 5 would be my dream synth! It sounds incredible...
D-50 The Cars!!! Great episode, but I love them all. Thanks for being such a 'marker of time' on keyboards!
The Solina String Ensemble was quite frequently used on records in the 70's and 80's and featured a very easily recongnizable sound. I was the lucky owner of one, along with a Minimoog, a Jupiter 8, a Prophet 5 and other equipment. Oh, and just a comment on the M-1. Surely, the most recongizable sound is the organ played as a bass which is basically the sound of house music from the 90s.
Technically The Solina String Ensemble was no synthesizer. It was built like an organ (twelve oscillators with dividers) with a specially developed chorus/modulator to achieve the 'String Sound' . It had NO VCO's, VCF's or VCA's and the keyboard was not voltage controlled.
An unmentioned CS-80 player/composer would be Kate Bush.
The number one synth in weight would be the Yamaha GX-1 at 300kg!!
And I highly recommend the Waldorf PPG Wave which revolutionized synth sound when Tangerine Dream released Logos.
Great top ten, Claudio!
GX-1 the ABBA synth
@@Urfinchannel and Keith Emerson in Fangare of the Common Man
Tangerine Dream’s Exit is virtually a PPG Wave demo record.
PPG WAVE 2.3🔥🔥
Excellent synth. I had a 2.2 back in the day
D-70 was so much more exciting than the D-50. The Differential loop modulation alone was a monster feature then add 76 keys... The Korg Wavestation was an unreal offering into the next deep architecture in synths...way beyond some of those...actually could go on..😎
This is a comment from rolandclan:
"Basically you can take a smaller chunk of any of the waveforms and loop it to make a different wave. It was an idea to stretch the usefulness of the sounds in a time where memory was limited, but because the entry and exit points of the created loop were pretty much arbitrary and the resulting sounds were so similar even when using different waveforms, the idea never took off and it was abandoned after the D-70.
Would have been awesome if you could have fine tuned the loop points."
In the end, the D-50 became the legend
A cracking run down. Nick Rhodes literally used the Jupiter 8 throughout Duran's Rio album. That synth was the sound of my teens.
The Human League too, Dare and others albums, there are many videos with him..
Don’t forget Depeche Mode also used one…
OMG el clásico D-50, parte de la historia musical mexicana entre los 80 y 2000s
I am not in the music business but I love music and having discovered BOTH your channels is frigging amazing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your content!
It is difficult to make a list of the 10 best synthesizers, but I find that synths like the Elka Synthex or the VCS3 are missing
SH101, TB303, cs1x, Access Virus, EDP Wasp, Wurlitzer Orbit III, Oberheim, Siel Orchestra... there is no end to the list...
Don’t forget Emulator samplers!
CS 80 : Vangelis, of course !
D 50 : Jean Michel Jarre (Revolution)
Fairlight : Jean Michel Jarre (Magnetic Field, Zoolook), Daniel Balavoine.
😁
Isn't Fairlight a weapon of choice of Brad Fiedel for T2 theme?
@@nneeerrrd It is or was, Python Blue showcases it.
The Moog as well by Vangelis.... it sounds 100% as in "Heaven and hell".
@@nneeerrrd T1 theme was on the Fairlight!
Whenever Fairlight is mentioned, Why isn't AON, (as is most ZTT's catalog) Little lone ever Boris Blank?
BB alone created his own signature sounds that where lifted onto audio sample CD's.. Doug from EW knows.
My favorite is the D-50 in this list, instantly recognizable and unique. Although the CS-80 is forgotten, another beast !
hello I am a happy musician who has just completed his keyboard set with a jupiter x having at the base a genos yamaha all interfaced with a Fteck brand button keyboard because I play the piano but at the base I am a classical accordionist. the pair is insane thank you for all your advice on your many videos on roland